5:00am: The alarm went off. This is not a civilised time to be awake. Our flight to the US is international, so we need to be at the airport at least an hour and a half and preferably two hours before departure. We also have to return the hire car and, more importantly, beat peak hour traffic, so we have to leave about 6:00.

6:15am: Well, we beat the peak hour traffic, only taking 15 minutes to get to the airport. Half an hour later we've checked in, cleared US customs and immigraton - we do this in Vancouver before departure - and are sitting in the departure lounge eating the breakfast our B&B hostess prepared for us last night.

8:35am: The plane leaves on time. 40 minutes later we're in Seattle with a couple of hours to kill, and there's not much to do in Seattle airport but stare at all the fat Americans.

11:46am: Another plane leaves on time, that's two in a row! It's an Alaska Airlines 737-400 with 3-3 seat layout and lots of leg room. Lunch was simple - a ham and cheese sandwhich on fresh bread with orange juice and water - and was one of the best airline meals we've had.

1:00pm: Arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. It's the only state capital in mainland US which isn't reachable by road. We're in yet another time zone - one hour behind Vancouver. And guess what? It's raining again.

8:00pm: Having spent the afternoon wandering exploring the centre of Juneau (and getting wet) and resting, we need food. We're off to a waterside restaurant for local salmon and king crab for dinner.

8:30pm: They're not kidding when they call it king crab. Two claws weigh about half a kilogram and contain more than enough meat for a meal. Each segment of the claw was the length of my hand from my wrist to the end of my middle finger.