SUNDAY, JUNE 16

SUNDAY, JUNE 16:

     Another beautiful morning.  Got packed up easily and said good-bye to our wonderful campsite.  Drove into the ferry terminal and left the truck & RV and walked up to the little Presbyterian church.   It has quite a history – was the first Presbyterian church in Alaska, begun by missionaries in the mid-19^th century.  The building has been through two fires.  But now the church is in decline – there were only a couple of handfuls of people there, although they said that because it was such a beautiful day, lots of folk were out fishing.  The week of gorgeous weather we had doesn’t happen regularly, and the locals grab a chance to enjoy being outdoors when they can.  But still.  They only have a lay pastor, as apparently they can’t afford a full time ordained one, (one member told us that this is true in most of the churches here in Wrangell – they’re all small, and can’t afford full-time pastors), and she was on vacation.   So members of the congregation stepped in and led worship (all women).  The main leader was one of the Tlingit dancers we saw the other day.  We didn’t recognize her, but she recognized us!  How rewarding to see her cherish the gold in her Native tradition, while rejecting the spiritual dross and recognizing who her true God is.

     And we also realized that the elderly man who greeted us just inside the door was the husband of a woman we’d briefly spoken with at the dock as we were launching our kayaks the first time.  When the conversation turned to “how did you come to live in Alaska?”, he said that he’d been a college professor for 28 years in Texas, but the lure of Alaska pulled them away and he got a teaching job here at the Wrangell High School.  That was 30+ years ago.  We’d heard that story from his wife a few mornings earlier, and exclaimed, “We’ve met your wife!”  Introductions followed.  This won’t be the last time we see this couple!

     Treated ourselves to lunch at the nicest restaurant in town (well, there are only 3), the Stikine Inn.  It’s right on the waterfront.  So we took our time enjoying fresh seafood (halibut for Bill, fried clams for me) and a yummy ice cream sundae for two for dessert while overlooking the water, right by the city dock where we saw the small cruise ship the other day.  We thought that we could definitely see the demarcation between the silty river water and the blue salt water today.
 

Was perfect weather – the warmest it’s been during out stay, probably in the low 80’s.  All of the locals were saying it was really too hot – hard for them to take the heat.  They meant it, but also knew that would get an incredulous reaction from us!

     When back at the ferry terminal, just waiting inside, who should walk in but our Texas-now-Alaskan couple from church.  They knew we’d be there, and brought us a jar of her freshly preserved salmon as a send-off gift!   In a pretty little gift bag and card.  What a perfect remembrance of this wonderful little town . . . only in Mayberry and Wrangell! 

     Soon it was time to board the ferry.  We got to drive in head-first this time.  J  We sailed on the Columbia this time, and because it was so warm we were able to enjoy our time out on the top deck most of the time. 

                                            Wrangell receding in the distance

 Cruised by some more beautiful scenery.  About 1 ½ hours into the the 3-hour cruise to Petersburg, we came into the Wrangell Narrows, so named because the waterway is very narrow between the islands here, with lots of twists and turns.  That’s the reason the huge cruise ships can’t come to Wrangell or Petersburg – vessels have to go thru the Narrows either coming or going.  Were very close to shore, and hoped to see some wildlife, but didn’t.  They say at night, it’s a spectacular light show, with some 60 navigational lights flickering on and off lining the channel.

 

                                           Approaching Petersburg:

     Had to back up the truck & RV on the ferry to get out, but no big deal this time.  Drove 9 miles south of town to our RV park.  It’s very small – only 13 sites.  And pretty close together.  But there’s enough brush between where you don’t feel on top of your neighbor.  The sites are narrow and all back-in’s, and the owner or manager, Skip, had to guide Bill in, a flashback to the other ferry ordeal (there were ditches on both sides).  Took several tries to make it.  Thank heavens it wasn’t dark!   But now we’re all set for the next week J   

     My dad was born 107 years ago today.  Happy Father’s Day, Daddy.  I wish we had had more of them together.