Thursday, July 21, 2011

SKAGWAY

Welcome to Skagway.  We visited here yesterday.  As it was quite late when we returned to the ship I didn't get a chance to post.  We have been so fortunate weather-wise.  The sun was shining pretty much all day yesterday and it was quite warm.  Apparently the further north we travel, the less the precipitation is. 

The sidewalks are all wooden as are most of the buildings in the downtown area.  The "ladies" at the bordello were hanging out the windows soliciting business as in days of old.  Others were in period costume as well.

At least the shops of the local artisans outnumbered the jewelry stores here!

We're on a catamaran on our way to Haines, a town of about 800.  Remember the cost of milk in Juneau?  Well, here it is $12 a gallon!  The population of all of these cities and towns we're visiting drops dramatically once the cruise ships stop coming in.  The last ship to dock this year will be on September 24.  Then only the locals, which are primarily Indians, remain.

 In Haines we went river rafting on the Chilkat River through a bald eagle reserve.  There were four guides and since one of them was named Sunny, we had to make sure we got on his raft.  Good thing, we picked the best guide as far as keeping the raft going.  The water is so shallow in areas that we sometimes have to "bounce" to get the raft moving along.  But Sunny did a great job navigating.

 One of many bald eagles that we met along the way.  I think his name was Henry.

They look so serious, don't they!


Until next time...

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