Our first stop was a rain forest park which had been set up on the edge of Tongass National Park. The owners had cultivated certain plants and flowers, set up some water features, and built roads, so that visitors could ride through it on a "golf cart" which was closer to an ATV bus. We enjoyed the ride. It had a roof for cover, and our driver gave us a great narration through the drive up the hill. We stopped at the top for photo ops.
Then we drove back down the hill, and had a hot chocolate break in the beautiful green house cafe.
After that, we got on our bus and went to the Mendenhall glacier. Our guide dropped us off near the visitor center and gave us an hour to explore. She recommended taking the one mile walking trail to Nugget Falls, so that's what we did. By that point, it was Elena's nap time, but the walk helped her fall asleep, and we kept her dry with an extra Disney poncho.
Yes, she slept through the wind, the rain, and the roar of the waterfall. The glacier was behind the waterfall. You can see it in the left side of the picture. We all agreed that the one in Tracy's Arm was much more impressive, and the waterfall was really the main attraction at this spot.
The beach area allowed you to get close enough to the waterfall for it to spray you in the face. Luckily, we were all in rain gear already, so we had no problems getting up close and personal with the waterfall.
Vivian had scorned her poncho for the walk, and by the end, she had decided she didn't need her hood either, so her hair was completely soaked, but she was happy.
She dried off in the visitors center where she had a lot of fun with the interactive exhibits. She learned how glaciers were formed and got to touch a piece of 200 year old ice.
When we got back to the warmth of our room, we found an awesome towel animal waiting to greet us.
It was a beautiful Alaska day with a fun Disney finish.
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