90 Degrees In The Shade

We  all believe that we've had our summer already. On Friday, June 22nd, the day was beautiful and the temperature climbed up to around 79 - 80 degrees. There was a light breeze, just enough to keep things pleasant. We all basked in the sunshine and warmth. We were giddy with the fantastic weather, all the while waiting for the other shoe to drop. The passengers off the ship looked at us strangely. But surely this couldn't last. Whenever we'd had a nice day one day, the next day wasn't even as nice.

But this particular morning, Saturday the 23rd of June, 2012, we woke to another beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, with temperatures rising. Break out the short sleeves, capris and flip-flops! (well, two out of the three I didn't even pack)

Nobody even gave it a thought that this was the second day in a row of very nice weather! We were enjoying this way too much for that.

We all dusted off our sunglasses and headed to Dock 1 and the Disney ship. No one recognized the Shore Ex and the Shore Ex didn't recognize any of us. You see, nobody had on their rain gear and everyone was smiling and laughing! Summer was here at last.

We didn't even care that our tours were running 15 minutes late. It was summer (at last) in Ketchikan. There was no "other shoe" to drop.

See the happy faces on Charla and me? That's Emily (Coastal Expeditios) to my left in those short sleeves, Capris and flip-flops. Even the Shore Ex, Jennifer, (behind Charla's right shoulder) lost the rain coat and we finally saw her in her "whites."

That's LumberJill and her Dock Reps in front of our buses and the Seven Seas Navigator.

I had some time before I had to go over to the Coral Princess. And, as it was closing in on lunch time, I grabbed a salad from the salad bar at the Safeway grocery store and sat in the parking lot overlooking the Tongass Narrows (there are a lot of people who eat lunch there, watching the activity on the water).

Those are the three ships that are in today; the Coral Princess (left), the Seven Seas Navigator (middle) and the Disney Wonder (right).

I looked a little more to my left to see that there was still snow on Deer Mountain. A couple more days like this and that snow will be history.

Then I heard Alaska Airlines coming in for a landing at Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island. Okay, the picture isn't the best.....I can only say that the sun was so bright in my eyes that I couldn't see what was in the view finder. This will have to be good enough.

Looking again to my left, I zoomed in on my three ships and a fishing boat in the foreground. I know the picture doesn't show it, but the water was shimmering in the sunlight. With a big sigh, I took in the beautiful sights.

Beaver just taking off

Turning to the left, he's probably heading out to the Misty's

He's working and that reminds me that I have to finish my lunch and head back to the docks. I have tours to get out.

When I got back to the Coral Princess I noticed that all the Dock Reps plus Ian Harvey, the Shore Ex, were standing in the shade of the Coral. I had to laugh and grab my camera. We've been waiting so long for this day and everyone was hiding in the shade. Well, I don't blame them. The thermometer in my car registered the outside temperature at 90 degrees! (wish I'd packed those capris)

Behind me all the passengers for a tour were in line to board their bus. Everyone waited as long as they could outside because inside the bus was really hot.

I stood in the shade of the Coral and snapped this picture of the three ships.

When I turned around, there were two of my passengers who were going on my Crab/Fly tour. They were from Houston and were really surprised at this Alaskan weather.

But now it was time to get everyone on to the bus. I had told everyone which bus was going to be the one that would take them out to the Lodge. When I came around to the other side of the bus I had to laugh when I saw them all standing in the shade of the bus. They were a great group of people. They had wanted me to come out to the Lodge with them.........tempting.

AND THEN THE OTHER SHOE DROPPED........

A cold front went through. Within a matter of minutes (really) the winds went from nothing to 60 mph, the temperature dropped from 90 degrees to 59 degrees, the calm seas turned into three foot rollers with white caps!



SUMMER WAS OVER!