Inside Passage Alaska, Sept 2nd
On the Inside Passage ferry, the Malaspina and guess what they have, yep a ferry bar, no not that kind of ferry, but sitting here talking to a couple from Dallas Texas and yes, it’s a male and female couple. Was talking to them, but that was until they needed to leave to have a smoke and get a little sleep. We were talking of the different places we visited in Alaska, and they did one I missed Eagle, but it’s a dirt road north of Chicken…remember the mud I had to ride thru that day, my first day in Alaska? that it doesn’t sound like I missed anything and would have been more of a muddy mess than what I already was that day. Oh, and you’ll never guess what I woke up to this morning, well was first woken up really early when the boyz headed out to catch their 4:45am ferry, but sunshine in Juneau. The 14th day of sun in Juneau since May 1st and it’s gotta be something how my timing is working out…now we’ll see if I can go the entire day without rain or some form of precipitation cuz it will then be my first dry day in Alaska – so far, no rain.
Got kicked out of the hostel again, ok it’s that 9:00 lockout, that headed back down to Doc Water’s for a little breakfast and internet connection to get yesterdays blog out there. Not a lot of pictures for a rainy day in Juneau, but had a great time with the boyz and visited some of the downtown bars we missed the night before…what a night and thanks guys for the note this morning. It was great meeting you too and count on our paths crossing again, cuz like you said, ‘Do the World’, that I may do just that. Belly full and although I’m pretty tired, have few hours to blow and there is a lot of Juneau to see, especially on a sunny day…remember number 14 this summer. Decided the best way to find out what to see and directions would be from my personal tour guide, Svey, that stopped into the Hanger to see whether she was getting the afternoon off for a ride, but not today. Anyway, did get some directions and will be able to see most if not all of Juneau in no time…5 minutes south the road ends and 40 miles north of that spot, the same thing, end of the road that you can look for it, both ends in an hour. Did make a stop at the Mendenhall Glacier just out of town and got some great shots of another glacier. Can’t get to the glacier unless I take a swim, but like the ranger said, it may be a bit chilly in my birthday suit, ok, I think she was getting at something, but no need to go there.
You can see from the pictures that there are a lot of waterfalls around the place and saw my share on the way south of Juneau, but none of them as big as the one I saw by the glacier…even got a video clip that not only the sites are something to see, but the sounds and like Paul said,. remember one of the boyz? the smells are incredible. Saw a number of wildlife around the glacier park, Salmon and a bald eagle that I wish I would’ve gotten a picture of him flying in, but still no bear, the one thing I’m still waiting to see in Alaska, and guess what, yep, finally saw one. That was on my way back from the other end of the highway, you no, no way into or outta Juneau other than ferry that the road doesn’t go far. Anyway, the bear was down the hill about 25 yards doing a little fishing and ok, if he charged he’d be up the hill faster than I’d be on my bike and gone, but there are some other vehicles around that we’re just enjoying watching him catch the fish and eat them, and the one thing I was surprised by was how long it takes him to eat a fish. Also something I got a video clip of, not only was he fast catching that big fish you see in his mouth, but you can hear the crunch of the bones with his munch…now that’s wicked.
The ferry is waiting and although I got there an hour ahead of time, the lady at the counter gave me a scolding saying that I should’ve been in line 2 hours before the ship leaves. Not sure why since it didn’t start boarding until 45 minutes before it leaves, but oh well, I’m here, the boats here so I’m ok. This ferry doesn’t have any tie downs either, but Woody the first engineer gave me a set he bought to haul his bike, that as long as I promise to return them, not a problem. Like I told him I’m a little strapped for space with everything else I have on the bike that you don’t have to worry about that and I guess that’s why they don’t have any on board any more, too many of them stolen. Did see some other bikes parked in front of the cars and RVs tied down, but they were BMWs or other brands that they gave me my own corner for the bike…Harley’s even have priority with the crew. Ok that has me being as guilty as many and wondering why we do it, but instead of referring to it as a Harley Davidson, most of the time we call it a Harley…I suppose had they named it Davidson Harley, we’d be calling it a Davidson, but probably not cuz it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. Ok, just an observation, but observe what my sleeping arrangement is going to be tonight, the Solarium with a number of other camper types, but there are heat lamps that will be plenty warm and at least out of that rain, that could just make this my first day in Alaska without rain…finally.
