North to Alaska

Well, our trip started off with a flight to Sitka (SE on the panhandle). We just spent 1 day there, walking around the town. It was a great introduction to the feel of Alaska. It was kind of nice not renting a car, it seems like you see so much more when you are walking. There are a TON of Bald Eagles here and a really nice Totem Park. (The pic of the island has like 10 eagles on it - taken from our hotel room.)

We then took a ferry (they call them Alaska's Marine Highway) to Juneau (also SE Alaska) and rented a car for a few days. Both Sitka and Juneau are only connected to the outside world via ferry or plane - no roads lead "out of town". I don't think I could stand to live in either of these places, because of the isolated feeling, but both cities are gorgeous.

While in Juneau we did 2 awesome 7 mile hikes (staying out of the downtown area as much as possible - cruise ships EVERYWHERE!!!)

The first hike was to an overlook of Mendenhall Glacier. This was a great escape from the cruise ship tour buses that were parked at the Visitor Center at the base of the glacier. (You'll sense a theme of "escapement" throughout the trip)

The next hike was in Bridget Point State Park. This is a small park with a bunch of wildflower meadows and an incredible view of the ocean at the end. I think we saw maybe about 10 people or so during our entire hike. At the end of the hike, we sat on rocks overlooking the ocean drinking some Alaskan Amber that we picked up during our tour of the Alaskan Brewery earlier that day. Not a person in sight - Just a few fishing boats, and an isolated Forest Service Cabin that was not even rented out, and some sea lions that floated by.... Ahhhh, the joys in life. Last night, Andy asked me what me favorite part of the trip was, and I think it may have been that rocky point in the middle of nowhere.

Now, I failed to mention the throngs of mosquitoes that we endured to get to this point (they put MN mosquitoes to shame), but it seems like that might ruin the romanticism. Another thing I failed to mention was the daylight issue. We started this 7 mile hike at 5:00PM, and when we returned to the car at 9:40 there were still at least 2 or so good hours of daylight left. This phenomenon only increases the further north you go!

We watched fireworks in Juneau at midnight on the 3rd of July. Most places in Alaska shoot them off at this time because it just gets dark at about 12:00AM and really, it is officially the 4th at that point, so why not do it then???

OK - I'm going to post this portion (the first 5 days) to make sure this is working before I continue...