Juneau, Alaska

Distance: 6 miles (total 466 miles)

Climb: 250 feet

Alaska Marine Highway Ferry to Juneau!

A few days ago, KTOO and I agreed to a radio interview on their afternoon show at their downtown Juneau studio on Monday, 21 July 2025. Today, I am scheduled to take the Alaska Marine Highway ferry, and I admit that I am looking forward to it. What kid doesn’t like a ferry ride?

I think I enjoy riding onto and off the ferry as much as the rest of the journey itself across the water. Something about riding along with the cars and buses onto the ferry is exhilarating.

 

These last few days will be enjoyable. I plan to ride maybe Sunday outside the city a little. Just to get a sense of the outskirts of Juneau. 

I am also getting excited about flying back to Indiana, seeing my family, and then driving to Florida. The tenants were scheduled to move out of our farm house yesterday. And we can move back in as soon as we get back, maybe around 29 July or so. 

We have not lived in the house for four years, so we are eager to move back. We have lots of things that need down around the farm, and I have a lot of work on PeaceBridge Solutions—our non-profit—and the kids begin school the first week in August, so we have a lot on our plate. The sooner we get back there, the sooner we can begin to organize ourselves.

This time, the return to the house feels really, really different. Pleasantly permanent.

At 3:56 am, I was awake. I could have slept more, but decided to stay away and begin to tackle some pending issues, like the Peace Blog, booking a room in Juneau, reading and sending emails, charging bike lights, and checking on my family who are spread out between two cities in Florida, several cities in Indiana, and one in Maryland. My oldest granddaughter just returned to Florida from five weeks in Sweden, where she did an internship in a veterinarian’s clinic.

I checked out of the Holland American Skagway Inn at 10 am, the scheduled time, attached Lucy’s saddlebags to her frame, and walked around town a little. Just for nostalgia purposes, I age a Doughboy, standing on the street outside the shop. A dozen blackbirds milled about, snagging Doughboy leftovers and dipping them in a puddle before eating them. One of the birds, picked up two chips and dropped them in the puddle and other birds grabbed them. The forager didn’t even try to eat it. 

My favorite restaurant, Bonanza Bar & Grill, opened at 11 am, and I ordered a bowl of chowder. It was excellent. I have eaten almost every meal there. I am smitten by the Buffalo Wings. 

The next couple of hours, I spent at HA’s lobby watching Pit Bulls. I love everything about the series. The strong single mother, former US Army veteran, raised two daughters and adopted twin boys in need of a home. She rescues vulnerable Pit Bulls, rehabilitates them, and places them in homes. She rescues parolees, rehabilitates them, and helps them transition to a meaningful future. All while running a non-profit, facing countless personal and professional problems, and figuring them out one at a time. 

I hope PeaceBridge can be half as successful as Villalobos Rescue Center. 

Enter the Ferry!

When Lucy could wait no longer, I rode her toward the ferry, but was blocked by the train, which was unloading passengers, set to reload others, I suspect. One of the workers told us it would be ten minutes longer. So, we rode around the train.  

This ferry experience was different than all of those large, sophisticated ferries in Scandinavia. For starters, we brought our bikes into the lobby and pushed them down the walkway and into the belly of the ferry. 

Upstairs the cafeteria was small, with microwaveable meals, canned soft drinks, and a few snacks. Prices were reasonable. 

The WiFi was free, so after roaming the decks, snapping a few photos, and a 20 minute nap; I spent the remainder of the eight-hour trip in the cafeteria, streaming Untamed on Netflix. 

Arrival at Auke Bay

Around 10 pm, we arrived at Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. It was nearly dark when I turned onto Glacier Highway. Within ten minutes, it was completely dark. The temperature was nice, maybe 55 degrees with no wind. The 250 foot climb over 5.5 miles was a challenge, but I was able to ride it all. 

Without incident, Lucy and I arrived at the hotel around 10:45 pm. Inside a group of six or so men sat around a breakfast bar (physical bar) talking and laughing loudly. To be clear, they weren’t doing anything obnoxious or misbehaving as far as I could tell. It was Friday night, after all, and they should be allowed to let off some good-natured steam.

The desk clerk was plenty friendly, and because I had checked in online, the process took less than two minutes. I parked Lucy in the room and walked next door to McDonald’s.

According to their google entry, the restaurant closed at 10 pm. All of the outside lights were off, but a line of cars were in the driveway. I saw three teen boys enter, but all were dressed similarly, so I wasn’t sure if they worked there or not. 

When I walked in, the three boys were huddled around a kiosk. They all turned to me.

“Are they open?” I asked.

The tallest of the three looked at me. “Are we standing here?”

At first, I thought he had misunderstood. 

“No, I asked, if they were open,” I explained.

“And I said, ‘Are we standing here?’” he repeated.  

I ignored him and went to my own kiosk. I am confident that as soon as I turned my back, the boys broke into laughter. They too were letting off steam on a Friday night. I am sure I did plenty of stupid things when I was their age, although I don’t think being rude to strangers was one of them.

While I made my selections, a man in his early 30s talked loudly on the phone. 

“It’s just that at this stage in my life, I don’t think I am ready for a serious relationship…” He went on like that for the entire 10 minutes I was in the restaurant. He had already picked up his bag of food, which had long since grown cold. 

The three teens walked back to the children’s playground and began banging on the toys, making as much racket as they could. No one seemed to notice, but me. One of the teens went behind the counter to fill their order. Clearly he, if not all three, worked at McDonalds, but were enjoying their time off by haunting it.

A First Nation man entered, who looked as if he suffered from some mental disability. 

“Can you tell me what time it is?” he asked me.

I told him, and then he stood there looking at the workers behind the counter. He didn’t make an effort to order or to speak to anyone. Just looked as if he was lost. To be honest, I didn’t know if I should offer to help him, or if that would offend him. Maybe he had come in while someone was parking. Or maybe he had a family member working behind the counter. 

The tall teen came out of the back and passed the First Nation’s man and said, “Hi Papi.”

The man, clearly confused, did not respond. 

A few minutes later, the tall teen walked up to the counter and called to his friend, “Hurry up!”

Then he looked at the First Nation’s man, and feigned surprise, and stepped further away. 

Just typical teen horseplay, I know. I don’t know why this kid annoyed me so much. But it did. 

Fortunately, his friend emerged from kitchen with a bag of food, and the three boys left the restaurant. 

The men were still talking loudly in the hotel lobby when I got there, but I didn’t mind. I went to my room, ate my healthy meal, and finished an episode of Untamed. 

Life doesn’t get much better than this, now does it?

I fell asleep around midnight.