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DATE:July 23, 2002 DESTINATION: Ketchikan
FAMILY OF FIVE ON A SMALL METAL SKIFF Last night a small metal skiff with a canvas cover came in to the harbor for the night. There was a family of at least five in that little thing! They pulled up to the dock and pretty much kept to themselves, shy and quiet. They fixed a little dinner on this open skiff and then all managed to find little spots to settle into, pull the covers and blankets over and go to sleep for the night. They had a little Wheaten Terrier that was worse than Ziggy. It growled at us and Zig every time we walked by. This shy little family kept totally to themselves and didn't talk to anyone. They must be on a family vacation and camping. The boat's home port was Ketchikan. DRUNKEN BRAWL Things weren’t as quiet as the evening went on. We heard a loud drunken brawl coming from one of the cabins. The people were yelling until early morning. It was strange to hear in this quiet place. LET'S GET TO TOWN We got up early and I hinted that we didn't have to go to “Yes Bay” (another anchorage around the other side of the island) if the other didn't want to. Larry's eyes sparkled. I didn’t realize how much he really didn’t want to go to another anchorage. We’ve seen a lot and have along way yet to go to get home. Larry offered a compromise. He said we could get dockage at a place called Clover Bay Lodge, another stop along the way back to Ketchikan, for a nice dinner. I said, "Naw, let's just get on to Ketchikan". I guess, I too, was anxious to get back to some civilization for a few days. FISH TO FRY The trip to Ketchikan was pretty uneventful. I read and slept most of the way. Larry wanted to fill up the fuel tank before settling in to the marina. So we headed up the channel past the marinas to the fuel dock. One large fishing boat was already fueling up at the fuel dock and there was enough space left for us to pull in behind with some room to spare. Well, that is, until just as we were approaching the dock a little fishing boat raced up, going as fast as he could, to purposely butt in at the fuel dock. He didn’t bother to park tight on the dock either so we had to wait for them both to finish up fueling before we could get in for our turn. I guess he was thinking he had fish to fry and we're just on vacation. STRESSFUL! It took quite awhile for them to fuel up so we had to keep circling the channel. A tug that was docked nearby came out into the channel. We finally realized he wanted to pull out in front us so he could head over to a huge barge. Once we realized what he was doing, we backed out of the way and he maneuvered over, quickly tied up to it and he and this huge load pulled out. The surge from his props was incredible, stronger than any rapids we've been through. Larry maneuvered around him and also the rest of the continuing boat traffic in the channel trying not to lose position in line at the fuel dock. It was getting so stressful and then to top it off another really small skiff came in by the fuel dock, fluttering around like a little bird. Eee gad, he too now, was waiting to get fuel. So now we had to keep watch him as we didn't want another taking our spot. We were right across from the airport too and the huge jets were firing up with incredible noise and taking off and then it seemed fifty million float planes were going by one right after another landing and taking off and making turns. It was like WWII!! It was stressful! Finally, one of the fishing boats left and Larry lost no time maneuvering the boat over to the empty space. Now of course it seems the wind suddenly picked up, blowing like crazy and the current was pulling strong. That put into the pot with all this crazy noise and activity was more than I liked! Once we got settled, Zig jumped onto the dock before I could stop him and the fuel kid tried to pet him with the usual ugly result. I got mad and gave Zig a little smack and the little stinker snapped back at me from the smack. I guess we were all stressed including Ziggy. I picked him up and hoisted him back on the boat as punishment. He then felt bad and wanted to make up. USUAL MEDIOCRE PICK OF THE SLIP ASSIGNMENTS While we waited for the tanks to fill we tried to call the Ketchikan YC to see if we could get in Thomas Basin. No answer, so then we called the Ketchikan Harbor Master to see if we could get in Thomas Basin (Thomas Basin was closer to town). He said he had a spot but with no electricity so we went to the North Basin again. So what's the point of docking without electricity so we don't have to run the generator? So, we were assigned a slip a few spaces from where we were before on the trip Northward. Of course, the Harbor Master couldn’t tell us if we were a port or starboard tie so I set the lines and fenders hoping starboard would work, if not I will have to do a quick change when we get inside the breakwater. Once we got inside the breakwater of the harbor, we can now see that it's going to be a port tie so I have to change everything while Larry back outs. The current is incredibly strong and it's impossible to stay in one spot long enough for me to change everything. Somehow going back out through the breakwater entrance the engine turned off but luckily Larry got it to come back on right away. Yikes! I got all fenders and lines changed to the opposite side as quickly as I could and we headed back in again. Now this time as we got near our slip we could see we were going to be next to this really crappy boat that had a fishing skiff tied right beside him taking part of our space! Dammit! Why isn't anything ever easy? So, out we go through the breakwater again. Larry calls the harbor master again but now there is nothing else available. They don't offer to come down to have the guy move the skiff so we're just going to have to squeeze in and hope for the best. So hearing this I run to get our orange fender balls out and quickly tie them on the other side in case we don’t miss the skiff!
