I'm Camping at the Bowl and Pitcher State Park in Spokane, Washington. I am eagerly awaiting making it into Idaho tomorrow and finally being out of WA. Riding the North Cascade Highway, and the way south through Grand Coulee to Spokane has been miserable, with extremely challenging terrain, lots of heat, and mostly headwinds, despite heading SE.
Anyway, going back to where I left off last time, I met a guy named Martin while heading up the I-5 to Bellingham. He was also on a very long tour which had begun about a year prior when he left his home in Estonia to tour through western Europe for 6 months, before heading to the Canary Islands, the Carribean, and Miami, where he began a ~6 month tour of the US. He was on his way to Vancouver, BC, when we met at a McDonalds in Burlington. We talked for a bit before he headed out, then met up later at a DOT rest area where we talked more about our mutual dislike for touring, haha. Talking to someone else who knows exactly what I mean when I say it that way was great. Some people think it's all fun and lollygagging when you tour, and forget that towing 75 pounds of gear 60-90 miles a day is actually more like gruelling torture than any kind of fun. For me at least, the only real fun has been the neat places I've stayed, and all the awesome people I've met so far. The actual cycling component of the trip is really pretty crappy.
After we exchanged info and headed north at different rates, me determined to get to Bellingham ASAP, I began a frighteningly fast descent into town. I found the REI and finally swapped out my rear cassette to something with more hill-friendly ratios. I also had my spokes tightened, as they were apparently half as tight as they should have been, eek! I bought loads of freeze dried food in prep for being on the ferry to Alaska, since I assumed correctly that food on the boat was very expensive, and was able to leave my trailer and a bunch of stuff at the REI, things I knew I would not need while on the ferry, or in Alaska, since I wouldn't be staying in any one of the cities in Alaska for very long before getting back on the boat.
I got to the ferry terminal just before the walk-on passenger cut-off time and paid for my tickets, both to Juneau and back to Bellingham. I got in line to board the ship, slowly pushing my stuff forward as the line creeped on. The two girls ahead of me were wondering aloud why the line was moving so slowly if they weren't checking through anyone's luggage, to which I had to submit my half-joking theory that the longer they make you wait, with screaming kids all around, the more likely you are to get pissed off and head straight for the bar once you get onboard, thereby creating more revenue for themselves. This got some laughs, and so began my getting to know the group I have affectionately nicknamed the LSU Crew. Meredith and Victoria, the girls I had just met, were among a group of about 30 students from Louisiana State who were all headed to the college in Juneau for some summer courses. Naturally, while en route to Alaska, we all talked about why we were headed up there. After telling them about my tour they were pretty shocked, as are most people, but if nothing else it always makes for a great conversation starter. We made it onboard eventually as everyone began to explore the ship a bit to get a feel for where everything was. Soon, I set to stowing my stuff, taking pictures, and trying to find a wireless signal before we left the harbor. I was pretty giddy about the idea of going to Alaska, and my first time on a big boat.
Our first stop was to be Ketchikan, and not for like a day and a half, so we had lots of time to kill. There is something odd about the atmosphere on the ferry that seems to make everyone just want to sleep all the time, which is at odds with the fact that once we were far north, there was only about 6 hours of darkness. Among other things, this led to spending a lot of time in the bar/lounge, lol! The first night of the 3 it took to reach Juneau, technically the Auke Bay Terminal, I wandered into the lounge to see what it was like, and saw most of the LSU people there already. Regardless of my not drinking, it was the most entertaining place to be for me, so I found Meredith and Victoria, said hi, and so began the funnest boat trip I've ever taken!
I was introduced to like 20 new people that first night, and though it was a joke when I met 3 Katherines, though I think they all spell it differently. We talked some about my trip and why I would do something so crazy, where all of them had grown up and come from, what they were studying, etc. it wa a hell of a lot of fun and everyone was so incredibly nice to kind of adopt me into their little groups for the duration of the trip. Over those 3 days we all spent a lot of time in the bar, apparently making one of the bartenders really mad. There was not exactly a mob of all 30 someodd of us at all times, but when in the bar it was at least a dozen, or more if one of their teachers was drinking with us too, lol. Of course, my drink for the weekend, as always, was ice water with a cherry, which the bartender remembered the whole time I was in there. I took the liberty of shooting some pictures of everyone in the bar one of the nights, much to the delight of all who saw them. I have since hosted them online for all of them to copy at their leisure, and have received many thanks for giving them another way to remember the fun times on the trip.
