Rhapsody of the Seas - Days 4

After a day in Juneau, we reboarded and traveled overnight to Skagway, Alaska. Many of the local shops at each of our stops offers up free trinkets (some as nice as real sapphires, small gems like Alexandrite and Northern Lights crystal, or necklaces) in hopes of enticing buyers into their store. Steve and Faith were successful in their "scavenger hunt" in Juneau so we decided to try it out also. We picked up a few nice pieces although the sales people were of course very tenacious. After picking up our first few free items, I began just waiting outside the store and sending Jonny in to fetch it.

We soon after concluded that the "free" stuff, as nice as it was, just wasn't worth it to us. We picked up a couple free gold-colored Alaska coins, a few free charms for Nikki's charm bracelet, and a free necklace. Jonny bought me a nice citrine/topaz necklace, ring, and earring set which I found special. We bought a variety of magnificent fudge at a small charming chocolate shop. The boy at the counter was a high school student who gave off the impression that he wanted to leave someday and see the big outside world. We learned that their local school is a K-12 establishment with a total of 94 students. Their most recent graduating class was "large" with 10 graduates (3 boys and 7 girls).

We attended a small theater production entitled "Days of 98" which told of the infamous "Soapy Smith" and his ne'er do wells. We also went on a tour of the area and were very impressed by our tour guide. He was in his 20's and spoke continuously for at least an hour (maybe two) and remained interesting the entire time in all that he said. He really knew his history and even quoted pages out of his favorite books where he had pulled his information. He said he majored in Theater in college.

During his tour, we crossed over a unique bridge that was specially designed to stay intact during earthquakes. It crosses over a faultline. One side is fixed in place and weighted while the other side is permitted to flex along with any movement. It's amazing to look at the bridge and see a deep crack running down the mountain through the valley and up the side of the opposing mountain.

We also crossed over into Canada briefly and saw the timberline end. The tour guide pointed out the mountains that previously held glaciers and explained how the glaciers slid down the mountains rounding off the tops and shaving off all the topsoil and trees. There were several beautiful waterfalls. One waterfall traveled such a long distance with a dramatic drop off that Skagway was able to contrive a way to generate electricity for their small town. Their energy bills are lower in the summer time when the water is flowing then dramatically increase during the winter when the water is frozen.



Skagway does have an LDS Church building. Skagway also broadcasts that Sarah Palin lived there during her childhood. It is a lovely community although most of the houses in town are posted for sale. I look at those houses and wonder how they stay warm in the winter as they seem somewhat older. I wouldn't mind visiting in the middle of winter just to see the difference.

Steve and Jonny found a spot to sit and contemplate.