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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Juneau, Alaska

May 9, 2016

I woke up around 4 and it was already light enough for me to see Alaska.  I took a couple of pictures and went back to sleep. I got up around 9:15.

Juneau is the capital city of Alaska but only has a year round population just over 30,000.  The only way into Juneau is by air or by boat.  It started with the discovery of gold by Joe Juneau and Richard Harris in 1880.  It has one fast food restaurant - McDonald's - and one shopping mall that has 5 stores.  There is also a small Costco.  Sunrise today was 4:42 am and sunset 9:05 pm.

Trivia was at 10:30.  I played with my Cruise Critic friends and won with 13 out of 15.

1.What living thing can jump 130x its height?
2.How many eyes on a standard deck of cards?
3.What is the chemical symbol for Mercury?
4.For what movie did Julie Andrews win an Oscar in 1964?
5.What is Indonesia's greatest export?

After trivia I had lunch in the Lido.  Then back to my cabin.  We arrived early (were due in at 1 pm) so I set up a hotspot with my cell phone to save my internet minutes onboard.  Filled out my survey on my last cruise because they only give you a week to fill it in.

At 1:30 I went up to the Crow's Nest to read before my tour.  I had about 30 pages left in my book and I wanted to put it on the book exchange shelf.  Was I ever surprised to look up and see the Westerdam sailing by!

My tour met on the pier at 2:35.  We left about 2:45 for the Mendenhall Glacier which is in the Tongass National Forest.  Although the morning had started out nicely, by the time we arrived at the Visitor's Center it had started to drizzle.  Luckily it was in the low 50s with very little wind.

The Mendenhall Glacier is 13 miles long but is getting smaller every day thanks to global warming.  The Visitor Center had a good movie about the changes that are taking place.  We had an hour and a half at the glacier before driving back into the city.

The other part of the tour was a ticket for the Mt. Roberts Tramway which takes you 1800 feet up Mt. Roberts.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived the clouds had lowered and there was not much of a view.  I did not spend long at the top but I did ride at the very front of the car as it descended (and I hate heights!).

Walked back to the ship looking in some of the shops but did not buy anything.  Arrived back onboard just after 6:30.

I played evening trivia with my usual evening group and we won with 14 out of 16.

1.What is the driest desert in the world?
2.Of all the countries in the world what is the most common means of execution?
3.What is the only Arab country without a desert?
4.What herb did Shakespeare say was for remembrance?
5.What is the name of the dog in Peter Pan?

I had told my table mates that I was not coming to dinner tonight and ate at the "Klondike Gold Rush Dinner in the Lido.  I had very good beef tenderloin and a delicious wild berry pie with double cream.  The wait staff all wore plaid flannel shirts and suspenders.

There was supposed to be a TV Theme Song Contest in the Piano Bar at 8:45 but Mike, the piano player, decided that there were not enough Americans onboard to play.  I think either he didn't want to do it or forgot to prepare for it because US TV shows have been seen around most of the world for years.  After listening to him for a couple of songs I came back to my cabin since I have an early (and long) tour tomorrow.  The show performer was Bayne Bacon who I did not go to see last week on the Westerdam, either although I heard he was quite good.

We pulled out just after 9:30 and I watched as we left the Celebrity Solstice and the Westerdam.



Early morning views


View from balcony 






Above are some street scenes of Juneau


One of the elementary schools (all are built with a fence around them to help keep out the bears


The walk up to the...


...Visitor Center (I took the elevator)



The only bears I want to see up close


The Mendenhall Glacier


Pieces that have broken off


Rowers


More of the glacier


My. Roberts Tramway


View from the top


The Nieuw Amsterdam and the Westerdam 


View of the boardwalk to the ship and the Mt. Roberts Tramway




Flags along the boardwalk

Morning trivia
1.flea
2.42
3.Hg
4.Mary Poppins
5.petroleum

Evening trivia
1.Atacama
2.firing squad
3.Lebanon
4.rosemary
5.Nana


Smooth sailing until next time!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Kathi, Good to see you're doing well with trivia! After reading your posts from the South Pacific I was reminded of how many times we managed to come in 2nd. Those darn Artichokes! But we did have fun! We did manage to win drinks the last day with the new CD.
    Have a great time in Alaska and a safe trip home. --Susie

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