We all spent a lot of time on the upper decks watching active displays of sea life, and soaking up the occasional sunny hours. I ate with some of the groups a few times, spilling HOT lasagna all over my lap at one lunch, which was more than a little embarassing, lol. After we ended up waiting for our breakfasts for an hour, and the LSU crew needing to get to class onboard the ship, which was held in the bar FYI, I delivered our food by wheeled cart in the middle of class, and more or less sat in on their classes for the day after we all ate our late breakfast during the class. I cannot stress how nice it was to have people to hang out with over the course of what might have ended up being a very boring boat ride. Everyone was so friendly and funny and just awesome! If any of you read this, you have my sincerest thanks for making my trip up there so much damn fun!! :D
I slept in when we arrived in Auke Bay, my major stop, preferring to sleep til the last minute before I had to get off the ferry and head into the Alaskan summer rain. It was about 6am or so when I got outside and headed for the bus terminal in Auke Bay itself, which would take me and my stuff toward Juneau. I saw the Mendenhall Glacier, lots of trees, and lots of clouds, ha. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and almost foggy near the Glacier, so the pics are few and less than ideal. Th sense of scale of the scenery is hard to grasp, but seeing it in person, even through the rain, was incredible. Obviously I saw a lot from the ferry itself, but traveling along the base of these huge snowy mountains was different and awe inspiring. I will admit to spending much of my time in the Juneau/Auke Bay area inside Safeway, using the internet to download MotoGP races, lol! I did explore some while I was there, but the constant rain made me think more and more that although it was cool to go there and tour around a little, getting a small slice of what it's like there has made me want to plan an entirely separate, non-bicycle based trip back up there someday, which made me feel less bad about only being there for a short time.
The night I caught the ferry headed back to Bellingham, WA, it was about midnight when the ship arrived. While waiting at the terminal for a few hours, I met Jack, and 50 something from SE Australia who was doing some world travel. He was an awesome guy and we shared some good travel tales, and talked about my crazy trip. I learned a lot about Australia that I didn't know, and got some good tips on some places I now want to visit when I hopefully make it down there someday. Once onboard I was lucky enough to land a reclining chair space in the Solarium, which is the glass top, heated, partially enclosed deck on the aft end of the ship, basically where everyone wants to sleep, as most people don't want to pay for a cabin. Over the whole trip I stayed up pretty late most nights, partly to help me sleep later than 6am, ha. Editing/taking pictures, journaling, and without the LSU Crew, spending a lot of time watching anime and motorcycle races on my laptop. They have a recliner lounge onboard that shows movies so I watched a couple I hadn't seen. Secretariat had the place pretty full so I sat on the floor in an empty space next to the two girls who would end up making the return leg of the trip much more interesting and a lot of fun.
Taking a step back though, in case you haven't from the pictures on the FB page, I only have one pair of pants with me: my fatigues. Also known to most people as "camo pants." When I was packing for this trip, aware that space and weight are at an absolute premium, I looked at my closet and thought "what are the most durable clothes I own?" Well, all my t-shirts were the same quality, so I simply chose my favorite. For pants, the decision was clear: fatigues. I have had this pair since middle school, they still fit, and are in excellent condition even after years of use. Granted, it does make me feel like a weirdo to wear them so often while off the bike, but it is what it is. Those of you who know how I used to dress on a daily basis in the years before I left to start this tour, can hopefully fully appreciate how odd it is for me to dress like this nowadays, ha!
