The Adventure Has Begun!

It has been much more difficult than I anticipated to attain internet access to keep everyone up to date on our journey, so I have been writting in Microsoft Word to make sure I didn't forget or leave anything out. So this post is going to be rather long, but it covers nearly 8 days worth of traveling! So here goes, and I hope you enjoy!!

Day 1 on the Ferry Malaspina (March 19, 2010)

Today is the first day we boarded the ferry to Alaska! We will be on this particular ferry until Monday, March 22, 2010 and will arrive in Haines, AK. It definitely makes the “journey” to Alaska seem so much more real finally being on here. Here is a brief synopsis of what our journey has been like thus far.

Sunday, March 14, 2010 we left Huntsville, TX and drove to Albuquerque, NM. It is roughly a 12.5 hour drive from Huntsville. Our expected arrival time was 11:30 pm. As we crossed into New Mexico, we hit a lot of rain, which eventually turned to snow. Neither the roads, nor the drivers were prepared for this weather. Most cars and semi-trucks were pulled onto the shoulder of the highway and were camped out there for the night. Some found gas stations to park at, while others (like ourselves) toughed it out until we made it to a hotel. Thankfully we already had reservations, because every hotel/motel was full in the area. When we hit the bad roads we were driving maybe 20 MPH. We finally reached a point where traffic had been stopped to let the roads get plowed and salted. We sat there for over an hour. Once traffic resumed, we still had 80 miles to go until we reached out hotel, which was the closest place for lodging. We finally arrived at our hotel around 2:30 am, which added 4 hours to our drive! We were exhausted, and still had to wake up early the next morning to continue our drive.

Monday, March 15, 2010 we left Albuquerque, NM and headed to Las Vegas, NV. As we drove into town and down the strip, our mouths just dropped. Las Vegas has always been one of those places where I dreamed of going, but never thought I would ever have the opportunity to. We enjoyed Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville a lot! The food was great, the atmosphere was priceless, and the drinks were strong! Right next door was the Flamingo. We did all of our gambling there. I won $75 on penny slots (and made the mistake of gambling it all away) and Kevin won $225 on roulette. We were pretty proud of ourselves. We stayed at the Trump Hotel, and I must say, if you ever have the opportunity to stay at one of the different locations (they are going to be opening several, one in New Orleans!) it is a must! It was gorgeous, the people were outstanding, and they were even pet-friendly! It was in a decent location in Las Vegas, still on the strip, but a little further down so it wasn’t in all of the craziness. They had a shuttle that took you to the corner where the strip began, right next to Treasure Island. We didn’t have the opportunity to walk through any of the other casinos, but just seeing them from the outside makes me want to go back and stay a longer amount of time (although that could be VERY dangerous!)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 we left Vegas and drove to Petaluma, CA. This is where Kevin had been the past 5 months, and we had to take care of shipping his truck out. The hotel we stayed out was AWFUL and VERY scary! We were already a little worried about it when we pulled in, but the next morning when we saw the police talking to some of the people staying at the end of the hall, we knew we had not picked a very good hotel! (America Best Value Inn = JUST SAY NO!)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 we drove to Eugene, OR. Driving through California was pretty dull. Oregon was beautiful and very curvy!

Thursday, March 18, 2010 we drove to Bellingham, WA (we actually stayed in Mt. Vernon, WA). By this point we were sick and tired of being in the car! We were sleep deprived, cramped, grumpy, and ready to be done with this whole dang trip!

And that brings us back to today…Friday, March 19, 2010. We woke up this morning and made a trip to Wal-Mart. We had to get an oil change (3,200 miles in 5 days!) and a few things for the ferry. We stocked up on snacks, bottled water, and DVD’s. It only took us about 20 minutes to drive from our hotel to the ferry dock. We arrived early, like we were told to, and then had to sit around and wait for hours! We were told we would start boarding at 4 pm and were supposed to depart at 6 pm. It was all a little behind schedule, but not by much. Once we were on the ferry we hauled all of our stuff to our room and went and sat on the deck. It was a beautiful day- sunny and the perfect temperature (jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt). We finally came back in once the ferry started moving, and decided to explore a little and get something to eat. We poked our heads out after we ate, to see what things looked like, and it was FREEZING! It was like out of nowhere, the temperature dropped and the wind really picked up. We decided it would be a good time to go lie down and watch a movie and relax. And that is where we are right now…

