New Exploring, New Pictures

Saturday, it's raining, and we take it easy all day.  We take the dogs for a couple of walks, that's about it.

Sunday, August 28, starts very rainy.  It rained all night, too.  We have the metal roof of the first floor right outside our window, which we like to keep open for the fresh air, so the rainsounds are magnfied.  I can barely see across the bay.  It’s a uniform grayish white across the entire view through the window.

A little later the sun comes out, and we go for a walk in between rain showers.  The air is fresh, and quiet.  There are two places in the grasses and bushes that are beaten down by bear-size paths, and I can’t help wondering if this is where black bears bulldozed through.  We get up to the bridge and there are kids trying to bag a salmon by throwing rocks down at them.  I’m pretty sure this is illegal.  They aren’t having any success, and give up. 

A view from along the Craig-Klawock Road.

On the return, we run into the neighbor with the tree dogs.  She and Kathy already know each other, having met at a meeting in town.  She lives in the home called The Castles, which is one house away from our place.  She and Kathy talk for a bit, and then continue toward home.  We run into another woman, whom Kathy also has met.  This is life in a small town, or in our case, towns.    

One of seveal waterfalls along the Craig-Klawock Road

We load up the dogs and drive into town, to catch some Internet time, do some shopping, see what’s up.  The coffee shop is closed.  We sit outside and use the wi-fi hotspot, and get some Internet tasks done, sitting awkwardly in the car.  We call Kelli and talk to her for a while.  Their flight out today was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, but it expected to be much weakened by the time it reaches Maine.   They have new travel plans, now leaving Wednesday and flying through Chicago.  Yesterday was Jared’s birthday, his first with his family in about eight years, and so extra special. 

One of many interesting geologic feature along the Craig-Klawock Road

Next, we go to Cemetery Island for a walk.  My back is still bothering me, so I stay behind as Kathy walks the dogs, although the Aleve has helped tremendously. I stepped of a fallen tree the wrong way a day ago, and tweaked my back, just a little.

Back home, and I head downstairs to put the milk in the fridge, and run into Kenny, who shows me the fridge and a microwave in the large room with the bar, more convenient for us than using their kitchen fridge.  We get to talking and I spend a half an hour with him, learning about his fish processing plant, fishing on the island, the abundance of gooeyduck clams and sea cucumbers in the inlet right in front of our, his, place.  Kenny and his wife have been here 13 years, and I learn a lot about the island in talking with him.  His wife, while a Native, is actually a Blackfoot Indian, so grew up right next door to Glacier National Park in Montana.

I had an epiphany!  It came to me as I approached the end of the riveting book I’m reading, Power Down, by Ben Coe.  While reading, I wanted to look up something from the book, and of course, I can’t, because I don’t have access to the Internet!  Then, it hit me, out of the blue:  Kathy did all of this, on purpose, her grand scheme to try and get me off the Internet!  There is so much to the Internet, from news to exactly how much rain we have received, to my family trees, to emails and Facebook and updating my blog, to name just a easy few uses.  I can hardly stand the very, very slow speed, but at least it’s something!  Here, at our current place, we have nothing, no access, NADA!  Kathy planned this!  I've actually felt faint and a little nauseous at times:  is this withdrawal?

First, we drove north from San Diego, through familiar territory all the way to Bellingham, to the border crossing at Sumas, Washington, and then new, fun territory, all that time my BlackBerry functioning as it should.  We crossed into Canada, and the BlackBerry still worked.  Driving further north, it began to sporadically lose connection.  No real problem, as each motel we stayed in had Internet access, so I could use the laptop, check my emails, update my blog, etc.  I had taken many pictures of our travels with the BlackBerry that I could now not access, but I could wait until we landed and got unpacked and I retrieved the cord.

Then came the six-hour ferry ride, and I was very disappointed to find there was no wi-fi onboard.  Come on!  I really don’t want every place, even in the US, to be the same, but access to the Internet is just a basic need today.  Am I right?!

