Sunday's false catastrophe

Sun setting to starboard

Copyright 2007 Lydia Hinshaw

ALONG THE INSIDE PASSAGE, AK -- We were walking toward the M/V Malaspina when we noticed she was pulling away from the dock, with our car and most of our possessions aboard.
How could this be? We'd been walking around Ketchikan, but we'd given ourselves plenty of time to get back. The ferry wasn't supposed to sail for nearly an hour.
Two minutes later, we were reassured by a crew-member that the ship hadn't left us. Another ferry needed to dock behind us, and as a special collision-prevention measure, our captain had decided to move out until the second ferry was safely parked.
We didn't like Ketchikan much. Too much traffic and noise. Too many jewelry stores and souvenir shops. A taxi-driver seemed to be stalking us, trying to sell us a tour of the town. The Wal-Mart courtesy shuttle passed us a dozen times.
We wandered around a bit, had some salmon for lunch and headed back to the ferry.
Once the Malaspina was made fast again, we boarded to continue our journey. There are no more stops until Bellingham, WA, where we'll arrive early Tuesday morning.
Not long after we left Ketchikan, a rainbow arched overhead. We could see both ends of it, though it was far too large to fit into a camera frame.