Day 4, Ketchikan

Tuesday (Day 4) was an early day. We arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska and headed off the ship pretty quickly because we had tickets for an 8a Lumberjack Show. It was a lot of fun, a little cheesy but who doesn't need some cheesy tourist stuff now and then? Actually, we laughed a lot and it really is amazing to see all of the stunts they pulled. Everything they did, lumberjacks actually had to do that (still do sometimes).

After the Lumberjack show, we walked around the very cute little town. Visited a couple of souvenir shops, mailed some postcards, and even stopped by the local candy shop for delicious chocolates.

Then we headed on the bus to our next excursion: Orca Beach Rainforest Adventure. Sounds exciting, huh? It was about 30 minutes to get to our boat (or raft...whatever you want to call it) to take us to Orca Beach. Southeast Alaska is just a bunch of islands. Most major cities including most of the ones we went to) are not accessible by car--it takes a boat or a plane so you see A LOT of those!

Remember how I bought way cute $9 Wellies at Steve & Barry's before leaving? You know, because it rains A LOT and I didn't want cold, wet feet? Well we happened to arrive in Alaska on their 7th day of sunshine. 7 straight days of sunshine (9 days by the time we left) in a place where it rains, on average, 330 days a year. I still think the $9 was a good investment because it was supposed to rain!

Anyway, the forecast still called for late afternoon rain. So, we decided to don the complimentary rain gear they provide. It was awesome...how "Deadliest Catch" do I look? John refused to wear the purple pants with his outfit, and it was pulling teeth to get him to even put on the jacket. Well, we didn't need the pants but the jacket came in handy since we were heading out in a Banana Boat. It's basically a glorified inflatable raft with a motor. We got quite a bit of spray from the 5-8 foot waves!

Once we arrived on Orca Beach we were able to take a leisurely stroll through the rainforest. We learned a lot about trees, but the only wildlife we saw was a nasty, giant white slug!
But it was beautiful there, and so peaceful. The sun made everything just right.

After that, we were beat. And starving. It had been WAY more than 16 minutes since we ate last, so we got back on the ship and ate. I'm pretty sure that day I had a hamburger, hot dog, crack fries, pizza, AND ice cream for dessert. It was delicious.

Dinner was a mere 4 hours later!