Our prep day had arrived. We have had our stuff organized (my stuff less so than Andrew’s J) to camping each evening but we could access it anytime we wanted. Now we are going to be on a ferry for 4 nights and three days. Our truck is on the ferry as well, but access to it is limited to when we are in port somewhere, so we had to re-pack for three days of easy access and not seven. Based on our wildlife and glacier tours, the boat will be cold, so pack the layers. We have to be in line at the ferry two hours ahead of the departure time so we worked back from that.
We packed up our campsite while eagles soared overhead. I think I will really miss that! We headed into town to actually re-organized and then looked out over the inlet. We had time, so what to do, bike a bit? Or maybe kayak? The amazing blue/green color drew us in and we opted to kayak. We hadn’t been able to kayak as much as we would have liked and hadn’t in Alaska yet. Andrew unloaded them and inflated them and we carried them down the stairs, and across the rocky beach. This doesn’t mean a sandy beach with rocks on it; this means a beach made of large round rocks!! The rocks closest to the water are covered with barnacles and blackened sea vegetation of some kind. Into the water and, hmmmm. The waves are a bit choppy-we are used to lakes at home after all! But once you get the swing of it, it works. We stayed somewhat close to shore but not too close as we weren’t exactly sure if the waves would send us there on their own accord. Andrew, of course, went out even further! And he is the one who doesn’t swim as well.
It was such a relaxing time, and we are glad we succumbed to that calling and went in. We went around a point and found a little cove. The water varied greatly from slightly choppy to calm to a little more choppy to calm again. We got to spend about an hour in the water but then had to head back.
We decided to eat out before we headed to the ferry terminal. We stopped at the Haines Brewery but they didn’t serve food but Andrew was excited that the beer was most excellent and CHEAP! I did duck out of there while he was sampling as there was a yarn shop across the street. I don’t always get time to knit but I love looking at yarn. She has only been open a couple of weeks and nothing from the local area yet, but that makes sense. They don’t really raise the right kind of animals in that area for yarn.She did have tons of great things, and I did find some yard for a hat (and a free pattern for said hat!).
Andrew found me and we headed down the street to a book store. We love to browse local book stores as they always have local interest! We found a couple of books by locals and even autographed by them so we we will have some reading material for parts of our upcoming journey.
Then off to find food. The book store owner recommended several places, one of which was closed (it was Monday!) and the other we couldn’t find. Another looked closed (although we found out later it just LOOKED closed but it was really open), so we opted for the Fogcutter Bar. The barkeep/waitress/only person on site doing everything wasn’t the most open and conversational and friendly but it was Monday and she looked to be the only person there. The pizza was good and too much so we have leftovers for later.
We drove the four miles to the ferry terminal and Andrew checked us in and we were assigned a place in line at exactly the two hour ahead of time mark. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. We struck up a conversation with Rick from Washington state who traveled up here on a vacation with his grandson. They went fishing, and were also tent camping. They decided at the last minute to take the ferry vs driving so they didn’t get a room but were relegated to either pitching a tent on the deck (you can if you have duct tape to tape it down!!) or finding a chair somewhere as home for the next three days.
It was so fascinating watching the vehicles disembark from the ferry. Cars, trucks, campers, really really big RVs, construction equipment (!), etc. Then it was our turn and we were motioned to get in line. We drove ahead, stopped, drove ahead, stopped, drove ahead, stopped until we finally were right inside the boat. That was really surreal! We were told to fold in our sideview mirrors, and shut off the truck. We then went UP. Yes, up to the next level. We were on an elevator platform that we barely fit in (I am assuming we had plenty of room but it sure felt tight!). Once up a “floor” we were told to back up and we were parked! It is quite a good space as it was right by the door, so we grabbed our two bags and headed to get our keys to our room.
Our room has a bunkbed, sink, and toilet/shower room. Actually quite nice accommodations, and a window!! We couldn’t possibly sleep so we went up to the top floor and just stared at the world.
Driving this amazing landscape is one thing. You see so much, but being on a boat is something entirely different. You can go out further to see the even bigger picture. We found where we’d camped the night before, and knew we were at the base of a mountain, but then we saw the glacier beyond that and the snow capped peaks beyond that and the rest of the glory that is our world. It really nearly brought me to tears again. Everyone should try to experience this once in their lives.
The sun “set” behind a mountain and OMG! The water reflects everything so everything is twice as astonishing. As we were moving along, it came back up again J, and then set again. The mountains were of varying height so it was up and down for a bit.
Eventually sleep called and we found our bed comfortable. Ironically we’ve found we sleep better on our air mattress outside in a tent vs inside! We’ll see once we’ve finished our trip.
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