Camping Orcas Island

/in /by

Camping Orcas Island, Washington

Summer is just getting into full swing and we are already planning our fall get away trips. The crowds will have taken the mosquitos with them and gone home. It will be time for us to enjoy some of those beautiful and less crowded campgrounds in the San Juan Islands. Orcas Island camping can be a full week experience or you can island hop and enjoy some of the great camping on Lopez or San Juan Island.

Where to Camp on Orcas-

  • There are more camping options on Orcas than other islands and if you are a tent camper this is the place for you. We like Moran State Park with its 5000 acres of hiking, biking and great camping for tents and RVs. The Mountain Lake campground puts you right at the start of many trails. Make reservations in advance.http://moranstatepark.com/
  • If you are a tent camper and want to be on the water be sure to check out Doe Bay Resort and Retreat Center. They rent cabins and yurts but also have some very unusual walk in tent sites with stunning views.https://doebay.com/
  • West Beach Resort has a few tent and RV sites but their biggest attraction are their west-facing shoreline beach cabins.http://www.westbeachresort.com/
  • Families with children should check out Mount Baker Family Campground. This is a relatively new campground with several walk-in tent only sites. They have a full gage railroad that runs through the property and several farm animals to entertain the whole family.https://mountbakerfarm.com/

Camping at Doe Bay

 

Chuckanut Westfalia Moran State Park

Moran State Park

Activities on Orcas-

  • If you are a hiker there are 30 miles of trails in Moran State Park. Challenge yourself by hiking up to Mount Constitution from Mountain Lake. Walk through a beautiful forest on your way. The top of the hike is 2409 feet and while others usually drive up, you will enjoy a great sense of accomplishment if you hike to the top. Pack a lunch and enjoy the view.

Hiking Mt. Constitution

View from the top

  • There are five lakes to explore in the park. Rent one of the boats, paddleboards or canoes at the park concession on Cascade Lake.

  • Drive toward West Sound and take a hike in the Turtleback Mountain Preserve. The reward after a gradual 800 foot climb is a beautiful view to the west looking toward Victoria B.C.
  • While you are near West Sound be sure to stop at Orcas Island Pottery. This beautiful gallery has been open since 1945 and their collection is astounding. They bring in visiting artists from around the country and their resident potter regularly adds to the collection.https://www.orcasislandpottery.com/

Orcas Island Pottery

  • Make a picnic lunch and drive down to one of the few public beaches on Orcas located on the southeast tip. Obstruction Pass State Park has a great walk in campground with beautiful views to the south and a pebble beach.  Watch the seals and shore birds as you eat your lunch.

Obstruction Pass State Park

Where to eat on Orcas– The restaurants on Orcas feature local, organic foods prepared with great care and at very reasonable prices. Here are just a few of the places to eat on the island. Discovering new places to eat makes this island a food lovers paradise.

  • Drive toward Olga and stop at Buck Bay Shellfish Farm. You select your own oysters stored in fresh seawater. Take some home to grill or buy a glass of their wine and use one of their oyster knives to have fresh oysters on the half shell. You could continue down to Obstruction Pass State Park and have your Oysters there.http://www.buckbayshellfishfarm.com/

Buck Bay Oyster

  • Stop at Island Hoppin Brewery and taste some locally made beer. We usually bring our own snacks to eat with the beer but they also have a small selection of food available. You will enjoy the small town atmosphere of this great little brewery.http://www.islandhoppinbrewery.com/
  • Our van rental customers always return with rave reviews of Hogstone’s Wood Oven in East Sound. They are only open for dinner but their farm-to-table menu with specialty pizzas will give a nice break from camp food.http://www.hogstone.com/
  • Another East Sound favorite is Roses Bakery Café. Be sure to make time to have a late breakfast or lunch here. Their café is attached to a gourmet shop and their wine selection ranges from local wines to a wide variety of European wines. Their food is all locally sourced and reasonably priced.http://www.rosesbakerycafe.com/
  • If you are camping at Moran, the Doe Bay Resort and Retreat Center is nearby and has a great little restaurant and bar. Try their Grilled Asparagus with fried wild mushrooms and poached duck eggs all covered with Hollandaise Sauce.

