As sunny as it gets in Ketchikan.

Yes, that is Abraham Lincoln on top of the totem. It is from the 1930's.

We learned something new about Ketchikan today. Even when the sun does peek out for a few mintues, it still rains. That's just crazy. The guy camped next to us is here for the summer working as a tour boat captain. He said he will not be coming back next year - he can't take the rain. And a lady I talked to in the laundry who is here for the summer from Seattle said she is sick of the rain too. But she does have 150 pounds of fish to take home with her! My advice - don't move to Ketchikan unless you love rain. We have to leave the camp site at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow for the ferry. Will arrive in Prince Rupert, British Columbia at 5:oo p.m. We stocked up on groceries and filled the gas tank before heading into expensive Canada. This is our last night in Alaska - we are kind of sad about that but have had a great time.

Comments from Eldon: I'm tired of rain.

Comments from Larry: I'm tired of rain.

Surprise, surprise - it's raining again in Ketchikan. I think this is the last place I could live in Alaska. In one month, Ketchikan gets the same amount of rain Seattle gets in a year. Moss grows on house roofs; it's that damp. They don't get real cold weather though. Their temperature varies mainly between 20 and 60 degrees. Our totem tour was provided by Independent Tours. They should call it Laid Back Tours. The driver arrived over 15 minutes late. She was at the dock talking to friends. She was fun and chatty, but not real "professional" so, of course, we enjoyed it. And we got 3 hours of tour instead of 2 because we kept her talking. A trainee and us were the only ones on the tour.

Comments from Eldon: Today I met a totem carver named Woody. It seems appropriate to me! Guess I don't have much else to say.........except stop with the rain already.

Comments from Larry: Stop with the rain already. Jeez.............

Yesterday's pictures - the marina picture is at our campground. This time we don't have have a waterside site though.

No pictures today. My computer doesn't want to read the camera cards. Hopefully it will heal itself over night! Another rainy day in Ketchikan. We just walked around downtown Ketchikan, with many, many cruise ship tourists, and had pizza for lunch. It sounds like Ketchikan shuts down on Saturdays because there are no cruise ships that day. I'm sure the locals look forward to Saturdays! A lot of the people in our campground are here to fish for salmon. We thought about it, but it's expensive and we already have a freezer full of halibut. Speaking of halibut, we had some for supper last night. I sauted it this time after coating it in cornbread mix which I happened to have on hand. It turned out tasty.
Comments from Eldon: Another day in the rain forest. Tomorrow's weather looks like - surprise - rain. Tomorrow we are taking a totem tour. I've noticed the cruise ship people like lines, because they always seem to be standing in one. I love my camper - no lines.
Comments from Larry: A day in the rain beats a day on a boat. That says it all for me.

Successful ferry trip to Ketchikan. Cold and rainy again, so we stuck around the camp site this afternoon. We'll play tourists tomorrow and go see the totem poles and down town Ketchikan. Ketchikan is like Juneau and Sitka - it has about 20 miles of road. The only way to get here is water or air. It is always rainy here - I heard someone say they had 2 days of sun so far this summer. The ferry ride was fine for us- please refer to Larry's comments for more information! We stay in Ketchikan until July 31. On the 31st we have an all day ferry ride to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Then a 2,500 mile drive home.

Comments from Eldon: I guess we've been lucky with all the nice days we had this trip, but it doesn't look to be ending that way. The ferry ride was comfortable. The cabin was small but functional. I enjoyed the "free" shower. Several campgrounds have charged for showers on this trip.

Comments from Larry: I chewed through 2 layers of duct tape in the screen door trying to get out of the camper on the ferry. Lots of new holes in it too. While E & C were up in their nice cabin, I was in purgatory again in the bowels of the ship. If I ever take a boat again, it wil be too soon.