Leaving Alaska

You would think that after spending two months getting to Alaska it wouldn’t be that big a deal to leave Alaska…but it was.

On the way to Alaska we drove through Montana, Alberta, CN, British Columbia, CN, Yukon Territory, CN, the Northwest Territories, CN, and then finally entered Alaska around Fairbanks.  We drove highways, gravel roads, and dirt roads, boarded river ferries, and seriously considered airplanes and dog sleds in a couple of places.  It was a wild adventure and lots of fun to set out every day not knowing where the road might lead…or what it might be made of.

But after spending a couple of weeks knocking around Alaska seeing what we wanted to see, we were ready to move on and head back to the “lower 48” (and don’t think we didn’t enjoy throwing that phrase around casually).

One if by Land, Two if by Sea...or something like that

This was when we realized that to get back we would have to once again go north to Fairbanks and retrace our path through the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and Montana to get back to the mainland.  The first time around - big fun. Doing it all again?  Not so much...and Patrick has something of an unspoken rule to never travel the same road twice if we can help it, so he went into his turbo planner mode and decided we would leave Alaska by water.

Then Patrick discovered I'm only a mediocre swimmer so he went to Plan B.

Plan B

The state of Alaska operates a ferry that travels through the Inside Passage starting at Haines, AK and ultimately docks at Bellingham, WA.

Since we wanted to explore the Pacific Northwest after Alaska, it didn’t make a lot of sense to retrace our steps all the way back to Montana, so we hit the road for Haines and lined up to board the ferry on a rainy night.

We were supposed to load at 10:30 p.m. but there was a delay and finally about 2:30 a.m. the huge doors opened on the side of the ship and we drove the RV (towing the car) directly into the cargo hold of the M/V Columbia.

We were assigned a spot in a long row of trucks, RVs, and cars parked end to end in some magical configuration. The ferry makes multiple stops along the way and I never quite figured out how they were able to get out someone's vehicle who disembarked at one of the stops in the middle, but our RV stayed put until we docked in WA so they appear to have it figured out.

 

The ferry is like a low-budget cruise ship – you can book a sleeping berth, but you don’t have to and many people opted to camp out on the back deck. (I’m sure there’s a specific nautical term for this part of the ship, but it was a deck to me.)

Those are tents. Those people slept outside. Those people are not me.

Our cabin assignment was Room #222 (wasn't there a TV show by that name a long time ago?) and had 2 bunk beds and a bathroom; the shower had AMAZING water pressure but I guess that's a given when you have an entire ocean powering the pressure. 

"Come into my parlor" said the spider to the fly...

There was a movie theater but it only showed Alaska documentaries and often those folks attempting to sleep out on the VERY WINDY back deck took advantage of the dark lighting and reclining chairs to grab a nap…or even stretch out on the floor in front of the seats for 40 winks.

There was a cafeteria and a formal restaurant. The cafeteria served one lunch or dinner special and a basic assortment of burgers, sandwiches and soup.  The formal restaurant served…mostly the same things but on a nicer plate with a better view over the bow(?) of the ship.

Because the ferry is state-run, the employees are not allowed to accept tips and there are signs everywhere warning you that if you tip, your money will be donated to the state’s General fund.  This made for an interesting experience in the restaurant especially. You don’t realize how much of that  friendly service and prompt attention at a restaurant is driven by the possibility of a tip; without that incentive, our service was rather perfunctory and …hilarious.  The hostess seated us where she wanted to and clearly felt smiling wasn’t in her job description. The waitress took our drink, dinner and dessert order in one fell swoop and then rarely returned once it was delivered. (However, it did allow us lots of time to make friends with nearby diners, as is evident in this picture with our photobomber/new friend.)

After two days on board we knew the menu by heart and Patrick had the pies memorized (and had tried them all). On the one hand it was a little disconcerting to sit for 20 minutes wondering where the waitress was when my Diet Coke got low, but on the other hand it was kind of nice for no one to rush us from the table while enjoying views like this.

And really…it’s not like we had anywhere else to be.

Our Rigorous Routine

The trip from Haines, AK to Bellingham, WA took about five days, so we settled into a routine pretty quickly.

