SUNDAY, JULY 21

SUNDAY, JULY 21:

     Raining when we got up.

    Went to the little Presbyterian Church here.  Only a handful of churches in town.  Very disappointing service – stiff, non-personable pastor (at least that was our impression), pointless sermon, no one acknowledged us at all . . . except for one “saving grace” (so to speak) . . . who should be sitting down at the end of the pew from us but Meredith – one of the Park Rangers we liked so well – we went with her on the Dyea tour and one of the Skagway town tours.  She immediately recognized us as well and we had an easy chat.  We learned that she came up here in 1997 to hike the Chilkoot Trail, followed her dream and got a job with the Park Service the next year, and has been here ever since. 

     Went back to the RV to get packed up to leave.  We never became attached to the RV Park here like we have some others.  What we remember most fondly from our time here in Skagway is our walks and interactions with the Rangers – far more than being knowledgeable, they were a joy to listen to in their enthusiasm, and made us feel like they loved having us with them!

     Our last time on the ferry, at least for the Inland Passage.  Sniff, sniff.  We traveled some 600 miles from Prince Rupert up to Haines.  In just under 7 weeks.  I remember telling people that we weren’t sure how long we’d be in Southeast Alaska & the Inland Passage – maybe a couple of weeks, maybe 4.  We never dreamed it’d be 7!  We just took our time, not hurrying, soaking up the unique atmosphere of each town we stopped at.   We loved every place and would return again in a minute. (With the possible exception of Ketchikan.)   Saw countless natural wonders, both in land and seascapes, and in the animal world.  Met wonderful, fascinating, open and friendly people.  Even if, God forbid, we had to end our trip tomorrow, we feel so blessed and fortunate to have seen what we have thus far.

      We loved travelling by ferry, every passage on it – from the days of glorious weather spent on the sun deck to the days when it’s been raining, like today, just hunkering down with a book.  How appropriate that on our last voyage, one of the car deck guys was the young man who helped us back up the rig way back in Wrangell!  He recognized our truck with the kayaks & funny-looking bikes.  We recognized him and his friendly manner, too.  This was a different ferry boat –he’d transferred over.  Feels like we’d come full circle.  

     Still raining when we got to Haines.  The ferry dock is outside of town, so nothing around it but forest.  Drove about 4 or 5 miles to town and found our RV park easily.  It’s a very lovely park – the sites are on grass, spacious, and lovingly landscaped.  It looked only half-filled, if that.  Wonder what the story is. 

     Decided to go out for dinner.  We’d picked up a 2-lb box of shrimp yesterday in Skagway, and had grilled half last night.  Absolutely sweetly delicious!  But too wet to grill tonite, so found a Mexican restaurant down by the waterfront.  Not a big place, but full when we got there.  Apparently popular with the locals.  A nice menu.  Bill ordered steak fajitas, and I got chili rellenos.   Everything was delicious!  I haven’t had a chili relleno this good since the way Chevy’s used to make them!  And everything on Bill’s platter was cooked perfectly as well  A nice way to begin our stay here.  We’re not sure how long we’ll be here.  Lots of outdoor, natural things to do.  Much depends on the weather. 

     Finished my book The Interestings by Meg Woltzer.  Great theme of what happens to gifted, entitled adolescents as they become adults.   I enjoyed it, but not as much as the critics raved about it – too much in-your-face analysis.  Let the dialogue & action speak for itself.