**Here is a little insight to the ferry itself. Our poor little furbabies have to stay in our car the entire time! It breaks my heart to know they are just stuck down there, not knowing what is going on. They already seem so stressed out with being in the car so much, I know this could push them over the edge! And it’s not like we can just go down there whenever we want (the car deck is at the bottom of the ship). They have calls 3-4 times a day where you can go check on them and let them out (they have to pee/poop on the concrete and we clean it up). The ferry also makes port calls (like a cruise ship) where we are allowed to get off the ship and walk around with the dogs. We pulled our car onto the ferry and left poor Winston and Charlie around 4:30 pm. At 8:30 pm we were able to go down and let them out of the car for 15 minutes. They both peed on a tire (they have experience peeing on whatever they can find thanks to the lack of grass in Baltimore) and were ready to get back in the car since it was so cold! It makes me feel like such a bad owner having them locked up like this, but at least I know it is only for two full days (and then they get to deal with riding in the car with us for another 1000 miles!)**

Day 2 on the Ferry Malaspina (March 20, 2010)
Today is the second day we are on the ferry to Alaska, and the first full day we have experienced being out at sea. They call this trip the “Inside Passage” since we really aren’t in open water much, but rather a small passage way through the mountains. (remind me to post a picture of a map to help you visualize). The boat itself isn’t as bad as I was imagining. It is kind of a mix between a cruise ship and the boats you see on Whale Wars (I LOVE that show!). Here is what the layout of the ship is like. 1.) The first level is the Car Deck. This is at the bottom of the ship, and where all of the cars are parked (duh!). 2.) This second level is called the Cabin Deck, and this is where our stateroom is. There is also a Purser Desk, which is where you get your room keys, they make announcements on what is going on, and have books you can check out. 3.) This level is called the Boat Deck, and is where the majority of “things to do” are found. There is a bar, gift shop, movie theater, and the dining room. 4.) I believe there are more staterooms on this level, but we haven’t explored that far yet! By no means is this ship as nice as a cruise ship, and everything is rather old and worn out (which is where the Whale Wars ship comes to mind).


So, I’m sure you are wondering what in the world did we do with ourselves today?!? Well, this morning when I woke up and realized we were actually on the ferry, everything slowly started to sink in. I said a quick prayer for the opportunity to see some whales today, and got out of bed around 8 am (we are on Alaska Time, which is 3 hours behind Texas). The first Car Deck call was at 8:30 am, so we were waiting by the stairs to rush down to tell our furbabies good morning and to let them potty. Once our 15 minute visitation was over, we went back to our room and got dressed for breakfast. We sat outside for a little while, just taking in the scenery while we waited for them to start serving the food. Once we finished eating we sat outside a little longer, and then decided it was “nap time” (hey…after all the driving we have been doing, we deserve to be extra lazy!) At this point in time we hit a spot of open water, and were warned to use hand rails, etc. My worry wasn’t falling down, but rather throwing up all over everything! I felt awful, and lying in bed I felt like I was on a see-saw! First my head would go way down and it felt like my feet were in the air, and then is would alternate. Kevin loved it, and kept saying “it’s like getting rocked to sleep!” I doubled my dosage of sea sickness meds, and when I woke up from my nap I felt so much better!
After our long, but much needed nap, we had another Car Deck call around 2:30 pm. This time when we were finished and went to sit on the deck again, the weather felt amazing! It was sunny, and warm! I had on jeans and just a short sleeve shirt. We went by a lighthouse (I couldn’t tell you the name of it), but we were told it is one of the most photographed lighthouses. We decided to watch this afternoon’s movie, which was Disney’s Old Dogs (the one with John Travolta and Robin Williams). It was pretty good, when all of a sudden they announce over the loud speaker they had their first whale sighting! I jumped out of my seat and ran outside. I was so disappointed I had missed out! Then as I started saying my little prayer to see a whale, I saw the water from his blowhole shoot out of the water! Although I didn’t get to see the actual whale, it was breath taking to know that it was right there. You see, to me there is a huge difference in seeing a whale at Sea World, and seeing one in its natural habitat. They are these huge, beautiful, magnificent animals that not many people are lucky enough to see in the wild. I’m going to say another little prayer tonight and in the morning, and will hopefully have the opportunity to see the whale and not just his blowhole!  Kevin was a little disappointed we missed the end of the movie, so I guess we will be renting it once we arrive in Kodiak. By this point, it was getting a little chilly again, and I had to get my jacket. Once we were too cold, we went inside and sat in the dining room and played Farkle. Of course Kevin blew me out of the water (he has such good luck, which is not fair at all!) and then we ate dinner. Now we are just waiting for the next Car Deck call in about 30 minutes, and then plan to watch The Blind Side at 9:30 pm! Tomorrow we will have our first round of port calls, so we will be able to take the dogs for a nice long walk, and I will hopefully be able to take some good pictures and make some phone calls/ texts!

