Journey to Juneau

Got ready to leave and drove to the grocery in Petersburg to get lunch to take on the boat. There are tons of people around and Nordic Drive is all blocked off for the Little Norway Festival. Most people are in Norwegian dress of some type. Women celebrate their Norwegian heritage by wearing costumes that use the design of Solveig Simonsen, a Norwegian dressmaker, who came to Petersburg in the 1950’s. Several of the men were dressed as Vikings with horned helmets and clothed in animal skins. The Pickled Herring Band was setting up in the center of town where they would play all day. Vendors, food, fish derby, and a parade are all scheduled throughout the weekend. Many people fly in for the festival each year and not all of them are of Norwegian decent. The festival continues to celebrate Norway’s Constitution Day, which led to Norway’s eventual independence from Sweden. We skirted the main town area as we did not want to get stopped by Vikings and asked why we were not wearing a Viking T-shirt…(it could mean being hauled off to jail for an undetermined amount of time)… and we had a ferry to catch.

The ferry we are on today is different. The Fairweather is like a catamaran and goes 32 knots an hour. What normally takes 8 hours will only take us 4 today. The inside is beautiful, comfy recliner chairs, big windows, tables and a great deck on the back. The ship sailed across Frederic Sound and picked up speed. The ship is almost empty today. We sat on the back deck for a while and enjoyed the trip through Stephens Passage. The scenery is phenomenal. Buck River Wilderness is on our right and Admiralty Island on our left. We saw some spouts from whales and Ken saw a fluke as one dived under. Hope we see more!

About 14 miles from Juneau we approached Auke Bay. We can see the amazing Mendenhall Glacier from the ship. After docking at the terminal we made our way to Spruce Mountain RV Park and checked in. We met Corinna, who we had been talking with since last December.

As we were leaving the office we met a great couple - Sabrina & Alan from California. They’ve been in Alaska for 3 weeks and gave us a lot of pointers and input on great campgrounds and local restaurants. They drove up and will be taking the ferry back.

We drove around the park and chose site 18. The park is nestled on another edge of the Tongass National Forest. We have a little gazebo and table at our site. The sites are bigger than most parks and pretty level.

Next on the list was to check out Juneau. We are about 9 miles out of town as there are no campgrounds near the city. We decided to try Pizzaria Roma one of Sabrina's suggestions. We walked in and they were there. We had a great dinner together and have 2 new friends. He's a navy lifer and she has a great background in law.

After dinner we went back to camp, watched TV and went to bed.

Another great day.

Pictures: Leaving Petersburg, Lounge on M/V Fairweather, Across Frederic Sound, Back Deck of Fairweather, Through Stephens Passage (2), 1st view of Mendenhall Glacier