Day 8, Friday, March 19, 2010: Washington (State, not DC)

Tag team today…

Up bright and early. 6am boat time; 7am local time. First thing I did was check my iPhone for internet service and NCAA tourney scores. Back on American service, and look at all those upsets. According to ESPN, this was one of the best days of the tournament ever. Naturally, I missed all of it. After I managed to pry Sam off of her bunk, it was back to more urgent matters. Let’s get our crap together and get off this boat!

M.E.

We gathered up what was left of our stuff, dropped off the stateroom keys at the pursers desk, and headed to the top of the stairwell to the car deck to wait. Our bags were heavy and after 15 minutes everyone was getting impatient to get down. There were several young guys behind us that chatted and joked around (I found this annoying- it is too early for this much talking). Finally, they let us go down and start loading our cars. Unlike the other port calls on the way down, today we were unloading from the aft meaning we were one of the first in line to get off the boat. This also meant we needed to move quickly. I jumped in the car and quickly shoved the cats back into the kennel. I was a bit rough on Tom and he made this known by whining from this point on. Matt had used the Urban Spoon app to find us a breakfast spot on the cheap with great reviews and just a few minutes away. The Avenue Bread and Deli was fairly empty with just a few patrons. We ordered egganues (breakfast sandwiches) and coffees. They were delicious. While waiting for the food to arrive we made all the typical phone calls and texts to parents to let them know we survived- as if there was any doubt! Then it was back in the car and heading to Keystone on Whidbey Island to catch the ferry to Port Townsend. We decided to take the scenic route down Chuckanut Drive to catch the 20. It started out of Bellingham following the coast. It was a gorgeous day: fresh spring air, blue skies, flowering trees. We rolled the windows down and turned up the heat a bit (hey, it was shady and a bit cool). The coastal view turned into farm land and we saw many cows and calves, alpacas, and crops. We arrived at the ferry terminal and got tickets for ourselves and the car. It was only $11.80! We double checked. That includes the car and two people? Yup. Hooray! After spending $1500 on the last boat ride this was awesome news. Matt expected at least $30. We pulled into lane 5 and decided to let the kitties stretch their furry little legs. Put them in the harnesses and leashes and took the opportunity to clean the litter and replace food and water.

S.K.T.

The cats got out of the car and soon decided that they wanted right back in. We freed the cats in the car and then took a little walk along the beach before the ferry took off. The weather is awesome! So, this is what spring feels like. No snow and jeans and t-shirts. The ferry ride was a quick jump across Puget Sound from the Island to the Olympic Peninsula. Half hour trip. We managed to have ourselves back on a boat after all of four hours not being on a boat. We didn’t take any pictures while on the ferry. After the last few days on the Alaska ferry, we had seen plenty of mountains over water. We got into Port Townsend sometime between noon and 1pm. At this point, we allowed the cats to roam free in the car rather than couping them up in the kennel. Headed out of Port Townsend and took the 101 West, across the top of the peninsula. Sam was going to meet my grandmother for the first time today in Sequim, WA. But first, we were stopping in the small town of Gardiner. The Thompsons (Barb and Chuck- Erica’s parents) live here. Erica is Sam’s best friend from Kodiak High School. I had met them over the summer at Erica and Dan’s wedding in Kodiak back in August. I think that from the moment I met Barb, I was being ordered around to help prepare for the wedding. It was funny to learn that they now lived so close to where my grandmother lives. Or, maybe it wasn’t that funny. The upper Olympic Peninsula is full of retired Alaskans. Barb and Chuck have a beautiful home that overlooks the water. We let the cats out of the car and put them in the lower level of the house, to wander around for a bit. We had salmon sandwiches, fresh apple juice (made from the trees in the yard), and cheesecake while we socialized for a few hours. Barb tried to convince us to stay with them. And she was not kidding when she said that they have plenty of room. But, I hadn’t seen grandma for a while and she needed to meet Sam.

We made the short drive to Sequim. My grandmother has a nice, ranch-style house on the northern end of Sequim. On a clear day, you can see all the way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to Victoria, B.C. Grandma, of course, was thrilled to see us. We made it from Alaska! There is a separate garage from the main house, with a two-room office and full bathroom. It was a perfect place for the cats to stay. My grandmother has a mini schnauzer, Brandy, who does not get along with cats. She and Lucy would have issues. We put the cats in the office and Lucy immediately found the window sill where she kept watch over the back yard. Mom arrived from Puyallup a few hours later. She brought Sage, a black lab/border collie mix. Sage was also not allowed in the house. She got to stay in the garage area of the office.

I tried to watch the Georgia Tech tournament game against Oklahoma State. Alas, it was on at the same time as the Gonzaga/Florida State game. Gonzaga, being a Spokane school, was our regional game. Thanks to Gonzaga being in the same state, CBS made us watch that game until the bitter end, despite Gonzaga being in control from the outset and the result never really being in doubt. GT/OSU was close all the way. At least, I got to watch the final 2 minutes, when the other game mercifully ended. GT wins and gets the other OSU on Sunday morning.

Mom had brought all the Christmas presents that never made it to us over the holidays. It is always nice getting a little Christmas in the spring!

Grandma made a Thai chicken dinner. We opened up the bottle of Kung-Fu Girl wine that Sam had been saving since her birthday. We ate really well today after all that processed food on the boat. After dinner, we played cards (Phase 10), finished off the bottle of wine (and dove into the Midnight Sun beer), and socialized. The card game went until after midnight. Phase 10 may be the most maddening game ever. Every time I play this game, I will cruise until one of those phases that I am stuck on for about five hands. No different tonight. I lost. Grandma won after being stuck on phase 3 for 7 or 8 rounds.

