As I sit here typing this email, I am experiencing a strong sense of familiarity. I am sitting up in a narrow bunk with the reading light on behind me. The boat is gently pitching with a few rolls thrown in for good measure. There is a constant hum and vibration from the engines and generators. Thank Gawd I’m on the Alaska State Ferry M/V Kennicott heading for Seward and not fishing again!! :)

We left Bellingham aboard the M/V Columbia and found a great spot on deck which we called “home" for the next three days. The weather was absolutely perfect for viewing the hundreds of tree covered islands, very few of which were populated, and the pods of killer whales that swam parallel to the ferry but kept their distance. Our first stop was Ketchikan, where we had just under two hours to get off the ferry and have a look around town. At 7:30 AM on a Sunday we didn’t find a lot open but we did find coffee and breakfast so that put an end to some whining which had begun during the walk in to town. :) Oh all right . . . I'll admit it was Me whining.

Next stop Wrangell. We got in to port late so we only had 20 minutes to get off the boat but it was nice to walk around a bit and I found a city park with the perfect grassy hill to roll down.

The last stop before our destination was Petersburg. It was a surprisingly large town and completely surrounded by mountains. There were some high peaks topped in snow that made me think longingly of Tibet. Another short stop here so just a quick walk and then back to the boat.

At 5:15 AM the purser came over the loud speaker to announce that we were arriving in Juneau and we had 15 minutes to load vehicles and be ready to debark. In other words, “get your tired butts out of bed and pack up!" :) The ferry terminal was several miles from the town of Juneau but it was a very welcome ride because it couldn’t have been a more perfect morning. The sun was bright, without a cloud in the sky and the air was fresh and crisp. Apparently the residents of Juneau don’t drink coffee at 5:30 in the morning because there wasn’t an open coffee house to be found. With not alot of other choices at that hour, we decided to keep riding and have a look around. Due to the mild temperatures and vast amounts of rain, Juneau is a very lush place - green as far as the eye can see. The road we were exploring ran along the water and the tide was out so dozens of shore birds and a few bald eagles were checking out their new breakfast options. They didn't have to wait for a store to open up. There had been a terrible fire during the night in the historic downtown area of Juneau and several of the streets were blocked off for the emergency vehicles. It looked like they had things well under control but clearly some lives had been turned upside down.

We found our way to some of the best coffee on the planet roasted by Heritage Coffee Company. I enjoyed their slogan too . . . Life's Short - Stay Awake! Next we found our way to one of the best camp sites on the planet. We were batting a thousand. There was a US forest service campground right along the lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier and the views were spectacular as was the trail going up to the glacier. The trail crossed several streams flowing into the lake and they were full of beautiful, red, spawning salmon.

The next day it was back aboard another ferry. The lay out of the Kennicott was much different than the Columbia and the deck sleeping arrangements were not very appealing. Luckily, there were several no-shows so a few cabins opened up which allowed me to start this email the way I did . . . sitting up typing in a narrow bunk.

The Kennicott was also different in that it had a vehicle elevator system for loading and off-loading vehicles. It was a fairly slow procedure but pretty fascinating to watch and pretty fun when it was our turn to off-load. Our final marine destination was Seward and we arrived at around 3:30 PM last Thursday. It had started raining during the night and had kept up steadily since then. When we drove off the boat it was an intermittent light rain which turned to a fairly heavy rain during the night. We had read a brochure about white water river rafting in a town named Hope which was 100 miles north of Seward and they were supposed to have a nice campground too so we were on our way. The brochures were right on both counts and more. Beautiful camping, delicious food at the three restaurants we tried and a blast of a river trip!! We went through three canyons in all and the first two were rated class 3 and 4 whereas the last canyon was rated class 5. The rain had stopped a few hours before we got to the put in location and as we were getting our pre-trip briefing the sun came out to welcome us on our adventure. Our guide was expert and our boatmates were strong so it was a very exciting trip. This was one of those times when I appreciate being short though. It's nice when the guy in front takes the face full of water instead! :)

As I am finishing this email I am sitting in a library in Anchorage, about an hour or so from Hope, waiting for my turn on a computer so I can send this. From here we are headed north to Palmer then up to Denali State Park for the night. We have decided not to go up to Prudoe Bay but are instead going to go west for a while and then north up to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. I'm not sure there is going to be much internet access for quite a while so don't worry when you don't hear from me.

More later-

Love,Sheri