Okay, we get it now. It rains in the rain forest. It makes the forest nice and green. And wet. And we’re tired of it.
Today we got off the ferry at 4:45 a.m. and, after searching for a restaurant that was open for breakfast (and finding none), gave up and came to the campground and went back to sleep. We spent the rest of the day driving around Juneau (in the rain all day), being amazed at the 4 large cruise ships in town and the souvenir shops that cater to them and the even larger number of people jamming the streets. We kept driving. This evening we had a delicious salmon and halibut dinner at the Thane Ore House Salmon Bake the campground host said the locals go to. It was delicious.
It rained all day, and the forecast is rain for the next three days and we leave here tomorrow. The highest we saw today was 55 degrees.
Pictures: Click here
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Day 35, Sun, Jul 8, 2007 Wrangell, AK to Petersburg, AK
We had to get up early today to catch the ferry to Petersburg at 6:00 AM. The ride was 3 hours. Petersburg was sort of a disappointment. It is called “Little Norway” as it was founded by a Norwegian and has a lot or Norwegian heritage, but there just wasn’t anything there to do, especially on a Sunday afternoon. We basically just drove around looking for anything. We did find a little park that had a lot of eagles, so Barbara got a lot of pictures.
We then caught the ferry at 7:30 PM for the overnight ride to Juneau. We did see some sunshine, with a high temperature of 59 degrees, so that was nice.
Pictures: Click here
We then caught the ferry at 7:30 PM for the overnight ride to Juneau. We did see some sunshine, with a high temperature of 59 degrees, so that was nice.
Pictures: Click here
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Day 34, Sat, Jul 7, 2007, In Wrangell, Alaska
Two interesting things happened today. We ate the best lunch ever at Zak’s Café; very fresh halibut sandwiches with excellent macaroni salad. In fact, Robyn, the owner, said she had to stop making potato salad because everyone liked her macaroni salad so much! We overhead her tell her husband they needed to send some soup to someone in town who was sick. Now, that doesn’t happen everywhere,
As we walked out of the café we saw a motorhome identical to ours—same color and all. We thought for an instant ours had been stolen! The driver said he was from Edmonton. We, of course, told him we were from TN, but had been in Edmonton and visited friends in Perryvale. Small world.
We have to hit the sack early tonight, as we have to be at the ferry landing by 6:30 AM for a 7:30 AM departure to Petersburg.
The low was again 50 degrees with a high of 72 degrees with some sun, but the day ended with light rain.
Pictures: Click here
As we walked out of the café we saw a motorhome identical to ours—same color and all. We thought for an instant ours had been stolen! The driver said he was from Edmonton. We, of course, told him we were from TN, but had been in Edmonton and visited friends in Perryvale. Small world.
We have to hit the sack early tonight, as we have to be at the ferry landing by 6:30 AM for a 7:30 AM departure to Petersburg.
The low was again 50 degrees with a high of 72 degrees with some sun, but the day ended with light rain.
Pictures: Click here
Day 33, Fri, Jul 6, 2007, In Wrangell, Alaska
We must have been tired, as we slept about eleven hours. We woke up to a cloudy day. We have a neighbor here at the campground now. We talked to them a few minutes. They told us that Betty at the Episcopal Church was selling fried bread dough made on the spot. I haven’t had that in years. So we headed out to find it. That took a while, but we eventually found it and was it ever good. We even bought some more to take with us to have for breakfast tomorrow morning.
We drove around and got somewhat acquainted with Wrangell. We found the airport, went to the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park, and saw a lot of eagles, ravens and crows.
We had bought a corned beef yesterday at the store and this morning we put it in the crock pot. This afternoon we boiled potatoes and cabbage and looked forward to a great dinner. But when we bit into the corned beef it just didn’t taste right, so we threw it all out and had peanut butter sandwiches! Oh well, can’t everything go right.
Temperature ranged from a low of 50 to a high of 61 today. It was somewhat sunny today.
Sunrise is at 4:10 AM and sunset is at 9:47 PM.
Pictures: Click here
We drove around and got somewhat acquainted with Wrangell. We found the airport, went to the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park, and saw a lot of eagles, ravens and crows.
We had bought a corned beef yesterday at the store and this morning we put it in the crock pot. This afternoon we boiled potatoes and cabbage and looked forward to a great dinner. But when we bit into the corned beef it just didn’t taste right, so we threw it all out and had peanut butter sandwiches! Oh well, can’t everything go right.
Temperature ranged from a low of 50 to a high of 61 today. It was somewhat sunny today.
Sunrise is at 4:10 AM and sunset is at 9:47 PM.
Pictures: Click here
Friday, July 6, 2007
Day 32, Thu, Jul 5, 2007, On board M/V Malaspina in Alaska, USA
Yea! We are now in Alaska. Sometime around 3:00 AM we crossed the line from Canada to Alaska on the Inside Passage. We got up around 5:00 AM to prepare for a stop in Ketchikan, AK at 6:30. While there we were able to take Blackie (our lab) ashore and make good use of some grass in that area (as did many other dogs)! He had only gone once in 35 hours, so he was ready to let it all out, and did he ever. He looked so relieved after that jaunt in Ketchikan.
What a place Ketchikan is. That is one busy port. We say two large cruise ships docked when we pulled in. When we were ready to get underway, we had to be delayed a few minutes while the Diamond Princess came down the passage. Then shortly after we got under way we met a Holland American cruise ship. Also the airport is just across the river from the city. While there we saw an Alaskan Airline 737 land and a corporate jet take off. Also on the river there were many float planes taking off and landing right beside us. How neat. We got underway from Ketchikan just after 8:30 AM and headed to Wrangell, AK.
