Ketchikan, Day 2
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Rain, Rain, Rain; accompanied by wind. That’s today’s forecast and it did not disappoint.
The dinning room at the Cape Fox Lodge; great views
Today is our day to provision. Five weeks is a long time, so we have a long list to fill. Having done this many times, although usually for a maximum of three weeks, we have the task down to a tolerable marathon. The day before, we reconnoitered the three available sources for provisions. We did this with an eye to which is best for fresh items, meats and who has the best prices for staples.
The Safeway is without a doubt the clear winner with the best selection of meats and fresh veggies. It also had the widest selection of everything else. As for prices, they were pretty much h the same everywhere.
Despite our trio of stores, some things, such as dried mushrooms, were in scant supply. And others, such as half& half and asparagus, were sold out. Due to the fact they everything you see on the shelves has to come to Ketchikan on either a boat or a plane, it’s no surprise that some items are hard to find. We spent about four hours in the Safeway and about one more bouncing between the other sources trying to fill in some of the blanks. Oh well, the chef, that’s me, will just need to improvise.
Gathering the provisions is one thing, transporting them to the boat is another. The marina has oversized two wheeled big yellow plastic wheelbarrows at your disposal. The challenge is that it always seem as if it’s low tide (and raining hardest) when you want to wheel the goods from the car. Sitting on the end of the pier, the cart is about twenty feet above the floating dock and the resulting angle on the ramp is approaching 45 degrees. Having once taken a spectacular spill in Port McNeill in just such a scenario, I now try to limit my loads. But smaller loads mean more trips. I think I made twenty trips up and down that precarious incline in the pouring rain. The joys of this phase of cruising escape me.
Karen and I were exhausted by the time 7 pm rolled around, our planned time to meet up for dinner with Brian Pemberton and the rest of the Northwest Explorations crowd still around from their Leg 1 trip from Bellingham to Ketchikan. The location was the Oceanview restaurant, and margaritas were flying off the bar. We enjoyed good fajitas and good company; although by the end of the night we were both starting to fade. A quick trip back to the harbor and off to bed.
Our view from the Cap Fox Lodge back down to Ketchikan. The funicular is the easy way to go by foot.