Our second full day on the ferry, enjoying the scenery,  seeing lots of birds, and saying goodbye to new friends as they disembark.  We stopped at Ketchikan,  Wrangell, and Petersburg today. 

I had to laugh when I woke up in port at Ketchikan and looked out the window. Raining, of course!  Ketchikan averages 150 inches of precipitation annually.  It was raining hard, and I later found out some people camping under the open-ended solarium woke up in a wet sleeping bag (NOT funny).

Two other Alaska Marine Highway Ferries were in port at Ketchikan,  on either side of us when we docked to unload vehicles and passengers and pick up more for the journey north.

This gorgeous artwork is in the dining room.  It shows the lifestyle of sockeye salmon from egg to spawning (the fish die after spawning, but it doesn’t show that bit).  I couldn’t fit the entire piece into one photo.

The ferry will stop in Juneau for a couple hours shortly after midnight. For C and me, it is our last night on the ferry.  If we stay on schedule, we disembark in Haines about 8:30 in the morning.   Shortly after getting off the ferry, we will cross the border into Canada.

My parents will stay onboard another full day, disembarking in Sitka Tuesday morning. I am torn, partially wanting to stay on board longer, in our comfortable room, with the chance of seeing whales.  While we haven’t seen many marine mammals this particular trip, it is always a tantalizing possibility.