Rain, Muskeg, and more. . .

I had a fantastic trip with my sweet girl Romy. We have been friends since 7th grade and sharing that kind of history with someone is really a special thing. She has been such an amazing woman to know and love and I'm so glad that she had the chance to come and have this vacation with me.

Hole in the Wall bar ~ Ketchikan, Alaska

We met up by both flying into Ketchikan, Alaska. There we stayed in a great little B & B on historic, wood-planked, Thomas Street. We trolled through the town and found a couple of great shops among the smattering of look-a-like tourist traps. Soho Coho was one. Its the gallery of artist, Ray Troll who does awsome whimsical prints, t-shirts, cards, etc. with a primary salmon theme. You can check him out at www.trollart.com. We also found a shop called Chinook & Co. that we loved. Its run by a local, very hip and funny woman who loves to chat. Lots of fun clothes, bags, stationary. . . and our favorite discovery. . . Starr-Ridge Cookies. They are a company based out of Phoenix, Arizona and they rock. Not only are the cookies amazingly delicious, but they are made and packaged by hand using all natural ingredients and recycled material for packaging. A portion of their profits go to a local Domestic Violence shelter too. I know I sound like a commercial, but I always appreciate companies that make a good product and are actually conscientuous in their practices. You can check out their company at www.starr-ridge.com Romy loved them so much she is actually considering a tattoo of their name, written in Kanji somewhere on her body (tee hee!). Aside from a little shopping, we also went to Dolly's Brothel on historic Creek Street, took some nice drives, went on a guided sea kayaking trip, went treasure hunting at junk beach, and went on a waterfall and muskeg hike.


Wood-planked, historic, and adorable. . . Creek Street


Silk condoms that Dolly used to make flowers on her shower curtain


Orca's Cove, which we later realized is the generic name they use for the trip so that they can take you wherever the conditions are good.


For some reason I felt it necessary to pose with the bull kelp. . . maybe I just miss my hair


Junk Beach mosaic that we made


Swimming hole at the end of our hike



On the hike we met a local artist who makes lamps, vases, and various sculptures out of some of the beautiful wood in Ketchikan. We met on the trail and ended up following her back to her house to check out her studio. Very cool.


Garage/Studio. . . so beautiful

Her name is Gail Person and you can look at her work at www.tactilefromnature.com
I bought a sweet little bud vase from her and Romy actually put an order in for a branch that will become a jewelry hanger.

We took an overnight ferry trip to Sitka and had the best time just pretending we were on a cruise.

We had a tiny little cabin room, which happened to be the last one available when I did the booking. We both slept better than ever in the dark and cozy room. The scenery was endless beauty. The ferry is definitely a spectacular way to view this stunning area.

Just before getting off the ferry, we met up with some friends, of a friend of mine. Jason was my friend's friend and he was with his boyfriend, also named Jason. I knew they would be on the ferry from Sitka to Juneau, but it was a surprise to see them on the way to Sitka too. I didn't know for sure who they were, but I took a guess and was right. I won't explain the distant connection to how we met up, but however distant it was, Romy and I were both totally psyched to have met them. We ended up spending a little time together in Sitka and then a lot of time together in Juneau. We had a ton of fun together and definitely shared some memorable experiences. I hope to keep in touch and see them again someday.


Jason and Jason sitting around the campfire at Shelter Island

When we got off the ferry and made our way to the shuttle bus into town, someone called out Romy's name from one of the buses. It was Wendy Miller (now Wendy Chin), a friend of our's from highschool.



Funny thing is, both Romy and I said to eachother that we thought we had seen her on the ferry. Neither of us gave it much thought though, assuming that it of course wasn't her. But, it was. Crazy! Romy and I tripped out about it for the rest of our trip. Such a small world. She was on her way up to Anchorage with her beautiful baby and husband. He's in the military and they are moving there. I'm really excited to connect with her there and catch up after at least 13 years now.

We arrived in Sitka on a gorgeous and rare sunny day.


Evening one in Sitka, Alaska


Wood carving at the tip of someone's driveway in Sitka. I just loved it and thought it was so creative. Lovely.

True females, we spent some more time shopping. We also took a hike, went on some drives, and had a night on the town. Sitka was a little more chill than Ketchikan with less tourists, which was nice. We really enjoyed both places though.


Dock at Thimbleberry Lake ~ Sitka, Alaska


One of many cool, twisty trees on our hike ~ Sitka


The beach at Whale Park ~ Sitka



Next, we took the fast ferry to Juneau, which only took about 4 hours. The time flew as we played a game of Rummy with the Jasons. The ferry was much smaller, but definitely an updated, upgraded version of the first one we were on. Very posh and stylish inside, which again helped as we pretended we were on our cruise. We actually had a really fun time.


