To preface a bit:  our Mom had decided she would like to make a trip with us to Alaska where we ‘grew up’ and our homestead adventures happened.  However, her health declined steadily after her hip surgery and it was not to be.  When she left us in December, we decided that in her memory we would make the trip.  Thank you Mom for pushing us! Thanks to our husbands for saying ‘You better do it now before you can’t’.
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May 7^th, Tuesday [2013];   Had to get up WAY too early to catch the Alaska Air flight out of Medford to Seattle.  Linda and I would have a couple hours there before Nancy and Ruth flew in from Boise, so we opted for breakfast.  Soon we were all four boarding the plane to Juneau, Alaska and saying ‘we can’t believe we are doing this’, which turned out to be a common refrain the entire trip.

Although we were all tired there was not much snoozing on the flight to Juneau, where we landed in sunshine!  A shuttle soon deposited us at the Super 8 Motel and we made a brief visit to our room to leave bags and then figure out transport to downtown.  We could call for a taxi or catch a bus ‘over behind PetCo’.  With the whole afternoon at our disposal, we had opted to at the very least wander downtown, and if it was running take the tram up Mt. Roberts. You can’t fly in and catch the ferry north without staying overnight.

Caught the bus, $2 for the trip in to town, exact change required.  Oh heck! But we managed! It is about 8 miles south, and the driver pointed out the Tramway a few blocks further from the drop.  There we found that yes it was definitely running but with a lot of snow still at the top not all venues were open.  Throughout our trip, we found many places that had just opened May 1^st or were opening the 15^th.  There was no waiting, so off we went.  Now, some of us understand that others in the family were surprised we would take this ride.  It is not like climbing down a hill with nothing solid to hang on to and the gravel rolling under your feet.

Great ride, great view.  We wandered through Raven Eagle Gift Shop and watched the presentation and movie in the Chilkat Theater.  It was very interesting, and we found out the presenter is married to an old classmate from Haines!  Then early dinner at the Timberline Bar & Grill.  Crab!  We were on a mission to have as much seafood as possible this trip.

After the ride back down, we wandered through several Juneau shops on our way back to the bus terminal.  We had already decided to make most of our purchases in Haines, and as many from Alaskan artists as possible.  Everyone we encountered was excited about the great weather!  Another walker overheard us discussing how to get the correct bus and said ‘follow me’.  We did, and he got us on the right one back to where we’d started.  He knew some of our old acquaintances in Haines as did a couple other folk we ran into.  We were wearing our ‘Children of Glacier Point” shirts, so folks DID notice we were a ‘group’ and kept asking what we were doing!

We picked up some snack items and drinks at a convenience store near the motel and retired to our room with a request for a 5:30 AM shuttle out to the ferry dock which is at Auk Bay, and about 6 miles north.