Haines, Skagway, Sitka......

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The trip is going by so incredibly fast now... we seem to be swinging

into and out of ports faster than I can remember where we are! So,

while I am mulling over how to express the experiences of the last day

or so, let me describe the ferry a bit. The part where the cars and

people get on is the full length of her - bow to stern. I find it a

fascinating place with strange things to hook chains into to tie off the

vehicles. There are doors leading off to places I want to explore, but

don't think its wise to - lines depict the lanes for the vehicles and a

broad yellow stripe for us on foot to use when going to the stairs or

elevator up to the living space of the ferry. There is a door down in

the bowels of the ferry that says crew quarters - but it seems so small

- maybe it leads even further down....... if so, I am glad I am not a

crew member, that would feel too much like being a mole, I think..



And so, typically, most of us head up the stairs as the elevator is

quite small and its not that far up - about one story puts one on the

deck that has the cabins... mine is all the way forward, right near the

Pursers desk. Up one more flight is all the happenings on the

boat....... the kitchen and cafeteria is right in the stern. To get

your food, you head into the kitchen door, lining up along fruit,

juices, coffee, hot water, sandwiches and so on. At the far end (it

about 10 people long) you put in the order for what food you want and

wait for it it be cooked right there in front of you. Then you head

into the seating area, which is big and is also surrounded by windows so

there is little chance of missing something beautiful. There are

various rooms like computer station, meeting room, movie theater (small)

are along the length of this floor.... right in front of the boat,

looking over the bow, is that glorious observation room with the windows

that let you see the world as it goes gently by. Also, there are three

sets of doors that one can walk from the one side to the other, through

the inside of the boat, so I don't have to walk all the way around to

get from port to starboard, as well as a passage that runs the length of

the boat on the inside for wet windy days. There is so much to see and

we all tend to watch the others who are watching for wildlife and also

watching us in case we see something. There is an unspoken bond by now,

that as soon as something is seen, its loudly announced and some people

will even run through the connecting part doors to tell the others to

come and see. Its such a lovely vibe.



When I go up to the Observation room at night - the vibe is very

different from the daytime vibe. In the daylight, everyone chats, moves

to sit next to others and its a generally wonderful happy relaxing

place. At night the lights are turned off and a sort of hush fills the

place. People still go there and sit quietly, almost reverently, in the

dark. Its almost church like. If anyone talks, its very quietly and I

find that, unlike during the day, anyone coming in or out of there,

particularly later at night, is left to their own thoughts. I sit there

as long or as short a time as I want to, as do others - its so

incredibly beautiful when its like that. The marker lights gently

flicker on the water as the ferry glides through the water..... I know

my thoughts become deeper when sitting up there at night. Its beautiful

on many levels. A gentle, soulful place.



The food is really good. I had salmon and veggies tonight, there are a

good many options from the normal hamburger and fries, to deliciously

cooked pasta, pancakes, steaks, etc. Its really much better than I

expected and reasonably priced too. There is unlimited coffee and hot

water. The coffee is coffee - it serves the purpose it was born to do -

keep me awake and warm. I have started getting extra lemon, adding some

honey and hot water and enjoy that more than the coffee.



Ok - one deck up from this deck, which one can walk all the way around,

is the tent and solarium deck. You cannot get to the front of the boat

from here and its east to get to from a narrow outside stairway at the

stern of the boat and two very narrow outside staircases outside on the

sides of the boat. This deck offers a fantastic view almost all the way

around, but the wind really whips up and batters anything up there.

Tents are duck taped to the deck and often the owners stay in there to

keep them from blowing away if the wind gets bad. Its lovely to see

them up there - its colorful and just screams 'adventure!'. In the

solarium up on this deck, one can claim a lounging chair - like a pool

lounge chair, pack out your sleeping bag and camp out there for the

duration.. There are heaters on the roof of the solarium that keep is

snugly warm even when its bitterly cold.



The solarium is........... well, it takes up about a third of this top

deck, has the sides, back and top closed in leaving it open the full

width of the deck. This offers a continual stunning view and its very

popular with the younger crowd. On the same level as the Solarium, but

inside is another lounge with really comfortable chairs - many people

sleep up here instead of getting a cabin. At the end of the cabin deck,

there is a kiddies play room and also an aft deck meeting room..



My room is small but absolutely sufficient. A double bunk setup with

about three foot to a hanging closet and a basin. The window is on the

far end of the room from the door, although 'far' and 'this room' really

don't belong in the same sentence. Its about 12 foot in length.... ok,

so when you open the door (inwards), the bathroom door would be right

behind the now open door. There is a toilet and shower - basic. There

is room for a chair in the closet, but unless one wants to sit halfway

behind and in-between your clothes, its not really the greatest place

for a chair. There is place to put it on the other side of the sink,

but the trash can is there and then it would be much more crowded.

There is plenty space under the bed to store stuff and I have unpacked

all my non hanging clothes onto the top bunk. I don't put other stuff

up there, like camera stuff, because when we have hit a rocky

spot........ well, the top bunk empties out onto the floor. Yep - I

learned that early on.



