9. Riding America's LONGEST FERRY to Alaska!

this is America's longest Ferry taking us 97 hours to get from Bellingham Washington to Whittier Alaska that's five nights six days on board a ferry that costs more than a cruise but has fewer amenities welcome to the Alaska Marine Highway System I'm Mike traveling by train from Miami to Alaska which has brought me here so welcome to Downey live Travels by train or Ferry season two we're going to Alaska so my train trip across America has led us here this is the last Amtrak stop in America Bellingham Washington and we really couldn't have picked a closer spot from the Amtrak station to the ferry we're taking that that's it right there and for the ending of this series I've invited the hardest working team I know to enjoy it with me there they are they're here they beat me hey buddy hey guys you made it we did there they are the two that's helped make all of this happen oh they've worked on the series tirelessly episodes one through eight and now they get to ride it along and enjoy so it's nine and ten guest thing first things first check him I booked us the small interior berth but figured I'd ask if there's an upgrade possible there isn't a four birth cabin available is there yeah yeah wait so we're upgrading to a four bed upgrading for less money wow we saw this in last episode too when we got upgraded last minute always ask always ask thank you thank you so let's board and take a look at this fine vessel all the way across America by train we're about to board this and continue Northwest the MS Kennicott will be our home for the next five nights to boat up or not to boat out question I feel I feel it's going to be our life our live gentlemen Boda so this is the person this is where we're gonna get our room key thank you so much here we go thank you let's check out our room Welcome to our birth aboard the m V Kennicott welcome aboard I think you pushed oh it's a push okay all right so we've got bed here bed here window which is what we want the views this is a huge bathroom sink toilet shower nice okay nice okay so we are there's two beds and there's three of us oh looks like we've got some life jackets here and what work and I have just learned is there's no door to the bathroom nope just this curtain five days three guys I knew that'd be something this is our home for the next five nights should we go look around the rest of the boat yeah this is a nine deck vessel 380 feet long and can hold up to 750 passengers best spot to watch the take off is momentous moment listening to the trains go by on the back of the boat here we go and right on time we're untied and now officially leaving the lower 48 and headed to the largest state in America I'm just realizing that we have over 1 300 miles to Journey on this Ferry and still have another week until I get to the most northern train station yet I've crossed through 28 States and traveled over 7 000 Miles by train and I'm glad I have these two guys along for the finish all right let's continue to check out this huge ship capacity 100 is a big Lifeboat oh yeah can we go up yeah always go out I guess if you if you didn't pay for a room sleep here it's warm you are allowed to camp on the outdoor decks there are a lot of different seating areas this is the AFT lounge and this is the lower aft Lounge this is nice good place to read and just watch The View and this is the forward Lounge I guess we'll be doing a lot of sitting on this trip let's go see what's on level seven this is the one with everything really so this is the food court eating area wait what there's a bar on board a couple of entertainment areas oh board games and the movie theater let's not look yet let's come in for seven o'clock because they're playing Alaska's Inside passage very very fitting wow five days of this pretty good basically we're already bored and there isn't any Wi-Fi for us for the next five days now if you are camping and you don't have a room with a shower there's a bathroom here that has showers inside as such but there's also a washing dryer machine which is perfect for me because today's video is sponsored by true Earth now I've been on the trains for the last eight weeks so I keep true Earth laundry Eco strips in my bag this is 32 loads the equivalent of a normal jug of laundry detergent but it is recyclable compostable biodegradable and so easy to use what I love about the true Earth ecos trips other than getting a full 32 loads out of just a simple envelope is that one strip does enough for an entire load of laundry and if you have a big load or a really stinky load you use two strips and the best part for me while traveling is that they work in both top loading machines and front loading machines as well as in hot water or cold water basically any machine they're going to dissolve completely so if you want to try them for yourself got a little 10 percent account for you click the link in the description down below and use discount code Downey for 10 off and help remove plastic from the household so thank you true Earth for sponsoring today's video welcome to dinner there is a cafeteria on board where we'll be eating all of our meals it's simple with kind of a cool retro styling that you would expect on a ferry to Alaska but what I didn't expect is the daily specials board with a rotating menu of freshly cooked meals and it was so good I mean we almost always choose it tonight there are two specials and we ordered both look at the pot roast barbecue pulled pork pasta please all right first meal on the ferry [Music] wow there's a lot of flavor in there for fairy