Introducing Sam to my grandmother was a success. She had already met mom, which had gone really well. She seems to be a hit with my side of the family.

Up Next: No Travel, Just Relaxing on the Peninsula

M.E.

Day 7, Thursday, March 18, 2010: Canadian Waters

Not a whole lot happened here. We were at sea all day with no stops in port. The NCAA Tourney started today. No TV to watch and I couldn’t even keep up with the scores on my iPhone. Sure, I was getting service, but it was Canadian and would cost too much to even bother trying to connect. Sam studied. I continued to listen to jailhouse recordings. There was our day.

We put down the books and CDs at sundown to watch the sunset behind the mountains. All the snow was now gone, except on the mountain peaks. Spring has obviously come in the Pacific Northwest. I saw a porpoise dive in by the boat, but never saw him again. Porpoises will play and run with boats. But, this guy was content to do one jump on the wake made by the ferry, and he was gone.

We packed up in the room in anticipation of reaching Bellingham tomorrow. The lady making announcements told everyone that there would be a car deck call at 8:30pm. My phone said 8:30. No announcement for the car deck. At about 9pm, an announcement came that the car deck call would be delayed due to the upcoming boat rocking. Wait, what time is it? The boat stays on Alaska time even when we hit the Pacific time zone. Of course, all the cell phones change time when they hit the Pacific time zone towers. So, what time do we get into port? The itinerary says 8am. Is that 8am boat time or local time? Arrival time is Pacific time; all other time is Alaska time. Got it? Got it. So, we never were allowed down to the car deck until 10:30pm boat time. We watched more Flash Forward to pass the time. This show is addictive. Set the alarm for 7am Pacific time which is actually 6am boat time, because we get into port at 8am Pacific time (on the itinerary) which is 7am boat time.

Up Next: Washington (State, not DC)

M.E.

Day 6 Continued….

We finished up with dinner with Scott, Sam’s former R.A. at the dorms at UAA. He does taxes in Ketchikan. When I see towns like these, there is always a brief thought in my mind, saying “I could live here.” Then I remember the remoteness, the expense of getting out, and the lack of any perks from living in civilization. Nah, it is better just to visit. Ketchikan was bigger than I expected though. A few stoplights and something resembling a highway here. We jumped back on the boat to check on the cats while we were allowed in the car deck. They seem to still be doing fine. Back in the stateroom, I looked out the window to see what appeared to be large fins coming out of the water. Orcas! We ran topside to get some pictures. A full pod of them were swimming through the straight between downtown Ketchikan and the airport! The airport in Ketchikan is completely separate from the rest of the town. You actually have to take a ferry over from the mainland to get to airport. A group of sea lions were also playing near the side of the boat. Now, I am no wildlife expert, but I believe orcas will attack sea lions and seals. These orcas seemed happy enough to be on their merry way through the straight. It would have made for a nice photo opportunity if they decided they were hungry, though.

We left Ketchikan, and Sam and I decided to go back to our projects in the bar. Again, not drinking, it is just the easiest place to have a table to do some work. We had a great view of the sunset from our table off the starboard side, right behind the mountains. After a few hours, we retired to the stateroom. At dark, we hit some open water, and the ride got a little rough. Sam used her iPhone carpenter app to gauge the tilt of the ferry. We were rocking up to 7°. This went on for a good hour. At some poiunt we, crossed the border into Canadian waters. Our phones both had a Canadian signal. Those are both going into non-use so we don’t get hit with international fees. When we hit the narrows again, the car deck was open again. Checked on the cats, and someone blew chunks. We’ll use kitty Dramamine next time. The rest of the evening was spent drinking wine and watching more episodes of Flash Forward. This show seems to continue to borrow actors from Lost. Now we have Sawyer’s ex and the heroin addicted hobbit is the uber bad guy. Naturally, we are fans of both sci fi mystery shows.

M.E.

Day 6, Wednesday, March 17, 2010: Central Marine Highway

The Day Thus Far...

Set the alarm for 7am. We had a 7:15 port stop in Wrangell. It is a good chance to go to the car deck and check on the cats while in port. I got up to go fill our travel mugs full of coffee. For the second time in as many days, I got a comment on our travel mugs. I was told again that they are the best travel mugs ever. Contigo travel mugs. You can get them at Costco. 2 pack for $20. If you see them and like your morning coffee; trust me, make the purchase. These things have started two conversations on the boat about their awesomeness.

Cats are fine. They were pretty active when we get in the car. Sam refilled the food and water dishes, and changed the litter box. We got off for a brief minute while in port. Literally, a brief minute. In port less than an hour, so we walked off and walked back on. It is rainy and overcast, anyway. The dock worker didn’t even need to check our tickets to re-board. We had cell service, so I made a couple of quick calls to mom and dad. We are fine. Breakfast of instant oatmeal again and back to work. Sam stayed in the stateroom and I went up to the top deck for a table and big window. Not much to see due to the low cloud line. Sam calls this the airplane deck. It seats do look like airline seats, but it is quiet and I have a big window.

Oh, it is St. Patty’s day. A look through the bag and I forgot to bring anything green on the boat for the occasion. There is my obnoxiously bright green Oregon shirt, but it seems that it is still in the car. Sam managed to pack her fluorescent green Two Sisters shirt from Homer, AK. She changed. I will try to find a green shirt the next time the car deck is open. Wonder if they will have green beer at the ferry bar today…

Managed to talk to my kid brother for a brief minute today. I had asked him to try to get us some Pearl Jam tickets for the DC show on May 13 during the pre-sale today. Gave him my login for the pre-sale on the PJ website and my credit card number. He scored the pair for us. You rock, Dave!

