On June 2, 2023 we drove our rig onto M/V Columbia in Bellingham, Washington for the three night ferry trip to Sitka, Alaska, with stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg.
Bellingham to Sitka on the Alaska Marine Highway
Bellingham or Bust
Tomorrow we board the ferry in Bellingham, Washington for our three-day cruise to Sitka, Alaska.
Our drive up the coast to get here has been long and, fortunately, uneventful. At times the scenery was breathtaking (Mt Shasta!); at times the scenery was monotonous (the Central Valley).
After leaving Disney, we braved the Los Angeles traffic and headed towards Davis, California.
En route we stopped at REI for Andy to replace his lost hat (unsurprisingly they did not have an XXXL available, so Andy crammed his freakishly large head into an XXL) and for Jay and I to grab some extra fleece.
In Davis we spent three wonderful days with Grandma Helen, enjoying delicious vegetarian meals and recovering from the Disney whirlwind. One day we mustered up enough energy to visit UC Davis, where we explored the arboretum and visited the farm animals.
From Davis we continued north to Oregon where we camped for two nights along the Willamette River at Black Canyon Campground. The weather gods smiled upon us and we enjoyed lots of sunshine and relatively warm temperatures.
Our last long driving day took us from our campground just outside of Eugene, Oregon to Bay View State Park near Bellingham. We all enjoyed exploring the rock beach and Andy and I celebrated 22 years of marriage (whodathunk?!).
Tomorrow morning we will do our last bit of provisioning (food, fuel) before boarding the ferry to head north to Alaska and then the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Hard to believe after a lot of dreaming and planning we are finally on our way!
Disney Days
We spent two days at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure Park. We stayed at an RV park with a big swimming pool. We had to get a key from the office to unlock the pool gate. Then we went to Disneyland and had a lot of fun. We went on a lot of rides and saw a lot of characters like Goofy, Pluto, and Daisy. We also saw a parade with a band, dancers and floats.
At Disney we went on rides that Ma screamed on and rides that Ma did not scream on. We went on crazy rides and fun rides, gentle rides and rides that drop. We had loads of fun and came off of rides smiling and soaked from the wet rides like Splash Mountain. One of my favorite rides I went on was the Millenium Falcon. It was fun because I got to shoot lasers and a big missile.
At California Adventure Park we went on the Incredicoaster. It is a rollercoaster that went up and down and did a big loopdeloop. We also went on the Grizzly River Run, which is a wet ride where you sit in a big raft that floats down rapids. When the raft did a big drop Pa’s hat unfortunately flew off his head and landed in the water. Pa was sad after that incident.
Disney was a great way to kick off our journey and now we are moving on. I can’t wait for the next adventure above and beyond!
New rig, new adventures
Time to dust off the old travel blog; we are hitting the road again in May in a new rig for another summer in Alaska.
Our last Alaska trip was in 2014 with Ma, Pa, Big Kid and Little Kid in our 2001 Jayco Eagle class C motorhome. This time around it’s just Ma, Pa and Little Kid (now Tween Kid, age 11) for most of the summer because Big Kid (now Adult Kid, age 18) is now in college and has a summer job on campus and won’t be joining us until August. Also, the Jayco Eagle motorhome has been donated to Arizona Public Media and replaced by a 2023 F-150 with a Cirrus 620 camper (Big Blue).
In 2014 we covered most of the places that are on the road system in Alaska, so this time we are starting off with touring Southeast Alaska via the Alaska Marine Highway (what they call the Alaska state ferry system). We will take the ferry from Bellingham WA up to Sitka Alaska, then take ferries to Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island and Juneau.
From Juneau we will take the ferry to Skagway Alaska for the “Arctic Dash” to the village of Tuktoyatuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Tuktoyatuk, or “Tuk”, is one of the northernmost communities in the world.
After the Arctic Dash we will meet up with Adult Kid in Anchorage and she will join us for August. Space is very tight in the Cirrus 620 camper, so we will be renting a camper van for her to sleep in for that part of the trip. This part of the trip will include Valdez, the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island (via ferry), and the Anchorage area.
After Adult Kid flies out of Anchorage in late August for a semester abroad in Scotland we will visit Denali National Park and then start the long drive back to Tucson.
Homeward Bound
Sadly, it is time to head back to Tucson. School starts August 8 (Becca is off to seventh grade and Jay will be starting Kindergarten), and we want to give the kids a week at home to settle in before heading off to school.
Since it is difficult to find campsites on the weekend without a reservation, we decided to leave Oregon on a Wednesday and find a lovely campground enroute to spend the weekend, and then complete the drive to Tucson on Sunday and Monday.
Our first driving day was a long one …. thirteen hours! The kids did great, in part due to the ‘flying snack incentive program’. Before leaving Oregon we loaded up on lots of yummy snacks – things we do not normally buy. As we were driving, we would periodically toss the kids treats if they were behaving (i.e. no whining, no bickering).
We were hoping to find a camping spot in Lake Tahoe … but when we arrived there it was a zoo! Not only were there no camping spots, there were tons of people and cars parked everywhere. We reset the GPS and headed up to Mammoth Lakes, high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We anticipated cool temps and uncrowded mid-week campgrounds. We found neither. Pulling into town we went by several campgrounds that were full, before finally finding a spot at Old Shady Rest Campground for just one night. We settled in for a too warm night and then headed out in the Jetta in the morning to find a camping spot for the next three days. We visited five campgrounds and all were full. Back at our campground there was a spot available for two nights, and we appealed to the campground host to let us stay for three. We were apparently convincing enough (or more likely pathetic enough) that she agreed to let us take the spot until Sunday.
Our days at Shady Rest were lazy. Our only outings were to a great playground located half a mile away, with a paved bike path to get there. The kids had fun playing there and Becca was able to convince her brother to try some bicycle stunts in the skate park.
Sunday we got on the road at 6:00 a.m. After ten long hours of driving through the desert, and chucking snacks at the well behaved children, we arrived in Blythe. We camped at Mayflower County Park, and spent all of our time in the RV with the air conditioning set at max cooling.
Monday was another early start, but fortunately a shorter driving day. Even after being rerouted because of the closure of I-10, due to an accident, we still arrived home shortly after noon.
And here we are …
Until next time …..