Sometimes when you think you are in impossible situations you do the best you've ever done and this was the case as Larry did a beautiful job of pulling the boat in with just inches to spare in a full running current and I jumped on the dock to tie her up. Since we have no bow thrusters I have to get the lines on quick to keep here from pulling uncontrolled in the current. Though there are other boaters on the dock, no one offered to help except one guy but by then I was done. The problem was that they guy that owned the dock had left a huge wooden step box on the dock right where I had to jump off and tie up. I literally had to pull this heavy thing out of the way to tie the center line, then run back and get the back line tied to keep the boat from swinging into that dam skiff and then run up to get the bow tied, by this time the by stander came over to help but by now I had it done! I was so mad at the whole situation and just exhausted and sweating. Larry then yells to me to hurry and run up the dock and ramp to take Zig out and then go over and get a rental car! I got so mad that he decided he better do it. Between the fuel dock stress and this docking, I had had it. TAKING IT OUT IN THE GALLEY I was so hungry and frustrated by now. I decided to head down into the galley to see what I could make. I put together a spinach salad with bacon, onions, hard boiled egg, feta cheese and kalamata olives for us. I sautéed the onions in oil and a tinsy bit of bacon drippings, added red wine vinegar and white sugar. I also made a melted ham and Swiss cheese sandwich on black rye with sweet mustard. Mmm it all was really good too and just what we needed. Zig liked the leftovers too. After lunch Larry managed to get a car for only a half day because they were all booked and or reserved so we have to return it tomorrow. I guess I should've run up there when he told me too. I didn't realize that it was going to be hard to get a car. RAT RACE I was exhausted by now and needed to take a nap. This place is a dam rat race around here! Here we are in Alaska and the plane traffic and boat noise is unbelievable! SOME REST HELPED We managed to sleep for an hour during the plane breaks and then headed to town to get a coffee at Maggie’s, well more exact, to get a wonderful cup of latte and a cappuccino. We sat outside with Ziggy and it’s so hot we just can’t believe it! Larry unzips his pants to make them into shorts. We went to Tongass Sporting goods to look for kayak stuff but found nothing. We went to a few tourist shops to see what was there and then stopped at Ocean View for dinner. I had taco & enchilada and Larry had chicken Marsala with Spaghetti. I don't understand how this restaurant has a split menu of Mexican food and Italian food. We couldn’t eat everything as it was so much food. We had a good view of the eagles sitting on pier posts and getting fish from the water.