We saw a great rainbow after lunch today. Right outside the boat. The end fell into the water. And on St. Paddie's Day!

We spent all morning working. Arrived in Ketchikan at 2pm. Got off the boat to meet one of Sam’s old friends. Sitting in a restaurant/bar, putting this post up. Next post will probably be on Friday when we hit Bellingham.

Up Next: Back in Canada Again, Eh?

M.E.

Day 5, Tuesday, March 16, 2010: The Northern Alaska Marine Highway

Checked out of the hotel a little after 8 after packing up the car. A 10pm boarding time for a ferry may seem late, but those of us who have lived in Alaska for any amount of time are used to the late night/early morning departures. I think every flight I have ever taken out of Anchorage left sometime between 11pm and 1am. 10pm is early for a departure! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Got the car on the boat; parked at the very edge of the aft. Sam got the cats situated while I got our stateroom and took everything up that we would need for the journey. Somehow, we wound up with a 4 berth stateroom. I remember only asking for and paying for a 2 berth. Ticket check. It says 4 berth. Turned on the computer to check our original itinerary. It says 2 berth with the same prices as the 4 berth on our ticket. Free upgrade! We would later figure out why this happened. We were originally book on the Matanuska. However, we seemed to be standing on the Malaspina. The two boats are identical in size and capacity, with the exception of the number of staterooms. Less staterooms, but bigger ones on the Malaspina. Hence, the nice little upgrade.

We went to bed almost immediately. There was an announcement that we were in port in Juneau at about 3am. We were allowed down in the car deck. We are only allowed down in the car deck, where all pets must stay, about three times a day and during port calls. Sam wanted to go check on the cats, since this was our first chance. Groggily, we hiked below deck. Cats are fine. We went topside, since I had never seen Juneau. I still haven’t seen Juneau. All I saw was nighttime and a ferry dock. Back to bed.

Rolled out of bed to the beauty of the Inner Passage. Better described as the Alaska Fjord. Got coffee and made some of our store bought instant oatmeal for breakfast. We both had work to do today. Sam has her Fundamentals of Surveying Exam coming up in April. She is taking it in California. Now that the packing is done, it is time for her to hit the books. I took on a lawyer project for Rex. Listen to a stack of jailhouse phone call recordings and write a memo on it; listening for our hero or his co-defendant to say anything incriminating while talking on the phone. (Seriously, guys, there is a warning that your calls are recorded out of the jail, unless you are talking to an attorney. That warning isn’t an empty threat. ) We spent most of the late morning and early afternoon attending to our projects. Sam stayed in the stateroom. I set up shop on the forward deck so I could enjoy the scenery while working. I would get up and take pictures occasionally. The ferry was stalked by a Coast Guard Helicopter for a while before getting to Sitka. I don’t think this had anything to do with the Department of Homeland Security.

We took a break when we docked in Sitka for a few hours. There was an announcement that, for a fee of $10/head, a bus would take anyone into downtown Sitka and back. We were in port for over two hours, but that sounded like a price gouge if I ever heard one. Right up there with the “bag handling fee” the airlines are now charging. The town of Sitka didn’t look too impressive as we pulled in. We’ll pass on the $10 bus. I hear Ketchikan is the best of the SE towns, anyway. We checked on the cats, then got off the boat. Ah, so that is why there is a bus charging money to go into Sitka. The actual town was 7 miles from the dock. We bummed around the docks and the little park next to the boats for about an hour, before getting back on board and back to work. It is interesting to note that when we got back on the boat, it was rather hard not to notice how many vehicles cleared out of the car deck. Half the cars and trucks down there cleared off in Sitka. I would guess that more people got on the boat going to Sitka than all the way to Bellingham. Maybe the Coast Guard was sending a new crop to the Sitka station.

We both moved to the bar area. Not because we wanted to drink (don’t want to pay $5 for a 12oz bottle of beer), but it was not crowded and no screaming kids. There was also a nice starboard side window. The moment I sat down, I looked up to see a whale’s tail right outside the boat. I have been on numerous whale and glacier watching cruises out of Seward. I have seen plenty of gray and humpback whales. It is so rare to actually see the tail breach the water. And here I was, not looking for whales, on a boat where the purpose is to get us from point A to point B, not to see wildlife, but there was a tail right in front of me. Very cool sight. Later, the captain came over the intercom to point out a tree full of pink flamingos on a small island. A picture of this interesting phenomenon was sent to the University of Washington. A professor gave some possible explanations of why a flock of flamingos would wind up in SE Alaska. Possibly some strong trade winds and they were high up in the tree due to the cold water. Of course, these flamingos really didn’t appear to move and their feathers had a glare which would appear plastic. The captain said that the local Coast Guard could not confirm, deny or comment on how these plastic-looking, immobile flamingos wound up on a remote SE Alaska island. Join the Coast Guard and play pranks on professors and tourists!

After another store-bought microwave meal (Grandma’s cooking is going to taste great when we get to Sequim), we lay in the stateroom, watching FlashForward. In anticipation for the trip, I downloaded the first 10 episodes on iTunes. The show looked interesting and neither of us had a chance to watch it yet. We watched the first two episodes. Two of the main characters are Richard and Penny from Lost. It is Tuesday, and we would otherwise be watching Lost now. Maybe in Ketchikan we can get some internet to buy the new episode we are missing on iTunes. Calling it a day. We are going to miss Petersberg, because it is another middle of the night port. Wrangell first thing Wednesday morning.

Up Next: More of the Marine Highway

M.E.

