TUESDAY, JULY 16

 

TUESDAY, JULY 16:

     We decided to spend our last day in Juneau with less intensity than the previous two had been.  So after a slow morning getting started, we decided to take the Mount Roberts Tramway.  It only goes about a third of the way (about1,750 ft) up the mountain it’s named for – if you want to reach the summit of Mt. Roberts, you need to hike it (about 4 hours 1 way from the mountain tram stop). 

       The ride up was delightful, and the views from the top splendid.  Not a crystal clear day, but surely much better than a lot of days in Juneau!  The view below reveals Juneau as a narrow ribbon of flatland between the Gastineau Channel and the Coastal mountain ranges.  Easy to see why they’ve needed to build “up,” as opposed to “out.”    

 

 

 

      There’s a very nice complex of little buildings up there – of course a gift shop, where we impulsively bought two prints which really caught our eye – all of the artist’s work were whimsical depictions of every day life in the small towns & villages of Southeast.  They had a good selection of her work for sale. The two we ended up choosing were one of the ferry, and the other of a string quartet in front of a Russian Orthodox steeple – that reminded us of Sitka.  When I asked a young man who worked there if the artist were an Alaskan, he said, “Oh yes, she lives here in Juneau, and is the mother of our State Representative!”   Then I read that she’d been born & raised in California, came up here on a cruise in 1950, and fell so totally in love with Juneau that she gave herself til the cruise ship left to find a job and a place to live.  She’s been here ever since.

     There was also a restaurant, a nature stop & shop, and a theater which ran an award-winning documentary on the history of Southeast Alaska as seen through a Tlingit’s eyes.  Extraordinarily well done.  But a sad reminder of how “we” have treated yet another minority –  the Native Alaskans, like Native Americans in the lower 48, like Blacks, had segregated schools,  had to sit in the back of busses and theaters, etc., etc. Establishments like restaurants advertised that they  hired “white only help.”   But, to Alaska’s honor and credit, their territorial legislature passed an anti-discrimination law back in the late 1940’s, long before they were a state, and before the lower 48 moved to act in the 1960’s.  

     The film was from a Tlingit viewpoint because the Tramway is a Native corporate enterprise, with profits going back into the corporation, which is set up to benefit all Southeast Native Alaskans.  Similar Native-owned corporations are set up throughout Alaska, as a result of federal legislation which was enacted back in Nixon’s administration.  As a result, the Native population up here generates considerable income through these corporations, while in the Lower 48, casinos are typically the only way the Natives have tried to build wealth.

     Hiked a nice 1 ½ mile trail loop, which led to some nice overlooks.

 

                                         

                         

 

 

  The cross is a replica of one built by a Catholic priest who came here in the early 1900’s to oversee the diocese in Southeast Alaska . He was a skilled carpenter, so he helped build a hospital here, and this trail.

     There was an extended family of 5 Asian women resting at one overlook.  They appeared to be a grandmother, mother and sister, and two 3^rd generation, either sisters or cousins.   We could hear them talking, and Bill recognized the dialect as Mandarin.  He knew they were Taiwanese.  The most verbal woman spoke to us first, and said they were visiting from Taiwan.  Bill replied, “Yes, I thought I could tell from your speech,” and told them that he had spent time over in Taiwan.  He spoke a few words he remembered, and they acted delighted that he knew some of their language.  They wanted to know where he’d been when he was in Taiwan, and they knew exactly where Christ College was.  They talked about foods he ate, the mountains he saw there, etc. They seemed just tickled pink that they’d run into someone in the U.S. who thought their country was beautiful and respected the culture.   They traveled from Taiwan to Seattle, to Vancouver, to the cruise ship – all for an 8-night cruise.  Sure hope they’re enjoying what they’re seeing, after all that effort (and expense)! 

     After coming back down the tram, we worked our way through the throngs of people, trying to locate a little restaurant we were told had the best crab around.  We couldn’t find it – or, more exactly, couldn’t find a parking place to even look for the restaurant.  Juneau’s downtown streets are narrow and windy, and it was nerve-wracking for both of us in that big truck.  But as long as we were downtown, I asked Bill if he would mind driving up those hilly streets we drove up the first week we were here when we went hiking.  I thought they were so charming and colorful – I wanted to capture some of it in pictures.  He obliged; he stayed in the parked truck, ready to leave at a moment’s notice if he was parking somewhere he shouldn’t be, while I quickly hopped to some street corners and clicked away.  Maybe not the “City Built on a Hill,” but surely the “Town Built on Hillsides, as we saw from a different perspective up on the tram stop. 

 

 

 

 

Bill wanted to try finding the crab place one more time. This time we did manage to find a parking  place, and it was only a short walk to the restaurant.  More of just an outdoor cookery, with only outdoor seating (seat yourselves), and an obviously very loyal following  . . . the place was packed, with a line.  We couldn’t find a table, it was noisy, couldn’t ask questions, so we decided it wasn’t worth it, and went to the food stall next to it, which served nondescript Filipino food (ostensibly).  But it was fast, inexpensive, and we took it over to the wharf to eat on a bench.  It’s a pretty wharf area, with some whimsical and historical sculptures placed throughout, as well as lovely potted flowers.  It was a lovely balmy evening to eat on a bench overlooking the ocean.  Haven’t done too much of that because of the coolness of the air, especially once the sun goes down.

 

 

    Then stopped to pick up a Subway sandwich for our lunch on the ferry tomorrow.  We head for Skagway.  Another 7:00 departure, which means another early morning, as we need to be at the terminal between 5 & 5:30a.m.  And one last stop for photos.  We’d driven past it on our way home from the airport last evening, and we remarked how it’d be a great picture – the magenta fireweed in the foreground, and snow-capped peaks in the background.  Southeast Alaska all dressed up for company!

  

 

 

     We’ve had a wonderful 2 weeks in Juneau.  Ours stay was broken up by going to Glacier Bay.  So it seems like the first week of our stay here was a long time ago, and memories seem vague.  That’s a big reason why I do this journal – to help preserve and jog our memories of all the wondrous things we’ve seen and experienced. 

     As I’ve said many times of other places, we’re a little melancholy to be leaving Juneau and our RV park.  It was another place that felt like home after a few days. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corinna, the on-site manager (we never saw Linda, her mother, after our check-in), seemed to have taken a shine to us . . . we heard from others that she could be a real pistol.  Which seems totally plausible.  But, as far as we were concerned, she always went out of her way to try & be helpful, and she always remembered what we’d been up to each day and would ask us about it after we returned home. 

     And then there was our neighbor across the street, Chuck, who came here from Montana looking for work, and found it!  He’s in his early 50’s, nice-looking, a gentle-seeming guy, but I’m sure he has a story to tell . . . he arrived here a week before we did, pulling all of his possessions, including his tent, in a pull-behind little trailer.  He’s been sleeping in that tent every night, dry or wet, but has plans to buy a cheap RV from someone here who may not want it any more.   Has been coming over nearly every evening to chat and swap stories with Bill.  The other night we invited him in for a glass of wine.  We have a soft spot in our hearts for him.  As I was bidding him good-bye and telling him how glad Bill and I were that things seem to be working out for him here, he confided that yes, now that he’s getting stabilized, he’d be ready to find a “nice lady again.”    He’s never been married, but has been in a couple of long-term relationships, but “it’s been a while.”  He wanted our blog address, so he could follow our travels when he gets a computer, and I told him to Comment back, and keep us up to date.  So who knows . . . we might be hearing  from him.  Hope so!