We got up and had the hot continental breakfast at the Holiday Inn. George took the cars to get oil changes and all the fluids flushed. My beast (the Yukon) worked her little tail off these past few weeks and the fluid levels apparently proved it! Towing 7000 pounds is no easy task, especially up and over all the mountain passes!
Lance took the kids swimming one more time, then we loaded up once again to head north. Only an hour away from Bellingham, we had one more shopping adventure at walmart to undertake.
George and Renee headed down to Seattle to grab their rental car and then on their way back through, reattached the trailer and met us at walmart.
On our way we stopped in at the ferry terminal to get our boarding passes because we knew it would have been crazy come 3 o'clock, when everyone is supposed to arrive. Next we went to a marine supply store to get Lance and I a pair of XtraTuf rain boots. Apparently an absolute necessity in Sitka. We were told "EVERYONE wears them! Young, old, rich, poor, dirty, clean, men, women..."
Off to walmart to spend another few hundred dollars, we were officially stocked and loaded!
18 days, 5000 miles, and 16 states later, we finally made it to Bellingham, Washington
We got to the ferry terminal at 3:05 and got in line with all the other cars, trucks and RV's destined for Alaska!
We pulled in next to this van from California who really must have loved Bald Eagles. From the photo, you don't even get a real feel for what it was like. Almost absurd the amount of eagles he had stuck to his van! In the hour we were standing there he probably had 30 people come over and talk to him and take pictures of his van. One sure way to meet people I guess!
The ferry was getting loaded very slowly. We were supposed to disembark at 6:00 and at 5:30 we were still sitting in the parking lot line. We had some delicious fish and chips (sweet potato fries) for dinner while we were waiting and finally boarded just after 6 o'clock. George and Renee were able to finagle some visitor passes and came on board with us. They helped us carry all of our stuff up from the car deck into our oh so spacious cabin! I say that, but it really is bigger than the space we've been living out of in the motor home. We have 2 bunk beds, a good size shower, bathroom, and closet with a big window on the starboard side, watching the beautiful mountainous sky line of Canada.
We waited still another hour until we actually pulled away from the dock as we waved goodbye to Papa and Grandma we took a self guided tour around the ship to get a bit familiarized. All different types of people on board for sure. A few Coast Guard families like ourselves, some native Alaskans, some fisherman, some foreigners, some hippies, and some tourists. Some people sleep in cabins like we are, some come aboard and set up their tents on the back decks, and those people trying to save a few extra bucks sleep on the floor, chairs, or bench seats scattered throughout the boat!
We were going to try to sit and watch a movie they were going to play but it wasn't working at first and by the time they did start it, it was 9:30, Pacific Time, 8:30 Alaska time, which is what the ship is operating by but we still haven't adjusted to that time zone yet, so we decided just to go get ready for bed.
Exhausted from another busy day, we all quickly passed out!
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