August in Juneau

Our 30 hours or so on the ferry were kinda fun. We had brought picnic sorts of things to eat while on the boat, and there was a restaurant that served decent food for prices that weren't unreasonable, considering Alaskan prices.
The scenery was wonderful, when we could see through the fog and the rain...there was a fair amount of that.

An Alaskan Ferry (not ours)

Our first stop was in Ketchikan, the south easternmost city in Alaska. Its population of 8,000 makes it the sixth-most populous city in the state. 

Cruise Ships

We spent an hour or two in Ketchikan, and I was impressed with the number of float planes I saw taking off and departing while we were there. I didn't count them, but it was one every 10 minutes or so.

Waylon and Earl on the bunk ladder

We spent a quiet night on the boat, but Kate took a half-tumble coming down the ladder. She banged up her arm and got a bump on her butt, but was unharmed otherwise. I would point out here that I wanted to take the upper berth, but she insisted I couldn't do it. Goes to show, I guess.

The passengers on the ferry were an interesting lot. There were a considerable number of folks who in the passenger spaces, and a considerable number of them "camped out" in the lounge, camped out with sleeping bags and air mattresses. I wasn't too surprised when we saw 20-something men doing that, but the occasional middle-aged woman who did so made me look twice. 

We got into Juneau about 3:00 on Friday. Juneau is the state capital, and a city of about 32,000 souls. It is not accessible by road. If you're going to go to Juneau, you get there by air or by water. The hotel, a . Travelodge, is adequate. There is no breakfast included with the room, but the integral Mexican restaurant does give a 15% discount on meals to hotel guests. We ate dinner there the night we arrived; it was undistinguished, but I didn't get sick. That's the acid test.

It's cool and rainy here, and the locals say it rains a lot. We'll see. Tomorrow, we're going to visit the Mendenhall Glacier.

My copy of Microsoft Street and Trips has become corrupted and won't run. I miss being able to post the little maps that track our progress. I'll see if I can find a google substitute.

Cheers..........