Ferry to Petersburg

Robert, Wednesday, June 11
Today was a ferry trip day. We got to the ferry dock a little early so we checked in, parked the rig in line, and walked into town. It was all of three blocks away. The mosquitoes were out in force this morning. There was no wind and everyone outside was constantly waving their hands in front of their face. The ferry arrived on time and we were underway by the scheduled time of 11:15 a.m.. We were on the same ferry that brought us to Wrangell. Again we parked in the very front of the ferry so we didn’t have to back on or off. This leg of the trip took us through the Wrangell Narrows. The ferries normally cruise at 20 knots but in the Narrows they slow to 10 knots. The narrows are slightly more than 20 miles long. There are places where if you had a really good arm (like maybe an NFL quarterback) you could throw a rock and hit either bank. There are a number of buoys that mark the channel and the ship wove its way through. When we got to Petersburg, we were the first vehicle off–two times! The ramp off of the ferry is metal and it was a very steep climb. The crew maneuvers you off and they want you to go slow so that you don’t hit anything. Our first try up the ramp didn’t work as we didn’t get a running start and we just spun our tires. We backed down, put the truck in 4WD, got a short running start, and made it up. The campground we were to stay in was about 2 miles from the dock. We got there and were more than a little disappointed. The people there acted like we were bothering them. They directed up to a site that we couldn’t get into as there was a truck parked half way across one end. They could find the owner of the truck so they pointed to another site. This place was the worst looking campground we have ever seen. There was junk and trash everywhere. The second site we were offered had dog poop everywhere. It looked like a junk yard for wrecked cars, trucks, and RVs. I looked around the campground and got back into the truck. I asked Leslie if she wanted to stay in this place and the look on her face said it all. We left. There was another campground about 6 miles further down the road and that is where we went. There wasn’t anyone in the office when we got here but several people pointed to the open sites and said that the owner would be back later. We parked and set up. We both breathed a sigh of relief that we weren’t in that first campground. We waited for the owner to show up as we wanted to get into town to buy some fresh fish. We had noticed before we left Wrangell that a warning light came on in the trailer for the hot water heater. The light means the pilot light is not on. When we take showers, we have both the electric element and the gas heating the hot water. That way we can both take showers without a long wait in between to allow the water to get hot. While we were waiting, I decided to figure out what the problem was. I discovered that a fuse had blown so we need to get a replacement. When it got to be 7:00 p.m., we decided to just go into town. Although it was too late to buy fish, there was a restaurant with fresh fish on the menu so that is where we went. We will go check in the campground tomorrow. There is one radio station in Petersburg. We had it on and heard the weather forecast for the next five days–rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain! Glad be brought rain gear with us.