July 22nd

I had arrange with Jenna the day earlier that Erik and I would be attending the Historical Pioneer Tour this morning. We meet the Sitka Tours buses under the bridge for the 9:oo a.m. tour. Our first stop was the Sheldon Jackson Historical Museum that is located right in front of my dorms. This was the first ever concrete building to be constructed in Alaska and it contains the biggest collection of native art and artifacts. This was a very interesting place to explore but like every tour there is never enough time to see everything that the facility had to offer.


-Cute seal mask.

Next stop was the Russian dance show. All the dancers in the show are indeed not Russian but have studied Russian traditional dances to keep Sitka's historical heritage alive. All the parts in the show were also preformed by women, as they explained latter in the show that the men of the town wanted no part in the dance performances. They were really good and the whole ordeal reminded me allot of Disneyland's It's A Small World ride. Erik and I were both amused and a bit startled by how very awkward the announcer spoke. In addition she made such weird almost creepy faces that made your shoulders stiffen up with uncomfortable tension when she talked.


-Erik and I with the Russian dancers.


-The awkward announcer.

Last stop was the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. I had been there once before on Wolf's walking tour but was more than happy to once again revisit this beautiful church. There is allot to look at in there and I definitely noticed a few more things that had missed the first time around. Erik and I left the bus tour after this stop and made our way to the Sitka famous Two Chicks and a Ca-bob Stick stand. There we ordered a king salmon ca-bob with rice with a salmon berry glaze. While we waited for our order to be made we headed one stand over to the clam chowder stand. My good lord, was that chowder to die for! And of course I had to introduce Erik to the legendary marshmallow milkshake at the Harry Race.


-Excited to eat!

After a good nap, we headed out once again at full throttle to hike to the waterfall on the Indian River Trail. I was concerned that it would be getting dark out before we made it out of the woods so I set a rather fast passe and had to stop once and awhile for my boy to catch up with me. We were both still very sore from our trip to the top of Gaven as nether of us are very in shape individuals. We didn't stop for any breaks and made it to the falls in a remarkable 2 hours. We spent an hour or so relaxing by the sound of the running water which was very romantic.


-At the waterfall.

We took our time coming back from the falls and stopped occasional for a photo. Erik and I made it back to to the dorms as the dark of night was beginning to arrive. We ate left over Kennys and were informed by Steve that the following morning there was to be an eagle release. There goes my hopes of sleeping in! Actually, I was super excited. I couldn't believe that Erik we going to be around for the first bird release of the summer. I swear he brought all the good luck we were having with him.