Bellingham to Cascade Locks

After a hellish ride we were so glad to be off the ferry finally.  First things first we went to the Marine Park nearby to let Millie poo and eat breakfast.  She was very happy to be off the ferry too.  Then we found a off leash area near by (on 4th Street) where Millie got to run around more.  She was a usual naughty self and decided to jump in and roll around in a mud puddle just as we were about to leave.  Argh!  Good thing we carried a few towels with us for times like this.

Kaiten zushi

After leaving Bellingham we headed for Bellevue to meet with Sue & Mike at the Sushi Maru, my first kaiten zushi in the U.S.  It was pretty good!  Then a 3 hour drive to Portland to meet Maria and her friend for dinner at Tasty N Sons.  Unfortunately, I ended up asking her to come out to the ghetto of Portland because I wanted to avoid downtown traffic.  I wish I had left it to her to pick a place... oh well.  By the time we were done eating we had to head for our hotel, which was still 45 minutes away.  I didn't get to see much of Portland at all like I thought I might, so I guess I'll have to come back and check out this city again properly.

Tonight we're in Best Western Plus Cascade Locks.  I've been trying to stay in Best Western hotels where I can since they have the most pet friendly rooms.  Although a Mariott or Hilton would be nice, their pet fees ($75-100) are worth it only if you stay there a long time.  Most Best Western hotels that allow pets don't charge a pet fee, or if they do, it's only like $10 or $20 a night.  So far this hotel and the Best Western Plus Landing in Ketchikan have been really nice.  There aren't 'Plus' hotels in all the places we're going, so it won't be nice all the way, but hopefully the regular Best Westerns will be a comfortable stay.

Ketchikan to Bellingham

Ketchikan

The ferry ride from Ketchikan to Bellingham started off okay.  We watched couple of movies the first night - MIB3 and Battleship, which helped make time go by.  The rest of the 1.5 day ride didn't go so smooth....

We were on the Matanuska, a sister ship to Malaspina, the one I took from Bellingham to Juneau two years ago.  Malaspina was an old ship, but this one seemed even older, and it wasn't anywhere near as nice as Taku, the one we just took from Juneau to Ketchikan.  This didn't really matter too much though.  The main problem with the trip was that we couldn't get Millie to pee or poo for about 30 hours while on the ferry.  Since there are no port calls on this leg of the trip, we are given 15 minutes at 0815, 1415, 2015, & 0015 daily to feed and walk our dogs on the car deck.  It was quite distressing to not see her go pet call after pet call.  To make matters worse, I got like 2 hours of sleep the first night on the ferry thanks to a book I couldn't put down.  By the 18 hour mark I was worried sick about Millie, thinking how uncomfortable she might be and wondering whether she'd end up going inside the car where she has to stay the rest of the time.  Every other dog was doing their business but Millie and this one other dog.  The owner of the other dog seemed quite upset too and we kept asking each other "did your dog go?"  I'm not usually an emotional person but I was really worried sick and balled on the car deck.  The Watchman saw that I was upset and came over to reassur me that my dog is ok (she was wagging her tail) and it's not uncommon for some dogs to hold it the entire trip.  That made me feel better.  Due to the lack of sleep the first night, I spent quite a bit of time sleeping mid-day again.  Millie eventually did pee at about the 30 hour mark, but she didn't poo until after we got off the ferry.  (I stopped feeding her after the 2nd meal.)  I hope I never have to take a dog on a long haul ride again.

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