The long, long ferry ride and the Airbnb that tried to kill us.

Before we left home I made plans for the first 6 weeks of our trip. It turned out to be a good idea (thanks Jane Helmer), as reservations were required almost every place we stayed. If you didn’t have boarding tickets for certain ferries, you didn’t go, period. When I I booked the ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, I thought the arrival time was 11:50 am, not P.M!Luckily the B.C. ferry was new and comfortable, for it was an 18 hour ordeal. Poor Pepper was in the vehicle hold the whole time, except for once every 3 hours, when we walked her but she was not comfortable doing her business. (I’m envious). The ferry got in at 12:30 am and we eventually found our unmarked Airbnb. It looked very nice but within 5 minutes I started coughing/choking due to some noxious chemical fumes. I don’t have respiratory issues and have never felt my lungs tighten up like that. We ended up sleeping in our van on the street. My throat eventually opened up enough to drink some wine for “medicinal purposes”. We’ve cancelled the rest of our inside passage ferries because, being from San Diego, we’ve seen many whales and are not thrilled by seeing seals. Instead, we plan to drive east through the Yukon and Northwest Territories and Alaska. I think the trip has now become an adventure.