Does a bear crap in the woods … well actually he craps on the side of the highway

At the show last night, the captain said that approach into Tracy Arm is spectacular and if you can get up early than you will not be disappointed.  There we were, enjoying our breakfast around the Lido pool (which is enclosed) at 7am.  We spent the next three hours in awe of the beautiful scenery.  We saw lots of stunning blue icebergs, waterfalls cascading down from the top of the moutains, a seal but no whales (although Nana says she saw one from the balcony).  The mountains are so huge, and towered over both sides of the ship, making us feel very small.

Karen and I decided to have a spa treatment before heading out to Juneau.  We had The Unwinder which was a neck, back and shoulder massage, facial and pedicure.  I couldn’t believe how great I felt afterwards.  We picked up Nana and Papa after our treatments and had lunch at the Lido Buffet.

The ship docked in Juneau around 2pm and shortly after, we were given the all clear that we could leave the ship.  Karen left first to go and pick up our rental car.  We rented a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser from Rent-A-Wreck ($57.50 USD).  I don’t think they are known for their newer models.  By the time that Karen came back, Nana, Papa and I were off the boat.

We hopped in the car and it wasn’t a long trip to the Mendenhall Glacier.  It was breath-taking. It remined me of the Columbia Ice Fields.  What was really nice was that they had a paved path which allowed us to get Papa somewhat close to see the glacier and the gigantic waterfalls.  After the glacier, we stopped at the Shrine of St. Therese.  It’s a beautiful stone church built in the woods.

We took the Glacier Highway all the way to the end which is approximately 40 miles from downtown Juneau.  All the way we kept looking for bears but didn’t see any.  We did see bear crap but no bears.  Just after we turned around to head back to Juneau, Nana sees a black bear.  He was on the side of the road eating dandelions.  All of a sudden, it runs back into the woods.  While Karen was pulling away slowly, I turned around and saw another bear standing straight up.  Karen backed the car up but by the time we got to where I saw it, it was gone.

We got back to downtown Juneau and parked at the municipal parking garage which was right next door to Tracy’s King Crab Shack Restaurant.  This place is world famous for their crabs.  Everybody had the Alaskan Crab Roll except for Nana.  She had the large king leg, which was over a foot long.  After enjoying our dinner in the parking garage, Nana and Karen went shopping while I went upstairs to the library to use their free wi-fi.

We were back on the ship around 9:30 PM, in time for sailing at 10:30 PM.  It was beautiful out when we left Juneau, and lights were twinkling in the city.  It’s only a short trip to our next port … Skagway.