First Full Day in Ketchikan

Robert, Friday, May 30
We took care of a number of "house keeping" matters this morning. We needed to cancel the cell phone coverage we had for Canada, we needed to contact the trailer manufacturer to get a replacement water valve sent to us, and we needed to find out while our internet connection wouldn’t work. As it turns out, Verizon data service does not work anywhere in Alaska so we suspended that until we get back in the lower 48. Once we finished all of this, got showers, straightened up the trailer, and got lunch, we headed for town.
We first stopped at tourist information. One of the first order of business was to find a vet for Molly. The lymph node in her neck just hasn’t gone down and we wanted to make sure she is OK. The best we could do is to get a Monday morning appointment. The information center is right next to the cruise ship dock. There were four cruise ships there. As each cruise ship has 2,000-3,000 tourists, when there are four here the population can swell by about 10,000 people. The population of Ketchikan is only about 7,500 so right at the cruise ship dock are many, tacky tourist gift and t-shirt shops. However, once you get beyond walking distance of the cruise ships, Ketchikan is a pretty normal town.
We got information about the town and proceeded to walk around. We went to the Discovery Center and got in for free with my National Parks Golden Age Pass. Not only was the display interesting but there was a staff member who answered many questions about Ketchikan. After our walking tour, we stopped at a fresh fish store and bought a fillet of king salmon. Then we got some groceries and returned to the campground. The salmon went on the grill and it was great! There is a huge difference between fresh and frozen fish. There is also a similar different between wild and farmed fish. We will take fresh, wild fish any day. We did ask at the fish store if they had any king crab but the answer was no. We have never tried cooking king crab but we will at some point on this adventure.