All Aboard

In Bellingham Washington we drove our truck and trailer onto the ferry. Everything we owned was packed like sardines (in mustard) in the trailer and cab of the truck. (everything except my kitty, Felix, who I understand is wreaking havoc on Aaron & Ben's long beach apt. and bachelor lifestyles).

All vehicles and pets are kept in the belly of the boat, owtherwise known as the car deck, while passengers go topside. We didn't have a cabin so we opted to pitch our tent on the back side of the boat. I've posted a photo of our tent, it's the one with the yellow rain fly. There is also a photo of the solarium where "tentless" folks camped in lawn chairs. The solarium had heaters mounted on the ceiling so it was quite comfy in there. I liked having the privacy of the tent and the fresh air. We slept on our therma-rests, covered with a thick quilt and then our down sleeping bags on top of that. I never got cold which for me was a miracle.

In the photo of the solarium you can see the "Haines Hippie" in the far back right. I don't remember his name but I believe he was headed to Haines Alaska and he was a hippie. He had some sort of full length animal fur coat he wore when it got chilly. He occasionaly played his wooden flute when the mood struck. I really don't know if it was a flute but it was some sort of primitive looking wooden instrument. I learned he was a vegan and he harvested wild mushrooms. He talked all about eating healthy and pure but didn't seem to have a problem indulging in all sorts of mind altering physco-drugs (all natural of course). We also met Serine and his son who were on vacation. They lived in Maui, Hawaii and were spending a few weeks traveling the coast of Alaska and fishing. There were several coast guard families moving to Juneau, a university professor heading to a conference and various seniors on vacation (as if retirement isn't vacation enough). The types of people on this boat ran the gamut. We only came across the seniors in the cafeteria, they tended to hang out in the front of the boat in an enclosed "observatory lounge" where they could stay warm and dry. I went in this front area and hung out a little as the ferry captin navagated through the Wrangell Narrows, but it was too quiet and smelled funny.

Since I am limited on how many photos I can post per blog, I'll split this one up and post more later today.