Haines to Skagway Ferry Ride

    Today we catch the Ferry to Skagway, but not until 8 pm.  So we paid a little extra to keep our RV parked in the campground until we moved to the Ferry dock.  We spent some time looking around Haines and stopped at a small shop that had lots of flowers outside.  We talked to the owners who told us that they are happy that Haines is not much of a stop for the big Cruise boats.  In Skagway most of the small businesses have been closed and the cruiselines own all of the shops in town.  We also took a tour of Fort Seward which has many homes built using the same blueprints as those at Ft. Snelling.  We toured one of the nicely kept old homes which are now used as a hotel.  It was a real blast from the past.
     The ferry was a great experience.  We arrived to the dock early but there was already quite a long line.  There was an extensive security check and then the boat arrived from Juneau.  It was mostly empty and did not take much time to unload.  The tide was really low and the ferry sat quite a bit below the level of the docks.  The entrance to the boat was on the side (not the back) of the ferry.  Cars and small RVs drove down a very steep, narrow ramp into the bowels of the boat.  Then one large RV, and then US.  We drove slowly down into what looked like a very small door.  If we had been out of control we would have slipped through the boat and out the other side because the door on the other side of the boat was open too.  However, the staff who loaded the boat were experts and gave us perfect instructions to help us maneuver the truck and trailer safely into place.

   We left our truck and went to the upper deck to do some sightseeing.  We could watch cars at the back of the ferry loading and they had much more trouble getting in, so we were lucky where we loaded, I guess.
     Our trip was only an hour, but many folks ride the ferry overnight to get from one coastal town to another.  There are some cabins, but many folks camp out on deck.  The whole back of the ferry is an covered deck with dozens of chaise lounges and heaters in the ceiling.  Folks grab a chair, put out their sleeping bags and settle in for the night.  It is a pretty cheap way to travel.  We really enjoyed it.
    When we arrived at Skagway we had to turn around inside the ferry which involved backing up near the open door on the port side and then driving through the opening on the starboard side and climbing up the steep ramp.  Yikes!  It went well with Rick's skill and good direction from the staff.  It was getting dark as we found our way through the small city to our campground.