On Friday I rushed to get everything done at work that I needed to get accomplished before leaving folks to their own devices for a few days.
I rushed from meeting to office to computer, then rushed to the ferry terminal in the afternoon and walked (both literally and figuratively) away from work and towards the northerly small town of Haines Alaska without looking back.
I met my Mountain Boy and my child and my dog at the ferry terminal in Auke Bay on a beautiful, sunny and very warm afternoon.
The forecast was calling for sunshine the entire weekend. I was out of breath, stressed out, and desperately wanting to leave Juneau for a long weekend with people I loved.
We brought a few warm weather clothes, as well as boots and rain jackets, as well as base layers and fleece tops. Just in case.
We brought a few warm weather clothes, but the "just in case" did not happen this past weekend.
By Saturday afternoon it was 82 degrees in Haines and I ended up wearing the same short sleeved top for three days straight. I did not care........
When the ferry pulled out of Juneau I felt free and relieved and consciously tried very hard to slow down and to wind down. It did not take long.
I have travelled by ferry a few times since I arrived in Juneau seven months ago. I love - absolutely love - to travel by ferry.
Ferry travel is slow, and efficient, comfortable and beautiful, and relaxing.
You see the world around you in a way that is unique and wonderful. You meet people, and carry on so-interesting conversations with people you would never have met otherwise. There are wonderful viewing areas both inside and outside on deck.
I love to travel this way, and since my first ferry ride when I travelled south to Ketchikan in June to meet my Mountain Boy and his brother, opportunities to enjoy this mode of travel have been one of my favorite things about moving to Alaska.
The picture above is of my son. LC was sitting on one reclining deck chair, I was sitting in another, and the sun was high and bright in the sky.
The picture is my son's attempts to good naturedly block out the sun for us.
The ferry terminal in Auke Bay before we headed out on the Malaspina.
It was a partly cloudy and partly sunny day in Juneau, but we did not have to travel the passage very far before the clouds completely lifted and we had nothing but blue sky and sun......
Chris fishing while waiting for the ferry to load.
After watching him constantly reaching for his pole this past week, I have found out that he has not outgrown his love for fishing.......
We were one of the earliest to board the ferry, but even so, this man was already decked out and comfortable in his hammock up on the top deck of the boat......
Leaving Auke Bay with a partial view of the Mendenhall Glacier......
So glad to be leaving for a few days.
Still within view of Auke Bay, and the water is calm. I knew by this time that the weather was going to be exceptional for the weekend.....
Juneau is beautiful regardless of the weather. But I cannot express adequately just how breathtaking this area is when it comes alive in the sunshine......
A view of Herbert Glacier.........
I look at him now and I can hardly believe he is mine.
I remember his jealous older brother running over Chris' fingers while sitting on his ride-on car when Chris had just learned to crawl. And then slowly and methodically looking over his shoulder and then backing up so he could ride over Chris' little fingers a second time.
I remember him as a very small boy raising his arms to me and asking me to carry him. Him falling backwards off the big-boy swing and hitting his head. Crying because Bambi's mother died in the Disney cartoon movie.
A million seperate and irreplaceable memories of a lifetime of knowing this man/boy/man.
And now listening to him talk - about his future when he gets out of the Air Force in a couple of months.
He still has so many questions, so many doubts, so many open possibilities about the direction that his life will take him next.
I am worried about him because he is unsettled and unsure of which way to go next.
But at least on THIS day, on this ferry, on this weekend, I could be with my child and we could just do something simple - visit a small Alaskan town in the summer.
As we continued to travel north the water got deeper (about 1000 feet deep by the time we reached Haines), and the mountains became higher and more rugged.........stunningly beautiful.........
An unmanned lighthouse less than an hour from Haines......
The mountains close to Haines remind me of Norway. Steep and rocky fjords and calm deepy water........
We did not have any hard and fast plans for our visit to Haines. We brought our truck because we wanted to drive the highway up to the border.
The guys brought their fishing rods, and fishing was a high priority for the visit.
Aside from those two agenda items - seeing the scenic byway and catching a fish or two - we all just planned on taking the weekend as it came. Low key. Quiet. Travelling either by vehicle or on foot as the spirit guided us.
We stayed at a cabin campground called Bear Creek, located about five minutes from downtown Haines.
The cabins were small and efficient (ours had one double bed, a set of bunk beds, a table and a chair). It was small but comfortable.
Also on the grounds was a bath-house and a well decked-out communal kitchen.
Picnic tables. A large fire pit. Large grassy areas surrounded by quiet roads. Other guests from around the world. It was all very nice and very quiet and I loved spending time with my family at this place........
Jamie usually sleeps on the couch, but for the first couple of days that Chris was with us my dog slept upstairs on the bed, with me and my Mountain Boy.
After those first two nights Jamie began to sleep with Chris overnight on the fold-out couch in the livingroom.
While we were camping she slept with my boy as well.........
We had a wonderful long weekend. We saw awesome things and took awesome pictures.
This story will take place over the next few blog posts.
More on Haines to follow.......
No comments:
Post a Comment