So, I think it was on the second day headed back to Bellingham, I was ascending the narrow stairs up to the Solarium when, upon reacing the landing at the top of the stairwell, the girl ahead of me turns and compliments me on my pants...I may or may not have blushed. Usually such a comment from an attractive young lady would have been made in jest, or perhaps even out of ridicule, but it seemed it was sincere. I said thank you and proceeded to offer a brief explanation, similar to the one I just offered you, as to why I was always wearing them. This began a long, splendid conversation, though partially, unfortunately, ruled by my motor-mouth (I hadn't even had any coffee! :/ ), but also the making of this awesome new acquaintance, McKenna.
She and her sister Haley (I'm so sorry if I spelled it incorrectly! ;D ) had been who I was sitting next to while in the movie room the day prior. We chatted about where we were from, my bike tour, travel, school, weather, all kinds of stuff. Sometime into this, my manners came back to me and I introduced myself. Eventually her sister came up and I met both her and the 2 other fellow travelers, Chris and Louie. After introductions and a brief explanation of my trip we all talked and hung out for a while. McKenna and Haley were headed to Montana for school, Chris was eventually making his way back to Minnesota, while Louie was, if I remember correctly, just hanging out in Bellingham for the day before heading back north on the ferry towards his home. Again, I had been blessed with meeting new, incredibly awesome people while on the boat, so cool! Later that day, in search of food, we headed down to the dining room to see about dinner. After waiting around, killing time for over an hour (The arcade!!!), and a false alarm of a ready table, we were finally seated for dinner, and of course, more great conversations. After sharing food, stories, and our respective destinations/travel plans, (but not before McKenna and I discovered we share the same favorite book(!)) we set off for the lounge where we was treated to live music, singing sisters, and Haley rocking out on the guitar! Good times, indeed. After a truly great night of getting to know these fine new fellows of mine, we all retired to sleep until the next morning, bright and very early, when we were approaching Bellingham, our final stop.
Waking a couple hours before our arrival time, we said our groggy good mornings and regrouped to seek food. After finding out that the dining room would not be open that morning we headed to the cafeteria where I ate probably my 20th and 21st bagels since I had started my ferry journey a week prior. After packing up we all met up on the car deck where I had the pleasure of meeting the final member of our little troop, Charlie, the fluffiest dog I've ever met, and a very well behaved pup, considering the hectoc, loud environment that is the car deck upon disembarking. Eventually the four of them drove off the ship, I walked, and they found me again near the terminal driveway. We somehow managed to fit everyone's stuff, all 5 people, and Charlie into the car as we headed into town to drop people off, a service for which I am eternally grateful. :D Along the way, as everyone's phones were coming to life, I was apparently stored in a phone as "Loren camo pants," despite my protests, haha!
We dropped Louie first at a coffee shop, then me at the REI so I could pick up my stuff and start the ride to my hosts' house in Bellingham. After exchanging contact info, donating half of a huge back of sugar smacks to their long drive, and making sure I had all my stuff, I bid farwell to my new friends. I say farewell instead of the usual goodbye since, in keeping with their infinitely kind demeanors, all 3 offered to meet up again along the rest of my trip when I was to pass through their respective parts of the country. Big smile on my face even as I type that. I'll be so stoked to see a familiar face or two!
While waiting for the REI to open I killed most of the day at the Sbux across the parking lot, doing more mapping, trip research, and getting in touch with my CouchSurfing host, Caitlin. Once I left REI I had some errands to run in town, like the bank, and the Verizon store in the mall off I-5, just north of Bellingham center. The bank took no time at all, but the phone thing took forever. I had to switch my account to pre-paid, huge PITA, made easier only by the fact that the people who were handling it understood that I was not in a rush, so they were getting it done right...for the most part...I just found out that I was apparently misinformed with regards to my voicemail setup, and have consequently lost all my saved voicemails, 20 or so I had saved over the past 6 years, really special ones from dear friends, funny ones, happy birthday wishes from family, etc. I'm fucking livid, since I even asked about that and was not told they would be lost in the conversion. Now there is no way to go back and get them. Very displeased...
Anyway, I'm too pissed to keep typing so I'll have to pick this up again soon to cover from leaving Bellingham to wherever I am when I have internet again...TTFN.
