PCS'ing is never really fun, at least not for me. I've never done the ferry so this will be a new experience for us. According to a friend (AD AF, Element Chief) who took the ferry up, he, his wife, two kids and their dog, they said it was a great trip and they wouldn't do it any other way. He said they basically lounged for four days, having a very relaxed, basically a vacation on the AF's dime, all expenses paid, plus some. One gets more travel days added to their PCS travel!
I think it's going to be expensive for certain, but we get it all paid for. I'm guessing some where around $5000.00 for two adults, a 25' RV towing another 10' trailer, a private cabin, meals and incidentals. Heck, it could be more. This is one-way from Whittier to Bellingham.
The nice thing about it all, I can bring guns without any issues. I can bring 60 lbs of ammo per person, and I was told if I had a bit more than 120 lbs (me and wife), they would store it in the Captains locker, so no worries. Also, we have our travel things with us, close by, for the rest of our trip towards our new duty assignment. A Big Deal for us, as you may well know.
I've made two trips across the ALCAN, the first one, coming up to AK nearly three years ago, was an adventure filled with all the unexpected things one would hope for. But, honestly, most of the trip was boring and exhausting. Yes, we stopped at all the typical places and did all the touristy things. Yes, most of the scenery was spectacular, but really not until we hit the Yukon Territory and crossed into the USA did we really think the scenery was great. Coming into Canada for about the first 100 miles or so, the scenery was neat, like driving into the Smokey Mountains. Most of the trip getting up to the White Horse area was like driving on a back road somewhere in Georgia or Alabama (no offense GA and AL).
The roads through Canada just plain sucked, especially the last 100 miles or so before crossing back into the US. Fuel, food and lodging leaves much to be desired and is absolutely expensive. The Canadian boarder regulations for US Military on orders are unfriendly and just plain ****ty.
I know young a few young airmen and soldiers who had their pocket knives taken from them and then fined $500.00, and then laughed at by the Canadian boarder guards; this is just plain harassment and uncooperative BS. Hell, these are soldiers and airmen, military people, who carry pocketknives. I know a young Army family who had their vehicle searched and had a child’s plastic play gun taken, one of those toy guns that shoot those little plastic disks. They spent over four hours waiting for the guards to make a decision, thus delaying their travel to get to the hotel at their next stopping point, which caused them to have to spend the night at another hotel, causing them to lose money.
When we crossed over, we had to sit in the empty lobby waiting area for 2 hours while the Canadian boarder folks took their sweet time processing our passports. My wife tried to show the boarder guy at the desk a copy of our orders and the guy glanced at her and said, “I don’t care about that”, and waived his hand at her like to say, go away. We sat down not knowing what to do, sitting for another hour and 45 minutes. Then, with an unfriendly demeanor, they called us up and asked us where we were going and what for and then, with a dirty look, said we could leave. That was it, no thank you, screw you or go to hell. All of this, after we answered the typical "any guns, ammo, or other things you have to declare" BS at the gate before we were told to go inside. What a bunch of BS, like being in a third world country.
I’m not just picking on the Canadians either; those US boarder personnel can be just as unfriendly. My last trip back into the US from Canada, the guard asks me if I have fruit, as he can plainly see my fruit sitting on the passenger seat. I had a bag of tangerines and apples I bought at Costco down in Portland on the passenger seat, my snacks along the road. I said yes, and pointed at the fruit. He raises his voice with a tone of shock and screams at me “pull that rig over there, just pull it over there and get out”!
When he approached the RV side door, with me standing outside, and my service dog standing in the doorway, he started his aggressive pursuit, giving me a loud lecture about contraband, how it was illegal to bring citrus into Alaska. My SD stared him in the eye, began to get that growling look with her hackles starting to rise. The guard looks at her for a second, see’s she’s a SD, and then quietly backs off, changes his tone, and looks at me and says “can I have the fruit please”. I said sure, I reached inside, grabbed the tangerines and apples and handed them to him. He took both bags and said, “thank you, do you have any questions about this”. I said, well just wondering f you consider apples citrus? He looked at the bags, and then handed me the apples back, said I was free to go. So, yeah, those US boarder guards can be *******s too.
Anyway, I do NOT want to have to travel back through Canada and waste my time and resources putting up with unfriendly behavior. After all these years and all the money spent by the US paving the way through Canada, one would think the US would have a better, friendlier agreement with the Canadians for travel through Canada, especially for military personnel on orders. So, hopefully the ferry travel will be the ticket for us!
I know what you mean about the air travel and guns. Over the last year I've had to travel back and forth to Florida. Each time I've taken a few of my guns and ammo back on the plane, in preparation for this move. Not something one can do driving through Canada, at least not with pistols, AR's, and a lot of other guns and most ammo.
We certainly hope this ferry ride trip will be uneventful, just relaxing and casual!
