Juneau, Alaska

Our second port on our cruise was Juneau.  The boys and I went on an excursion to Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens. Unfortunately it was a foggy and rainy day so our views were not the best on the excursion, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Glacier Gardens is in the temperate rainforest and has beautiful floral gardens, plants and trees. Nothing goes to waste in the gardens.  A great example of this is the upside down trees they plant if a tree falls.  They take the tree and plant it upside down, line the roots with fishnet, add moss, and then plant flowers, ferns etc.

Upside down trees

After the tour of Glacier Gardens we went to Mendenall Glacier. It was raining and we only had 45 minutes so the youngest and I decided to just hang out at the visitor's center while the oldest trekked over to the waterfalls.

Mendenhall Glacier

The boys at Mendenall Glacier

Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier

Of course after the excursion the day cleared up quite a bit and the boys and I had a good time walking around Juneau. I spent a good portion of the evening sitting on deck 6 and enjoying the lights of Juneau.  It was a little loud at one point as it seemed as if every float plane in Alaska landed and took off again.  It was fun to watch them come and go.

Juneau at night