Welcome to Haines!

Hey everyone! Thanks to Yiwei for posting pictures of my journey north. The ferry left from Prince Rupert, British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon. It stopped Tuesday night in Ketchikan, AK. Then it made two stops the next morning: very early morning in Wrangell, and again a few hours later in Petersburg. From Petersburg we had a long eight-hour trip to Juneau, where we were in port for almost two hours. Rigby was glad to get off the ship. We walked around near port until it was time for the last leg of our trip.

After we left Juneau, it was another four and a half hours to Haines. We pulled out of Juneau right as the sun was setting, so it made for a very pretty evening.

Just an hour or so outside of port, look what we saw-  a pod of six gray whales! They were very close to the ship, and we passed them very quickly. I only had time to snap a couple pictures with my phone. Too bad I didn't have my DSLR on me.

After that I went to sleep. The ferry didn't get into Haines until 1:00 AM or so. Four days driving and another two on the ferry, and Rigby and I were worn out when we got up here. But not so worn out that we didn't immediately begin appreciating all Haines has to offer. Just look at the view from our campsite the first morning:

Thursday morning Rigby and I began exploring Haines. We made a trip to the visitor's center to see what sorts of information they might have there. We were treated to yet another gorgeous view.

Turns out Haines isn't short on pretty mountains.

About midday, I was able to meet up with an individual I'd contacted through the Haines Community Website, who offered an apartment for rent near town. I went to see the place and accepted it immediately, and was fortunately able to move in that afternoon. It's not a bad place. It's a studio, with a small kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Rigby has plenty of space to run around. There is water, electricity, and heat. Oh, and it has a pretty nice view, too.

After that, we made a visit to town for groceries. Yikes! Food is EXPENSIVE up here! It makes sense, since Haines is small and relatively isolated. Although one of the few towns in Southeast Alaska connected to the interior by highway, it's still 250 miles from the nearest city, Whitehorse, Yukon. Most of the goods travel here by ferry, so the expenses of transport really add up! There are three grocery stores here, including one small organic market. Produce is hard to come by, and sometimes trips to all three stores are necessary to get the ingredients for a single meal. Cereal up here, even the cheap stuff, is almost $6 a box! I can't decide whether I'll eat healthier here, since I won't be able to afford things like chips, or worse, since I'll have to buy the cheapest food I can find.

Ah, well. At least I can look forward to seeing this every morning!