"Sing A Whale Song" - Tom Chapin

Now that you've seen the exciting entrance onto a floating hotel, here's the dull, "holey moley we've been on a boat for 40 hours..." side of it :)

First big adventure - we learned about "Things That Amaze Me #3".  A cat can fit anywhere. Especially when he's scared.  And when two people search the vehicle where he's supposed to be and they notice that the 4 windows that were left cracked open could have all been possible escape routes for said cat...preggo Mom goes into panic mode.  I was on a car deck on a moving ferry with about 50 other vehicles full of barking dogs and my cat was no longer inside our car, safe and sound!!  About 12 really loud heartbeats later I heard Chad say, "found him".  Gah.  He was under the middle bench seat.  I vacuum that car often, and I've had my head on the floor-you can't see through to the other side.  There isn't very much open space under that seat...I will say it again-Gah.  Yes, this story is kind of the opposite of dull, but I will tell you that after this I was pretty ready to be done traveling.     

Yea yea yea, I know the view was gorgeous, especially when the sun was shining and whales were sounding...

And when toddlers think it's cool that you're on a boat and not throwing temper tantrums for one reason or another, it's pretty cool, but still-there are only so many laps you can make around the ferry deck before even the toddler gets bored.


Even if the toddler is in such a good mood that you get big cheesy smiles whenever you ask for them!

This is a light house, believe it or not.  As we passed it I couldn't really see any access roads to the place.  I wouldn't be surprised if the only access was by helicopter.  After tooting our horn at them (probably pretty exciting moment for those at the light house...) we heard over the loud speaker that there was another sighting of whale spouts!

On to our 2nd full day aboard the Columbia.  We made our first stop in Ketchikan, AK at 0600.  I got up early and took the opportunity to walk to the grocery store across the street from the ferry dock.  My goal was to get some food supplies like cereal and milk and munchies so we weren't spending $6 on one of those little individual cups of cereal that are so incredibly over priced because we are on a ferry and I guess that makes everything triple in price...but I forgot that we were now in Alaska and I was never going to spend less than $5 on a box of off brand cereal again even if I wasn't on a boat. 

It was a cute little town.

Another early morning for me, this one was our last on the ferry!  Up at 6am and I was WAY too excited about getting back in the car...

...I mean, whales are cool, they will always be exciting in my book.  But, I could never live on a boat.  Too dreary.  Too small.  Even if it is a cool looking boat.

Our last grab of fresh air, about 20 min from docking in Haines, AK.

Wave bye-bye!

Things That Amaze Me #4:

A cat, a 2.5yr old, a 7.5mo preggo, and a guy that's afraid of water made it on a boat for 68 hours!!!

After waiting only 45min or so in the car for our turn to ride the car elevator, we're off the boat and back in the car!!!  Wait...did I just say that?

And only needing one more sign, I was able to get it :)

"I'm On A Boat" - Lonely Island

Today is the day.  We get on a boat. 

68 hours later we would exit the boat.

68 hours.

For those of you who have never put your car on a ferry...stay tuned, it was kind of cool.

This is the first view of the ferry.  I wasn't really sure what to expect.

Once we parked, we got out and wandered the dock a little bit.  They corralled us all into lanes specific to our destinations and then we waited.  And waited.  For about 2 hours.  At least we could get out of the car.

Here is a better view of our floating hotel:

Upon some more wandering we ran into a set of confusing signs...

Did someone not pay attention??

We lined up in the parking lot at 2:30 in the afternoon, we were told to be by the car by 3pm.  We didn't start moving until somewhere around 5pm...we watched Disney's Robin Hood a few times...

And then it was our turn!

We drove right into a car elevator.  There were two, this is the one on the other side of the ship, to give you an idea of what a car elevator looks like.

This was ours:

The elevator took us up and we were the second to last car to get on the 2nd floor deck.  So we backed right out of the elevator into our spot.  And then we got to explore our new digs...

(There are a couple of typos in the above picture-the reason they aren't being fixed is due to the HORRIBLE internet bandwidth in our hotel, I'm not re-uploading this picture...If you can ignore the mistakes, we can continue to be friends)


We "set sail" and wandered outside to wave good-bye to the contiguous United States. 

Not entirely sure why she was hiding...

Yes, these are tents on a boat deck. 

This is off the back of the boat.  There was an upper and a lower deck, the upper deck had a solarium that was heated with a large amount of those cheap deck lounge chairs you find next to pools.  I'm not sure if I have a picture of the solarium, but it was ultimately a covered porch (with windowed walls on the port and starboard sides and heat lamps on the ceiling) where on a first come first serve basis, you could grab a chair and it's surrounding space, claim it with your belongings, and then go duct tape your tent to the deck floor outside of the solarium.  If I had been on this ferry 7-10 years ago, I would have been here.

And if you had a spot claimed off the back of the ferry, this was your view.  They had a pretty awesome view the whole time.  Despite the wind and possible frigid temperatures at night, it's a pretty cool idea.