Day 4, Monday, March 15, 2010: A Day in the Life of Haines, Alaska. The Marine Journey Begins

I am writing this entry a little early, because we are getting on the ferry in a few hours. I can’t imagine that we will have any sort of internet service for a while. Here is the itinerary for our ferry adventure (all times Alaska time):

Haines Departs: Monday, Mar 15, 2010 10:15 PM

Juneau

Arrives: Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 02:45 AM

Departs: Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 04:45 AM

Sitka

Arrives: Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 02:15 PM

Departs: Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 04:30 PM

Petersburg

Arrives: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 03:30 AM

Departs: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 04:15 AM

Wrangell

Arrives: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 07:15 AM

Departs: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 08:00 AM

Ketchikan Arrives:

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 02:00 PM

Departs: Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010 05:00 PM

Bellingham Arrives: Friday, Mar 19, 2010 08:00 AM

Last night would have been the most restful night we have had thus far. The cats were good all night. No meowing. No whining. However, at about 4 this morning, someone’s car horn starting go off. It was not a car alarm. It just sounded like someone laying on the horn. And it wouldn’t stop! No one walked outside to claim the annoyance and try to stop it. It just went on and on until the horn finally died. This took a good 10-15 minutes. To whomever that car or truck owner may be: I hope your battery died and you need to fly all the way to Anchorage to get a new one. The motel advertised a free continental breakfast between 7-9am. I got out of bed around 8:40. Ran upstairs in my pajama paints, slippers and a hoodie. With the prices of food in these small towns, I was not going to skip a free meal. Of course, the free continental breakfast consisted of bagels (no cream cheese), blueberry muffins, cinnamon raisin toast, coffee and juice. At least it could be filling. The view was nice for muffins, coffee and juice. Grabbed Sam a bagel, butter and some jam since she could not pull herself out of the comforts of sleeping in to join me.

After finally getting the blog up and going for friends and family (the motel had a computer with internet), we ran some errands and explored the town. Hit the one grocery store in town. Food on the Alaska ferries is ridiculously expensive. The ferry does at the very least have available microwaves and hot water (thanks for the info, Megan). We cleaned the store out of Betty Crocker Bowl Appetits. Granola bars, oatmeal, noodle boxes, plastic silverware and bowls. Some beer and wine. We are good to go!

Drove down to the ferry terminal to check in and get the lane assignment for the car. The guy checking us in mistook Mom’s travel agency, which booked our trip, for the federal government travel agency. He thought we got away with having the government pay for us to take the cats on the ferry. For a brief moment, Sam and I believed him that the government took care of our bill. Did the Coast Guard already accept me for JAG? I just completed my federal background check paperwork last week. Nope. Just Mom’s travel agency as the booking agent. After checking in, we drove all the way to the end of Alaska Highway 7. It was only a few more miles. Gorgeous houses and got some nice shots. This place looks awesome when the weather isn’t, well…raining and overcast.

M.E.

Turning the blog over to Sam…

I’ve know Tim and Jan Davis for several years now and had the opportunity to get to know a lot of the family that lives in the Anchorage area. Jan’s parents, Pat and Wendell, live in Indian (about 20 min south of Anchorage) used to live here in Haines. Many of their kids were born here, but the only one I know for certain in Jan. She was born in the house next to the Port Chilkoot Bible Church where Wendell was the pastor. The house has since been renovated, but the location is still the same. I learned a bit later that Danielle (one of Jan’s nieces) and a friend of mine was also born here. I can’t remember the details of how long everyone was here or how long ago that was, but I enjoy learning about and seeing places of people’s past. So, Matt and I went searching for the church. All I could remember was the name and that is was in Port Chilkoot. I remember this being described as outside of town, so we headed out toward the ferry dock which is Lutock road and several miles long. It eventually deadends and the top of the Lutock Inlet. We made several stops for photos and a couple of turnaround to satisfy my curiosity. No success on finding the church, but the view and the houses were entertaining. We drove back to town and out the other end on Beach Road. I called off the drive when it seemed clear that this would not be a good location to have a group of people driving every Sunday en masse. We took Beach Rd back to town and ended up at the Lighthouse restaurant for lunch because we were both getting pretty hungry. While waiting for the chicken (Matt) and veggie (Me) pitas I googled the church. Apparently it’s the corner of Ft. Seward and Portage. According to my map we’ve near that about half a dozen times. Figures! I bet the Davis’ and Terwilliger’s will find this amusing. After we ate (it was very delicious!) we easily found what we’d been looking for. It is a small red building. Very quaint. We parked the car and got out to take pictures. So, mission accomplished. I didn’t think it would be so hard to find something in a small town, but I should have known. After living in Kodiak for three years and visiting many a tiny town in Alaska, the buildings are small and the signs aren’t giant neon lights. What I mean is that the only people who know where something is in a small town are the folks who live there. Stores aren’t easily recognizable chain (Matt’s insistence on asking for Safeways and fast food chains is amusing). They might be in a normal looking building or street shop and they might be right next to a house. Being difficult to ship to and from structures aren’t as well kept as in cities. In fact, the nicest building here by leaps is the bank. I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t mind the longish adventure to find something that ended up being right in town (I suppose over the last few decades what seemed to be outside of town is now actually in town) because we got to see the whole town from one end to the other. The layout reminded me a lot of Kodiak. Out the road in Lutak Inlet is a mini version of Bells Flat and the other end of town out Beach Road is a mini Three Sisters area. Maybe that’s just me?

S.K.T.

And now to the ferry terminal.

Up Next: A Ride Down The Marine Highway

Day 3, Sunday March 14, 2010: Hainesward Bound

It is 3am again. Meow. Meow. Meow. We closed the bathroom door tonight to keep Thomas out, as he spent most of the previous night meowing in the can. Well, here we go again. We had both woken up a couple of hours earlier, thinking it was later than 1am. In the process, it was quite noticeable that the cats were quite well-behaved. No such luck a few hours later. Thomas at least had a nice back window that kept his interest for while. The crying was a lot less intense than the previous night, and he let us get back to sleep about an hour later.

