Life on the Alaska Marine Scenic By-Way

Today we docked at our destination, Haines, AK. The trip on the ferry, Columbia, was wonderful. The crew was competent and friendly, and everything was neat and clean. We were surprised that the inside decks were carpeted. The showers and restrooms were kept in spotless condition. People of all ages were on the boat. We met many friendly and interesting people. There were 250 cabins, but because we had not reserved in time, we slept in our tent all three nights. We were warm and comfortable, but our mattress could have been a bit thicker. Steel decks are different from camping on the ground. Also the decks vibrate a bit. No extra charge for this benefit. There were 10 others who joined us on the rear of two decks with their tents; ours was the only one that was camouflaged. Other passengers slept on plastic deck chairs in the solarium, while some curled up in recliners in the TV lounge.

We were permitted to go to our cars at every port and at times in between. Pet owners had to leave their animals in their cars or RVs. They were constantly admonished to clean up after their pets. The dogs must have had a heyday with all of the tire choices.

The food was tasty and reasonably priced. The weather was mostly cloudy and misty. However, that did not stop us from enjoying the lovely waterway. We were able to tour Ketchikan for 2 1/2 hours, but the stop in Wrangell was cut short due to some maintence problems with the ferry that delayed us mid-way. We did get to check out the garnets that had been found by the Boy Scouts and they were the only people of Wrangell who could sell them. The cities of Juneau and Petersburg (Alaska's Norway) were too far from the ferry to allow us to leave the dock area.

Would we do it again? In a heartbeat! What would we do differently? Jerry would practice pitching a new tent before getting aboard a boat and doing it in the wind. The trip exceeded our expectations. We think it was a romantic adventure. One of the highpoints of the four-day voyage was the frequent short presentations by rangers from the U.S. Forestry Service.