We drove from Redmond to Bellingham a little later than we expected -- we picked up our tickets at the terminal and found out our line time was a whole hour earlier than we expected (3 pm instead of 4 pm). That only left us 2 hours to find lunch, buy our last supplies, and get in line to board the ferry.

We decided to get lunch that we could eat in the car. We went back to the ferry terminal and parked in our assigned lane. The kids stayed in the car and had lunch while Steve and I restocked the cooler and rearranged things to make unloading easier. Our whole car was also inspected (and sniffed) by police and bomb dogs.

After about an hour in line, it was time to drive onto the boat. We drove right in and onto an auto elevator, which transported us up onto our deck.

We backed into our spot and turned the engine off. LS & LB were a little scared at first at all the noise. Steve got our stateroom keys from the purser and got the kids & our first load of luggage to our room. We were the last room on the starboard side -- a 4-berth room with a bathroom with a shower, and a window. It was very tight. We barely had room to set up LB's pack-n-play. It was also about 80-85 degrees in our room -- the ship doesn't have AC per se, but ventilates as the ship moves. Since we weren't moving yet, it was VERY hot.

We were in the room less than an hour when we had our first emergency. BS was going to the bathroom and didn't see that the door frame was raised and would need to be stepped over. Her foot caught on the ledge and she went flying head-first toward the toilet. She banged her jaw against the toilet and knocked out her top 3 front teeth. Two of them flew out -- so fast that we found them on the bathroom floor and they didn't even have any blood on them. The 3rd was hanging by a thread and Hubby had to pull it out the rest of the way.

It was so terrifying for all of us. BS was screaming and bleeding so much that at first it was hard to assess the damage. I ran for the purser to see if they had any children's medications (the bottles I had brought on the trip had leaked at the last hotel so I had thrown them out). We also had to make a decision about what to do -- do we abandon ship and go to the ER? What would they do? How would we get to Alaska?

The purser was also an EMT; he and Hubby assessed BS and determined that an ER would not do much but refer her to a dentist for follow up x-rays, etc. -- which would not get done emergently anyway. It didn't make sense to start dental care in one state when we were 4 days from our new home. The bleeding stopped and the teeth appeared to have come out cleanly. There was still an hour before we set sail, so the purser took me in the courtesy van to the nearest pharmacy so I could get children's motrin & tylenol.

All I could think about was my poor baby, and how much pain she must be in, and how her beautiful smile was disfigured. Could I have prevented it? What if...? I even caught myself praying to turn back time -- just an hour or so, please! -- and stop it from happening.

It was the first taste (of many probably) of a sad reality that we don't want to acknowledge as moms -- that no matter what we do, we can't protect our children from everything. Life happens, and then we have to teach them how to deal with it.

To her credit, BS was much braver than I was! After a brief sit with some gauze and an ice pack, she was ready to start touring the boat!

The MV Columbia was actually quite nice. There were large lounges with comfy chairs and panoramic views on all 3 floors, a recliner lounge where they showed movies, a game room, a snack bar, and a more formal dining room. There were also laundry rooms and showers/lockers for people who did not have staterooms.

Some people just slept in the lounges in sleeping bags. Others actually camped out on deck in tents that were duct-taped down. I can't imagine that was very comfortable (especially with the rather chilly, misty mornings), but the kids were intrigued by it.

We had packed for chilly weather, but the area was actually experiencing record temperatures. Once the morning mist blew off, it got HOT. We were sweating! Fortunately we could access the car at port stops and were able to pull out some shorts for everyone.

We sailed through the Inside Passage, which is mostly narrow channels. However, there were a few periods of "open water" sailing. One of these, through Queen Charlotte Sound, was especially turbulent. Hubby gets mildly seasick, so we relaxed and laid low until we passed through the choppy area. The kids passed the time by coloring, reading, playing with Barbies, and playing with Riley. There was a play area on the deck as well.

Sleeping in the bunk beds was a fun experience for the kids -- especially seeing Mommy & Daddy hanging over upside down from the top bunks to talk to them. The ceilings were not very high, though -- as was evidenced by the dents in the metal ceiling tiles right over the heads of the beds. :-)

Our first day we boarded at dinner time, so we had fish & chips at the snack bar for dinner. Otherwise we mostly ate in the stateroom from our own supplies. The 2nd night on board the dining room had a big buffet, and kids ate free. The food was pretty good, but it was the window tables with the panoramic views of the water and mountains that truly made the meal.

On a side note, we are learning another way that boys are different than girls -- mealtime. BS & LS were relatively easy to train to sit mostly still, eat their food, and gradually learn to be patient while others finish. Not so with LB. He is not content to color the kiddie menus and wait (though he will flirt with pretty girls & women if they're around). On some advice from my BFF, we brought a small toy truck to the table to roll back and forth. This helped a lot, so I guess we're on the right track; needless to say, we don't eat out near as much anymore!

We did get off the boat at one port -- Ketchikan, "The Totem Pole Capital of the World." We didn't actually see any poles -- we only had enough time to run to the market and back -- but the kids enjoyed the walk.

We met lots of interesting people on the ferry, from all walks of life, from elderly couples on vacation to long-time Alaskans. We even met a missionary family on furlough from Burma.

On our last full day, the boat was approached by 2 sea lions and a pod of 3 killer whales! It was so cool. There were also lots of small fish jumping out of the water. Later that night, as we pulled out of port from Petersburg, Steve and I saw a buoy out our window that was covered with sleeping sea lions.

Before we knew it, our boat trip as over. Once we reached Haines, it was somewhat of a mad rush to reload the car and strap everyone in before it was our turn to drive off the boat. Despite her personal tragedy, BS said she didn't want to leave the boat!

We pulled off the boat into Haines -- and almost immediately had to stop & turn our motor off. The only road went through a blasting area, and we had to wait until it was clear. We sat there for at least 30 minutes and finally got on our way. We reached the Canadian border 40 miles later, where we had another 20+ minute wait and had to produce all of our passports. We drove briefly through British Columbia and then hit Yukon Territory...