Next, we arrived on the island, and the slowness began.  Most places we stay have Internet access, but it’s slow, excruciatingly slow.  I even buy a subscription to a wi-fi hotspot service, which has one in Craig and one in Klawock.  It, too, is slow.  The Craig Library has wireless, too, and provides computers with a printer, and also has wi-fi, so that’s nice, but it is also slow.   The lack of speed is killing me, KILLING ME!

View toward Craig on Craig Klawock Road

But, this was not the end of Kathy’s plan.  We finally found a place to land for more than six days, a huge improvement.  It is a real luxury.  It gets so old living out of the car, moving every couple of days.

So here we are, for the next six weeks, 5.3 miles, or 15 minutes, out a gravel road.  Neither number is really much of a problem, except that there is NO INTERNET!  It’s only been two and a half days, and I’m in serious withdrawals, not funny.  The riveting book I can barely put down is helpful, but doesn’t fill the entire void.   

This is no intervention, even if she did bring it without me seeing it coming, at all.  Smooth, very smooth.  Is it working?  NO!  No.  No.  I’m still as hooked as ever.       

Monday, August 29, 2011    I take Kathy to work, then head for the wi-fi hotspot.  It doesn’t work, and after trying several times, I realize the sign in the window advertising the hotspot is gone.  Great, only two on the island, and now one is gone. 

My Bald Eagle and Sea Otter picture.  This is from the deck of our room at Alaska Pacific Lodge, about mile 1.5 on the Port Saint Nicholas Road.

It’s raining, again, another day of rain, some relief, even a little sun, then back to rain.  I decide to go looking for bear, down the road I was on last week where I saw two.  There is a huge late, Big Salt Lake, very scenic.  I don’t see any bears, keep driving to Black Bear Creek, where Kenny told me is a good place to see them.  But, there is no trail, and it’s still raining, so no luck there.  I do see two Steller’s Jays, still can’t get over how different they act here versus the mountains of San Diego and the Sierras.  I’m so disappointed in the lack of birds in this rain forest. 

I get my blog updated at the Wheelhouse Coffee House, catch up on the birth of the owners first child, a 9 lb 22 inch long boy, born via c-section, the parallels with Henry uncanny. 

I finish at the Wheelhouse, and we head for Cemetery Island for a nice dog walk.  As we cruise down the road, I see a flock of birds, my first!  Wow, are they Evening Grosbeaks, the pretty mustard-yellow and brown birds?  Nope, no such luck.  They are a new bird for me on this island, but far from exotic:  they are starlings!  I didn’t even know they lived on the island!  Stupid parasites!  There must be 40 of them. 

We hit Cemetery Island for our walk, take a familiar trail, trying to stay under the trees and out of the rain.  We walk much farther along, get in a good walk, and return to the car, the dogs tuckered out from the walk and all the bush- and trail-sniffing.

Back to 5.3 home.  There is laundry to do.  Soon it’s time to pick up Kathy, and I leave the dogs and drive away, first time I’ve left them at this place.  They are now right at home, should be fine. 

Kathy has had a good day, four clients.  She has to have clients to gain the hours she needs for her license. 

It gets late, time for the dogs evening walk.  It’s almost dusk as we walk up the road.  We head for the bridge to watch the salmon.  Kathy gets my attention and points ahead:  35 yards away is a medium size black bear, ambling along toward the forest!  Nice!  He is completely silent, and apparently far enough away that the dogs don’t pick up his scent.  Wow, how cool!  I’m sure he saw us, just keep moving along.  It’s getting darker by the minute, and we move it along back to our apartment! 

You all may know that Montana is called the Big Sky State.  Alaska could claim that title, too.  It’s not because the sky is any different, really, it’s because the horizon is different:  when all you can see from horizon to horizon, 360 degrees, is forests or forested mountains or water, the sky looks so much bigger than it does in the city, development, houses, buildings, cars, in every direction.  Really, it’s the difference of the horizon.  The view out our windows alone is just, well, from a calendar, another world, simple and breath-taking at the same time, half a mile of water, then forests rising almost out of the water, climbing up to mountain ridges, and blue sky beyond.  Fish often jumping from the water, sea birds ravens and the occasional bald eagle flying high and low, just a beautiful place.