2,000 Miles Down 2,000 Miles to Go

Paul and I are currently in Billings, MT after 3 nights on the  Alaska Marine Highway Ferry the M/V Malsipina and 1 night on land in Coeur d'Alene, ID.  Here's a map of southeast Alaska with ferry routes:

We're approximately half way done with our trip! 

Our first stop was Sitka, AK around 11am on Feb. 1st.  We had boarded the ferry at 230am the previous night after a very busy day so woke up just as the ferry was docking at Sitka.  Our car had been one of the last parked in our row so we were able to drive it off the boat.  Chena and Mendi (our cats) seemed happy for the company as you are not allowed to take animals off the car deck of the ferry.

 Looking out towards the North Pacific from Sitka.

 Juvenile bald eagle.

Neat house built halfway over water and halfway on a tiny island.

 Me.

 Paul and Welcome to Sitka sign!

  Cool church in downtown Sitka.

Our next stops occurred in the night and were to Wrangell, AK and Petersburg, AK.  For most of the trip to Bellingham, WA, we were surrounded on either side by mountains.  The Malsipina is not a sea-faring vessel meaning it does not travel in open water other then for a couple of 1-2 hour segments.  There were some strong winds during our trip and when we entered one of the wider channels (Chatham Strait) we were hit with some swell.  This would be repeated the next night when we were leaving Alaska south of Ketchikan.

We arrived in Ketchikan the next day, February 2nd, around noon.  We were again able to drive our car off the boat into town.  Paul hadn't seen Creek St before so we decided to wander around there.  Creek St is a collection of buildings completely built over water.  It was originally known as Ketchikan's 'red light' district and housed a notorious brothel called 'Dollys'.

 Me on the ferry.

 Downtown Ketchikan.

Entrance to Creek Street.  The last time I was here it was absolutely crawling with the summer crowd.  It was neat to be able to experience the area with just a few other people on the sidewalks.

 View of the buildings.

 Paul checking out Dollys... should I be worried??

Dollys.

 Neat building... need to work on leveling my camera, hah!

 Me.

 Paul happy :).

 One of the shops most of them were closed...

 except this one.  I think it was the only shop open on Creek Street that we saw!

 Paul with the M/V Fairweather (the fast ferry) in the background.  This ferry is often used to go from Juneau to Skagway and Haines and also from Juneau to Sitka.  It can easily make these trips in less then 12 hours.

 Typical southeast AK day with rain and wind.  This is the dock the ferry was tethered to while we were in Ketchikan.

Town of Ketchikan, our last stop in Alaska.

After Ketchikan, we were on the ferry from 3pm Feb. 2nd until 8am Feb. 4th.  We left the inside passage through Dixon Entrance with gale force conditions and waves that were 13-19 feet.  Of course we went out on deck to experience it!  Neither one of us got seasick, which was awesome but we were only in open water for 2 hours at a time.  The poor cats didn't fair so well seasickness wise and let us know as much each time we went to check on them.  The passengers are only allowed on the cardeck 4 times a day at designated times.  A lot of people have dogs and most of the horses in Juneau have taken the ferry trip from Washington to Juneau.  They do very well.  Other then little upset stomachs, both Chena and Mendi were awesome.  However, they're quite happy to be roaming around a hotel room at the moment! 

Yesterday, we arrived in Bellingham, WA around 8am Pacific Time and started our trip east!  We drove to Coeur d'Alene, ID and experienced one of the neatest changes in climates I'd ever seen.  We started out in a mid-latitude rain forest, drove through a desert rain shadow and ended up in Idaho in forested mountains. 

 

Rainy day on the western side of the coastal mountains.

 

  

An avalanche cover over the road.  Notice all the snow on the top.

 I was excited to see a barn with horses.

 SUN!!!!

 Wind farm in the distance and a train bridge.

  

Rainbow and wind farm.

 Wild horse monument.  Unfortunately it was closed for the season so this was as close as we could get.

 Car minus one cat litter tray that took flight somewhere on I-5 between Bellingham and Seattle.

 We got gas at Moses Lake.

 This is for Paul's dad.

  He's happy he can wear sun glasses!

This morning we woke up in a dense fog in Idaho and had a wonderful drive through Montana.  I'd never been to Montana before and must say it's one of the most gorgeous states I've seen.  We drove over several mountain passes on the order of 6,000 feet.  We experienced the only marginal weather so far across these passes and it wasn't really that bad.  Mostly flurries with some ice pellets mixed in.  We're officially on Mountain Time and have passed over the Continental Divide (a bit east of Butte, MT).  We saw literally hundreds of horses, which probably has something to do with my infatuation with MT.  Really a beautiful place!

 Fog this morning outside of Coeur d'Alene. 

Near Missoula.

 We saw a lot of trains.

 Big sky country indeed!

 Beautiful mountains and more mountains :).

 Neat old barn.

 Amazing shot of a snow shower that Paul caught.

 Another gorgeous Paul shot.

 Fields of gold.

Montana, you're beautiful.

 

Tomorrow, we're driving to Rapid City, SD.  Weather permitting, we will be checking out Spearfish Canyon and some of Black Hills National Forest!  Here's a map of our drive so far: