On the ferry!

We're on the ferry!  

This is our first wildlife viewing.  It’s a (giant) starfish at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, which we spotted while we were waiting to load.

Notes on the ferry – we got there in plenty of time (by 11 am) and loading starts at 3 pm.  It was nice to get there early, but not necessary.  Steve and I were in separate lanes and he got to load almost an hour and a half before me.  It seemed like I was nearly the last person on the boat.  They made Steve drive Irv in and turn around inside so Irv was pointing towards the loading/unloading door.  By the time I loaded, I had to back in.  They crew were really good at giving directions, so it was easy.

Random notes:

Note to anyone who’s going to take the ferry with a vehicle – go inside the terminal to get your physical tickets, THEN proceed to the vehicle loading place.  

Bellingham is a beautiful city – we decided we could easily live there. 

The ferry left promptly at 6 pm (Pacific), but the boat is on Alaska time (so 5 pm).  

We explored the boat a bit, grabbed some dinner from the cafeteria, and watched the scenery.  The boat has several interior lounges and plenty of open deck space.  There's a cafeteria, showers and bathrooms available to all, 'sleeping lounges' (where sleeping is allowed) and lounges where it is not allowed, and different size staterooms (2-4 person size).  We had booked a '2 berth roomette' that was two single bunks and not much else, but it's a locked place to keep your stuff and sleep.  We were in bed at 9 pm (AK time).  This is Steve, in our room.

Cafeteria – decent food, ok prices (not as expensive as I expected).  It was $10 for a hot dog and fries and a bowl of chili.  We also brought some food with us – chips, cookies, pop tarts, crackers, tuna, and tea.

Pets – there are ‘pet calls’ at 8:30 am, 2:30 pm, 8:30 pm, and 12:30 am.  You don’t have to have a pet to go down at this time, you can go access your vehicle and get stuff.  There’s bunch of dogs and cats on the ferry, but it’s not crazy loud with barking down there.  Seca seems pretty chill about it, and we’re lucky that she has no problems with peeing and pooping on a paved deck.  You have to clean up after your pet – even the pee – which is understandable and they provide paper towels.  

The loading area of the boat had some open space for the pets to do their business.  Many dogs won't poop on the boat!  Glad we didn't have that problem. 

Check out this awesome cat!  It belongs to the same people who had the great dane in the picture above - Tara and Jason, who were moving to Anchorage.  

We met lots of really cool people on the boat!  This is us playing cards with Megan and Susie.  Megan, on the left, is moving to Fairbanks (from Wisconsin!) and Susie, in the middle, lives in MN and was along for the ride with Megan.  We're going to miss them!