Family and Friends,
We are back on "Terra Fermi"after our whirlwind 5 day school trip to Juneau Alaska!! All in one piece too…just saying…ha!
I say this after 10 grueling hours in a packed 15 passenger van driving to Haines Alaska, on the Alaska Highway, plus 5 hours on a transport ferry from the Alaska Marine Highway System, to Juneau. Then doing it all over again on our way back to Tok, Alaska. OK…now you can look it all up on a map!
Rob and self were invited by the REACH ACADEMY (Resources for Educating Alaska's Children at Home)…it is the correspondence branch of the Alaska Gateway School District. Rob has been enrolled in it for a few years now. This is our second school trip event. It involved 5 days with 22 bodies….mainly home schooled students from all over interior Alaska (K to HS) and a few parents.
The main goals were:
- enhance knowledge of our state capital
- gain an understanding of Alaska statehood and history
- stimulate interest in our legislature
- examine SE Alaska, its people and history through on hand authentic experiences
- leanr about the rich history of the Mendenhall Glacier system, observing glaciers, landforms, plants and animal habitat.
- learn about our fishing industry mainly salmon, by visiting a hatchery
All in all I think we accomplished this and more. One of the highlights besides visiting the state capitol building, was a crab bake all you can eat of Dungeness crab…a local caught them and prepared them for all of us (22 of us!), I have never eaten so much fresh crab "on the hoof"…
Another highlight was the ferry from Haines to Juneau. We travelled on one of the Alaska Marine System ferries called the "LeConte"….a 499 passenger vessel, equipped with lounges, state rooms, kitchen, movie room, etc. Comfortable and friendly service. The scenery on the bay and passing coastline was breathtaking as always in Alaska. We spotted a few whale flukes, eagles, mountain goats and Stellar seal-lions in the distance. This is not a sightseeing vessel since it carries vehicles as well, so we were not as close to the coast as we would be when traveling on the other type of ferries…but a great experience nevertheless.
Rob passed the 5 hours coming and going by visiting anybody's table who had kids with them. He makes friends easily. I would look around for him and find him invariable surrounded by kids I never had seen before! They were giving him candy, lending him ipods, cameras - err.....ok Rob, better give that back...haha, or he would make his way to tables with older men and shake hands with them and start chatting.
The first day in Juneau after sleeping in a hostel - quite the experience in itself - was spend just touring the city - all UPHILL- reminded me of Gibraltar which is also built on a hill....
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....we also visited a shrine in honor of St. Theresa of Lascaux…at first I thought it was going to be St. Teresa de Avila, my favorite Spanish mystic…but this place was truly wonderful, peaceful, green and lush, with a quaint stone chapel…ideal for retreats which indeed it is used for.
We also went down to the windy beach and caught star fish that clung to the rocks, then we put them back of course…
In the afternoon we visited a salmon hatchery which was very interesting. I found out that salmon take about 6-10 years to mature. We saw millions of 6 in. long hatchlings which were already almost 2 years old! They do most of their growing out at sea and then the hatchery has ingenious ways of imprinting on the baby salmon so they come back upstream to the place they were born as adults!
Next day after sleeping on hard hostel bunk beds…ugh…haha…we continued touring the city. Visited the Alaska State Museum and learned about Alaska tribal heritage. Then went to visit the State Capitol Building and learned about legislature and the importance of understanding how different branches of the government work and how Alaska legislators work to keep this state such a unique one. The building is quite stately with Greco Roman marble columns and lots of polished oak, quite impressive. We met the Chief of Staff and she made sure all the kids got a turn on the Lt. Gov. chair! which I thought was nice of her. Robin even shook a senators hand, though I did not catch his name.
Our last day was spend on the Mendenhall Glacier which was fascinating. Karen, our very informed park ranger (an old salt by the looks of it - she knew her stuff)….told us all about the history of the glacier and pointed out interesting geological facts. The trail around the area is lovely. We were able to pick up glacier ice right out of the water! It is a popular stop for outdoorsy folks who actually go kayaking amongst the icebergs! There was a flowing waterfall as well.
I was wearing my sandals and got soaked. Reason: I forgot my shoes at the hostel and since policy demands that everybody be locked out from 9am to 5pm. I was not able to return to get my trail shoes….hum…well for $12 @ night one cannot make too many demands…
Next morning we all got up at 4am. in order to be at the ferry dock by 6am. and leave by 7am. We arrived at Haines around 12am. and then drove the straight 10 hours back to Tok. Pat was waiting for 2 very tired people (Rob and his mum) and we had another hour to drive back to the farm…so…we did not hit the sack until midnight.
Next day I rested up and then Sunday I cooked a curry for 90 souls….so…today I am still recuperating! ha!
Well, thought I would jot down some highlights before I forget them. I got many positive comments on how well Rob behaved which is always nice for a mother to hear. He is quite funny with his puns and comments and is getting the hang of what is appropriate and what isn't, although he tends to like to "flirt" with the ladies....which can be a hoot at times.
All in all, it was worth it. I got to see places in Alaska which I would not see otherwise. It would be cost prohibitive for us as a family. Last year the school took us to coastal Alaska and we went to the Seward Marine Aquarium and Sea Life Center which is one-of-a-kind, rivaling anything down in the L48 as far as sea critters are concerned.
I am hoping that next trip will involve the Alaska Railway System Highway which is notorious for its breathtaking beauty along the route down to Wittier, Alaska. It combines with the Alaska Marine Highway to make a once-in-a-lifetime sightseeing experience enjoyed by tourists from all over the globe.
Hope you all have a great rest of the week. It's getting sunnier and warmer in Alaska...everything is starting to melt, but we know summer is round the corner.