The thought on why Thomas would cry in the bathroom. At the old condo in Anchorage, there was a light fixture over the sink and toilet. It was strong enough to hold the weight of both cats. Sam would put a mat or a towel up there and both cats would spend hours lying up in the bathroom light. There was a big dresser in the corner of the bedroom as well. We stuck a mat on top of it. Thomas’s favorite places to sleep in the condo were these two places; high up. Neither motel room had something equivalent to these two places, where Thomas could lay down at the highest point of the room.

So, we woke up late today. There was no rush. Only about 150 miles to Haines. No point in hitting the road at the crack of dawn. I called to management to get a late checkout, so I could watch the ACC Championship Game. A noon checkout was fine. Shower. Coffee. TV. Wait, that Score channel told me yesterday that the game started at 1 Eastern Time. We crossed a time zone into Pacific Time Yesterday. It is now 9:45am and it appears the game is 8 minutes into the first half. What is the time zone for the Yukon Territory? Are these clocks right?

I’ll make this next part as short as possible. Begin Rant. Georgia Tech lost by 65-61. I hate Duke. GT was obviously the more talented team. We turned the ball over an insane amount of times during stretches of the game. We missed a lot of free throws early on. Despite all that, we still hung tough the entire game and even made a late run to cut a 10 point deficit to 1. Of course, the Dookies shot a full dozen more free throws than Tech, and it wasn’t from intentionally fouling late in the game. Of course they did. They are Duke. They always get the free throw advantage. Naturally, because they are Duke, they shot free throws extremely well. This is the part you will never hear from Dickie V on ESPN. The ONLY reason Duke won that game was because they shot free throws extremely well. Then again, if GT hadn’t beaten themselves over and over that game, we would have won it in impressive fashion. Sam’s reaction to the game: I wish Duke would stop getting to shoot free throws, because I don’t like these close-ups of that Singler kid. He is ugly. Yes, Duke was at the line so much in the second half that even Sam, who hates basketball, made comments about how often Kyle Singler got a close-up due to free throws. End Rant.

We packed the car (3^rd different way in as many days), filled our travel mugs full of coffee and were on the road a little after noon. There was a sign leaving Haines Junction, heading toward the Southern Canadian/Alaskan border, saying “When lights flashing, conditions dangerous due to snow and high winds.” There were two red lights at either side of the sign. They weren’t flashing, but the left light was on and the right light was off. Ummmmm, what does that mean? The first part of the drive was clear and the scenery was up to the usual high standards of driving these Northern Highways. We were stopping at least once every 15 minutes for pictures. We drove slow, taking our time, knowing that the drive was short today. Eventually, the road went from pavement to white. Snow was blowing across the highway due to high wind. Ah, so this is what the sign meant. Not really dangerous, though. Just don’t drive too fast. At one point on the drive, we saw nothing but white. Road was white, the mountains were completely white, the sky was white. It was an incredible sight. The road still seemed fine. We had studded tires and all wheel drive. The side of the road was marked with these poles with reflectors on the top of them on either side. No traffic. It was a fun drive. At one point, we even saw someone off the side of the road, para-skiing. He was on a frozen lake, scooting around on skis with a parasail. It looked like a lot of fun. Lucy was up to her usual whining and trying to tear up anything in reach of the kennel in the back seat.

Eventually, we crossed over from the Yukon Territory to British Columbia and then to the border again. I predicted earlier in the trip that the Canadian Border Officers would be nicer than the American Border Officers. Of course, I was half right. The American Border Officers were pleasant, but we had an issue. Rather, I had an issue. We were asked the usual questions. Where are you coming from? Where are you going? Why are you moving? Check the passports. That is where the questions ended for Sam. Further questions asked of me: Can I see your Social Security Card? What is your birthday? What did you do in Anchorage? Do you have any proof that you are an attorney? Can I see your bar card? I need to get my supervisor. What is your middle name? Do you have a brother? What are your brothers’ names? What are their middle names? Have you ever had any problems crossing the border in the past? Door closes and the two border agents talk amongst themselves. Can you step out of the car, please? Me to agent: Is there a Matt Ellis out there with an arrest warrant? I was not given the courtesy of an answer. Do you have a distinguishable scar? No scar on your left arm? I thought they were about to have me take off my shirt in the snow. How much do you weigh? Where were you born? When was the last time you were in Indiana? My answers seemed to satisfy the agents who decided that I was not this person who probably committed some crime in Indiana. They were even nice enough at this point to give us a booklet on things to do in Haines. We were on our way, again, Southward and Downward to Haines.

There was definitely a weather shift as we headed down the mountain pass. The snow turned to rain as the temperature went up a bit. Road was wet, but easier to manage without snow and ice. As we pulled into Haines, it was obvious that we had left the Alaska climate we were used to. Welcome to the Northern most point of the Pacific Northwest. We saw the water. Mountains jetting up immediately from the coast. Low cloud-line. And it was raining. Coming into Haines, we saw about a half-dozen mature bald eagles. We kept our stopping at a minimum to get the cats into a motel room.