Making it onto the ferry was a major goal in my mind.  Once in Haines, AK we are over 60% done on our overall trip to Fairbanks.  The Columbia was our substitute home for 68 hours.  It just goes to show our "little" journey across the country to get to the ferry ended at "home".  It was a very good journey, we had a couple close calls (almost losing the cat, leaving my favorite re-freezable cooler in the hotel fridge-sorry Mom), but those are nothing compared to what could have happened and never did.  The deployment (that is almost a year ago now) is still fresh in my mind, and it keeps me enjoying every moment with a complete family.  Every time things get tense, or nerves start to run a little raw, it's easy to remember how empty and sometimes hopeless those nights could feel, but now, don't.  It keeps my perspective in check and I'm very thankful for that.  It's good to know I can still learn from something even though the situation is long over and done with :)

"Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2 days in Seattle, WA.

It rained.  As I've heard it usually does in Seattle...but it didn't keep us from getting out and exploring.

I initially wanted to visit the Space Needle, until we got in the car and saw Seattle traffic...it seems that it's always rush hour.  It took us about 35 min to go 7 miles through downtown.  We decided to just visit the Market before it closed, which didn't give us much time.  We hung out in the public parking lot for about 7 min for it to hit 5pm and only pay $15 for unlimited parking through the night (not that we planned on staying that long) otherwise it was something outrageous like $8 for 15 min.  The downside was the Underground Market closed at 5pm, the above ground portion was open until 6.  I'll admit, it was kind of cool to see the fresh fish and fruits and vegetables laid out on ice (very much like the movies).  I can't imagine people coming here to buy their food every day through, where do they park?! 

We made it through the market (I drooled through most of the fresh produce), and we stopped for one of those rare moments - a family photo...it was really windy, and cold. 

We found a mexican restaurant that was actually really yummy.  I wanted so very much to have a margarita...

Bug asked politely to play "Birds", restaurants are about the only place she is allowed to play on the phones.  Dad was only half watching what she was doing and it seemed she was finding hidden bonuses and things that he never knew existed, and couldn't figure out how she was doing it :)  I guess this generation is born with a weird knowledge of electronics...

Overall, I was pretty unimpressed with Seattle.  Yea, we only gave it 24 hours, but I'm not sure I could handle the dreary weather and traffic...

"Car" - Brand New

Day 3 of, I have no idea how many...

Technically we are done driving for a while after this.

Missoula, MT though Idaho into Washington with a final destination of Seattle.
478 miles.
7-9 hours.
Fort Polk to Fairbanks total completion = 60%

Things that amaze me #2:

Adding a lumpy soft-sided car top carrier to the top of our SUV actually improved our gas mileage from the time we left Traverse City to getting to the mountains.  It seems all those people that pay the extra $ for the smooth aerodynamic cases...you're wasting your money!  Just don't drive through mountains and you'll get great gas mileage.

We had a handful of debates (like you do when you're stuck in a car for the number of hours that we were).  One of them was trying to come up with the scientific term for the elevation at which vegetation stops growing in the mountains.  There is a very distinct line that traces the apex of a mountain that doesn't have anything there...So, are you ready for this so very scientific name?...

Wait for it...   Tree Line

"The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. Beyond the tree line, they are unable to grow because of inappropriate environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures or lack of moisture)."  Thanks Wikipedia!

I know, anti-climatic, right?    

Other than crossing into Idaho while it snowed, anti-climatic was pretty much the rest of our trip. 

We did have another conversation about Princess Hiawatha.  We were trying to figure out why we see her name all over the place, there is a forest named for her in Mi, we were seeing her name along our route out West...and neither of us could figure out what she did...

Back to wikipedia...
Basically, she was the leader of the Mohawks and convinced 5 nations to band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy.  Good for her.  That's some good girl power!


As we have crossed through a ridiculous number of state lines, the ones from MI to WA were the exciting ones because we were on official orders to Alaska.  Well, I did fantastically well getting pictures of each border crossing.  Until we got to Washington...

THERE WAS NO SIGN!?!?!  Jerks. 

It was a pretty state to drive through though. 

And then we hit Seattle at about 4:45...yea we thought that through well...

Seattle means a little bit of a break from driving.  We get to visit with one of our best friends from college.  She's been in Portland for a year or so, maybe two...I lose track of time easily :)  Either way, she's driving up to spend the next day or so with us before we head another 80 miles north to catch our Ferry to Alaska!

You have no idea how much joy there is in the fact that we successfully drove across damn near the entire country (Louisiana North to Michigan and then Michigan West to Washington) without any vehicle accidents or break downs, any major earth shattering temper tantrums, a cat who is in one piece and still under our care, a pregnant lady who is still pregnant and a happy couple that is still married!

I am thanking our lucky stars, counting our blessings, and loving all those family and friends who had any part in our vacation and/or general travels.  Those that followed us on Facebook and sent texts or comments throughout the trip, you all helped keep me sane :)  

Love, hugs, and blessings to everyone!

"Meet Me In Montana" - Marie Osmond

Day 2.

1 state line (ND to MT).
759 miles.
9-10 hours of drive time.

This is the part of the drive I was dreading.  Our longest stretch, mileage wise, and the most boring.  We got on the highway and never left it.  The hotel was even right off the highway.  Anyway, it was flat and boring.  And rainy. 

