Alaskan Adventure - Sailin' Away
It's dark. It's cold. We're groggy, but awake. After yesterday's blitz ride through the northern bits of Vancouver Rhode Island to Port Hardy, it's finally time to get this trip started.
Almost.
When I had my pre-ride Map-kin strategizing session, which admittedly lasted about ten minutes, I noticed there were two choices to reach Alaska from Vancouver Rhode Island. One was to take a ferry from the town of Nanaimo to the city of Vancouver and ride north. Not a bad way to go, if you want to be honest when you say you 'rode to Alaska' because that would involve the most actual roads. The second, more appealing option was to take a ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert in British Columbia. This would avoid a lot of boring roads, let us cross an 'Inside Passage' cruise off the bucket list, and plop us right down at the start of all the really good stuff.
The choice is clear. Pure honesty is out, and we're still 'Riding to Alaska' just some of it is riding on a boat. Whatever.
M.V. Northern Expedition
It's 6 AM, and faced with a full day to do nothing but float around looking at scenery, read my book, and goof off hanging out with my beautiful girlfriend (and of course Dark Meat Snack) it's already the Best Day Ever. To sweeten the deal even further, we pool all our Loonies and rent a private cabin, complete with a shower, beds and a TV.
Speaking of Loonies, we've only been in Canada for a day, and already I have a pocket full of change that weighs several metric tons.
This is Canadian money, which is similar to real money. However, instead of bills, these crafty Canadians use coins for dollars. The gold coins, worth a dollar, are called Loonies. The two-toned coins, worth, you guessed it... two dollars, are called... wait for it... Twonies!! Ha! I guarantee there are Canadians that have change jars worth several million dollars. On board the
M.V. Frenchy Expedition, we spend the rest of our loose Loonies and Twonies on beer and sandwiches.
And the scenery? Well, I have to say it's probably the best value for the Loonie, and we all agree taking the ship beat riding, at least for that day.
And on and on and on it goes. We relax. We smoke cigars. We watch things jumping out of the ocean.
We cheer for little boats pulling big things behind them.
We nap. We laugh. We eat.
We do a whole lot of nothing, and completely enjoy all there is to enjoy on this restful interlude.
At 10:30 PM the ship shudders, slows, and the announcement crackles throughout the cabin. "Ahoy, maties! Please prepare to disembark. Drivers, report to your vehicles at this time."
First View of Prince Rupert
The race is on, and I want to win.
Rain Cloud Follows deboats the ferry second, just after a BMW F800 and before a car with a gigantic, weird looking fan attached to the back of it. Not bad really, since in my book second place isn't first loser, it's the vice-winner!
Exhausted from his long day of resting, lounging and relaxing, Dark Meat Snack immediately disappears to his hotel room to call the wife, while Sleeping Beauty and I enjoy the finest nightlife that Prince Rupert has to offer; watching the locals tear up the dance floor while a Canadian power trio band plays all my favorite hits from the Eighties. I consult the rulebook to see if it is permissible to toast the Best Day Ever twice.
Hooray! It is not only permissible, it is encouraged!
Fiona and I hang with the dancing locals as long as we can, blissfully unaware that the very next day the entire ride is about to go up in flames.