June 6, 2025 Friday

Seventh day of our trip

Miles driven today: 20; Total miles for Trip: 2,687.8

Gas Mileage today 33.1 mpg, average of 30.8 mpg for trip

Total elapse driving time 42 hours, 53 minutes, 29 seconds

Awoke to full sun, light cool breeze.  We spend the morning relaxing on our balcony overlooking the Bay.  We can see the Ak Ferry Columbia has docked. Coffee and sweets offered in the Hotel Library complimentary.  

Check out at 11AM but able to leave the car in the Hotel parking lot while we walk around.  The Hotel is a treat with its amenities and location.

We walk around Fairhaven and visit a few shops.  Essentially shops are specialty high end and a variety of interesting cafés and restaurants.  Village Books and Paper Dreams (specialty gift store) is very nice housed in an old brick building built on the hill.  Entry for both is on the upper streetside level; lower-level entry is streetside down the hill to book store and the Colophon Café.  We sit outside and have an excellent early lunch overlooking the town green.  The wall next to us is old quarried stone with arched brick windows, the iron pegs for shutters that once were there along with flower boxes and inset windows.  Very country French looking but also authentic. 

The town is built on hills and moving around requires steep climbs.  We drive toward Bellingham and stop at a park, don’t know the name.  It has a mile long boardwalk bordering the water.  We get excellent pictures of the ferry and views all around.  This climate affords an abundance of flowering and leafed plants, many very exotic, beautiful everywhere you look.  

We travel to the Bellingham Cruise Terminal to get our tickets.  Visit the Samish Gift shop, no buys this time.  A casual seafood restaurant and small maritime museum are here.  The concrete patio sits next to the ferry.  

We board fairly early.  Our car along with us in it is put on an elevator and we are lifted to the upper car deck. We go to our cabin and unpack.  We are located on the prow of the ferry beyond the purser deck; end of the hall no traffic.  This level sits above our car deck and occasionally we can hear the dogs secured in vehicles below.  It’s a large suite with two bunkbeds, sink and closet area, a sitting area with round table and 4 chairs. A toilet/shower combo room.  A large window that only allows a view from one side if we stand at it.  Front of ship does a lot of rocking, good things we don’t get seasick (so far).

We sit in our folding chairs on the outside upper deck and enjoy the views of Fairhaven and can plainly see our Hotel and our room.  

We watch as more vehicles board, quite a show.  What they transport is amazing; huge boats, truck/trailers and an amazon RV with an attached vehicle besides all the cars, RV’s, pulled trailers and motorcycles.  

Once onboard we are instantly on Ak time.  Throughout this trip we vary between Ak, YT and BC time zones.  Finally, all boarded and we sail out of Bellingham Bay.  The sunset is incredible shades of candy pink to coppery orange and aqua sky.  We will get dark this far south.  A quick lite dinner at the grill.  The fancy restaurant another night.   We settle into our room for sleep.

Nighty night.