Sorry to tease my burgeoning readership by starting this blog then failing to update it for a week... I don't have internet access at home yet (I am experiencing intense indecision about which provider to choose... the cable internet package has a monthly usage limit unless you pay $40 extra, which is l-a-m-e) so I've been sort of un-wired so far. Anyway, I've got stories--let's start with how I got here.
I'm so glad I started my year here with a long, involved, and exciting journey... makes me feel like I'm really here, much more than I imagine I would if I flew in or something. It's pretty cool that my self and all my personal belongings have actually "witnessed" almost every mile of land/sea between here and San Francisco.
Phase 1: San Francisco to Seattle (810 miles)
My mom and I headed out from Orinda on Aug. 23 with my stuffed and slightly sluggish Subaru. I packed most of my clothing in those awesome plastic bags that you suck all the air out of with a vacuum... which meant I actually had a reasonable amount of space in the car, but everything was pretty dense and heavy. I had my Last In-n-Out Burger by Travis Air Force Base :( We resisted the urge to stop at the outlets in Vacaville, and spent the night in Medford, OR after a nice dinner and stroll in Ashland, wherein I reminisced about many theater-nerdly trips in high school, and about all the crushes I had on the actors, and how they seemed like celebrities when we'd see them walking around the streets of Ashland. (Side note: Windmill Inn = best chain motel ever... they have free wireless in the rooms, and allow pets!) The next day we ambled up to Seattle and ate a really exceptional dinner at Wild Ginger (I think my momma was a little worried that I kept referring to it as my "last meal"--but come on, there's no fancy "pan asian restaurant and satay bar" in Anchorage, so I was sort of right).
Phase 2: Bellingham to Haines (1041 miles)
I deposited my mom at the airport the next morning and retrieved John, my traveling companion for the rest of the journey. We made pit stops at Trader Joe's (oh Joe, I miss you already) and Peet's then drove to Bellingham to board the Alaska Marine Highway (i.e. the ferry). We'd read that it was important to rush on board to get a good spot in the solarium, so I waited in line to load my car and sent John to walk on board... it turns out the ship was less than half full so we needn't have worried.
About the solarium: I traded in our cabin reservation for John's ticket, opting to sleep out on deck with all the backpackers and whatnot. The solarium is an open but covered and heated back deck on the Columbia, where the willing unroll pads and sleeping bags and, for the truly fearless, tents (duct taped to the deck) and take up residence for the duration of the passage. It was great to sleep out there... I even dragged my deck chair and zero degree bag out onto the uncovered part of the deck for the first two clear nights, so I could fall asleep staring at the stars, and wake up to a sunrise (luckily it was the sunrise that woke me up, and not rain, or being blown overboard).
The scenery through the inside passage was incredible. We popped onshore and poked around in Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Petersburg. The food onboard (particularly the fish and chips) was delectable. We drank beers with the other young solarium folks in the shipboard cocktail lounge, which was an amazing relic straight outta the 70s (we hope the rumors that they're going to remodel it aren't true). We listened to lectures given by the on-board naturalist about how to identify marine life, bear safety, and more. All in all it was an absolutely worthwhile journey, a great way to cover a thousand miles and see the inside passage, and a nice balance to the tons of driving we were about to do.
Phase 3: Haines to Anchorage (756 miles)
We drove off the ferry in Haines and had lunch at an amazing little cafe attached to an amazing little grocery store. I felt like I was in Berkeley!! But five minutes after getting on the road, it felt like we were in another world.
I've been struggling with how to describe the scenery on our drive. I sense that I will struggle to describe the scenery just about everywhere in Alaska. Sure I've already taken gazillions of photos, but even photos don't do this place justice. In fact, this topic deserves its own dedicated post, which I will write after additional contemplation and thesaurus research, and perhaps some diagrammed and annotated photos. But in short, I don't think it's too over the top to say that every single mile of our drive was absolutely exquisite. the mountains were more plentiful and much bigger than anything I've ever seen. We saw more rainbows in our two day drive than I had seen in my whole life. We couldn't resist stopping at innumerable scenic viewpoints to take photos of.... um... everything. We saw valley floors blanketed in miniature trees and enormous rock faces consumed with moss and lichen. We saw a black bear, bald steagles, rodenty things, and one sadly deceased porcupine. I suggest looking at a few of my photos at the biggest size to get a sense of how immense and gorgeous these landscapes are.
Our border crossing into Canada was delayed by the border guards completely searching the car of the 20somethings a few cars in front of us... I was terrified I was going to be forced to unpack and decompress my Space Bags! But they were satisfied by trying to trick me into admitting to carrying firearms across the border by asking me whether I had any in at least three different ways. We spent the night at the Kluane Wilderness Village (in the Yukon) in a tiny and cute little cabin (we had a bit of a scare when we went into the wrong cabin at first, which was... how do I put this... not fit for human habitation) where we watched South Park and ate some TJ's food for dinner. The next day we had lunch at Fast Eddie's in Tok Junction, a great little diner that had free wireless!! We pushed on through Glenallen and... phew... arrived in Anchorage on Aug 29. Our fantastic family friends Jerry and Nancy took us in and took awesome care of us... including providing an awesome two-year-old (their granddaughter) to play with.
And here I am! John and I spent a couple of days Being Tourists in the Anchorage area before he took off back to Seattle... those stories get their own post in a little while. Hopefully the Cable Guy will come bring me the internets sometime this week...
1 comment:
that sounds like such a great trip! like you traveled across more than just distance - like maybe you ended up in some other universe. and your house is awesome!
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