food for the next four nights after tonight we're happy yeah I have to admit that is a huge relief that the food is good because we have nothing else on this trip we'll spend the first two days passing through Canada you don't need a passport for this trip because the boat doesn't stop in Canada but I live in Vancouver so it's weird to be this close to my home City and not stop as we continue Northbound past Vancouver what we get this amazing Sunset to kind of set us off at the beginning of this trip holy what a night I'm looking forward to more of these and we actually end up racing one of my local BC Ferries but at this moment I'm not in a rush that never lasts and so after being apart for two months it's time to just kind of catch up and hang out in our room I mean there's no Wi-Fi or anything else to do they wanted to hear all about the trip and as you've already seen well I had a lot to tell all right guys slept pretty well it's a slower Rock than the train it's some really long back and forth which is time for breakfast I feel like I'm back at summer camp or a high school cafeteria or something it's kind of fun but the food is good the thing is once we're done eating we don't really have anything to do it's 11 30 in the morning and we're still sitting around the breakfast table because I have nowhere else to go or anything to do and yet something tells me a day on a ferry is not any ordinary day there Wales there it is oh wow that's a tail ah and we decided to take a late morning session in the room some working some reading some napping I won't say who's doing what hey give me a break will you after two months on the road I need a nap and before you know it it's time to eat again I feel like we just go from one meal to the next as we come into one of the narrowest segments of the trip this stunning landscape gets a lot closer to us and with that we get to see some of the small coastal communities up here as well what is that look at that ship is that a massive yacht or a small cruise ship I feel like we're being hunted down but apart from that it's so peaceful out here no cell service no buildings just nature so this might be one of the narrowest stretches we go through on our way to Alaska and not only do we have the big yacht chasing us and catching up to us but we've caught up to a BC ferry because it's so narrow none of us can pass so we're just tagging along even though we're on a ferry and not a cruise ship the nice thing is we still get the exact same views they do this place is real this is insane I should add Warwick is from Australia if you can't tell by his accent so so this is I've never seen anything like this before this is just unfathomable fathom it my friends yeah there's a lot more of this coming I'm sure it's not really coming across the camera I hope it translates well but I'm like this is just does not look real no I really have to say I think this might be the best way to travel to Alaska because instead of just flying in and being there you have five days of build up of the landscape changing from what is Washington State through all of British Columbia an ending in the mass of Alaska yeah and you get to spend five days going through this I feel like we have this whole thing to ourselves this is so cool I've never seen you smile that big before you're acting big smiles big smile we spend all afternoon on the deck just taking it all in while looking out at the mountains and water here it's hard for me not to recognize how varied the landscape in the United States is from the orange groves of Florida to the beautiful green Amish country of Pennsylvania to the Misty Mountain of New Hampshire the lonely desert of the Lone State the Red Rocks of Utah the High Altitude thin air of Pikes Peak the Canyons of Colorado and the incredible Grand Canyon it's so varied and so vast I mean America really does offer it all and back here on the boat Crossing through Canada I can feel it the excitement for Alaska is growing I am looking forward to the train trip in Alaska that's That's a classic Downey Adventure that you haven't done yet I've I've edited and seen so much footage of trains but I've never been on a train trip and now we're doing it yeah yeah I hate to leave this but should we do dinner there you go thank you very much we just got the same meal three baked chickens all right but tonight we're gonna try the bar this small bar is only open in the evening and is the social Gathering Spot for everyone on board I mean really it's just a change of scenery from the other sitting areas on board but it is a nice way to end the day feels like a small town bar yeah it really does so the the bar only serves beer and wine of which we got one of each this is your fairy experience it's very exciting that was a good one yeah that's a good one I've been sitting on that one for um 24 hours now now that you've had two sips of Cabernet Sauvignon yeah how's your fairy experience it's very exciting no great experience actually there's nowhere to go nothing to do no service good friends is that one too many wines or is this the boat rocking your mat I guess what's next is we have a little surprise in the morning we're going to be able to go on to land today this is Ketchikan Alaska last night we crossed back into the United States and well we're gonna get about three hours on land when I booked these tickets I knew the ferry made stops along the way but I didn't think that we'd be able to get off we haven't been down here in two days day three getting to go outside I don't know what I expected this is a very Alaska day this feels kind