ferry – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #374 – On the Move!

November 18, 2025November 22, 2025Posted in Photography, TravelTagged Cruising, ferry, Lens-Artists, On the Move, Photo Challenge, Photography, RVing, Train Ride, Viking Ocean Cruise51 Comments

Truck and camper in Denali National Park, Alaska

John has a fun challenge for us this week – On the Move. He asks “How do you travel? Where do you go?”

I started my blog in 2013 as a way for our friends and family to follow us along on our four month RV journey to Alaska and back. The featured image is of our truck and fifth wheel in our campsite in Denali National Park in Alaska.

From 2006 to 2019 we spent many days on the move as we wandered around the United States and Canada in our trusty Chevy Silverado towing our home on wheels. We traveled from campground to campground, state to state, and through a few Canadian provinces. Sometimes we would be away from home for a week or two, other times for a month or more.

We towed our fifth wheel on interstates and back roads and sometimes took it on a ferry to get where we needed to go. I captured the first image in the following gallery as we waited our turn to board the small ferry to cross the Yukon River from Dawson City, Yukon. We also towed our camper on the Alaskan ferry from Skagway to Haines and on a Texas ferry on the way to Galveston.

We watched this truck and trailer board the ferry to cross the Yukon River from Dawson City, Yukon

During our RV travels we would often take excursions on different types of transportation. In Alaska we took a ride on the Alaska Railroad, rode a bus in Denali National Park, took wildlife cruises from Haines and from Seward, and landed on a glacier in a small plane.

Our driver with the bus he drove on the road through the Denali Wilderness in Denali National Park, Alaska

In 2019 we made the decision to park the RV and take different kinds of trips. We went on our first ever ocean cruise 2022. We were hooked.

The Viking Sea was our home for two weeks as we sailed around the Caribbean on our first cruise.

We had some fun modes of transportation in some of the ports. We rode on a Wacky Roller bus in Dominica, an open-air Safari bus in Tortola, Henry drove us around St. Martin in a Talon 4-wheeler, and the Monster Bus in Costa Rica took us into the rain forest.

Henry drove is around St. Martin in one of these Talons

No matter how we move from place to place we always enjoy seeing new places, meeting people, and enjoying the scenery along the way.

Thanks to Egidio for taking us back to challenge #31: Landscapes last week. Your responses took us around the world with your wonderful landscapes of mountains, valleys, oceans, and so much more.

I hope you will join in for this week’s challenge. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to John’s post Lens-Artists #374 – On the Move!.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, November 22 at noon eastern time when Patti will be hosting the challenge.

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift

Hello Scotland

June 21, 2019Posted in Historic Sites, Lighthouse, TravelTagged castle, Corsewall Lighthouse, ferry, George Square, Glasgow, Glasgow City Council Building, Inverness, Scotland, Stena Line, Wellington Statue Glasgow5 Comments

It was really sad leaving beautiful Ireland but the time had come to move on to Scotland. We boarded the Stena SuperFast VII Ferry in Belfast for our 2 1/2 hour voyage to Cairnryan, Scotland. The ferry was huge with lounges, restaurants, and even free WiFi. The seas were calm and the sky was clear for the entire trip.

20160515-Day-15-Ferry-to-Scotland-Glasgow-IPhone-(4) — On the Stena Superfast Ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan, Scotland

As the ferry was passing by our first sighting of Scotland, we saw the Corsewall Lighthouse.

20190515-Day-15-Ferry-to-Scotland-Glasgow-Sony-(24) — We saw the Corsewall Lighthouse from the ferry

We picked up our rental car at the ferry dock and were soon traveling on Scotland’s roads on our way to Glasgow, our first destination.

20160515-Day-15-Ferry-to-Scotland-Glasgow-IPhone-(12) — Another country, another rental car, more curvy roads. We have arrived in Scotland

20160515-Day-15-Ferry-to-Scotland-Glasgow-IPhone-(14) — Scenic drive from the ferry to Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow is a huge city, much bigger than I thought it would be and we only had one full day to explore. After a good night’s rest we enjoyed our first Full Scottish Breakfast before starting our sightseeing. Henry tried the haggis with eggs, I passed on the haggis. We set out on foot to explore the area around the hotel. Our wandering took us to the Museum of Modern Art, George Square and the Glasgow City Council Building.

