Monday, July 25: Slow connection - no pics
Still rainy and cold in Sitka, but not a bad day to be a tourist. I must be part Russian and don't know it because I surely enjoyed seeing the Russian icons at the historic Orthodox church. Orthodox is the oldest Christian church. The Roman Catholics split from it in the 1100's. Sitka was the Russian capital in the late 1700's until the U.S. bought Alaska in 1867 for 19 cents an acre. Lots of history here. And as the pictures show, we found the bears today! Also saw a huge whale, but didn't have the camera handy. Tomorrow we get back on the ferry and head to Ketchikan. It is an overnighter. We leave at 1:00 p.m. Tuesday and arrive in Ketchikan at 10:30 a.m. Wed. We have a cabin to sleep in but Larry has to stay in the camper. He is going to be so.........unhappy.
Comments from Eldon: I didn't ride my scooter due to the rain, but enjoyed seeing the Sitka sights. It seems big but has only about 7,000 people. It has only 14 miles of road - like Juneau you can only arrive by air or water. RV's aren't plentiful, but we have a spot to stay at the marina. A woman today told me she would love a camper like ours, but can't find one in Sitka. It would be strange to live some where you can't drive away from. She said she loves road trips, but doesn't often get one!
Comments from Larry: Eldon duct taped the ripped screen door today. Now we look like a bunch of Yoopers. Doesn't he think I'm going to chew it up again tomorrow when they make me get on the boat? Two more boat rides. After that I promise I am never getting on another boat.

Even though it is cold and rainy today and even though we had to get up at 5:30 a.m., we had a beautiful ferry ride to Sitka. We traveled what they call the Inside Passage. It is islands and fjords. FYI: according to Wikipedia a fjord is a long narrow inlet with steep cliffs created in a valley carved by glacial activity. The only marine life we spotted was lots of jumping fish. I turned the heater on for the first time this trip when we got to the camp ground since we were cold and wet. And you all are in the middle of a heat wave! The channel picture with the lighthouse in the background was taken sitting on the couch in the camper. What can I say - just another beautiful day in the good life.

Comments from Eldon: Enjoyed the ferry ride despite the weather. Hope it improves so I can scooter around Sitka tomorrow.

Comments from Larry: OK, I know I'm a wimp, but I was so scared on the ferry today I chewed a hole in the screen door trying to get out. I have no idea where I would go if I did get out, but the noise and motion totally freaks me out. E & C tell me I have to do the boat ride 2 more times - somebody please rescue me.

Lady Baltimore. She was shot and is blind in one eye and has damaged wing.

Another beautiful day in Juneau. The locals are loving this weather - in the low 70's - it rains here a lot so they get out to bask in the sun when they can. We took the tram ride to the top of Mt. Roberts today and went to the fish hatchery. We heard bears hang out there, but again, no luck for the Pattens. We did see 2 bear in the road yesterday outside Juneau. We walked around down town Juneau for a while. We have to check in at the ferry tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. (ouch) for our 4 1/2 hour ride to Sitka.

Comments from Eldon: I enjoyed the scenery in Juneau and watching the salmon jumping at the hatchery, but its a small town with big city infrastructure. It has 40 mile of highway with a state trooper every 3 miles standing in the road with their radar gun. People have no where to go except "the road". The tram ride was nice and the film about the Tlingits (local Indian tribe) was interesting. Their art is cool, especially the totem poles.

Comments from Larry: Glad to get back to the great camp site, after waiting in the truck all day for my people to get done sightseeing. I hear we are getting back on the ferry tomorrow. I'd rather stay in Juneau...................

Taken last week in where else? Chicken. We had other great

pictures to post, but connection is slow I give up. It's time to

go eat the ribs Eldon is grilling for supper.

Mendenhall Glacier - Juneau

Steve and Julie with Eldon at Haines campground

Oldest light house in Alaska; taken on ferry to Juneau.

