July 11-12, 2008 -- Haines & Skagway

From Juneau to Haines, the ferry travels through the Lynn Canal.  Hard to believe it is the ocean when you are surrounded by mountains.  We got to see several lighthouses.  We had a moose and calf greet us shortly after we left the ferry dock in Haines.  That was a pleasant surprise!

We stayed in a hotel that was renovated from the officer's quarters of the original Fort Seward.  Fort Seward was the first army post in Alaska.  There are still several buildings that surround the parade grounds.  http://www.bellsalaska.com/haines.html

We took the Fast Ferry (no motorcycle) to Skagway.  The ride was nice and the visit to Skagway was interesting.  Gave us more of a perspective of the hardships that the gold seekers had to go through when they came for the gold rush.   http://www.skagway.com/

 

We have made our first 1000 driving miles.  With the ferry, it has taken us almost two weeks to accomplish.

July 9-10, 2008 -- Juneau

We left Sitka on a large catamaran through the ferry system to Juneau.  Took about 1/2 the time of the regular ferry and quite exquisite inside.  They didn't have any lodging, but the seating was quite comfortable.  Of course, there was beautiful scenery along the way.

Juneau was an experience within itself.  From staying in the oldest still-operating hotel to having five luxury cruise ships in port.  It was quite a range of experience.  We opted to have a room with a shared bath, but sharing it with the local residents caused us to upgrade to a private room the next night.  The hotel was quite quaint, located in the central historic portion of downtown Juneau.  There was a bar downstairs, but we were lucky that the noise didn't travel upward.  Parking in historic Juneau is "everyone fends for themselves".  One of the residents in the hotel drove a Harley, so he waited until a parking space became available and then we parked with 3 Harleys for the night.  Otherwise, Ed could park the motorcycle on the hill behind the hotel -- it would only take 83 stairs one way to access it  We were able to leave it in covered parking the next night.  There is a lot of history in this area.  We had a beer and hamburger at the Red Dog Saloon.  http://www.reddogsaloon.com/ 

Raining as usual -- we got up early the second day and drove out to the Mendenhal Glacier.  One doesn't realize how large the glaciers are until you get up close.  We were early enough that the first tour bus hadn't arrived.  Quite serene, and you could hear the sound of the waterfall.  There are a total of 47 driving miles in the Juneau area.  We managed to drive 70 with some backtracking from the glacier.  The town of Douglas is across the bridge, so we were also able to see Juneau from the other side of the bay.  That evening we had dinner at the Hangar Bar -- here we sat at the bar and watched the sea planes land.

Can you see the small plane!


 We actually had a reasonable boarding time for the ferry, so we took the Alaskan Brewing Co. tour. Quite interesting! They had expanded on a brew that had been brought over from Czech back during the gold rush days. The Czech had brought his own ingredients and the beer was stored in caves. Today, this is the fastest growing micro-brewery. They started delivery in Colorado recently -- might want to try the Amber, Summer Ale, or Smoked Porter if you get the chance. Because of their volume in sales, they are no longer considered a micro-brewery. http://www.alaskanbeer.com/

July 7-8, 2008 -- Sitka

We had to be in the line at 4:00 AM to catch the ferry to Sitka.  It was another night on the ferry, but we slept inside on this trip.  (We donated our tent to the last ferry's crew.)  Gordon (our 67 year old motorcyclist) joined us on this leg of the trip.  While we were waiting at the terminal, the Ketchikan Harley Davidson owner came over to talk with Ed and Gordon about riding boots.  Then on the ferry there were 5 more riders -- a couple from Seattle and 3 gals.  The Seattle wife was introduced as the couple's GPS, which is what I am by telling Ed which roads to take.  One of the gals retired from BMW Motorcycles and had her motorcycle shipped to Seattle from Boston so she could take this trip.  We had more fun with non-riders stopping and talking to us about where we had come from and the motorcycle rides.

We arrived in Sitka at 5:15 AM (sleeping a few hours on the floor of the lounge on the ferry).  The scenery was beautiful through this area.  One of the advantages of going on the ferry is that you get to travel through the Wrangell Narrows.  It is a waterway where it appears almost as a river.  It is about 21 miles long, and there are channel markers along the way.  Someone from the captain's crew needs to stand at the front of the boat and give hand signals to the captain.  We did it in the daylight.  Sounds quite interesting at night, however, because the channel markers flash green and red, it gives almost an optical illusion as you are looking down the channel.  Another advantage of the ferry is we

got to stop at Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake (which are not normal stops for the cruise line).  These towns are part of the fishing industry.  We were able to see a couple of more whales and some otters -- but, of course, I wasn't ready with the camera.

