Sunday and Saturday and Friday

Sunday dawns bright and early, a cloudless sunny day, for only the second time since we arrived on the Island.  Kathy has an all-day board retreat to attend, at HOPE.  I take her to the Public Health building at 9, then come back and get the dogs.  We go to the coffee shop with the HotSpot, and I do some work on the Internet. Then we go to Cemetery Island Park, and walk out to the point. It’s just a beautiful day, high 60’s.The island trail is virtually empty, and I let the dogs off their leashes.

View from the tip of Cemetery Island

Lacokat and Quinlan, the Great Blonde Hunters

I have seen and heard very few birds since we arrived on the island, which surprises me.  Lots and lots of seagulls, which we don’t see in the forests in California because there are few on the coast.  Kingfisher, ocean birds, hummingbirds, not much else.  Kathy saw our first black bear today, but I missed it, and it was gone by the time we turned around and went back.  No whales either, besides that one I saw last Sunday.Kathy's seminar went well.  We drive by G Street to see the Pierce’s place, can’t find it.  I go to church, meet Michael, who Kathy has talked with about a house.  The word is getting out about us and our dogs.  Talk with Brady; send pictures to Brady and Kelli from Cemetery Island; Kelli sends pictures of Henry.
  

Saturday, a day of relaxing.  I had major trouble sleeping, despite taking two naproxen.  It was my worst night of sleep in a couple of weeks.  My shoulder is killing me.  I get up at 6, get dressed, and go in search of Internet access.  The Wheelhouse Bakery and Coffeehouse has APT HotSpot, but it doesn’t open until 8 am, so I take a drive down the road to Kwalock, stopping at a pullout.  It’s a cool, cloudy morning.  I walk up the road to see a couple of waterfalls close up.  I enjoy the cool, clean air. 

  

I take a little nap in the car.  I go back to the café, get a hot chocolate and muffin, and order a months worth of Internet access.  Ahhh, finally!  I’m back on Facebook, I’m back on my email, I’m on Wikipedia!  I check out our credit union accounts, and all is good.  I meet Shiloh and Leland, who are down from Pt Something, 40 people on an island off Coffman Cove.  Shiloh is living in her Dad’s place, he having passed away recently; Leland lives on a houseboat.  They are both young, fun to talk to. 

  

I spend the next three hours there, while Kathy gets some sleep and reads.  I bring her a muffin.  Kelli calls me around 11 and we have a nice conversation.  We sure miss them all.  I return to the room, and we take the dogs for a long walk around town.  It’s fun to live in a walking community, to explore the neighborhood and look at houses.

  

When we return, I have a conversation with Ron, our landlord, about his ’36 Ford pickup, the ’72 Harley-Davidson built to compete with crotch rockets, and he tells me about the owner, who hit a deer and kept the bike up, but the front wheel is mangled, sends the bike into high speed wobbles, and flips, through him to the pavement.  He’s wearing leathers and comes out fine; the bike skids along the right side, but escapes major damage. 

  

Ron spent a couple of decades as a logger, in and around Prince of Wales Island.  Today, he owns a dump truck and skip loader, and does work around the island.  He also owns some timber, and cuts it himself and sells it for firewood.  Yellow-cedar is the preferred firewood here. 

  

Friday, Kathy works half day; then we go to Thorne Bay for the first time, then up to Coffman Cove, run into Chad at the fish-counting weir.  His sister is married to Ron and Edna Pierce’s son, and he helped Wayne and Donna build the cabins at A Place to Stay!  He’s very connected.  He lives across the street from A Place to Stay.  He told us the house for sale behind him, on the D Street cul de sac, is a really nice house.  We haven’t been able to find a listing for it, or contact info.  The elder woman died, and the niece, a Native, is staying there while they try to sell it.