Life after Alaska

Since our last Alaskan Port we have been through British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and are now in Illinois. By far the most beautiful places since leaving Alaska were Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. While in Jasper National Park we saw several Elk, most were females but a few were majestic looking males with large racks. I was impressed by the Columbia Glacier. It is deeper than the Eiffel Tower is tall. THAT is almost unimaginable. When we arrived at the Columbia Glacier it was snowing very lightly but by the time we left (45 min. later) in was sunny.

Jasper National Park - Elk

Columbia Glacier

When we left Jasper National Park for Banff National park it took us over 7 hours to go 150 miles because we kept stopping. Of all the stops we made one of our favorite's was at a place called "Mistaya Canyon". The canyon was formed by the water rushing through a narrow rock crevice and eroding the walls. Over the years the water has cut deeper and wider into the rock causing what we know as a slot canyon. We are very familiar with slot canyons having spent so much time in So. Utah. The BIG difference between here and there is you could not, nor would you want to be down in THAT canyon.

Mistaya Canyon - 1

We stopped at Lake Louise in Banff National Park. If you have never been to Lake Louise you just can't imagine how turquoise blue the water is. If I remember correctly the color is caused by glacial sediment that is suspended in the water catching the sunlight. We hiked up to a viewing platform to get a view and pictures of the lake from a higher elevation. Because the trail is vertical there were not very many people there so it was very quiet and so tranquil. We decided to drive up to Moraine Lake since it was on our way back to the motorhome. I'm really glad we did. This little lake was just as pretty as Lake Louise but on a smaller scale. The best part was as we left we were able to see a Grizzly Bear. It was kind of sad to see it had a radio transmitter in one ear and a tag in the other but it was still "wild". And it looked so healthy!

Lake Louise

Moraine Lake (that is the true color of the water)

Banff National Park - Grizzly

Once we left Banff National Park we both seem to be overcome by an urgency to get back to the lower 48. It was like we were going home after a long vacation. On our way through Montana we were able to catch up with our friends, Roger, Sharolyn and Kelly. They were headed north and we were headed south so we met at a park in Harlowton, Montana. It was so good to spend time with them. It was like seeing family. We did go to Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial and the Badlands while we were in South Dakota. That was has been the extent of our sightseeing.

Mt. Rushmore

Artist's rendition of finished carving

Crazy Horse Monument

We have been looking for the fall colors and for the most part they have eluded us. While we were in Lanesboro, Minnesota we did see some really pretty trees but only one here or there, not the hillsides we had been hoping for.

Fall Colors

We still have some opportunities between here in Illinois and Columbus, Ohio, where we will spend 3 weeks visiting our Daughter, Skye, Son-in-law, Jason and grand babies, Colin and Rylee. NOW that is what I have been looking forward to since we crossed into Montana from Alberta.

It is hard to believe but it has been almost 30 days since we left Alaska. We are back in the swing of our normal days and missing the adventures of Alaska, but are looking forward to new adventures in the lower 48!

KETCHIKAN - PART 2 "THE SKIFF"

The "skiff"

Chip's Silver Salmon

Look at that smile!

I was trying to stay dry and warm. I had the dry part down but the warm part, not so much!



