Feel'in Ferry Good

We decided to take the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry from Haines, AK to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada.  We left at 11:00 PM on Wednesday and arrived at 2:00 pm on Friday.  The only down side was Lilly had to stay in the RV, which was parked in the hull.  We had stops along the way where we could go get her and take her out, although, a few of them did come in the middle of the night.  We took turns on those.  It was a really nice change of pace from driving.  We saw about 40 whales, many seals and some beautiful scenery.  My only problem was that the vibration from the ship caused my tooth infection to throb, but other than that, we really enjoyed it.  After getting off the ferry, we decided to "power drive" to Vancouver (about 1000 miles in two days).  We planned on staying at a Provincial Park but when we arrived, was notified that the park was closed due to one of the many British Columbia wildfires being deemed to close.  We did not see any of the fires on our drive but definitely saw and smelled the smoke.  We ended up spending the night at a WalMart in Prince George, the halfway point on our trip.  Many RVs were in the lot, so it appeared others may have run into the same challenge we had.

Chris asleep in our berth on the ferry.  He totally sleeps like a dead man!

 View from the deck, very smooth waters, fortunately

 Our room, had to get a four berth since we scheduled so late...worked out just fine.

 This was our boat, it was crazy how tight they parked us!

Top 2 Favorites List

Haines, Alaska is one of our top two favorite towns we visited in Alaska.  The Haines Highway, 150 miles long leading to town, is gorgeous.  There is only one way in and one way out, unless you're traveling by boat or float plane.  We stayed in Haines for 3 nights prior to getting on the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry.  While in Haines, my Salmon fishing obsession transitioned into a bear sighting obsession and we had some pretty exciting bear sightings.  Once I knew there was a Grizzly mother and her three new cubs that frequented the area I was determined to see them.  Fortunately our persistence paid off.  It was so cool to get to see the Mom catching salmon and tossing them to her babies.  The babies were snorting and making all kinds of noise as they ate.  The individual bear in the pictures was actually the 4 year old daughter of the mother that was with her three cubs.  We came to find out that the Mama bear has been named "Speedy" by the locals and has been in the area for over 16 years.  Nobody had seen her last year and they all assumed she had died, turned out out she was having herself a love connection and showed up this Spring with the three new cubs.   We were staying right by downtown so we were able to easily walk around.  Haines is not a big city but we had fun exploring.  Surprising to find out there was a rain forest in the area.  We started our hike in dense woods, then in to rainforest, then on to a prairie that lead to the beach.  We ate our lunch sitting on the beach looking at two glaciers. Bears in the morning and glaciers in the afternoon, a pretty eventful day.  Unfortunately I had to visit the local dental program for a tooth issue and a sinus infection.  Gotta say, didn't know what to expect in tiny little Haines but ended up being very impressed with the Dentist I saw.

View out our front window.  The campground was just a big gravel lot, but it looked out on the bay and the view couldn't be beat.  The owner, Joyce was a character. I commented to her that I was wearing a hat all day because my hair needed to be colored, her comeback was "your in Alaska, nobody gives a shit about how their hair looks"... I may stay.  Speaking of staying, things have been so beautiful here that I made the comment to Chris that if it was like this all the time in Alaska, I would consider moving here, his comeback was "if it was like this all the time, everyone would want to move here".  But it doesn't stay like this year round, that is why the population of Haines is only about 2,000.  Winter weather is right around the corner and from everything we have heard, it's nasty.

Momma brought her babies right up on the road and then up in to the woods.

 Everything in Alaska is bigger...almost

 Lilly in the rain forest.

 I have become obsessed with giant odd colored mushrooms.

 We did not pay to go to the Hammer Museum, but this picture was definitely worthy of a post.

Two Lakes Are Better Than One - Lake Kluane and Kathleen Lake

We traveled back into the Yukon on our way to Haines, AK.  We first stayed at Lake Kluane for two nights and then moved on to Kathleen Lake for two nights.  Both were beautiful.  We have met a great couple from California and traveled with them some during our trip.  It was so nice to have a couple that we "clicked" with.  We parted ways at Haines Junction, where we headed south to Haines and they headed east on the Alcan Highway.
Jeff and Lisa Berg...missing our partners in crime already!  We shall meet again!

