Weekly Wednesday – A Trip to Juneau – A ‘Maple and Me’ Special

Whoo…what a couple weeks its’ been! Maple and myself moseyed on down to Juneau to see my family for a week over the 4th of July. Whilst in Juneau one of my mothers gave us her 500-lb stand up Steinway to haul back home in our truck. With the help of my brother, an old friend and two new-to-us friends we carried the piano down three flights of stairs and freighted it home in the truck. I also got to see my darling sister’s blog-worthy home (someday, when I have a better camera I’m going to do some Home Shoots!) Other than that much coffee was drunk, much chatting with family and shopping was had, “Criminal Minds” with my mother was viewed, fireworks were observed (and oohed and ahhed over), many miles were driven…all in all it was a perfect trip.

Both Maple and myself took many, many photos on the trip, some of which are below, some of which will be featured tomorrow in (wait for it) ‘A Trip to Juneau – A ‘Maple and Me’ Special Pt. 2′! (Or maybe I’ll just go crazy and call it ‘Cali or Bust’ just to confuse folks.

To get to Juneau from Fairbanks by car you’ve got to drive through the Canada briefly. There’s a section of the Yukon that’s just gorgeous; a tiny town called Destruction Bay (so called because a huge storm destroyed the entire town in the 1930’s) and one of my favorite places, Haines Junction. The drive from Haines Junction to Haines is one of my favorite drives in Alaska – just stunning scenery.

On Saturday morning we loaded up the truck, two of the three hounds (after dropping one off at the dog-sitter for the week) and we were off! About an hour and a half out of Fairbanks we stopped at Delta Junction to take some photos and stretch our legs. Outside their Visitor Center we discovered these huge mosquito sculptures that I thought were pretty amazing. Inside the Visitor’s Center the teenager behind the desk was busy telling a German woman the, “The ground burns in Alaska because the sun makes it too hot.”

Mosquito sculptures in Delta Junction. Maple, though initially resistant, eventually posed for me.

I look like a five-year-old.

Candid.

If you’re ever in Delta Junction be sure to stop by Delta Meats! They’re an Alaskan owned company that sells killer delicious Caribou, Reindeer, Buffalo and pork that’s all raised locally. They’ve got a funky warehouse just off the road and are a must-go-to for myself and Maple.

After Delta Junction we stopped in Tok for food at Fast Eddy’s (a great little diner) and to take a short walk around the river. The mosquitoes were so wretched that our ‘walk’ became a ‘dash to the car’

Tok River.

We then powered on through to the border. After smoothly transitioning into Canada we stopped at Destruction Bay for gas and to let the dogs out of the truck. Destruction Bay is a tiny town built around a huge, gorgeous lake. The quiet, starkness is so beautiful there that, at night, it’s easy to want to live there.

Destruction Bay

Destruction Bay’s Visitor Center.

Viewing Sheep.

I managed to find a pay phone in Destruction Bay as well as a pay phone in Tok. My sister and I have a long standing joke about posing with pay phones so I took some photos in homage of her.

Snorri and I found a phone booth in Tok.

A phone booth!

Sad hipster phone booth in Destruction Bay.

Traveling in Alaska in the summer spoils you: all these photos were taken around 11 PM. After touring Destruction Bay we all loaded back up into the car and traveled for another 3 hours before pulling over to the side of the road to sleep for a few hours before the border back into Alaska opened up at 7 AM.

Do we get to the Border? Are there adventures sleeping in the car? What does Haines look like to me and Maple? For the answers to these enthralling questions tune in tomorrow to the next installment of ‘Trip to Juneau – Maple and Me Edition’!

Cheers and Love,

Maple and Me