THE LAST CHAPTER OF OUR ALASKAN ADVENTURE

While we were talking to the camp host she mentioned that you could rent a skiff for the day very reasonably. A skiff is a small aluminum boat with a 25 hp outboard motor. That sounded like a fun thing to do, especially since Chip had wanted to go out fishing again even before we arrived in Ketchikan. Because the season here in Alaska is winding down there are not as many opportunities to charter boats and the ones you can are expensive. The skiff was a nice alternative and 1/4 the price. I was excited at the thought of being able to be on the water and go out exploring the shoreline. We were told of a place to go where we could possibly see bears. :-D The day we made our reservations the weather was clear and sunny and we should have dropped everything and went out right then and there but we made the reservations for the next day. AND when we woke up in the morning it was raining! No worries we were prepared! We packed our lunch, Chip got all his fishing gear together and we made sure to have our rain gear with us. We were on our way to our last adventure in Alaska. We checked in and followed the guy down to where our skiff was waiting. Only problem was it would not start, not a good thing! So rather than get the "very roomy" 16 footer we reserved we had to take out a "less roomy" 14 footer. That's ok at least this one ran! That's pretty important, don't you think? Chip and I were both expecting a short lesson on how to start the engine if it died, put it in forward or reverse or what not to do in this little "life boat" but the guy started the boat and left. JUST LEFT.......... We laughed and figured we would know what to do if we needed to! So we loaded all our stuff into the boat, untied from the dock and proceeded to get the feel of the throttle and the way the boat handled. We were about 1/2 way out of the no wake zone when Chip looked for his tackle box. You guessed it! We left it in the other boat! Back to the dock we went. Chip saddled up to the dock very smoothly, I got out and ran over to get his tackle box. NOW we were really ready! Did I mention it was still raining and getting colder? As we were heading out to where we were told the fish were Chip needed to get his fishing poles ready so I took over driving. The first thing I did was to lean on the throttle and about threw Chip overboard. I laughed, he didn't! Hey, I have never driven a boat with a hand operated motor before. It took me a while to get the direction down too. I was weaving like a drunken sailor and kept turning the throttle too far and would lurch forward. I finally was able to get the boat under control, kind of, and we were off. Chip had his poles rigged and was ready to catch fish. So off we went to where the fish were supposed to be. It was not hard to know where we were supposed to be because there were LOTS of other boats there also. We trolled by all these expensive deep sea fishing boats with their rigging all set for "the big one" and here we are in our little "skiff". Low and behold one of the poles bent and started bobbing. FISH ON!!! Chip started reeling and reeling and reeling. I think the fish actually started towing us around behind it for a minute. Luckily the boat came equipped with a net. That was my job! Chip over powered it and brought up a nice silver salmon. That is the salmon of choice now because they are just started their run. It was at least 20 inches long and maybe 14 lbs. The fish is in the net and Chip is trying to get the hook out of its lip. The fish of course is trying for all its worth to get away. So Chip is trying to get hold of the fish, it's trying to get away, the hook comes out on its own (yay), and then the fish flops off the little bench to the floor right at my feet splattering blood all the legs of my rain gear and the inside of the boat. I am sitting on the back of the boat with my feet in the air, off the bottom of the boat; Chip is leaned over trying to pick it up (what people must have been thinking, hahaha). He finally gets control of it through its gill and holds it up for a better look. What a nice size fish! Then he lets it go. It took a second for it to start swimming after that traumatic event but it did swim away with gusto to live another day, hopefully! The smile on Chips face after that was priceless. He never really expected to catch any fish especially a silver salmon but he did. That smile made the entire trip worth every