Super 8 Motel - Ketchikan

... the most recognized spot in Ketchikan; lots of interesting shops. Thousands of salmon coming up Ketchikan Creek. <br><br> On our last day here, the sun finally came out, and there was even blue sky. Perfect for our Bearing Sea Crab Fishermen&#8217;s boat tour on the Aleutian Ballad, which was on the "Deadliest Catch" tv show. There were three Bearing Sea ...

... 8230;we saw many calvings and some distant wild life such as a black bear, orcas, otters, sea lions, goats (which I could never see) and lots of gulls. How do you describe Glacier Bay? I don&#8217;t know if I can do it justice. It is a pristine part of the world. A place set apart from the rest of ...

... and ecosystems of Southeast Alaska.<br><br>I spent two nights and a day aboard, met lots of people and made some great friends. When we arrived in Ketchikan on Sunday it was rainy and cold, whoo whee, welcome to SE Alaska! They get anywhere from 160-200 inches of rain a year here. <br><br>I climbed from the ferry dock up the mountain side ...

... trying to get pictures and movies. The whole time we are just laughing at how cool they are and how much fun they are having. We tied to the small dock at Bishop Bay and checked out the Hot Springs. We had the place to ourselves which we were told later was most unusual as it is a popular place. The hot springs tub was a wonderful treat. Two tubs actually, an outer tub for soaping up and an enclosed tub for relaxing. It was just the ...

... group photo, they gave out several door prizes and some of us participated in a gift exchange and scrapbook swap. <br><br>After the M&amp;M, we had just about an hour before our dinner at Chops. Chops is one of the specialty restaurants on board, it is an additional charge but very worth it. It is a steak house, similar to a Ruths Chris. We had dinner with Patrick and Shannon, another couple LJ met on CC, and ...

... Plus, the fins we were borrowing were this very bizarre design that neither one of us liked. Oh, and due to the thick wet suits, we had to wear a lot of weight, more than usual, including ankle weights. For those that don't dive, it's generally suggested that when you change out gear, you don't change more than one piece at a time, as, different gear is just different and the key to safe and successful diving is, well, being comfortable and calm in the water ...

... that I took earlier: the town as seen from the Misty Fjords excursion boat; Creek Street, the former red-light district (legal until 1954!), now gentrified; and Saturday night's sunset. We ended the day at our favorite restaurant, the Oceanview, which proudly offers "Authentic Mexican &amp; Italian food in Alaska." Unlikely as it might seem, this was clearly the local hangout (quite far from the cruise-ship docks), and the food was delicious.

... epicenter of the earthquake in China was near Chengdu, where we had planned to visit the Panda Research Centre just before we boarded the train for Tibet. It has sometimes seemed to us that we are bouncing around the world with lightning striking around us, leaving us intact but whacking innocent bystanders on all sides. We are so lucky to have missed these disasters. But we are really lucky in so many more ways: We have a ...

... the park, we continued on south. We soon came upon a nice waterfall. The scenery along the drive was nice, unfortunately the sky was gray and overcast after some morning rain. We also did a little window shopping along the waterfront. After which we stopped for some groceries and returned to the campground to enjoy our eagles. Tomorrow we will try the Misty Fjords trip again.

... and Eagle Center. Still raining, we walked to the center and outside but a covered area were 2 Bald Eagles who were injured in the wild and now live here. Aurora was 11 lbs and Chalk was 15 lbs and both were beauties! We were then led to the salmon pools and the stream. There are 6 different types of Salmon: Sock-eye, King, Pink (which isn't processed and is smoked), and 3 others which I can't remember, sorry. We were then led into a ...