On Monday morning we woke up early, as our ship was making its way into Juneau, which was our first port. We dressed and headed upstairs for breakfast, followed by taking some photos from the deck of the ship. The air was chilly but not too cold, and the view was beautiful.
The ship docked, and we all lined up to get off and go into town. Juneau is a really quaint little place. We didn’t have a lot of time before our tour for the day started, but we browsed a few of the shops.
Then it was time for our tour, which included zip-lining and the Mendenhall Glacier! We all piled onto a tour van and the tour guide drove us out to the ski hill where the zip-line course is set up. We were very excited, particularly Granny, who somehow ended up agreeing to go with us (although apparently she didn’t quite know what she was getting herself into).
They got us all rigged up with harnesses and gear, gave us a thorough safety tutorial, and then off we went to the platform.
It was a little nerve-wracking getting set up to step off the platform. We were quite a ways off the ground, but after some moments of trepidation, there was a lot of exhilaration! It was awesome!
219. Ride a zip line
We had an amazing time. It was so much fun, and I am hoping I get the chance to do it again sometime. Maybe in the rain forest someday!
After we were done the course, we all jumped back into the tour van and headed for the Mendenhall Glacier. Being the end of August, we were visiting Alaska right at the tail end of a salmon run. I’ve never seen a live salmon before, so it was rather exciting, even if most of them were already starting to die.
133. See the salmon run
Of course the glacier was spectacular. It’s very difficult to appreciate the vastness until you’re actually there in front of it.
After we visited the glacier, we went back to the boat for supper, and then Mike and I headed back into Juneau to do some shopping. We picked up some post cards, browsed the jewelry shops, and generally wandered around until it was time to board the boat again before it departed. We were pretty played out from our exciting day out, so we went to bed early in anticipation of the following day!