Life on the Water

Nope, we aren't home yet. . . . just crossed the border back into the US.  We are checking out the Olympic Peninsula, specifically Port Townsend, at the moment.  And wouldn't you know it?  We pulled into Port Townsend last night in the middle of a wooden boat show!  Ed and I have always loved this area so we are thinking and looking into the possibilities of actually vacationing here sometime.  Our plan is to slowly cruise down the Washington and Oregon coasts on our way home.  Then it will be back to normal life on the lake.

Fairbanks is my favorite city so far.  It's not too big and has beautiful crystal clear and clean skies.  There's so much history here and everyone I've met has been welcoming and very friendly.   We have 4 friends here already!  One is keeping Hydro for us tomorrow while we go visit the Arctic Circle!  More on that later. . . time to find another great restaurant now.

This is one of the most amazing places on earth!  I love seeing animals in their own habitat and they are all over the 6 million acres of park.  Luckily, some are visible from the roads that are restricted to only shuttles and tours.  We took a tour 66 miles into the park and saw incredible things.  First, the scenery itself is gorgeous.  But. . . driving along we saw a porcupine waddling across the road.  He stopped and stood up on his hind legs to see what we were.  Then two young red foxes(is that the plural?) watched us from the road.  So far it was a great trip. . . then gigantic caribou were visible along the crest of a nearby hill.  Next a Mom Grizzly with 2 blonde cubs romped along the hillsides.  A few miles later a bull moose left the roadway to chew on bushes next to the road so we could stop and admire his very heavy antlers.  It was like every turn in the road we saw more animals.  None of these are fed at all, no ...

After being in the 'wilds' for the last month, it's nice to stop in a city.  I'll bet those of you that know me well will wonder about that statement!  We even wandered through a Costco [Hydro ate my socks and I needed replacements].  Other than huge displays of rain gear and warm mittens, gloves and socks, it was the same as our Costcos.  Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska . . . by far. And it seems more like a small town with traffic and terrific restaurants.  We are eating our way through lots of very fresh seafood!   We've enjoyed time at a great Visitor Center viewing movies and displays of the Alaska animals that I haven't seen yet.  Did you know that they have wolverines here?  And marmots?   On our way to Anchorage we had to slow down for 2 moose to cross the road in front of us - a male and female on their way to a lake.  The next day we rounded a turn in the road and another pair were on the side o...

1st mama bear fishing with 2 cubs Cubs on a rock watching the people This was the second bear - one muscular mama with her fish Bringing fish to shore - the babies are eating.  There are 3. The smallest cub is next to the rock at the center at river's edge.  He was significantly smaller and much lighter in color - but well fed! We are in Haines Alaska, known for a huge bunch of eagles in residence.  But we found bears!  These are called brown bears in Alaska, but are the same as the grizzly bears we see in the lower 48 - only bigger.  We drove to a lake a few miles from here and found a bunch of fishermen in the water and people on shore with cameras.  I got out of the truck and Ed went to find a place to turn around.  A mother bear was in the water fishing with her 2 cubs on some rocks - they were cute and funny.  Playfully they grabbed things out of the water, then fell off the rocks.  One look from Mom and they scrambled bac...

We've been without internet access for awhile now.  However we've had encounters with bears, lots of eagles and whales!  The weather has continued sunny and mild . . . until today when the rains began!  We are in Juneau, Alaska.  I've lost track of how many ferry rides we have had.  All of these coastal towns can only be reached by plane or ferry.  We'll leave here on the 8th of August for our final ferry into Haines and Skagway.  From there we will have no schedules at all and can meander through the rest of the state.  It will be difficult to leave these coastal towns however.  They are beautiful and historic. A few days ago we visited Petersburg and spent some time cruising on our lobster boat, Theresa Too (now renamed Freya) with the new owner, John.  He loves the boat and other than some upgraded electronics and fishing gear it has remained the same.  He took us out in the boat as he was preparing for a 3-5 day fishin...

This afternoon we board the next ferry for Ketchikan Alaska.  We have to go through customs going into the US.  The trip up the BC coast on the ferry was very long, but gorgeous the entire way.  When I have more time I'll post some of the photos.   Apparently we are hitting the best weather window.  It's been in the high 60's to 70 degrees and some of the locals are commenting on how HOT it is!  Walking in Cow Bay section of Prince Rupert, we saw an eagle just sitting on a fence 15 feet from us chewing on something.  He watched us stop and gawk, then decided to finish his meal in a nearby tree.  Of course, that's the one time the camera was in the car!  We will get into Ketchican around midnight tonight (it's light until 10pm!), stay in a parking lot at Walmart, do some shopping and then get on the next ferry tomorrow to Prince of Wales Island.  It's supposed to be fairly unpopulated and beautiful.  It will be a nice 3 days of relax...

Butchart Gardens was a place we've heard lots about.  Since it sounded so commercial we hesitated.  However, we really enjoyed our time there.  Hydro was absolutely perfect.  He greeted everyone and allowed petting - okay, he encouraged petting!  I got so many compliments on how well-mannered he was.  He must have been exhausted when we took him back to the car after such great behavior! We are still on Vancouver Island - in the town of Campbell River which is 1/2 way to the north.  Tomorrow we will leave this area for the far north!