ALASKA – Juneau Day 3

July 24 Tuesday Woke up to see a ptarmigan right outside the RV. I think this is the first ptarmigan I have seen in person in Alaska. Then as we headed to downtown Juneau we were driving behind this big, fluffy dog wearing goggles! What a hoot! 

Ptarmigan in the campground

Dog with goggles!

It was so delicious yesterday, we decided to go back to Tracy's Crab Shack for lunch. Love this place! 

Tracy's Crab Shack--best legs in town (crab legs that is!)

Mr. Skunk was wondering how far we are from NYC, so he climbed up on this sign to have a look. 

Hmmm....still pretty far from NY!

Just chilled the rest of the day!

July 25 Wednesday Had to be at the Juneau port at 6:45am to catch the 8am Fairweather ferry to Sitka. 

Jeep and RV in line to drive onto the ferry

View from the RV as Gary drives on

Coffee in the forward lounge

Our last look at the Juneau ferry port and Mendenhall Glacier

Docked at Sitka around 12:30pm. After parking the RV at the Sitka Sportsman's Club RV Park we headed into to town to see the sights. First stop, Castle Hill, the place where the Russians signed the contract of sale of Alaska to the Americans on October 18, 1867. Sitka was the capital of Russian Alaska. 

Castle Hill

We then headed to the Alaska Raptor Center. What an amazing place. They take in injured birds, mostly eagles, but also other Alaskan birds, and treat their wounds and, hopefully, rehabilitate them so they can return to the wild. If they cannot , they will live their life out at the Center. Typical life span of an eagle in the wild is 35 years. When we got there, two trainers were out with two eagles. Eagles are huge up close...Gary got some great pictures! 

So majestic!

"Quit taking my picture!"