Leaving Missoula, Montana, our travels then took us to Bellingham, Washington. We stayed in Bellingham for 2 nights, doing a bit of “tourist” things, resting, and getting ready for our trip on the Alaska Marine Highway system (ferry) to get to Alaska for the photo workshop I would be leading. This was something I always wanted to do … travel leisurely aboard the Alaska Marine Highway, taking in all the scenery and watching for the bountiful wildlife. When Friday morning rolled around, we eagerly loaded everything into the SUV, checked out of the motel, and headed to the Bellingham Ferry Terminal. I’ll write some more about our ferry ride in Monday’s post, but for this Fun Friday post, I wanted to share something rather “interesting” about this leg of the trip.
I had never ridden the Alaska ferry for long distances before, but heard of the various ways of traveling aboard it. After we boarded our ferry and checked into our 2-berth cabin, we took a stroll around the boat to check it out. When we walked to the back (stern) of the boat, this is what we saw:
Like I mentioned, I was aware of people pitching tents on the ferries, but had never seen it. Additionally, lots of people brought sleeping bags and opened them up and made beds on lounge chairs in the ship’s Solarium. But you gotta admit, seeing tents pitched on the deck of a boat is a rather peculiar sight! And the quantity of duck tape and bungee cords used … incredible! When the ferry gets into open water, there can be a fair amount of wind in the open air. So, to keep the tent aboard the boat, one must use anything available to keep the tent secure.
Monday’s post will have some images of the boat and some scenics shot during our 36-hour ferry adventure, as we made our way to Ketchikan, Alaska.