I finally made it back around lunchtime on Tuesday, a little late but intact! I took tons of pictures, but I want to find a more convenient way to display them on here, so check back later. Alaska is BEAUTIFUL in ways that pictures can’t entirely convey. The Juneau area sits along the shore and surrounded by tree-covered mountains, islands, and glaciers. On Friday Dad and I visited Mendenhall Glacier, a big river of ice that literally flows down from the nearby snow fields and terminates in the silt-tinted Mendenhall Lake. Saturday and Sunday we fished for halibut and salmon. I’m not a huge fisherman, but I did have some success and even won the Big Fish of the Day contest for Saturday with a king salmon. We actually had better luck with the halibut than with the salmon. On Monday morning Dad and I went bear-watching on Admiralty Island, seeing a few bald eagles, a lone bear fishing and a skittish mama bear and cub walking along a creek. Then we flew out to the snow fields near Juneau where glaciers are born. I’ll add some more detail when I post the pics.

The flights to Juneau and back were memorable. Although we departed late on both Alaska Airlines flights outbound, I was very impressed with the aircraft (Boeing 737-400s and 737-800s) and the inflight service (two drink services on each flight with free light snacks and a breakfast available for purchase on one leg). I got stuck in SEA coming home since my cockpit access for other airlines was temporarily broken. I had no idea that red-eye flights would be so popular at this time of year! I slept a few hours on a padded bench in the airport and rode home on American in the cockpit of a 757, which was great fun.