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27 May 2008

Juneau





UPDATE: Photos of the view from Mendenhall Gardens, the girls and cousin C. at Mendenhall Glacier, and the H Family gold panners...

Cruise Day 3- Juneau

Day 3, Monday, finds us docking in Juneau, the state capital of Alaska. Alaska is beautiful. (did I mention that yet? ) Mountains. Water. We arrive on a bright and sunny day!

We disembark at Juneau, and make two morning stops, the Mendenhall Garden and Glacier Tour. Mendenhall Gardens are privately owned on the edge of the Tongass National Forest. We ride to the top of a hill, 600 ft. elevation, for a great view of the glacier valley.

Next stop, the Mendenhall Glacier. Very neat! We have only a small idea of how huge it is, even from a mile away. We are impressed by the chunks of ice floating in the lake, and by the kids that are swimming in the icy waters! A huge waterfall cascades near the glacier with tremendous force.

Our afternoon is spent panning for gold. Admittedly, we were skeptical. And no, we didn’t find riches. But, we did unearth real gold flakes, and that was enough.

3 comments:

Michelle said...

It sounds like you are having a grand time! I can't wait to see the pictures when you get back....or figure out your technical difficulties. :)

norsk said...

Oh, can you beam me over, Scottie!

Anonymous said...

Enjoy the cool crispness of it all dearies for in a couple of weeks it shall be a quite a different experience all around! ;-) Can't wait to see you!