Well once on board and the bike tied down tried meeting as many people as I could, maybe not, but did talk to one of the owners of the other bike, Mike and the group is from the Phoenix area and had their bikes hauled to Seattle where they rode them north and am going to ride them back only as far as Bellingham…well, not really riding since their on the ferry from Juneau, but having them hauled home from there – now that’s not the kind of riding you should be doing, ride it all the way, oh yea, like our group does every year for Sturgis, but that’s a different story. Got to meet some of the crew in the bar, at least those that are off duty cuz there are two crews on board, but nice meeting them and learned a few more things about Alaska and Juneau in particular, that maybe I’ll fill you in at that tomorrow. Bar closed early and I’m pretty beat that might as well try to get some sleep cuz I know I’ll be up for a few pictures thru the night, when we stop at a couple of ports along the way. Juneau and Inside Passage Pictures.
Got kicked out of the hostel again, ok it’s that 9:00 lockout, that headed back down to Doc Water’s for a little breakfast and internet connection to get yesterdays blog out there. Not a lot of pictures for a rainy day in Juneau, but had a great time with the boyz and visited some of the downtown bars we missed the night before…what a night and thanks guys for the note this morning. It was great meeting you too and count on our paths crossing again, cuz like you said, ‘Do the World’, that I may do just that. Belly full and although I’m pretty tired, have few hours to blow and there is a lot of Juneau to see, especially on a sunny day…remember number 14 this summer. Decided the best way to find out what to see and directions would be from my personal tour guide, Svey, that stopped into the Hanger to see whether she was getting the afternoon off for a ride, but not today. Anyway, did get some directions and will be able to see most if not all of Juneau in no time…5 minutes south the road ends and 40 miles north of that spot, the same thing, end of the road that you can look for it, both ends in an hour. Did make a stop at the Mendenhall Glacier just out of town and got some great shots of another glacier. Can’t get to the glacier unless I take a swim, but like the ranger said, it may be a bit chilly in my birthday suit, ok, I think she was getting at something, but no need to go there.
You can see from the pictures that there are a lot of waterfalls around the place and saw my share on the way south of Juneau, but none of them as big as the one I saw by the glacier…even got a video clip that not only the sites are something to see, but the sounds and like Paul said,. remember one of the boyz? the smells are incredible. Saw a number of wildlife around the glacier park, Salmon and a bald eagle that I wish I would’ve gotten a picture of him flying in, but still no bear, the one thing I’m still waiting to see in Alaska, and guess what, yep, finally saw one. That was on my way back from the other end of the highway, you no, no way into or outta Juneau other than ferry that the road doesn’t go far. Anyway, the bear was down the hill about 25 yards doing a little fishing and ok, if he charged he’d be up the hill faster than I’d be on my bike and gone, but there are some other vehicles around that we’re just enjoying watching him catch the fish and eat them, and the one thing I was surprised by was how long it takes him to eat a fish. Also something I got a video clip of, not only was he fast catching that big fish you see in his mouth, but you can hear the crunch of the bones with his munch…now that’s wicked.
The ferry is waiting and although I got there an hour ahead of time, the lady at the counter gave me a scolding saying that I should’ve been in line 2 hours before the ship leaves. Not sure why since it didn’t start boarding until 45 minutes before it leaves, but oh well, I’m here, the boats here so I’m ok. This ferry doesn’t have any tie downs either, but Woody the first engineer gave me a set he bought to haul his bike, that as long as I promise to return them, not a problem. Like I told him I’m a little strapped for space with everything else I have on the bike that you don’t have to worry about that and I guess that’s why they don’t have any on board any more, too many of them stolen. Did see some other bikes parked in front of the cars and RVs tied down, but they were BMWs or other brands that they gave me my own corner for the bike…Harley’s even have priority with the crew. Ok that has me being as guilty as many and wondering why we do it, but instead of referring to it as a Harley Davidson, most of the time we call it a Harley…I suppose had they named it Davidson Harley, we’d be calling it a Davidson, but probably not cuz it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. Ok, just an observation, but observe what my sleeping arrangement is going to be tonight, the Solarium with a number of other camper types, but there are heat lamps that will be plenty warm and at least out of that rain, that could just make this my first day in Alaska without rain…finally.
Well once on board and the bike tied down tried meeting as many people as I could, maybe not, but did talk to one of the owners of the other bike, Mike and the group is from the Phoenix area and had their bikes hauled to Seattle where they rode them north and am going to ride them back only as far as Bellingham…well, not really riding since their on the ferry from Juneau, but having them hauled home from there – now that’s not the kind of riding you should be doing, ride it all the way, oh yea, like our group does every year for Sturgis, but that’s a different story. Got to meet some of the crew in the bar, at least those that are off duty cuz there are two crews on board, but nice meeting them and learned a few more things about Alaska and Juneau in particular, that maybe I’ll fill you in at that tomorrow. Bar closed early and I’m pretty beat that might as well try to get some sleep cuz I know I’ll be up for a few pictures thru the night, when we stop at a couple of ports along the way. Juneau and Inside Passage Pictures.
posted by Dalej Webb at 10:24 PM
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