OK...we had an amazing time! It was the trip of a lifetime. There are SO many pictures that it will take me forever to get the whole trip blogged, and I've been putting it off until all of the necessary catching up on sleep, unpacking, housework, and church stuff were taken care of.
DAY 1: Portland to Juneau
This is the first airplane ride that the boys can remember, so it was pretty exciting for them as we were shoving out of Portland.
We arrived in Juneau after two pretty quick plane rides and we *thought* that we had 3.5 hours to kill until we were supposed to catch our ferry up to Skagway. Brent's sister (whom we were visiting in Skagway) arranged for us to have a rental car for that time so we could take a self tour of Juneau.
So we drove to downtown Juneau:
Juneau has a very pretty and quaint downtown area. It is very hilly and reminded us of San Fransisco or the Avenues in Salt Lake City. We had awesome bagels with fresh, delicious lox.
We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up turning around in no other than the Alaska Governor's Mansion driveway. It wasn't until after we were down the street that we realized it was Sarah Pallin's Governor Mansion(!)...so we went back and did it again:
Kind of interesting...
although the locals later told us that she doesn't live in Juneau when the legislative sessions are over...
she stays at her home in Wasilla with her family.
Then we drove up the highway from downtown to the 'must see' sight in Juneau...
The Mendenhall Glacier:
Big, BIG Amazing Glacier!!
It comes from a large (gigantic), continues ice/glacier field that goes for miles and miles (The Juneau ice field, which is connected to some of the glaciers that we visited later on our trip). Because of this ice field, there are no roads in or out of Juneau.
Anyway, the Mendenhall Glacier is (probably?) the only glacier on this ice field that you can drive right up to from town. All the rest are way up high in the mountains. It's just an amazing sight to see this glacier coming out of the mountains and into the valley. The glacier melts into Mendenhall Lake, and there is a visitors center there with hiking trails and cruise ship tourists galore!
...there were so many Asian tourists there that I was feeling "camera technology inferiority"!
So...we wished that we could've stayed longer to play at the Mendenhall Glacier...but we were off to catch a ferry to our final destination: Skagway.
or so we thought...
We arrived at the Ferry terminal 1/2 hour before our ferry was supposed to leave, but alas...there was NO ferry, the building was completely closed
(before the posted business hours on the door). We were dumbfounded...this was when we were introduced to what we call "Alaskan time." Oh yeah... Well, supposedly just because their official website posted the ferry departure time of 4:30 one week ago, they have every right to change that time to 3:00...leaving passengers stranded in Juneau for the night.
Well, we took a chance to look on the bright-side of the situation: we had the rental car for 24 hours and there were plenty of things left to see in Juneau...so we called our accommodation in Skagway and let them know that we wouldn't make it tonight (they were SO nice not to charge us), we called the rental car company and let them know that we were keeping the car and we found a great little Motel 8 with continental breakfast service and a VERY friendly staff! They even LOVED our kids, which unfortunately doesn't happen very often.
We found a really cool park and let the boys run off some steam. The sun came out and made for a very lovely evening. The sun is SO bright in Alaska this time of year. I found it amazing that when it's behind the clouds, it's chilly and you need a jacket. When the sun comes out, the temperature feels like it goes up 20+ degrees and the sun is scorching. And it just does NOT set...7 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock...the sun is still in the same place. We finally left to find some dinner and turn in for bed...even though at 11:00 it was still light outside.
That's all for today folks! I will try to post one day every day or so...the trip will be posted backward...but oh well!
*p.s. I'm not understanding why the font sizes are malfunctioning and I am done wasting time trying to fix it today...I hope you can read this
Our Summer Solstice celebration every year consists of celebrating this guy:
And it is fitting that he came to us on the longest and sunniest day of the year, because he is so full of SUNSHINE! Toby makes us very happy and we're so lucky that we've had him for
4 years!
And we hope for many, many more years with him.
The many moods of TOBIAS CLARK SOLSTICE JEFFERIES:
Mmmm...U pick berries at Albeke Farm.
The Yummiest berries EVER!
making strawberry jam!
