Alaska Cruise: Juneau

(Journal Entry)
Monday, June 3- Juneau
Happy birthday Rich!! Switching to Anchorage time gave us an extra hour of sleep! We started off on the promenade deck watching a pod(?) of dolphins swim pass the ship as we pulled into Alaska's Juneau channel. It was a breathtaking sight. The sun was on the starboard side warming our faces as we saw the lush landscapes, sheer mountains and streaming waterfalls. We ate breakfast in the portafino dining room and sang "we wish you a happy birthday" (and a wonderful cruise) to rich. He turns 37 today! After breakfast we gathered our day-packs and headed to the gangplank to wait to disembark for the day. After we got off we picked up our fifteen passenger van and headed up to the Mendenhall Glacier. Amazing. We hiked along the nugget trail and Bj even saw a glacier piece that he lifted out of the water. Most of us held it and got a picture. Then we headed to try and find some eagles but ended up at "the shrine of st Theresa". It was so beautiful. It was a small peninsula with a quaint rock chapel nestled in a grove of a coniferous canopy. Everyone was getting hungry so we decided to eat before we went any further. We stopped at the "sand-bar" which is, indeed, a bar... With extremely overpriced food, but really REALLY good fish and chips. The dive came recommended by a local we met who was re-directing traffic away from a mountain being blasted for construction. Bobby Sosa. Don't know why I remember his name. He was actually really funny. He was wearing a coat he was planning on returning, hence the tag still attached. Anyway. After the yummy snack (everyone just split an order since dinner was in two hours) we went to Juneau to shop the tourist traps. We had time to find a parking spot, find a bathroom and go through one large shop before we had to get back for dinner. Dinner was great, as usual, during which i snuck out to use the bathroom and was sidetracked by a goodnight call with my kiddos! it was so great to hear from them! they seem to be having such a great time! aj got to go to his urban showcase and it was attended by Grandma and Grandpa white! Ashlyn won the math-bee in school today, and all carson really had to say after he told me a million times that he loved me, was how he had such great behavior in school. :) After dinner was hot-tubbing (which was probably my favorite moment of the day: after we got out and i was standing with bj, we looked at the lush, green mountainside which seemed to spill right into the boat while light whisps of clouds clung to the chilly alaskan air. It took my breath away. Then on to Karaoke where rich and Paul attempted "friends in low places" by Garth Brooks, terribly, but with their usual humor and sarcastic flair. A last request by rich, to stretch out his special day, was a turn in the night-club where we hopped around on the dance floor causing a scene of gaiety and youth. Bj, John, mom and dad opted out and turned in for the night but the rest of us shared the dance floor with some Tennessee senior citizens and a creepy lone wolf. Now with a days worth of diet coke slowly fading out of my system and a clock already welcoming morning, I will try and sleep in the rock hard bed next to my amazing (snoring) sweetheart!