It always starts with an idea, as in “hey, what’s the big idea?”

Creativity is a commodity that should not be treated lightly.  Creativity is the spark of invention, and that which begins the process of moving forward.  Think about it, whether it be business, movies, books, blogs and even Tik-Tok, what drives these entities is the spark of creativity.  And thankfully we live in a time where ideas & creativity can be acted upon, charted, and followed.   Case in point:

Back in August of 2012, we were on a family vacation.  A vacation that also included Judy’s most immediate family including parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, and nephews. A wonderful trip was planned which had us leaving Seattle, Washington on a cruise ship & visiting the ports of Alaska.   We already had several great days after making stops in Juno & Ketchikan. 

Our third stop was Skagway, and we arrived on a cool overcast morning all bundled up even for mid-August.  The family separated at this point as we went about our respective excursions.  The cruise ship terminal is perched under the mountain cliffs around Skagway, and we walked down Congress Street to the main part of town to pick up our tours.  Maybe a 20-minute walk, and although I do not exactly remember the excursion, I do remember passing an RV Park.  I remember being a little surprised, because there is only 1 road into and out of Skagway and it runs directly into Canada.  What was an RV park doing in Skagway? And it was BUSY! 

By noon time the strong August sun had chased away the morning overcast, and it became warm and sunny.  A bit humid as well, and I could tell given the sudden appearance of a lot of flying insects, gnats and mosquitoes. (And they grow those mosquitoes quite large in Alaska, I believe the saying goes, “if you had a saddle, you could ride one of those bugs”).  The shore excursions & tours seem to work on a regular schedule, so most guests were back on the boat in the afternoon.  When there are 3 large cruise boats at the dock, they say the town of Skagway explodes to a population of around 10,000, and by the time the ships leave later in the evening there are scarcely 500 people who live in the town. Commerce is driven by the cruise industry, and when the boats leave port, the town is very quiet.

At around 3:00 pm I found myself alone and on the 14^th deck of my cruise ship looking out into the harbor (weird how there was no un-lucky deck 13 on this ship). I noticed some commotion below as there were people on the dock pointing to what I assumed was a seal frolicking in the harbor.  I could also clearly see across the harbor to a very busy helipad landing area ferrying tourists on sight-seeing excursions into the glacier covered mountains above and around Skagway.  And then I noticed, quite clearly, the ferry terminal opposite the cruise ship terminal.  The terminal was busy, there were lines of cars and motorcycles waiting to board, as well as a procession of hikers and backpackers with a plethora of camping and hiking gear, and even some bicycles. But what came next is really at the heart of where we are now.  That is to say, the next group of vehicles boarding the ferry were RV’s. Holy crap! There was a long procession of pull trailers, pop-up trailers, as well as many a class “A” RV’s all coming down the load ramp and being guided into the bowels of the ship.  

And that’s when I had my first spark of an idea.  By asking a couple of deck hands around me who worked on the ship, I found out that traveling by RV was popular in the summer months in Alaska.  That is why there was, and still is, an RV park.  Also, that these RV’s were able to move around to other small villages on what is termed, the Alaska Marine Highway. There is a coordinated ferry schedule, and this allows the RVers to migrate up from Seattle, Washington and move between the very isolated ports in the Alaska wilderness.  All the way from Ketchikan through Juno and on into Haines and Skagway. 

And right there I could imagine a future in retirement where these numerous life experiences could be investigated and explored.  Just how fascinating and enjoyable it would be to be in Skagway, in my own little home, roaming the town after the cruise ships had left, and then maybe a few days later, crossing over to Bellingham, Juneau, Yakutat and maybe Kodiak.  Without the 10,000 extra people.  Yes indeedy, this was an idea.  A BIG idea!  I just had to sell the idea to Judy.  And I did! 

And here we are. And although our first trip out starting July 7^th is not through the Alaska marine mainline ferry routes, (let’s not count this trip out, I do see a time when this kind of trip will be possible) we are still following through on an idea. An idea that was born on deck 14 of the cruise shipped parked in Skagway harbor in August of 2012.