A Whale of a Good Time: Juneau!

When we arrived in Juneau, I couldn't believe how cute and quaint the town was!  We had a tour schedule at 11am, so we spent the first few hours walking around town admiring the local stores.  As you can see in the photos, it was a rainy, foggy day, but apparently that's Alaska for you - and it doesn't make it any less beautiful!

Everywhere we went in Alaska, they had the most beautiful flower beds.  So much color!  The weather must be perfect for flowers during the summer time.  They were all so vibrant!

We decided to go on a Whale Watching tour while in Juneau.  You can book these excursions through the cruise, but we decided to go with a local company called Harv's and Marv's.  SO glad we did!  The price was almost the same, but instead of being on a boat with 40+ people, we were on a boat with 6!  And we had the most awesome tour guide, Liz.  Liz LOVES the water and the whales and she spends her summers in Alaska and her winter in Hawaii.  Tough life, eh?

There's always that fear when you go on a wildlife tour that you won't actually get to see any wildlife.  Luckily for us, that was not the case at all!  First, we saw a family of bald eagles.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of them, but they were very cool.  Just take my word for it.  Then we came across the sea lions who like to hang out on this red buoy.  There were about 4 or 5 of them on there and they were so cute!  The one in the front that you can see sleeping kept slowly slipping more and more of the buoy until his head hit the water, which would jolt him awake.  Then he would do it again.  It was hilarious!

Getting to the whales started off a little slow.  We hung out in an area where the local humpback whale, Sasha, often swam with her baby. We didn't see anything for a long time, but then saw a black hump emerge out of the water in the distance.  We saw her and the baby emerge a few times, and worried that might be the end of the show, but then we moved to another area and stumbled upon 8+ humpback whales!  They were everywhere.  It was SO cool!  It's hard to image these creatures average 50ft long and 80,000lbs!  Yowza!

We took about 500 pictures while on this tour, so I tried to sort through them and pick out the best ones.  At the end, but sure to watch the video.  If you listen closely, you can hear the whales talking to each other! (I apologize for the shakiness of the video.  The waters were rough and it was very hard to stay still!)

Check out this National Geographic Moment (as Liz would say).  This sea lion jump out of the water right in front of use to catch a fish just as the whale is diving in the background!

Watch the video!

After the whale watching, they took us to see the Mendenhall Glacier, which is about 12 miles from downtown Juneau.  The pictures aren't as clear because of the fog, but you can see how beautiful it is!

Juneau was super awesome!  We could have stayed there forever.  We even joked that if we missed the boat it wouldn't be the worst thing.  Ha ha.  But alas, we had to go and see the next amazing Alaskan town!

Wa-é ak-wé!
Tlingit for "Good Night".  Pronounced wah-eh ahk-way

The Call of the Raven: Haines, AK

These ravens are chatty little buggers.  :)

Today was our first port of call in Haines!  I’ve already decided that I want to retire in this quiet, beautiful town.  We started the day on a mini shore excursion called, Off the Beaten Path, which was basically a town tour that took us around to different highlights of the area.  We visited the Hammer Museum, which sounds a bit dull, but was actually quite interesting!  There were all kinds of different hammers, from the first hammer ever used by the Egyptians to shape the pyramids; to several varieties of different hammers that were adjusted and patented over time to “make the job easier.” 

Then we headed to Dalton City, the set of White Fang.  Haines asked to keep the set buildings and turned them into local shops!  So cool! Dalton City sits on the grounds of the State Fair. 

Ryan’s favorite, Haines Brewing Co.

After some amazing site seeing, we headed to the home of local artist, John Svenson – Extreme Dreams.  Aside from having the cutest little cabin, he had the most incredible glacier views off his back porch (and a 3-sided outhouse with some outstanding views as well).

Formaldehyde Cobra in a Bottle

Rainbow Glacier in Artist's back yard

Local Cannery

We had pizza at Fireweed and spent the rest of the day exploring the land and various shops.  Got some yummy fudge and delicious salmon jerky.  Walked through an old cemetery that surrounded a local park (funny thing to find on what we thought was just a trail). 

Cemetery Trail

We also got to see what they say is the only Radio Shack that’s actually a shack!

We finished the day with some long walks through the forest.  They have the most interesting foliage here, with these large haustas covering the ground surrounded by giant spruce trees.

Haines was so much fun and so quaint!  It was a really great reminder that life doesn't have to be so stressful all the time.  We all just need to slow down.  The crime rate here is nil and everyone seems so relaxed and happy.  Funny story, in 2013, someone called the local police because they received an email from someone they didn't know who was trying to sell them something.  Their first SPAM just two years ago!  Crazy!!! 

As it seems to be around these parts, the landscape is unbelievable.  Enjoy the pics!

Beautiful panorama