Joni's Jottings

On our last full day in Juneau, we visited major landmarks and museums, did a quick auto tour of the residential area up top, and took a walk at a trailhead in the mountains above downtown. Our first stop was a visit  to Takhu, the  Whale Sculpture, on the northern end of Juneau’s waterfront. Takhu … Read more

We had nothing scheduled on Tuesday, and decided to have an slow day. Crystal & Gary wanted to hike, so Matt drove them to a trailhead on the north end of Douglas Island. (Alaska won’t let you add an extra driver to a rental car contract unless it’s a spouse, so Matt got stuck doing … Read more

Monday was a bit of an upside-down day for us. We were originally booked for a day-long Tracy Arm boat tour on Sunday, with our whale watching trip scheduled for Monday, but the Tracy Arm operator cancelled on the Friday before so we had to scramble. Fortunately, the folks at Harv and Marv’s were able … Read more

Sunday morning we went whale watching with Harv’s and Marv’s Outback Alaska in the ocean passages west of Juneau. We departed from the Auke Bay Boat Harbor, located northwest of downtown Juneau, right at the foot of the Mendenhall Valley. Auke Bay was developed by the Feds in the 1950s as a research facility to … Read more

On Saturday, our first full day in Juneau, we took advantage of a bright and sunny day to visit the Mendenhall Glacier, located just 12 miles from downtown Juneau. First, a word about the area’s geography.  Downtown Juneau (and the ferry dock) is tucked into a narrow and reatively flat stretch of coast on the west … Read more