minute of rain and cold we were enduring! Chip got his poles set and once again I took hold of the throttle, turned it and about threw Chip off his seat. Luckily this time he was sitting and not standing. Do you think anyone could tell we were novices at this whole "skiff" thing? We can both drive a 50 foot house boat like no one's business but this little 14 ft skiff was giving me problems. As we crisscrossing the body of water where the fish and lots of other boats were we watched Eagles flying, fishing and could hear them calling. It was awesome. Of course when an Eagle swooped down for a fish just behind our boat I could not find the bird in the lens of the camera to get it to focus so I missed the shot. And because I was fighting with the camera I miss it all together. Chip saw it though so at least one of us did. We sat by a lake for what seemed hours over a 3 day period in Wrangell waiting for just such an opportunity by an Eagle that was always there but never saw it. Now we see it and I can't get a picture of it. DARN! On one pass through the bay we were busy watching a pair of Eagles when both Chips poles went off together. He wasn't sure which pole to start reeling first. He wanted me to reel one but after getting bit by a Fish and Game officer in Lake Powell once I wasn't going to do that again. In case you had not guessed I didn't have a fishing license. So he managed to get them both in and had caught 2 black rock fish, they are also mistakenly called Black Bass. By the time we made our last pass it had been 4 hours, Chip had caught 1 silver salmon, 1 pink salmon, 3 black rock fish and a minnow. I am not kidding that little fish was about 5 inches long and tiny. How it got hooked on Chips lure is a surprise to me. NOW was the time to go exploring, WRONG! We had gotten so cold from the continuing rain and decided since Chip was just getting over a 3 week cold we would not push it, so we headed back in. Once we got back to the dock we realized we had to put the boat back in between the other 2 boats where we got it from. (I am glad I was not driving NOW) When did they build that dock behind where we got out little boat, that wasn't there when we left was it? Chip started heading for the little slot between the new dock pilings and the floating boats that were not staying put. He nosed our boat in, slow and steady...... By now a dock hand was standing on the dock ready to help us when we got close. Chip had to readjust our direction so he put the boat in reverse and turned the engine. SERIOUSLY when did they add that dock behind us??? We were both on the defensive now trying not to hit that new dock. I had the ore pushing and Chip was trying to use the engines power. The dock hand is patiently watching! All of a sudden our little boat lurched backwards and right into the new dock piling leaving behind a clean spot and barnacles in our little boat. WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED??? You would think we have never driven a boat before! Well, Chip lost his balance trying to get the boat out of reverse and into forward when he slipped and fell into the throttle throwing us both off balance and sending the boat precariously close to hitting the prop on the bottom. On the up side if we went in the water it was shallow! Finally getting control of the "yacht" we were in we were headed in the right direction. Now the deckhand was standing in one of the other little boats next to where we had to go so he could get closer to us and be able to guide us in. He took an ore and with very gentle pressure guided the nose of our boat into its proper spot. Now you know he wanted to laugh, actually I think I saw a little chuckle come out when we were fighting for our lives. Hahahaha We sure laughed when it was all over and are still laughing about it! I think that was the best $100 dollars we spent the entire trip, well maybe not the ENTIRE trip but our Ketchikan stop anyway. That took our minds off how cold we had gotten for a minute anyway. And to top it off the weather started to break. Why didn't it clear up 30 minutes earlier? Oh well, now we know how to drive a "skiff" (kind of) and we will have to do this again sometime! It sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to go out on a boat where you can get out of the weather, someone else has control of where it goes and when it is docked and where and you just get to sit there and enjoy the scenery. After all what fun is that??

