Haines/Juneau/Glacier Bay, AK (by Jordan)

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We got to Haines Hitch-Up RV Park and then we went to the library. Mom made dinner.

We went to Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site. At the bridge we saw 5 cubs and 2 mama bears catching fish. One cub even caught one and had a feast! I enjoyed my Tootsie Roll while watching them. Then we went to bed.

Bears in Haines, AK

The next morning we started packing up to go on a 6 day trip to go to Glacier Bay National Park.

We got the Jeep and put the bunnies in it. Then we left for Haines Ferry Terminal. We waited and put the car in lane 1.While waiting, we went inside the waiting room and did a puzzle.

When the ferry boarded at the dock, we drove the Jeep into the car section of the Le Conte. It was really tightly packed!

Stuffed cars in the ferry

We went up the stairs to find a seat in the dining area until lunch time. We all got a soda. We ate spaghetti. My soda, a Coca-Cola, slightly fell off the table when I opened it and the pressure was ginormous and started to spew out. Dad opened it up the rest of the way and it went up to the ceiling! I bet everyone in the cafeteria saw that! I got some Coke in my spaghetti, but I couldn't taste it. We had dinner on the boat, too, without a soda.

We saw a rainbow on the ferry

We got off at Juneau late and arrived at an Airbnb. It was SO NICE! It was like a real house and I haven't been in a real one in like a year! There was a real kitchen, two queen beds and a pullout couch. We started getting ready for bed and went to bed.

In the morning, I woke up and set the table for breakfast at 6:30 AM. I was rested. When the boys came out, Caleb built a fort. Then we did a pillow pile and jumped into it sideways, belly flop, back flop, cannonball, pencil, sitdown and many other ways. We did awesome jump shots! It was fun! Then Caleb built another fort and I built my own.

Then Mom and Caleb played Scrabble. Asher and I played Clue (we played Clue awhile ago at Nana and Gramps's house).  Dad slept and slept and slept.

Then we went to lunch at Zerelda's Bistro. I had BBQ and I kind of liked it. After that, we went to Mendenhall Glacier. It was big and we could see it while we were driving there. When we parked there was a pattern of Jeeps: red Jeep, car, our Jeep, car, and a green Jeep.

We went to the Visitors Center and listened to three ranger talks. We found out that the glacier could disappear from view in 50 years.

We hiked the Nugget Falls trail. Playing in the sand on the beach at Nugget Falls was fun! I am pretty bored of waterfalls now that we have seen like a hundred.

Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Glacier

Nugget Falls

We built small sand towns


The glacier was pretty with its bright white and pale blue colors. We went back to the Airbnb and had spaghetti and watched Finding Dory.

We woke up early the next morning to catch the Ferry to Gustavis, pronounced "Gust-A-vis." Personally, I think it should be pronounced GOOst-ah-vis.

We saw a porcupine on the side of the road. We arrived and went to the Glacier Bay Campground, set up and went to the warming shelter to have a fire. We went to a ranger talk and Sonya talked about her native Tlingit people. We went back to our tent.

Since it was raining we stayed in our tents and got ready for bed and went to sleep. I was up a couple times that night because of hard rain, soft rain and the trees dripping.


We took the bunnies out to eat because there was no grass on the ferry and they had been couped up in the Jeep and they needed some exercise.


Camping at Glacier Bay NP
Humpback whale bones


We went to the Glacier Bay tour boat early that morning. I liked seeing the puffins, whales, and Steller sea lions. I also liked seeing Margerie Glacier and going through the icebergs. I really liked seeing the water spouts from the whales. I drank lots of complimentary hot chocolate. I got to paint with watercolors and glacier water. That was fun! I painted a tufted puffin, water and a sunset with mountains, and a bunny on its hind legs.


Stellar sea lions

Icebergs

Margerie Glacier


When we got back we did another fire at the warming shelter. We met Trisha. We found out that we had crossed paths with her multiple times in Alaska. We saw her in passing on the Gates of the Arctic/and Kobuk Valley plane ride. She waved to us as we took off. She was on the ferry ride when mom pointed out the rainbow to her.

We went to another ranger talk that night about maps. Then we went to sleep in our tents. We got up and got packed up. Then we went to some tidepools. Then we went to the Gustavus library to pass the time until our ferry ride. I read parts of Wings of Fire: Moon Rising.

We got back on the same ferry again, the Le Conte. There was a big truck that had trouble getting on the ferry.

We saw humpback whales and porpoises! I shared a Sprite with Caleb. We went to the Super 8 when we got back to Juneau. We ate at a McDonald's for dinner. Each of the kids got a McFlurry. All but Asher took a shower and then we went to bed.


Small eel

Bald eagle

A rainbow

Early in the morning, we went on our last ferry to Haines. When we got back to the RV Park we went to the Haines public library. Dad and I went to IGA Grocery store and I got dad a bag of Reece's Pieces for his birthday. We went back to the RV and watched Star War's #2 with pizza. Mom and Dad went to a Thai restaurant on a date called the Chilkat Restaurant and Bakery. Then we went to bed.

The next day, I decorated the house for dad's birthday.

We packed up and left on his birthday. I made sure that I tried his Reece's pieces! We went to Kroschel Wildlife Center.

A wolf, the black kind is rarer

Wolf

Red fox
Lynx
Petting a porcupine
Porcupine eating fireweed
Snowy owl

Pine marten


Baby moose calves


Wolverine


Reindeer

Kitty the Grizzly Bear


Afterwards, we stopped at a river to have a nice picnic for lunch. We saw a half dozen bald eagles.

Mom had gotten a new picnic blanket!


Then we headed to Canada!

Location: 851 Main St, Haines, AK 99827, USA

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