We pulled into Haines at sometime between 4 and 5pm. The town looked a lot like Seward, Homer or Kodiak, but a lot more worn down. Those former 3 towns are probably a lot more tourist friendly. We tried a few motels trying to keep the price down below $100. Half the hotels in town were closed for the season. That turned out to be impossible if we wanted someplace that didn’t look like a rat hole. We checked into the Captain’s Choice Motel, which has a nice view of the water. They apparently don’t change their prices by season. The woman at the front desk was nice, and cut the price down on our room and didn’t charge us for the cats. Just over $100. She was from Oregon and was here because of her husband. The 3 of us had a nice little chat about how much we like Oregon. In the room. Cats happy. Because the ferry doesn’t leave until 10pm tomorrow, we decided to pay $65 to check out at 8pm Monday rather than the usual 11am. That should keep the cats content for the day. They are about to spend the next 4 days in the car on the ferry. We’ll pony up a bit of extra money to give them some room for a few more hours. The rooms have become progressively nicer. The corner of the room even had a shelf over the clothes rack. Perfect place to put the mat for Thomas to have his perch. He was up there for all of five minutes, before he was more interested in looking out the window.

Now that I could get internet on my iphone, I checked the NCAA Tourney bracket. GT got a 10 seed and apparently was one of the last teams to get in. Dook got themselves a 1 seed with that win today. There is the difference between an underachieving team and an overachieving team. At least we are in. The basketball gods smiled on me a bit, though. GT doesn’t play until late on Friday, meaning we will be off the ferry and settled in Sequim when the game is on 

We had kept our eating to granola bars and chips. So, we were starving. Not a lot of places to eat in Haines this time of year. The motel manager told us about a pizza place. There was a sandwich and burger place just down the street, but she said it was nothing special and expensive. Pizza it is! The pizza place about a mile back down the road looked more like an espresso stand than a pizza joint. $20 for a 12 inch pizza. Took it back to our room, watched the Simpsons and had wine for dinner. The pizza was surprisingly good. We crashed out early with the Northern part of the drive now over. Nothing to do tomorrow but pack back up, do some grocery shopping and get on the late ferry.

The cats are being good, too. Both of them seem very content in this room. The window gives lots of cool stuff to look at, as people and dogs keep walking by our room and down below, by the water. The high perch on the shelf seems to be helping, too.

Up Next: A day in the life of Haines, Alaska. The Marine Journey begins.

M.E.

Day 2, Saturday, March 13, 2010: Yukon Ho!

Meow. Meow. Meow. This is all we heard at 3am. Thomas decided he was not happy in the motel in the middle of the night and was going to let everyone else know about it. Thus, it seems we have one unhappy cat by day, and another unhappy cat by night.

We woke up at about 8:30. It was 0°F outside and we had to pack up the car. I left my jacket out in the car all night, and learned that a North Face fleece makes a strange sound when it is frozen solid. Despite the cold, we managed to make some adjustments to packing the car, which made it a bit more comfortable. The passenger seat could actually push back! The cats would not be free to wander the car today. Stuck them in the back seat with the kennel door closed. Thomas seemed okay now, but Lucy sure was not happy. Meow. Meow. Meow.

Grabbed some travel mugs of coffee, took a right turn at The Intersection and we were off to the Canadian border. 15 minutes later: crap, forgot to fill the tank on the way out of town and we had a quarter of a tank left. One u-turn and a fill up later, and we were heading toward the Canadian border again. There is so little civilization in this part of the world; that I actually recognized the Shell station where we filled up. No actual convenience store here. No one even working the pumps. Just four pumps that triggered when one swipes a card. The station next door was boarded up. This was the same scene my brother, Chris, and I saw at the same place when I moved up the Alcan in 2007.

No civilization out here, but the scenery is spectacular. We made frequent stops to get pictures. Sam spotted a survey marker at a rest area, so we had to run through knee deep snow to get some pictures. Somehow when the car stopped, the meowing from the kennel ceased. It now seemed obvious that the car’s movement was the cause of the crying. No getting around that one. At least we didn’t have Lucy jumping up on the dash today. She was sticking her paw out of the kennel in an attempt to destroy anything within reach, though. She was given a roll of paper towels to appease her anger.

So, Tok isn’t the last stop before the border. There is another Northern Junction with an Alaska State Troopers station. We watched our speed. I can’t imagine the troopers have much to do this time of year. Not exactly hunting season. According to a sign, a city actually exists right on our side of the border. We stopped at Border City Lodge to fill up our tank with American priced gas. The car had burned exactly 2.8 gallons of gas since Tok. Off to the border. This is an interesting border crossing. Those who have crossed the U.S.-Mexican border would laugh at this. We blow through the American Customs and Immigration without even stopping. A few miles down the road, we saw the signs and flags welcoming us into Canada and the Yukon Territory. Naturally, we stopped for pictures of the signs of both sides. So, we are now in Canada with the passports out and ready. However, Canadian Customs and Immigration is about 20 miles down this snowy mountain road. Canadian Border Agents are really nice. Quick chat and the required document check and we were further in Canada (but through customs and immigration). We now lost an hour with the time change in the process. The next town was Beaver Creek, YT. No restaurants and I was starving. The gas station with the snow machines filling up at it said it had a deli. By deli, it meant the owner made up sandwiches with store bought Oscar Meyer meats. It was that or continue scarfing the granola bars in the car. One turkey sandwich to go. And, no really, the gas pumps were set up to be the size for snow machines to roll in and fill up!

At some point after Beaver Creek we finished the abridged Cussler novel. The action/adventure/sci fi story was fun, but good god man, drop the love interests parts of your books. “I want to know more about the ‘whatever.’” Clive, it is obvious that you want to write the next James Bond series, but just drop the forced love interest.

Meow. Meow. Meow. Shut up, Lucy.

Wow, the scenery is breathtaking.

