Before Ketchican (picture on right is of downtown) we did a quick stop in Sitka to unload. and pick up passengers. Gary and Billie got off to go fish for the summer. (what a job) We picked up two passengers who had done some work for the Coast Guard there. Well the Coast Guard was so thankful for their work, I don't know what it was, did a fly by, of the ferry. Since we didn't know what was going on, it was a little worrisome. But the Captain of the ferry came over the speaker and announced why we were being buzzed. This was right after the fly by of the Statue of Liberty by Air Force One. How much did this cost us?
I have mentioned that the ferry goes places the cruise ships can't. One of the more interesting places was a narrow strait, where the ferry can only go at no-tide, (when the tide is not coming in or out). The reason is when the tide is coming in or out, it is not the speed of the tide, but the volume of water rushing through. One long time Alaskan in the audience, Forest Rangers provided a briefing on this, stated he has seen it where the two buoys, placed in the strait, were under water.
Most of the trip was looking at the beautiful scenery. Here are a few pictures.
We went on and docked at Bellingham, Washington. From there to Eugine, Oregon it was wall to wall cars. In fact I told the wife that night I wanted to go home. But she being of sound mind convinced me to forge ahead.
We stopped in Weed, Oregon for lunch at a little diner. And on the menu it said it was the start of the AlCan highway. When questioned on this the waitress said they could claim anything.
Just east of Sacramento, California, we pulled off for a beer, 104 degrees F outside. I was amazed at the number of shops closed and malls closed. We finally found a pizza place in a mall that was the only business open in that mall, and this was a Saturday afternoon.
After the beer we headed for Tahoe, Nevada. On a five lane high way, each way. Suddenly I was in a traffic jam over two miles long. It took me over an hour and a half to get by it. The cause for the jam was that the state of California decided Saturday afternoon was a great time to work on four lanes and leave one open, without traffic controls. So every driver in the five lanes was viving for one lane!!
We got to Reno, started looking for homes on an acreage. We got depressed at the state of the homes. It would cost more to make them livable than they were worth. So we went for a condo.
Condo we bought is over 2300 sq ft., on the second level, double doors to the master bedroom, walk in closets, etc. The`club house has two pools, work out room, library, theater, four plasma TVs, pool table, steam room, pond, patio, bar, etc.
More pictures of the condo are at this link
The picture is of the entrance to the gated community, which has a large water fountain.
This is the last post till I resurface in Reno. We leave next week for our trip down the AlCan, which does not go through Weed, Oregon.
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