Juneau Day 2

May 22

This morning Jim and Sandy walked down and took the Mt Roberts Tram. Today being another clear day there were great views from the top of Mt Roberts. It was definitely colder and around the buildings there was about 3 feet of snow. So no hiking in that area. Sandy and Jim saw a great movie about the Tlingit People and then heard the Alaskan String Band. A great show to start out the day.

Then I was out for a nice drive and went across the bridge to Douglas Island, which is right across the channel from Juneau. One of Sandy's blog friends lives on Douglas Island. It was great meeting Paula and her husband Charles. We had yummy apple pie, went for a walk along the Tredwell trail and saw ruins of an old mine. The trail comes out to a place called Sandy Beach, which was created by the sinking and subsequent demise of the mine.

Packing up for the 4 hour ferry ride to Haines. The ferry leaves at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Sugar

Juneau Day 1

May 21

While I was parked at the Drtftwood Sandy and Jim have enjoyed Juneau. The city of Juneau is the capitol of Alaska and on the Gastineau Channel. Many cruise ships stop here during the summer months. The two days Sandy and Jim were here it was clear and pretty warm. This has made for some great pictures. Since Juneau is at the foot of mountain ranges it is a very hilly city. Some homes can be reached on foot by taking steep stair cases, much like San Francisco. The first day was spent walking around downtown and through some neighborhoods.

Enjoying Juneau,

Sugar

More pictures

A few more. Tomorrow will be Juneau pictures.

Alaska Marine Highway

Pictures from the trip from Bellingham to Juneau. Only a few pictures can be loaded at a time, so there will be two sets of pictures.

Ferry Daze

May 18 and 19

The travel was 36 hours to the first stop of Ketchikan. Jim and Sandy walked a bit to the McDonald's and Safeway with the ferry departure at 9:30. I hear it felt good to walk on land for a while. Since this was the only port with a long enough stop to make it worth getting off, Ketchikan was a welcomed stop. The next port was Wrangell at 3:00 pm and then Petersburg at 7:00 pm. Early into Juneau at 4:00 am on Monday.

The ferry trip varied between sometimes mind numbing boredom with rain and clouds to clear, warmish and great views. With the time change and the travel Sandy and Jim were sometimes dazed. Of course Sandy taking Dramamine, which makes her pretty sleepy at times, added to the numb feeling. But, Dramamine works and keeps the experience of sea sickness away.

After a 3:00 a.m. wake up, Sandy continued to be in a bit of a daze. All that can be said about it is two things lost and then found. Once I was decompacted Jim and Sandy drove from the ferry terminal to the hotel, about 15 minutes. They sat for a while and then Sandy realized she had left the bundle of multiple coats sitting on the chair by the ferry purser desk. Now, these were not ordinary coats but included brand new Woolrich Stag jackets. These jackets had already proven to be the needed warmth on the ferry, which made them irreplaceable. So, a mad dash was made back to the ferry terminal with hopes to retrieve the coats before the ferry left. There were only a few minutes to spare. Sandy ran to the ferry ticket person and got permission to go back to the pursers desk. And there they were. During this run Sandy was quite worried that the ferry would leave Juneau with her aboard, as the ferry was preparing to shove off any minute. After that excitement Jim and Sandy had a nice breakfast and walked to downtown Juneau. The sun is really shining today and the mountains are beautiful. The next excitement was about to begin. My owners came back to me and had decided to do a little grocery shopping. As they prepared to leave Sandy realized she did not have her keys, now they are the spare but frequently used. The keys are really needed right now as the only access to my interior is by opening each door with the key as the car locks are still stuck. Once Sandy returned from the store she went through the bags the keys might have been in, with no luck. Thinking the keys were lost forever Sandy went to see if Jim and her could check into the hotel early. While there Sandy asked if any keys had been turned in. Lo and behold, the keys were found.

The pictures are of the compactor as I departed the ferry. A second blog will be sent with scenery pictures of the ferry trip. Tomorrow will be pictures of Juneau,


I am not in a daze,

Sugar

COMPACTED!!

Friday, May 17

What an experience getting on the ferry! I waited in line a while when suddenly the ferry car director told me to pull forward, out of line, and follow the directions. When we entered the ferry the next car director said "go on up to that compactor". I did not want to be compacted, to me that means smashed up on the way to the end of my road. But, in ferry speak, that means going on a lift up one floor. It was very scary, the lift had very little room on all four sides and up we went to the next floor or upper deck 5. Now cars were parked on this level so tight there was barely room to open the doors. Luckily the door to the passenger area was right there. If I had parked farther away Jim would have had a difficult time getting our bags out of my side door and into the passenger area. Jim and Sandy had packed micro meals and snacks to save on purchasing t the on ferry snack bar.

The time changed again shortly after we departed, so now we are on AK time. The berth Sandy and Jim have is small, but bigger than my living area. The ferry has a number of amenities which includes a restaurant, snack bar, theater, and a cocktail lounge. The food and drinks are average prices. Some adventurous people sleep outside in the solarium. They put up tents and/or sleep on recliners.

The scenery from the ferry is pretty amazing. We have been following the coast of Canada so far. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ferry Day

I am having a problem with my driver side door, it will only open from the outside with a key. This has happened before, a minor thing but a nuisance for Jim. I just need to get reset, but that will happen on my schedule.

The three of us drove the short distance to the historic area of Fairhaven near the Bellingham Port where the Columbia will be waiting for a 6:00 departure. While I was parked in front of Tony's coffee shop Jim and Sandy walked around, wasting a few hours. Then it was discovered I could be parked in line to wait for the ferry trip and tickets could be picked up. So, this was done around 12:30. I will have the privilege of parking in the bowels of the ferry. Probably not going to be too quiet. Sandy and Jim will be on board above where there will be better scenery for until Monday morning.

Below are a few pictures of Fairhaven and the wait in line. I am number 3 in this row going to Juneau.

Getting Close Now,

Sugar