Paige Brady

Southeast Alaska

Well,

The 'Malaspina'

After a long summer at home in Alaska, it was finally time to head south for the winter.  I was looking forward to my trip back to the Lower 48 as, this time around, I would be traveling by boat.  My boyfriend, Corky, and I raced out of Anchorage late on a Sunday night after a feverish packing marathon.  We managed to hit the road around 2am in order to be sure to catch our Ferry in Haines, AK.  Fourteen hours later we had arrived at our destination and used some spare time to explore the town and grab a quick coffee.  With a thorough investigation of downtown Haines behind us, Corky and I hopped in our car and made our way to the Ferry Terminal.

Keeping busy...

It was late, but boarding the ship was exciting and we had difficulty getting to sleep even though we were both exhausted from the overnight drive.  I awoke the next morning and made my way around the ship.  There was a cafeteria, a bar, a gift shop and even a movie theater.  Our next stop was Sitka, Alaska and Corky and I used that chance to get off the boat and go for a run.  We found a great network of trails right next to the Ferry dock so we were able to go for a nice run without worrying about missing our departure.  Having stretched our legs a bit, we were ready for the next leg of our journey.  We would be onboard for the next day before arriving in Ketchikan.  Ketchikan is a small town in the far south east part of the state.  The Ferry had a 6 hour layover here and Corky and I opted to walk into town to check out the sights.  What we found was Ketchikan is a pretty dead place in the winter.  We did manage to find an open coffee shop, so we decided to enjoy a respite from the rain and have a hot drink.  After the coffee and with a few gifts in hand, we made our way back to the dock.  It was nice to get off the boat for awhile before the longest stretch of our aquatic journey, a day and a half without stops before arriving in Bellingham, Washington.  This leg also coincided with Thanksgiving and Corky and I looked forward to spending the holiday aboard the boat.  The cooking staff had a number of good dishes over the past few days, so when we saw the spread for Thanksgiving it was no surprise.  With your choice of fish, prime rib, or turkey and a huge selection of available salad and desserts it was difficult to get everything you wanted without going back for thirds.  After stuffing ourselves, we managed to amble back to the bar for a celebratory beverage.  Sitting at the bar onboard the Malaspina is where I met the Alaskan artist Ray Troll.  We had a lovely conversation and discovered that we knew many of the same folks back in Cordova.  After having a drink together, Ray, Corky and I all left the bar and headed for bed.  The Ferry pulled into Bellingham bright and early and we jumped back in the Suby and started south towards Reno.  We had to spend a couple days in Reno cleaning out a storage unit and catching up with friends before heading out to Jackson.