• Get up and seek out coffee for Patrick and hot chocolate for me…because the wind was COLD

• Twice a day the captain would announce that the parking deck would be open for 15 minutes if anyone wanted to go below deck. And EVERYONE did….can you guess why?  Because if you were traveling with a pet it had to stay in your vehicle.  So twice a day everyone raced below to feed, walk, pet, and curb their animal. Patrick raced below with them so he could retrieve the item of the day I had forgotten or so he could grab another loaf of banana bread from the freezer.

• We would eat breakfast, walk on deck, and be stunned at the gorgeous scenery until we were freezing, then go find more hot chocolate/coffee.

• I alternated between feverishly downloading/uploading documents anytime we got close to an inhabited island and I could pick up the internet flying by, with leisurely working on what I had already downloaded.

   

• We whale-watched when the Captain would announce he spotted some humpback whales. This was very exciting and I always expected the boat to tip over a bit as everyone rushed to one side or the other to see them.  Prepare to be overwhelmed at my stellar photography skills capturing two coming up out of the water. In my defense, they are fast...and we were far away.

• We napped or read until dinnertime where we once again attempted to see if we could obtain salt/pepper/water/ice/diet coke/napkins/straws and a clean fork from our waitress before she disappeared to take her nap.

Safety First...or maybe Not

Because we first boarded in the middle of night, we simply got our berth key from the purser, found our room and crashed on the first night.  We weren’t given any written or verbal instructions about procedures, safety, schedules or anything and I assumed that would come later.  Silly me.

Patrick was up early the next morning and heard the announcement for a staff safety drill.  He watched as they casually strolled to one of the decks and dragged out some life vests, did something with them, and then they all sauntered back to their posts.

We made sure we knew where these were kept!

The captain made sure to announce that passengers did NOT have to participate in the drill.  We thought it was because there would be a passenger safety drill later.  Nope. We never did receive any kind of safety instruction or get a map indicating where we should go or what we should do in the event of an emergency.  I did pass a couple of these in the hallway and tried to commit it to memory.

Emergency Exits? Over the side...

And periodically there was a mural that would distract for a few minutes so you didn't think about an impending icy death.

I guess if something happens they figure the cold water will kill you instantly. For some reason Patrick and I found this casual attitude hilarious, but I did assure him that if we ended up in a Titanic type situation I would make sure there was room for him on my piece of floating debris.

The ferry made stops at several towns along the Inside Passage and it was pretty exciting to dock and hop off and explore a bit.

This was an adorable schedule that wasn't adhered to at all because of ...tides. And other nautical stuff.

Most towns were fishing or logging villages and I was fascinated with the fishing lifestyle, barnacles and all.

Crab traps. Or some other kind of fish trap. Definitely a trap.

Discovered I really like barnacles.

That heaving tundra wreaks havoc with a guy's foundation.

Because red barns are totally needed right on the water...for aquatic cows.

Racing...not sure who won.

I felt sure each town had something amazing to offer, but after Sitka Patrick preferred I not leave the boat unless we had a several hour layover.  Why, you ask?  Because as we were on deck pushing away from Sitka we saw a woman come running/yelling/waving her arms at the ferry as we pushed off.  Apparently she went into town to shop and missed the ship's departure.  Since the ferry doesn't return for about a week...she was probably stuck there for awhile unless she could afford a plane ride to catch up.

So the days drifted by (see what I did there? heh heh) and we mostly walked the deck, watched the gorgeous scenery unfold around every bend, and took a ridiculous amount of pictures.

Walking the deck

Whale Watching

Wondering if there are enough life jackets for everyone

So instead of driving another 1600 miles back through Canada, we floated down the inside passage and saw beautiful sights like these:

And eventually we saw this:

Next Installment - Stay Tuned:  

Wherein our intrepid explorers hack through a rain forest, encounter vampires, get a haircut, scale huge mountains, grapple with hurricanes, shop for pretty clothes, and abruptly end their trip...for now.

Who ARE you?

I'm a software trainer.
I'm a mom.
I'm a writer.

