“Sorry, the Kitchen Closed at 9″

Started the day off with a workout at the Days Inn in Prince George. After 20 minutes in the dungeon workout room, we braved the cold for another rmile. In preparation for our two days on the ferry, we stopped at a grocery store for snacks and drinks. Breakfast was served on the top of the Subaru (again, looking somewhat homeless)…

I come to you from The Chances Casino in Prince Rubert, British Columbia. We got refused service at three previous establishments (apparently kitchens close at 9PM here). Left and went to the supermarket, and bought a dry sandwich and a day-old piece of quiche. We were prepared to sit there until 3AM when the ferry departs but were promptly kicked out at 10PM.

Molly: “As long as one person keeps drinking, the other two can sleep in the booths. I’m prepared to take one for the team.”

We saw two eagles just outside of Haines perched in a he-she position by the Chilkat River.

3 Chicks in a Boat-Day One

We’ve been cruising on the Pacific through Alaskan archipelagos for the past few days. Yes, it’s just as sweet as it sounds. The ferry from Prince Rupert to Haines is a cruise without the frills along the Inside Passage, a narrow channel of the Pacific that weaves through islands of snowy cliffs, cedar and spruce forests, and hulking glaciers. We saw a whale blowing and splashing around somewhere between Kake and Juneau today. We have a cozy cabin with two sets of bunk beds, a cafeteria with delicious blueberry pancakes, a bar with Alaskan draft beer, an observatory, a heated open-air solarium, and the best part—lots of space.

ketchikan

Our first stop was Ketchikan, which has a charming downtown district with lots of salmon restaurants, jewelry shops and canneries. Its economy is comprised of cruise ships in the summer and fishing year round. Apparently Ketchikan used to have a pulp mill too, which went out of business, so now fish is its main game. According to our cab driver, “The locals tear the town apart every winter and put it back together every summer.” We got lucky–cruise season starts tomorrow.

wrangell

We also stopped at Wrangell, a 2,000-person town accessibly only by plane or sea. The houses were modest and colorful and tidy. We kept wondering what drives the economy in a town like this. A local told us timber was the town’s main trade, but they lost their sawmill and much of the Tongas national forest is off-limits for logging. So now it’s mostly fishing.

wrangell

Clutch, Feather, Gas. Bear!

The day kicked off with a drive to snow-covered Lake Louise and stunning views of the Canadian Rockies. We searched for rocks for the stone mason of the family but couldn’t bring ourselves to take one from the manicured stone driveway of the Lodge. In honor of our eldest brother Luke, Jeannie did a ninja pose in front of Lake Louise. For Mike, famous bellboy from Hershey Lodge, we photographed Scottish kilted bellmen.

Our stats for Sunday:

450 miles through Banff National Park + 100,000 snow-capped peaks

5  bears in 15 miles (though we’re not sure we’re giving Jeannie credit4 a bear head in the gully)

3 backcountry skiers between Banff and Jasper

3 goats or sheep *unconfirmed

1 stall-out on a mountain pass by the student driver

Quotes for the Day:

Molly: “If the hangers don’t go to Alaska, I don’t go to Alaska.”

Molly to Mom: “Get into your cave.”

Jeannie: “One thing that gives me confidence is that I know a lot of stupid people who drive stick.”

Molly: “There’s no way it won’t be marked.” (famous last words)

Molly: “Jeannie starts like a rocket,0 to 90 in 6 seconds, like the HersheyPark Scrambler.”

Molly to Jean: “Prince George has 80,000 people which means you’ll have to do your downshifting outside the city.”

Mom has developed a pattern of doing a yoga pose in front of photo ops. She claims, as we approach magnetic north (AKA drive to Alaska), her “standing tree is getting stronger”. As we approach a massive black bear, Mom suggests her pose.

Molly: “Mom is standing bear bait, the human berry.”

Right now we are checking out of the Best Western in Prince George, BC. As the front desk agent says “Where ya going today? That’s a long drive eh?”

Shifting Gears & Crossing the Border

The day started at 7 a.m. in the Safeway parking lot in Helena, Montana.We were slow to wake up, but not as slow as the Subaru–which stalled about 8 times with student-driver Jeannie learning stick shift. When I tried to explain neutral, “See how when you’re in neutral you don’t need to be on the clutch?” she wanted to know, “Why can’t I drive the whole way in neutral?” I told her we probably wouldn’t make our ETA in Alaska in neutral. About 100 miles later, she was cruising into Canada in fifth gear, after we snuck some fresh fruit past a jolly customs agent. Tomorrow we will tackle downshifting.