We are now in Juneau. Seems such a big city after being in small towns and roads with no traffic. Old Juneau is built on the mountainside and pretty. The downtown is crowded with cruise ship business. The weird thing about Juneau (the capital) is that you have to arrive by air or water. You cannot drive to Juneau. The main road is 40 miles long. It looks like a typical city of 30,000 people with Walmart, etc.; just don't plan on a road trip if you live here. The campground we wanted to go to first was closed due to flooding. It is very close to the glacier; the road to the campground was closed too. We found out why when we went to the glacier today. A glacial ice dam melted and released a glacial lake of water. It has happened in small amounts before, but never like this. It is now receding, but sounds like it was a big deal. It is an awesome glacier - trust me we've seen a lot of them to judge by. Lots of deep blue color (it has something to do with light reflection but if you want to know more, Google it because I can't tell you) and ice bergs.

Comments from Eldon: So far Haines wins as my favorite Alaskan town - so darn friendly and the town reminds me of St. Ignace. I got one layer of dirt off the truck, it's not clean but you can tell what color it is. The ferry ride to Juneau was scenic - also so relaxing I fell asleep. I woke up to a ranger telling me a baby whale was beside us - never been woken up that way before. Didn't get a good picture though - whales don't pose. Juneau has the nicest glacier we've seen. Some glaciers look like old snow banks, this one (called Mendenhall) bluer and has lots of icebergs floating around.

Comments from Larry: The boat ride to Juneau was purgatory - even worse than the ride from Skagway to Haines because it was longer. It is loud, dark and scary. But I like the camp ground in Juneau. Few cars, few dogs and lots of woods and bushes to hide in.

Made it to Juneau - will try to catch up tomorrow.

Wed., July 20, 2011: Haines is definitely one of our favorite Alaska towns. Easy to get around in - lots of friendly people. They only get one cruise ship a week and today is their lucky day. Our pot luck crab dinner was canceled last night because it was too windy for the boat to go out. We are on for tonight though. I'm am taking my famous Rice-A-Roni for the potluck and a loaf of sour dough bread. Today we drove a few miles out of town where we heard there is a mother brown bear and 2 cubs hanging around, but luck wasn't on our side today. Then we drove to the Eagle Preserve; again luck wasn't on our side. But we have seen several eagles at the camp site. We then went to Bald Eagle Foundation and saw stuffed ones. Actually saw all the Alaska mammals, birds and fish stuffed. We have to be at the ferry at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow - the ferry ride to Juneau is about 4 hours.
Comments from Eldon: No comment - at the car wash trying to get a lot of dirt off the truck.
Comments from Larry: No comment - at the car wash trying to bury himself under all the pillows and blankets to hide from the car wash.

Tues., July 19, 2011:
We arrived in Skagway on Sunday. Another stunning drive - this state (plus Yukon & B.C.) just keeps on giving. The gold miners that made this trek in the 1890's were a brave and crazy bunch. We should have stopped to take pictures, but I guess we are on scenery overload! Skagway is another attractive gold rush town. It is surrounded by mountains and water. The buildings are brightly painted like Dawson City and it also follows the gold rush theme. When the cruise ships aren't in, it is a great place to walk around. When the cruise ships are in, it is very, very crowded. It is a town of 800 residents. Sunday there were 3 cruise ships in port; on Monday there were 4. The Alaska economy is very dependent on the cruise ship crowds. I finally found my first antique shop. Our luck for not reserving ahead held. Yesterday we purchased our tickets for the Inside Passage. We were going to stay at Skagway on Monday night too, but left yesterday at 5:00 p.m. instead of taking the 7:00 a.m. Tuesday trip. After a one hour ferry ride we arrived in Haines about 6:00. This may turn out to be one of my favorite Alaska towns. Will let you know after I see more of it. I'm at the library on the computer right now. When we pulled into the water side campground - Julie and Steve from Colorado were here. Is that crazy? Tonight the campground owner is having a potluck. For $6.00 each, they provide fresh crab and every one brings a dish to pass. Guess what we are eating tonight??!! Our ferry stops besides Haines will be Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. We get off at Prince Rupert, British Columbia on July 31. Then it's time to head home. Eldon & Larry are back at the camper, so I took notes for them......
Comments from Eldon: Haines looks like a real town. Skagway was nice, but very touristy like Dawson City. I am looking forward to the ferry ride and the stops along the way, but I'm not ready to head home yet!
Comments from Larry: The birds in Haines are harrassing me, especially the ravens. They swoop down on me and cackle. I can't concentrate on my hunting. Nice town though.

Sorry no pictures this time...............