Doe Bay Cafe

A sign at one of the campgrounds says “Slow Down…..You are on Orcas now” That certainly sums up the island experience. The locals are friendly and always ready to make suggestions about where to camp, eat or hike. Take some time to “Slow Down” and spend a weekend or a week on Orcas. Let us know if we can help you with your vacation plans.

 

Bob and Maureen Jorgenson

Chuckanut Westfalias

 

You rented a great van! Maybe you should buy one!!

/in /by

 

“We rented one of your vans and now we want to buy one…they are so cool and we see them on Craigslist for not much money” here is the real truth about owning one of these great pieces of German engineering!

These vans are cool but are the vans as “road ready” as their owners say? This actually depends on your tolerance for surprises on the road and what the phrase “road ready” means to you. Here are some things to look for before you buy your own Westfalia Van.

 

Honu- before and after shot one year later.

Age-Most of these vans are at least 30 years old. We think that the best age van to purchase is a gas powered Westfalia Vanagon from 1986-1990. These vans have larger front suspensions and will accommodate brake upgrades without searching for new front spindles. They also came with a larger stock engine a 2.1 Liter (95 hp) rather than the old 1.9 Liter (83 hp). We know that the difference in horsepower is small but every little bit helps. The water cooled version built since 1984 has several advantages not the least of which being that the windshield defroster actually works which is a plus in the Northwest. Any van you buy will have a “rebuilt engine with um……20,000-60,000 miles on the new engine…..” Sometimes you are good for many miles with these exchanges but it all depends on who did the build and how honest the seller is. We have a savings account for an engine exchange for each van and I will probably build a Subaru over the winter to put in VanGogh.

Our Rental Fleet!

Power Train-We own one van with a manual transmission and one with an automatic. The advantage of the manual transmission is gas mileage and simplicity. Our manual transmission van with a standard engine gets 20mpg up hill and down. Shifting the van is like rowing a boat but once you learn where the power curve is you won’t find yourself to be the slowest vehicle on a hill climb….usually. Our friend has an automatic transmission on a similar van and only gets 14-16mpg. In addition, his van is dependably last up the hill. Our other van has an automatic transmission paired with a Subaru engine and a modified transmission. The power curve is significantly different for a Subaru than a Wasserboxer (the standard VW engine) and stepping up to 175 horsepower requires several expensive modifications to keep the transmission running cool and the engine RPM below 3000 when cruising. The powertrain combination for this van is amazing….but the transmission alone was $4000 and unless you do the conversion yourself the engine replacement is in the area of $18000 by the time you are finished. (see NorthWesty of Small Car Performance) That van is a dream to drive and with a low slip torque converter, 3:27 rear end and Peloquin limited slip rear end it will go anywhere…..sorry I got carried away…. What to avoid? Do not buy a diesel Westfalia, don’t even take one for free. They came stock with a 48 hp. Engine and have been described as “slower than a turtle on Valium”. Can you imagine pushing a fully loaded 5000 lb. vehicle with a 48hp engine? Guess what….they have a following and the previous sentence will certainly offend someone.

 

Cooling– Vanagons came with either steel or fiberglass cooling lines that run the length of the van from the engine up to the radiator and back. After 30 years these lines can become the source of a catastrophic leak causing an engine melt down. We replaced our cooling lines with stainless, replaced the radiator, front and rear heater core and controls and our vans are truly “road ready”.

Coolant Lines…The old and the new.