Patrick is a planner.
Patrick is a biker.
Patrick is a numbers guy,

We often rely on stock phrases like the above to self identify, because it's easy to convey a lot saying things like:

"I’m an outdoorsman”
“I’m a deep thinker”
“I’m a couch potato”

At various times I have been a die-hard night owl (when 2:00 a.m. was the only time I could get anything done with 4 kids at home) and a reluctant morning person (when an early morning work schedule left me time to go to the beach everyday), but lately I've settled into the category below:

Such self descriptors can be useful and provide insight into who we are. Patrick has a myriad of talents and qualities, but he primarily identifies himself as a “Traveler.”

Although we are living in an RV, we don't really consider ourselves “RV-ers” …maybe because the RV is just the means to an end.  And the end is to travel, explore, and see what’s around the next corner.

Patrick named the blog “Following Our Feet” because he firmly believes you should follow your feet where ever they lead you.  I found this a delightful sentiment even though my feet mostly want to lead me to stores where I can buy more shoes for my feet.

But I digress.  We set out to follow our feet to Alaska and explore what was in the path along the way.

And why was our goal Alaska?

• It’s the Last Frontier
• It’s the farthest most point of the NW United States and a few months ago we visited the southern most point of the United States in Key West, FL, so there was a nice symmetry to it.

• You can reach it by road but not many people do, so we thought it would be an adventure.
• We really wanted to see a bear.  And a moose.
• Gold rush – enough said.

So off we went...and 7813 miles after we left Florida, we drove onto a ferry in Dawson City, Yukon

and crossed the river into Alaska via the Top of the World Highway.

And whether you consider yourself a stay-at-home person or an intellectual person or a just an average Joe, you might be interested in the folks we met and the experiences we had.

We Met Some Wild and Crazy Types

Alaska definitely attracts a unique kind of individual. In Talkeetna we stopped at Wal-Mike's, a frontier convenience/junk/DIY/Post Office/grocery store.

We had a few giggles at some of the oddities in stock (seriously, I invite you to zoom in on this picture and really explore the unique stock choices made),

but upon reflection I don't doubt that when you're miles from nowhere and it's 60 below zero, a guy who has an entire shed devoted to stove pipe probably comes in handy.

We Loved Their Sense of Humor

There were so many large animals for us to pose on that I can't help but think there's an Alaskan bureaucrat sitting at a desk somewhere musing, "Hey...how about a really big salmon that people could climb on?  A bear?  Maybe a walrus?  Bob - Get me the walrus people STAT!...."

There were independent car designers who customized for every wilderness contingency:

And there were artistic souls who couldn't resist making the everyday a little bit creative:

We Met Tough Folks Doing Tough Jobs

So many everyday jobs were made twice as difficult by virtue of simply being in Alaska. Road construction has to be done in the summer because there's too much snow in the winter. 

Road beds have to be built up several feet out of massive rocks to ensure they don't buckle and crumble on the soft tundra when the multiple freeze/thaws happen.

And rather than simply laying down some new asphalt (that would have to be trucked in from hundreds of miles away), they dynamite the rock out of the mountain, then crush it on site and create their own mix of surfacing as they go.  It's a scary dangerous job because just about every road in Alaska is built on, near, or around a huge mountain.

We went deep sea fishing and while it was a really cool experience, let me amuse all you professional fishermen by saying:

1) The ocean is very wet
2) Glacier water is very cold 
3) An Arctic wind is no joke

This means those hardy fishing boat captains are tough as nails and I'm pretty sure their skin must be on par with walrus hide.  We went out in the SUMMER...but you'll notice we weren't mincing around in flip-flops and shorts.  What those pictures don't show is my numb fingers and toes and the large quantity of hot chocolate I had to drink to recover.

We stayed a couple of nights at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground (which we can't recommend enough) and just getting there was an experience.  We traveled down a dirt road hoping there really was something at the end and this is what we found....

The bridge held up...and we had to admire people that choose to live so far from the rest of the world that this is their entrance.

Almost every question we had was answered by a variation of "Well, it's really hard to get that/ship that/do that here because...."  It's a tough place where you can't take all your normal privileges for granted.

