July 29, 2013 Monday
Day 22

What unusually beautiful weather we have been blessed with so far in southeast Alaska. This morning, we decided to relax and cook bacon and eggs outside at our campsite, Alaska Waters. Our site consists of 7 slots, across the street from the harbor, with small peeks of the harbor through the trees. There is a full hook-up and the wifi is incredible, surprisingly. We are the only ones here, so that's nice. It could be tight and crowded if all slots were taken.
After breakfast we drove to town to try and book a couple of area tours. Luckily, the tour company that owns our campsite was able to score us 2 spots for tomorrow on the Stikine River Wilderness Tour, but The AnAn Bear and Wildlife Observatory Tour had been sold out since June. They recommended we try the tour company across the street to see if they had any cancellations, and YAY! They had just had 2 slots open up for Thursday morning. Our ferry leaves for Petersburg on Thursday, but not until evening, so we booked the Bear Tour.

Feeling relieved that we had booked these 2 very special experiences, we then drove out to Petroglyph Beach to hunt for ancient rock carvings (petroglyphs) left in their original locations, scattered randomly along the beach. No one knows for sure who carved them or why, though several theories are offered- possibly to honor the Stikene River, or they could have been territorial markers or - and I like this one - the natives simply had a lot of time on their hands and these carvings are their "doodlings".
Whatever the reason, we had such fun climbing around on the rocks and discovering the petroglyphs. Our experience was like a treasure hunt and we got so excited each time one of us found one. There was a nice family on the beach and their little daughter, Samantha came up to us to inform us that once we find a carving, we could see them better if we poured water over it. I found a discarded water bottle on the beach and Michael gingerly made his way over the jagged rocks to the water to fill the bottle. Samantha was right, the water under the glistening sun, made the images that much more pronounced. As the morning went on, we struck up a nice conversation with Samantha's parents, Erica & Mark (from Seattle). While we were all looking for petroglyphs and getting to know each other better, it struck me that - though I had believed we were going to see a lot of beautiful natural sights on our trip, I had not really expected to meet such wonderful people. I thought back to Bob and Bette we met in Jasper, Jeff and Rick we met in Montana, then again in Alberta, the people with homemade motorcycles we met at a fuel stop, Rayme from Rayme's Bar in Wrangell, and just about everyone we met along the way has been so nice; we just love hearing all their stories. What a bonus to an already incredible trip.

On the beach, a local girl, Serena, started playing with Samantha and it was fun to see their friendship form. Serena took me aside at one point and asked if I'd like to see her favorite petroglyph. Of course I said yes, so she took me far up the beach to a place none of us had been and sure enough, the killer whale carving was the best find of the day. The others came to take pictures once they saw mine and Serena said 'I sometimes like to show this one to tourists". She was so sweet and she agreed to pose for me so I could take her picture for this blog. Check out the killer whale petroglyph and Serena's picture in Wrangell photos.

Mark and Erica had a ferry to catch later that day, but they invited us to eat lunch with them at a pizza place some people had told them about. So, we agreed and we followed them through Wrangell's winding streets to Marine Bar which is a combination Bar, Pizza Restaurant, Liquor Store, also with Rooms, Showers and a "Laundry Mat". I suppose when you are on an island that can only be reached by plane or boat, your businesses need to be multi-purpose.

We had a great time with our new friends, shared our stories and a meal, then parted ways. Another lovely day.

Wildlife Sightings
Bald Eagles
Heron