Another rainy day on the Washington coast, but aren’t they all? We enjoyed a mid-day window when the sun almost shone to visit a state park near Blaine. A walk through deep forest rewarded us with views of giant cedars and spruces and a multitude of mosses and ferns that thrive in this moist climate. Winter wrens rattled the woods with their chatter, but there is still no sign of the warblers and flycatchers that we had hoped to see arrive. They have one more day to get here.

Friday is departure day and we will focus on the loading of our vehicles. Anticipating higher gas prices in Alaska we will top off both the motor home and auto tanks. We also will refill the propane tank. Heat will likely be necessary in the 50th state. A check of the Weather Channel finds that the forecast for Haines is similar to that for Bellingham. Cool and wet. Inland at Tok, the forecast is sunny but with freezing nights. The sunshine could be welcome after a week at Haines.

The bird reports are still sketchy, but “first of season - fos” reports are starting. It was humorous to see a fos report of Brant today in Seward, Alaska. Here we saw probably one thousand of these geese. They may be traveling with us at the end of the week. We will travel by sea. They will travel by air.

We have been blessed with both cell phone and wireless internet access here. This has allowed us to catch up on business before traveling to more remote areas. We expect to have no communications during the three day ferry ride, but hope to have communications in Haines during the first week of May. Between Haines and Anchorage, who knows? We should touch down in Anchorage on the 19th. We’ll then have two weeks of sporadic contact as we fly to remote St. Paul Island and the “bush town” of Nome on the northwest coast. We will attempt to touch bases from Anchorage between our two puddle jumping adventures.

We are anxious and excited about the next phase of our adventure. The ferry ride should be wonderful, if it doesn’t rain all the time. Loading Minnie could be a challenge. Rumor has it Chuck will have to back it down the ramp. Hmm. We have a cabin which should provide a retreat and quiet place to sleep. The more rugged will crash on lounge chairs on the main deck or pitch tents on the open deck. We would have done that in earlier years.

Haines and the nearby town of Skagway are coastal towns with a gold boom history. We will enjoy exploring the relics, meeting the people, and looking for birds in and around them. In the outdoors there we will have to begin to practice bear avoidance. They grow them big up there and they are not to be messed with.

Here we have one more full day. The forecast is not good, but again there should be a few hours for walking. There will also be time for haircuts, last minute shopping, and remaining chores. We have already started packing, but won’t finish until Friday morning. There will then still remain a few hours before pulling out.

The scenery here is spectacular when it is not clouded over. The local monster volcano is called Mt. Baker. It is deep with snow. The jagged cascades are also still white. Even larger rocks on the Canada side show themselves on clear days. They give a hint of what we should see on our ferry ride. The forests are now a mixture of dark evergreens and pale green newly-leaved deciduous trees. Every cherry in coastal Washington is now in bloom and tulips spice the towns. The bays are framed by peninsular and island hills. Thousands of ducks, geese, loons, and grebes swarm over spawning herring. Eagles scare the uric acid out of the huddled gulls on the jetties.

We can’t complain.