Day 23 (Tuesday, June 28, 2016)

Around midnight, the announcement came that they were nearing the Juneau port.  People would be exiting and entering the ferry.  It was surreal (I know, I am using that word again but it fits) when I looked out the window and the wood of the docking area was literally within a foot or two from the window!!  And the lights, and other boats, all the strange glow of midnight.  Andrew actually wandered up on deck to take in the sights before wandering back to our room.  We were docked here for about four hours, so we both got up and went out when we left port.  The city is actually further away but there is some housing here so we didn’t go in. 

There were fewer people after this stop on the ferry.  It was quite funny as the passengers without vehicles are loaded first and they must have run for the solarium deck and snarfed up any and all of the lounge chairs.  As mentioned previously, if you don’t have a room, you can just find a place to crash.  Interesting but it works.  By the time we got up to the solarium to look around, people of all ages were all huddled up, neck deep in their sleeping bags, and reading books already!  Literally people of all ages-very young with their parents, and very old and a steady mix in between!  There are lounge chairs inside in a couple of locations (but they don’t recline and really aren’t that comfortable to sit in) and some on the decks.  There really aren’t that many unoccupied chairs so we stand by the railing.  A new tent was set up on the deck and some chairs were now unoccupied. 

The ferry docked in Sitka, so we thought we’d head in.  We had about 2 hours but then found out that Sitka really isn’t where the ferry is either; it is seven miles away! Too far and a risk to walk and return on time.  There were two busses ready and waiting for those disembarking to take us and our money into town.  They only go in and back, once so we had to really watch our time.  We wandered around town and then stopped to have some crab bisque at a local restaurant.  We’ve now had most of the “Alaskan” food:  elk and reindeer on a pizza, crab in a bisque, halibut with fries, and salmon and halibut Cajun style at the Double Musky! 

If you’ve ever seen the movie “The Proposal”, then Sitka may sound familiar.  Even though they actually filmed the movie itself on the East coast, the town where Drew is from is Sitka and they did do some basic film of the area.  Personally, nothing looked like anything from the movie so I am not sure what they took pictures of!  I will be forced to watch it again once we are home to see if anything looks like anything we saw. :)

Once back on the boat, we opted to get some laps in. We’ve been trying either hike, bike, or kayak each day just to make sure we are moving!  Some days we haven’t been able to do what we’d like because they are heavy driving days.  Since we aren’t driving for three days, we took some laps around the boat.  I took fewer (Andrew racked up 10 total “deck” miles – some in Sitka, but most at about 5 or 6 trips around the boat per mile) as I wanted to get this blog done just in case they have good cell service in Petersburg, our next stop.  (Sitka did not.)  also, I really wanted to read a book I picked up in Haines written by a Haines author called “Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons From a Small-Town Obituary Writer.”  It’s good so far! 

We pulled out all the stops and got our travel Scrabble out.  It went with us to Alaska the last time and has been waiting patiently to be used again.  It was fun as it is one of my favorite games. :)  It was close but I won by a few.  Rematch on Wednesday. 

The journey through the inner passage is incredible.  Sometimes the waterway opens up, but most of time so far the shore is close on both sides… the narrowest maybe about ~50 feet from shore.  Deep channels but close on both sides.

We also were treated to an orca sighting.  We’ve never seen one before, so this was a treat.  It was a young one but it swam by, carefree and enjoying the day.  We also have seen more bald eagles, and something we think were small dolphins, harbor porpoises maybe?  Usually the captain of the boat announces when something is close by but this was a chance sighting and that is what the person standing the deck thought they were.  His name is Paul and he is a retired air traffic controller (I think he said he did it for the navy).  He lives just south of Los Angeles.

That, of course, created another question:  What are all of their stories--the stories of all the people we’ve encountered. Some young traveling to a summer job, some just moving to try something new (like our waiter in Sitka who was from Vincennes!), some older and retired, wanting to see this last frontier while they can.  Some traveling with their grandchildren, creating very special memories for both.  Some traveling in groups and some alone.  Some look sad and pre-occupied, some tired like their journey isn’t what they’d expected, some excited with everything they’ve seen.  Diversity all the way around.

The landscape of this water adventure as changed, the mountains smaller and more green, trees all the way to the top.  The scraggy snow-covered peaks still visible but now more in the distance.  The air is actually warmer, especially in the sun.  When we decided to pack layers, we didn’t realize we wouldn’t really need layers!

I am sitting on the back deck, watching the sun set over the mountains, a fog gently rising from the water near the land.  It is getting grayer so perhaps there is rain on the way.   The sun glistens off the water.  Another amazing day ends.  BEAUTIFUL!

The ferry has no WiFi or cell service except MAYBE near a town, but it hasn't been close enough to update the blog or add pictures to the map.  We will catch up on the pictures when we can! After today's stop in Ketchikan, we will be completely enroute to Washington, literally for 38 hours. We will let you know once we are landbound again!