Ketchikan, Alaska 4.13.09

Well, we made it. It was a crazy couple of days.

We had plans to stop in Prince George or somewhere along the way to Prince Rupert, but the weather continued to drive us on. Also, we learned there was a Sunday ferry to Ketchikan and we figured we could make it. I checked the schedule and found it was to leave at 10:15 in the morning on Sunday morning. So we hightailed it to Prince Rupert, arriving around 11pm. We found the ferry terminal with 'No overnight camping' signs everywhere so we drove over to the RV park, just up the road. It was closed so we parked right outside the office and crashed. We were both exhausted.



The next morning we arrived in front of the Ferry Terminal promptly at 7:15 (passengers with vehicles were supposed to be there 3 hours before departure) and waited....and waited....and waited.



There was absolutely no activity anywhere except a deer that came out of the clearing and crossed the street in front of us.



We waited until I couldn't hold it no more (haha!) and drove down the street to find information and a restroom. We were informed that this Sunday's ferry leaves at 8pm! Doh!! We busted butt to get to Prince Rupert the evening prior, then got up at o-dark-thirty to get in line. Oh well!

So we hung out in Prince Rupert for the day. We had a nice early dinner, found a couple of geocaches, & did some sightseeing. It was a cute town and we were amazed to see so many people out walking around town! We stopped at a convenience store and I asked the guy behind the counter about it and he said it was the 1st day in the past 2 months that they had seen sunshine & no rain. I also asked him what was a 'must see' in Prince Rupert. He answered... Hmmm... you should walk along the boardwalk in front of the water and....well....you can play pool just down the street! haha... He said most people just stay inside.



We made it back in line for the ferry at 6pm and it took off around 8:30 or so. The bummer part was it was night and couldn't see anything. We will make sure to take a day ferry next time so we can see where we're going! The ferry was mostly empty so we had our pick of seats and we ended up on the floor asleep, as were the majority of everyone else, until we arrived in Ketchikan around 2am.

We drove off of the ferry and found our first parking lot which was right in front of the marina and slept for the night. We were exhausted, again.

Today we contacted our employer and met up with the owner & office manager who got us all employed and setup. We were supposed to live on the owner's boat, but he informed us it was in the yard so we will have to stay in a one bedroom condo until it's ready. Oh...how awful! haha... So we unpacked & are hanging out in a heated room, with TV & Cable, internet, & even managed to cook our own meal this evening. How decadent!

It was sunny again today, with more locals telling us to 'count our blessings' and that it was sunny only 25 days the entire summer last year. I hope it's a better summer than last year! :-) I will tell you - it's lighter later here. It is dark around 9pm or so right now. It's crazy!

Tomorrow we start our intensive training learning the city and Alaska information so we can be experts!

More to follow...
Rene