Time in Ketchikan, Alaska - wet and wonderful

May 14 - Enjoyed a glorious, and apparently rare, sunny day yesterday. It was so beautiful. Sun shining brightly. The sea calm. The snowcapped mountain stood out against the most gorgeous blue sky. Birds were everywhere, singing and doing other birdy thing. It was pure pleasure.
Then the rain returned. Prediction is for 4 inches and it seems to be working hard to achieve that measurement. Makes running to the vault a real treat.

For years I have been nagging Fred to take his shoes off when entering the rv. The dogs track in enough dirt, mud, and leaf-litter without him contributing but till now he has refused. This soggy environment has convinced Fred removing wet footware is a good thing so we bought him a pair of slippers. They are right next to the door so he can easily slip them on or off. Ralf and Dani insure the floor needs to be swept regularly but it isn’t as bad. Thank you honey.

Made a quick trip into Ketchikan to transmit and pick up an umbrella (didn’t even think to bring ours). Folks were complaining in the hot spot about the return of lousy weather. One person said it should last for almost another week. Yuck, but at least is keeps the mosquitoes at bay.

Learned that, although Ketchikan is considered a "full service" town, some of the population go to other islands for medical attention. Craig, on Prince of Wales Island, apparently the place for dental work and Sitka for eye care. These aren’t a quick. Craig is a couple of hours by ferry and Sitka is almost a full day’s travel unless you fly!

Locals are getting all excited about the steady increase of cruise line visitors. We are apparently a rare event; tourists vice visitors. It seems these visitors are Ketchikan’s primary source of income. Not sure how the locals can afford to live here but many locals we have met are dedicated to living on this beautiful but rainy town.

May 15 - Took advantage of a break in the rain to walk the dogs this morning. Ward Lake has flooded most of the lakefront campsite but is mirror front so you can see the surrounding snowcapped mountains reflect in its surface. There were a couple of ducks running across the lake leaving a ripple that reached from banks to banks - cool! I could even watch the clouds drift across the lake. We also walked up to Frog Pond, equally placid, and heard an amorous baritone voice frog call for love.

One benefit of staying in one campground for several days in this rainy weather is we can actually see spring blooming around us. The other morning I could see little swelling buds on bare branches of bushes lining the road. This morning those same branches have clusters of three leaves, similar to raspberry, and a few have tight rosy pink blossoms ready to bloom - maybe wild roses. By time we took the kids evening stroll, I can confirm, since many of those buds opened during the day, they are salmonberry.

Visited the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center in the afternoon. It has some lovely and informative exhibits and should be put on your "Must Do" list. It is probably the only place I’ll get to see some of the "typical" residents of this forest. One of the disadvantages of hiking with a dog is it tends to keep wildlife away but, if the bear they had in their exhibit is of an average size, this is also one of the benefits. Here are some other tidbits I learned at the Center:

• Tongass National Forest consists of two national monument, 13 campgrounds, 19 wilderness areas, 150 recreational cabins, and 450 miles of hiking trails.
• It has 14,000 miles of shoreline and is the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world.
• About 800,000 people visit the area each year and it is home to about 75,000 people.
• Ketchikan receives 162 inches of rain,32 inches of snow each year, and has an average temperature of 61 degrees F. (One local told me this was a very unusually snowy year. He said there are cabins up in the mountains that will be buried in snow until mid-July this year!)
• The decorations painted and carved on hunting, cooking, and other objects by the Native People is to show respect and thanks toward whatever the image represents. It was stated in one exhibit, even before chopping down a tree, the Native People would pray and perform some ceremony to the tree. Now, that being religious.

Fred made reservations at a campground in Petersburg, we’ll be there in another week, with wifi. That means for a few days these blogs won’t be so long.

May 16 - Laundry - Tomorrow we take the ferry our next cluster of Tongass NF campgrounds on Prince of Wales (POW) Island, and will stay several days in a forest service campground. Five days of being self-supporting - got to love it, up to a point. As much as I loved tent camping, living in a nice dry self-contained mobile house does have its attractions.

With all the nice features (such as flush toilet, hot shower, a comfortable bed to mention a few) my motorhome does lack of couple of features we’ve seen in others rig. Did you know some recreation vehicles actually come with ice makers and a washer and drier machine. Well, I can do without the ice maker but our rig does have a washer-drier - ME! Here some of the way I deal with that every present challenge of dirty clothes.

First, I am a quarter saver. I’ve also become a two, or even more, timer and wear the same clothes more than once. Next, I forego those large economy-size boxes and jugs of laundry supplies for a smaller size. The big containers are heavy, hard to store, and difficult to handle. These new concentrated laundry soaps must have been developed by an rv enthusiasts. And last, I have a nice lightweight, collapsible laundry bag that is the central collection point. It’s easy to haul laundry to Laundromat an folds up completely when not in use.

Most private campgrounds have a Laundromat but, when practical, I’ll go down the road to an establishment with front-end loading washers. That’s my personal preference. IMHO, the front-end loading machine uses less water and cleans better. I will also forego any Laundromat where the waste water is dump into a trough in back of the machines or the place smells like mildew. FYI, take a book or something to do but be open to talking with locals. Laundromats are a great place to learn about an area.

I try to keep ahead of laundry by doing small "loads" in our "Steinbach clothes washer." I developed this device from an idea presented in Travels with Charlie by Steinbach. While Fred is breaking camp, I take my dishwashing pan and put a few dirt "things" in it. Next in goes a sprinkle of cold water laundry soap and then enough water to cover the "things." The pan, dirt clothes, soap, water and all are placed in the shower stall and off we go. The motorhome’s movement causes the water to agitate so all I have to do is rinse, wring, and hang. Works well for me.

A word of caution - those huge front loading driers (usually $0.25 for 7 minutes) can "cook" rather than dry clothes. If you must use, go for a cooler temperature and drop the necessary extra quarter - the jeans/sweatshirt/bra you save will be your own.

Found this Laundromat in town that double as a hot spot! So nice! It’s the first time we have had such luck. It also illustrates most businesses in the area must double up on what they offer to stay viable. FYI, this place is located next to a marina, right on a pier. I think that is cool.

I still have to get some last minute groceries on the way home but for now Fred and I are going to take the kids up Creek Street to explore some of the touristy sights. Have a good weekend