We arrived in Wrangell at 2:30 PM where we got off for a three day visit in Wrangell due to our remaining ferry schedule.
We drove around Wrangell for a while and then came back to town and got a few groceries we needed. While there we met a man from Indiana that has been living here for 10 years. He even offered to take us halibut fishing with him when he gets off work tomorrow evening. We also talked to another man while in line that was from Illinois. Then we found a campground in town and decided to get something to eat instead of cooking as we were really worn out after that early wake up, even though we had a short nap after leaving Ketchikan.
The temperature seems to have been a pretty steady 52 degrees everywhere we’ve been today and it has been rainy off and on.
What a place Ketchikan is. That is one busy port. We say two large cruise ships docked when we pulled in. When we were ready to get underway, we had to be delayed a few minutes while the Diamond Princess came down the passage. Then shortly after we got under way we met a Holland American cruise ship. Also the airport is just across the river from the city. While there we saw an Alaskan Airline 737 land and a corporate jet take off. Also on the river there were many float planes taking off and landing right beside us. How neat. We got underway from Ketchikan just after 8:30 AM and headed to Wrangell, AK.
We arrived in Wrangell at 2:30 PM where we got off for a three day visit in Wrangell due to our remaining ferry schedule.
We drove around Wrangell for a while and then came back to town and got a few groceries we needed. While there we met a man from Indiana that has been living here for 10 years. He even offered to take us halibut fishing with him when he gets off work tomorrow evening. We also talked to another man while in line that was from Illinois. Then we found a campground in town and decided to get something to eat instead of cooking as we were really worn out after that early wake up, even though we had a short nap after leaving Ketchikan.
The temperature seems to have been a pretty steady 52 degrees everywhere we’ve been today and it has been rainy off and on.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Day 31, Wed, Jul 4, 2007, On board M/V Malaspina in British Columbia, Canada
Happy 4th of July! Yesterday afternoon we boarded the Alaska Marine Highway System M/V Malaspina and got underway at 5:00 PM Alaska time. We saw a display area on one of the bulkheads explaining the ship, which was built in 1962. There was a menu there listing Alaskan King Crab for $3.75, steak meal for $5.00, alcoholic drinks ranging from 75 cents to $1.25. We were so excited and just couldn’t believe it. It took us a while to realize that menu was from 1962. Oh well, reality hit us when we finally got to the cafeteria and found a hamburger was $7.25, fish and ships $8.00, etc.
The M/V Malaspina is 408 feet long, 74 feet wide and has a draft of 15 feet. She has two 4061 HP turbo charged diesels and burns 320 gallons per hour. She also has three 800 HP Caterpillar generators that burn 42 gallons per hour. Her passenger capacity is 701, has 86 staterooms and can carry 120 vehicles.
Passengers with pets must leave them in their vehicles. They do allow you to go down to the car deck four times a day: 8:30 AM, 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM which are announced. Then at 12:30 AM they allow us to go down, but that one is unannounced. The dogs all think is it party time for them!
Early this morning (around 3:15 AM) we were awakened by the fog horn. It blows for 5 seconds every 2 minutes. And is it loud!. It lasted until about 7:00 AM this morning. Fortunately we got a chance to get a nap during the day.
It’s been a very very cloudy day with some showers. The high temperature was 55 degrees. I didn’t know they had a thermometer on board until this afternoon, so didn’t get a low temp.
Pictures: Click here
The M/V Malaspina is 408 feet long, 74 feet wide and has a draft of 15 feet. She has two 4061 HP turbo charged diesels and burns 320 gallons per hour. She also has three 800 HP Caterpillar generators that burn 42 gallons per hour. Her passenger capacity is 701, has 86 staterooms and can carry 120 vehicles.
Passengers with pets must leave them in their vehicles. They do allow you to go down to the car deck four times a day: 8:30 AM, 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM which are announced. Then at 12:30 AM they allow us to go down, but that one is unannounced. The dogs all think is it party time for them!
Early this morning (around 3:15 AM) we were awakened by the fog horn. It blows for 5 seconds every 2 minutes. And is it loud!. It lasted until about 7:00 AM this morning. Fortunately we got a chance to get a nap during the day.
It’s been a very very cloudy day with some showers. The high temperature was 55 degrees. I didn’t know they had a thermometer on board until this afternoon, so didn’t get a low temp.
Pictures: Click here
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Days 25-30, Thu-Tue, Jun 28-Jul 3, Maple Falls, Washington (Barbara’s family reunion)
Days 25 through 30 we spent at a very nice cabin (actually two cabins) east of Maple Falls at the foot of Mount Baker with Barbara’s family. Her family is spread out from San Jose, CA to Lisbon, Portugal and they try to get together about every four years. For this reunion they wanted to go to the Northwest, so here we are. At one time there we 22 of us together. It was a great 5 days. The Alaska Marine Ferry left Bellingham on Tuesday, so we had to leave two days before the end of the reunion.
We had to check in at 2:00 PM and get in line to drive onto the ferry at 3:00 PM. We finally drove onboard around 4:30 and the ferry got underway at 5:05 PM. It is currently 6:04 PM (5:04 Alaska Time) as I upload this from the ship. How neat. As we boarded the ship they told us we were officially on Alaska Time, so now we are four hours ahead of my computer which is still on EST.
Pictures: Click here
We had to check in at 2:00 PM and get in line to drive onto the ferry at 3:00 PM. We finally drove onboard around 4:30 and the ferry got underway at 5:05 PM. It is currently 6:04 PM (5:04 Alaska Time) as I upload this from the ship. How neat. As we boarded the ship they told us we were officially on Alaska Time, so now we are four hours ahead of my computer which is still on EST.
Pictures: Click here
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