 This was our campsite on Lake Kluane!  We had beautiful weather so we stayed an extra day.

We loved being back in the Provincial Parks in Canada.  They are super clean, have great hiking and nice big campsites.

 This was the view from our campsite at Lake Kathleen.

There's Hope

We decided at the last minute to head to the town of Hope.  As we drove down the only road into town, we came upon the "road ends in 1 mile" sign.  Since we are unable to back-up when we are towing the Honda, this is never a sign we want to see.  The campground at the end of the road was full and all the others, which is only a couple, were totally full.  As we were leaving the tiny town and trying to figure out where to go, Chris decided to see if we could stay in the parking lot of a local restaurant.  The guy was great!  With that being said, it's not like staying in the Wendy's parking lot.  We ended up staying two nights and ran in to a couple of families we had met a few week before.  We listened to a good local singer and ended up really liking Hope.  It is a tiny town with some very proud locals.  They have maintained the local gold mining history.  It was one of the first gold mining towns because it was accessible by boat, unlike many in the Yukon that you hiked to for weeks or months in grueling conditions.  We were able to see the Bore Tide, which was on my bucket list.  The Bore Tide occurs when there is a very low tide that collides with the high tide and creates an incoming wave.  It can be 10 feet tall.  We were able to climb to the top of a cliff to watch.  There were very high winds that caused it to break up a bit, but still cool to watch.  The locals kayak and surf it.

Signs that were at a Whitewater Rafting Festival we stopped at!

This was growing in a pine forest, no editing.  It looked like those ceramic ones people put in their yards!

 This is our spot waiting for the Bore Tide.

Snagging With My Homies

We are in Homer, Alaska now and I am loving it.  As you will soon find out, this post is all about me and my crazed obsession with fishing (which I no doubt inherited from my Mother).  We have an oceanfront spot with a totally unobstructed view of the ocean, mountains and glaciers.  We bought a fishing pole in Florida and have been carrying it around since then without much use.  It's been a running joke because it is long so every place we go it sits outside and while we are driving it lays on the bed...the only place to carry it and keep it out of the way.  Well, it finally got some use.  When we arrived I was watching a few people fishing in the bay in front of the RV.  So we took the pole to a bait shop, had it restrung and got the hooks we needed.  It's called "snagging" because the silver salmon aren't eating because they are spawning.  They come by in schools back and forth along the shore.  I generally have the patience of 7 year old, but not now.  After I got my first fish (which a neighbor filleted for us so we could eat it for dinner) I have been out there for hours and hours.  I ended up catching four Coho (silver) salmon, two 6.5 pound, an 8.2 pound and a 4.5 pound.  I wasn't sure I would be able to do the necessary end of life procedures that involved a rock, a knife and a stringer... but my primal instincts kicked in and I was able to do it all.  We took the other three to a local fish processor and we now have well over ten pounds of vacuum packed salmon fillets in our freezer.  In between my time on the beach fishing we went for a drive to the scenic overlook, the pictures speak for themselves.  We are leaving the spit today and heading back up the Kenai Peninsula.

This was my first fish.  People were fishing in full waders and all kinds of fishing gear.  I was definitely the only person in hiking shoes and blue capris!  After our first day, I did invest in a $22 pair of rubber boots.  The first time I wore them the tide was coming in and I wasn't paying attention and the water came right over the tops of my boots.  This happened about 20 minutes in to my time fishing.  I got a better system the longer I fished. 

At the Salty Dog Saloon people post notes on dollar bills and tack them on the walls.  We would go there for a drink while our fish were being processed.  Chris did amend mine to 4 last night.

View of the Homer Spit from the overlook.  We were camping about half way out.

 Picture I took out the window of the RV at about 10:00 pm.