Haines – Page 2 – Wandering Dawgs

Day 36: Fresh Crabs for Dinner

June 22, 2013May 21, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, Tourist Attractions, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Dungeness Crab, Haines, Hammer Museum, Oceanside RV Park11 Comments

Day 36: Thursday, June 20, 2013

One of the things on my list of things to do in Alaska was to eat some fresh crabs right from the dock. Thanks to Joyce, the great owner of the Oceanside RV Park where we are staying, I crossed that off my list on Thursday night.

I went for an early morning walk around the harbor and then hoping to see some more Bald Eagles, we drove a few miles down the road to Chilcoot Lake in Chilcoot State Park and along Mud Bay Road to the seafood cannery.

I walked around Haines Harbor in the early morning

Haines Totem by the harbor

Chilcoot Lake

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Mama Bald Eagle on nest in Chilcoot State Park, Haines, AK

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Then we went down to the dock to help clean today’s catch of 38 Dungeness Crabs.

Deadliest Catch!

The guys are hard at work

Joyce and crew cleaning crabs on the dock

A trip to the Hammer Museum sounded like a fun way to spend the afternoon before dinner.

Henry and Blondie at the Hammer Museum

Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska

This one is for our friend Chuck, president of a small bank in Georgia

This is for Henry and all his buddies at BellSouth

A display of seafood hammers. Our mallet came in handy when we had a dinner of Dungeness Crab

Finally, it was time to eat!

Owner Joyce and the camp host getting ready to cook

38 Dungeness Crabs

Time to eat

Joyce, the owner of Oceanside RV Park, often puts on a crab boil or salmon bake for her guests. Joyce organizes everything, teaches everyone how to clean them, and then cooks them. Everyone brought a covered dish and paid for however many crabs they wanted. After we ate our fill of our six crabs we picked the rest and froze it for later in the trip.

Joyce is one of the hardest working RV park owners we have ever seen and goes out of her way to make you feel at home. If you are going to Haines, Oceanside RV Park is the only place to stay. This is NOT a paid advertisement! She doesn’t even know I’m posting this.

Day 35: Laid back in Haines, Alaska

June 20, 2013May 21, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Haines, Nature, whales4 Comments

Day 35: Wednesday, June 19, 2013

We didn’t have to travel far to see the sights today. Back at the campground, people emerged from their RV’s with coffee cups in hand in search of birds, whales, and vessels passing by. Someone shouted “Whale” and started pointing. Binoculars and spotting scopes came out and we all watched to see where they are. Far across the water we watched three whales as they spouted and breached.

Later, we drove along Mud Bay to a cannery to get some smoked salmon. No work was being done so we decided to come back another day to watch them at work. The local IGA had just received it’s weekly shipment so after we stocked up there we spent the rest of the day enjoying the views from our campground.

We’re in site 13 at the Oceanside RV Park overlooking the ocean

Haines boat harbor

Haines Harbor

Welcome to Haines

A Blue Heron in Haines

Have I mentioned how hot it is here? After traveling through Canada wearing sweatshirts, jeans and wool socks for days, we arrived in Alaska and had to change into short sleeves and shorts. Many people in the campground sat in their chairs sunbathing.

Blondie finally got to go swimming when we took her down to the beach.

I could see Henry and Blondie on the beach from our campsite

Blondie swimming in Haines, Alaska

Kelp washed up on the beach

Shells were everywhere

Whale watching during cocktail hour and waiting for a storm to come in – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it.

This boat anchored right in front of us

Watching for whales in Haines, Alaska

View from our campground in Haines

A ship goes by in the distance as two ships are leaving the harbor in the rain

Day 34: Taking the Alaskan Ferry to Haines

June 20, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, RV Parks, WildlifeTagged Alaskan Ferry, Bald Eagle, Haines, Oceanside RV Park, Skagway

Day 34: June 18, 2013. Skagway, Alaska to Haines, Alaska on the ferry Walaspina. Oceanside RV Park, Site 13, Haines. About 335 miles by land, 15 miles and one hour by ferry.

Four new cruise ships arrived in the harbor while we were sleeping. The boardwalks were filled with shoppers from the ships early in the morning. We made a couple of last minute purchases before hitching up the fifth wheel to drive about two blocks to the ferry terminal. Our quiet little row of campers suddenly became busy as about 4 huge motor homes pulled in just as we were getting ready to leave. With cruise ship passengers walking through the parking lot and a train across the road stopping traffic it took us about 30 minutes to go two blocks to get in line for the ferry.

Our rig was measured – 46 feet from the front of the truck to the rear of the fifth wheel – we paid for the tickets, and had a couple of hours before boarding. We had hoped to grab a quick lunch in town but lines were out the doors everywhere so we just fixed lunch and ate at the ferry dock. Our rig was parked right next to Ted and Ruthy, a couple from Michigan and Arizona we met back in Prince George, BC. We saw their rig in Watson Lake and they saw ours in Liard Hotsprings.

When it was time to board the vehicles on the ferry a crew member directed traffic pointing to each vehicle when it was their turn to board. We sat and watched the motor homes and other trailers board until only cars were left. When they started moving quickly to the ferry we knew we would be the last ones on.

We rode the Walaspina ferry to Haines

We were the last ones to enter the ferry

Cars and RV’s are lined up inside the ferry

Henry on deck of the Walaspina

Several helicopters flew past the ship

Leaving the Skagway dock

Blondie had to stay in the truck while we went up to the passenger decks for our one hour journey through the inside passage to Haines. We stayed outside most of the trip to see the scenery and went inside to the nice comfortable lounge when we started getting cold.

Helicopter tours flew by

Amazing views from the ferry

Approaching Haines

Arriving at the Haines ferry dock

We traveled on the Alaska Ferry System from Skagway to Haines.

Our campground was just a few minutes drive from the ferry dock. Our friends Ted and Ruthy are just a few sites down from us. An eagle flew by to welcome us and perched on the rocks in the harbor. Our next door neighbors said they saw whales earlier. We knew we were going to like it here.