The roads were great until I just couldn’t drive anymore. My butt hurt and my right leg was getting numb. Of course, right when the seats switched, the snow started coming. We were passed by a car with a local plate. A few miles later, said car was in a snow bank on the side of the road. We got out in the snow and single digit weather to assist the poor soul who wound up stuck in the powder. It was the least we could do after I fish tailed yesterday and almost did the same thing to our car. We tried kicking the snow to clear the tires out. I started to think this was going to take a while, when a truck with an Alaska plate pulled up behind. The driver, Thor (not making that name up), had chains to pull out the local (missing all his front teeth). Pulled into Haines Junction, YT at about 5pm Pacific time. Plenty of signs advertising the motels in town. The Cozy Corner sounded cozy. Pulled in and there was literally no office. Just a phone at the corner of the building. Picked it up and it automatically rang the owner. He came up to the adjoining (Closed) restaurant to check us in. We had our room for the night. Got the cats in and Lucy was instantly happier. Meow. Meow. Meow. Shut up, Thomas. I instantly tried to check the TV to find ESPN and the Georgia Tech score from the ACC Tourney today. There was no cell phone service for the entire drive. Um, where is ESPN. I see ESPN Classic and a bazillion other channels (including every hockey game with different announcers ) on a sweet satellite setup on a crummy TV, but no ESPN. After going through the hundreds of channels, I found a station called Score, which had a SportsCenter like program. Yes! GT beat NC State. GT v. the Dookies tomorrow for the ACC title! And it will be broadcast in Canada on this Score station. Score! Now to convince Sam that we don’t need to take off until after that game, which starts at 10am Pacific. It is only about 150 miles to Haines anyway…

Some facts on Haines Junction (thanks to the little booklet, made by the Village of Haines Junction, in the motel room):

It is “snuggled” beneath the Auriol Range and sits at the junction of the Alaska Highway and Haines Highway (like Tok, it has The Intersection). Haines Junction was originally the homeland of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. Its modern history started in 1942, when the Alaska Highway began construction. Another road was built the following year to connect Haines Junction with Haines, Alaska. Haines Junction is also the base for the Kluane National Park and Wildlife Reserve. In the summertime, this place looks like an incredible adventure site.

We took in the box of wine taken from Morgan and Anna’s. I recognized this box while we were housesitting. It was one of the many Bota Boxes purchased for our group outing to Sheep Mountain back in October. This box had never been opened. Seemed perfect for motel rooms and the ferry. Thanks, Morgan and Anna. It is ours now! We popped the cheap Cav Sav and watched cartoons for about an hour to unwind. Then, to dinner. Only one restaurant open in town after dark this time of year. We crossed The Intersection at the only stop sign in town. Anyone running the stop sign deserves a ticket. There was a large stop sign, a small stop sign and a flashing red light. The Alcan Restaurant seemed to have a modern day Jim Crow thing going on. There were two sections. We were seated in the main area with some other travelers at a few of the tables (we were all white). The smaller section had a group of Native Americans. This seemed a little strange.

We agreed that Haines Junction is nicer than Tok. The mountains are right on top of the town/village. There is also a nice central area to the town. Of course, this seems like it would be very touristy. According to our MilePost (the ultimate guide to the Alcan), there is actually some higher quality lodging and dining around here. Not all open this time of year, though.

Up Next: Hainesward Bound.

M.E.

Day 1, Friday, March 12, 2010: Good-Bye Anchorage

The day that Sam and Matt had been contemplated and planning for month had arrived. Moving day was here. Our pallets had been shipped for the meager cost of about $1800. We lost track of how many boxes had been shipped in the mail. The condo had been gutted clean. The cats had their travel papers and the decision had been made to take the cats with us in the car and on the ferry. One of us has a job in DC waiting, and it is not the lawyer.

We woke up bright and early at Morgan and Anna’s lovely condo where we had been house-sitting all week. Combining their two cats (Monty and Maither) with our two cats (Lucy and Thomas) was a little rough at first, but by Friday everyone was friends. We feared the cats would be sad being torn apart. Our cats had also loved having the extra room in the substantially bigger condo. Like the cats, we were going to miss all our good friends in Anchorage, but it was time to move on.

We started the day by gathering everything to be packed into the car. In doing so, we realized that we substantially underestimated the amount that we were going to have to stuff in one mid-size Subaru coup. That was a problem for later. One last nostalgic trip this morning. Snow City for breakfast and Side Street for coffee and to say good-bye to George and Deb. Before we could head out, though, we hit our first detour. Our super-awesome travel coffee mugs had been left in the dishwasher at our old condo. Could not depart on a trip without those travel mugs. Thus, to South Anchorage to find Tara to get the key back and into the condo for the mugs. One successful detour, and we were at breakfast getting granola and fruit parfaits at Snow City. (For those who have been to Snow City, I know the granola is an afterthought on the menu, but you need to try that parfait. It is stellar when you don’t want a gut bomb). I added a side of reindeer sausage, just for nostalgia and knowing that I may not have another one of those for a while. After breakfast, we went to Side Street for our coffee. It is tough to leave behind a local coffee shop like this one. After a longer than anticipate pit stop at my office to get a work assignment for the ferry ride, it was back to Morgan and Anna’s to pack up the car. This would have been a painless process if it had not been for the last minute change of plans to keep the cats with us for the trip rather than to stick them cargo on a plane ahead of us. On a side note here, it is a rip off to ship pets. Alaska Airlines was going to make us go up a kennel size for Thomas because he is such a big cat, and charge us more than it would cost for one of us to fly down with the cats as baggage. Congrats Alaska Air, you priced us out of that one. $25 per pet to take them on the ferry. Matt’s Aunt gave us a nice, big dog kennel with plenty of space for both cats. We can fit a small litter box in there and their favorite mat. Of course, this thing takes up a ton of room in the back seat. It took a lot of time (about 2 hours worth), some creative packing, and leaving some items behind (food, printer, art, tools) to finally get on the road. You’re welcome, Morgan and Anna.