Fuel-Guess What? Vanagons catch on fire! They do it all the time! The fuel lines run right over the top of the hot engine and add to that a nasty little fitting on the firewall that is made of 30 year old plastic and can fail sets you up for trouble.  Every couple of years we replace the fuel lines using a kit available from GoWesty.  Now while you are working on the fuel you should replace the fuel filter, CLEAN THE GROUND TO THE FUEL PUMP, and drop and either re-seal or replace the fuel tank and maybe even the fuel sensor.  It is a nasty job the first time but you will not be stuck on the side of the road because you sucked up rust into your fuel injection system.  VanCafe and GoWesty both sell re-seal kits and also tanks.  There is information on VanagonFAQ to help you with the install.

 

Suspension-I will never forget the drive up the freeway after we purchased our first Westfalia Van. A truck passed me and our van literally changed lanes without warning. The suspension was extremely worn, the previous owner had replaced the tires with trailer tires (no lateral stability) and the sum of these suspension problems made the van terrifying to drive. We have replaced all of the bushings in our front suspensions with polyurethane, we have installed larger Audi front brakes, Koni adjustable shocks, new springs, larger 16” SUV rated tires and have the vans aligned by a company in Seattle who know how to align these vans. They handle better in a wind than any other Westfalia van on the road and they still are not a pleasure in a strong crosswind.

 

Refrigerator-we removed the Dometic that came with our van and put in a Truck Fridge from the company that supplies Peterbilt Trucks. Dependable, makes ice and is energy efficient.

Truck Fridge

Camper Wiring– It seems like the only people who work on Westfalia wiring do so with a roll of electrical tape and a pair of wire cutters. One of our vans had been so poorly modified by the previous owner that I just started over with a new camper fuse box from Blue Seas. That van does not have voltage leaks and the installation of a house battery under the rear seat saves on kitchen space. Many vans have auxiliary batteries installed under the sink and that takes valuable storage space and the battery components are not compatible with cooking supplies. Our batteries are under the rear seat, closer to the engine and alternator. We remove radio power amplifiers and also power inverters because they suck power and will kill your auxiliary house battery. A friends van did not come with an auxiliary battery set up and he needs a jumpstart to leave the campgrounds after two days. We only buy AGM (glass matt batteries) because they can be located in any position and last longer. We also install LED lighting because that type of lighting is brighter and does not drain the battery. We buy our stereo equipment from Crutchfield and install it ourselves. Our first stereo was professionally installed and cost over $1000.

 

Sink and Water Tank-Plan on replacing everything but the tank. Both of our vans have required new drains, new water pumps and we decided to replace the water lines after we looked at them.

 

Solar Panels-We buy rigid panels that are portable from GoWesty. You can move them to follow the sun and unlike the new flexible ones they will stay in place in a wind.

Solar Panels work in the rain in Alaska

Damage and Rust-All vans have some rust but how much is too much? Look under the van to see if suspension parts are rusty. Avoid buying a van from the east coast because of the salt used on roads during the last 20 years. A small rust seam needs to be carefully inspected before you buy. Avoid buying a van that has been painted unless it was a full window out paint job. Lift up the window rubber and look for a paint line. A vanagon paint job is about $14000 because of the rust issues on windows and the number of flat panels that need to be carefully faired.

 

Social Media is full of “Van Lifers” who live on a shoe string and it looks like their life is just one big campground. If you look carefully, nearly every one of these individuals really knows their way around a toolbox and has a tolerance for breaking down on the side of the road. Everyone who owns a Westfalia Van has a subscription to AAA premium.

A sad day…needed help from Peace Vans to fix the problem with VanGogh

Let us know if you are considering a van purchase and would like us to help you do an evaluation. It might be money well spent….or you can do it the way we did…..go in blind and learn as you go….and as you watch your bank balance go….

 

We love Westfalia Vans and would love to own a third. They are amazing vehicles, the best for camping, always bring a nostalgic comment from people you meet and are just plain cool. We spent over 100 nights in one van or the other last year and they can’t be beat!

 

See you out there,

 

Bob

What is Included when you rent from Chuckanut Westfalias

/in /by

What is included in the price?

