After a beautiful four hour boat ride we arrived in Juneau. We spent the night and spent part of the next day traveling around the 45 miles of highway in and around our capital (population 30,500). Juneau is definitely different than I imagined and I mean that in a good way. The highlight of the stop was having breakfast with an old college roommate of mine from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Mark Stopha. We've kept up with each other off and on by email but the last time I actually saw Mark was just before he left on a Peace Corp mission to Sierra Leone in 1986. Naturally, 25 years later neither one of us has aged a bit. Ha!
In the afternoon we boarded the M/V Taku. This vessel can handle 370 passengers, 69 vehicles, and has 44 two to four berth cabins. It's was much larger than the M/V Taku and I'm sure it has to do with the fact that it's a 30 hour trip from Juneau to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Before leaving port we asked a man from Chile if he would take our picture. Not the best lighting but it's from the 7th deck (solarium) of the ship.
As we left Juneau I took a picture of the only glacier that we saw on the whole trip. This is the Mendenhall Glacier and it is known as Juneau's "drive up attraction." I guess I was expecting to see more glaciers on our ferry trip but the Alaska Marine Highway System is all about efficiency and how to get from one port to another as quickly as possible. What I didn't realize is if you want to see glaciers you need to travel to side bays and arms along the way. This is what cruise ships like Princess and Holland America specialize in. Nonetheless, this is not a "deal breaker" and by no mean was I disappointed with the scenery along the ferry route.
One last photo from Juneau before I move on to the next port of call. This is facade of the State Capital building in downtown Juneau. Much, much smaller than what I'm use to seeing on Channel 2 news.
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