The journey north

The journey was both the same and different as my first move north… like before, I drove to Seattle with my mom, then boarded the ferry in Bellingham with my jam-packed car, and accompanied by Katy and her similarly jam-packed car. Only this time, it was the M/V Malaspina instead of the Columbia, and it was November instead of August. This meant no sleeping out on the deck (at least not for us), and no amazing 1970s bar, but there was an enthusiastic cadre of UNO-loving young folks, and some amazing winter scenery.

We spent much of our days avoiding seasickness on the rolling vessel by huddling in our sleeping bags, coats, hats, and gloves in the fresh but cold air on the deck, and most of our nights playing cards and drinking Alaskan Amber. All in all not a bad way to travel a couple thousand miles.

After 2.5 days on board, we disembarked in Haines, joined by a surprise guest—our friend Vik who secretly boarded the ferry early on our final morning in Juneau, and made a cryptic announcement over the PA system which led me to find a cryptic Buster Posey-related note at the Purser’s desk.

Friends on a ferry

Vik was a great companion and driving coach as Katy and I caravanned across 750 wintery miles of the Yukon Territory and Alaska to reach Anchorage. The weather was cold and snowy, at times disorienting (snow swirling across the road, fog closing in above) and treacherous (ice!), but overall the drive was less harrowing than I imagined it might be. (With the possible exception of arriving at the hotel in the Yukon where we’d made a reservation, late at night, only to find it and everything else in the little town dark and apparently deserted, with not enough gas to make it to the next town we were sure would be open and only a few minutes before the Canada/U.S. Border was to close…)

Swirly wintery road

Twenty hours of driving after leaving Haines, we slowed to a halt at the first stoplight we’d seen since Bellingham, and soon after, rolled into Anchorage. I’m reminded all over again about all the little things I found quirky about Alaska the first time around, like empty cars idling in parking lots and restaurants that serve pizza, mexican, and chinese from the same menu. But I’ve also been quick to reacquaint myself with everything I loved about living here—in my first few days in town, I’ve seen almost everyone I know, met many new friends, and gone for a winter hike and ice skating on a lagoon right next to my (temporary) abode.  Here’s a photo of me and Katy taken by our friend Rebecca:

Tara and Katy, Westchester Lagoon

The weather so far has already proven erratic and inconvenient (several days of cold in the teens, then rain and ice covering every single surface, and today a wonderful white Thanksgiving with tons of snow). I’ll try to continue to offer observations and share photos and adventures, but it has a little bit different feel to me this time around, now that I’m up here for longer than just a clerkship year.  Hope nobody finds this whole operation too obnoxious!  Make sure to leave me some snarky anonymous comments if you do.

Advertisement