Incluso nel prezzo, Inclus dans le prix, Im Preis inbegriffen….in any language the question is the same. When you rent a van are there hidden costs? At Chuckanut Westfalias we include everything you need for a great outdoor experience at no extra charge. Here is the list:

 

Your Ride: Our vans are completely safety checked before every rental. We know these vans inside out and make sure that the upgraded suspensions, Audi brakes and oversize tires are in top shape. The van you rent from us is road trip proven. Both vans have new three point seat belts front and back and will be a pleasure to drive.

Your Meals on Wheels: Part of camping is keeping your food cold, dry and easy to access. Every van has a large high efficiency electric refrigerator. No ice chest to step over, no drippy blocks of ice, and no added charge! In fact, our refrigerators will keep your ice cream cold and make ice for your evening sundowner. We supply two plastic boxes to keep your food organized, dry and safe from those four-legged creatures that can make your life miserable in a camp ground. All plates, bowls, wine glasses, and quality cooking pans and utensils are included. At Chuckanut Westfalias we have a wealth of camping experience that we are happy to share with you. Great meals are possible in a Westfalia Van! Try some shrimp tacos and a little Spanish wine.

Your Creature Comforts: When you rent a Westfalia Van from us you do not need to bring anything but clothing, towels and sleeping bags. Is your van chilly in the morning? Just reach up, turn on the built in forced air furnace, start your coffee water and climb back under the covers. We supply you with clean dish towels and a supply of paper towels.

 

Your Outdoor Life: Your van rental comes with chairs for every member of your group, small foldable table and even a portable solar panel if you plan to stay in the same place for a week. If you like to cook outdoors we will send you with a small portable stove. Every van comes with an axe, small saw, shovel, fire starter and extra dish pan in case you find washing dishes outside easier. It is all-inclusive and at no extra charge.

The places you will go: We are your northwest camping source. We camp the sunshine coast of B.C., Banff/Jasper, Highway 20 and the North Cascades, the West Coast of Vancouver Island and of course the Olympics. We will help you with an itinerary and give you advice on reservations at no extra charge. We have many resources and they are at your disposal when you reserve one of our vans.

When you rent from Chuckanut Westfalias there are no extra charges….. Incluso nel prezzo? Tutto ciò di cui hai bisogno!

The sun is out! Lets go camping!

Bob and Maureen

Chuckanut Westfalias

 

Pemberton and Whistler Mountains and Bikes

/in /by

Marble Canyon to Whistler

June 21-23

Driving South from Prince George, through Williams Lake and south nearly to Cache Creek we made the decision to turn off of Highway 97 and head southwest on highway 99. We set up a peaceful camp at Marble Canyon Provincial Park. The campground itself is just off the highway and is not very aesthetic but a short walk down the hill toward the lake brings you to a beautiful tent camping and swimming area. The road through Marble Canyon is covered with fine marble dust that will cling to underside of the vans until the next major rainstorm.

This highway opens up some of the most beautiful scenery in southern B.C. The drive through Fountain Valley, past Lillooet and over a pass to Pemberton at 30mph is stunning. The trees change from the east side pine tree cover to the coastal Douglas Fir and Hemlock.  There are BC Natural Resources campgrounds the entire way. They are near streams, have great views and are largely unoccupied. We could have spent a week there. The highway has sharp corners, grades of 15% and there are views of glaciers on nearly every corner. We had to stop half way down the pass to let the brakes on the vans cool.  I would hate to see what a Westy with standard factory brakes would do on that pass.

The city of Pemberton is a real mountain bike hub for the interior. There are many options including helicopter or floatplane drops into the interior for a multi day ride out staying in hosted cabins along the way. www.mountainbikingbc.ca/vancouver-coast-mountains/pemberton one of the most exciting bike destinations is a trip into the Chilcotins .   http://ridespots.com/destination/chilcotins A friend made the trip and she thought it was one of the most difficult but amazing bike trips of her life. Check out this video:     https://instagram.com/p/BWrVBZeFead/

We headed down the road from Pemberton for a day in Whistler. A favorite of our van renters is to head up and spend a week hiking and riding in Whistler. It is so close to our base in Bellingham and renting a Westy to use as a base is a really cost effective way to enjoy all of the mountain biking in Whistler. http://bike.whistlerblackcomb.com Plan to head home from Whistler by noon or you will find yourself in traffic on one of the most congested highways in B.C. The increased housing density in B.C. without increasing the highway capacity has resulted in a real rush hour mess twice a day.