of like a bigger moment than I expected this is my first time setting foot on Alaska ground I spent the last two months traveling across the country by train for this moment I don't feel much different I still feel like I'm moving a little bit we're in Alaska yeah hell yeah because we're not on a cruise ship there aren't any day trips or Expeditions planned for us you are welcome to get off the boat but what you do is up to you you're gonna spend some time in the appropriately named Ketchikan misty fjor here in the tongas National Forest holy look at the Eagles right down here on the Main Street I don't know if I've ever been so close to one before clearly we were very unprepared we decided to walk into town and we just sort of picked a coffee shop as a destination I see a baby uh We've walked 45 minutes two miles yeah we found the coffee shop we're looking for let's get it I think I'd like uh a latte please and it's pretty clear that we are not the only visitors here today something tells me this cruise ship is bigger than our Ferry Ketchikan Alaska is a small town with a population of about 8 000 people which more than doubles when the cruise ships stop in Port these are some big boats coming into this little town but it's also Alaska's first city I suppose that's because it's the first stop when you come by boat but it's also the salmon capital of the world this is where the salmon run headed Upstream just not this time of year no fish swimming Upstream today but we did see a harbor seal this is Wild Alaska already this is what I imagined of Ketchikan a little like fishing Village so this apparently is the historic red light district where it says tier Dolly's house where both men and salmon came Upstream to spawn so apparently prostitution was legal here from 1903 to 1953 but alcohol was prohibited while it was a hard-working Town it feels much more suited to tourists today obviously way back in the day really meant something to the people here but now it's just it's just tourists souvenir shops what'd you get and say motion sickness pills yes sir very rocked a little bit last night yeah and our three hours on land I got 10 000 steps in yes that's it back onto the vessel for another three days catch again was like a teaser of what's to come in Alaska foreign with our next stop not until tomorrow morning which means we have nothing left to do this afternoon so we settle in to our new routine a little work a little relaxation watch an Alaska documentary take in the scenery do a little more work and then the weather worsens this is the most rocking we've experienced it's not side to side it's up and down forward and back yeah I'm trying to edit like it's getting Rocky for the first time wow when there's no windows around you can't see it coming yeah and with very little to do during the day dinner is always a treat it looks amazing and they loaded it up I was like let's go but there's always a little bit of excitement on the ferry oh yeah whales we gotta go oh four it's like girls this isn't a whale watching tour this is this is a ferry wow what a knife it's getting a little blue sky now and even when there's nothing to do the days fly by but I'm determined to go see as much of it as I can and bring you along obviously and so this is Juno Alaska's capital city not only is Juno the capital city of Alaska but fun fact it's also the second largest city in America by area we know we want to see as much as we can in the four hours we have on Shore but the one thing we don't have is a plan this is the unexpected part of the trips I didn't I didn't plan on being able to get off the boat this is this is all bonus time no I love these bonus side excursions side quests we're not in town right now so we have to see if we can get a cab do you have room for three to Historic Juno you know oh okay you're here for Gina oh Gina that'd be great we'll pay our share yeah we'd love to go to Glacier yeah yeah sure yeah Gina I should say I'm Mike hi no we're going downtown perfect that's exactly what we want to do thank you luckily for us Gina had a plan Gina called this taxi and is also kind enough to share it with us knowing it could be a long time until another taxi is available I guess those few times we bumped into each other in the cafeteria have paid off and our next stop is the Mendenhall Glacier I didn't know there was a glacier in Juneau and we wouldn't have done it Gina if you hadn't asked us wow holy that is a huge wall of ice this Glacier is 13 miles long and is mesmerizing more than you think a pile of ice would it's 7 30 in the morning what a way to wake up oh yeah that was really cold glacial fed Lake yeah straight from the ice doesn't get much colder my goodness this place is beautiful I mean even without the glaciers this place is stunning and with it mesmerizing wow this is why you get off when you can get off the ferry I did not expect any of this when you come see a glacier in person you realize they're not actually white they're like a piercing light blue we're walking through town in a back lot now and you you just come around a corner and there's a massive mountain in front of you wow doing our caffeine fix for the day with the remaining time in town Warrick insists on coffee while I don't want to miss the fair it's never long enough particularly when a fairy might leave without you what's up buttercup thanks for coming back to get us you big all right thank you made it all right that was Juno who knows where we'll end up tomorrow morning and it's back out to see we go but it seems like this time I won't get a nap excitement when I have