Juneau, AK "The Capital City"

Juneau was by far the most adventurous stop on our trip! We signed up for a river rafting adventure through the cruise line. We were a little leery when we arrived to rainy (no surprise there) Juneau.

We thought the rain might create some crazy rapids. Like this:

Ok- that's Niagara Falls, but we were a little concerned. No worries, though.

We took a bus ride out to Mendenhall Lake, which is at the base of the Mendenhall Glacier. Very pretty! Check out our rides for the day!

That's the glacier under those clouds! :) They gave us some really great rain gear (also a theme this trip) and a guide.

His name was Evan (pronounced EEEEvaan) and he was 19 years old. He took this picture of us just before we shoved off. In case you can't find me, I'm the blueberry in the front with the life jacket on. Nick and Elaine are right behind us. We look like a basket of bananas. And one blueberry. With life jackets on. So off we go into the 34 degree water. Our guide paddles us out onto the lake and towards the rapids. At this point its really cold. My toes are already somewhat numb and we are 5 min from shore. But it was beautiful, and scenic, and I'm really excited to hit those rapids! Evan gives us some basic instructions- one of which is how he will rescue us if we fall into the frigid water. (scary)

So we head towards the rapids, which are not all that rapid, but look like fun. We start to speed up and Whoo Hoo! Splish splash! Fun! And then...... STOP. We hit a rock. We are stuck on the rock. Evan tells us, no problem- he can get us off the rock. He asks us to all bounce our feet and some of us to shift our weight by rocking side to side in our seats. After about 15 minutes of bouncing and rocking, we are still stuck. We ask Evan if he has a radio, or a cell phone so he can call for help. The answer is no. (WTF EVAN?) We happen to be stuck directly in front of two homes on the river. A lady comes out of one of the homes and asks if she can call someone. (that sounds smart) Her son tries to help by tossing us a rope, but the rope is way to short and her son can't get it to us. After about 30 min the lady is smart enough to call 911. Evan didn't call anybody because HE DIDN'T HAVE A CELL PHONE OR A RADIO!! Isn't that something they teach you on the first day of tourism school?? "Don't take a group of cruise ship tourists on a raft who have no idea wtf they are doing with out a way to call for help!" I digress.

So the lady from the house calls 911 and tells us the fire department is coming. Evan says - 'oh great. That's like a $12k charge. I'm gonna get fired.' His 19 years are really starting to show at this point. Nick was really good at keeping him focused on the fact that the safety of the people on the raft is the first priority and his job is a distant #2. Now 35 minutes have passed and we are cold and tired and not having fun anymore. And then AL appears!! AL! Al was one of the guys who helped us out on the shore before we left. YaY AL!!

Al proceeds to try and throw us a rope while wading into the water up to his thighs. On the third try, Rob catches the rope!!! An then Al accidentally lets go of his end and we are right back where we started. Nick was laughing so hard I thought he would pee his rain pants! But - Good News- The Fire Department is here!! A big Fire truck pulls into the house's driveway. ..... And ONE guy gets out. ONE GUY. The fire department sent ONE GUY. At this point, I figure we are never getting off this rock. Fortunately, Al, the fireman, the lady's son, and now her husband, successfully toss us a rope. It took 4 tries, but Rob catches it, and is able to tie it to the raft. The people on shore start tugging, and we start bouncing our feet, and the raft begins to move!! A few tugs and a few more bounces and we slide back into the rushing water! YAY!! We were stuck for almost an hour. This was our view while we were stuck: (I figured since we were stuck, I might as well take a picture.)

The rest of our ride was uneventful. We did see 2 bald eagles and some great scenery. Evan told us all about the bald eagles and the history of Juneau. Did you know they named Juneau after Joe Juneau? The night before the town was going to vote on its official name, Joe Juneau bought everyone a round of drinks at the local saloon. Smart man. (I'm not sure if that is a true story, but I like it!)

Here's a picture of the duration of our river raft trip. It was misty and quiet and lovely. :) Bald eagles are majestic and beautiful.

Our ride ended and we gave back our awesome rain gear. We made our way back to the ship, had a quick dinner, and went to bed. What a day!! Here's all of us as we are about to head back to town: (sorry about the poor quality, but it was almost dark. oh, and it was raining.)

Rob has on his "happy" face. LOL!

Tomorrow is the awesome town of Skagway!!

P.S. No. We did not see Sara Palin. :)