Now that we are here again in Ketchikan, I think of when we first arrived in Alaska just over a month ago. I was so excited. I wonder where all the people we met are now and how their summer has been. It would be fun if we all could up meet up together and have a big pot luck, to just sit around and compare notes. Guess we’ll just have to be satisfied hearing about their travels by email. DATE: July 24, 2002, Wednesday
LOUD Got up to the most monstrous noise of airplanes! It was awful! It started at 6:30 AM in the morning. We counted one every 3 or 4 minutes and they are LOUD! There is no putting them out of your mind. Then a big jet took off and a cruise ship went by like a huge building the size of a city block. Larry said that last night, in the middle of the night, he heard this strange loud incredible rumble and looked out the window to see a cruise ship going by. He said it was making so much noise he couldn’t believe it. What a cultural shock this place is. The impact of the cruise ship business on this place if deafening. CARS IN DEMAND BUT NO WHERE TO GO It is raining non stop. We rented a car yesterday but could only get it for half a day and Larry had to sweet talk them to get that as they don't usually do half days. They were also totally booked for today. We are supposed to call at 8:00 this morning to see if there are any cancellations. Larry called and darn it we will have to return the car but can have it until 11:30 AM at least. It's funny because there is no where to drive really but boy are these cars in demand. Anyway, we decide we better get up and get the remainder of the groceries while we have the car. I go through everything and make a casual inventory of what I have in the cupboards in the galley, the freezer, the storage bins under the settee and other concealed storage areas, like under the lift up cushions of both lounge chairs, not to mention cubbies in galley floor and guest quarters floor. I make a list and off we go. KETCHIKAN IS FULL OF CHOICES I want to go to the grocery store by the ferry thinking they will have better produce than Carr's. It turns out to be about the same. There is no celery and their avocados are small compared to Carr's so I just decide to get everything on the list here and go to back to Carr's to see how their produce is today. Carr’s has some fresh green beans so I get those and bought a couple sweet potatoes. That huge sweet potato that I got back at the Indian village at Hoonah never did get soft when we cooked it. What the heck was it anyway? My freezer is packed to the very brim. I have this boat stocked full enough to get us all the way home except for fresh produce, milk and eggs which I hope we will be able to find in the little small villages along the way. PLASTIC BAGS We get back to the marina finally and begin the process of unloading everything. There are no carts at this darn marina so you have to hand carry everything from the car, down the ramp and down the dock! Unbelievable! And these crappy modern plastic bags just about cut the circulation off in your fingers when you carry any thing for a distance. If you don’t tie them in knots prior to putting them in the car, your groceries spill and spread all over the car as you drive off! What ever happened to paper bags??? How the world ever let the grocers get away with these stupid bags is beyond me and then they are not biodegradable. Ridiculous! While we unpacked everything we get a call from the car rental shop. There is a cancellation and we can have the car until tomorrow morning! Hooray! OIL FILTERS DON'T LOOK RIGHT Larry checks the engine and becomes concerned about the oil filters. They are a lighter color than normal. He's worried we may have water in the fuel line. He thinks we're going to have to have it checked out by someone so he walks up to the Harbor Master to see if they know of someone who could look it. When he comes back he says that the light coloring could be normal but he’s going to find out what kind of batch of diesel we got to confirm it. It turned out that Alaska does not color their diesel like other states and like Canada and that’s why our filters were lighter. That sure made Larry feel better. We gave the boat a good cleaning. I don't understand how a boat can get so dusty out on the water. HEAD TO TOWN ONE MORE TIME I realized I was going to need to fill a prescription before we could get back in the states again. So we headed to the one drug store in town. The pharmacist at the drug store required answers to all sorts of goofy questions like the boat name, the marina we were staying in, etc. While we waited for the prescription we did a little tourist shopping for gifts to bring back. We stopped in one shop and saw some great old prints of Alaska. They also had prints of old maps and charts that the mariners and steam ships used during the gold rush and all kinds of interesting old photos.
NY HOTEL We stopped in our favorite little place to eat, the NY Hotel, to get some of their fabulous homemade pie with ice cream. Their mixed berry and rhubarb cobbler and well their apple pie too, are out of this world! And topped with a mound of thick rich cold ice cream, wow! I like that place and the pies are the best!
