Adventure to Alaska
Packing up the UHaul was weird. I hadn’t touched most of the things in that
storage unit for almost two years. It
didn’t take long to get it all in the truck, tho having four friends help
wrestle the six bulkier items was very helpful.
I don’t actually have that much.
When I do decide to nest, I’m going to need to pick up a few things. Like a bed.
After filling the truck with my goodies, I drove it down to
Ikea. Although I probably should have
bought that bed, and other things, I didn’t.
Hard to buy furniture for a place you aren’t yet living. But I did buy three pages of things for my
sister in law, and a few other items for my bonus sister. Once you tell people you’ll mule to them in
Alaska, this is what happens. I will
miss Ikea in Alaska. But at least
there’s Nordstrom. And no sales tax.
Once the truck was filled up I took it over to the UHaul
guys and they attached the trailer so my car could be towed behind. All told, 42 feet of vehicle. Rather terrifying to drive really.
Trish hopped in the passenger seat and that was it – we were
on our way! Up to Bellingham to board
the Alaska Marine Highway. That’s the
fancy way of saying ferry – the Malaspina to be precise. We warned everyone at the dock – we don’t
back up. Not in this rig. But of course, we had to. Luckily only about 7 feet. We were one of the first vehicles loaded and
were handily located at the base of the stairs that went straight to our
cabin. Couldn’t have planned it better.
I’ve never taken the ferry before and it was a wonderful
experience. Sort of a stripped down
cruise. We booked an outside cabin which
was perfectly clean, comfortable, and quiet.
Because we are just at the end of the season, the ferry was only
carrying about 175 passengers. The ship
can carry about 500, so it made for a quiet ride. Trish planned the foodstuffs so we had tasty
snacks and healthy meals with us. But we
did buy fish and chips in the cafeteria for the experience. We sat in the Observation Lounge most of the
days: reading, doing crosswords, and watching for wildlife. We were rewarded with Steller sea lions,
porpoises, Orca, an entire pod of Humpbacks, and all kinds of beautiful
scenery.
We made calls in the ports of Ketchikan, Wrangell,
Petersburg, and Juneau. For the most
part it was sheeting rain so we stayed aboard and took a few photos. Our destination of Haines was sunny and
beautiful. Unloading our rig was easy
with lots and lots of coaching from the ferry staff. Then we were on our way, driving north to the
Canadian border, passing hordes of Bald Eagles.
I have to admit I was taken aback when we handed over our Nexus cards
and the guard asked if we had been to Canada before. They’re NEXUS cards! The trusted traveler cards for the US-Canada
border? Why would we have them if we
hadn’t been to Canada before?!?
On through Haines Junction, seeing a big Grizzly on the
road, stopping at a gas station run by Jim and Dot – super friendly folks – and
on to Beaver Creek where we spent the night.
We had the trusty Milepost with us (http://milepost.com/)
and Trish had insisted on staying at Buckshot Betty’s. It certainly had adventuresome plumbing.
The following morning we hit the road early in our bid to
make it to Anchorage. From sun in Haines
we were now encountering dustings of snow and the inevitable road
construction. Crossed back into the US
(and back into Alaska time zone from Yukon time – very confusing), through Tok,
and….40 miles out of Tok a man flagged us down and pointed out one of the tires
from the car carrier was gone. Not flat,
gone. So we went into the (thankfully
close) Mentasta Lodge, called UHaul, and waited. A very nice fellow from Tok arrived 2.5 hours
later and had a new rim and tire popped on in 10 minutes. On the road again, past Trumpeter Swans.
Thanks to our unexpected pause in the journey, we arrived in
Anchorage at 6:45pm. Just in time to get
to the UHaul joint before 7pm closing and have the car trailer removed from the
truck. Without that, much easier to
drive! Unloaded the truck the following
morning, and now time to set about life in my new surroundings.
Oh man, I have to drive this?!?
Ghostly Canadian treescape
Tail-end of a whale
In Alaskan waters
Gorgeous autumn colors
And how quickly they change
Then this happened
Almost home!
