. . . and let down

This morning (Wednesday, August 3), we rose at 5:20 am in order to meet the Lyft ride we had requested on Tuesday, and we were at the designated meeting location promptly at 6 am as arranged. The ride didn’t come and didn’t come–and we needed to be at the Alaska State Ferry dock, a little over a mile away, at 6:30 for boarding. “We are locating the nearest driver,” came the message at about 6:20, and then “Your driver will be there in three minutes” a few minutes later, but we saw no vehicle approaching. Walt then phoned a taxi, which appeared very quickly, drove very fast, and got us to the dock at 6:30–WHEW! It also cost about $15 less than the Lyft would have cost. Walt cancelled the Lyft; we were not pleased, though we felt sorry for the driver who’d lost a customer. Sigh!

We found comfortable seats on the port side of the main passenger area and watched the cloud-obscured mountains glide by across the glassy water. Temperatures were mild enough to allow for pleasant walking outside around the ferry’s decks. By the time we were approaching Haines, the skies were clearing and the views of mountains and waterfalls along Lynn Canal were marvelous!

During the last portion of our voyage we ate the lunch we’d brought with us while sitting in the “solarium” on the ferry’s starboard side on the top deck. The area contains regular chairs and lounge chairs that can be flattened for sleeping, and is covered and equipped with overhead heaters. As the sun emerged, the solarium became quite warm, and we moved into chairs on the stern deck from which we enjoyed the marvelous mountain scenery: we watched the serrated knife edges of some of the ranges slicing the swirling clouds and the blue skies above, and saw the sweeping ice fields on other peaks glittering in the sun and sending streams of melted snow somersaulting down into the sea.

After docking in Skagway–in WARM, sunny weather–beside the monstrous cruise ships that had pulled in ahead of us, we walked about five blocks to the well-appointed Westmark Inn (“A short walk from the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the cruise ship piers, the Westmark Inn Skagway captures the spirit of Gold Rush days with its Victorian décor, rustic charm, and warm Alaska hospitality”; I agree!). After making up for lost sleep with long naps, we went out for pizza and returned to our room with four big slices for tomorrow’s lunch. We will ride the WP&YR railway train into the mountains tomorrow afternoon.