I love to stare at their wall mural. It looks like a story out of a mystery novel. It's a mural done with pastels and chalk and it's really good. It reminds me of the Stanley books we’ve been reading on the trip (cheap little mystery novels centered in SE Alaska). The characters of the mural are set in nearby Creek Street. They also have some funky cloth sculptures hanging from the ceiling that looked like a warped interpretation of the millions of jelly fish that we see in the Alaskan waters around here. At the back wall is an old style soda fountain made out of what used to be a bar which I can imagine the characters from the Klondike sitting there talking of their adventures. The rest of the room is scattered with old Victorian chairs and divans. FUNKY LOCAL CHARACTERS TOO It's a really comfortable place. The funky local characters like to come here also so the people watching is great too. This place and the old adjoining hotel are run by some the same people and looks like it could be a fun place to stay. It's not luxurious by any means, but it sure transports you and your imagination back into the days of the Gold Rush. As we headed back to the boat we were looking for a patch of open field so Zig could run around a bit but this little town is built on such a small patch of land that there's no open space that we could find. Every square inch is totally built up. It's been pouring rain all day as usual so it’s not much fun to take him for a walk. LAST MINUTE THINGS TO BE DONE We need to fill the tanks with water before we take off so we head back. It's takes a long time to fill them as the water pressure is practically nonexistent here on the docks. ANALIZING OUR DOCK NEIGHBOR Meanwhile as Larry is busy doing that I study that junky boat that is docked next to us from my window. I've never seen anything like it. It looks like it used to be a sailboat but now it has no mast. It's been rebuilt to include a make shift pilot house much like a fishing boat on the top. The finish is all rotting away and there is junk lying everywhere on the top decks. It has a bit if everything you can imagine lying around: pots and pans, milk crates, ropes, old wood, tools, but all of it is just plain junk that to me should be thrown out. He's still got that dam fishing skiff tied right alongside his boat in the slip which made our docking very hairy when we came in. I think it's a permanent fixture there. We've found that people hang on to things that we would normally get rid of at home. Guess it's so hard to come by things that everything is important no matter how scraggly it looks. He has a garden hose permanently stuck in his water tank opening for water his water source. Oh, and did I mention his poor huge Rottweiler dog that is so big and fat that he can hardly move along the gangway on deck? The guy that owns the boat is huge also. I think it surely must be from a lack of any exercise. That the poor dog lies on the boat all day and then sometimes (and I don’t know how he does it), it jumps off the boat into the dam skiff, hoping I guess, that his owner might get the hint and take him somewhere. Who knows, maybe he wants to go fishing, poor dog. The owner just sits in the helm seat all day staring out doing who knows what. Wonder what he thinks about. Finally he came out of his "pilot house" and climbed down onto the skiff where his dog has jumped. Somehow he manages to lift his big fat dog back on the boat. I mentioned it to Larry and wondered if the dog ever gets to go to land to relieve himself. He said he saw the owner take his dog to the end of the dock and back only once for what he thought must be the only daily walk. Guess that’s all he gets. Poor big guy. EAT WHAT YOU'RE SERVED AND BE GLAD YOU GOT IT! We went to the Dockside Dinner for dinner. My iceberg salad was so old and wilted that I actually had to get my spectacles out to make sure that's what I was eating. The waitress was sweet though. She said the special tonight was spaghetti. I decided to order the special but was dumbfounded when she asked if I wanted potatoes or rice with my spaghetti! Knowing this is Alaska and getting used to things like this, I just said rice and didn't think more about it. She also said the dinner came with a salad, relish tray and garlic bread which sounded pretty good to me. Larry ordered a Spanish omelet which I thought was a little strange to have on the menu for dinner but nevertheless it sounded good. We were hungry. It wasn't long after taking our order before the little waitress came back to apologize, saying