The Wheels on the Bus....

---

Yesterday, when Val and I came out of Victoria's Restaurant ( a place that looks like it was a bordello during the gold rush days), there was a small blue and white bus right outside. We had planned to go to the Raptor Center and needed to take a taxi because it was outside of downtown Sitka. We asked the driver if the bus went out there and he said ," No, this is the Blue Line. You need the Red line. Hop in and I'll take you to it." The fare was $1 ( for senior citizen)! He yakked away the entire ride. We just nodded because there were several very stern warnings about 'not talking to the driver,etc.'. He brought us to the harbor, giving us all kinds of personal info: I'm 74, I've got 7 kids ranging in age from 54 down to 13 ( Whoa! bet there are some good stories there!), and then we hopped onto the next bus. We started to get out another $1 and the young woman driving said, " Oh no, you are transfers." Well, she chatted the entire trip too. We went by the Old Folks Home, the High School, a B&B, and several small strip malls. In the course of the ride we found out that she only had a half day of work that day and that she was going to go fishing rather than berry picking. Another rider told her she needed to get her priorities straight and that she was too lazy to climb up the hill to get berries. "Nah,"she said, " I'd just rather be fishing than doing almost anything else." "Follow the bird feet", she told us as we exited the bus. Stenciled on the sidewalk, crosswalk, and up a ways were large yellow 'big bird' type feet leading us up to the Raptor Center. Later we connected to the Green Line and it took us right back to our hotel.

Raptors who have been injured are brought to the center from all over Alaska and from other states. There were about 25 in residence. 5 bald eagles ( 2 young ones) are being helped in hopes they can be released back into the wild. There were other eagles who can never be released because of the nature of their injuries. They are used to educate people, especially school children, about wild birds and their habitats. There were several owls, red tailed hawks, and a peregrine falcon. Did you know they can fly up to speeds of 75-90 mph and that they can dive 'bomb' their prey at the rate of 275 mph? Basically, they knock their prey out of the air, then when they get them on the ground they break their necks. Yummy.

Bald eagles thrive in Alaska and we have seen so many that we have lost count. You just have to look up and they are sitting in a tree. Very, very cool.

Yes, Alaska is HUGE! and yes, it is our largest state but how large is it really? Not so much in population- only about 625,000 people. Juneau, the capital has only around 30,000. Sitka, where we are now, has about 8,000. There are about 3 MILLION lakes , 3,000 rivers, 1,800 islands, and 100,000 glaciers and about 586,000 square miles. We all remember our 4th or 5th grade history telling us that when Secy. of State Seward bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 he was the laughing stock of the country. "Seward's Folly." it was called. Well, it works out to about two cents an acre. Not a bad deal. So no one is laughing now.

Today we went on an Otter and wild life watch. They promise that you will see either an otter, or some sea lions, or a bear, or a whale. Well, today we hit the 'grand slam'. We saw many groups of sea lions. Some came within 30 feet of our boat. We saw some cute otters who poke their heads up out of the water like prairie dogs. Near a remote island we saw some very healthy bears who were just hanging around the beach waiting for dinner to swim by. But the best of all was the sighting of two gray whales ( mother and her pup). Mom was huge- probably a 45 footer. The crew was astounded since gray whales don't usually hang out here. One said he'd never seen a pup in all the years he'd been doing these trips. A few miles further and another HUGE gray whale was sighted. We had to get away as it was so large that if it came close to the boat it would have toppled it. As we were heading home a very large humpback was sighted. What a day!!!

For anyone who has ever remotely dreamed of coming to Alaska, I would encouraged them to come. You may want to consider the way we are doing it which allows you plenty of time to really see the natural habitat and meet very friendly people. You can 'google' the Alaska Ferry System and set your own course. We are only stopping at 4 towns on their route but there are many more to explore.

Tomorrow- the native culture from a tribe who have been in Sitka for over 10,000 years. You read that right, 10,000! Sort of humbling....

Carolyn

---