a full day of nothing to do let's go check it out the entire crew on board the vessel is participating in this training for all life rafts on the boat by law they have to practice them once a week so this is just a drill they're testing the emergency response of the crew and the launching systems for the life wraps this is cool to see we have a little audience up on the deck here all watching thank goodness it's just a drill but I've never seen this before I went from being alarmed about this all to suddenly feeling much safer seeing them in action looks like everything works feeling good for the next two days and lunch for me is a little comfort food treat I don't I can't remember the last time I had a meatloaf but it looks great I like all the different options you get on the ferry here I did not expect that I thought they'd repeat oh that's good right away so it's so incredibly calm out here at the moment so I came up to the top deck to just enjoy it I don't know it yet but I've unfortunately just jinxed Us by saying the water is calm perhaps a little too calm what I don't know is that this is the Calm before the storm you can see the wind and the waves starting to appear now and build up a little bit but I don't think anything of it so we're headed to dinner pork roast a Cod when you don't feel those options look at the regular menu but as you can see here in the cafeteria we start to notice a difference it has changed drastically since I was saying how calm it is out there I don't think the camera is quite picking it up but we are rocking again oh it's hard on the legs knowing we're entering rough Seas I need to get some fresh air it's starting to rock a lot that's all oh that's a big one watch this watch watch oh my gosh whoa the seas are rough but at least the air is fresh I hate to think how sick work and matter feeling inside our cabin right now they need to be out here let's see how the guys are feeling foreign that may sound crazy it feels a lot better out in the fresh air and being on the front deck and seeing the waves come rather than lying here in a closed room you think I'm I'm on I'm on if you already feel bad what's the worst that could happen all right let's do it okay yeah yeah do this I feel immediately better fresh air and seeing it coming so much better than sitting in the room yeah I know at the moment we're all outside feeling sick but this is kind of the moment I've enjoyed the most from the trip so far I'm pretty sure none of the other passengers would agree with me but that's because they're not on the front deck laughing in the rain I mean we're out here riding out the storm together okay geez that really sounds like I'm making this some sort of metaphor but I'm not it was all fun of Mike thanks for bringing us to Alaska until today you know the feeling you get on a roller coaster when you're at the top yeah yeah it's we're getting a little bit a bit of that except we're on a 500 foot long ship yeah we took a bad situation and found a way to make it fun you rock to sleep I will and I sleep well feel better good night little 6 a.m action here this morning okay different way to board and disembark yeah it's uh worth getting up early for all right good morning yak attack let's go so you know this is a small town when the ferry terminal isn't actually a permanent Ferry Terminal but it's a Fisheries dock that they just used for us to get on yakitat is our shortest stopover of the trip with just about a half hour on land or so but it's also the smallest town with a population of only 600 people but the only Road in and out of this community is this Ferry this is why the Alaska Marine Highway is so important it's the only Supply Access for residents so let's take a quick look around and see what's here there's one business in town it's a general store and it opens in 30 minutes so we're gonna miss it and here is the yakutak district court the police car the radio station there's City Hall we found the only stop sign in town well thanks for coming to our tour of yakitat it's raining we're gonna go back to bed you may have noticed that there aren't any tourism businesses here in yakitan and that's because the cruise ships don't stop here another reason to take the ferry instead there we go we walked the entire town the circumnavigated the town in less than 1500 steps and so what do you do on your last day [Music] post walk now just warm up and try it but when I wake up it looks like a completely new day blue skies and calm seas have us smiling so what do we do with our last day we do what we've always done a little teen building I don't know if we'll ever get this some more as we call it film studies of these black and white Alaska documentaries and of course we go for an outdoor walk back to our favorite spots it's warm and sunny out today oh how the weather has changed from last night mats and shorts it's it's really warm out all of a sudden how has your time been aboard the MV Kennecott it's been it's been ups and downs reference to last night that's been great yeah food's been amazing View's been amazing if you don't get seasick at least once are you really on an adventure that's well put I don't really know what I expected from this trip but I think it's exceeded it I mean I like that we didn't rush into Alaska we didn't just fly in got to experience a lot and we still have Alaska to see time flies it goes a lot quicker than you expect when there's no phone service or anything yeah I think we can all agree five days is a long time but it's flown by yeah yeah 100 it's hard to believe we're getting off in like 12 