so nicely that she was "so sorry but the spaghetti doesn’t come with rice or a potato". No big deal to me and said not to worry. When my "wilted" iceberg salad came it was piled on top with green onions, small pickled corns, red cherry tomatoes, and carrot and celery sticks. Funny thing is when I finished my salad, then the relish tray came and it was a duplicate of what I just ate without the old lettuce. So go figure. It was a pretty bad meal even for Alaska standards but nevertheless the place was packed with regulars. We have come to the conclusion that the taste and presentation of food isn't important around here. The important thing is that it's just about having the food and getting filled up. My motto up here is becoming: Eat what you are served, be glad you got it, didn't have to find it and didn't have to fix it, beyond that, don't expect much. MIST COVE We saw the Mist Cove docked outside. It's the same small cruise ship we saw going into Red Bluff. Looks like they have about 12 guest cabins and is very well maintained. Now if we didn't have the Knotty Dog to come do this on our own, I would think that boat would be a fun way to cruise up here. They are able to get into all the little places like we do. Just a thought for the future
Ziggy likes this dock and marina though it leaves a lot to be desired for us. He pretty much stays out on the bow of the boat if the weather permits and watches what goes on. The black dog next door will bark at something and Zig if inside runs out and barks too and then curiously looks over at the black dog to see what he thinks of his bark. When the black dog looks back at him quickly Zig looks away. He doesn't want too much eye contact with the big dog but definitely is putting a show on for him. Even though Zig's afraid to have eye contact with this big black monster of a dog, Zig nevertheless puffs his fur up trying to make himself look bigger, trying to be a big shot in front of him but I'm sure all this act of bravery and toughness is because he knows he's safe from him while on our boat. So that explains he cocky and obnoxious behavior. It's funny to watch. WISHY WASHY WEATHER REPORT We listen to the weather report again because we’re either going to go to Foggy Bay or make the full crossing (Dixon) if the weather is good. Again we get what we've been calling typical Wishy Washy Weather Report. Sounds like it could be windy with waves. We don’t like the sounds of it but that’s the Canadian report. Then we listen to the US report and it doesn’t even come close to the same report for the same area. We’re stressed. Who can figure these dam reports out?
DATE: July 25, 2002, Thursday CRUISE SHIP HULLABALOO Well, it was windy all night long. I kept waking up to the sound of howling wind whipping through the marina as the halyards slapped repetitively against the masts. Larry started to get up to listen to the early morning wishy washy weather update. I said the wind had been blowing all night and I don't like it, we'd better just stay another day. So he went back to bed. That didn't last too long as about 6:30 AM, of course, WWII started again with the planes across the channel. I counted 37 planes between 6:30-7:30 AM. We got a short 30 minute break from the noise and then, again, it started all over again at 8:30. We figured out that all the hullabaloo is about the excursion flights for the cruise ship passengers. It's maddening and just a bit insane. FRUSTRATED WITH THE DAM MEANINGLESS WEATHER REPORTS Even with all the noise, Larry now won’t get up. Ziggy gets up though and I tell him to go back down to the stateroom and get Larry up. He heads back down but instead of waking Larry up he hops in the bed with him and takes another snooze. Larry doesn’t get up until 8:45. He says he has had it with this crap. He says he hates these dam meaningless weather reports (and so do I). Who can make heads or tails out of these things? I finally suggest that we do the laundry and at least get something done. SETTLE ON LAUNDRY INSTEAD We use Larry's "go to market cart" and latch on the carefully divided laundry bundles, all sorted and separated by colors and tied in tight packages with the sheets and pillow slips. We strap our detergent and bleach on top and off we go. Ziggy was getting exasperated too at this late start because he had to go. It's a darn long walk down the long dock, up the ramp, across the parking lot and across the road to a place where he can do his business. We didn't want to make the trip twice so he had to wait until we got the laundry ready.
