Part 2

= 3531 feet when speaking American 

  I'm a little bit disappointed thet Sergeant Preston wasn't greeting us at the border,
 but there is an ice cream store in Haines Junction so Al is going to try to ease my pain.

This makes me appreciate Homer even more.  I would have just stayed home. 

Jeepers, Creepers, Wore Out My Peepers

After four hours of this splendor,

and this glory,

and this magnificence,

I have to close my eyes and give them a rest.  This might be one of the most beautiful drives, or at least in the top ten.  Who needs Switzerland when this is right here in North America?

Mr. Fixit Strikes Again

Unless you get close, it's hard to tell just where the damage was.  Al works miracles, at least enough to make Homer roadworthy until we get back to Sequim where all the proper work can be done and all the necessary parts ordered.

 

Clear tape is better than duck, duck goose tape. 

 

The Haines library has won several awards - certainly is pretty.

It's 5:00, the laundry is finished, Homer is clean and tidy, and I think I hear the ice tinkle. 
Tomorrow we will be on the road to Haines Junction. 

Hammered in Haines

Dave and Carol Pahl have collected a few thousand hammers and are willing to share them.
Here are some of my favorites.

 

 

 

Drink hammers were used to signal applause or the need for a refill in nightclubs in the 20s and 30s.
Let's bring that back.  

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day in Haines

First we visited the Haines Packing Company,
where fresh salmon is cleaned and sent on the way to our tables.

This is all gorgeous - what is it like on a clear day? 

Norwegian Fjords have nothing on Alaska.  Except for the lefse.

 

I'm gettin' one of these for Al.

Haines, Alaska

Oh-Oh!

This morning at 5:00 am (did you know there is a 5 on the clock that doesn't signal cocktail time?) we dutifully checked in two hours early for the 7:00 departure of the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry from Juneau to Haines.  Tom Dually and Homer look really good in the basement of the boat, don't they?  It was easy boarding, straight on.  We napped a little, knitted a lot, had breakfast, looked at the gorgeous sights and a show-off whale along the way.

On the ramp to get off the boat.  But the tide was really low and the guys directing Al off the ferry somehow underestimated that and the back bumper panel bottomed out.  We didn't realize it had happened because it is so far away from the front seat.  Our total length is 55', front to back.

 
This is the right back panel now.

Left rear panel.  The entire back is all one piece, top to bottom, side to side.

Duct tape to the rescue!  They wouldn't let us drive away until the band-aids had been applied.  And sent us off with an extra roll of tape, just in case.  And the claim form, of course.  They were very nice.  I wanted to draw designs on the duct tape, but Al's out there right this very minute with his cordless drill, trying to get it patched together enough to keep traveling without further mishap. 

It looks pretty good from this side. 

Loggers and Miners

We went to Douglas Island, just across from Juneau.  They've got it all.

Gold Mine Days were being celebrated with another logging competition.  Even girls can climb poles.

Remnants of an old gold mine are up in the hills of Juneau. 
Interpret that how you will.

Let's abandon the resort amenities of a luxury cruise ship and pay money to play in the dirt, just in case there might be a huge gold nugget the thousands of people before us overlooked.

Just ask anybody who has ever known him.   

Alyeska - The Great Land

The Bald Eagle is the state bird of Alaska and today we saw one of their amazing nests in the State Museum.  They mate for life (no divorce lawyers or family courts) and return to the same nest year after year, remodeling as they go. 

The population of  the entire state is 626,932 9 in 586,412 square miles.  (Washington DC has 632,323 people in 61 square miles.)  Secretary of State William Seward bought the whole kit and kaboodle from Russia in 1867 for 2 cents per acre.  Not such a folly after all, was it?

 

A must-see spot downtown Juneau is the Red Dog,Saloon, which has been in business since gold rush days.  Just to be polite, we forced ourselves to have an Alaska beer.    

 

Hard to see in this shot, but there is a waterfall right behind downtown.  Cool.