More Juneau

Monday morning we visited the Alaskan Brewery. We were able to use the local bus system to get around a fair amount.

Monday afternoon and most of Tuesday Alaska's GWA drove us around, showing us some things outside the city like a cool old church, a labyrinth, and that the old Masonic Lodge is now used for State offices.

We also looked for bears. It only takes a little more than an hour to drive from the end of road north of Juneau to one on the south. The only ways into Juneau are via air or sea. She also drove us around Douglas Island a bit, as the island is connected to the mainland via bridge.

On our last night we spent some time with members of the local Rainbow Assembly. We flew home yesterday. We loved our trips to Alaska and hope to go back some day. 

Whale Watching

On Sunday we did a day tour I booked through Viator. The tour company picked us up near the cruise docks and took us up to the Mendenhall Glacier, where we checked out the visitor center and hiked out to the glacier. While it's not a National Park Site, but rather part of the National Forest system, it did have a Junior Ranger program, which Jennifer completed.

Next the tour bus took us Auke Bay Harbor, where we boarded a boat so we could see whales.

We saw several, as well as eagles. We also enjoyed seeing all the mountains surrounding the Juneau area. After our tour we met up with the GWA of Alaska again and had dinner nearby.

Juneau

On Friday, we returned to Alaska, this time flying up to Juneau to spend a few days checking out the city and the surrounding area. Our hotel was north of town by the airport. Saturday morning we took the public bus to downtown and walked around.

We then walked south of town to where the cruise ships docked and looked around the shops. We took the tram up to Mount Roberts to admire the view below. There's a visitor center on top with a small shop, cafe, and museum, as well as a nature trail. The island across from the harbor is Douglas Island.

In the afternoon Alaska's Grand Worthy Advisor drove us around, showing us some things outside the city like the fish hatchery and the university campus.