We walked a ¼ mile to the laundromat. There were plenty of machines and driers. I filled up about five washers. Some woman from another boat had the whole place monopolized with her carry cart totally expanded and blocking one walkway and took up three chairs to pile stuff on. She had three laundromat baskets full of her stuff and stuff scattered all over even on the two folding tables. She didn’t have anymore laundry than I did but somehow just took over the place. Later after the laundry was done we decided to take the long walk to town. If we get tired we'll just hail a cab back. There were 5 cruise ships in today and the little tiny old gold rush town was a friggin' mad house. I soon realized that rather than heading to the shopping areas and looking in the stores we were unconsciously working our way up the hill to get away from the crowds. We got some coffee at Mochas and sat on the same dirty bench we did yesterday. Wonder who is supposed to clean these public benches around here? Just across the street is the Ketchikan Museum. I decided to go in for $2 and look around. Wasn’t worth it. Can’t believe they charge for that. HILL TOWN AREA As we headed back, I told Larry I’d like to see if we could walk back to the marina by finding a road in the upper area of town where the houses are built along the hillside overlooking the town and channel. We found a meandering way through the old cottages precariously built on the steep hillside. The streets are wooden and linked by steep stairways. It was very interesting. Some of the old stairways practically climb straight up to reach the next level of houses. There are some very old original cottages, some abandoned, but many still in us surviving this mad tourist on slot. Up here is the real Ketchikan but most people wouldn't bother to take the trouble to walk up here. It’s a maze of stairways and wooden bridges, and narrow roads. There's one main wooden road probably very old that runs along the hillside and it just literally hangs out over the hillside. I've never seen anything like it. NO GARAGES HERE Most of the houses here of course don’t have garages. You couldn't get a car up here. Coming from Southern California you just naturally assume that everyone in the world has a car or two but the people living here have few cars as the town is small and there is only one main road which ends shortly out of town. There's really no place to go and it's usually within walking distance yet there is so much car traffic on the road you can't believe it. I have to imagine and remember that this place, as most of the places on the Inside Passage, are accessible only by the sea. The remote areas of the Inside Passage are separated by hundreds of miles of steep impassable mountains. We passed one man who was doing some construction work on one of the old cottages. We watched as he had to walk about 100 yards or more down a steep old wooden stairway to finally reach his truck parked in a small spot he found to get some tool that he had forgotten. There is a large parking lot on top of the hill, prime property anywhere else in the world that overlooks the harbor, but here it is where everyone parks their old jalopies and then makes their walks, down steep stairways and wooden suspended roads to their cottages. Imagine doing this in the freezing winter?
We made it back down to the main street. We noticed an old wooden alleyway behind the stores facing the main drag of the one road through town and then another whole row of old buildings beyond that. What was amazing about this area is that we realized this whole area was built out over the water on pilings. One wouldn't realize that a lot of the waterfront buildings, actually much of the town of Ketchikan, is built right out over the water. Some of the old warehouses over the last 150 years have just been added on and on to as the need required. Nothing is demolished and wasted like where I grew up and come from. Here the new is just built onto the old and it mostly all built of wood. The burned remains of one house we saw on the hill was so close to the whole hillside of all the other old wooden structures that we thought it was amazing that this whole place, this whole town actually, hasn't gone up in fire losing all this history. Guess that has and could happen to a lot to some of these old towns. We've read about many that just burned down in a big town fire and then the town was gone but these people are hardy and resourceful and they just as quickly rebuild and make a life again. We got back near the harbor but made one last stop in the grocery store along the way. They just got a fresh batch of blueberries in. The package said the origin was Canada but I know they are fairly fresh because they weren’t there yesterday. We also stopped to get our emails and printed them out to bring home to read. The emails have become like reading the newspaper to us. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN Well, we were clean, clean, clean as we all had baths, clean clothes, clean bed, and clean boat as Larry had filled the water tanks up. Forgot to mention we saw “Thatcher”. They just got in today. Another sailboat that we had seen in Red Bluff came in too. Its sunny this evening and the skies are almost totally cloudless! I think that’s a first for Alaska for us. If there is sun, the sky is still usually full of clouds. We settled in for dinner on the boat as we are heading out early in the morning tomorrow no matter what. We hope the weather will be good so we can get past this point in our journey. Our next big place to deal with will be crossing Queen Charlotte Sound. I just want to get this all behind us. I look out the window and our grungy neighbor next door is sitting in his usual spot, in the pilot house, looking out through those dirty windows. The dog is still outside doing nothing, bored and full I guess hoping for relief. Guess the old dog must like this bit of sunshine to warm his bones. I'm anxious to get back where it’s going to be warmer. It will be interesting to see if it still is so rainy in BC between Prince Rupert and Queen Charlotte Sound. Larry takes Zig out for his evening walk. I hope Larry is OK. He seems not himself. I hope it’s just the worry over this crossing and nothing else. I’ve never seen him like this. Talked to my friend Bev on the phone today and she said the stock market dropped 500 points and then came up 400 points. She said it was because several companies are in trouble from doctoring their books to make them appear stronger for the stock market. They are getting caught and it’s all backfiring now. We are so out of touch with what's going on in the world now only hear bits and pieces as we go on this journey. It's strange to hear what's going on this way.
