Maya Goes to Dipac

Now, in July when Maya and her Mama went to Juneau to visit Granny and Auntie Kathy and Uncle Richard, they had planned many amazing things for them to do. On Sunday they went up the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts, and then came Monday, and what should they all do on this day? Well, it was raining, so they had to plan around that. They couldn't go to the Glacier, because the clouds were so thick they wouldn't have been able to see it well. They couldn't go berry picking, because they would get too wet. They couldn't go to the library for story time, because that was scheduled for Wednesday. They decided not to go to Sandy Beach, because that would be more fun if the rain ever stopped.

"Well," said Uncle Richard, "we could go to Dipac (which stands for Douglas Island Pink and Chum, and is a salmon hatchery). Much of that is indoors, and the rest is close to shore, so the rain won't make a difference." So, that is what they did. Oh, Dipac was very exciting! The salmon were running, and running, and running. (Indeed, Maya had already seen fish jumping in Gastineau Channel when she first arrived.) When Maya looked in the window to the fish ladder, she saw huge fish, so many that they were almost stacked on top of each other, swimming against the flow of the water. Mama and Maya were just amazed to see so many of them. Those salmon swam hard, hard, hard to get up the ladder. And when Maya looked at the channel leading to the fish ladder, there were thousands of salmon crowding and trying to get to the ladder.

The whole family went into the building, and they saw many kinds of fish in the aquarium, and tasted smoked salmon, and Granny bought a stuffed toy salmon for Maya. It was a lot of fun, and when it was time to leave, they stopped on the way to the car to look one more time at the fish crowding in to the ladder. Maya had never seen so many fish at one time, and neither had her Mama. Granny and Uncle Richard and Auntie Kathy were pretty impressed, themselves, and they live in Juneau.

When they were in the car, Maya fell asleep in her car seat, so Auntie Kathy drove out the road so that Maya could finish her nap, because Mama said if they stopped the car Maya would wake up and then not take another nap. After Maya woke up, they had lunch at Rick's. Then all went home (except Mama and Maya, who went to the hotel), and Granny made spareribs. Everyone came to Granny's for dinner, and they had Auntie Kathy's birthday cake (except Maya, who had ice cream). And that was Monday, and a very good Monday it was, too. And Monday was the only day that Maya was in Juneau when she was near the water and didn't throw any rocks in.

Click to magnify pictures and see how thick those salmon are running.