When we got to Juneau, we never visited the town; we just got on the bus, went to the boat, and saw WHALES.

Judy’s Journal: Wednesday

During the night we passed into the Alaskan time zone, where we gained an hour. Jim, the noble one, was up early, did his exercises in the “fitness” room, and walked around the decks, clocking 1 1/2 miles before breakfast. Still traveling toward Juneau, our first port of call, I’ve spent the morning back at my library window reading and writing. At breakfast we had our first glimpses os whales, mostly flopping tails and glow spouts. We are looking forward to our whale-watching tour this afternoon at 3:00, and stepping on to Alaskan soil for the first time.

[later]

WOW! We boarded busses, ours driven by Sage–a gregarious and humorous person–and rode 25 minutes through Juneau to the boats that would take us out to see whales and wildlife in the area. Before long we spotted our whales and were excited about each flip of the tail. The double decker boat offered sheltered seats as well as an open back deck which of course we and many others used for pictures. Jim took one of the only pics of a whale leaping and twisting in the air–a feat we had been told not to expect as the whales in this area did not often do–what luck to see that. But the most amazing sight was bubble net feeding. The whale pod circled a school of herring deep under water, gathering them into a net of “bubbles” and forcing them up toward the surface where the entire pod of whales surfaced, heads first, bursting, mouths open into the air, gulping herring. It was an incredible sight and according to the naturalist guide, fairly rare to see.

So the excursion was a success!

Judy’s Journal: Thursday

A day of traveling and a stop in Skagway–a tourist trap town much like Gatlinburg or any town which is open mainly for tourists. We did walk the town, but “resisted” the 31 jewelry stores for the most part. In one, we admired local crafts and for some reason began talking to one salesperson who had been showing Sara carved ivory and tusk knives. She brought one item from the case, a curiosity, not for sale to show us. It was a fossilized walrus penis. Two feet long. We all got our picture made holding it. Why? I don’t know. We could have bought earrings made from slices of these. Evidently the things are not rare.