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(8) — Wellington Statue at Museum of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(55) — George Square with Glasgow City Council City Chambers Building in the background, Glasgow, Scotland

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(37) — Ceiling in Glasgow City Council Building

We decided the best way to see the highlights of Glasgow would be to take the Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour. The tour was about two hours around the city, making a few stops along the way. If you got off, you could get on another bus to continue the tour. The top deck of the red double decker buses were open and a guide pointed out places of interest as we went. The city is an interesting mix of old and new.

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(61) — Mural in Glasgow, Scotland

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(138) — Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(172) — Italian Shopping District, Glasgow, Scotland

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(99) — Glasgow SSE Hydro concert, sporting, and special events arena

20190516-Day-16-Glasgow-City-Council-Hop-on-Hop-off-Sony-(180) — The old and the new in Glasgow, Scotland

The next day our adventure was a ride from Glasgow to Inverness in our rental car. After a few wrong turns and a ride through the Glasgow suburbs the scenery got better and better as the day went on.

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(12) — On the road to Inverness, Scotland

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(15) — Snow in the Highlands, Scotland

Inverness is a much smaller city with the River Ness running right through the center of town and a castle at the top of a hill. The name Inverness means “mouth of the Ness”. We arrived early enough to take a walk beside the river.

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(44) — Inverness Castle, Scotland

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(53) — Faith, Hope and Charity statue in Inverness, Scotland

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(31) — River Ness, Inverness, Scotland

20190517-Day-17-Glasgow-to-Inverness-Sony-(45) — River Ness, Inverness

Next up, a full day bus tour through the Scottish Highlands.

Day 41: On Top of the World

June 30, 2013June 22, 2015Posted in Alaska, RV ParksTagged Downtown Chicken, ferry, Poker Creek, Top of the World Highway, Yukon River

Day 41: June 25, 2013. Dawson City, Yukon to Chicken, Alaska on Top of the World Highway. Chicken Gold Camp Site 5. 108 miles traveled in about 7 hours.

To get to Alaska from Dawson City, the shortest route is to travel across The Top of the World Highway on mostly gravel road with few guard rails and spectacular views.

Our journey began as we got in line for the ferry about 8:00. We watched the ferry make several trips across the river before it was our turn to board about 9:00.

The free George Black Ferry crosses the Yukon River from Dawson City to Top of the World Highway.

On board the ferry

Crossing the river to The Top of the World Highway

Once we exited the ferry in West Dawson, we were on our way on the Top of the World Highway. It was originally called the Ridge Road because it was built on top of the ridge.

On the Top of the World Highway – mostly gravel all day

Spectacular views from the Top of the World highway

An interesting rock formation along the road

Traveling above the tree line on the Top of the World Highway in Yukon Territory, Canada

We were excited when we came to a paved section of road!

View on the Top of the World Highway

Views like this made it worth the hard drive

At an overlook on the Top of the World

Can you see the road?

We crossed back into the United States at Poker Creek, the northernmost border crossing by land in North America

Poker Creek Alaska

Overlook at the Welcome to Alaska Sign

Back in Alaska!

After that, the road was even worse than before! There is construction work on the American side. The road is very narrow in places and has very soft shoulders and no guardrails. After about 8 miles we turned onto the Taylor Highway which was the scariest part of the trip. Soft shoulders, narrow, and straight drop offs. The view of the valley below was supposed to be beautiful but I had to keep looking straight ahead!

We arrived in Chicken, Alaska and got the last electric site there. There are only three places in Chicken – Downtown Chicken, The Town of Chicken, and Chicken Gold Camp where we stayed. You can walk from one place to another. Each one has a campground, store, and restaurant. There’s a post office down the road a short distance. The mail plane only comes twice a week.