July 25 - July 27 – By Ferry to Juneau

The trip from Petersburg to Juneau takes about 13 hours on the Alaska State Ferry, Taku. Unfortunately, the fast ferry which goes in half the time has been diverted to Haines for the state fair. The cabins are all taken, so we stay up for the night in the comfortable recliner lounge, blankets and pillows provided. Orma watches a movie for a while, and neither of us sleeps much. The cloud cover is almost down to the waterline, so daylight doesn’t bring much scenery our way, but there are interesting passengers and pretty good ferry food and the time passes quickly. There are a few whale sightings along the way, and we scour the beaches with binoculars for any sight of bears, but see none.

We are met in Juneau in the pouring rain by the car rental guy, and make our way to Sepel’s Hallow B&B. We do a quick drive-by of Mendenhall Glacier, then drive into the city for dinner at Hangars on the Wharf. This is a lively, Friday-after-work place, and we enjoy observing the contrast between well-dressed businessmen (suits and ties, no less), and more typical Alaskans with long hair, bushy beards, plaid shirts, jeans with suspenders, and gumboots. Juneau, a city of 30,000, is the state capitol and therefore attracts a lot of lawyers and accountants. Like most of the other towns in this part of Alaska, it is not accessible by road. If you want to bring your car, you have to bring it on the ferry.

Saturday morning, after a big breakfast, we drive again a short distance up the road to Mendenhall Glacier, this time hiking along some of the trails and enjoying the brief and rare blue sky. Then it’s back to town for lunch, a browse through the cruise ship shops and docks, a visit to the state legislature, the state museum, the mining museum, the coast guard station to watch the docking of the USS Juneau, a quick survey of all the marinas in town, a stop at Wal-Mart and Fred Meyers, and dinner at the Mongolian Grill, before returning to our B&B for a good sleep. We are told by several people that it has rained for 24 days straight until today.

At the legislature we see the rare 49-star US flag. Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, only a few months before Hawaii and not many of these flags were produced.

Sunday morning is cold, rainy and windy again. We find our way to Glacier Bay Baptist Church for a good worship service and friendly people. For lunch we join a couple from Athens, Georgia, who have driven in their motorhome to Skagway and come on the ferry to Juneau.

After lunch, we visit the McCaulay Creek Fish Hatchery and are fascinated by the aquariums and the tour commentary. The fishing industry is alive and well in Alaska. Millions of fish hatched and released here return every year to donate eggs and milt for millions more hatchlings It is one of the miracles of creation that these salmon are so imprinted with the exact location of their birth that they can travel thousands of miles back to the same place to breed and die.