Alaska Ferry from Bellingham to Juneau

View from ferry

The final leg of the road to Juneau was on the Alaska Marine Highway System.  Since there are no roads leading in or out of Juneau, my options were to fly or ferry.  Since I had my puppy & car to transport, I decided on the ferry option. The 3 night, 2 day ferry ride took us from Bellingham, WA to Juneau.  Although I should have been excited about the ferry ride, I was actually very worried for Millie.  Pets have to stay in the vehicle except during pet calls and while in port.  That is a long time to be cramped up in a crate in the car all by herself.  (I cannot leave her out of the crate since she would tear my car apart.)  I looked into various alternatives but didn't find them to be much better.  Well, it turned out I worried for nothing.  A guy (called Matt) next to me on the car loading dock also had a puppy (a very cute Golden Retriever) and he offered to let Millie stay in the cab of his truck with his puppy.  Now she had more room and a companion for the trip.  I was so relieved for her and enjoyed the trip more knowing she was not suffering. 

Millie getting a kiss from Charlie

The ferry was an old one, but it had enough amenities to keep us entertained.  There's an observation deck, cocktail lounge, movie theatre, gift shop, and a cafeteria.  I think there's also a playroom for kids.  I booked a cabin with full facilities, which made the ride comfortable also.  The clear skies we had the whole trip gave us fantastic views for when we just wanted to chill in the observation deck or go out for some fresh air.  As far as wildlife goes, I only saw dolphins, but apparently there was a whale at one point that I missed.

The trip was fairly relaxing overall, except during the 15 minute pet calls when frantic owners hurried to get their pet to eat, potty, & walk.  Pets did their business right on the car deck so we had to clean up after them, which wasn't so easy.  Cars were also packed tight so it was hard to navigate around them and other dogs.  Millie did ok, since she went potty at every pet call, which was at 0830, 1430, 2030, & 0030.  Other dogs seemed to have a hard time and their owners worried, so I guess I'm lucky.

Creek Street in Ketchikan, AK

On the second day of our trip we actually had a seven hour port call in Ketchikan, AK.  We took a taxi into town with Millie and had a walk around.  There wasn't much going on since it's the off season, but I really enjoyed a walk down Creek Street.  Supposedly during season, you can see tons of salmon in the creek along the shops there.  I may have to go check it out at some point. 

We arrived into Juneau on the 3rd morning.  Since all of Southeast Alaska got dumped with snow over the last couple nights, it was a gorgeous view coming in. 

View coming into Juneau