Day 10 1 July 2007 Juneau, AK

[wingdesigner]

Hah! Thought I'd leave you stranded and hungry in Anchorage, didn't you? Well, turns out Anchorage airport has a rather nice little buffet restaurant with fresh fruit, cereal, and cook-to-order stuff. Had more reindeer sausage--pretty good stuff. By now that sinus infection is full-blown, including clogged ears. OK on the ascent, but couldn't clear the tubes on the descent into Juneau. What pain! From my ear right down the jawline. Took hours for the pain to go away and to be able to hear again. And I'm looking at three more flights in the next five days. Great. I was loaded up on every form of decongestant/antihistamine KTM, to no avail. Suddenly the trip didn't look so great anymore with the prospect of ruptured eardrums in my future!

The bus ride from the airport into Juneau proper followed one of the many inlets that swiss-cheese the "panhandle" of AK. This one's called Gastineau Channel and the local cable channel has the Channel Channel. One can tune in to see how foggy it is or isn't, which determines the length of delay into/out of Juneau airport. It was low tide (of course! Any time we followed the coast in AK it was always low tide, no matter the time of day. Wierd) and there were a couple of bald eagles out on the exposed rocks looking for dinner. Now, it's low tide, right? And there are five, count 'em, FIVE cruise ships in the port of Juneau. Talk about your timing. One was so big she had to anchor in the middle of the harbour and tender her passengers in. We'll get to that in a minute. First, we checked into our hotel, an old-style cinderblock structure, no elevators (lifts). We did get a ground-floor room so the old knees wouldn't scream along with the eardrums. I literally couldn't hear, no matter how loud, so I just pointed to written things and the spouse had to do the talking. Interesting challenge. The CO cousin was still in tow so she took up some of the slack. She's an EMT and did check my ears for blood (none found). Spouse went right to sleep as jet lag finally caught up and lack of sleep for the last couple of nights. (Your writer's snoring might have had something to do with that, too...)

Cousin dragged my poor feet downtown to see the Red Dog Saloon. Huh? My dogs are already twice their normal size and howling and I have to go to a saloon? Oh Puh-leeze! This was where I was astounded at the number of ships in town, effectively log-jamming the place with "boat trash". Not to mention it was around 5:00 p.m. local time and "rush hour" in the harbour. Juneau is only accessible to the rest of AK and the world by air or water. The paved roads one sees in town don't go very far. Juneau is hemmed in by mountains and the sea. We watched a half-dozen float planes come and go several times, ferrying passengers in and out of the float-port. Somebody told us these were workers who lived in several bedroom communities surrounding Juneau and worked in town, either in the tourist industry or government (Juneau is the capitol of AK). I bet those pilots just hated dodging ships, tenders and whatever else trying to get their passengers where they were supposed to be. Fascinating to watch, though. High tide was scheduled for late at night, so no horn-blowing by the departing cruise ships. Really. My hearing had returned by then. Thank God.

So, we made a beeline for the Red Dog, and found it to be much like the old Farrell's ice cream shoppes, with liquor. And a live pianist. Who really earned his pay, worked the crowd quite professionally, and (poor thing) strapped on wrist braces after each set. I bet he iced down his arms, too! He coined the term "boat trash" to refer to the swarms of tourists. Cuz & I had been warned not to ignore the pianist if we passed by him, so she winked at him and I gave him my best "Frodo nod". He didn't say a word, just kept playing. Several minutes later another couple passed by and didn't acknowlede him. Hooo boy! He stopped playing/singing, hollered at them and generally embarassed them, much to the delight of the howling crowd. Now you know, fellow travellers: if you get to Juneau and you're a little thirsty and hungry, and kinda bored, head to the Red Dog Saloon; they have good burgers at reasonable (for AK) prices, a drink for any taste; but whatever you do, BE NICE TO THE PIANO PLAYER!!

OK, now for the rest of the town. Or at least the six blocks I could walk without my feet screaming, walking staff notwithstanding. There is a cable car at the end of the docks that takes you up to the top of the mountain at your left shoulder. Mendenhall glacier is a short flight out of town. The author of "Alaska for Dummies" lives here. None of which got done because the clouds were down to facade level in town. This was our first tast of "Pacific rain forest" weather. Needed our coats for the first time since hitting AK. A blessing in disguise, really, as we only had the one day and after our so far whirlwind trip, we all needed a rest. Note: a good three-season, waterproof coat with a hood will serve you well in the summer. Layer up/down as needed, but the waterproof part is what you need, with some insulation. Umbrellas are a nuisance and will instantly peg you as "tourist". Besides, in cruise ports of call like Juneau, it's so jam-packed that brollys can become downright dangerous. Much more efficent to have the right coat.

Cuz and I walked back to our hotel; I confirmed our next flight, printed boarding passes and confirmation for next day in Sitka; cuz printed her boarding pass for return to CO. Went back to the hotel room, which was very basic, a double bed and a twin! And those same darn cellophane pillows. Laid down to rest for a bit. When spouse woke up we went back to Red Dog for dinner. Passed by the local volunteer band setting up at the bandshell for a concert, and were able to get into some of the shops as a couple of the smaller ships had left. Apparently the tide was coming in. Stumbled upon some local hotshot photog signing his work, so I purchased a shot of a glacier I didn't see and he signed it for me. We talked cameras for a few seconds before his next "hound" came up. Rather pleasant, that.

As this was a Sunday, some of the museums and local interest stuff was closed, but we could admire the artwork on the outside. Juneau is terraced into the hillside. If you go on the Web and look for Juneau Webcams, you can see the street and float-port where we walked! You can also see how the town is built into the hillsides. Well, you can if you tune in during the three hours or so of daylight this time of year... Because of the surrounding mountains it actually got dark enough to make the streetlights come on, but I wouldn't call it true "dark", not enough to see stars (if the clouds weren't there). The low clouds and mist gave the place an air of mystery. After the crowds thinned it was kind of fun to roam around, er, limp around... We headed back to the hotel, which because of the cinderblock construction amplified every little sound from outside. Cuz had an early flight out, so we said our good-byes. I took all the towels and made my own pillow; stuffed earplugs in and medicated like crazy. No blackout curtains (!) here, so again with my old friend the sleeping mask. Not looking forward to tomorrow's flight to Sitka. Cringe, cringe. Nighty-night!

Wingdesigner