We also had our own little Calgary stampede looking for 1 west, the road into Banff national park. After driving  in loops around the city and through very dubious detours, it was confirmed: Google maps gives you the most direct route, not the most logical.

Now we’re in Banff, which is a quaint village immersed in snowy peaks and fir-covered mountains. We inhaled some Boxty (potato pancakes with smoked salmon) at an Irish pub–we hadn’t eaten anything but trail mix all day–and then moseyed to Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which was built in 1888 by the Canadian National Railroad and looks like a Scottish castle. (It doesn’t rival Hotel Hershey, Luke, and the bellmen wear kilts, Mikey–that’s from Mom.) On the footpath we stumbled upon an elk having dinner in someone’s yard, a la Yellowstone.

Tomorrow’s plan: run along the Bow River that runs through Banff, eat ice cream at Lake Louise, drive to Prince George, and try to make “the womb,” the backseat of the car, a little more hospitable.

New Users

Newsflash: this blog has been co-opted to cover another loooong roadtrip. Instead of Sarah, Tiff and Molly, it’s now the voice of Molly and her sister Jean and mom Suzy. So a more accurate name would be ’2 chicks and 1 hen in a car,’ but we already claimed the ’3 chicks’ domain name. We’re driving from Boulder, Colo. to Fairbanks, Alaska for Molly’s new job at the News-Miner.

Our rough itinerary: Drive 2,000 miles to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Hop a ferry to Haines, Alaska via Juneau, Ketchikan, elsewhere. Drive from Haines Junction to Fairbanks. Ummm, then I guess I have to go to work!

Highlights from the drive home

lake coeur d'alene, "heart of the awl"

• Roadside ads for the Testicle Festival in a small town in Montana (Kellog?)
• Gazing at the Montana frontier
• Palominos
• $1 coffee and 50-cent peanut butter cookies outside Billings
• The thrill of driving half the length of the country
• Clouds that “nestle” in the crook of mountains, as Sarah likes to say

• Learning to pass logging trucks without sweating
• Missoula, Montana — just a cool city
• mountains, mountains and more mountains
• rest stops and dive hotels with clever names (Common Cents, C’mon Inn) 

• Last but not least, a shout-out to Motel 6!! We couldn’t have done it without you. Man, when you see that orange number swimming in royal blue, standing tall and proud, no matter what state or trucker paradise you’re in, it’s like comin’ home…

When the sun hits your pupils, it feels soo good

armed with energy drinks for the home stretch

We spotted the sun at 1:30 pm today in northern Montana for the first time in two weeks (not counting a couple of peeks here and there). At first I couldn’t figure out why the clouds appeared to shine or why there were shadows dancing on the road. Then Sarah identified the source of the solar light. We’re officially out of Pacific Northwest. It was gray, but breathtaking at just about every turn. Montana can hold its own too, with undulating mountains, Ponderosa forests and an ocean of sky.

Some Snapshots from Idaho

The Moose, Coeur d'Alene

they're even bigger than they look...

Claire and Sarah

Lookout Mountain--one ski in Idaho and one in Montana!

Jon, our ultra-serious guide at Lookout

Jonah, our other hardcore guide (not feeling so hot from last night)

$16 Lift Ticket

Did we mention we paid 16 bucks for a full-day pass at Lookout Mountain? In other words, you could ski at there for an entire week for the price of a Whistler day pass….you gotta love Idaho. But watch out for tater claw!

Idaho-Where everyone you meet is your new BFF

We got here last night after a 7-hour journey from Bellingham, including a nailbiter summit of Snoqualmie (between Seattle and Spokane) in a furious snowstorm. Luckily we made it to Moontime just in time for a couple dollar beers. We met Claire, my good friend from dude ranching days in Wyoming and were immediately engulfed by the warmth and friendliness of people in Coeur d’Alene. Which is why we are calling them freakishly friendly! Literally, people just come up and start talking to you and telling you stories like you’re long lost friends, and NOT in a creepy way. We made an entire fleet of BFFs in one night, even though we can’t remember their names.

Sarah could not resist the urge to do continuous cheers  with the 32-oz. beer mugs at The Moose. They were gargantuan mugs straight from Oktoberfest,  and Sarah orchestrated a Gaston-style toast (remember Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast?) among our whole table. The Idahoans definitely ran with it.

Friday we skied Lookout Mountain today, a mom-and-pop hill  about an hour outside Coeur d’Alene. Chair One is in Idaho and Chair Three is in Montana!

It was a perfect ski day–no one on the slopes, parking adjacent to the lift, no lines, fixed-grip chairlifts, a bloody mary break, an appearance by the sun, and a couple inches of fresh snow. The mountain is only about 1,000 vertical feet, laced in subalpine fir and cedar forest that whistle in the wind.