Greg -
We made the ferry Wednesday morning without incident. Before boarding, we had breakfast with our friend Rod Ryll (his real name) and then had coffee with Beth and Dee from the Forest Service.
Riding the Alaskan Marine Highway system from Juneau to Bellingham takes you through some of the most spectacular scenery in North America. The route takes you through a wide variety of channels ranging from narrow passage ways that aren't much wider than the ferry to open ocean crossings. While the ferries are spartan, they are clean, spacious, and always run on schedule. It is one of my favorite parts of this summer adventure.
It was quite a shock to the system to go from driving on an island with no traffic lights and a maximum speed limit of 45mph to navigating the packed highways around Seattle while pulling a trailer. Also amazing was the speed at which we transitioned from the cool, wet climate of Wrangell to the blistering dry heat and wheat fields of SE Washington state - it's far too hot here this summer.
We stopped in NE Oregon at a state park last night and I tried in vain this afternoon to find some USFS land on which we could camp tonight. We finally began to enter the Salt Lake area and were forced to take refuge in a Walmart parking lot after failing to secure a spot at a State Park. We've been on the road for over twelve hours of driving.
We should make it home sometime tomorrow.
I took the following shots over the past few days.
We made the ferry Wednesday morning without incident. Before boarding, we had breakfast with our friend Rod Ryll (his real name) and then had coffee with Beth and Dee from the Forest Service.
Riding the Alaskan Marine Highway system from Juneau to Bellingham takes you through some of the most spectacular scenery in North America. The route takes you through a wide variety of channels ranging from narrow passage ways that aren't much wider than the ferry to open ocean crossings. While the ferries are spartan, they are clean, spacious, and always run on schedule. It is one of my favorite parts of this summer adventure.
It was quite a shock to the system to go from driving on an island with no traffic lights and a maximum speed limit of 45mph to navigating the packed highways around Seattle while pulling a trailer. Also amazing was the speed at which we transitioned from the cool, wet climate of Wrangell to the blistering dry heat and wheat fields of SE Washington state - it's far too hot here this summer.
We stopped in NE Oregon at a state park last night and I tried in vain this afternoon to find some USFS land on which we could camp tonight. We finally began to enter the Salt Lake area and were forced to take refuge in a Walmart parking lot after failing to secure a spot at a State Park. We've been on the road for over twelve hours of driving.
We should make it home sometime tomorrow.
I took the following shots over the past few days.
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| Leaving Wrangell |
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| Friday morning from the window of our cabin |
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| Stikine Silt and Pacific Blue |
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| Home Sweet Home - Walmart in North Ogden, Utah |
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| Jack's entertainment den and me streaming the Mike Rosen show |
Glad you're making your way home safely. Isn't it illegal to drive a vehicle while wearing headphones/earbuds? I recall mom writing a note on ISP letterhead to the SPD when they gave me a ticket for doing the same as soon as I left Baskin-Robbins parking lot after a shift. Amazing but I never heard from them again on the ticket after the note. :)
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