GOOD BYE ALASKA............ WE HAD THE MOST AMAZING TRIP!!!!

I hope you have all enjoyed it with us through our blog and pictures!!!

PS: If you ever go to Alaska have a good set of rain gear and rubber boots along, just in case!

Our last Alaskan Port ~ Ketchikan ~ Part 1

Our Chariot

Downtown Ketchikan!


Look quick it's sunny!

Even pretty under a cloudy sky!

reflective pond! Prettier under sunny skies!

So pretty!

Waterfall from outside the plane.

"don't slip, don't slip"

~~AS WITH ALL GOOD THINGS, THIS TOO MUST ~~

~~END~~

What an absolutely awesome trip we have had.

Could we be any more blessed to have seen the sights we have seen or to have met new friends along the way?

Thank you God for such an amazing world we live in.

Our last port of call in Alaska was Ketchikan. It was a last minute decision to stop there while we were in Wrangell. We just weren't quite ready to let this amazing state live without us even for a week. Our time in Ketchikan was fun. We didn't do all that much but what we did do was good. We spent 6 nights there in a state park about 8 miles from town. It was called Signal Creek Campground at Ward Lake. The lake was teaming with salmon at the end of their journey. Even though they were getting near the end they were not giving up. All day long they would jump and jump and jump. I wonder if they were jumping and saying "YAHOO we did it". After watching their plight over and over at every port we stopped at IF I were a salmon I think that is exactly what I would do. My goodness what those fish go through just to have offspring, I would rather have my babies the old fashioned way. ;-) Seriously, we watched some salmon trying to get up stream and over and over they would jump to go over some rapids and rather than make it to the water they would go head first into rocks and bounce off. It really was very sad to watch! So we didn't for very long! And I am not going to dwell on those sights because for every salmon that didn't make it up that waterfall/rapid area there were 1000's that did! Those are the ones who were strong enough to find the way and their offspring will be stronger for it. The strong will survive, right?
We went on a float plane trip through the Misty Fjords (fee-ords). When we arrived by bus at the dock where the plane was moored there were 2 beautiful yachts. We had heard one of them was Paul McCartney's but no one would confirm or deny that. Other than it flying a British flag there were no signs that it belonged to him, like musical notes on the stern near the name or even the name. Of course if you are trying to remain anonymous you would not name her, The Abby Road! That would be a dead give a way. The plane we flew in was very nice. It seated 10, 5 on each side with their own windows (nice) and was comfy. We had to wear headphones with microphones so we could communicate. I took mine off at one point and was surprised at how noisy it was without them. We were in the air a little over an hour flying over acres and acres of beautiful inlets, tree covered mountains and water streaming off the mountain sides. They call them waterfalls but they were a straight line of water rolling over the mountain rather than cascading. I guess we are spoiled by Hawaiian Waterfalls. We saw Eagles soaring below us but never did see any bears or whales. I could not help wondering if they ever see whales from above. I think that would be an awesome sight. The country side was beautiful especially from the air. There are hundreds of little ponds of water reflecting the cloudy sky and at times spots of blue in between. Anywhere there was a flat spot there was standing water. The trees were a dark hunter green and looked so healthy. Not like the acres of bark beetle infested trees we see in So. Cal. and have see along the way. It appears there is no place that is unaffected by the bark beetle. The plane flew over islands that didn't look any different than the main land. A rock covered with trees! Actually the trees grow right down to the water's edge. I would think the salt water would kill them! We did land on the water at one point and were allowed to get out of the plane and stand on the floats. It was here that we did see what I would consider a real waterfall. It was actually a double fall and was very pretty. From a comment the pilot made I assume the fall isn't usually quite a large as when we saw it. He said "there must have been a lot of rain here last night". I was wondering if it ever stopped raining. We were standing on the floats in the rain and had been flying in the rain all morning, so......... Standing on those floats I couldn't help thinking "don't slip, don't slip". We were out there about 20 minutes and then were off again. This time the pilot actually used the plane like a boat and ran along for a while on the surface of the water. It was only for a couple minutes but it was great to be moving along at the waters level and see the height of the canyon walls. They had to be over 600 ft high. Before long we were back in the air and on our way back to Ketchikan. The entire trip from take off to landing took 1 hour and 30 minutes. We were back at camp in time for breakfast! What a way to start the day!

We are leaving Prince Rupert this morning and headed to Jasper, Alberta. We will we out of touch for a while but............

When I write next I will tell you all about our day on

"THE SKIFF"

Wrangell, Alaska

Pat's Lake

Rainbow Falls. If you look real close you can see it behind us. :-D

Salamander Creek, we were being silly!

Salamander Creek

One of the largest petroglyphs we found. At petroglyph beach.

Chip being creative. I think it's very cool

Pretty flowers!

Yet another sign of fall. This is right outside our "house"!

NOW this is a sunset!


I can't believe we are 1 day away from our last Alaskan destination.

Our time here in Wrangell has been so relaxing and very rewarding! This would not be my first choice to relocate to but the people are all very friendly and the views from the shoreline are incredible. When you look out at the islands surrounding this one, most of the time it looks like you are looking at a 3D black and white painting of distant lands. Imagine, seeing the island in the foreground as black then as you look beyond each island gets greyer and greyer until they just fall away into the horizon. It truly looks like a painting! The tour to AnAn Creek Observatory was the only tour we did while we were here. The rest of the week has been spent hanging out and taking drives around the island. We hiked to Rainbow Falls, listened to an Eagle calling and watched Blue Heron fishing at Pat's Lake, drove to Salamander Creek, Nemo Point and walked to Petroglyph beach. We did find some petroglyph's and could just picture the people of that time sitting on the beach there carving their messages into the rocks. The tools and patience they had to have is amazing in itself. What could they have been trying to communicate with those stick figures and circles? If only those rocks could talk! The other night we had the most incredible sunset. I know I just shared a picture of the sunset in Haines, that I was so proud of, but as you probably saw in the picture above this one makes that one look like
a cloudy day!

