Alaska with the Brewer's 06

August 28, 2006? ? Day 97? ?Haines, Alaska? ? ?

Today was beautiful.? The only traffic we encountered was the Caravan of about 20 Airstream Trailers going the opposite way from us.? We had seen them earlier in Valdez.? The road was smooth as glass compared to yesterday.? The scenery was filled with snow capped mountain and glaciers.? I kept saying? ?Glacier at 9 o?clock and Terry would say and one at 2 o?clock and one at 11 and one at 3.? Heck the? ?whole drive was filled with glaciers.? It was misting a bit so rain on windshield prevented good photos so I hung out the back motorhome window.? The wind in my face was refreshing but the pictures were not so spectacular.? No one can say I did not try.? ?The deciduous trees are a very pretty golden color and the weeds along road a reddish color. We slipped through US border back into USA with a couple of questions and were relieved to have miles and not kilometers as markers once again! We drove through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and did not stop, as we will take a raft trip back on the river to see the eagles nesting.? Coming down the mountain into the valley this little fishing village looks so quaint and inviting.? It is a small town with a colorful boat harbor, neat little shops and lots of beauty surrounding it.? Russ found us the same RV Park he visited 4 years ago.? It is on the waterfront and we can watch cruise ships off in the distance and seal life and eagles in front. It is another fantastic view sight.? We quickly made reservations for the Alaskan Marine Highway (Ferry) on Friday to Skagway.? This ride will save us 350 miles of driving and with the saved costs in fuel only ends up costing us $69. Plus we get the experience of the ferry ride!? ?We took an early evening ride out to the lake and watched a BIG bear eat several freshly caught salmon.? I don?t care how many times I see it; it will always be a thrill to watch wild animals.? Further down the road we saw a lovely blue heron preening his feathers near the fish counting station. Upon our return to the RV Park, the camp host invited us to a fire out by the water?s edge but we declined, as 51 degrees is just still too cool for me to ?sit out.? Russ however did join the fireside group!? They said it is usually not this nice.? Maybe our luck on weather has changed!? This is going to be another one of my favorite cities!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:? 159
Wildlife sightings: lots of ground chipmunks, 4 swans, 1 blue heron, 1 bear, 1 eagle
Temps:? High? ?61? ? ?Low? ?41? ?    0  inches of rain (trace while driving)
Camping Costs: $22 full hook ups, with cable, waterfront? Ocean View RV Park
GPS: 59.23544,-13544157

Betty Brewer said:

August 28, 2006    Day 97  Haines, Alaska   

We quickly made reservations for the Alaskan Marine Highway (Ferry) on Friday to Skagway.  This ride will save us 350 miles of driving and with the saved costs in fuel only ends up costing us $69. Plus we get the experience of the ferry ride!

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Did you make reservations for the MH and toad as one unit or separate?

I think it is less expensive to take them on the ferry as two separate units.

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Did you make reservations for the MH and toad as one unit or separate?

I think it is less expensive to take them on the ferry as two separate units.

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If I remember from our ride on that ferry, you must make seperate reservations. We had to back the MH on and the boat had a side entrance, not the bow/stern arrangement.  Took the 5th wheel infront of us over 20 minutes to back down the ramp and make the double turn necessary to get on. But then he got some  much needed practice backing<<GGG>>.

Chet18013

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Did you make reservations for the MH and toad as one unit or separate?

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Don,

We made reservations separate.  I will drive car on.  Terry will drive RV on.  Russ will stay connected as he has a "disability" placard and they are allowing him to stay attached, otherwise they require you to unhook. It was about the same cost .  People pay a price, cars a price and rigs a price .  Russ was less expensive because he only had to pay for one person.  It will be an adventure I'm sure.  Terry hates getting off and on ferries and I did not volunteer to drive for him. 

Chet,
Shh please don't tell Terry there is a possibility of him having to back it on!
Betty

Betty,

After the Sea of Cortez ferry I'd have thought Terry could get the coach onto any ferry.

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Did you make reservations for the MH and toad as one unit or separate?

I think it is less expensive to take them on the ferry as two separate units.

Click to expand...

We had to board as two separate units because the entrance is on middle side of the ferry.
So you can pull up straight on the ramp. When disembarking you have to back up the motorhome till you clear the onramp entrace and then drive down the ramp.

chris

chrpennings said:

When disembarking you have to back up the motorhome till you clear the onramp entrace and then drive down the ramp.

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Chris,
I told you  to be quiet about that experience.  I  don't want to worry Terry until the last minute which will be  in four days!
Betty

If Terry could park that sucker on a railroad car, he can park it on a ferry.

Betty,

Getting on and off the ferry will be a piece of cake. We did it three times on our trip from Skagway to Hyder/Stewart.

ken

Ken & Sheila said:

Getting on and off the ferry will be a piece of cake. We did it three times on our trip from Skagway to Hyder/Stewart.

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ken,

Thank  you, thank you!
Betty and Terry

Betty,

Peg wanted me to mention to you that it was there in Haines that she purchased the material that has the moose on it.

