31.0°

I, being a disabled Vietnam Navy veteran, wore a hat aboard saying so. There's plenty of vets in Alaska, so I made friends all over, even on the crew of the Mantanuska. There were vets that live in Juneau, too. I met the Manwarings from Nikiski, who are now very good friends. I stay at their home, and David and I have the halibut of the Cook Inlet shaking in their boots when we launch his 20-foot boat into the surf at Anchor Point with a tractor.

So you see, Jane, it was a good thing, those ferry rides, even on the way home and alone. An unnamed purser on the ship gave me a free upgrade to a cabin with a window. The Kennicott was a better ship of the two, but I just spent too much time - almost half the trip - aboard; three days on the cross Gulf and five more to Bellingham. It just wore me out, so the food and the bunks started wearing on me.

Mel Adkins
Sparks, Nevada