This kid here is the BIGGEST strawberry fan in the house! He was by my side every moment...taking lots of samples.
School officially ended on Tuesday the 9th of June here in Oregon. Brent has Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. So of course we couldn't help ourselves to our first summer beach camping adventure of the year! We camped at Ft. Stevens State Park in the NW tip of Oregon. It was a lovely campground with bike trails and ponds...a sandy beach, and military historical sights.
The night's sleep was...not so well. Our air mattress had a hole, so Brent and I slept on the boy's thin foam pad. I thought that I would be okay with all my extra pillows...but let's just say that by morning my hips felt like they were crushed. I felt so fragile. It was kind of a test run for Girls Camp, which I will be going to in a few weeks as a Unit leader for second year campers (13 year old girls). Let's just say that I am seriously taking a second look at my sleeping arrangements for camp. I guess it's better now than in a few weeks, huh?
But after a shifty night's sleep (for Brent too) we ended up having a fabulous day exploring the park.
#1
Shipwreck Matey!
Shipwreck on the beach at Ft. Stevens!! This is the grand
Peter Iredale shipwrek, which ran ashore on October 25, 1906 en route to the Columbia River. It is one of the most accessible shipwrecks of
the Graveyard of the Pacific.
(Thanks rusting metal beam for conveniently hiding my humongous belly)
#2
Battery Russell is an old military fort ruin on the peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Colombia River.
The boys reading up on the site...surveying the scene.
The Warning sign on our way in...
Some pictures from the lower ammunition bunker and quarters
A fun little nook to sit in
Brent says this ring chained the gigantic guns in place...
The gigantic guns were situated in these pits. I'm not much of a military person, but Brent had a couple of brothers into (and in) the military. So he knew enough about what they did here. It was a place set up in 1904-1905 to defend the entrance of the Colombia River. You cannot see the River or the Ocean from this place, but Brent said that with proper coordinates of where the invading ships were, these big guns could be aimed just right... Battery Russell was attacked by a Japanese submarine during WWII, which was subsequently out of range of the gigantic guns.
exploring the outside was an adventure...
exploring the nooks and crannies of the inside (with a flashlight) was fascinating
Some pictures that made me feel like we were in a ruin
Way ADORABLE picture of Joshy, huh?
Some wild roses right behind the structure
honey bee
#3 (as if this wasn't already long enough!)
more beach time! this time on the Colombia river side of the peninsula
They boys made a giant sundial on in the sand
And everyone participated in sand angels because the sand was soft and silty and warm...
...except me. I got down on the sand and it was so comfortable that I couldn't get up. It was totally peaceful and serene (in the middle of a bird refuge with no signs of humanity). I was finally comfortable, so I fell down for a little nap.
My nice, nice husband took the boys for a hike around the peninsula to give me some peace. When I woke up, flies were biting my legs and I was really stuck in the sand. I waited for Brent to come back and he was talking and walking with some elderly folks (he makes friends with everybody!). The boys were soaked...of course they could not keep out of the water. Toby had collected a fist full of eagle feathers. We met a doctor visiting from Pennsylvania and the boys had a ball with his very cool dog 'Buddy'.
#4
Clatsop Indian Long house and some of the
big guns
The doorway to the Longhouse was just the right size for Tobe...he liked that.
Inside the Longhouse...posing like the statue (nothing to hide that big belly here!)
Inside
Our one token picture with a gun (the ones at Battery Russell were larger than this)
#5
Astoria
What a charming little town on a hill overlooking the vast expanse of ocean and river on 3 sides. We've been here before, but this time we really NOTICED how nice they are fixing up this town (where 'Goonies' was filmed 20 years ago). We had some yummy treats from a Scandinavian bakery and took the shoreline trolley through town. The trolley is a great recommendation if you are ever up there...the tour guide had all kinds of great information about the town.
This is the first airplane ride that the boys can remember, so it was pretty exciting for them as we were shoving out of Portland.
Juneau has a very pretty and quaint downtown area. It is very hilly and reminded us of San Fransisco or the Avenues in Salt Lake City. We had awesome bagels with fresh, delicious lox.
Big, BIG Amazing Glacier!!
