JUNEAU MAILBOX

I'd hate to have this guy as my neighbor

ON THE FERRY AGAIN... BACK TO JUNEAU

Four O Clock in the a.m. and we board the Matanuska, headed back to Juneau. By now we know the routine; stake out the best location for our lounge chairs, know what we need from the car, and set up for a 16 hour trip to Juneau.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we both got sunburnt. According to gossip, we saw Johnny Depp on his yacht "Archimedes" (the local newspapers did say he is is Alaska, so maybe it is true).

We stopped in Wrangell and Petersburg just long enough to take Rosie for a 20 minute walk on solid ground.

Petersburg was just loaded with fishing boats, and float planes were taking off and landing in every direction.

The scenery was breathtaking. Watching the occasional iceburg float by, seals dozing on buoys, and the humpback whales lazily rolling in and out of the water with the blow hole sprays visible in the distance. I don't think I've ever been more lazy and relaxed than this day in many years.

It is indeed hard to describe some of the scenery here.

In a book I found at a used book store for $3 - an older US Dept of Agriculture technical book on "Alaska Trees and Shrubs" are some wonderfully perfect writings... and I quote: "Much of Alaska is still wilderness, and the value of undisturbed wild areas may someday far outweigh the potential value for producing lumber and pulp. An increasing number of people look to Alaska for wilderness that is no longer present in the more developed areas in the world. Thus, it is important that some areas of Alaska's forests be retained in their natural state."

And in describing the coastal forests of Southeast Alaska, it says: "In many areas only a narrow band of trees exist between the ocean and the tundra on snowclad mountains above. The scenic grandeur of the region is unsurpassed. The narrow waterways with steep forested slopes, the rugged high mountains, and the many glaciers reaching for the coast through forested valleys, along with an abundance of streams and lakes offer a wealth of recreation values."

ON THE FERRY... TO KETCHIKAN

Here we are - getting on the "Columbia" in Bellingham. (See my car - driving on the ramp?) It was a long boring wait in the blazing sun until we finally were able to drive on. They had drug and bomb sniffing dogs go through all the cars (except mine and a few others - why? I dunno). I had heard that you had to get on quick to claim your tent spot and that they allowed tents set up on the rear of the top two decks only. I had Sade walk on and I drove on, because the walkers get on quicker and I told her to run to the top deck and claim a spot. She was bored out of her mind and we texted each other while waiting. At least she wasnt outside in the 95 degree sun, dying with me and Rosie!

The ferry left at 6:30 p.m. Friday and got into Ketchikan Sunday a.m. at around 9:00. It was definitely a long ride - but the weather was perfect and the scenery beautiful. Most of the trip was through Canada and you could see clearly the clearcut logging operations with attempts at re-foresting. The first night we set up the tent and 3 people borrowed my duct tape (I came prepared with two rolls) and used it all up. At 4:00 a.m. the wind was whipping so intensely (one of our two "2-hour open ocean" crossings, I believe) and the tents were almost blown flat on the deck - that is if they were still up. About 9 of the 13 or so tents on our deck were taken down by 5:00 a.m. as it became more and more evident to the owner that they were about to be blown overboard. Only 3 tents were left standing by 6:00 a.m. -mine and two others. Sade slept through it all! I was nervous for a little while that the wind would be strong enough to lift the ten with her in it clear overboard. So... it is definitely not worth attempting to set up a tent. The lounge chairs work great for cozy sleeping bag sleeping and there's a solarium roof in case it rains. The temperatures vary significantly though - from hot as hell during peek of sunshine to freezing with fleece coats and wool blankets at dark. We both got very burnt. Most of the time we spent lounging, and waiting for someone to yell "Whales!", then you'd get up and watch the blowhole fountains and tails emerge of the humpbacks. We had some good games of cutthroat Battleship - a good game to bring on a ship.

There was lots of pretty scenery and the ferry only went average of 18 knots, which I learned is only a bit more than 20 miles an hour - what feels like a snails pace! No wonder it takes so long! Phone reception was only at the few towns we passed and lasted for 15 min or so. Sadie would frantically text and then - poof, it's over!

Now in Ketchikan - Sunday a.m. There's our hotel, with the blue roof.

<=== We ate in this place - as usual I got halibut and Sade got coconut shrimp - our two standards.

<------ Nice place on their own island!!

We had all day Sunday to play and I found this long long Kelp - see how the tail goes way behind me? It was fun to play with. We say them floating in the ocean at night from the ferry - glowing white and couldn't figure out what they were. The leaves were gone and it looked like a giant sperm.. from a sperm whale?? ha

I wanted to keep "kelpy" and tried to tie it on the roof but Sade wouldn't let me.

< Bald eagle and nest (need a good camera)

More pretty places and sites in Ketch. The white in the rock was quartz.

<---Obviously someone wanted only Coho to go thattaway. I saw my first Dippers on this stream.