On the road a little after noon. Had one more stop to make at Sam’s old office to pick up a hard drive that had been downloading all the music from her office computer. And we were off! Made a quick stop in Palmer to fill the tank with the last of the reasonably priced gas stations. Matt also had to clean the Lucy barf off his jeans. That cat is like Wendell from the Simpsons; pukes on every bus ride. The crunch wrap supremes from the Taco Bell next to the gas station were a nice filler for the human tanks. Thomas was being surprisingly quiet thus far. He was just sleeping, comfy in the kennel. We had tried taking the cats for rides leading up to the trip. Generally, Lucy would get excited and then calm down, snuggling on one of our laps. Thomas would cry in the back seat as if he hadn’t been fed in a week.

The pass was a little iffy after the Valley. Though the sun was out, we got a lot of snow this last week, and there was a lot of shade with ice. Took it slow as our only goal was to get to Tok; 320 miles from Anchorage. The road cleared up nicely after Sheep Mountain. We made only one stop just past Sheep Mountain for a pee break and to find the books on tape bought at Title Wave before leaving town. Clive Cussler’s Arctic Drift seemed appropriate for this part of the drive. Unfortunately, we started to have a kitty issues. Thomas continued to be good in the kennel, but Lucy refused to stay in there and would not sit still in the front seat. We could not close her up in the kennel without unpacking the car. With all the stuff in the back seat, we had to make a decision to either confine the cats to the kennel or wedge the door open to let them in and out as they pleased. Lucy refused to stay in there or even stay in one place for more than a few minutes. She usually is quiet, but the long car ride was making her more talkative than a 15 year-old girl. When she started to try to crawl on the dashboard, we made the decision that both cats would have to spend the entire trip locked in the kennel tomorrow. Thomas did come out once after Glenallen, which made things worse, because he and Lucy starting trying to cry over each other. Fortunately, he responded well to being shoved back in the kennel with a pillow placed over the door.

At about 5:30 or 6, it was very clear that a motel in Tok could not get here quick enough. Neither cat had any desire to be in the car anymore. And they were making that point painfully clear. It did not help that both of us were getting rather hungry. As much as Matt tried to listen to Cussler’s story, it was taking too much energy to concentrate on the road, while hungry and tired, with two whining kitties in the car. It appears Lucy won’t even eat or drink in the car. Drinking would be nice, since we mixed the kitty calmer in their water. On another side note, our original plan was to make it to Beaver Creek, Canada on day one, which is right across the border. Our late start and realizing the kitties probably can’t do a full day in the car made that difficult. Tok finally came sometime between 6:30 and 7. First motel in town (Golden Bear Motel): $69 for the room and the pets are fine. Sold. Got the cats out of the car and into the room where they are much happier. Thomas gave us a scare by managing to get under one of the beds where we couldn’t see him and thought he had somehow gotten out of the room.

Some Facts on Tok (Thanks to Wikipedia):
Located at an important junction on the Alaska Highway and Glenn Highway, between the Tanana River and the Alaska Range (Eastern end of the Alaskan interior). 1393 people are brave enough to live in the 132.3 square miles that is Tok. The town began in 1942. It was a camp used by the Alaska Road Commission during the construction and maintenance of the Alaska Highway. So much money was poured into this camp that it got the nickname “Million Dollar Camp” by the road workers. Like everywhere else in this country, it was a Native American settlement first, though. Tok is taken from the Athabascan word, meaning peaceful crossing. The Tok River, which we crossed numerous times on the way into town was called Tokai by the Native Alaskans. (At least we didn’t rename the river after a president like some mountain in Alaska). The town gained further importance with the creation of the Tok cut-off. In the 1940’s and 50’s, a highway was constructed to connect Tok and Glenallen. This was the stretch of highway we just traveled. It allowed easier access to Anchorage and Valdez. Prior to this highway, one traveling up to South Central Alaska from those Southern states would have to go all the way to Fairbanks before taking the long drive south to Anchorage, the Peninsula or over to Valdez. Tok made headlines just last year, when on January 10, 2009, the thermometer read -80°F. It was somewhere around -20°F that week in Anchorage if we remember correctly. That was absolutely miserable. It was the coldest temperature Matt ever had to endure. Thinking of the difference between 40°F and -20°F still makes it even hard to fathom the difference between -20°F and -80°F. It is 3°F as Matt writes this.

So, there are literally only 2 restaurants in Tok open at this late hour (7pm). This is the biggest town we had seen since Glenallen (which may not have too many more restaurants than that when it is not tourist season), 140 miles away. For anyone who hasn’t been to Alaska, this is not at all like road tripping in the Lower or Continental or Contiguous 48. There is no “next exit.” The next ‘exit’ (ie. Remote sign of civilization- blink and you miss it) is 100 miles away. We ate at the Grumpy Grizz Café. The directions to the Grumpy Grizz from the motel: On the corner, at The Intersection (see Important Junction on the Alaska Highway). There is only one intersection in this town. As vague as the directions sound, those directions were as clear as water here. We got to the intersection and the sign said: Left arrow to Fairbanks, Right arrow to Canada. Megan was right when we had beers with her the other night. The food sucks in Tok. I was prepared to have a bad meal. But, as hungry as I was, anything would have been good.

Matt was happy to see that upon checking the college basketball scores, GT beat Maryland in the ACC Tournament. Sam was happy that Matt was happy and she was even more happy that she didn’t have to suffer through enduring Matt watch the game. Kitties are happy in the large, yet very simple hotel room and should sleep well tonight.

Up Next: Yukon Ho!

M.E.