YOU THINK YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SEE SOME OF ALASKA
    					
     Traveling to Alaska can be pleasant and inexpensive, but some people have found other
methods.  Believe it or not, there are too many Americans who think they may need a passport
or visa (not credit card VISA that's nice too) to visit here.  That's why many Alaskans say
they are going to America when traveling south. (Private joke.)  I have actually talked to
several sales people in various businesses in America who will not ship goods I wish to buy
because they think they will have to fill out U.S. CUSTOMS forms!!!  Honest to Pete, I swear.
By the way, what do you think the elevation/altitude is at our beach?  It must be pretty high
because we're so far north, right?  Yep, we have been asked this very question.

     We will list the ways to travel here in the order of our favorite on down to some we
haven't and will not try.  The first three are the only ones we've tried.
This little list is focused on getting to SOUTHEAST ALASKA.

     1.  ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY SYSTEM----THE FERRY
     They sail (do not really have sails) from Bellingham, Washington every FRIDAY evening
at about 7:30, nonstop to Ketchikan so you do not have to go through Canadian customs.  They
stop at most of the larger towns in SE AK with the northernmost being at Skagway where
they turn around and sail south arriving back at Bellingham early the next Friday morning.
This schedule may change but this is what they've been doing the past 10 years.
     
     Get on the ferry, officially called the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), in 
Bellingham with whatever baggage you want to handle.  There are no baggage handlers; you
just toss your stuff on a baggage cart which is the last thing loaded on the ship.  Many
people travel with a small backpack.  You can carry about as much as you can personally
pack to the upper decks.  A backpack is about as good as you can get for this task.
These boats have cabins (2-4 berths), snack bars, cafeterias, and when we last traveled
they opened the lounge and served beer and liquor for several hours each day.  The "Columbia"  
has a very nice sit-down restaurant with waitpersons. There is a place on the ships where
you can pitch a small tent and camp "out" on a protected deck.

     From Bellingham to Ketchikan is 36 hours.  You can bring your car, pickup, motor home or
18-wheeler if you wish to pay for it.  The longer your rig the more it will cost and when you
get over about 25 feet they do not publish the rate.  That should tell you something.  They
travel almost exactly the same route as the cruise ships so you will see the "Inside Passage"
just as if you were paying the cruise ship price.  And REMEMBER, if you wish to bring a car
or larger vehicle and do it at the peak of the season (May-Aug) you had better book a full
YEAR ahead!  We think about the best time to travel is from mid-September and October when
most of the tourists have gone elsewhere and prices have dropped some.  

     They do allow pets such as cats, dogs, husbands, etc. at extra charge.  Pets are NOT
allowed on the upper decks and you can NOT stay on the "car" deck even if you have a gigabucks
motorhome, but you can tend to your pets twice a day.  For husbands you're only allowed to
tend them every third day and it is required that you be very tender and you should use this
time to reacquaint him with some of the commands he should already know.  You've got only
about 15 minutes for pet visits so make them count.  You must clean up after your pets.

     2.  DRIVE---MANY TIMES TRIED, OFTEN SUCCEEDS 
     There are only three (3) places you can drive to in SE AK: Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK,
Skagway and Haines.  We've never been to Stewart/Hyder but one of the small Alaska ferries
visits there about once a week in summer where you board to go to Ketchikan.  To arrive at
the other two you must drive the entire length of BC and into the Yukon.  If you are going
to other places in SE AK from Haines or Skagway you would get on a ferry and head south.
     
     You will have to figure out how to get to Prince George, BC from wherever you start.
Got a map? Get it out.  At Pr. George take Route 16, the "Yellowhead" highway, 500 miles to
Prince Rupert, BC. It is an all paved two-lane highway.  We have seen that road in other
times; it is much too easy now.  Winter season is dicey because of snow avalanche danger.
You could sit in a little town in northern BC for...well days.  That is a good one-day drive
and more if you want to see the country along the way.  We have done this numerous times, but
the gas price in Canada is ridiculous and they have heavy taxes, especially on the "sin"
items.  Many Canadians have become downright surly to Americans in the last few years and
many will certainly gouge you on the exchange rate.  It is best to use a credit card or go
to a bank and exchange a few U.S. dollars at the proper rate.  Still there is some nice
scenery.  For this trip we highly recommend you buy a copy of "The Milepost" which will tell
you more than you need to know, but a lot of stuff you should know.  At Prince Rupert you
will have to get on a ferry (AMHS) with or without your vehicle, to complete the trip to
Ketchikan about 90 miles away and 6 hours.  These ferries go all the way to Haines and
Skagway where you can get off and drive all over the rest of Alaska.

     3.  AIR TRAVEL---QUICK
     We've done this only when we are in a big hurry.  Since retirement we ain't been in no
hurry, no how.  We would only do this now in a family emergency.  From Seattle to Ketchikan
is about 600 real air miles, but it may cost you 20,000 of your frequent flyer "miles".  A
"mile" is not a mile and their "miles" are totally variable and imaginery. I wish they would
call them something else, but they insist on screwing up the idea of a mile which, if you are
driving or walking is 5280 feet.  In a jet this trip takes about 1 1/2 hours.  