The shore at low tide was much fun! Mussel beds, and what turned out to be Clams spitting (?) water out of the sand in cute little 4-inch squirts everywhere. Starfish everywhere of every color and size - fat ones skin ny ones. These pics are actually from my work mtgs- I have to learn Marine Biology fast! It was a bit intimidating listening to these people talking about restoration and what species of salmon like this and that and on and on... and it was greek to me.

< ---- A midget Starfish? The inspiration for Patrick (Sponge Bob's pal)?

OK, I gotta get serious at these meeting - I was dangling a piece of eelgrass in front of a crab - we were playing Monkey in the middle - haven't had that much fun since I was 6! He's much bigger than those 1-inch guys you see along the Atlantic. Coulda taken my finger off if got too close - well not really, but it woulda hurt.

Went to the infamous "Road to Nowhere" that would have connected to the "Bridge to Nowhere" that was never built. (Got it?) Had to buy a T-shirt! Is this one of FHWA's biggest blunders? Why did no one go to NEPA Jail?

Spent time with Sade in Saxman (Native Alaskan village) and at the Totem Heritage Center in Ketch. Largest collection of Totems here - very cool.

FYI: Some have "spirits" in them, and some don't.
I think that if they were built for the tourists, they are void.

Hmmm...

<--- I want this one in my yard in NY.

THE REST OF THE JOURNEY...ON LAND ANYWAYS

We left the Badlands and rushed to Mount Rushmore. Now I was getting a bit worried about time - the ferry only leaves Bellingham WA once per week, every Friday, so if you miss it you're screwed. And I had lots of important work meetings scheduled in Ketchikan. The plan was to get on the Ferry and get off in Ketch for a couple days - do my meetings, and then get back on the Ferry to Juneau.
Mount Rushmore was pretty cool - in the middle of nowhere and there were a million tourists there. I think Sadie took more pics of the vending machine. We didn't spend very long there -except for the detour to get there and back to the highway seemed to take forever, but we did get to drive through the Black Hills National Forest and see "the largest" in-progress carving/blasting of a mountain for a memorial to Crazy Horse. Lots of Sioux heritage all around this area - especially around the town of Custer and there were museums and historical sites - we tried the Indian Museum of North America but they were locking the doors just as we got there.

A short drive through Wyoming, but got to pass through Gillette, which has lots of nice memories. My friend Jim worked for the Burlington Northern RR there and I spent some good times there with him and his weird roomie - who I remember was born not being able to smell.

Then on through northern Idaho, which was maybe an hour drive and high fives as we passed through Lookout Pass into Washington!

Yippee! We made it to Washington on Thursday!

There aren't many places west of the Mississippi that I get bored driving through - I never get tired of seeing desert landscapes, but western Washington was really really the pits. It was flat, you could see forever and there was nothing... nothing. Now the drive was starting to get to us - and I absolutely hated listening to Sade's music, so for the first time on the trip - she put on the head phones and I tried listening to my "Iliad on CD". I had always wanted to read the Iliad, but the CD was as boring as could be - I found myself deep in thought about stuff and realized 1/2 hr of the Iliad had gone by and I didnt hear a word he said. So that didn't work.

Miles and miles and it was still so flat and barren - no birds, no roadkill, no trees, no rocks, that I told Sade to throw our ketchup-smeared garbage out the window. It seemed like it would only contribute to the microhabitat and biomass so we went nuts and threw all our organic garbage out the window! It was fun and we felt like Hansel & Gretel leaving a trail.

I kept promising Sade that the scenery would change and sure enough as it was getting dark, the flat landscape starting changing (and I am sure we saw Mt St Helens in the far distance) we crossed the Columbia River, which was beautiful, and slept over night in Ellenburg, right next to Olmstead State Park. :)

Then early into the a.m. we drove straight through to Seattle and a bit of culture shock with the big city and traffic jams. 5 North from Seattle to Bellingham - another high 5 cuz we had plenty o time to make it to Bellingham.

But - it was Friday before July 4th weekend and the traffic going north on 5 was horrendous!! 4 lanes stop and go traffic for hours. I started to panic. We made a frantic stop at a Walmart to pick up some supplies for the Ferry ride and I think half of Washington was at the same Walmart. It was actually worse than the Monticello Mallwart which is pretty bad. At the checkout line, the cashier couldnt get the security cable off Sade's "Desperate Housewives" season set of DVDs and the mile-long line behind us was getting freaked out and I kept saying "Sade, do you really need this??" And she said "That's all I wanted", and the two funny guys in line behind us kept saying "She must be desperate! Ha Ha" and finally, just after the guy suggested going and getting cable cutters from aisle #456 1/2 mile away, it was tossed aside and we left the store in shit stressed mood. But! we made it to Bellingham just in time to get in the vehicle line at the required 3:00 for a 6:00 p.m. departure! We made it!!!!