Haines, Alaska on the way to the ferry terminal
Juneau, Alaska - two days in Juneau then I catch the ferry to Bellingham, WA
Subject: My Day 23 – Zero Day at Haines, Alaska
Two zero day at Haines, Alaska. A zero day is when you do not do that which you are now doing on a repeated basis like driving hundreds and hundreds of miles daily – today tomorrow and the next day I am not! Zero day yesterday today and tomorrow!
Before this arctic jeep expedition trip started I hiked up to 22 miles daily on the Pacific Crest trail and took zero days on a regular basis; say once every three or four days depending on the distance between trail towns. Four of the other drivers on the jeep expedition (Mike, John, Woody, Russ) did not know anything about zero days.
Unfortunately for them they just kept driving hundreds and hundreds of miles daily till the stress of the road started to build. Mike wrote the expedition plan but forgot to include rest days as part of the plan except for one day in Fairbanks to do jeep maintenance. Mike was riding with Tony from Boston. Both fit the odd couple better than any other couple encountered on the road. Tony, a very picky eater, whose style of ordering food resembled more of an interrogation than of ordering food. Let’s just call it road stress. Tony jumped ship or rather jeep Cherokee somewhere at Fairbanks, AK because he just couldn’t take it anymore. Multiple zero days off from hiking, driving or any other event will eventually turn into “off the trail or jeep expedition”, and like all good things everything eventually comes to an end.
Today the mood struck following a nap to go shop for “the girls” (Patti, Alice & Clover) in my life. My Logistician Patti; aka Trawler Kitty aka Finance Manager now has pajamas from Anchorage but today she now also has the GoGirl. This is perfect for her since she is the only woman I know that can hold it for 48 hours if there is no civilized toilet in range. This way she can take her GoGirl to that upcoming girls only Yosemite hiking trip. So what is a GoGirl. It’s a little tube that sports a medical-grade silicon piece that allows her to stand while she goes the next time you come upon a disgusting public bathroom or heavens no – a porta potti. www.go-girl.com You go girl!
Mike – aka Steel Pony driving the white Jeep Cherokee has a full size toilet lid on the back of his trailer hitch mount. That little feature had us wondering for a while why all the pointing at his jeep instead of the rest of ours. We thought people liked his jeep the best. Two Canadian women actually lined up to use it at Whitehorse – no lie.
Today is my last night at the B&B in Haines, Alaska before boarding the 9:00 AM ferry to Juneau, Alaska. This morning a Harley Davidson motorcycle rider and I were the only guests. He is from Ohio and has ridden his bike all over the country and is now covering the “Inside Passage”. He says he’s retired so he has no timeframe as to how long his ride will take. The host, his wife and four children under the age of seven at the B&B are our caretakers since the owners are down at Skagway resupplying at Costco.
No other story told this morning can probably match the one we just heard. The host says a few years ago he was a police officer in the town of Haines when he pulls over a car for speeding – 70 in a 35 mph zone. The car was a green GT500 Shelby driven by non other than Edzel Ferrari. He says he asked if there is any relation to the car manufacturer and the guy in broken English says yes, that’s my father. He told Edzel that he would not turn the ticket in so he was o.k. They both parted ways and still today he has that signed ticket stored in a box back home. I told him my friend Petr would probably be interested in acquiring it from him if he was interested in selling it. Petr call me! This couple and their four children live just 35 miles from the Canadian border.
We also share stories about our travels and about seeing the antique motorcycles on the road to Haines. A group of seven on two side cars and older road bikes came down the road wearing correct era motorcycle wear. Aviator type helmet and goggles with black or brown leather jackets and cowboy boots. These guys were carrying every possible spare part they would need including a rather large full exhaust system strapped to the top of the sidecar. I passed all of them up and am sure ended up in their movie as all looked like they were filming the entire trip down.
What to call this adventure now? 10,000 miles traveled; by foot; by jeep; by Ferrari; by jet boat; and now by ferry. Not really a bad way to start a retirement, eh! This morning I started walking but, before long the road seemed boring so, I quickly detoured onto the boulder strewn beach. Stepping on large boulders was easy; propelling oneself from one boulder to the next without falling now became the challenge. Before long I said to myself now, I’m “bouldering” – that’s what I began calling it. Hey, I thought I just created a new sport – sort of like paddle boarding but way more fun and with less equipment. You can boulder with or without shoes but make sure the rocks are dry first. This reminded me of my earlier days on the rock jetties of the Miami Beach causeway. My friends and I often carried a spear gun, mask, snorkel and fins onto the jetties. First one in the water usually speared the most fish. Now I’m doing this for exercise wearing size 13 Merrell hiking shoes. I love these shoes as they are the last pair that I wore while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Three pairs of Keen shoes self destructed while on my feet.
After bouldering I realized I was now hungry once again. The B&B (bed & breakfast) was great but the just up the road someone was selling smoked salmon; so, by the time I bought the salmon, crackers, a coke and a little cream cheese I could've eaten at a fancy restaurant - anywhere but Haines.
See you on the marine highway!
Trawlercat
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