Day 8 -Ketchican

We woke up to smooth seas and a cloudy sky. The boys left in their halibut fishing trip at 9 am and Courtney and I went into town to shop. We had coupons for free stuff that Courtney couldn't let pass us by!

Courtney was our navigator and we ended up going to quite a few shops.  

It started to sprinkle so we pulled out our umbrellas and decided to go to the Discovery Museum. It ended up being run by the National Forest Service and since I had my handy dandy National Parks Pass in my wallet, it was free for us to go in. They gave Courtney a scavenger hunt to do and we were on our way. It was a great little museum where you could learn the history of the area and more about the national forest.

She got to pet a bear...

She learned more about adventures in Alaska..

And we found the beat display. Bryan really wants to see a bear on this trip but all we have seen are stuffed bears in museums.

When she finished her scavenger hunt and earned a prize, we went walking around some more.

We quickly went back on the ship to drop off our purchases and then met up with my mom to go in a "duck tour."

We had a bit of time so we took a little walk down their Boardwalk.

Then we found our tour and were on our way to lean more about Ketican from land (on a bus) and by sea (the bus converted to a boat). It was a fun, really cheesy, tour. But I learned a lot.

Grandma bought Courtney some "quack."

We got to see the stream that the salmon come up to spawn. Look at how fast that water is going. And the fish swim up that!!

We got to see a bridge created to help the fish go upstream easier. It's on the left in this photo.

They then showed us the spawning grounds where the fish lay eggs and die.

It's amazing that any survive.

The town area around the docks are all built on likings. This granite face is where the original town began. You used to be able to tie your boat up to the church dock and go to church. 

The tour took us by some cool houses and stair streets that are just a stairway. Crazy!

The Tes Light District ( I thought the houses were cool).

The it was time for the tour to be over. So we went shopping a little more. Courtney couldn't resist getting another pair of Alaska socks and these slippers...

Then we went back to the ship for lunch and to wait for the boys to return from their fishing expedition.

They had a great time. The guide met them and got them all outfitted with rain gear and fishing gear. They took off and were on their way when the captain got a call that it was too rough where they were planning on going so they changed to another location. 

They got set up and Ethan caught 3 fish before Bryan or grandpa had even caught one!! They didn't get halibut but they caught yellow eye snapper. They pulled the fish up from such a depth that the fish would get the bends on their way up. So if the fish wasn't big enough, they couldn't throw them back. 

They ended up with one fish that was too small so they saw an eagle flying by so they threw the fish in the water and got to watch the eagle swoop down and get it.

When the trip ended, Ethan had caught 3 fish, Bryan had caught 2 and grandpa had caught 1. They had a great time!

Ethan got lunch, because he was starving, and then he cleaned up and we went to dinner.

Courtney keeps out assistant waiter hopping because she drinks a lot of water during the 2 hours of dinner (she also has to leave and go to the bathroom 3-4 times during dinner). The assistant waiter, Ronald, took a paper napkin and made Courtney a rose. It was really cool!

After dinner Courtney ran fast to the kids club. They were supposed to be doing a sports night but the outside sports court was too wet so they switched it to King/Queen night. Courtney came back with a crown because she had won a dance contest.

After dinner, I ran to the photo place and snuck a picture of the formal night picture. It was hilarious because Ethan made the funniest face...

Courtneys picture was cute.

Ethan wearing courtneys crown..

Bryan and Ethan went back to the room to sleep. I went to the Piano Man show and then went to get Courtney. The boys were exhausted.