August 29, 2006    Day 98 Haines, Alaska   

Today was summer!  We had a warm, beautifully sunny day and every local said how lucky we were to have such a day!  Given a tip by our waitress at last night?s meal we took the Chilkat River Raft trip today.  It was sunny and warm and the views to die for.  We have been traveling along in motorhome for miles  and watching these Glacial fed rivers.  Today we experienced them first hand.  They stay 38 degrees and I hoped we would not fall out of the raft.  We drove 26 miles to the Chilkat Eagle Preserve, had lunch and boarded our raft.  We floated down river in the silt filled Chilkat River and within 3 minutes of our trip had a ?flat tire.?  The valve on our raft blew out and the folks on the other side of us knew and they were sinking into the water.  We pulled over in very swift water and our guide John made a repair using some dried up silicone.  The Glacier Rivers are designated as skinny (shallow) and phat (deeper).  The river today was both skinny (shallow) and phat (deeper) and we were hung up in the skinny river parts several times. Our guide told us about the Chilkat Eagle Preserve and explained that it is all about the fish.  The Eagles stay here because they have fish until December.  This section of the river has the distinction of being one of the few rivers that have all five types of salmon and they will be here until December.  We saw 5 or 6  very large eagles today sitting on shores in far reaches of our camera views.  The river is so silt filled that eagles can?t see salmon until they happen to breach themselves on a sandbar.  CP was our guide and he told us about the 5 kinds of salmon and their second name.  The five kinds of salmon can be counted on our hand.  The thumb is the chum, the forefinger is the sockeye, the middle finger is the King, the ring finger is the Coho and the little finger is the pink salmon.  The  ?other ? names are the dogfish, the reds, the Chinooks, and silvers and the humphys . The shallow fast moving rivers are not at all transparent and we could not see one thing below the surface until we felt the rock scraping the bottom of our raft.  It was a trip.  The folks on board were all from a Celebrity Cruise and we felt fortunate to have even more time to spend in this wonderful city.  Tonight the hosts of our RV Park held a potluck and served salmon.  We had a wonderful dinner and met interesting people who have been Alaska travelers almost as long as us.  Tomorrow we sleep in.

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0 
Wildlife sightings: 5 eagles
Temps:  High 64        Low  48      000    inches of rain
Camping Costs: $22 full hook ups, cable and a park sponsored Salmon bake

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Peg wanted me to mention to you that it was there in Haines that she purchased the material that has the moose on it.

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Don,
Tell Peg thanks  for the tip.  I have  a couple of days here so I will shop careflully and look for  fabric.  I used what she gave me for a pillow I have in cabin in Idaho!
Betty

Betty Brewer said:

Don,
Tell Peg thanks  for the tip.  I have  a couple of days here so I will shop carefully and look for  fabric.  I used what she gave me for a pillow I have in cabin in Idaho!
Betty

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Betty,

I looked it up on the computer and Peg and I think the place where she bought the moose material was at a place called Charlotte's Web. Peg remembers it as being a "two part" store. Fabric and sewing things on one side and she thinks general merchandise on the other. If we remember the right place the owners husband is in a wheel chair and is or was the director of the eagle museum there.

Hope this helps in your fabric search.

Every raft trip I've been on had a similar-looking guide......

August 30, 2006    Day 99 Haines, Alaska 

Even though a cloud cover came in, we enjoyed a lazy day in Haines. A huge Holland America  Cruise ship  came into port today and we could see her from our front window.  Chores happened.  Yes even on a trip one needs to allocate days for laundry, window washing and vacuuming. I did a walking tour of the shops in town and saw a few lovely galleries. Russ suggested the dinner place and after dinner Terry wanted to return to motorhome so Russ and I went bear hunting.  I take all photos you see in today?s pics.  I was so thrilled to use this camera.  Even if you don?t get a good picture you get to use the camera as a telescope to get up close and personal.  We saw a home along the way decorated with my favorite Inushuk figures and an old abandoned home in their neat setting.  Russ drove us out to Chilkat Lake, the scene of our last bear sighting, and once again we were pleased with nature?s splendor.  This time we saw the 3 bears. We saw a mama, a papa and a baby but I could not get them all on digital.  It was a photo frenzy.  Those of you, who know me, know I am a rule follower.  At one point there were many tourists taking pics along the road and it looked like the bear wanted to cross the street.  There is a uniformed  ?Fish and Game Man? warning tourists of danger and there basically (I think) to protect the bears.  All I saw were the bushes along the way and could not get a shot, so I opened the car door and stood up on the car floor with my other foot on the armrest of Russ? car door.  From here I could get a wonderful vantage point of the bears. (Light was low so shots are blurry)  Now I do hear the Fish and Game Warden tell Russ to move the car but bear frenzy was in effect and I continued to shoot pictures!  No wonder people get eaten by bears, they are so fascinating! The bear I did get was fishing in water, and then he caught the fish and ate it. We will go back tomorrow in better light.  I love Alaska.  You must come here!
Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0 
Wildlife sightings: 6 eagles, 3 bears, 1 blue heron
Temps:  High 59      Low  52        trace of rain
Camping Costs: $22 Full hook ups including cable Oceanside RV Park

Betty

Nice pictures.  Glad you guys are enjoying Haines as much as we did.  We left Canada today and have ended a great trip.  The border crossing wasn't to painful but they did take our beef pot pies (think they wanted them for lunch) but left our three steaks that were in the same freezer.  Frank and Barb were searched too but didn't lose anything to contribute to their (customs officials) lunch.  On the way down to Suncrest Resort to visit with the Brinks for a couple of days we saw a sign we thought all of you would appreciate.  Enjoy the rest of your stay in Haines and the trip to Skagway.

"....The five kinds of salmon can be counted on our hand.? The thumb is the chum, the forefinger is the sockeye, the middle finger is the King, the ring finger is the Coho and the little finger is the pink salmon...."

Hi Betty

We were told a great way to remember the names of the salmon - very similar to your description - it was on an Alaskan cruise last year and we still remark on it today.

Your thumb sounds like CHUM.
You use your index finger to poke someone in the eye - sounds like SOCKEYE.
Your middle finger is your largest - the KING.
Your next finger is your ring finger, and a ring is often SILVER.
Your little finger is your pinky - so think PINK.

Paul

We thought Terry had taken up a new career in Washington politics

Nice pics, Betty. I think we have some identical ones from our time in Haines with Russ.  Hmm.  Wonder if maybe Russ has a grizzly on the payroll there???