Ketchikan, Day 1

We left this morning thinking we would scope out the parking situation in Ketchikan so when we were in town to shop, we would know where to go. We think we have that covered.

We also tried to find a place to fill our water tank. The water here in the park is full of tannins and it is the color of tea. We don't want to put that in our tank. It is supposed to be safe to drink, but everyone out here is using rain and pond water. I guess they use the RO systems, except in the RV park. We have been assured it is safe to drink, but we don't plan on doing that. The owner told us we could go to the water treatment plant and they would let us fill with fresh water. So off we went. No one was in that office but when Terry came out there were a couple employees in a company truck, so he stopped them and asked. Nope. No can do. They directed us down to the port and harbor office, so off we went again. They actually had a water spigot and hose out front, so Terry went in. Nope. . . city manager no longer allows RV's to fill there, but we could go down to a water station where they sell filtered water, so off we went. Nope. . . he won't sell you water unless you have a container and he wouldn't let us fill the motorhome. Bummer. So we will have to figure something else out. Terry thought maybe he could buy another filter and double filter the water. But no one in town had the filters and one filter isn't enough. We bought a case of bottled water at what has to be the world's smallest Wal-Mart and will use a bucket to flush with if we run out of water.

So off we went in search of adventure. We ended up once again running the road out to the very end looking for a preserve. We ended up calling them to find out where they were located. We eventually found the business, but decided to pass because the small parking lot was full. We are most interested now in seeing bears fish in the streams and they weren't doing that today. All was not lost, however, because we found a lovely spot for lunch and pulled into the turnout and enjoyed lunch while watching a beautiful vista.

Back to town, we found a place to park and started walking down the boardwalk toward the shopping district. We were in front of a couple cruise ships. Like Juneau, these ships park right in town. It is pretty weird to see ships so close to the dock you can touch them and extending up several stories. These towns really cater to these cruise ships, too. They do assume that everyone who comes in is off a boat. They are really surprised when we tell them we are here in our RV. We came here on PURPOSE! The cruisers came here because the boat stopped here. LOL

We ended our day at the Visitor's Bureau. . . yeah, I know that's backwards! But they weren't busy and the gal was helpful. I asked her if she knew of any place we could fill our RV with water. She was surprised that we had trouble and said that in the town meetings they continually talk about how they need to get more RV travelers into town. One of her friend's husbands is a big wheel in the treatment plant in town, so she called her friend who in turn called her husband. When it was all done, we were told to go tomorrow to the treatment plant and fill with water. If we have any trouble, we are supposed to them them to call Paul. Hahaha. Guess we will get that done tomorrow. Hee hee.

On the way back to the car, we saw this ship. This is a ship that is on "Deadliest Catch." In the "off" season, they take people out on the ship and actually throw out the crab pots, etc., then pick them up and show the visitors the types of sea creatures they get. They do all catch and release on these tours. Our neighbors in the park went out with them yesterday. He said it was very interesting.


Back at our campsite we pulled in only to find that our door mat was missing. Someone had taken it. Isn't that just peachy. In eight years of fulltiming, we have never had anything taken. And a dirty old mat. We kept it in front of the door so we could wipe our shoes off. I guess someone needed it more than we did. It wasn't worth much, but it still made me mad. We went up to the office and reported the theft. Tomorrow when we go out for the day, we will be sure to pick up our lego leveling blocks. Sure don't want to lose those.

Tomorrow we are going to go to town and do "Creek Street." This is the former "red-light" district and is now different kinds of shops. Looking forward to that. We also have the totem historical park, but that may be Wednesday's adventure. We leave Wednesday, but don't have to board the ferry till 5 p.m.

Till next time. . .

Dale