Well, I have shared all the incredible stories of our trips and wildlife viewing time and time again so I thought I should share a story that shows we are still living a normal life too....... Yesterday morning while Chip was preparing to do the dishes (YES, I AM lucky to have such an amazing husband) he backed away from the sink and asked, "Can you hear that?" I stopped what I was doing and listened. I think we both realized what it was about the same time because as I, excitedly called out "got turn off the water" Chip was already on his way out the door. A hose clamp on the hot water pipe under the sink had let go and the noise we were hearing was the water shooting everywhere under there. I opened the doors to access under the sink and steam was billowing out. We grabbed every towel we could get our hands on and started sopping up the water. It was contained to the area under the sink so it wasn't that difficult but what a mess. Chip's first thought was to fix it with a hose clamp but after reading on the Tiffin Forum (our motorhome manufacturer's owner information site) we decided to try a SharkBite fixture (it's not really a clamp). They seemed to be the easy fix. We could not believe there were 2 hardware stores on this tiny island. The first one we went to didn't have the SharkBite and had never heard of it (neither had we until this morning), the second had an entire variety of different sizes. Unfortunately not the size we needed but then it would not have worked anyway. The hose we had to fix was a braided/plastic hose and the SharkBite's are designed for CPVC, Copper or PEX. After all that we wound up using a hose clamp anyway. So with the hose fixed, the water back on and the "home" looking like a war zone we were back in business. Not so different than being in a house! OK it is! Ours moves down the road and yours doesn't! :-D

Next and last Alaskan destination........ Ketchikan

Anan Creek Observatory, Wrangell, Alaska

If you look behind us you can see the start of the trail to the observatory!

Captain Jim preparing his shotgun, JUST IN CASE

The "outhouse" complete with peep hole!
This picture will make sense when you read the blog!!!

This was at the beginning of the walk in.

This is Darby. She would go in the water and catch a fish then bring it up under the observatory floor and eat it. Needless to say the odor at the observatory was very ripe!

This is Darby again after she had eaten and was waiting to go back for more! We were only about 6 ft. away. She kind of looks sad!

There must be an entire corridor of openings behind these rocks because bears would go in and then come out 100 yards up river.

Those are some big teeth!

Anyone have a napkin? Zoom in if you dare!!

Fish 1, Bear's 1,000,000,000,000,000

~sniff ~sniff~sniff~

This is Max. He was the smallest of all the bears and appeared to possibly be orphaned. But he seemed to handle himself pretty well. He would sneak out and grab the left overs from what the larger bears would leave behind when they were back out fishing!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

This is Virginia. According to the ranger she is a little fighter. She is always showing up with some kind of wound. They know her from the notch out of her ear and the scar on her nose.

BUUURRRRPPP....... excuse me!!! That was some good caviar!

This is Georgia, the only Grizzly we saw. She behaved herself but according to the guides a couple weeks ago she was having fun tormenting the people on the trail so she got sprayed with bear spray.





