Alaska Report #2… A Cold Beginning

We arrived in Juneau, Alaska with thermometers pointing at twenty degrees, and a boarding time set for 4am the next morning aboard the MV Taku, for a 5am departure. It was dark when we got up at 3, and the sun didn't come up until around 7. We were headed for Sitka, the farthest western point of our journey.

So it was that Shale Kenny and I truly began our adventure. You might wonder why someone would come halfway around the world to Alaska in winter, when most towns (the ones we were visiting, anyway) seem to literally "roll up their streets" until spring. For me, it was an opportunity for a "sneak peek" at the very route the Captain and I will be traveling on the Glory B during my 2014 Mystery Tour. Not to mention a bit of research thrown in for a current WIP (work in progress).

For Ms. Kenny, it was a welcome reprieve from the sweltering Australian summer. More than that, really. Because for years, she's had a special place in her heart for Alaska. Shale Kenny has explored this vast state from Ketchikan (in the south), to Nome (in the north), all the way to the end of the Aleutian Islands that are strung out like pebbles strewn from some giant hand across the Bering sea, landing only a "stone's throw" from Russia. 

She even did a seven-month stint as a team member for a former Iditarod contestant. Which should tell you something about her determination to experience the "real Alaska." In fact, it was at a gathering of mutual Alaskan friends, several years ago, that I first met Shale Kenny. And now, we were in for this bit of a "working vacation" for both of us. What better inspiration for work than a warm and quiet cabin with a window that looked out onto some of the most beautiful stretches of wilderness in the world as we passed by?

We both agree ferry travel is the absolute most enjoyable way to do all that. 

Of course, I was caught off-guard (as I always am, in Alaska) at the spectacular beauty of this amazing place. It is truly awe-inspiring at every turn. Of which there are many, when you are winding in and out of narrow channels, and passing across wide straits that lead out into open sea. The "big water," as I like to call it. Which is what I really came here to look at. And--boy howdy-- did I see some!

Which is what I'll tell you about on Wednesday.

Hugs and blessings,

Lilly

(who is "waving hello" to Linda Mapes, and Melanie Backus, today… "Ahoy, ladies!")