Rained all night and was still raining this morning - so glad that Sara is going with the dog sitter so I don't feel compelled to do a long walk before we leave for our Skagway trip. Dog sitter, Ivanca, arrived at 10 am to pick up Sara, and promptly locked her keys into her car in front of our RV. She tried getting her husband, who did not have his phone, then called her parents to come pick her up - she was embarrassed, and we needed to leave to walk down to the city docks for our ferry, but she insisted her dad would be here quickly to pick her up and would also run us down to the docks. And that turned out perfectly - we weren't excited about the walk in the rain and her dad showed up very quickly. Ivanca had told us her dad owned the golf course in town and then we found out on our ride with him that he is also the retired town doctor - been retired for 20 years and now owns the golf course, and goes to Mesa, AZ for winters in a retirement village. He was a sweetheart and had us go along to Ivanca's house for her keys, and then dropped us at the dock at the precise time we could load on the ferry. We had a 45 minute ride to Skagway via the Taiya Inlet - a very smooth ride. It was starting to clear in Skagway when we got there, but it was a whole new world! Crowds of people filling the streets, 5 cruise ships docked, a passenger tour train leaving the dock area, and tour buses lined up to take groups on different adventures. We walked into a charming, gold mining type town with lots of shops, saloons, restaurants, and theaters. It was easy to walk the entire town and lots to look at. We had thought we would get to the trails at the edge of town, but we had fun in the shops, then stopped for lunch at Skagway Brewing Co (they make the Spruce Tips Beer I had last night) - I ordered the Prospector's Ale, but they were sold out!! So settled for Chilkoot Trail IPA, which was good, but not as good as the Spruce Tips I had last night. We also had a great lunch of a salmon sandwich with spicy horseradish dill sauce on ciabatta roll and a salmon salad. Then back through town to find the ice cream shop Linda had spied earlier - Dreyer's ice cream. Some Espresso Chocolate Chip and Mocha Almond Fudge completed our day!! Then back through town to get to the ferry by 5:30pm for our return trip. We loved Skagway, but it was so different than quiet Haines - we're glad we spent the greatest portion of our time in Haines since it is like a little sleepy hamlet with fewer tourists (altho we hear a cruise ship lands in Haines on Wednesdays). We did see some beautiful Alaskan "objects d' art", spent a little $, and the sun came out full force making the day perfect! On the ferry back, a crew member asked us where we were from, and when we said Atlanta, we saw them pick up the phone and contact someone who said they were from Marietta - turns out it was the female captain of the ferry, who grew up in lower Roswell area of Marietta, graduated from Walton High School! She invited us up to the bridge and we sat with her for most of the voyage - she's 28 and captains the ferry all summer, was introduced to boats at Lake Burton, did a year at UGA and decided she wanted to change directions by doing mountain guiding in Valdez and then signed up for commercial piloting school. She said she misses Chik-fil-a and Taco Mac chicken wings so we knew she was authentic!! She and boyfriend just bought land in Montana and plan to build a container house (made from shipping containers) there for the winter months use! So we got back and called Ivanca to let her know we were walking back to the RV - she had loved having Sara and said she would meet us back at RV park to return her. When she got here, we had a long chat - a super interesting young lady! She told us her 30 year life story, having been adopted along with her sister from Bulgaria when she was 9 years old. She remembers the poor conditions of her orphanage and being brought to these parents without understanding a word of English, never had any education, and in very poor nutritional health. She said she learned the language, started in kindergarten, and caught up in school very quickly, loved the sports her 5 older brothers taught her and her sister, and formed a bond with several other Bulgarian children adopted in the community. She is now a dog trainer/groomer/sitter and is working on a degree in personal training, also saying she would like to write a book about her life - we encouraged her to do so because she has obviously overcome many obstacles and is quite motivating and inspiring. We could have talked all evening, but she did say she winters in Mesa, AZ while her parents are there, so maybe our paths will cross later this winter! In conclusion, we could have used at least another day in Skagway (missed the Gold Rush Cemetary, stage shows and theater, Klondike National Historical Park, hiking trails, and the National Park Service theater), but are very glad to have had this time in Haines. Tomorrow is preparation day to get RV, bikes, Sara, and us ready for the big car ferry trip on Thursday from Haines, AK to Prince Rupert, Canada.