Tuesday, July 1, 2003

Day 41

Tuesday 7/01/03
A most glorious day!!! When we got up at 6:30 a.m., the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky! I went outside to have a cup of coffee at the picnic table next to our trailer, and three moose ran through the park, a cow, a yearling, and a baby. We left at 8 a.m. to go on our Fjord Express tour to Juneau. The trip was spectacular! The tour consisted of a trip to Juneau and back on a catamaran and a tour of Juneau by bus as well as a stop at the Mendenhall Glacier. We, also, had free time in downtown Juneau. The catamaran is owned and operated by a husband and wife team, Glen and Alison Jacobson. While at sea, we saw humpback whales, orca whales, a sea lion rookery, dolphins, harbor seals, eagles, surf scoters, marbled murrelet, and a short eared owl. During our free time, we ate lunch in a downtown park in Juneau where amateur astronomer had telescopes with special filters and other instruments for viewing the sun and looking at sunspots. He invited anyone interested to look through his instruments. It was quite interesting. We visited many gift shops, ate our lunch, and bought an ice cream. We then re-boarded our bus for a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier before returning to the boat. We finally got back to the Haines Hitch-Up Campground at about 8:30 p.m. TIRED AND HAPPY!!
We visited for a while with some other campers—showered and off to bed. Simba took a cat bath, which consisted of a lot of licking.
4 miles today; 6310 total