A little history of Sitka -- it used to be the capital of Russia-America prior to the United States purchasing it.  There wasn't much open when we got off the ferry, so we had breakfast and then did some touring in the rain.  St Michael's Cathedral (Russian Orthodox) is beautiful.  Across the street is the first Lutheran Church on the west coast of North America (established by the Finns).  We climbed Castle Hill where on Oct 18, 1867, it was the site of the transfer of Alaska to the United States as a territory.  The view was beautiful from what we could see.  It is strange seeing a fishing wharf on the ocean, with a volcanic mountain in the background covered with snow.  It took Ed to see the New Archangel Dancers -- although none of the performers are Russian, they have continued the tradition of learning Russian dances and performing for many Sitka visitors.  (Visitors included passengers from of the cruise ships that was in port that day.)  We also visited the historic museum and learned so much more about Alaska's involvement in World War II. 

After not being able to check into the hotel right away, and having to walk around in our riding boots, Ed had to fit our boots with cushioned insoles.  We then took a motorcycle ride around the island and saw the Coast Guard base and the University of Alaska-Sitka.  We were also able to visit the Sitka National Historic Park, which houses the history of the Tlingit Indians and their takeover by the Russians.  The park was full of about 25 totem poles.

July 6, 2008 -- Ketchikan

We arrived in Ketchikan at 7:00 AM after two nights on the water.  Had to breakdown the air mattresses and repack the bags, etc. and then had to repack the motoryclc to get off the ferry.  We were the lucky ones because those that were continuing on had to change ferries here because the ferry we were on had to go into maintenance.  That meant they had to repack and unpack unexpectantly.  The folks on the motorcycles weren't too pleased because they had packed to bring everything on board once.

Ketchikan is quite a neat town.  We walked through the downtown area and visited the Totem Heritage Center.  There was a cruise ship in town, but not a lot of folks around the stores.  We stayed in one of the older hotels in downtown Ketchikan (had to share a toilet and bathtub).  The hotel overlooked main street and the waterfront.  There was snow on the peaks on the hills across the bay.  We could watch seaplanes take off and land from our room.

The older section of town along the creek was where the original settlers had resided.  We visited one of the original brothals.  The railcar took us a hotel at the top, and then we walked back down seeing more totems and other historic builidngs.

July 4-5, 2008 -- Ferry Ride North

We sailed from Bellingham, WA and there were 8 other motorcycles.  Three were on BMWs from Floida with 3 men and 1 lady, one younger fellow from Wisconsin who was headed to Alaska to fish, a couple from Macon, Georgia who were returning after having lived in Alaska several years ago, a couple from California on another Goldwing like ours, and a gentleman (age 67) who was traveling from Arizona.  We ended up standing in line for 3 hours before we were allowed to board, so everyone got acquainted talking about the different types and styles of motorcycles.

They finally got everyone on board, and by the time we unloaded, we got the last tent spot on the solarium deck.  I would say there were about 10 tents on our level, and maybe the same on the floor below us.  We were the only ones from the motorcycle group that ventured out with a tent.  The other Honda could got a stateroom, and the remainder blew up their air matresses and slept in the outside solarium. 

We had a nice start from Bellingham with sunny skies, but the wind proved to be an adventure in keeping the tent in place.  The following day the rain began and it rained most of the way to Ketchikan.  When we boarded, the captain said to consider it as Alaskan soil, so all of our time was set to Alaskan time.  It was interesting as we traveled through the Canadian portion of the waters, because watches were off an hour because they were picking up Canadian time.

Let's just say, when it rains in Alaska, IT RAINS.  We had storms throughout the night and then the wind to stir it around even more.  The kids in the tent next to us didn't have a rain fly on their tent, so had to move the tent in the middle of the night.  We had to tape the tents down with duct tape, and the next day two tents came loose and were rolling around the deck.  We had bought a lightweight tent for this trip (because we were carrying it on the motorcycle; and although being brand "new", it leaked.  Then when the wind was blowing, we both almost had to be in the tent at all times to keep it in place.  Needless to say, the next night we slept in the Theatre Room and used the recliners.

Although cloudy, the scenery was awesome.  We were what they called "out to sea" 3 different times for about an hour.  The rest of the time we were wandering through the many islands of the Inland Passage -- waterfalls, lush forests, and God's magnificent beauty.  Did see some dolphis and two whales along side, but wasn't fast enough with the camera to be able to get pictures.