From Haines

I sit in the hotel and the sun is shinning bright.  When I woke at 3:30 am I thought it must be time to get up as it was light, then I looked at the clock and went back to sleep.  I don't think it ever got dark last night.  Today there is not a cloud in the sky.  it could not be more beautiful.  The Hotel was built as the Officers Quarters for Ft. Seward in 1904.  The other old builds surround the square.  It is wonderful.

Yesterday was another fantastic day.  After going down town, Mary wanted to see the old Orthodoxy church, and seeing the million tourist from the 5 huge cruise ships in port, we fled the town.  Went to see the Mendenhall Glacier in a National Forest.  You can drive to it, 4 miles from Juneau.  It was really fun and you can see the blue ice of the Glacier so clearly.  Then drove around the area and found the greatest campground.   But of course we were leaving the area, but next time.  

Finally we got on the Ferry for our last leg of the Alaskan Marine Highway.  We spent 4 and half hours "driving north" to Haines arriving at 9.  The group from New Zealand were on the same Ferry.  The trip was the best one yet.  Saw whales, seals, dolphins, eagles, glaciers, beautiful mountains, and lighthouses.  It was by far the best of the legs on the Ferry.

When we got here to Haines we drove the 5 miles into town and found the Halsingland Hotel here on the old fort.  It is truly a lovely place.  Went to have a drink in the bar, taught the "bar tender" how to make drinks, (it was his second day ever behind a bar) and visited with a local tour guide and folks from the ferry.  In clear day light we gave up and went to bed at 11.  Wow we must be getting north.  But today we head further north, in 42 miles we will re-enter Canada, and finally get back to Alaska, we hope for the night around Tok.  Might camp for the first time, so don't know when we will get to the internet.  So bye for the day until we can catch you up again.

The pictures are of the Mendenhall Glacier and the second of the great lighthouses we saw on the way to Haines.  Whales are hard to photograph, they just will not pose of you.