Forgive my "french" canadian...

the seaplane cove in Prince Rupert

Our stateroom on the Taku

the cafeteria where we spent most of our time

My one foray into the "open"

but the ferry ride to Juneau SUCKED.  Let me rephrase - it SUCKED BIG TIME.  It started with our four hour entrapment in our car (read a book until the light was obliterated by the monsoon rains), then used Bill's head lamp to play a game of Scrabble (with the tiniest letters ever).  Tried to snooze but we weren't tired.   So we spent the time going in-and-out of the ferry terminal to warm up a bit.  Thank goodness I had that "poutine" which filled me up for quite some time When we did load the ferry, we found our "stateroom", left our things and headed for the bar.  Yes, the Taku Bar is on the ship and was fully stocked.  The bartender was on her "seven days on - seven days off" schedule and on her second day of those seven 'on' days.  She was very friendly, and served up our beers even with the rocking ship under her feet.  While there, we met one man who had moved from the lower 48 years ago and we small-talked about our trip so far.  Then, it was after 10 p.m. (and well-past Bill's bedtime!) so off we went.  When we left  port, the weather was getting quite nasty, with heavy rains and high wind warnings.  What we thought might be a "bit" of normal wave activity turned into Bill-almost-fell-out-of-the-top-bunk seas!  We rolled around sideways, then lengthways, listening all the time to the engines as they sputtered and strained against the ocean. We didn't want to see (nor could we since it was pitch-black on the water) how high the waves were.  In the morning, it seemed things had calmed down but we could see towels under the exit doors near the bow passenger areas.  The good thing is that neither of us felt one bit of sea-sickness, and celebrated with a good, old-fashioned pancake and eggs breakfast.  The weather outside left nothing for us to see for the entire trip - simply gray skies, sheets of rain and a distant "mound" which we could only assume was land.  No wildlife (again) so we waited until the bar opened at 11:00 a.m. and went to see our friend, Carol, the bartender.  This time, we met a younger man and his dad who, we found out, out drove us by starting in Vermont, doing Vermont to Prince Rupert in five days of 12-14 hours of driving.  The younger man would be starting a new "career" managing the Eagle Crest Ski Area on (our favorite) Douglas Island right here in Juneau.  He said that his wife was still at home, and the thought would be for her to arrive sometime between January - April.  We have heard him twice now on the radio, explaining what is in store for Southeast Alaska's premier ski hill.  I'm going to bake some bread this weekend and go "welcome" him to Juneau - no, not in the hopes of getting a discounted season pass!  Well, maybe.  Anyway, we read, did a jigsaw puzzle and ate dinner, then hit the bar again for a night cap.  The gentlemen were there again, and we exchanged names and numbers - and had a coffee with baileys, and a shot of whiskey, which was recommended by the drunk on the next stool.  Oh wait - that was Bill!  (just kidding - he didn't recommend the whiskey....)  We got our early morning wake up call through a loud speaker in our cabin - "30 minutes to Juneau" - at 3:45 A.M.  We were in our car, down the one mile to our condo and back in bed by 4:40 A.M.  Now the adventure REALLY starts!