Anan (Ann-Ann) Creek Observatory was awesome from start to finish. We were all met at the dock by Captain Jim, Ivan and Scott. They welcomed us aboard and proceeded to give us the low down on what to expect when we got to Anan. The main points were NO food, NO chewing gum, NOTHING that could possibly attract a bear to your person. IF we did encounter a bear on the trail stay calm, don’t run and let the guides handle the situation. My rule was, make sure to be following someone who looked like they would run slower than me. Just kidding!!! The one thing we all thought was funny but actually was a safety procedure was, if you had to use the outhouse up at the observatory you had to let Jim or Ivan know and they would escort you. The outhouse is approximately 40 feet from the enclosure of the observatory. Once in the outhouse you locked the door from the inside. After you had finished what you went there to do you had to stick your finger through the peep hole in the door, wiggle it and then look out to see if you got the OK or stay put hand signal. Depending on weather a bear was outside the door or near the outhouse. If there was a bear out there you had to stay put until the bear was gone. I had made up my mind right then that if at all possible I was not going to use the outhouse. When we got off the boat the first thing we had to do was get information from a Forrest Service Ranger. We had already been briefed not to ask questions because that would only take up time that we would have watching the bears. Our guides could answer any questions we may have had. Jim was the owner of the tour outfit and the one who carried the shotgun. YES a real shotgun. That was both comforting and unsettling at the same time. Jim led the group and Ivan, a professional photographer and 40+ year resident of Wrangell brought up the rear. We had been told to stay close together along the trail in case we encountered a bear. If there was a large space between us that would encourage the bear to try to go between people. This was particularly important when we were close to the observatory where the bears were pretty much guaranteed to be. The trail in was ¾ of a mile long and through a gorgeous rain forest. It was exciting, with Jim in the lead scouring the entire area for any sign of bears while cradling his shotgun at the ready , telling us about Georgia the Grizzly Bear that had to be sprayed with bear spay because she was getting to close to the tourists. According to what we were told, Georgia seemed to get a kick out of bluff charging the groups and scaring them. She was very close to being shot when she finally responded to the bear spray and retreated. They have not had that problem with her since. But that got our attention and we all did exactly as we were told. We arrived at the observatory safe and sound and were now ready to watch bears from the safety of the viewing deck. The observatory consisted of a redwood deck about 30ft square with a 4 ft fence around it (as if 4 ft would keep a bear out). It had 2 levels, the top level was where we did most of our viewing, and the second was a small platform connected to the top but at a lower elevation. This was where we entered from the trail and where you enter the stairway down to the viewing blind. The entire observatory was built above ground and it was not uncommon for the bears to take their catch under the floor and eat it. Needless to say the stench of rotting fish was very strong in some areas. The first order of business when we arrived was to sign up for our 30 minutes in the viewing blind. The viewing blind was right down at the rivers edge and got you up close to fishing bears. While in the blind you were behind a camouflaged structure that had 5 openings, 1 for each person allowed in at a time. Because we were the only group there for quite a while we were able to go down at any time that there were no more than 5 people. But most of the viewing was done from above on the viewing deck. At one time I counted 8 black bears feeding. We soon learned from watching the interaction of the bears that size does matter in the bear world. As does sex, if you are a large male you rule the river! As well, if you are a male (not necessarily large) the females gave you a wide berth. As we watched, the ranger, a cute 20 something on her first assignment to this area, would tell us the names of the bears and some of their background if she knew it. There was one little guy, they called him Max, he appeared to be young. They guessed he may be a 2nd year cub and alone. They don’t know what happened to his Mother. The first time we saw Max he was looking for fish and came out of the rocks just as a larger bear was fishing not far away. Little Max stopped in his tracks and lowered his head but kept his eye on the larger bear. When the larger bear turned towards Max as if to go in his direction, Max retreated to the rocks. Max would stay tucked in the rocks and poke his head out to see if the coast was clear then he would scurry out and pick up the scraps that had been left behind by the fishing bear and run back into the safety of the rocks to eat. Another bear, Darby would go down to the river get a fish and bring it up under the deck and eat it. She did that about 4 times before she went on her way. When she was making her way under the deck she was no more than 6 ft away from us. Then there was Virginia! She is apparently a scrapper! She had a chunk missing from her left ear and a scar across her nose. The ranger (I wish I had gotten her name) said she always is coming up with some kind of sores. Virginia must fight over the 1000’s of fish, afraid she won’t get her fill. Well, let me tell you she gets her fill. She is so FAT…. hahahah. But then they are all pretty fat. It’s getting to be the end of the season and the bears are storing up for winter. Most of the bears will double their body weight by the time they go in to hibernation. About an hour before we were to head out, Georgia, the grizzly was spotted in the lagoon. We all hoped she would still be around when we left so we could get some pictures of her. I think we all secretly hoped she would be on the trail since we had experienced guides who knew how to handle her. As it turned out she was still in the lagoon fishing but not anywhere near the trail. It was better that way so she was not in danger and neither were we! I know I keep saying this but

“It WAS a perfect ending to a perfect day”

By the way………… Neither Chip nor I used the outhouse while we were up there! Maybe we should have just to have had the experience!

Alaskan Marine Highway

Waiting for the ferry! Here it comes!

This is our berth! I got dibs on the top bunk!!!

Some chose to camp out on deck!

The only sunset we have seen since Washington!

Petersburg, Alaska (one of the stops we made, but where we never got off the boat)

The sun shone only on the flag! How would you like to live here? Notice there is no road in or out.. Boats are the mode of transportation, and there were a lot of houses built out and away like this!

