P is for Petersburg.

Petersburg is definitely a small town – I’d even go as far as calling it a village. There are about ten stores on the main road, and boat after boat along the docks. We ate pretty much all of our meals at the Coastal Cold Storage, one of the three places who served food, and it was surprisingly good home fixin’s (once you got past the smell of fish that polluted the indoor area). We were abruptly woken up by ravens a few roof tops over, and got ready for the day we had ahead of us. Dad rented a boat, along with some poles, and we headed out into the (freezing) water with our scraps of fresh halibut, herring, sandwiches and dry roasted peanuts. After about 4 hours out, we had only caught two fish. When I say we, I mean I. When I say fish, turns out they weren’t Cod but rather Bullheads that can’t be used for much. And that’s the story on that. I had a great time – and I know both Dad and Nick did, too.

We went for a drive around the island later the afternoon, and that night for dinner the boys went to grab some Mexican food (which had Mexican rice, I can successfully report) while I inhaled a halibut sandwich on rosemary bread with some to-die-for fries. Our ferry the next day didn’t leave until after 12:30pm, so the morning was relaxing and filled with window-shopping and a final walk down the dock.

The ride back to Juneau took about 4 hours, which Dad said was pretty fast for a vehicle that size. The boat was fairly new – brought to life in 2003, and offered pristine views from each window. Once we docked, Nick and I were rushed to get our car checked in (as well as ourselves) to transfer onto a different ferry to take us down to Price Rupert in B.C. Dad and I walked to the terminal for him to use the courtesy phone for his hotel’s shuttle pick-up, and Nick moved the car in line to be loaded.

Dad said goodbye, and as soon as he walked away I finally felt this huge weight teeming with homesickness. We boarded the ship and watched the sun set (for the first time in a few weeks) over our last day in Alaska.