The trip was also fantastic in that we met Bob and Becky. Now, I tend to strike up conversation with most anyone, which usually drives Anna crazy due to the fact that I have the tendency to find really annoying people who want to tell us all about their medical problems (one woman I started a conversation with and abruptly left, shared her entire gynecological history with Anna… she used the words “vaginal area” about 10 times). However, with Bob and Becky, I struck gold. I’m not sure who started the conversation, but within about 10 minutes we were all fast friends. They are from Jackson Hole WY, and completely solidified my goal to do a family trip there next summer… Taylors/Andrees or Dowlings… who ever gives the green light first. They also love to hike, fish, travel, and have spent a great deal of time in our most favorite places in the Southwest (Fish and Owl canyon, the Paria, Buckskin Gulch, Zion, the Mokie Dugway to name a few). {Note to John Radloff: what’s the name of that canyon you love to hike near Green River? Quandary?} By the end of the ferry ride Anna and I were a bit concerned that Bob and Becky thought we were stalking them as we really enjoyed their company and kept “running into” them and striking up conversation. However, our fears were allayed when they invited us over for dinner after we landed in Juneau… they’re travelling in an RV so this was our official first RV dinner party. They don’t have one of those huge honking suckers, and they might have won me over on the merits of RV’ing.
The other thing Juneau brought us was a change in weather. Throughout this whole trip we have had the most perfect weather… like I said in a previous blog, people keep remarking how SE AK “never gets this much sun.” However, the weather finally turned, and did so on the day we started camping. Our tent wasn’t up for more than 2 seconds when the first drops started falling, and it kept raining until we drove away from our camp 3 days later… at which point the weather started improving. Travelling with a 19-month old is challenging enough, but try travelling with a 19-month old, in bear country where you can’t have even a scent of food in the tent (ever seen a 19-month old eat anything… they wear most of it), all while it’s raining. Trust me… there wasn’t enough beer in AK to drown out our sorrow that first night. However, after we figured out our system and moved our camp from a mosquito bog to a rather nice riverside site, we managed quite well. This was the camping trip where Anna stated “I officially don’t camp for accommodation to save money anymore. If we’re not camping someplace beautiful, we’re in a hotel!” Yes dear!
The sign that greets you on your picnic table at your AK campsite:
We also spent a day hiking near the Mendenhall Glacier, which is a beautiful and huge glacier. In 1990 the glacier receded at a rate of 60 feet per year… today it recedes at 200 feet per year. In 2004, which was the hottest summer on record in Juneau, the glacier receded 600 feet. 2009 is turning out to be as hot as 2004. The forest service is now acknowledging that human impact (global warming) is speeding up the retreat of all glaciers in AK.
The Mendenhall Glacier
Anna and I in our desperation to do a good hike, stuffed Ella into her Bob (stroller on roids) and took her on a beautiful hike near the Mendenhall… see pics below. We ended up carrying the Bob about a ¼ of the hike, and Ella slept for the entire 2 hours we were on the trail.
Our hike... why we had to carry the Bob
Ella slept through most of this hike... Mendenhall in background
Like I said before, we’re currently in Haines AK where we’ll spend a few days exploring, hiking, fishing, and hopefully bear watching. Then we head north to Anchorage and should land there around the 15th.
I couldn't resist a few cute pics of Ella
Curly head
1 comment:
Bill and I stayed 3 extra days in Haines 3 summers ago when I misread our ferry reservation and caused us to miss our ride south. The Chilkat B&B owner Dave Nanny allowed us to camp in our tent in his back yard (a few blocks from downtown) and to use his guest kitchen to prepare our meals. As repayment for his generosity, Bill cooked and shared most of our meals with Dave and even made extra to feed 1 or 2 of the B&B guests. It was a memorable, if mostly rainy, stay. If you get a chance while in Haines, you might enjoy meeting Dave. He's a web master for some Alaskan oil companies, among other things, and quite an eccentric fellow.
We rebooked our ferry trip 3 days later, and because we took this ferry we ran into our new friends Rahel and Jorg from Switzerland, whom we'd met one inclement night near Wittier 3 weeks earlier. (They were about a month into a 2-year bicycling adventure from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, and we shared our cabin with them that rainy night.) Now on the ferry as they headed to Ketchikan for a few camping nights, we had a wonderful and precious reunion with them. Life is so sweet!
Keep having an awesome time. Thanks for the blog, the outstanding editing, the humor and the great pictures.
We love you guys.
Susan and Bill
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