Lions and Tigers and BEARS

Oh my!

Things are looking up.  Bus driving is getting better.  In fact, I'm actually making people laugh on my tours.

Taken by Eric while I was trying to park.

On top of that, Eric and I bought a summer car from a coworker just a few days ago.  No more biking in the rain!!!

Ain't it a beauty?

A Juneau car through and through.

In addition to that, we had an awesome day Tuesday!

Becky, Jeff, and Grant (sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and baby nephew!) came into town on a cruise ship.  I started out the day by giving them a tour of my new home (along with 44 other passengers), making pit stops to the Glacier Gardens and the Mendenhall Glacier.

Flowers planted in up-side-down trees at the Glacier Gardens.

The "Mendy"

After work, Eric and I met up with Becky, Jeffy, and Grantasaur.  We showed them around a part of downtown while visiting a few of Juneau's best eats.

Tracy's King Crab Shack was our first stop.  It's home to the "finest legs in town" and the best crab cakes ever.  They roll the crab cakes in coconut flakes, and if you ask for it, you can get a spicy orange sauce to dip them in.

Best Legs in Town!

Say hello to some of my new family!

Next was Samovars, a Russio-American restaurant that we stopped by for pelmenis.  Pelmenis are Russian dumplings stuffed with different meats.  It's a popular dish around these parts, and Samovars has the best in town.  They top theirs with curry and cilantro and have sour cream and Sriracha sauce on the side.  My Sriracha-obsessed husband loves this place.

Ignore my face.  Just look at the food.

My Hubba-hubba hubby hubsters.

After walking around downtown, we made our way over to Wings Airways and hopped on a seaplane.

There it is!  The "Eagle" plane.

Before take-off.

Brother-sisterly love.

The ride there was spectacular!  We passed by the ice fields of Juneau, which are filled with glaciers, on our scenic ride and eventually made our way to the Take Glacier Lodge in view of the Taku Glacier, one of the few glaciers that are growing rather than receding.

Taku Glacier Lodge.  Ah.  It's just so...awesome.  I wish I had a better word.  Maybe multiple words mixed in with even more pictures will do it justice.

While we were at the lodge, we were fed a delicious meal of smoked salmon, baked beans, coleslaw, herb biscuits, ginger snap cookies, sourdough bread, and glacier chilled lemonade.  Before and after dinner, the time was ours to explore the area.

The historic Taku Lodge.

Waiting to snag a taste of the salmon.

Black bears like to hang out around the salmon grill.

Ever seen a bear yawn?

Cooking the wild King Salmon over alder wood.

This is what happens when they get too close. 

Gawwww.  So cute. (Him of course)

The Taku Glacier is that big chunk of ice in the background.

I'm an aunt now!

I need this for my future classrooms.
"Nevermore."

Found this in the gift shop.

Perfect seat for Eric while I play
with raven puppets.

Moose...yeah. That's all I have to say.

A wolf pelt that hung over us while we ate.

Mmmmmmm.  So good!

Good food.  Good company.  Good day.

There's something luxurious about having
your lemonade chilled by glacier ice.

Finally getting a snack by licking the salmon
drippings off of the hot coals.

On a walk around the lodge we found
a mini bridge...

...near a mini waterfall.

Bear tracks on the trail we walked.

Black bear being chased off near where we exited the trail.

After a few fun hours at the Taku Glacier Lodge, we headed back on the same seaplane, but this time...

...I got to be the copilot!
Well, sit in the seat anyway.

Aerial view of Gastineau Channel.
I live on Douglas Island to the left.

Lately, I've been really missing family.  When you're thousands of miles away and the only way to them is by boat or plane (both very, very pricey), you get to missing them a lot.  So it was nice, to say the least, to have family around.

Our little family of two.