Southward Ho and Ferry Tales

We made it! We are aboard the ferry Kennicott in the Inside Passage on our way to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Sam and Cindy and Dave gave us a great send off with wine last night. Everything that we set aside to put in the truck fit, but we only have room for two more shoe boxes. Pamela said it was a good thing we didn't have a long bed truck!

We had a great day on the ferry and are in Petersburg on the way South. We took a couple of pictures but Neil can't figure out how to post them from the iPhone. Maybe later. We are looking forward to the Road Trip and to seeing family and friends this trip.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,

Neil and Pamela

One More Day in Juneau (this year)!

We are now in the final stretch of packing for the road trip down to Oregon.  Only one more day (Wednesday) before we leave early on Veteran's Day.  Mixed rain and snow in the forecast so it is time to head south.

Here is a picture of our home made temporary canopy on the truck, at Home Depot of all places.

GMC HagaFinn-Mobile with Custom NeilSam Canopy

Our friends have been making not too flattering comparisons to our packing and the truck in the Grapes of Wrath and how heavily loaded it was, so we decided to include a picture couple of pictures to let everyone know that we did not pack THAT heavily!  Of course, we haven't determined if the bicycles will fit in the back or on top of the cab.  If we do that, we will be a little bit more Joab-like!

The Joad-Mobile from Grapes of Wrath

So, as you can see, we are keeping our reputation of traveling light, compared to some other folks.  We are really looking forward to the ferry ride on the Kennicott and the drive down the Yellowhead Highway to Washington and Oregon.  Stay tuned and we will let you know how we are doing.

We hope that you are safe and warm where ever you are, and thanks for visiting our Blog,

Neil and Pamela

Truck Canopy Built and Termination Dust

Another great Monday of not working!  Somehow we are enjoying retirement on Mondays more than other days.  Thanks to good friend Sam, Neil got the truck canopy covered today so the loading can commence!  We will soon find out if we have room for the bicycles in the canopy or not.  If not, they will have to go on top of the truck cab on a Yakima rack.

It was a mixed bag for weather today, with sunshine, rain, and things in between.  The "termination dust"--snow on the mountains that indicate the termination of summer, is pretty far down the hillsides and temperatures are in the thirties.  It must be time to leave!

"Termination Dust" on the Hillsides are Getting Lower!

The house is pretty much put to bed for the Fall, and it sure looks different than our summer photos.  We usually don't take Fall pictures of the house and garden.  We do have a bit of yellow Fall color, though.

House and Garden Seems Bare in the Fall

Since the weather was pretty good part of the day, Neil took a trip out to the North Douglas boat launch ramp and took a few photos.  The boat launch floats have been removed for the winter and only the dock pilings are there.  Mendenhall Glacier is getting some rain in the background.  Only a few more days until D (departure) Day.

Mendenhall Glacier from North Douglas Boat Launch

We look forward to your comments and suggestions for our travels.  Thanks for visiting!

Neil and Pamela

Colder Weather and Some Juneau Culture

Thursday was a colder day with "snain" (snow/rain mix) part of the day.  We got some more packing done before we joined friends for the Juneau Theater in the Rough production of Cyrano.

It was a great production, with lots of action and comedy--just what we needed to end the day.  We will be busy on Friday and Saturday with get togethers with friends and more packing.  We hope to begin loading the GMC truck and canopy early next week.

For now, the weather forecast is for (cold) rain through our departure date of Thursday (Veteran's Day) and we hope that it does not turn to snow.  If cold rain doesn't excite you, then maybe this photo taken behind Douglas Island near Juneau this summer will.

Rainbow Over Scull Island near Juneau

We are looking forward to staying in touch with folks and want to hear from you.  Please leave a comment on this blog, or send us a note to hagafinn@gmail.com

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Election and Packing Day in Alaska

Another rainy day in Southeast Alaska.  We did our civic duty and voted and then got a sandwich to bring home and resume packing duties.  

The garage is "Action Packer Central" with a large number of plastic totes in various stages of being filled with all the things we think we might want in the fifth wheel trailer over the next four months. 

 I am certain that we will forget things and that we will take too much stuff, but there are always stores along the way and flat rate shipping boxes at the Post Office!  Neil is also trying to take along enough "techie stuff" to keep us going, but decided that two GPS units will be enough (not counting iPhone and laptop).  

This cartoon that someone gave us is timely for this post because of our reliance on GPS in the past.  Recalculating . . . . . .

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

More Sorting and Packing

Another great Monday--because we don't have to go to work or go to any meetings.  Took care of some errands today and had lunch with a friend who is still working and talked about our plans and our new RV.  More wind and rain--it might get up to 50 MPH today, but it is snug inside.

Among the things we are sorting is silverware and dishes.  How many place settings do two people need, after all (answer is eight at the present).  We also spent time getting an old board game ready to take with us.

Historic Klondike Game for our RV Travels

We found the game Klondike in Canada decades ago and we plan to take it with us.  It is kind of like Monopoly, but things burn down and every time someone hits a saloon, everybody goes there for a party.  Pamela really likes it so I think that we will be introducing some others to it during our travels.

Thanks for visiting, and stay safe where ever you are!

Neil and Pamela