The Road to Naukati

Warning:  this post has very little about the road to Naukiti, but I thought it sounded melodic as a title.  :-)

Another nice sunny day on this Sunday, September 25.  How about that, two days in a row!  This is a real treat.  Quinlan and I start the day by walking down to the Bread Box to get cinnamon rolls, cookies and bread, and find it is closed on Sunday’s, bummer.  We get a nice walk at least.  I could taste those rolls, too, and the oatmeal cookies, and the delicious apple sourdough.  We’ll try again on Monday morning, and hope they still have some product left.  They only bake on Saturdays, and we forgot to stop by yesterday.

Saturday, we slept in, then did some chores.  Next stop was the Dockside Diner, a place we haven’t eaten yet, and are hoping is less expensive than other places we’ve tried.  Unfortunately, they stop serving breakfast at 11:  I was really looking forward to eggs and hash browns and pancakes.  We have lunch instead, and it is not only inexpensive, it’s delicious, too.  We will be back, and it’s going on the list of places to take Kelli and Jared. 

We drive to the Westwind Plaza, to shop at Alaska Gifts.  We run into Kathy’s boss Pete and his wife.  Next it’s the short drive to Cemetery Island to walk the dogs.  It’s nice and warm, so we sit on a bench and just enjoy the sunshine.  Blue jays are calling through the forest, a winter wren comes out to investigate, and two bald eagles cry from the top of a tree.  The eagles are huge, and with their white tails and heads, very dramatic.  Kingfishers are calling and patrolling the shoreline.  After a bit, we head to the trail, and walk it for a while.  It's a rare experience, walking through the forest without getting rained on.      

We head to Klawock, and discover there is no mail today, post office is closed on Saturdays.  Kathy wants to drive by the log house that will be our home in less than two weeks!  Yay, less than 14 days to go!  J  Before we can get there, she asks about Big Salt Lake, all the excuse I need to take a drive out the ten miles to show her a great view of this big lake.  She is impressed.  It's a classic calendar scene.  Since we’ve gone this far, we decide to make our first trip to Naukati, a remote village up north.

It’s a beautiful, deserted trip, but it is farther than we expected.  With ten miles to go, we follow the signs and turn off the paved highway onto a gravel road.  It’s well maintained. But goes on and on and on, and we wonder who wants to live this remotely.  Once there, we are even sure we are:  they have a beautiful little bay with a couple of docks, but it can’t be he town itself.  We backtrack and try some side roads through the forest, a come across a gas station and repair shop, then see a modern school next door.  Interesting, very small and spread out.  We continue down this same road a find a beautiful and big house, almost on the water.  No judgement here, everyone is free to live where they want, it is just too remote for us! 

  

The dividend amount of the Alaska Permanent Fund Program was announce yesterday:  $1,174.  This will go to each Alaskan, even children, as long as they have been here at least one year.  It’s the 30^th anniversary of the program, part of the Alaska Pipeline Project.  If one had participated since the beginning, they would have received over $33,000 to date. 

Remember, too, that there is no state sales tax and no income tax in Alaska, also due to the oil revenues the state receives.  In fact, it’s the only state in the Union for which this is true.  Cities are free to have their own make sales taxes, and many do, usually between 2 and 5 percent. 

It’s so nice to see the sun shining! 

Friday……….Kathy took the car, since she has to drive to Hydaburg.  The storm came in last night as forecast, and the wind blew the strongest we’ve seen, 25 to 30 mph, with gusts to 56 and more!  Kathy found some down trees being cut up and removed from the road, but otherwise no problems on her long drive. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011       I take Kathy to work, then head to the Wheelhouse to do some computer stuff.  I tried getting a haircut, but all three salons were booked up.  I end up doing my own little trim, and shave, and it will be good enough.  I haven't seen a barber shop, just the three salons.  I hate paying full price to get the full lonely hairs I have left cut. 

I come back home, get some lunch and head out for a walk with the dogs.  It’s raining some, not constantly.  I see a bear up the side road near the slash pile.  It seems strange to write this, even to think it, but these bears are VERY black, even at a quarter of a mile.  He sits in the road for a minute, then turns and walks across the road, and it looks to be good size.  He ambles into the forest.  The dogs never see him.  It’s been over a week since I’ve seen one.

I come back and run into our landlords.  They are both getting ready to leave the next day.  She has taken the job as a bank manager in Browning MT, where she is from, and is excited about this new job.  He doesn’t seem so excited.  She starts on Tuesday, so is flying out soon.  He is leaving tomorrow morning in his pickup, driving some stuff for her.  He’s taking ferries to Prince Rupert, then driving the 1,250 miles to Browning.  I ask him about the Bellingham ferry, and he says it’s booked up for weeks, bummer.  He is remaining here over the winter to do the contact logging for the tribe.  He’s thinking of buying a 150’ boat for a mobile bunkhouse for the crew of 30 he needs to hire.    

I have my interview at 3pm for Dispatcher position with the Craig Police Department, and it goes very well.  Linda, Dispatch Supervisor, and RJ, Sergeant, interview me with a set of questions.  They tell me it would be graveyard shifts Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, then swing shift Thursday and Friday, the day shift on Saturday.  Yuk, don’t like graveyard shifts, too much for my body to accept.  I tell no problem, but really don’t like that much.  They told me I would hear either way on Monday.

Afterwards, I have time some time before I pick up Kathy, and don’t want to drive down the gravel Pt St Nick, then turn around and drive back out, so try calling Dad, and get through, yay, and have a nice talk with him.  I call Kelli next, and have a nice talk with her, and Jared:  he asks about taking up the master bedroom carpet, and I see a mental picture of that nasty thing, wonder why we never thought of doing that, and give him the go-ahead.  He says it might be bothering his allergies. 

I head to pick up Kathy, continue talking to Kelli the whole way, and hand the phone to Kathy when she comes out, so we both get a nice long talk with home and family. 

We have dinner, and wait for the big storm to roll in.  It comes in around midnight, very windy with very powerful gusts, lots of rain.