From Juneau to Seward, Aboard the Kennicott

Well, we’re back on a ferry of the Alaskan Maritime Highway System. We boarded, car and all, at Juneau yesterday, and will get off tomorrow morning at Whittier.  We’re on the M/V (motor vessel) Kennicott, part of the Alaskan Maritime Highway System....see: Kennicott.

It is much newer and considerably larger than the first ferry we traveled on, and is a true ocean-going ship. It carries 500 passengers and about 80 autos of various shapes and sizes…and despite what Kate read on Trip Advisor, it’s not called a motor vessel because it carries automobiles. The ship is pretty comfortable, with feeding (notice I don’t say “dining”) facilities, a movie theater and a bar. We have a decent cabin, although it’s not large by any means, but we’ve got our bunks and a sofa and a private bathroom with a shower. That’s something many of the passengers don’t have.  Lots of people on board sleep in the lounge seats or stretched out on the deck. Upstairs in the solarium, you’re allowed to pitch a tent! But open flames aren’t allowed, so no campfires. Lots of people bring their own food, which I can understand, because the prices on the boat are steep and the service is very, very slow.

The crowd is vintage Alaskan…….the men hairy and rumpled and looking like they need a long soak and a good scrub. The women not so hairy. The boat seems to be hosting a convention of “birders”, those folks who live for seeing birds and keep a life list……..a record of every type of bird they’ve ever seen.  As I sit here in the forward lounge, watching the snow-covered mountains slip by (Yes, it’s most beautiful.), I can count eight spotting scopes set up on the deck, with bundled and pinch-faced folk clustered around them. It’s cold out there. We’re making about 17 knots and the temperature is probably about 50 degrees in still air, so the cumulative effect is chilly and then some. I guess they’re just looking at the ocean and mountains………we’re far out in the ocean and the only birds they’re likely to see are passing sea gulls and such.

Birders at Work

Snow-covered Mountains

Ditto

Big Cruise Ship in Front of Snow-covered Mountains

Comment by Kate: These snow covered mountains continued all day, and probably after dark. Magnificent!!

Kate just brought me a couple of peanut butter fold-overs. Breakfast was a simple bowl of oatmeal ($4.25) because one had to stand in line for  at least 30 minutes to get anything involving eggs, toast and/or breakfast sorts of meat.  Every meal has been that way…..if you want a pre-fab sandwich made several days ago ($6.00, but they throw in a bag of chips) or a limp salad ($4.00), you have to wait only about 15 minutes in the checkout line (one clerk, very methodical)...I’m serious.  I had an egg salad sandwich for lunch yesterday and a bowl of mystery soup for dinner. When the ship let us down into the automobile storage at 9:30 last night (They do that several times a day.) I dug out our picnic basket and put some food items in it. That’s where the sandwiches came from.  Kate and I are going to try being there when the cafeteria opens this afternoon for the dinner period to see if we can get a square meal. I’ve noticed that lots of folks bring their own microwavable meals and use the one or two microwaves set up in the dining area. I suppose they knew what they were getting into. Oh well, I’ll survive and I eat too much anyway, and if everything was just like back home, then there would be no reason to travel, would there?

You know, to tell the truth this trip has made me wonder if Kate and I are getting too old for this sort of thing. It’s hard to pack up your house every day and reload the car and press on down the road. And climbing in and out of bunk beds is more challenging every day. When Kate sort of fell off of the bunk ladder a few days ago, and we had to struggle a bit to get her back on her feet in the confines of the small cabin, I began to have second thoughts about our tentative plans to travel to Constantinople next year. I’m going to have to give that some thought and discussion before we start working toward that one.(Comment by Kate: If there are upper bunks on the trains, I ain't goin') It may be time to just stay home and do our traveling on the internet……you can buy DVDs of most places in the world, and the food is better at home.
Now this next picture is something really interesting. It's the entrance to a 2 1/2 mile, one-lane tunnel that is one way for 15 minutes, then the other way for 15 minutes, and from time to time they stop all auto traffic and let a train go through. Now that's special!

3 Way Tunnel

Glacier View from Tunnel Waiting Area

Inside the Tunnel

On the Other Side

Driving to Seward

We arrived at tiny little (200 souls or so) Whittier about 6 AM, and after a not altogether unreasonable of milling around, were allowed to drive off of the boat. The tunnel above was about the first thing we saw as we drove out of the very small docking area.

After about 20 minutes, we had our turn to go through the tunnel and began the 80-mile drive to Seward, a somewhat larger community. The drive was lovely: chilly fog off and on, and wonderful scenery. The air here is absolutely the cleanest I've every seen.......or breathed. Every feature of a mountainside or a distant valley is sharp and clear.......if you can see through the fog. But it burned off as we neared Seward.

The Seward Resort (operated by the Army) is lovely. Modern, if modest, motel rooms. They also have larger units, an RV park, a tent camping area, and 6 yurts! (Comment by Kate: I did four loads of laundry at the resort today. At least they had enough washers and dryers to do all four loads at once. Even though we are wearing jeans and t-shirts almost exclusively, it still adds up.We each have one sweatshirt and they got clean today!) 

We've arranged a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords tomorrow through the resort, at 50% off the normal rate. Since the forecast is NOT for heavy rain (like it was in Juneau) we are looking forward to a great trip.

Here is a map from Googlemaps. I don't like it, but it is the best I can do since my copy of Streets and Trips crumpted. Please note that although the map shows vehicle routing, we came by sea. That's two, isn't it?

The Map

Stay tuned for our next exciting adventure.