Alaska Marine Highway-Day 3

Well, today was Day 3 of our Alaska Marine Highway ferry experience. We saw a couple more lighthouses today. One of which the steward announced, “Shortly, there will be a beautiful lighthouse coming up on the starboard side.” Emily and I were in the theatre watching Snow Dogs, so we rushed outside to take a picture. It didn’t take long for me to drag her out onto the deck (figuratively kicking, literally screaming), but the ship was already way past the lighthouse. I’m not sure what ship the steward thought he was on, but it was obviously not ours!

This reminds me that as GG, Emily, Josias, and I were returning from the cafeteria at one point in the day, Josias was walking while looking down to watch his feet go. He had picked up a little steam when he suddenly rammed his forehead into a post that was sticking out into the hallway. He hit it so hard that he lost his balance, and fell flat on his back. Thankfully, he’s the type that can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’, so after a little cuddle he was back on his feet again. I personally think he gets the hard head from his father :-)

Today, the steward asked that we conserve water because apparently the freshwater pipes had burst in Bellingham, WA, so they would not be able to refresh their water supply there. I told Shane about the water restriction and he replied, “Eh, we’re getting off, what do we care?” My thoughtful husband.

Today was slightly overcast, but it was better than yesterday. We saw a little more rough water today. Thankfully a majority of it was around naptime, so I gave the kids Benadryl and we all laid down for a nap. The glories of modern medicine!

Lunch and dinner were of the inexpensive variety. We ate whatever we could find in our food boxes and cooler. Emily and Josias had chicken “muggets”, and Shane and I had chimichangas. Cheese and crackers, bruised apples, chips, and bananas were also on the menu. I’m not sure what GG and Pop had, though I think GG may have skipped lunch due to the swaying of the boat/Anavert combo. Dinner consisted of canned pears, mandarin oranges, and hotdogs for the midgets. I choked down some Spaghetti-Os that they refused to eat. Guess our kids are weird. I figured at least one of them would like them. Wrong again!

This evening, we followed the kids as they did laps around the ferry. The longer we stayed in our cabin, the more trouble they got into, so to save our sanity and to stop playing the “no game", we wandered the halls. Josias loves going up and down the stairs, and Emily likes pushing the buttons on the elevator, so we did a little of each. The toddlers’ play area onboard is pretty horrible, so they spent about five minutes there stacking and knocking down the sponge-filled blocks. Josias likes sweeping the floor with the little automatic broom thingy. I think Emily has as much fun going around talking to people than anything.

At the end of the day, we made a car run. At several times throughout each day, the crew allows the passengers to go to the car deck to trade out luggage and feed/water/walk their pets. Shane and I had already taken a load down and I went up to get another load. When I returned, Shane was at the CR-V, but I needed in the van. I thought maybe he had left the van unlocked, so I tried opening the back hatch of the van. What the heck was I thinking? My anal retentive husband leave a vehicle unlocked for five minutes-yah, right! So there I stood giving two thumbs up as our car alarm blared, all the dogs barked, and everyone stared. Just call me Slick.

Tomorrow morning we are due to arrive in Bellingham. From there, we’re back to driving 6-8 hours a day. The ferry was fun while it lasted. It sure beat driving through Canada all cooped up the in the car, driving snow covered roads at high speeds. Geez, this was like a mini-vacation.