February 2000 - Migrating...north?!?
One day, while busy at work browsing the internet, we came across this photo:
And suddenly it all made sense.
For months we have been talking about moving on to another city -- a luxury we have being contractors in the computer industry. For a while, we seriously considered heading down the coast to sunny San Diego, with Mexico just across the border. But in the backs of our minds, we worried that we would just be heading off to another big city with traffic, noise, pollution and crowds.
What we wanted to do was drift at anchor in the shade of some beautiful green island, margaritas in hand, gentle breezes cooling us as the sun beats down on the clear blue water. But there are those 62 or something boat payments left to make, so we were convinced that the closest to paradise we would come in the next few years would be gazing at the tropical images on the desktop wallpapers of our computers, until now....
We spent hours looking through Cool Juneau Photos. Mountains, snow, trees, lakes, rivers, wildlife, culture -- this small town in the great state of Alaska has it all. We have fallen in love with this Alaskan town of 30,000. With huge towering mountains, glaciers only minutes away from downtown, eagles abundant in the trees -- we just knew that Juneau was to be our next destination. There are not even any roads out of Juneau -- the only way in is by boat or air! Good-bye rush hour! And thanks once again to the internet, we know that we'll most likely be able to find good jobs after arriving. The capitol of Alaska has everything we need right now -- clean air, natural beauty, and a slower more peaceful way of living.
So, the planning has begun. We're really going cruising, at least for two or three months. We'll definitely be in Seattle until April 29th -- that's our wedding day! After that, we may work a month or two longer to save for the few months we'll be out of work, or maybe we'll just leave on our honeymoon up the Inside Passage to Alaska right away. We've started collecting the 50 or so charts needed for our beautiful trip up the Inside Passage and have purchased a number of cruising guides. Our 1,000 mile long cruise is going to be simply amazing. There are literally hundreds of islands, coves and passages to explore that still remain untouched by man. It will be quite a navigational challenge as well, and we are looking forward to the feeling of accomplishment we will have after completing this journey. We are counting down the weeks until our departure.
In a way, our circumnavigation has begun. First stop: Juneau, Alaska.
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