Alaska Journal, Thursday, July 28th

Thursday, July 28, 2011    On the ferry to Ketchikan!  We are down to just three more legs to this long trip.  The odometer on the Roo turned 2800 as we pulled into the ferry staging area, which means we have come about 2500 miles from San Diego.  We can’t help thinking, if someone had told us in March we would be selling both of our cars, buying a brand new one, nearly emptying our house, and moving to Alaska, we would have laughed so hard!  What a crazy notion!  And yet here we sit, looking out into the gray of the Inside Passage, only this and one more leg to go, and we will hit the soil of Prince of Wales Island! 

Visibility is bad, with the gray clouds all around us at sea level.  Maybe we can see a half a mile.  So far, no whale spouts, and no chance to use my new binoculars.  Even so, we chug along, headed north.  There is no wi-fi on board, so I get behinder on updating my blog. 

We reach Ketchikan at 10:30 AM Alaska time, then have three hours until our ferry to POW leaves.  Hopefully my phone will work in Ketchikan; hopefully we can find a wi-fi location so I can update my blog and bring it up to date.  Not having both a cell phone connection and access to the Intement is a severe test for my electronic communication ability is not what I am used to!

It’s kind of nice to be back in the United States, even if it’s just aboard a ferry.  We were down to the hundred dollar bills I got from selling the Honda, and so can use them again, at full value.  I didn’t want to use them in Canada if I could help it, because of the exchange rate, so we used the credit card for everything, which worked out fine.  But I broke a hundred on the ferry, so we have some smaller bills now. 

It’s easy enough to sleep on the ferry.  They have nice reclining chairs.  Having got up at 2:30 this morning, we were still tired.  We got to the ferry landing nice and early, as instructed, and then began the wait.  After only an hour, processing of vehicles began, but it was slow.  When our turn came, we discovered they were having computer problems.  Fortunately we had all or documents in order:  passports, dog shot certificates, and vehicle sale information, since we don’t have plates yet.  We sailed through inspection.

I think I mentioned the wonderful cards from Kelli and Jared and Henry that we found in the Roo the day we left, what, a week ago now?  The farther we get from home, the more precious they become. 

As we drove into Prince Rupert, Kathy told me this is what the landscape on the island looks like, and I was fine with that.  The more I think about it, the more I think we are moving to Paradise, except maybe for the weather factor.  I love the forest, and the understory, and the creeks and rivers, flowers and critters.  I can hardly wait to begin exploring!  I spent one evening in a motel looking up all I could about the mammals and birds of POW.