About Me

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Douglas, Alaska, United States
I have lived in Alaska since 1978, having come to Juneau as a Jesuit Volunteer. I fell in love with Alaska and now live on Douglas Island with my husband and two dogs.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Best Weekend Ever!

On Friday, my friend Mary came for a quick visit.  She was attending a meeting in Seattle, and since she was most of the way here already, she flew up to Juneau.  We had a lot of fun together.


You wouldn't think that something as mundane as taking the recycling to the dump and doing a Costco run would be that exciting, but Mary was game for anything, even a Costco hot dog (the cheapest lunch in town)!



On Sunday, we were joined by my friend Jeanie (remember Jeanie?) who is visiting from Cheney, WA for a ride on the Alaska Marine Highway to Haines.  We got off during the quick turnaround at the Haines Ferry Terminal and met a new friend, a Havanese named Max and his person, Michelle.


Michelle kindly took a picture of the three of us.


On Monday, Jeanie, Mary and I were joined by my friend Nancy, who was visiting Juneau just for the day on a cruise ship.  Jeanie and I took them on a tour of Juneau, including the Mt. Roberts Tram.


Up...


up...


up.


Mary, with Gastineau Channel in the background.


I can see my house from up here!


We continued our tour with a visit to the Shrine of St. Therese.  While on the Island, we watched the fisherman fish the Breadline (a local favorite fishing spot).  We also saw eagles and sea lions.


The Shrine Labyrinth in bloom.


And of course, no visit to Juneau is complete without a stop at the Mendenhall Glacier.


Arctic Tern nesting grounds.  They fly all the way to Juneau from Anarctica to lay their eggs.


Nugget Falls.  Those tiny dots are people.


A recent calving.


The face of the glacier is a mile and a half away.


What a great group of women!


Mary relaxes after our excursion.


Nancy checks out the pictures she took.

We ended the day with an enchilada dinner with apple pie for dessert, to celebrate Charles' birthday.  Then I took Nancy back to her boat for a 10:00 p.m. departure.

Mary left on Tuesday morning.

Jeanie is still here until July 7.

I loved being surrounded by my best friends!


6 comments:

  1. You have had such wonderful visits lately..how fun that they could all come to be with you. Very beautiful photos..how cool to be able to see your house from the Tram.

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  2. Amazing, Paula! Wonderful friends and BEAUTIFUL scenery! So happy for you :)

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  3. What a perfect day! I really want to visit Juneau now, it looks amazing perched on the side of those mountains. My kind of place :)
    Enjoy your visitors.

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  4. Tell me more about the Shrine of St. Therese! Why was it built and who built it?
    Chris :o)

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  5. Chris - the Shrine was built by Bishop Joseph Crimont in the 1930s. He recruited out of work men to gather rocks from the area to build the chapel and they cut down trees to make the log cabin lodge. Here is a link to the Shrine of St. Therese website: http://www.shrineofsainttherese.org/

    I think an Alaskan bloggers get together at the Shrine would be great! What do you think?

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