Ferry from Bellingham to Haines

Our Ferry trip was delightful. The scenery is awesome as Kevin Murphy would say! We met several delightful people which is one of the benefits of riding the ferry. We had a 4 person cabin which meant that we could turn around and we even had a window.
Below is a description of the different people that we met...as well as a few photos of the scenery.

The Manatuska in Bellingham

 What can I say!

People:  Brian, Dorothy and Cathy…on their way to Fairbanks to serve at Camp Richardson. Daughter is 9 years old. They have lived many places: Pennsylvania,  North Carolina and Oklahoma and chose Alaska over Hawaii. He will be going to Afghanistan in May. She is an LPN.  They met several other people who were going up to Fairbanks with the military and convoyed with them up there.

Daryl… from Ketchikan  He is 70, bearded, worked as a plumber and pipe fitter for 40 years in Alaska, from the Islands to the North Slope as well as in Texas and California.  Loves to hunt birds and goes to Nevada and Oregon each year to hunt from Oct-Jan.  He has a small business as a gunsmith.

The lights of Ketchikan

 At the dock

Workers:    Bruce… does everything.  Lives in Ketchikan  has daughter and son.  He tended bar, mopped floors, worked the register at the cafeteria, etc.  He works on several different boats.You work 7 -12 hour days and then are off for 7 days, usually. Pay is good as they are unionized.

Jo: Bar tender.  Is  80 years old.  Just rebid the job after quitting earlier. Used to work in Skagway as a bartender and raised her children there. She is into cell phones, I Pads, Facebook et al!  DO NOT bring in an open container into the BAR!!! (Sometimes it could be a closed container… unless she liked you, and then she would put the container behind the bar while you were there)

Professor and his wife from Fairbanks: He is a retired professor from University of Alaska, Fairbanks in Industrial Engineering. His wife teaches music.. French horn.   She taught in native villages for several years and found it very rewarding. They are both musicians. He is a violinist and she is a French horn player. They just spent several months in the lower 48. They have a truck and sometimes sleep in the truck when on the road.  They will be having a concert with the Fairbanks Chamber group in late February.  She previously played for the National Ballet.

 This gull followed us for miles and miles

Jackie.. Museum curator or such. Quite young.  Has lived in Alaska before and is going to Sitka to work in the museum downtown. Was in Boston and drove across country with a co worker via the Grand Canyon.  He may stay in Sitka with her.  She has a dog who travels with her always. She is a vegetarian. As long as she can run, has her dog, can cook, has a job she likes and read life is good. She had been in a 5 year relationship and was engaged. Her new job is with the Sitka historical society

 We saw some whales off afar but not photos!

Frankie Lane… Woman with girls on Basketball team coming from Prince Wales Island to Haines. She has lived in Haines most of her life except for a  6 year stint in Tucson.  She has 6 children, two grown, one grandchild.  She and her husband have 5 jobs to make a living. They have a fishing permit and fish commercially for halibut.  He is a pastor also, she is an interior decorator, works at a store, helps out at the school….

Karen from Prince Wales Island: She is originally from Washington State. She graduated from there in the 80s and went in the Peace Corps in South America. After that she did not like large population centers.  In 1985 she took the ferry all alone up to Ketchikan in the winter and found a job. She met her husband there and now lives on Prince Wales Island,  the third largest US Island (Honolulu and Kodiak)She recently got her Masters Degree and works  for the University of Alaska, SouthEast. Her husband works as a geologist or such.  She is on her way to Juneau to meet with legislators about renewable energy.  On their island there is 20 % unemployment. They do have several small sawmills. They want to create a pellet business to turn the bark and sawdust into pellets for stoves.  Alaska has a policy that whenever oil is over $8 a gallon?? for diesel some funds go into renewable energy projects. She is seeking funds for their project as a citizen. The Alaska legislators are very available to their constituents.

View from the top!

Guy from Kentucky and his wife… also going to Haines…on an adventure also. They do not have a  cabin on the Ferry. They are  sleeping in public areas, but sleep in different places so that one can be warm, the other cool.  He is a pilot and previously flew his plane up to Alaska. He said that you just bear 330 degrees and go where you desire.

Coming next: Photos of the largest totem park in the world in Ketchikan, AK!