The Last Few Days of this Journey

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The ferry ride, Ketchikan, AK to Bellingham, WA was an uninterrupted 39 hours on the boat. A few of the friends we made on the ferry:

• Allison is a college professor in Alberta. She was a high school Rotary exchange student to Brazil and was hosting her elderly Brazilian "mother" on an Alaskan trip. Mom didn't speak English but we found them both delightful.
• Diane and Trey took a cruise to Anchorage and the ferry back to Washington. They were great conversationalists and always knew what was going on where.
• We met a handsome Catalonian who was in favor of independence. He spoke little English and our French, Spanish, and Catalonian was rusty enough there were no heated political discussions, at least not about that!
• Chris bikes around the world. He has done "furthest distances" such as southern California to north eastern Maine. He is now doing "lowest to highest", such as Death Valley onto the Alaska Canadian Highway to Mt. Denali, which he climbed. He also designs things including props for magicians. His website: cycleforheart.org

Here is Anna visiting with Chris and Diane. Pam is in red on the left.

This last leg on the ferry was perhaps the most relaxing. It was a long way with no stops to check cell phones or use the computer. All one needed to do was eat, sleep, visit, knit, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

When we arrived in Bellingham, north of Seattle, Anna and I went to San Juan Island for a couple nights to celebrate our shared birthday. We visited an alpaca farm (yes, I bought more yarn!), a sculpture garden, and ended the day at a lavender farm, which had wonderful chocolate chip lavender ice cream.

Next, I visited Susan, who grew up in my home. It was nice to see her again and see her home, share a bit of her life, and walk the Bellevue Botanical Gardens with a very cool Japanese style home, now coffee shop and office space. The last night, I rejoined Pam at our mutual friends, Deborah and Carl; a perfect end to a very special month.

The travelers:

Someone said, "Alaska is miles and miles of miles and miles." They are pretty beautiful miles!