      (I'm assuming you don't own or have access to a boat suitable for travel of this
       kind.  Many people do come here in anything from a 22 footer to a megayacht.  We
       saw one of the later awhile back from London (yeah, England) was said to cost a very
       cool 5 million pounds? or dollars? don't know.  It had an all female crew except
       for the captain.  Never saw him, but rumor said he was sickly what with the 
       different climate and the heavy load of responsibility.  The girls danced on top
       deck every day.  That boat had engine synchronizer problem so they had to fly a
       mechanic from England via private jet.  Dang! I felt sorry for the owner cause of
       his sickly captain and a boat that was obviously undependable.  Someone who cared to
       know such things told us their communications systems cost 500k somethings.  When, oh
       when can I reformat my brain so I can dump all that useless data for new useless 
       stuff?)

     4.  CANOE/KAYAK---PADDLE/ROW YOUR OWN BOAT           
     We haven't done this but have seen many who have stroked all the way from Washington
state.  Met British chap who said he had paddled his kayak all around Australia and New
Zealand, got on a plane to the U.S. and had continued to Alaska.  How adventurous are you?

     5.  SWIM---HEY! THERE IS WATER ALL THE WAY
     You might set a new long distance record.  Perhaps you are into that sort of thing.

    10.  CRUISE SHIP---DOZENS TO CHOOSE FROM     
    Ain't done it and ain't gonna.  This method brings thousands of folks to Alaska every
day all summer long.  When one or more of them are docked in any of the small Alaska towns
it is miserable for us to be in that town that day.  The sidewalks are absolutely plugged
with people so that many times it is necessary to walk in the street which, of course, screws
up the traffic.  We were unfortunate enough once to be in Sitka when there were four (4!) of
those monsters at anchor.  I'll bet the population of Sitka tripled that day.  Anyway we
had to get some supplies but you could not walk in the street much less on the sidewalk and
no vehichle could move in the little downtown until some of the ships left.

     Prices rise correspondingly in the summer.  Example: Hotel room in winter---$49.00,
summer---$150.00, both plus 10% tax.  This, naturally, is the favorite vehicle of the tourist
merchants who sell mostly stuff made in -----.  Hey, I don't blame the merchants, so many
tourists are so ignorant they get off the boat asking what the elevation is and where are
the Eskimos and polar bears and what kind of money do we use here and even what language
Alaskans speak.  OK smartypants, I ask YOU, "What is the easternmost place in the actual
United States?  What is the westernmost place in the U.S.?"  Hint: They are both in Alaska.
Trick question?  Maybeso.  

                   ******** END OF TRAVEL IDEAS********
                      Now go to bed; rest your eyes.
  

p.s. There are many places in this little document where I could provide you with "links" to
     all sorts of other places.  I haven't done that because I have found these "links" may
     have changed even as I type them.  Fact is, I want to do something else today.
     This is NOT the place to go "SEARCH" for airlines, travel agencies or anything else.
     The only links you will find are on the Home page and I put them there only because
     I think they will not change in the next day or two.
     Now you know the heartbreaking truth.
     
pps  You should be so lucky as to stop for awhile in most any bar in Alaska if you can get
     the bartender to talk about tourists.  Once started though he/she may not stop in
     which case you may regret it.  If you've got a lick of a sense of humor you can laugh
     til you hurt and beg her/him to stop.  You can laugh til you cry heavy tears so that
     anyone seeing you could easily think you had just got the news that your favorite
     fishing pole was busted or that every member of your family was horribly, brutally,
     or insanely murdered.  I've heard so many other tales than told above but I was so taken
     down by the acute hysterics I couldn't remember them.  Somebody ought to write a book.
     Trouble is a book can't substitute for a good storytelling bartender who is also a
     pretty good mimic.  A play of this sort on Broadway in New York City would be a total
     flop because most of the audience would want to know the answers.  They'd take it as
     a serious drama rather than a comedy.  New Yorkers could certainly get a few chuckles
     out of this old country boy but trouble is I've been there three times which is four
     too many so I've already made up for my next thousand trips.  That (NYC) is still
     another subject not worth discussing.  I will only remark that they (Manhattanites)
     are the most ignorant of the rest of the world of any race of people I have ever
     run across.  New York, they think, is the HUB of the known universe so why should they
     know something about anything or anywhere else?  Many have never driven a car, think
     Chicago is WAY WAY out west.  I, my own self, have acutally tried to talk to some of
     them so this is not hearsay.  And their mannerisms and way of talking is, to me, just
     like someone scratching on a blackboard.  However, I've got newfound respect for many
     New Yorkers since "911".  I now know that many of them are really decent people.
     Now, how about California?  Nah, let's not go there.