Ketchikan, Alaska

This was DEFINITELY the high-light of the trip! Not only was it the 1st day since we had been on the Oosterdam that we saw SUN, but this was the day for Mark's float-plane ride. What was most amazing about the sun, though, is that Ketchikan is known for rain. On average, 150 inches per year! Even the tour guide book said that if you arrive to Ketchikan and see sun, consider yourself lucky! (6th photo) We toured the town a bit early in the morning. Creek Street (8th picture) is not really a street at all. It is a boardwalk and each of the buildings is on stilts into the water! Originally, it was the 'red light district' for the gold miners headed further into Alaska. Now it is just preserved as an interesting piece of history.
Then, at Auntie and Clarke's suggestion, we went on an Island Wings float plane tour into the Misty Fjords. And if you should ever find yourself in Ketchikan, definitely go with Michelle from IW for this tour. It was EXCELLENT!!! We were on an 8 seater plane, and each of us had inter-active headphones (1st photo). She told us about the history and landmarks of the area as we flew off the island and onto mainland Alaska. The Tongess National forest in Alaska is more than 17 million acres. The Misty Fjords, about 2.3 million acres, is a land preserve within the National forest. A Fjord is created by a glacier, in the same way that Yosemite was created by a glacier, but rather than having land beneath it, the ocean is beneath (2nd photo). So there are areas were the mountains of the fjord are 3,000' high, and the ocean below extends down 3,000 feet. And the wild life! We saw mountain goats from the airplane. They live on top of these isolated mountains. It was just amazing. We also had the opportunity to land the plane in the fjord and get out on a little island on the water (5th photo), take pictures, and just enjoy the serenity. Well, I enjoyed the serenity; Mark enjoyed the plane:) (3rd & 9th photos)