We're in a nice spot in northern Idaho, and we've settled in for 2 - no, make that 3 - weeks

We're staying at a really nice condo in a ski area called Silver Mountain, about 40 miles east of Coeur d'Alene (which I'd heard was really nice, but it was way overdeveloped). The surrounding town where we are is called Kellogg, and it's a mining community. There's a large silver mine not too far away, still in use. Weather here has been good, sun and in the high 70's most of the time. Hope everyone out there is still looking at this from time to time, and even more hopefully, enjoying it. We miss all of you.

We traveled inland about 150 miles SE of Prince Rupert, BC and guess what? We were in the Sonoran Desert!

This part of the journey would be a climatologist's dream. The temp, humidity, and terrain changed within 15 minutes when we turned south into a valley, known as the Okanagan. It is the wine and lake country of BC and they liken it to their own version of Southern California. We went from cold and wet, to very warm and dry. Here are some pix, including some shots of wild horses and a sign we came upon as we hiked that speaks for itself. Of course, Mac hogs the spotlight, as usual.

Mac, happily on dry land, explores Prince Rupert, BC, poses on a Mini with friend,and gets a close-up of a deer

On the ferry along the inside passage

We finally left Haines, AK (after 8 days of wet, cold weather) and boarded the ferry for Prince Rupert, BC, which sailed along the inside passage. The journey took 2 days and the ferry was actually the size of a small cruise ship but we started to get a little stir crazy anyway. We had an inside cabin and were lucky to get even that, as some people were sleeping in tents on the upper deck. Most port stops were in early AM hours (4 0r 5 AM), so we missed them. Got some pictures of humpback whale parts and, quite frankly, we were glad to get off the damn thing. Too many people. Poor Mac got seasick and had to retreat to our military-style cabin (see photo).

Haines, Alaska, including a grizzly and a bald eagle

Enroute from Seward to Valdez AK

These 2 guys weren't shot in the wild, I snapped the adorable (?) wrymouth & puffin at the Seward Marine Rescue Ctr

Seward, Alaska

This is the harbor at Seward , AK and
this is a glacier up really close at Kenai
Fjords Natl Park in Seward. That's me in winter coat and hood (in July). It was raining as usual. In SE Alaska, a day without rain (no matter what the temperature) is a good day.

We're still out here

We survived our ferry ride along the inside passage, got some pix of whale parts. Mac didn't do too well tho. Seasick. We are now in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, the "southern California" of Canada. Weather has been in the 90s. That's a big deal for us since we were wearing winter coats just a week ago. Lots of lakes around here and it's a big tourist spot, so as usual we're having difficulty with accomodations. Right now we are in a rather big town called Kelowna (very so cal), and we will continue to move south, probably into Washington state.
Well, gotta go check out of our room. Will be back with pix soon.

FINALLY GOT A GRIZZLY! (just photos, that is)

We're still in Haines, Ak with a super-slow connection, so this one picture will have to do for now or I'll be in this coffee shop all day. Regarding this poor bear, it was limping and the word was going around that it had been shot in the leg a while back. It seems fine now, just a little limpy. I got quite a few pics, sometimes I think I got a little too close, but I survived. The weather here has been crappy: overcast, 50s, with some showers and/or sun breaking through. This is normal. Tomorrow we get on the ferry for the inner passage. We land in BC on 8/11, making our total time in Alaska 1 month. That's quite enough. We are actually looking forwrd to the lower 48 and (hopefully) some sun.

To my library colleagues: I visted the Haines Borough PL, voted by LJ as 2005's Best American Small Library. It was nice but.... there was no reference desk, no wireless access for visitors, just 6 pcs for anyone to use but they were running on the slow dsl connection too. There were 2 women at the circ desk (I didn't have the nerve to ask their credentials) and the one I spoke with explained that their biggest problem is funding and the monopoloy that Alaska Power has over everything. She said that they tried satellite Internet (?) and hoped it would solve their accessability issues, but they're having problems with it (uploading or downloading, she couldn't remember which, uh oh).

Well must be off. Will be back with more pics asap.

We're back, we've been in Alaska over three weeks, and we're burnt

A well-known fact about Alaska: it's HUGE. Some not-so-well-known facts: there are only 4 (2 lane) highways in the whole state. Those highways usually have large patches of gravel (creates lots of dust!) and are usually under construction (summer is the only time to do it!). Towns along these highways are hundreds of miles apart and of the few accommodations in the towns, the fairly good ones are taken up by tour groups. So we have been going along. We've been on the road for 49 days now and coverd over 7000 miles and we have had to stay at a different hotel practically every night since we have been in Alaska, and that's certainly not by our own choice.
As luck would have it we are finally on an extended break (8 days) in Haines, Alaska (at the same hotel!). It's really nice town and we are holding over here to wait for the ferry to take us along the inside passage. We take it on 8/9 and will arrive back in BC on 8/11. I am posting this from a public computer in a Radio Shack (with a slooow dsl connection of 12 k, no less) so obviously, I can't upload any photos. Hopefully next time. Just wanted to check in for now. Will be back soon and, hopefully less travel-weary. We have lots of photos to post!