hours yeah yeah I think this is kind of a once in a lifetime experience I mean it's day five now we actually have memories from all over this boat at this point speaking of memories Kate decided to draw some of the episodes on the postcards no way yeah that's so cool that's episode three because she loved the series so much Kate is his partner who has an artist and she wait she hasn't she has an Etsy store can we can we sell these can we that is so cool I love it we got it all figured out this is future mic future Warwick his wife Kate she's drawn all 10 episodes we've gotten them printed we're gonna sell them in packs of ten so you buy a pack you're gonna get all 10 drawings the paper is 90 recycled and she doesn't know how many we're printing but we're printing 250 of them so get them early because they're gonna go she also will have digital prints there so you can blow it up if you like anyone in particular I picked this size because they make for a great postcard if you want to send them to anyone or I don't know Christmas is coming up need Christmas cards lucky Hughes I've linked it down below to her Etsy page we're gonna sell her out and blow it up this is awesome thank you Kate for the incredible artwork this is so cool we'll have a cute brisket for the Lost knot oh yes dinner tonight feels like the beginning of the end it's not just another surprisingly delicious meal but it's seeing our new friends for the last time I mean we have to spend five days with you so we're glad you were so great so fun thank you thank you nice flirting with me I knew it was handsome or something you got ready ready the fun people you get to know when the only place to eat for the last 15 meals is in the cafeteria right here unexpected pleasure unexpected Delight the Alaska Marine Highway System set low expectations but exceeded them every step of the way it's plain rooms were a lot more comfortable than we first thought the food is actually delicious and the staff are great don't miss us too much you know what these guys are awesome watch your Channel like you don't have to tell them to subscribe and all that they already know to do that Mondo great to meet you all the best bye everyone thank you take care of you guys the charm is in the old Alaska documentaries the artwork on the walls the small town bar and just stopping in small towns like yakitat this is not a cruise ship and that's exactly what I love about it I didn't think I'd say this after five days on board a ferry but we kind of don't really want to leave and so as we wind down our last night in the bar playing games I'm left unable to sleep it's exactly midnight and I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to get actually dark outside it's this weird dark blue kind of still light out uh the other thing that's interesting is that everyone is getting off the ship tomorrow except for 10 people who are continuing on there's no one inside there's no one outside it's midnight on our last night there's nothing left to show you on the boat so let's just cut to us getting off at Whittier we wake up on our last morning just as we're pulling into Port no one's forgetting anything nope good to go gentlemen no no more boat up we bowed down yeah this is it after five nights aboard the MV Kennecott we have arrived in Whittier Alaska Alaska we made it let's go railroad is why we're next episode for now we have to explore Whittier so Whittier is in so much a town as it is a port location but the ship came in and they transfer everything to train and everyone in town apparently lives in that building there this town is not our end destination we're headed north by train but that's not for another 10 hours so we can wander around town even find a comfortable warm and dry place to sit to spend the day but you know that's not like I'm Gonna Leave the guys there leave them working and I heard next door might be something that interests us to help us kill some time we have here luckily for us right next to the ferry terminal is a glacier tour that leaves right now no point spending five days on a boat without seeing much might as well come and experience it a little bit time to enjoy Alaska right guys are you enjoying Alaska yes thrilled we're taking a giant catamaran to go see some glaciers this high-speed catamaran is taking us through Glacier car fjords into Prince William sound and as you can tell by the ice floating in the water and the fact that we're going past Glacier after Glacier after Glacier but this is one of the largest concentrations of Tidewater glaciers in the world glaciers these Glaciers are amazing this is what we came for we did it look at the size of this Glacier it's eight miles deep foreign you get mesmerized by the glacier but if you if you turn around the waterfalls everywhere apart are incredible it'd be worth coming to see just on their own and as you know this is not the end of our trip next week we're boarding that blue and yellow train the Alaska railroad to ride the rails to America's most northern train station and best of all I get to enjoy it with the two editors that worked tirelessly on this series so they deserve to ride and celebrate the end of this series in style so subscribe and come back next week for the finale of Downey live Travels by train I [Music]

Channel: DownieLive

Views: 1,710,001

Keywords: downielive, downie live, Alaska, Alaska ferry, Alaska marine highway, Miami, Miami florida, train to Alaska, train florida to Alaska, train Miami to Alaska

Id: CTRuXWcEhO4

Length: 30min 44sec (1844 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 08 2022