July 16th Ada's Birthday!

                                                              The town of Hoonah

 

July 16^th  Ada’s Birthday!!!  (and Mary Ann's, too!)

Ada had more panicakles to start her birthday celebration.  We took the taxi to the cannery at the point. It was a much more satisfying experience than we had anticipated. The old cannery had been renovated beautifully with old machinery, informative signs about the history of the area and the fishing and canning industries, shops, and restaurants.

  

                                                                Just before the spill

                                        Nana, Ada and Professor Puffin (my name for it)

We stopped to watch the screaming riders on the zipline and visited cruise ship central where tickets were being sold for ATV rides, jeep explorations, kayaking, and whale watching boats. Quite an efficient operation.

 

I had made a big button for Ada to wear for her big day that proclaimed that she was 5 today. Several people noticed the pin and wished her a Happy Birthday. One sales clerk even gifted her a stuffed deer for her special day. And that wasn’t the only Alaskan kindness we encountered that day. When Ada accidentally spilled her hot chocolate, a gentleman came from behind a counter and without incrimination cleaned up the spill refusing our offer to clean it up ourselves. He wished us a good day and assured Ada that the spill was no big deal putting her at ease immediately.  To add to that, our taxi driver took us on a free tour of the town and shared his memories of growing up here.  We are going to miss the big Alaskan hearts.

 

Ada had dictated a message to put in a bottle for her birthday and along the way, she pitched it into the water. We decided to do a second one for Lewis and Ella tomorrow.  It would certainly be grand if someone found the bottle and answered her messages.

 

We shoved off around 12:30 and Butch finally spotted his first whale. When we entered Funter Bay and Dave and I were the only ones awake, we watched a “Bellagio-type” whale spray show from at least 9 whales near the shore. Their sprays looked like an orchestrated water show. Wonderful.

                                                                  Whale Water Show

Now that our engine is not spitting oil and the oil has been changed, we are burning more fuel per hour for some reason.  We may need to find a new rpm “sweet spot”.