I had been looking forward to the ferry ride since we made the decision to do it. And now the time had come! We got in our designated lane, #7 at 12 pm and the wait began. Boarding was scheduled to start at 3:30 pm and the ferry to leave at 5:15 pm. While we waited we talked to people around us doing the same thing. We had met a family from Thousand Oaks yesterday at the Laundromat and they were parked right next to us in lane 6. They received a lot of attention because they had a puppy with them, Buddy, a 5 month old beagle mix and as cute as could be. Steve had rented their Motorhome to take the kids on a road trip. Henry, the only son and Buddy’s owner is 21. He had a bad skateboard accident 5 years ago and still shows signs of his injury. He was in the hospital for 6 months and has decided smoking pot is better than taking all the medications needed to control his seizures! His family disagrees. Lindsay at 24 is the older of two girls and was on vacation with her family after having just completed the Calif. Bar exam. She flew to Anchorage to meet the family. Then there is Merced, a senior in High School, who is aspiring to be a photographer. We talked to them the most. It just seemed like everywhere we went we would bump into them. We met Hal, from Oregon and his son, Eric from San Diego in line. They were traveling together because Hal’s wife could not make the trip and didn’t want Hal to do it alone. So Eric who was in between jobs decided to put off the job hunting to go on a road trip with his Dad. Then there was Ken and Karen from Oregon. They had ridden their Harley though out Alaska. As the ferry was being boarded vehicle after vehicle went before us and then it was finally our turn. Chip drove the motorhome and I drove the Jeep. Chip had been a little nervous about driving our motorhome on board, just wondering how it would feel to drive onto a boat and would it fit through the door plus we had to turn our side mirrors in so that we were not over the limit for width. Those mirrors are a lifeline to the rear of the coach. As Chip drove through the open door the ferry seemed to just swallow the motorhome like the fairy tales of whales swallowing ships. Chip said backing up without the side mirrors and only the steward guiding him from the front was freaky. He did an awesome job and when all was said and done he had a foot on each side! They backed me up right in front of him. Piece of cake! Hahahaha Once we boarded the ferry our first stop was to get our berth. When we opened the door and saw the bunk beds we laughed and I immediately call dibs on the top bunk. I don’t usually get up in the middle of the night but Chip does and I didn’t want him falling off the bunk while he was half asleep. When we went exploring the other decks it was interesting to see where people were setting up to sleep. I had heard you didn’t have to purchase a berth and could sleep anywhere you could find a spot and that was starting to become evident. There were tents being set up on one of the decks at the stern of the ship. And from the remnants of the duck tape on the deck it appears this is done all the time. Next we went up one deck to the Solarium. This is where we ran into Hal and Eric again. They were surveying the situation here with all the plastic lounge chairs. If they could not obtain a berth they would be sleeping here on “rented” bedding. Yes the ferry rents bedding just for this occasion. This made our $50 berth fee look like chump change, EVEN with the bunk beds. Our next destination was to see where we would be eating dinner. There is a cafeteria and dinning room aboard. We would eat in the cafeteria the first night and the dinning room the second. Once we were underway that is exactly what we did. It was now after 6 and my tummy was yelling at me to feed it. I did, with a yummy, very unhealthy cheese burger and fries. ~~ slurp~~~ so good!! Mostly because I didn’t have to cook it! Hahahah Chip had BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and peas! I wonder if cafeterias always serve peas with mashed potatoes. Our first stop was in Haines. We were there about 2 hrs unloading and loading passengers. We saw our first sunset there since leaving Bellingham, WA over 2 months ago. Until recently we have not even seen a true night! It’s been daylight when we go to bed and daylight when we get up. And you know we really liked it! During the day on Tuesday, our only full day on the ferry we enjoyed the scenery. The inside passage is beautiful. There are acres and acres of trees, beautiful little islands with a rock foundation covered in trees and the water, when the sunlight hits it just right, is a turquoise blue. The ferry stopped in Sitka for 4 hours so we took advantage of the opportunity and got off the boat. There was a walk/trail about ½ mile away. On the way to the trail we crossed over a salmon spawning inlet. That is what I am calling the area just beyond the bay where the salmon swim into a fresh water stream. There were hundreds of fish. The walk was just beyond this inlet and it was a boardwalk about ½ mile long. It skirted the edge of a wetland where we saw 3 Blue Herons fishing and you could tell from the trampled grass that bears come there to fish. We didn’t see any bears though. We got back on the ferry and said good bye to Sitka. I think next time we come to Alaska we are going to spend some time here. If we had thought about it earlier we may have gotten off the ferry and stayed a couple days. We got up early on Wednesday so we could enjoy the morning scenery before we disembarked in Wrangell. That was a good decision! Seeing the port of Petersburg and the houses that lined the straight along the way made setting our alarm worthwhile. We are both so excited, tomorrow (Thursday) we get to go to Anan Creek Observatory and bear watch! Can't wait to share those pictures!