We had an amazing trip from Bellingham WA to Skagway Alaska despite the weather. Our friends from the Netherlands are used to adverse weather but they did not anticipate hats and gloves for three weeks.  There was not a complaint the entire trip….that is until a mouse was running around in their van at 2:00AM eating all of Kees last rationed Mento candies.  Would we do the trip in June again? Probably not! The promise of nice weather didn’t pan out. By the way, I am writing this in mid July and it is still raining in Skagway….maybe September? June is just so darn cold! Would we travel in two vans with our friends from the Netherlands again?  You bet!  They had never been camping before and were the perfect travel companions.  We all lost a little weight (maybe staying warm) despite the nightly G.&T. attitude adjustment sessions.  We celebrated our trip with a great breakfast at home skillet

http://www.homeskilletinsunnyland.com

Great to be home and thinking about our next adventure.

Bob and Maureen

Chuckanut Westfalias

info@chuckanutwestfalias.com

The Cassiar Highway toward Prince George

/in /by

June 19-20

The beautiful campground at Boya Lake was our first stop on the Cassiar Highway. It is an amazing turquoise lake set among small old growth fir trees. (see our previous post) We wish that we could have stayed another night and rented canoes from the people who have a seasonal canoe rental business. They also sell the best firewood that we have ever purchased. (small things make you happy when you are camping).

It was time to head south.  The website Milepost www.themilepost.com has a great mile-by-mile description of this beautiful highway: “The Cassiar Highway was completed in 1972, and is asphalt-surfaced with the exception of a few short gravel breaks. The highway is generally narrower than most 2-lane highways, with little or no shoulder. It has easy curves and some long straight stretches. Although not particularly hilly, there are a few 8 percent grades and 2 switchback turns. There are no passing lanes, beyond one in the first few miles of the highway. The centerline and edge line markings may be missing along some northern sections of the highway”

We spent our day on the Cassiar Highway following rivers, lakes and small streams driving 320 miles south toward Meziadin Provincial Park on the lake. It takes a full day to cover those miles in a Westfalia if you include a nice lunch stop. There are several campsites right on Meziadin lake and it is a beautiful campground. They even have Wifi! (for $6) There were quite a few mosquitoes when we were there so a bug tent would be nice to have. This lake is supposed to have great fishing and I would like to have spent a day trying my luck. There were several fly fishers camped there.

The next morning we were up early and headed further down the highway to one of our previous campgrounds at Beaumont Provincial Park. As we left the Meziadin campground we knew that we were reluctantly passing up a visit Stewart and Hyder. The highway to these two villages pop. 100 each (one in BC and the other in the US.) passes the Bear Glacier and that have always been on Bob’s list of places to visit. This is a great destination in late July because the bears come to feed on the salmon. Since the salmon runs had not begun we decided to continue south. As we headed down the road we suddenly came upon a glacier that comes right down to a lake that is just across from the highway. We slowed, took pictures and continued on toward Beaumont Lake…..or so we thought. We soon encountered signs for Stewart and Hyder and suddenly realized that we had turned the wrong direction leaving the campground and had taken a 30 mile detour out to Hyder.  We made a U-turn and headed back to the main highway stopping to take some photos of the bear Glacier along the way. The drive to Hyder is beautiful and winds through rock canyons and follows a wild river. The scenery is among the best along the Cassier and is not to be missed. It was a lucky detour.

