Saturday, July 5, 2014

Florida or Bust - Ferry Life!

Approximately 2,500 miles by Ferry is how we chose to leave Alaska.
Beautiful scenery, glaciers, snow-topped mountains, whales...
The Inside Passage through Southeast Alaska and Western British Columbia!

We drove down to Whittier (a little over an hour from Anchorage) to board the M/V Kennicott for the 5 night journey south to Bellingham, WA (just north of Seattle).

Driving into the belly of the Ferry

New lingo I learned over the course of the week while onboard the Ferry
This is our 4-berth room, but we were afforded an additional 2-berth just down the hall which really helped with a small amount of additional space (and of course 2 extra bunks).
Make no mistake, there is NOT a cruise ship. 
Bunks, linens and a small bathroom.
But ya know what - it was perfect for what we needed.
With all the bunks down and the kids cozied up for the night!

Brian's GPS came in handy to tell us exactly where we were along with our speed and distance from our next port of call.
Running a little ahead of schedule, the captain decided to take us through a glacier filled bay that was nothing short of pristine and breathtaking.
An unexpected beautiful sunset from our window just before 11pm.
Some alone time reading in her bunk.
Docking in Ketchikan

This is how we did movie night + popcorn almost every night!
Not afraid of a little rain
Daddy & Marilyn getting ready for bed one night!
Sweet brother lov'ins as he reads to his baby sister.

Breakfast down in the dining hall.
I have to say, one of the best things that we did was pack food in our cooler for breakfasts and lunches each day.  Not only saved money, but we ate pretty healthy for all of those meals. 
Not to mention, it sure was convenient.
Quiet time in his bunk with his first chapter book.
He couldn't put it down, 3 chapters later.
5 am pulling into the Bellingham port.
Well, hello Lower-48.
Good Morning!
 

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