Sunshine Cove

To say that the weather the last few weeks has been great is an understatement.  It has been glorious.  Clear skies, sunshine, warm temperatures.  And so appropriately, we discovered a new beach called Sunshine Cove.

The girls were jumping with excitement when we told them that they could even wear their swimsuits to go in the water.  Make no mistake - that water is freezing!  But they were too happy to care.

As we were sitting on the beach, we could see the spray from whales out in the distance.  And then, not 200 yards away, about halfway between the shore and that island in the picture up comes up a whale.  I'm guessing a humpback but I can't say for certain.  It played around the area for some time and we just watched in amazement.  That's life, Alaska style.

Thunder Mountain - Conquered!

Thunder Mountain Trail
Length: 3 miles (one way)
Elevation Gain: 2,700 feet

Graham and I set out early Monday morning, Memorial Day, before the girls were awake to take on Thunder Mountain.  It was the first hike we attempted after Graham returned to Juneau following Naval Justice School last October.  We were short on time and so only made it as far as we could that day, knowing we would return.

Most of the hike was through the forest.  About an hour and a half in, we started to get little glimpses of what would be the views from the top.

It's also the beginning of wildflower season and every once in a while we'd walk through a muskeg or meadow and be treated to color like this.  The lupine at this elevation are just beginning to flower a brilliant blue.

Can you tell how hot and sweaty we are in this picture?  The trail book describes this hike as a "steep and arduous 3 mile climb" and it is not kidding.  Truth be told, we took this picture because this hike was kicking my butt and I was ready to be done.  My legs were wobbly and it just didn't look like the trees were ever going to really break to give us a better view than what we had at that moment.

We could even spot our house!











But then we ran into two other Coasties (miraculous in and of itself because we had only run into two other people the entire time we had been out that morning) who had done this hike before and said we were probably only 15 minutes from the end and that it was so worth it.  I'm so glad we listened to them.

Snow had not quite all melted off the upper parts of the mountain.  The snow ball that Graham threw at me actually felt really good :)

At the end, the trail got very steep.  This is probably my favorite picture from the whole adventure.  The last push up.  But the perspective, just to take it all in - from the small wildflowers on the ground below us to the vast expanse of snowy mountain ranges in the distance. 

And then we made it to the ridge.  Success.  Upper portions of the Mendenhall Glacier are center of this picture.  I found some clumps of what I think are mountain goat fur on the ground and brought them back down to show the girls.

From the top of Thunder Mountain.

BaconFest!

You read that right.  A festival devoted to bacon.  I didn't even ask Graham if he wanted to go; I just bought the tickets.

Local restaurants and vendors from all over Juneau came out with their bacon-inspired dishes...everything from appetizers, to cocktails, entrees and desserts.  I don't think I've eaten that much bacon in such a short amount of time, but it was delicious!  Good thing there's a lot of hiking here!

We couldn't resist taking a picture of the Bacon Queen.  Yes, those are actual strips of bacon forming the bodice and skirt of her "outfit."

Is Alaska Awesome?

Someone shared this cute video with me.  Some fun facts about Alaska.

It shares the sad truth about the clouds and rain of Juneau, though...according to the video, on any given day there is only a 30% chance of seeing the sun in Juneau.  The next statistic relates to the Northern Lights, which can be seen on average 243 days per year from Fairbanks.  So comparatively, you have a 2x greater chance of seeing the Northern Lights in Fairbanks than the sun in Juneau.  But as we're all learning, with the rain comes some of Southeast Alaska's pristine beauty.  It's all a trade-off.

Speaking of trade-off's - catch the last line of the video :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf0X79VtIl4

CGJAG

"So your Big Law firm has a corporate jet? CGJAG flies C-130, first class all the way to Kodiak."  Graham.

At least it wasn't in this!  A float plane on skis!

An Evening of Rainforest Revelry

In Alaska, who get's invited to the Governor's Inaugural Ball?  Everyone!  

The inaugural ball held January 10 in Juneau was one of seven inaugural balls being held around the state and anyone is invited.  Alaskans are excited about their new governor and lieutenant governor.  Politics aside, this is the first time in Alaska's history that both offices are being filled by individuals born and raised in Alaska.  The lieutenant governor is also the second Alaska Native to be elected to the office.  

We decided to join in the celebration.

Not the best pictures, but the ballroom was decorated to look the Northern Lights were filling the sky.  And the governor and lieutenant governor entered to the Tlingit dancing of Juneau's Yees Ku Oo'.  

Dress was "Alaska formal," which pretty much means anything goes.  There were people in tuxes and evening gowns and people in jeans.  And people in tuxes with their xtrufs!  Truly Alaskan.

Winter Sports Fun

With the colder temps, we've been able to get out and enjoy some winter sports.  This past weekend the girls had their first ski lessons at Eaglecrest.  They had so much fun!!!  They spent most of their time on this little area they call "The Beach," where they learned the basics of how to put on their skis, how to stand up, and how to stop.

Here they are on their hot chocolate break during lessons.

When they went back out for the 2nd half of their lesson, the instructors divided them out into smaller groups, and Addy got to go with the more advanced skiers up one of the chairlifts and then down a real hill.

On Sunday, we went skating on the duck pond at Riverside Rotary Park, across the street from our house.  The ice was so smooth.  We skated around the little island several times, and got a big kick out of looking down into the ice and seeing all the sea grass frozen in place below.  We couldn't believe there weren't more people out there.

 Skating off into the sunset.

 (That's our house, well the back of it anyway, the white one on the left side of the picture).

After a while my ankles and feet were telling me they'd had enough so I sat down to take a break.  I don't think the rest of the crew knew I was taking a video of them skating around.  You see Cora pretending to be a skating duck (normally the section where she is skating is full of ducks), Addy showing off her hockey skills, both take big wipeouts but then laugh it off.