DATE: July 26, 2002, Friday WAITING GAME Larry got up about 5:00 AM to listen to the weather report. He said it would probably be OK to cross the Dixon entrance today but would be a better day tomorrow so I said half awake “Then, let’s go tomorrow.” So it'll be another day of anxiety with this dam waiting and guessing game. It’s a terrible feeling not to go and then the more you don’t go the more the anxiety builds. It becomes even worse when you see that others have gone and you decided to stay in port. I hate it. We kept telling ourselves that we have no schedule and it doesn’t matter, but it does matter even though we won’t admit it. I made blueberry pancakes with my new blueberries. We then got the bikes out and rode to town with Ziggy riding in the basket. We first stopped at Soapy’s to send a group email friends and family. I spent about an hour typing it in and almost ran out of time with our email card before I was finished so Larry went to the desk and got an extension. The fellow came over to extend the time in the computer and then lost my dang email! After all that time typing it! Luckily I brought notes of what I wanted to say and was able to do it all over again and then after I finished, and so typical of computers, who I'm convinced have minds of their own, the old email miraculously appeared again! Go figure!
The town was fairly empty today as only two cruise ships in. It was almost nice today without all those little planes flying around. We rode the bikes up by the hatchery and the totem center on top of the hill and let Ziggy run finally. They have a wonderful collection of old totems inside. We headed back to the boat by way of the wooden plank road high above the main road. It was exhausting because it was up with lots of steep hills but it was worth it to see more of this part of the town, the real town. When we got back to the marina “Aurora” whose slip we are in was in the slip across from us. Remember we were supposed to be out of our slip today but we decided to stay another day because of the weather report. The captain was nice about us still being there but he wanted his electricity and his step back.
REPORT SOUNDS GOOD TO GO Larry listened to the weather report again and this time it sounds good to him so we’re planning to leave with no stress tomorrow. I think we’re going to doing long days all the way through BC to get further south. Larry’s very anxious to get to Desolation Sound. We went to Bar Harbor Restaurant for dinner and sat out on the patio as the sun came out this afternoon. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting out. We both had a steak, baked potato and frozen green beans or rather I should say we had a micro waved potato not baked potato. Typical Alaskan food quality. We saved some steak scraps for Zig and I threw some to Trident, the poor big black Rottweiler on the junk boat next door. I think he’s more interested in us now after that tasty treat. 58 degrees tonight and......barometer is dropping.
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AT
YOUR WITS END
WONDERING
ABOUT THOSE WE MET ON THIS TRIP
IMAGINING
THE DAYS OF THE KLONDIKE
ZIG
ENJOYING THE MARINA
ANOTHER
WALK TO TOWN
BUILT
OUT OVER THE WATER
Larry
went to do some errands and I went into the store next to us to buy some
more mystery novels by Sue Henry and John Stanley and another called Louis
Lamoure recommended by the lady behind the counter who said was excellent
(but I never could get into it later). We then tried to find something to
eat and finally got a terrible hamburger at a place by the cruise ships.
We sat outside and ate our hamburgers by the harbor because we had Ziggy.
We then rode up the hill to Maggie’s for a cup of coffee and I bought a
t-shirt for Larry. We also bought two more t-shirt’s at Barnaby’s which
turned out to be undersized (probably from China) when we got back to the
boat. (I tried to call them but they were closed – will try to mail them
and have them send bigger sizes). Good luck with that.