Day 7: SUNDAY

I am VEEERRRRY tired, so I will write as much as I can remember about today before I fall asleep...

Woke up a little late (compared to what I've been doing the past several days). I blame that on the late hours and physical exertion of the previous night. I went straight to swing dance lessons (I already know how to swing dance, but it's always good to stay in practice). Laura and Jon met me there. Anyone who has ever seen them dance knows that they don't need any lessons either, but they were going for fun and practice as well. As luck would have it, I ended up partnered with a guy who had seen me dancing in the nightclub the night before, and he was more than happy to be my partner.

They're everywhere. Apparently my repel-vibes aren't strong enough.

He also wasn't much of a dancer – which is forgivable, I guess – and I spent the entire hour showing him how the steps went, and where he was supposed to be leading me. I completely lost him on the sugars; that was the point at which I gave up trying. (He invited me to join him at '80s Retro Night tonight, but I'm afraid I didn't make it.)

From there, we went to lunch. While we were eating, the ship docked at Juneau, and after lunch we arranged to go haunt the downtown tourist district for a while. We drifted through cheesy souvenir shops and visited the Red Dog Saloon (now in its third “original location” in eight years), but didn't really get out of the heart of Touristville. (I bought postcards and stickers for Darwin, and... oh, yeah, I bought more books. I've lost count of how many I've bought on this trip. From my bed right now, I can see five paperbacks; I know I left two more in Laura and Jon's room, and there may be more in my briefcase. At least I'm not going to run out of reading matter anytime soon.)

I had to come back early from Juneau because I had an appointment for a massage in the AquaSpa. Although it costs two and a half times here what it does at home for a massage, I really needed it. And, forty-five minutes later, I was able to stand up straight for the first time in three days. Nice feeling. Everything still hurts like mad, but now it's only sore muscles – not the tearing and grinding that's been going on for several days now. I'm physically trashed, though. I just want to sleeeeeep....

Of course, more than half of the sore muscles can be attributed to the dancing. Four consecutive dance sessions in two days (two of them in four-inch heels) are not kind to the body when the body is used to dancing approximately, oh, twice a year. But it's a good kind of pain. :)

After the massage I had to run back and shower before we went to the salmon bake. The Gold River Salmon Bake is one of only two shore excursions we booked in advance, because we've done it before and it's wonderful. Despite being right in Juneau, the setting is rustic, within 50 yards of an abandoned gold mine and the gorgeous waterfall that once powered the air pumps and electric lights for the mine. It also involves food, of course, which is the real draw. :) Fresh salmon, grilled over an open flame, drizzled with a brown sugar glaze. Baked beans and reindeer sausage. Caesar salad with flaked salmon. Homemade cole slaw and seasoned wild rice. Barbecued ribs and chicken. Honey cornbread. Blueberry cake. Yum...

So, anyway, we ate until we nearly made ourselves sick, then waddled back to the ship. We staked out a row of chaise lounges and read on deck for an hour or two, watching the late Juneau sunset (it was still daylight at 10:00 p.m. when we had to go inside). Then we went down to the theatre for the evening's performance, which involved a juggler/physical comedian (who was actually quite funny!) and a world-renowned hammer dulcimer player, who performed accompanied by his 12-year-old daughter on piano. He was absolutely incredible. I'm always stunned by people who can play the hammer dulcimer, because of the precision and exact control needed to strike one of more than 130 strings in just the right spot. In addition to an amazing traditional hammer performance, this musician also incorporated pizzicato and percussion on the instrument.

After the show ended, we dragged ourselves back upstairs. There were lots of events scheduled tonight that should have been LAST night, when we were looking for something to do – '80s night (which, while still not the perfect theme, would have been better than yet another repetition of “Night Fever” or “Disco Inferno” last night in the nightclub), the party band Top Secret playing in another club (they're fun to dance to) – but unfortunately, we're all so trashed that we all just want to go fall over. The only reason I'm still awake to type this is because Dad is reading a magazine, and has the light on. Mom's been asleep for twenty minutes.

I should probably end here and give in to the urge to fall asleep, because we're scheduled to pull into Skagway at 7:00 a.m. (only 6 hours from now!) and we have to meet our guide for the narrow-gauge railway trip shortly after 9:00.

Blah. I don't want to get up early...