SUNDAY JULY 4TH – HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
Well, I didn’t get to writing anything for the fourth until now at 5:15 AM on Monday.
I recall waking up early on the 4th because of the rolling of the ship, which told me we were in open waters, not the protected waters we are normally in. There are a couple of places where the ferry crosses open water and you can sure tell. That was around 2 AM and I got up to use the bathroom and then went back to bed and slept until around 5 AM.
I will try to remember the highlights of the day. We had a few stops today along the way and many areas where the passage we were going through was very narrow. After stopping at Wrangle, we went through the Wrangle narrows where there are places that the passage is only about 120 feet wide. The ferry is 85 feet wide, so there isn’t much room for error. Also, the passage is only 25 feet deep and the ferry draws 17 feet, again, not much room for error. It is a very beautiful stretch and it is cool to be able to see the land up close. From Wrangle our next stop was Petersburg. It is a town of about 3100 people. We got to visit with a guy on the ferry who grew up and lives in Petersburg. He had a lot of good information. Mike and I also noticed a fishing resort and made note of the name. The fellow we talked to said it is a great resort and the people are very good. As we pulled into Petersburg, he gave kind of a running narrative of the homes (some really nice ones), who lived in them, pointed out his Mom’s place on the river and talked about the people and what they did. It was pretty interesting. We also saw a large number of eagles there.
We did see a small pod of female killer whales off in the distance during the day and while listening to Amy give another of her interesting lectures, I spotted a group of Dahl dolphins on our starboard side. I noticed that the little whitecaps I was seeing on the water seemed to be following a pattern so I grab the binoculars and could then tell it was the dolphins. They too, were too far off to get photos, but it is always interesting to see them.
Most of the day was spent watching the scenery and reading. Very relaxing, but I think both Mike and myself are ready to get on the scooters and ride.