As I predicted, I slept through our port visit at Ketchikan. Actually I didn’t SLEEP through it; I just stayed in bed. Docking in port and numerous announcements over the P.A. made sure that I wasn’t going to sleep. Back at sea, I woke up just before sunrise and saw partly cloudy skies. I dressed quickly and ran out on deck to get a few sunrise photos and then went to the cafeteria for some really good biscuits and gravy. Late morning we arrived in Wrangell, a very small Alaskan town that, like many others, cannot be reached by road. You can only get here by ferry or plane. We had about 90 minutes in port, so I walked into town for a short visit. I had a nice conversation with a lady in a gift ... read more

More perfect weather! Sunny all day with highs in the mid-70’s. I’m in Miata heaven! Left Smithers this morning and decided to stop again at the Moricetown Canyon where the native Indians fish with nets in the raging rapids (see yesterday’s blog). This visit was even more interesting than yesterday and I ended up staying for nearly two hours. There was only a single Indian fishing; a large, middle-aged man who immediately came up to me and introduced himself and shook my hand. He was very friendly and said that he’d lived there (and fished there) all his life. He always fishes early in the morning because he has the whole place to himself. He told me that it’s illegal for them to sell the fish they catch but they do it anyway. He estimated that ... read more

Another chilly morning, but it was sunny all day and warmed up to the mid 70's in the afternoon; perfect weather for cruising in the Miata! I woke up at 5:00am and was wide awake, so I decided to get up early and resume my journey. It was still very dark and the stars were out. I put the top down on the Miata, pulled my knit ski cap over my head and ears, put on my gloves and hit the road. It felt good! Stopped for a big breakfast (TOO big) and after an hour of driving after breakfast I was getting drowsy, so I pulled over by a river at a rest area and took a 30 minute nap. After that I felt alert for the rest of the day. This was mostly a ... read more

Today's weather summary: 43 degrees and sunny this morning; stayed sunny all day and rose to 90 degrees in the afternoon; probably the warmest day I'll see until next summer. Even though it was VERY chilly this morning, I put the top down on the Miata, bundled up and hit the road. First stop was for breakfast at the Sun Mountain Lodge resort near Winthrop. As you can see from the photo, this place is up in the hills and has great views. It was recommended by my friend, Paul Martin, who was the next stop on my day's journey. Paul and his wife Patty own 40 acres in north central Washington, not far from the Canadian border. Paul and I used to work together at Bonneville Power and Patty is retired from Veteran's Affairs (V.A.). ... read more

Woke up this morning, anxious to start my trip, looked out the window and IT WAS RAINING! IN AUGUST! Groan! Had to put the top up on the Miata before I even started the trip. Hit the road heading for Whidbey Island with the intention of taking back roads all the way (no I-5). About one hour into my trip it stopped raining (yea!) so I immediately pulled over and flipped the top down (I felt much better!). Drove on Forest Service roads through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on the east side of Mt. St. Helens and came across a temporary bridge where a MASSIVE washout had occurred, apparently in 2008. The temporary bridge was installed earlier this year and just opened in July. I found this news item in The Columbian's web site: "The ... read more