Day 3 on the Ferry Malaspina (March 21, 2010)
Today was by far, the least exciting day we have had so far. It consisted mostly of sleeping the afternoon away. We did have our first set of port calls today though. From 7-10 am we were docked in Ketchikan, AK. We were able to take the dogs off the boat, and took them for a nice long walk. It was pretty cold (Charlie had to wear his jacket), so we didn’t keep them out for too long. We sat by the car and let them eat and drink and just loved on them for a while. Once we put them back in the car, we went and sat on the deck and called our parents. A two days doesn’t seem that long, but when you don’t have a cell phone or internet, it can seem like you fell off the face of the earth! We had breakfast, then came back and watched Heavyweights (Thanks Kelli!) and took a LONG nap. When we woke up we played some more Farkle, and then we had out next port call at 4 pm. This was in Wrangell, AK and we were only there for 45 minutes. We took the dogs off, let them potty and stretch their legs, then it was back to the car. After this we decided to explore a little more, and found a small arcade. We played Buck Hunt for a while, and then headed to dinner. They were serving grilled salmon, which was delicious, and made me realize this could possibly be what we will be eating a lot of! After dinner we had our last port call in Petersburg, AK. We only have 20 minutes at this port call, so we literally ran off and ran right back on. We headed back to our room and had a bejeweled contest (and I must say… that game gets really addicting!!) Currently Kevin holds the highest score in both the normal mode, and the timed mode. We finally called it quits, turned on Friday Night Lights, and fell asleep.

Day 4 on the Ferry Malaspina (March 22, 2010)
I can’t believe it is already our last day on the ferry. In roughly 45 minutes we will be getting off the ferry in Haines, AK! I can’t believe we are on day 8 of our move… and still have 11 more days until we step foot in Kodiak. When we get off the ferry in Haines, we will be staying at the Captain’s Choice Motel for 2 nights. They have WiFi and laundry facilities, which are both things we are desperate for. We plan on mapping out the remaining 11 days once we have internet access so we can check the weather/road conditions, and book hotel rooms.
Today is the first day that the majority of the mountains we have passed are covered in snow. We haven’t had the guts to see how cold it actually is outside yet, but when we get off in Haines I will be sure to let you know.

As I lay in my bunk, staring out the little window at what is now my “home state” I can’t help but get a little choked up. Not because the beauty is so breathtaking, but because it has finally completely sunk in that this is where Kevin and I will be living the next 3 years. This will be our home. It will be here that I will get pregnant (hopefully…), have a baby, and watch that baby grow into a toddler. I realize now, more than ever, that we are worlds away from everyone we love. I know that we will make it a point to visit at least once a year, but that’s just it… once a year. Thankfully Kevin already has Skype on the laptop, so now I just need to persuade everyone into getting it as well so we can talk “face to face” every once in a while. But what is keeping my nervous/homesick feelings at bay is the feeling of excitement/change/adventure, and most of all… family. Although Kevin and I are far away from our families, we have each other- our own little family. We’ve been through this before, and just like with Baltimore, I know it will take some time to adjust, but soon enough we will make lifelong friends, and will think of Kodiak as our new home.

And don’t worry, just because we are getting off the ferry, I will make sure to keep an ongoing “journal” so that I can keep you in the loop, even if it takes a few days to post it online!