Monday June 16th
 JUNEAU, ALASKA
 In the morning we cruised the straits, (along with a few other ships)

People lined the rails to study the mountains ... watching for signs of wildlife.

We did see a lot of whale activity ...."Thar she blows" (spray in centre of photo)

The kids swam in the outside pool with the beautiful mountains in the background ....and even Tracey was able to enjoy the smooth sailing.

But, just a minute - where did Logan go? He had let us know he was heading for the washroom some time ago and hasn't been seen since!

Grandpa went to check it out and found him stuck inside a locked stall! Logan wasn't fussed in the least - he had heard people outside the door and knew someone was going for help, but before the crewman with a key arived, Grandpa was able to wiggle and shake the door so that Logan could turn the knob and be rescued. He immediately got back into the pool to catch up on his swim time.

At 1 pm we arrived in Juneau, where Grandma and Grandpa roamed the downtown streets while the others boarded a bus to visit an underground gold mine for an extensive tour that included panning for gold - the kids returned with little vials of tiny gold flakes as souvenirs. When we met up again, Tracey decided to pass on the ride up Mount Roberts on an aerial tram, and headed off to find a hiking trail instead. The rest of us boarded the tram for a very smooth glide to the half way point of the mountain....

At that level the kids, with nerves of steel, played on trees at the edge of a steep drop-off.....

After checking out the captive bald eagle (being nursed back to health), everyone compared wing spans ...

We later learned that Tracey had hiked to the same area, bought herself some 'bear bells' as a souvenir (to her dismay, they were made in Canada!) and then hiked all the way back down again. In the meantime the rest of us headed for that tiny little cross waaaayy up at the top ...

It was a very steep zig-zaggy trail with lots of beautiful views.

Grandma trailed behind the entire way, with frequent rest breaks, but the others were kind enough to wait for her at the peak .....

and allowed time for her to catch her breath before starting down the hill .....

We all headed back to the ship separately - Grandma and Grandpa had to hurry to keep their reservation at the upscale Pinnacle Grill, Jason and kids stayed to watch a nature video and took a later tram down the hill, and Tracey hiked her way back to join them for dinner at the Lido Buffet. And everyone had a good night's sleep after all their activities!