Juneau to Skagway to the Cassiar

/in /by

Juneau to Skagway to the Cassiar

June 16-18

We were up early in a massive rainstorm to catch the ferry to Skagway. The ferry LaConte had refrigeration problems so the menu selections were minimal but the scenery between Juneau and Skagway is beautiful. We saw several dolphins and whales along the way despite the 30 knot winds. Skagway is Tlingit for “big seas caused by strong winds” and the city lived up to its name. Our landing in Skagway was a wild one in the wind but the ferry captain made the landing despite being blocked in by two massive cruise ships. We had originally planned to head up to Dyee campground but after a week in the rain we decided to stay in the city at a private campground. The only advantage to camping at Pullen Creek RV Park is that it is a 3 minute walk to town. The reviews on the campground are a solid 3.0 and everyone complains about no hot water in the coin operated showers. We discovered that in this campground absolutely every faucet is reversed and hot is where cold should be and cold is where hot should be. Want a hot shower? Simply set it to cold! The campground is dirty, full of locals living in anything with a roof and their personal items encroach on all of the overnight spots.

We booked a 4pm National Park Tour of Skagway on the national park web site and it was one of the best presentations that we have seen. The ranger gave us the true feeling of the city of Skagway during the gold rush days. The tour takes 45 minutes and is great. Like Juneau, the city of Skagway has been taken over by cruise ships and their associated jewelry shops. Thankfully everyone returned to their ship at 5:00pm and that left the city to us. After the tour we walked up the street to Skagway Brewing Company for some great local beer and onion rings. Up at 7am for one of Marijke’s great yogurt and fruit breakfasts in 40 degree weather and 30 knot winds. Marijke and Kees kept smiling but what a first camping trip for our friends from the Netherlands! We decided to head for warmer weather and as we climbed through the fog and snow toward the Cassiar highway we had to use our imaginations to see the beautiful alpine environment that rests just above Skagway.

We cleared customs at 3000 feet with snow just above us and as we stopped we heard what sounded like a muffler rattle from Honu. Well keep calm and carry on….down to the Cassiar highway.  The Cassiar is very isolated and there is not even a center line for the first 100miles.  We did not see one other car as we made our way to      a beautiful camp at Boya Lake Provincial Park. This is a beautiful campground set on a turquoise lake with many lakeside campsites and virtually no bugs. It was not raining and the sun even made an appearance. A great foil tent dinner followed by smores by the fire and we were really living the camping life.

 

 

A Week in Juneau

/in /by

June 11-15
A week in Juneau
We spent a week in Juneau and there is so much to do. First, camping in the forest service campground with a view of Mendenhall Glacier is amazing. They have great facilities including showers, the sites are well spaced and very clean. It was so wet when we were there that we had to source dry firewood but that was available at the local Home Depot store. Juneau has a Costco and Fred Meyer were we bought hats, gloves and replenished our happy hour kits. Our outdoor activities included a hike up near the Mendenhall Glacier, a cruise up Tracy Arm to see the whales and glaciers and a floatplane excursion into Pack Creek on Admiralty Island to see the Brown Bears. Bring your warm clothing and be prepared to dodge the raindrops. One afternoon we stopped downtown where the cruise ships dock.

On any given day Juneau swells with the populations of three to five cruise ships. Each carries nearly 3000 people and they all seem to be interested in purchasing jewelry. The cruise ship companies have purchased nearly half of the property in Juneau and when the season ends they close their doors and a large part of the downtown core becomes a ghost town. The passengers are given certificates that give them a “special gift” if they visit the shops on shore owned by the cruise ship lines. The on shore excursions turn Juneau into Disney Land. At one point we saw 8 helicopters hovering over the Mendenhall Glacier as they prepared to land and take a Glacier Sled Dog Ride all for the mere price of $1000. It is sad to see how Juneau has sold out its local population by allowing the ships to run the town. The cruise ship lines are run by foreign companies and little of this wealth comes directly back to the U.S. with very little returning to Juneau. People getting off the ships were always asking to pet Bailey and we heard their entire family history with dogs during these petting sessions. Mr. B ate it up! People from the south wanted to talk about our opinion of this great president and “America First” even though all of ther vacation dollars were heading overseas. We deferred comment emphasizing our great appreciation for the outdoors as people from the Northwest. It was funny to hear them introduce themselves as “not cruise ship people”. I think that being on a ship with 3000 people must be one big stand in line…..but how would we know??? “we are not cruise ship people” We were up at 5:00AM on Friday morning in a huge rainstorm to catch the ferry up to Skagway.



