the ramp on to the ferry...
3:57a is not my favorite part of the day. but, if it has to be done in order to get home, I'll take it. that's when my alarm went of this morning. thanks to a shot of NyQuil and my head hitting the pillow at 7:37pm, I woke up feeling mostly normal. God loves me. and, between my dear mother and myself asking for grace and an alert head, the Father blessed me.
4:57a I arrived at the Auke Bay ferry terminal. it was dead and the sign on the door said office hours were from 8a-5p. what? but you said check-in was 2 hours prior to the ferry leaving and my ferry was scheduled for 7a?!! what is going on. no one was around. not a soul. so, I sat, looked up my ferry info on my iPhone and called. no answer. "please call back during normal office hours, 8a-5pm. have a nice day." what? is this a joke? did they cancel my ferry? what are they thinking?? have a nice day? I want to go home. how is this a nice day if you won't put me on your ferry?!
5:03a. a nasty old van pulls into the parking lot and a girl in her flannel pj's jumps out and goes into the ladies room. I quickly jump out of my car and follower her, hoping her driver doesn't think I'm a psycho stalker of some sort. "excuse me. I'm really sorry. I noticed you came in here. I'm trying to catch the ferry, am I at the right place??" "no. you're not. you need to go up the road 5 miles." "thank you! are there signs? will I know it when I see it?" "yeah, you'll see it." "thank you SO much and again, I'm sorry to bother you." "sure."
5:04a. I jump back in the car and SPEED up the road to the REAL terminal. sure enough. clear as day.
5:11a all checked in, settled in to line 4, ready to go.
6:07a the cars are starting to move. line 1 clears out. line 2 clears out. line 3, the first car drives down the ramp. the little lady in the orange vest stops everything. whats going on? why are we stopping? I want on. soon, a new little man in an orange vest starts motioning to me. I'm the second car in line, in the 4th line. why is he motioning me out of line? I roll down my window and ask, "did you want me to go?" "yes dear, drive on up, its your turn." huh, weird. apparently my car is just the perfect size to cut in line?! who knew. I pull in, do the big turn through the empty deck in to the tiny line, close between two walls. I can barely get out of the car its so tight. I get my purse and laptop bag, coffee thermos and my red Starbucks mug. absolutely I'm going to pour my coffee into my mug and drink it like a civilized person. why not?! Andy from another Leg office pulls in behind me in his 08 Tacoma. "hey Andy." "hey." I make my way to the top, look for an outlet along the wall and stake out my turf for the ride to Haines. the front of the ferry is mostly empty, so the pickings are wide open.
6:27a still no Darwin. where is the man? does he not know he is my 4X4 support system? sure he does. he knows. he knows I don't want to drive this alone. he was protective and kind driving down, he wouldn't ditch me now. would he? he knows I hate the road between Haines and Tok. nah, he's probably in the truck line, waiting to board.
6:31a time to text him. I called last night, left a message and he never called me back. "are you on the ferry yet? you're not going to make me drive this alone, are you??" nothing.
6:33a I walk to the back where the kitchen and dining area is. Dirk and Andy are sitting, laughing, chatting, waiting for the kitchen to open up. "hey guys!" "hey, how's it going?" "good. you haven't seen Darwin, have you?" "no, isn't he here?" "no..." my phone beeps...Darwin texted. "sorry, can't make it. hope there are other leggies to travel with." "WHAT??? he just texted. said he can't make it!?!!" Dirk starts laughing. "he can't make it??? want to drive with us?" "YES! yes, I do!! but what the heck?!!! why would he do this??? he knew I was going with him, he knew I didn't want to drive this alone!" Dirk keeps laughing and starts joking about texting acronyms. "yeah...can't make it...LOL...IDK...FYI..." "so, are you guys driving straight through or are you stopping?" "yeah, we're driving straight through." BAH! well, sure hope that coffee is working well and I can make it 17 hours of driving!!!
6:49a I call Keith, tell him Darwin stood me up and gave him Dirks name and the office he's from so he knows who I'm traveling with, should I not show up. gave him Renee's contact info and told him she would know how to get ahold of people in his office. Keith assures me it will be fine, the weather shouldn't be too bad and that I shouldn't push it too hard. just get to Tok. if you have to drive alone from there, you'll be fine. the worst will be going from Haines to Tok. you'll be fine. really. you're car is in good shape. the roads won't be too bad. just don't drive too fast. feeling assured by one of the best, protective brothers in the world, I hung up and called Renee since she had tried calling while I was on with Keith.
7:03a "what the @#$!!? he didn't show?!? #$%^!!!!" "yeah, I know. I have no clue. maybe he hates me?! I dont know, but I found Dirk and Andy and I'll just drive with them. they are driving straight through, so hopefully I can stay awake." "you'll be fine. just stay with them at least to Tok. if you need to sleep in Tok, you'll be fine from there home. I've done it a million times. but what the @!#%#@?!! what is he doing?!! the @#$#%%!!!"
7:56a ...yeah...
the rain has slowed a bit. there is still fog. I want so much to be able to see where we're going. its gorgeous out here. the mountains are amazing. if you can see them. seeing them being the key. maybe it will lift and I'll actually be able to see.
maybe the kitchen has something decent to eat.
9:37a the kitchen didn't have anything interesting but as I got in line to fill my mug with fresh coffee, the ferry chef of 30 years says, "if you tell me a joke, the coffee's free for the rest of the day!" "but, I don't know any jokes!" "story, got any stories?" "HA! yeah, I have a story. I'll tell ya a story..." I proceeded to tell him about the bagel and the smoke. he laughs, tells me he knows Naomi and says, "coffees free for the day, drink as much as you like, cream's around the corner..."
11:11a I tried laying on the floor to sleep but to no avail. Jason called and left a message. "just got a note from Darwin, heard he's not on the ferry. I hope you're ok. I'll catch the next ferry and drive you to Anchorage if you want...I'm sorry."
12:01p we pull out of Haines, "driving straight through..."
3p Haines Junction, not much to see, get gas, keep going.
6:30p HELLO AMERICA! US/Alaska Border.
8:07p Tok...gas, nasty sandwiches at the grocery, a jug of milk, bag of baby carrots and we're off to the races.
Somewhere between Glennallen and Palmer, Dirk got a little crazy and decided he wanted to get home NOW. we had lost Andy by this point and 90mph was our consistent. mmm, speed is good. however, when there is a herd of caribou on the side of the road, you'd really rather not take them out! no mom, we didn't hit any. (we did come close though!) :)
12:07a Welcome to Palmer! "Goodbye Dirk! Have a great night!"
1:27a Anchorage never looked so good!!! I could hardly keep my eyes open, could hardly walk, crawled up the stairs and into my bed! THANK YOU JESUS for a safe, FAST, trip.
you can find pictures here.
more later...
3 responses:
wow. Just Wow. Is it just me or did you drive that in 13 hours???????
wow.
also, why did the ferry take so long??
oh dahling, I'm so glad you're home, home, home!! Rest. Look at your red walls. Go enjoy "church". Be loved.
Post a Comment