Auke Bay

Yesterday was quite a grind, to RDU by 8, arriving in Juneau a little after 9 (so 17 hours later) via Detroit and Seattle. The contrast between our two stops couldn't have been starker. In Detroit leaving the airport for lunch with Kate, her husband Kim and in a surprise cameo their son Oliver, whom we've known throughout his life, was pure joy. They took us to a lovely park nearby and we feasted on sandwiches from Ann Arbor's fabled Zingerman's Deli and went for a walk. At Seattle we were able to attend to the bodily functions, but inputs and outputs, but no more.

In the morning before work we took Natalie to breakfast at a little cafe at Auke Bay, quite near both to where we are staying and where she is working, at a camp at University of Alaska Southeast. Turns out Auke Bay is the most affluent part of metro Juneau, though it doesn't exude swankness. But the omelet and home fries at this place hit the spot and it was amongst the most beautiful places I have ever had a meal.

Later we went for a hike about 15 minutes up the coast. AllTrails said the trail was Easy. I was glad I was not macho about it and didn't assume we could handle Moderate trails, because this one was pretty steep and slippery. But the main thing was we didn't have bug spray and when we were in the densest part of the hike, before we broke out onto the coastal part of it, we could hear a ton of mosquitos swirling around us and I felt like I was getting bitten. Turns out we were actually OK.

But we will get some mosquito repellent and also bear spray so we'll be ready for next time. Then we walked on a little beach at the Lena Beach Recreation Area.

Followed by napping.