We have had a long two days, starting yesterday morning in Everett, WA. We rose early, ate quickly, and broke camp and made the quick 15 minute trek to Dave the Welder's home. Since we have nearly ripped the rear bumper off again by overloading it with our bike rack, I figured I'd leave it with a welder while we head to Alaska for two weeks to have another shot at sufficiently reinforcing it. As an added bonus, he agreed to keep it for us until we return, so we didn't have to worry about where we were going to stash a 32' RV and car dolly for two weeks. After ditching our home on the road, we drove back to Seattle to ditch our minivan at the Jarretts' house. They graciously agreed to keep it for us during our Alaskan adventure.
A quick Uber ride to the airport and Alaskan Airline's flight later we found ourselves in Sitka. We made out way through the one-gate airport, rented our car, and found our hotel, the Longliner Lodge & Suites. After checking in we ditched our car to walk through the little city center, stopping for a late lunch/early dinner, followed by a short hike up Harbor Mountain Trail to see views they had to offer. They were breathtaking, but we were getting tired to we headed down. Adelaide, Alastair, and I went to see a movie at the one theater here, which I am happy to report had real butter for the popcorn. I don't even know the name of the film, which starred Melissa McCarthy, was very stupid, and we all laughed a lot. Jll had dropped us off at the movie theater so we walked back to the hotel somewhere between 9:30 and 10 o'clock, and I found it very strange to still need sunglasses at that time of night.
This morning we had a leisurely start with a crepe breakfast followed by an hour or two of poking our way through the tide pools. Dagny and Magnolia loved turning over rocks to find crabs, fish, and eels. Adelaide was a good sport, but preferred holding crabs only while wearing my work gloves. The most interesting part o
f the adventure was seeing how uncomfortable Alastair was. Every few minutes he would say, "okay, it's time to go," or "let's head back now," until eventually he left us all and headed back by himself. We stopped by the Sitka Sound Science Center before lunch, which we all enjoyed very much. It has three large living aquaria, set up as tide pools, in which you are able to touch sea cucumbers, star fish, and anemones.
After lunch we stopped to see the New Archangel Dancers, a troupe established 49 years ago. According to its website: "Over 130 years ago Sitka was owned by Russia and was known as New Archangel, Capital of Russian America. Taking their name from history, the New Archangel Dancers organized in 1969 to preserve a part of Sitka's Russian History through the art of dance." The six dancers performed six different folk dances, one of which Alastair and I tried to perform in the parking lot after with limited success. We decided to leave it to the professionals from then on.
Our last adventure of the day was to head out with Captain Dick on the Ocean Raft Adventure. The good thing about having such a large family is that in a lot of cases, you form your own tour group. With a raft that holds six people, we were the afternoon tour. Captain Dick took us out 30 minutes or so to see an island that now serves as a bird sanctuary. Along the way we spotted three humpback whales swimming along for their afternoon snack. We were so close at several points where you could hear them blow out and breath back in. We also saw their fluke several times as they were diving back under. We saw lots of birds, seals, and several sea otter on our way back to the harbor.
After a few pizzas for dinner, followed by a little ice cream, we called it a day. We are fairly tired after our last two days and I imagine we will all sleep well. More of Sitka to explore tomorrow.
- Dave
A quick Uber ride to the airport and Alaskan Airline's flight later we found ourselves in Sitka. We made out way through the one-gate airport, rented our car, and found our hotel, the Longliner Lodge & Suites. After checking in we ditched our car to walk through the little city center, stopping for a late lunch/early dinner, followed by a short hike up Harbor Mountain Trail to see views they had to offer. They were breathtaking, but we were getting tired to we headed down. Adelaide, Alastair, and I went to see a movie at the one theater here, which I am happy to report had real butter for the popcorn. I don't even know the name of the film, which starred Melissa McCarthy, was very stupid, and we all laughed a lot. Jll had dropped us off at the movie theater so we walked back to the hotel somewhere between 9:30 and 10 o'clock, and I found it very strange to still need sunglasses at that time of night.
This morning we had a leisurely start with a crepe breakfast followed by an hour or two of poking our way through the tide pools. Dagny and Magnolia loved turning over rocks to find crabs, fish, and eels. Adelaide was a good sport, but preferred holding crabs only while wearing my work gloves. The most interesting part of the adventure was seeing how uncomfortable Alastair was. Every few minutes he would say, "okay, it's time to go," or "let's head back now," until eventually he left us all and headed back by himself. We stopped by the Sitka Sound Science Center before lunch, which we all enjoyed very much. It has three large living aquaria, set up as tide pools, in which you are able to touch sea cucumbers, star fish, and anemones.
After lunch we stopped to see the New Archangel Dancers, a troupe established 49 years ago. According to its website: "Over 130 years ago Sitka was owned by Russia and was known as New Archangel, Capital of Russian America. Taking their name from history, the New Archangel Dancers organized in 1969 to preserve a part of Sitka's Russian History through the art of dance." The six dancers performed six different folk dances, one of which Alastair and I tried to perform in the parking lot after with limited success. We decided to leave it to the professionals from then on.
After a few pizzas for dinner, followed by a little ice cream, we called it a day. We are fairly tired after our last two days and I imagine we will all sleep well. More of Sitka to explore tomorrow.
- Dave
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