Sitka

Sitka, Day 5. Another cloudy, AK day. It was warm, though...warm enough to walk around. We dodged the few sprinkles of rain. We walked and walked to explore this little town. Its very cute and I did some shopping in a fun, little boutique. I highly recommend waiting till Sitka to shop! We visited the totem pole exhibit, we saw the hatchery, we walked up to the rapture rescue building, but decided not to pay the $14 a person to enter. The trails we took (even the sidewalks) were lined with fresh, ripe, salmon berries. We munched on those the whole day!

Shane opted to go on a whale watching tour while I stayed behind with our new friends, Dennis & Lyndi. Dennis even opted to walk around on his own once he heard the word 'shopping' come out of our mouths. ; ) We all met up after Shane's tour. Fun day!

This is the only stop where we had to tender in.
Truly, after visiting AK, I have a whole new - fresh - perspective on eating fish. My heart goes out to the fishermen and their families. What a life...I couldn't do it. I know they love it (you'd have to) but being on the damp, cold water every day is not for me! Every time I eat AK Salmon now, I'll savor every bite knowing what someone went through to bring it to me!
Shane found a friendly bear
I was surprised at how lush AK is. The green grass, the beautiful flowers. They get a lot of rain and little sun...and the plants love it. Beautiful!

The hatchery had a little area for hands-on fun. Shane is holding some sort of sea-worm here. Not sure what they called it...eww!!! That's what I say!

I bet this kid LOVES his volunteer job! He was very sweet.

This is a bike they recovered from the ocean floor.

This mean looking crab only had one eye...which I didn't realize till I saw this photo on my pc!

This family had 8 or 9 kids. They're a little Christian family who make little jams/jellies to make their living. Looks like they sew their clothes and everything...so cool. Reminded me of Little House on the Prairie. They were so polite and adorable. We bought some 'spruce tip' jelly. Yummy!

Shane's whale watching adventure...great photos babe!LOVE the otters!Apparently, the mommy's hold their babies on their bellies. SO CUTE!Eagle's nest in a tree top. They are much larger than I imagined.

I really appreciated how knowledgeable everyone was in AK. They really know their history and their environment. We learned new things, fascinating things, every day.