rain – Page 2 – Jodi Lea's Place

Monday, June 30th: Juneau
The adventurers woke up feeling fine and hungry. We met the gang at breakfast and at last I was able to eat a full meal ;-).

The ship got into port a little earlier than expected, so we shopped in the stores along the main street. I noticed they have a lot of diamond jewelry stores in Juneau. I, luckily, did not have time to shop. Outside there is dense fog, that gray pea-soup thick fog that makes you want to stay in and read by the fireplace. Sprinkles of rain added to the dreariness of the day. NOT the kind of weather for hiking up mountains, which is exactly what we were going to do today. JuneauFromTram

Unfortunately, the activity I really wanted was voted down. I wanted to do the dog mushing one. You got to meet the female gold medal winner of the Olympic Iditarod competition and learn how to drive a dog sled. You also got to meet the dog teams and play with the puppies. Who would vote down that? My hubbies family, that’s who. I’ll be a sport and go along, even though riding a tram up a steep mountain is not a person afraid of heights’ idea of fun.

[Remind me to tell you about a hot-air balloon adventure sometime in the future…]

Well, the tram ride turned out to be very mild and nothing scary at all. The hike, however, was not the ‘leisurely walk in the mountains’ they advertised. I knew I was in trouble when our guide, Betsy, handed out walking sticks. By the time we had hiked up the side of Mount Roberts, my stick was my new best friend. Too bad I’m not coordinated enough to snap pictures while hiking with a stick…

Betsy was a fun and knowledgeable guide. She taught us about the plant life we saw along the way, encouraged us, took us to a place to have all natural ingredient teas and little cookies. We also got a peek at the parks ‘bear cam’ and watched adult grizzlies catching salmon. I love watching grizzlies – on TV.

I did not flake out, and I made it up and back without any side-adventures. Still, I was happy to hike back down the mountain and get back into the tram.

: Aerial View of Juneau

I took a photo of Juneau from way up high in the tram, before it began its decent. I wanted to prove to my children that Grandmas are tough. It happened to be a magnificent view as well.

We blended in well with the other weary and soggy adventurers returning to the ship.

TTFN,

Jodi

Seven days & nights of continuous rain. Heavy rain. Often accompanied by nasty blasting winds.

How dare Mother Nature. This is Southern California for crying out loud! I have not been able to relax on my private porch. I have not needed sunglasses in over a week! If I wanted to live like this I would move to Seattle.

I woke up smiling this morning because there was light coming in the window. And, the best part, cloudless patches of gorgeous blue sky playing peek-a-boo with the lingering grayness. Now, two hours later, the grayness wins out and all is gloomy again. I check the weather websites for hopeful news. Tomorrow and Saturday cloudy. More rain on Sunday.

Scotty! Beam me up and deposit me in Maui. Or shoot me. Something.

Snow would be a different story. It is magical and peaceful. I love watching it fall, especially at night. That kind of weather this time of year would be lovely. Even if the skies were gray it would be a White Christmas. Alas, Mother Nature only finds it in her heart to snow in southern California once every 50 years, and this is not one of them. The only snow I will see is the stuff falling on my blog.

This sunless gray world is turning me into a curmudgeon. I feel depressed, grumpy and tired. The kind of “leave-me-alone-don’t-bother-me-I-just-want-to-sleep” mood clings to me like the snails and worms on the porch seeking higher ground. YUCK! The fact that the house is festively decorated for Christmas, barely registers any response from me. Unless you count “Bah Humbug!” .

Tag: rain

Day 3: Juneau

A Gray Christmas