Cruising up Alaska’s inside passage has been fantastic. First port of call was San Francisco and a revisit to the Golden Gate Bridge (this time with Phil and Marco) and a drive down the world famous, very crooked, Lombard Street (something we didn’t do in 2008 when we did our home exchange in San Rafael, just north of San Fran). After that we met up with our friends Bryan and Liz and enjoyed a clam chowder lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf. The highlight of the day was cruising under the Gateway Bridge as we waved San Fran goodbye from the bow (lots of freezing wind blowing). San Francisco was followed by two sea days of pure relaxation as we made our way up to Ketchikan (salmon capital of the world) and our first Alaskan port of call - fishing and tourism are the main industries.
Athough it rains in Ketchikan 360 out of 365 days, we were blessed to have sunshine the whole day and enjoy a hike through a temperate rainforest just starting to come to life for spring (no bears in sight) thankfully! We learnt about the different forest plants and berries and I can now identify skunk cabbage (the plant eaten by bears to relieve their constipation after months of hibernation) – a skill I’m sure will come in handy!!!! We were introduced to the ancient art of totem pole carving, a technique used by the natives of early Alaska to tell their stories. I saw my first bald eagle in the wild, patted a reindeer and now understand the life cycle of salmon. The streams in that rainforest will be teeming with them in August when they “smell” their way back to spawn in the stream they were born in, after about two years out at sea. Amazing! The five species of salmon prevalent there are king, coho, pink, sockeye and chum.
Next port of call was Juneau, the capital of Alaska with a population of 31,000. Its main industries are government, tourism, fishing, mining and logging. The native inhabitants are the Tlingit tribe. What a day we had! We started with a walk along the waterfront to pat Patsy Ann, Juneau’s famous deaf dog that used to go down to the wharf to greet every ship long before anyone could see it on the horizon. We hiked to Mendenhall Glacier, took a cable car ride 1800 feet up Mount Roberts and found snow at the summit. I took some spectacular photos of the snow capped mountains sloping down to the water and beautiful Juneau. We walked to the Governor’s house (which Sarah Palin wouldn’t move into when she was governor), visited Alaska’s State Capitol building, the centre of government in Alaska and enjoyed the treat of treats on the wharf…..king crab and Alaskan beer to wash it down – yum yum! 
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Love to all family and friends
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