Inside the Inside Passage

We have arrived luxiouriously in Ketchikan.  This whole cruise life if a very different way of traveling for us. The ship is full of "experienced in life" kinda people, who just love seeing Leo.  Everywhere we go we are asked all about him and then we are told about their grandkids.  We have ported in Juneau, Skagway, Icy strait point and now Ketchikan.  We have two more days on board before we arrive in Vancouver and leave this new catered lifestyle we have become pretty fond of.  For the first couple days Mary and I kept looking over our shoulder, sure that we were going to get caught and kicked off the ship.  We just didn't feel like we were supposed to be there.  We have taken our bikes off at the ports and been able to explore more than the average cruiser.  Whenever we go through the calamity of getting our bikes and trailer off the gangway everyone is so shocked we could even do that and wonder where the heck we keep them.  Lets just say that with all this gear and a crib the ship provided there is not much of a dancefloor left in our room.  We have been eating like kings and stocking up the fats that I am sure we are going to need, and anxious to get on the road.  But these cruise thingys are a great deal, it might be even better at the end of our tour.....but that part has yet to be written.

A beginning.

This is a story about Brad and Mary Burton, and their 6 month old boy Leo.  Once upon a time in a land far away (Soldotna, Alaska), lived the Burtons in a tiny cabin.  They lived there happily for 18 months, enjoying the surroundings through hiking, camping, biking, and skiing.  They made many friends and enjoyed the time with family.  However the time came that this small family felt that it was time to move on.  To what? They did not exactly know. But a previous long distance bike tour had taught them that there was no better way to travel.  Since the last tour, a pair of Long Haul Truckers (our bikes) remained trapped on the front porch begging to be let free once again.  Finally the urge was too great to resist.  The Burtons sold off their unneeded belongings, Brad quit his job and Mary booked a cruise from Alaska to Vancouver Canada.  They then strapped bulging bags onto their trusty bikes and said goodbye to all the great people they came to love.  This is their story, or will be as it unfolds. 

 We hope to keep this up to date with plenty of pictures and stories of what we come across on our bike tour from Vancouver down the west coast to the Mexican boarder, and wherever we end up from there.  Feel free to join us vicariously, we welcome comments, advice, and good luck.  We board the Carnival Cruise on July 26th 2013 out of Seward Alaska, and our next chapter will begin.

-Brad