We Met People Like Us

There are about three kinds of people in Alaska; Locals, Military, and Visitors.  The visitors aren't hard to spot - they're usually in an RV, 4-Wheel Drive, or a Tour Bus.  We encountered people from all over the world and they all wanted to come to Alaska.

In Homer, Alaska we drove down to the beach and then Patrick decided it would be fun to take the car (a Mini Cooper) right down to the water. On the sand. That worked out about like you would expect.

But never fear - Mr. P had no hesitation about approaching a 4-wheel drive SUV parked up the beach a ways and asking them for help. And that's how we met this couple from Switzerland who had flown to Anchorage, bought the SUV, and were planning to drive across the US and then into Central and South America all the way to Argentina. They also had a tow rope. And were very nice. And spoke French. And didn't laugh...at least not in front of us.

It Was Disorienting

Juneau is the capital but it's totally inaccessible by road – you can only get there by boat or plane. Or perhaps kayak. This seems....interesting. But totally in keeping with Alaska.

The Midnight sun is crazy!  It stays light until almost midnight and then the sun rises again about 3:15 a.m.  In Homer, Alaska we listened to some local musicians from the SalmonFest music festival at Alice's Champagne Palace (I couldn't resist going just for the name). 

The picture below was taken at midnight - see the light streaming in the windows? I don't drink, but I'm guessing the summer midnight sun may cut down on those regretful pairings that normally take place in dimly lit bars. No excuses here... 

This picture was taken as we were leaving.  No problem finding your car in the lot either.

At first it's awesome when it just keeps staying light... until you finally look up blearily and realize it's 1:30 a.m and the sun is barely going down.  You finally learn to force yourself to pull the blinds and go to bed, but it's odd to never quite get that "Oh, it's dark, it must be bedtime" feeling.

It Was Big

I know I've said that about several places we've been, but we drove virtually every major road in Alaska and went to almost all of the major towns and yet we still probably only saw 1/8 of the entire state.  I could give you all the stats that we repeatedly saw everywhere – that Texas would fit inside Alaska two times, etc., but suffice to say it's BIG and WILD and LARGELY UNINHABITED and INACCESSIBLE.

It's Just Cool (no pun intended)

The history is tough, brutal and unbelievably hard  - from the people who built the Alaska highway,  to the people who naively flocked there to make their fortune during the gold rush, to the people who work there now on the pipeline or in the national parks or coastlines tracking whales and migratory birds.

The summer is beautiful and very much like your summer at some point – they were having a “heat wave” just prior to our arrival where the days reached the high 80’s.

Every storefront, town and restaurant was decked out with hanging baskets of flowers bursting with lushness and the grass was rich and green. It's as if they want to experience summer to the fullest before they're deprived of it during the long winter.

Contrary to the myths, the mosquitoes weren’t terrible, although we had mostly breezy beautiful days so that may have kept them at bay.

The wildlife was amazing and we were never more excited than when we saw moose or deer or bald eagles or salmon.

We visited North Pole, Alaska...an actual town (with a post office) named "North Pole" and of course it's a huge tourist attraction, so we eagerly lined up with every other visitor to throw our money at the proprietors of the Santa Clause House.

You male readers may want to get a snack now, but I thoroughly enjoyed the decorations, cinnamon buns from the bakery, and the Alaskan themed Christmas ornaments. (And if you're one of my kids or close friends...SPOILER ALERT...now you know what you're getting for Christmas.)

Patrick enjoyed waiting for me in the cool Santa chair and the part where we left.

It's Very Untouched

Thanks to National Parks and Forests and Wilderness Preserves, the majority of Alaska has been set aside for people to enjoy in all its pristine, rugged glory.

From Denali National Park...

to glacier covered mountains that showed up around every bend of the road...

to the Gulf of Alaska (alas, several degrees colder than our Gulf of Mexico water)...

to glacial lakes and rivers so turquoise and clear they didn't seem real...

Alaska was everything we thought it would be and more.

We tried to experience it to the fullest...including dipping our toes in the frigid ocean water when we finally arrived.

Well, Patrick dipped his toes in because this man is a "Traveler."

I think I might be one too.