Mendenhall Lake Campground

/in /by

June 12, 2017
We landed in Juneau and after quite a while were allowed to drive off the ferry (wouldn’t you know, they decided that they would keep our vans on the edge of the ferry deck to use as ballast.) Every time we were on the car deck with other drivers they asked about our vans, our rental business and ask for a card. We hear so many cool family stories about people driving these vans all over the U.S. and even Eastern Europe. Ourt vans have drawn so much interest and started many really nice conversations.

The rain finally found us so and settled into bed for more reading and early sleep. It could have been the rain or maybe the Gin and Tonics that made us ready for bed so early. We spent the day hiking around the base of the Mendenhall glacier and enjoying a great video on climate change. Tomorrow we are flying into Pack Creek to view the Grizzly bears. Only a 90% chance of rain tomorrow so we are thinking about bringing our bathing suits. Darn….will this rain ever stop?…oh wait….it just started. We went by Fred Meyer to stock up on umbrellas for our trip tomorrow in the float plane. The tide will be very low so we will put on our Tevas, roll up our pants and wade ashore to the viewing area.

Bob and Maureen
Chuckanut Westfalias

Ferry Fun!

/in /by

June 10, 2017
Today was our first full day on the ferry. We made shorts stops at Wrangell, Petersburg, Kake and at 2AM at Sitka. We took Bailey off the boat at every stop and he forced us into walking for the half hour time that we could be ashore. When I took him off the boat in Sitka at 3AM Baily ran in circles for a long time. When I returned to the boat the purser asked me if we had seen the three bears in the field where he was running. The only bears on Sitka are Grizzlies…glad we did not meet any.
The weather has been cool and cloudy but thankfully no rain. We have seen whales, sea otters and dolphins all from the window in our room and the deck above. A trip on the Alaska ferry is not a cruise ship experience and that is what we like about it. For a small additional fee you can rent a “stateroom” with a window and a small bathroom with shower. The ferry is full of fishermen, tourists from the U.S.A., Canada and Europe. There were also plenty of 60+ year old men on the ferry who are so happy with the direction that our country is taking. They are getting their pictures taken with the flag and one man was wearing a shirt with the stars and stripes. It was interesting for us to hear them talk the glory of bringing back America. Hmm…..a diverse country we live in! The food is not expensive and if you don’t want to buy your food in the cafeteria you can still eat there with your own food. In all a great experience and being able to go to our little state room with a window view made it great for very little extra money.

Bob and Maureen
Chuckanut Westfalias

Late Ferry? Yup….4 hours late….

/in /by

June 9, 2017
Laundry day, shower day, gear sort day and get ready to catch the 4:30 ferry to Juneau day. Bailey had two quite long walks to get him ready for three days and two nights of inactivity on the Alaska ferry. This should be interesting….we get to visit him a couple of times a day and we can take walks when we are in port. Waiting in the ferry line we met people from all over the country. Some were driving vans, others were pulling trailers but the most conspicuous are the people who drive 40 foot busses and pull Cadillac Escalades behind. We can’t imagine the cost of a trip like that because 15 feet of ferry space cost us over $400 from Prince Rupert and would have been over $1800 from Bellingham. They spend here months up here and then return to Florida, Utah or Arizona for the winter. The vans seem to be the center of attention in every parking lot. People told us of past family adventures in these vintage vans. Alaska must have been wall-to-wall Westfalia Vans in the 70s-90s. The ferry was 4 hours late so by the time we loaded we were all quite sick of waiting in line. The ferry crew did not keep us informed and we learned of a mechanical problem after we boarded.

Bob and Maureen
Chuckanut Westfalias