4th of July

This is the weekend we have all been waiting for- our return to civilization.  For over 5 weeks we have all lived just a few miles beyond where the road ends.  At camp there is no pavement, phone service, vehicles smaller than 4x4 truck, or shopping besides the Trading Post’s offering of Echo Ranch sweatshirts and candy for the campers.  Needless to say the excitement this past week about making the 40 mile trip into Juneau was high.  We boarded the Blondina, the camp’s landing craft, with a float for the parade, 40-odd people (you can interrupt this as an estimate over 40 or that it’s a group of strange folks- either is correct), and backpacks and sleeping bags for the weekend.  In town we split into shoppers and hikers- guess which group yours truly was a part of.  We headed out to hike up to Mendenhall Glacier.  In true Juneau fashion it rained steadily the whole time.  Juneau is in the middle of the Tongass National Forest which is the largest rain forest in North America getting an average of 90 inches of rain a year. (I’m sorry to share this with everyone in Kansas during the month of July).  Since there is plenty of rain everything is lush and bright green.  After awhile the well groomed trail stopped and a sign was posted saying “Hazardous Unmaintained Trail”- just what we were looking for,  We had to scramble a ways up some steep rocks which were fairly slippery but at the top was an incredible view of the glacier and the lake below.  It was impressive.  When we finished we looked like wet dogs, were muddy and tired, but it was well worth it.  Next we headed downtown to the docks where there were 4 cruise ships in that evening and ate at The Wharf with a view overlooking the channel.  A few other counselors and I wanted to try some seafood so we split an order of Alaskan cod and a halibut salad—after all we are in Alaska just for the halibut (that joke never gets old around camp).  We drove across the channel to Douglas island to watch the fireworks.  All along the beach people had bonfires blazing and were setting off fireworks.  Some more Juneau background info is needed here.  There fireworks are set off at 12:00 in the morning on the 4^th since it doesn’t get dark enough before midnight.  Also it was 50F and raining so I watched fireworks in a long sleeve shirt, fleece, and rain jacket (Once again I’m sorry to all my readers in Kansas in the triple digits- it topped out at 75F last Monday and I about couldn’t stand the heat).  The fireworks are set off on a barge in the middle of the channel so they reflect on the water ant the sound echoes back and forth in the mountains surrounding town which is kind of eerie.  The next day- July 4^th everyone from camp walked in the parade.  I’m always surprised by Alaskans and I wasn’t disappointed.  The local dance studio had a float so all the girls were in tutus and XtraTufs- such a classy look.  Instead of tractors, many floats consisted of truck hauling boats on boat trailers.  Echo ranch had a float so we handed out candy and fliers about the upcoming camps, sang camp songs and danced, and had a lot of fun as usual.  Another great part of the parade was seeing previous campers who ran up to greet me or seeing the positive response from the adults since they went to Echo Ranch 40 years ago.  There was a great turn out for the parade and beautiful- no rain.  The route looped through downtown and in front of the cruise ship docks.  Afterwards we spent some time downtown which was crowded from tourists.  They always ask entertaining questions.  The best one is when they ask what elevation Juneau is at after stepping off a boat--- sea level might be a good guess. 
Our final stop was Fred Meyer’s which is kind of like a supped up Super Wal-Mart.  The store itself is over a quarter mile long- Alaskans just do everything on a grand scale.  Hopefully we all got stocked up on everything we need for the next 6 weeks.  Spending some time in Juneau was great since it provided a nice break, we got to see a ton of kids who have already come to camp, and also get a better idea of what Juneau is really like so we can relate to the kids a little bit better.