Musings from the Roost: 365 True Things: 255/Alaska

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

365 True Things: 255/Alaska

In the summer of 2010, David and I rode the ferry up the Inside Passage, from Bellingham, WA, to Sitka, AK.

One reason I was interested in visiting Sitka was that a friend of mine, Betty, had told me her father was buried there. He had been a merchant seaman, I believe, but also served in the armed forces during WWII, and he found his final resting place in a national cemetery in Sitka. She had gone to visit his grave high on a hill and told me what a beautiful place Sitka was. That piqued my curiosity, and a good fifteen years later—a good eight or ten years after Betty herself passed on—I finally made good on my dream of going there. I wish I could have told her how right she was: Sitka is beautiful.

We also visited Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Juneau.

We slept aboard the ferry the first two nights (which left only one day to visit Ketchikan), then hit land for some more extensive exploring in the other spots: a couple of nights in each.

But a good chunk of our time was spent on various ferries. While on board, it felt like sitting in a vast train or bus—you could walk all over, upstairs and down, out onto the deck into the fresh breeze; or just sit in front of the large windows and watch the world swim toward you. There was a movie theater, which we did not partake of, and naturalist talks, which we did. It was very relaxing. I'd do it again, happily.

Here are some photos from the trip. (Many of these have longish captions, which I won't post here. If you're interested in further info, please visit the full set of photos on Flickr. And as always, click on the images here to view them large and on black.)