Sandy Dreams

We left Whitehorse and drove east on the Alaskan highway to highway 37 then turned South towards the sun!  It was a very interesting drive typically between 25 and 45 MPH there were some one lane wooden bridges and dirt roads. Lots of semi trucks, a few campers.  There were plenty of places to stop and rest.  Not much as far as fuel or food though. Beautiful sunrise over the mountains. Highway 37  Lots of lakes and rivers along this drive. This is where we spent the night.

Next we swung by the Steam Ship Klondike II.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Klondike More homework if anyone cares to read about her.  Lots of history. I tried to get Sis to pose in front of the ship but she wasn't listening to me.

 We swung by the transportation museum but they were closed. Bummer. They did have some outdoor exhibits.  This old DC3 started off as a US military transport plane then converted into an airliner. Now it sits on its rotating stand and points into the wind! Like a wind vane. I guess she is still kinda flying! The little engine who could!

 Sis and I went to Miles Canyon this morning and went Hiking.  The current was ripping. I kept Sis on a leash so she wouldn't fall in. Rickety wood suspension bridge. Should we cross it? It swayed side to side and bounced.

  I'm a little jealous, except for jacking that thing up to change a tire! They are probably taking pictures of my truck and are jealous of my awesome lights and sirens!! You have to have a crane to pick up the spare tire! I don't think that tiny fuel jug is going to do much.

 We made it to Whitehorse. It is the capital of Yukon and a really cool town. The Customs lady was nice to me. She did not search the ambulance, no questions about COVID, she did ask for Sis's papers. She liked the ambulance and asked lots of questions about building it.  I'm a little surprised she didn't search it just for a tour! Canadian border. We stopped at a little river and hiked around. Sis out exploring.

 The weather started off foggy but got a little better.  The cabin deck. Lighthouse. The ship. I think it's the biggest ship I've ever been on.

 Well I finally left Juneau. I'm on the ship Matanuska she is a pretty big ship bigger than the one I sailed down on. Here is a link for anyone interested.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Matanuska I did not book a room. I chose to ride on the upper deck where you are allowed to camp. It was very interesting. You are allowed to have a tent. There are restrooms with a shower. There is also a restaurant on the ship that serves breakfast lunch and dinner. Again like the last ship I am not allowed in the ambulance on the lower deck and Sis is not allowed on the ship.  That is a tent duck taped to the deck. There is a yellow line telling where to pitch your tent. This is where everyone hangs out. Just chilling in lawn chairs. There are heaters in the roof so it's nice and cozy. Some people just camp in the chairs. They get comfortable and kick off their shoes. Good bye Juneau. So far it's foggy and rainy if the weather clears up I'll take some beautiful pictures and post a...

 We had a company party for the few of us that are leaving. It was held at the salmon Bake.  It was really good, buffet style food and a really cool area. Everyone panning for gold!! We didn't find any. The water fall. Fire pit. Dinner. The mine entrance and old mining equipment.

 There are three of us who are leaving soon so we decided to have a game night! I did pretty good at shuffle board, ok at table hockey and still suck at pool.

 Sis and I went to the Mendenhall Glacier this morning. We didn't get to hangout too long because I got called into work. But I did get a few pictures.

 All of the trips start at 230 this afternoon so we went golfing this morning. Juneau has a 9 hole course. I did pretty well considering I don't play much. Because I don't have much room in the ambulance I only have 5 clubs so I'm doing minimalist golfing. A dead fish on the golf course, only in Juneau!

 Today we saw orca's and Cinder doing a couple of tail lobs and a close encounter. Nice tail lob from Cinder  Orca's. Mom going for a dive and Cinder waving at us.

 I took the boat drive out to little Island today to check out all the stellar sea lions. I don't go there because it burns too much fuel and I am a fuel nerd! It was really cool thousand of sea lions on the beach! Those are all Sea Lions

 I am still fascinated with the huge tide swings. I tried to take the exact same picture of low and high Tide. Low High

 Today Sis and I drove north to the end of the road.  I opened up all the doors on the ambulance trying to get it to dry out, and cleaned. Sis ran around and played. I saw a Bear on my drive but couldn't get a picture fast enough. End of road! The actual end of the road. It was a very cool drive to the end of the road.

 I caught Cinder out playing I guess mom was out to dinner somewhere.  Cinder doing a full breach! You can see the Glacier in the background. Cinder doing a tail slap for us. Cinder waving at us! Cinder doing an underwater barrel roll for the boat next to us. Cinder blowing snot all over the boat next to us!

 We have had a group of whales from out of town, probably the icy straights near Hoonah come to Juneau for the last three or four days and have been bubble net feeding.  It is a learned behavior Whales don't know how to do it when they are born another whale has to teach them.  A group of whales between 2 and 20 all dive at the same time and swim circles under the water blowing bubbles. The small fish get caught in the circle of bubbles. Then one whale gives the signal and all whales in the group swim up the middle of the circle and eat all of the trapped fish. All the Whales are on the surface breathing and you can see they all start to dive at the same time. There are 6 Whales in this group. All the Whales surfacing at the same time. All the Whales coming up at the same time.

 I have been doing lots of lighthouse tours lately. I thought I would post some pictures. Kaytos at the bottom of the ramp to Sentinel island. The trail from the dock to the lighthouse. The new lighthouse built in 1935. The original was burned down. The top of the lighthouse.

 Yesterday Cinder swam three or four laps around my boat. Tinder is Flames baby.  I wasn't able to get any great pictures because I am not allowed to shove the tourist out of my way, but I did manage to get a selfie with Cinder!

 All the normal captains are burned out doing so much whale watching, since I took a month long vacation I am not burned out so I have been getting lots of trips.  I took a selfie with my girlfriend Flame. It cost me alot of krill to get Flame to pose for a picture. A nice view of Eagle glacier.