Shelter Island Beach


Alaska State Flower ~ Forget-Me-Not ~ Rick's garden, Shelter Island


I learned on this trip that the beautiful blue Alaskan flower also comes in pink. Rick grows both of them.

Once we got to Juneau, my friend (and one of the Jason's friends), Ryan, picked us up. Although we had a B & B reserved, we ended up just leaving our stuff there and heading out to spend the night on Shelter Island. This plan was a tentative one with my friend Ryan, but it ended up working out beautifully. Romy, I, the Jason's and Ryan all headed out to the island where Rick, Ryan's boyfriend, already was. Rick has, along with lots of help from friends, family, and recently Woofer's (World Organization of Organic Farmers), created one of the most spectacular places I've been. He purchased property on the island about 7 years ago that sits right in a muskeg.


Romy, in the middle of the muskeg





He's built a lovely organic garden, created a usable path with timber planks that he has harvested which runs from the beach almost 1/2 mile up to his property, put up a wood burning hot tub, built a tiny and adorable little gnome home (mine and Romy's sleeping quarters), built a kitchen and dining area, carved a path up a steep hill to a wall tent with an amazing view, and has been working on a cabin slowly but surely over the past 7 years.


View from the wall tent area at Shelter Island


Jason on the way down from the tent area


Romy, in the middle of the garden


The gnome home


Inside the gnome home. . . oh so cozy!


What a beautiful outhouse


Ahhh, the hot tub. . .

We spent the evening visiting around a bonfire. Ryan played his mandolin and Rick was on the guitar.



It was a pretty long day and we were all tired. After everyone retired, Romy and I attempted getting into the hot tub, but it was scalding hot and we could barely stand to put our toes in. It was still really great though. Peaceful and warm and a great segway into getting cozy in the gnome home. We got silly for no particular reason and snapped a few pictures just before going to bed.


Doesn't Romy look so darn cute!





In the morning I got up before anyone else and went back to that hot tub. I had about an hour soak with the sun shining and the snow capped mountains sparkling. It was the best! Ryan made everyone french toast and I chopped up some fresh fruit for what felt like a gourmet breakfast. All was well until I decided I needed to fall through some stairs before we left. I was carrying an armful of blankets and missed the step into the cabin, rolled my ankle and fell right through the gap in the stairs. Ouch. I could walk on it, but it got progressively worst over the next couple of hours and days. It was a bummer and is still not totally healed, but at least it was at the end of the trip, right?

We were going to have to take two boat trips, but then Ryan and I decided to just take the kayak back instead of run the boat twice. I'm so glad we did. It was a perfect, sunny day on the water. We saw a whale and a couple sea lions and had such a nice time. Ryan is a much stronger paddler than I and unfortunately I think it must have been somewhat maddening for him to be paddling with me. I was in the back so I was steering, but since I could never paddle strong enough to overcome his regular stroke, the only way I could steer was to drag, which is never the ideal way to keep a good pace. The trip was slower than usual so we missed the ride we had arranged. Ryan was so amazingly patient with me though and didn't make me feel bad at all for being such a weakling.



There is no way to really describe this place in words and even the pictures cannot do justice to the feeling that exists there. It was definitely the highlight of our trip! Thanks again Rick and Ryan.





Because of my ankle mishap, I was limping for the rest of our trip. We had hoped to go hiking, but instead layed low around town. . . again doing a little shopping and taking some nice drives. We found a great little artist's co-op with, you guessed it, more jewelry. Oh wait, maybe I didn't mention it, but I'm a freak for jewelry and found some in every stop. I only bought one pair of earrings here though, which was huge progress considering all that I wanted to get. We then spent our last night having drinks with the Jasons at The Alaskan Bar, a very cool historic spot. Good times. Romy and I had a waffle breakfast and decided to get matching wrist tattoos to commemorate our trip before we left.



Thanks for the memories Romy! (And Jason, Jason, Ryan, and Rick too!)


Me and the Jason's on a Juneau shore


Shelter Island Beach

By the way, for those of you wondering what muskeg is. . . one definition I found on-line is this.

"Like a soggy blanket draped over the landscape, muskeg, or peat bog, covers more than 10 percent of southeast Alaska. It provides a surprisingly fragile home for an abundance of plants that thrive in the wet, acid soil. During the summer, the flowers on many of them add a carpet of soft color to the muted greens and browns typical of muskeg."

I found this definition while doing "research" on the topic at Ryan's house. Romy became obsessed with muskeg after we heard it so many times throughout our trip and after we camped in it at Shelter Island. The word alone caused lots of laughs. Maybe you had to be there? Also in our research we found a sort of hilarious website that is worth a visit. www.muskeg.com



Peace and Love,

Sasha

P.S. Romy is much more detailed than I and has uploaded several more pictures, so if you want to read/see more, click on her name in the side bar to get to her blog.