My favorite memory of that top deck will be something I just happened

across. During the past days on board, I have occasionally spoken to a

very nice young man who is headed to Alaska for a summer job of about 7

months. He has worked at multiple organic farms in the USA and is madly

excited about being in Alaska. When someone else asked him what he was

going to be doing - he held his hands out as if he had rich dirt filling

each palm, his eyes lit up and his mouth curved all the way around as he

said: "I am going to GROW things!" His passion was obvious - it was

lovely. Anyway - back to the top deck. Our most northern stop on this

trip was Skagway, where he got off. As we were coming into dock, I

headed up to the top deck to get some photos from up there. As I

climbed the ladder, I heard a soft lovely song and wondered where it was

coming from...... and then I saw him dancing on that top deck. It was

not a ballet, but more of a...... I am not sure just how to say it.....

it was like a ritual dance, a meditation, methodical, beautiful,

sensual, grateful, open and very masculine. My thought in seeing it was

that it was both his hello and goodbye - hello to a new part of his life

and goodbye to the ferry, which he loved riding. I just knew that this

was not something for the camera and tried to back down the ladder

without disturbing him - but he saw me... we chatted for a minute and

then I left him alone again. It was just beautiful and its one of those

photographs that will only live in my mind and will be as clear as any

of the others I have taken.



Ok - today.... I had to check my cell phone and am not even sure that is

right - but lets assume it is Tuesday.. Today we left Skagway and

headed to Sitka. In the very early hours of this morning we stopped for

a short while at Haines again - I peered out of the window, saw the dock

with another ferry there, snapped a photograph and went back to sleep..

That must have been around 4am - it was mostly dark. Today's sailing

was through some of the most beautiful waterways...... towering snow

kissed mountains marching regally into the distance, milky mist, fog and

clouds hugging them for a good part of the day - but the sun came out to

play and it was simply glorious! The water shimmers, making it like

liquid silver, with the waves crashing onto the shore in pure white

plumes against the green trees - absolutely stunning. It seemed as if

half of us got a late start today - I only clawed my way up to my first

cup of coffee after 7am and there were many others looking just as

whacked and bleary eyed as I did. Hmmm - just remembered that I did

not mention the quick, cold, thankfully short walk-around we did in

Skagway. None of the shops are open, it was blowing a bitter wind and I

was so tired. Karen and Jere from Road Scholar, have so many

interesting stories and history and information to share, but I am

afraid that my brain was full up, closed down or something.. All I

wanted was a chair with a view and a hot cuppa something - anything!

There is no way one can do that, or any town, justice in such a short

window of time - we only had about an hour and a half.



And this morning as I was still scrabbling to wake up, I remembered that

my camera lens had given up on me. I tried and tried, the purser gave

me some alcohol wipes to clean it - I was almost tempted to suck on

those wipes, I was so frustrated! Nothing worked. I was giving it yet

another try out on the deck - hoping maybe that some fresh air would

wake it up, when a new passenger noticed my problem and immediately

offered me his spare lens! I was so surprised that I refused and

thanked him profusely, but then....... well, I love that big other lens

but it just wont give the big picture in many other scenes passing

by..... so I humbly found him and asked him if he really meant it. Two

minutes later, my baby camera had new eyes!! And boy did she have fun

playing around today.... The mountains slid by as we all watched for,

and saw, Dahl Porposes, Orcas and otters, none that presented well for

good photos, a good many eagles that posed beautifully, many ducks,

seagulls, a sea lion, otter and many 'blowers" aka whales that can only

be seen when they blow, but hide when the cameras come out. All in all

it was a stunning ride. Some people saw a few deer, some rear ends of

bears as they headed back into the trees and some bald eagles feeding.

I tried being everywhere, but that does not always work out and I am

really happy with the photos I have from this trip already, I cannot

wait to see them on a screen big enough to see the details.



There was a bus to the town of Sitka - about 7 miles from the ferry

dock. I boarded with the Road Scholar group and headed into town in the

afternoon for two reasons - to get a new lens of my own and to visit the

Raptor Rehabilitation Center.. Neither worked out. I could not find a

Canon lens, or a canon camera............ so I ended up buying a

freaking Nikon! I could not loan Mio's lens any longer - it just felt

wrong, and he also leaves the ferry in Ketchikan and I have too many

days left before getting home to do without a lens. So...... a freaking

NIKON 😞 Damn, what am I coming to?? Anyway - she plays like a dream -

has more megapixels than my big baby and is incredibly lightweight. I

might just get to like her enough to give her a name too.



By the time I had run all around town looking for lenses or camera's,

there was literally no time for the Raptor Center. Sadly I gave that

idea up and headed to a pub where I heard that they were offering free

wifi. Everyone referred to it as 'The P pub'. I went where they said,

I went where they pointed, but no P pub......... only a Reynolds Pub.

And as I took the first step in the door - there it was, in much smaller

letters "Pioneer Pub". They did have free wifi and a house full of

rugged Alaskan bearded male faces that turned my way when I asked for

the wifi. I did not dare order a beer as that might invite someone over

and by now I was in a hurry to get and send emails and get back to the

bus on time. Its lovely getting updates from home when I am

away.....Thanks! Kate - you are never getting those socks back! Lisa -

I am SO proud of what you have achieved these last couple of weeks -

well done!



So, back to the ferry - and back out through those glorious, now

pink-tinged mountains. I sat chatting to Mr Lens Lender for a good long

while - he had some really interesting stories to tell. Apparently, in

........ oh hell, did he say Juneau? The land is rising about a quarter

of an inch every year, due to the glaciers melting... I had never

thought of that and wonder what will change because of that....... never

ending cycle. I missed the sunset because we were chatting - but

sometimes that is worth more that another photo of another mountain, no

matter how majestic.



Anyway... Its very late now, I am about to go up on deck and check for

the Northern Lights - ever hopeful, and then crash for the night. My

eye is becoming progressively puffier and I need some more salt and hot

water too. We are going to be going back through that very narrow part

- the Wrangell Narrows - early in the morning! We are all excited about

that. My camera batteries are all charging nicely, getting ready for a

play day again tomorrow,



Time to quit for tonight.

Annie



Xx

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