Joni's Jottings

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

We were exceedingy grateful that Friday dawned clear and sunny. We were flying out to Juneau in the afternoon, so this morning was and the last chance to take our much anticipated – and much delayed – wildlife boat tour on the Orca Inlet. After another light breakfast (ahem), we loaded up in a van … Read more

On Wednesday and Thursday, we got to experience the “rain” part of southast Alaska’s temperate rainforest.  The skies were gray, the clouds hung close and the rain just kept a-dripping. We took the mornings off, and ventured into town for lunch and afternoon explorations of Cordova hotspots. We tried, once again, to have lunch at … Read more