Marvin did not do well today.  He had a hard time being back in the car.  He tried to give me a heart attack by escaping from the car while I was checking us in to the hotel at 10pm in North Dakota.  Chad had the "difficult" decision to either chase the cat, or stay with his child...hmmmmm.  Luckily there was a man in the parking lot who chased after Marvin long enough to track him and allow Chad to unbuckle Caitlin and run after Marvin with her tucked under his arm...needless to say - my husband loves me.  A LOT. 

This is the last half of North Dakota.  We figure this is kind of what the Bad Lands of South Dakota look like, just a little more prolific.  The buttes were kind of cool to see.

And what long day on the road isn't complete without a big rain storm?

At least I was quick enough to catch the lightening!!!  I was initially really impressed with myself, but with the amount of lightening happening and how long each strike lingered in the air, it was actually pretty easy, especially with a SLR camera...

Montana was pretty when it stopped raining on us.  It became much more mountainous the more we got into the state and (duh) closer to the Rockies-go figure!

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky." - Buddah

Most things in life that we prepare for don't work out the way we plan.  Even more likely that they won't go as planned the more you prepare...

I'm beginning to see that people who can accept the above statement in a positive and fluid manner are happy people.  Constantly happy people.  I know some of these people, I sometimes feel like I'm one of them, but then I have a "day" and the next day I look back and think - "whoa, woman, you need to relax"... I have a good friend (that I know won't be reading this because she doesn't have a computer) who has two children under the age of 3 and just moved to a more remote location that I did.  She is one of the only people I know that doesn't have Facebook.  Hmm, I may be seeing a pattern here...  The time or two I have seen her in some form of "distress" I didn't realize it was that until days later when I was reassessing the situation and I put myself in her situation and thought, that would have put me on the floor in tears!  How does she do that???  What I'm trying to point out is that you can live through stress and use it in a positive way, I know someone that finds joy in EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF HER LIFE.  I'm jealous.  I'm honored that she has allowed me to stay as close to her as she has so I can maybe learn a thing or two.  I hope everyone has someone that they can look to.  I hope that everyone has an aspect in their life that they can recognize as something to "work on"- it keeps one humble.

I'm keeping a list of Things That Amaze Me as we pull out of a drive way in Michigan for the last time in probably a good chunk of years.  Stay tuned for those :)

Here is our Snap Shot View of our drive from Northern Michigan to Central North Dakota.

674 miles.
10-11 hours, start to finish.

The first 10 min in the car leaving MI was the only time she wanted to play with her activity table and all the toys I packed her...go figure.  An entire bag of well thought out car friendly kid activities and she didn't want to touch them...

This is the start of the Great Mississippi.  Well, not officially, but it supposedly starts in Minnesota, and we crossed the Mississippi.  We couldn't be any more North in Minnesota, so this HAS to be the start of the river...in my opinion.

Best road food = cold pizza!

This was our long stop.  It's about 9ish, maybe a little earlier.  It was really good to stretch legs even though we were only about an hour from stopping for the night.

 

For once I'm thankful for the delayed picture taking of my phone.  When he thought I had pushed the shutter button he wasn't making a family friendly gesture (go figure), and then he laughed about it thinking he ruined my picture.  Ha!  Jokes on you!!!!  I win :)  See, sometimes things turn out really nicely when they don't go as planned ;-) 

"Sweet and Simple" - Journey (Week in Da UP)

This is my most favorite beach in the whole wide world.  I stood there 4 years ago in August and told my best friend I was his and he was mine forever and ever and ever :)  Just driving by the place and remembering that day brings so much joy to my heart.

We had a great rest of our drive through the UP (aside from the heavy rain) after we crossed the bridge.  All the non-adults in the car seemed to behave themselves and tolerate being stuck in the car.  I was worried that our smooth 19 hour drive from Louisiana was a fluke and all hell would break loose getting in the car for this trip.   


We had a very low key week in Negaunee with Chad's Dad and Step Mom.  I seemed to require an afternoon nap everyday.  I discovered after two days that me sleeping at the same time as Bug was a good example for the toddler who seemed to want to chase the cat around the room more than lay down and sleep...go figure.  Chad was pretty set on catching a fish or two while we were in the UP, so a few mornings he got up super early to hit the lake with his Dad.  Those days we all took an afternoon nap.  Those days Marvin would join in.   :)

We got to spend some time with my Seestor-in-law and her family.  We took all the kiddos to the Children's Museum and had the whole place to ourselves :)

Bug got to touch her first snake.  She kept saying she wanted to hold it, and then backed out at the last minute. 

The turtles on the other hand, we couldn't keep her hands out of the tank...

Most evenings consisted of some kind of card game.  We tried to use it as a way to teach Caitlin her numbers.  We weren't very successful.  She would request, "sit with you?" then crawl into your lap and browse through your cards and rattle off a bunch of random numbers.  No one ever really knew if she was accurate, I'm sure that will change soon... 

We spent the last day playing at the park with Seester Sabrina and family.  It was one of two maybe three really nice sunny days we had.   

More thanks and love to all the family that spent time with us, fed us and put a roof over our head :)