Chapter 13 – Alaska Marine Highway

Dear readers, we have made it back to the Lower 48! And what a great way to make it back. Was it long? Why, yes, yes it was. Was it tough to be “old school” and find your entertainment without the benefit of internet? Why yes, yes it was. But all in all, we were never bored!

We ended up with one more day of Haines entertainment before we left. Turns out that the time between an 11:00am RV checkout and a 10:00pm Ferry departure leaves a LOT of time to kill. Who knew?

We had heard from our RV neighbors that down the road a few miles was the Chilkoot State Park, and the bears were coming out to play. We were not expecting much, but thought it might be nice to check out the park and make ourselves some lunch. Well, we sure did not account for the plethora of vehicles all parked along the river, hoping for that bear viewing. We were pretty certain finding a nice quiet spot for us to park, where we could run our generator without annoying everyone was going to be an issue. I convinced Dale to pull over in a “tour bus only” parking area just long enough for us to get out and see the river up close. And wouldn’t you know it, but the bears came out to play! A momma and her three babies (no so baby, anymore) were across the river fishing. Suddenly everyone parked was out of their vehicle with their telephoto cameras pointed one way. And the busload of tourists, that come to Haines from Skagway on a day tour from their cruise ship, came scurrying down the road to catch a glimpse as well. We stayed long enough to snap a few photos, and congratulate ourselves on seeing our last Alaska grizzlies, then got on outta there before another bus showed up and blocked traffic. It was a very cool way to start our day!

The other big tourist activity is to head out to the Bald Eagle Preserve. We weren’t as much interested in that, but knew there were a few private pullouts along the way where we would not bother a soul with our lunch preparations. We found a great spot along the river and were happily setting up Chez Dale, when the happiest and most beautiful lab came cruising across the street to say “hi!”. He was a spitting image of Tucker back then. The odd part is the road he came down did not appear to lead to a home – we saw no street number or mailbox. So of course every bad thought goes through my mind, but there is no way a dog that beautiful, with a collar on (no tags) could be lost or abandoned, right? Still, I checked online for a local animal shelter. Found one! But, they assume you have taken the pet into your custody, and only provide a way to post to the community that you found their dog. Well, that wasn’t going to work for us! That cute devil stayed with us throughout lunch, walking dangerously close to the road while we endured the alarmed and judgmental stares of drivers who assumed he was ours and how careless are we to let our dog roam? We were both certain we were going to witness that boy get hit, thank goodness the level of traffic is low enough you can see them coming for a very long time. We really didn’t know what to do. We didn’t want to be too friendly, and lead him to believe he was coming with us, and we didn’t want to be mean and force him into the road and put himself in more danger. So we all quietly coexisted while we ate lunch. Fortunately, Dale had prepared a flank steak and green beans ( for lunch…..I know!!!), and the pup thought that just smelled quite intriguing. And neither of us were able to finish. So we devised a plan to feed him the leftovers by the riverside and high tail it out of there before he finished and decided to follow. We had to time our exit appropriately, after all, if you saw someone driving off and a dog in chase on the street, what would you think? Yeah, that’s what we thought you’d think. Fortunately, our little plan was timed perfectly and worked wonderfully. Google maps revealed an entire compound just up the road (actually a driveway) which we concluded was his home, and the owners must the kind that don’t feel the need to tie up the dang dog. We just pray once the distraction (us) was gone, he went home.

And with that little excursion, we had experienced all there was to experience in Haines, AK. So off we went to the ferry terminal. This is when it became clear that I am my father’s daughter…..we were five hours early. All checked in and first in line in our assigned lane, we had such a good time just watching. The view of the arriving ferry at night was really cool. The loading process was well orchestrated and we were prepared with all the things we need, and might need, and could’ve needed, for four nights on the ferry. Before we knew it, we were in our room and getting ready for bed!

We spent the next three days wandering the deck looking for wildlife – or watching everyone else looking for wildlife (we did see whales and porpoise!). The front lounge area includes HUGE tables, and lots of puzzles to keep you going. I picked a thousand piece one, and Dale and I were so focused on that thing….we got ‘er done in two days, all but the last seven missing pieces. We took full advantage of our three hour stop in Sitka – got off the boat, onto little shuttle bus for the 7 mile trip to downtown, and wandered around with the cruise-shippers. For some reason the internet was out for most of Sitka, so shopping was a cash only affair. We saved some money on that tourist stop! We also hopped off in Ketchikan for our 90 minute stop and visited with our friend Les Cronk – Dale has visited him every year for 30 some years for his annual fishing trip. We were assured this was the year to miss – apparently the fishing has not been good this year. But of course, they were already talking about next years trip! I watched one very odd movie that Dale had downloaded and I finished my last Alaska-based book. The only thing about the boat that got wearying were the beds. The mattresses are not designed for old bodies who like cushion! And even though you can walk around outside, there is not one deck with a continuous loop, so there was definitely more sitting than moving. But it is a pretty cool way to make your way back to “The Outside”. Sure couldn’t beat the views.

We are now stopped in Bellingham long enough for the rig to get its 20k service – we have now put about 10,000 miles on her! We came prepared with shorts and short sleeves in anticipation for end of summer weather, and have not been disappointed. Although it is a bit of a shock when we’ve been prepared for winter weather for a few weeks now!

We have a couple of weeks of friends and family planned ahead of us. But fret not, dear readers, our next adventure is just around the corner. We are heading out on the Yellowstone Trail to see Niagra Falls!

Stay tuned, and as always, thanks for you, dear readers, until next time, Lady Wanderingwise bids you adieu!