Ketchikan is a great little town in southeast Alaska only accessible by boat or sea plane. It gets 15 ft. of rain per year. That is not a misprint - 15 feet per year. So, can you guess what the weather was like? Yep. Rainy! This part of Alaska is a temperate (or coastal) rain forest. In the summer months it rains an average of 28 days per month.
This is a view of the town from our room on the ship. 
This tunnel was made after the houses on the hill were built. I imagine that the home owner's were a little nervous when they were blasting away the rock! Ketchikan has "Stair streets". One example is the stairs running alongside that tunnel. That set of stairs has a street sign- it's a street. This means it is maintained by the city, and it gets snow removal and trash pick up! Sometimes there are several addresses on one set of stairs. Kinda cool, huh?
Rob encountered this bear when we walked through town!! Scary!
We had a fun little excursion, which was a Jeep tour and short canoe trip. We were given some really attractive rain gear and Green Jeep #103.
We drove out to the lake, suited up, and got into the canoe. Right after our guide bailed out the rainwater. (sweet milk jug bailer)
Look at Elaine in her rain gear!
We paddled- and when I say 'we' I mean me and Elaine. Rob sat in a middle seat, and Nick was too busy horsing around to actually paddle- across the lake to this little dock:
Waiting for us was a warm fire, hot cocoa, coffee, cookies, and some seafood chowder. This was Nick's favorite part! :)
We took a short guided nature walk and our guide talked about the trees and plants. 
On the way back to town we had a "corny joke" contest. Here's the winner:
"How do you catch a polar bear? You carve a hole in the ice and sprinkle some peas around it. When the bear comes up to take a pea, you kick him in the ice hole." ha!ha!
We then headed back to the ship for a 430pm all aboard!
Tomorrow: Tracy Arm Fjord at 6am!!
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