ALASKA

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AUGUST 29 - SUNDAY

THURSDAY EVENING

… thursday evening somehow everyone was able to get to the salmon bake … abbey and her jeff, greg, benjamin and his melanie … what a wonderful family get together … jeff has hardly seen benjamin and melanie this summer because of differing work schedules … for gr … for gr it was most wonderful being surround by my grandkids … we have quite a bit of video of the party which will be on the video marilyn and i will put together…

FRIDAY

… friday morning at 8 marilyn and i were at benjamin and melanie‘s appartment loading their belongings into the van and we were off to anchorage … off to anchorage in the rain … the kids hadn‘t been back up to anchorage since may when there was snow on the ground ...

… we stopped just short of moose pass at a master craftsman who makes knives form hammered damascus steel … i spotted a belt buckle crafted from the spot where the antler of a moose attaches to the skull … some how that buckle and the accompanying belt found it‘s way on to my waist …

… about noon we turned onto the road that leads to homer so that mel and benjamin could see kenai lake and the kenai river … the kids were as taken by the kenai river as marilyn and i were when we saw it the week before … we spotted… actually, benjamin spotted salmon in the river … we couldn‘t tell if they we sockeye or silvers … we all had a fabulous clam chowder at the sunrise …

… it was raining hard when we arrived in hope, a picturesque little village of perhaps 35 people, on the turnagain arm, … i tried to buy melanie a bumper sticker that is popular all over alaska, … please don’t be offended by the bumper sticker because it is remarkably true about alaskan woman … it reads “alaskan girls kick ass” … all I can say about it is that there are plenty of men in alaska that know from experience that alaskan women are just as tough as are alaskan men … it might be wiser to mess with a bear than to attempt to mess with an alaskan woman … the shop owner proclaimed melanie to be an official alaskan woman and proudly presented her with the bumper sticker … he wouldn’t hear of my buying it for her … i did, however, buy a beautiful alaskan tribal spirit mask for my susie …

… it was still raining hard when we stopped at the one place that melanie wanted to see on the way to anchorage … beluga point … it juts out into the turnagain arm at a narrows … benjamin and mel got out of the van and stood in the rain for two or three minutes … beluga’s are an endangered speicies in alaska … i’ve never seen a baluga in the wild but i know people who have seen these rare whales in the turnagain at beluga point …

… we finally made it to anchorage and shopped and ate supper at the fred meyer’s store … fred meyers is an institution in juneau, the anchorage area, and fairbanks … it is a subsidiary of the kroger company but sells everything that you need, from food to furniture, from clothing to appliances …

… some one from whirlpool must be a great salesman because fred meyer’s carries a lot of kitchen aide materials … i’m not hyping kitchen aide, rather it’s because a lot of the readers of this blog live in south west Michigan which is the international headquarters of kitchen aide and whirlpool …

… we sat up the aliner in the rain in a r.v. park in anchorage at $42 a night … wouldn’t you know it our propane tank was empty so we couldn’t cook or turn on the forced air furnace in the camper … luckily it wasn’t that cold last night … the kids slept in the car … we offered to share the camper but they wanted the car …

SUNDAY

…. we awakened to dry skies … we had breakfast and i was able to get the propane tank filled at the campground office which enabled us to make coffee … we took a drive out to the airport and the small plane airport where it seems everyone in Alaska has their sea plane parked … the girls wanted to shop so down town we went … marilyn remarked that she knew that benjamin and i weren’t really into shopping and right then she spotted an episcopal church and she gave Benjamin the option of going to church with her or going shopping with melanie … benjamin quickly changed his mind about going shopping and we all had a good laugh about it, seeing as he cites himself as being hope college’s “token athiest.”

… there was an interesting art and craft show just across from where we parked the van … i was most distressed upon seeing a lady selling knock off pieces of coastal alaskan native american art that were made in indonesia … they were well made and quite authentic looking … at least she wasn’t trying to sell them as locally made items … i was deeply distressed because it makes everyone distrust the origin of tribal art … she had a rattle that could have sold for 2 or 3 thousand dollars if it was authentic and she was selling it for $175 …

… we spent 4 hours shopping … every once in a while finding some good among all the kitch … it kept threatening to rain but somehow the sun kept shining …

… about 3 the van sorta turned herself toward the turnagain and soon we were back out at beluga point … this time in the sunshine … it’s beautiful out there … even more inspiring when you realize that the tides are often 30 feet … that’s 30 feet up … 30 feet down … 30 feet u … and 30 feet down … all in 24 hours … the water roars past the point like a class 3 rapidly flowing river … those rip tides are dangerous … what I’m trying to say is those tides are killers!!!

… both mel and benj slept in the van on the way back to the aliner … they took long showers and then we tried to use the gps to find a pizza place … the kids wanted to take marilyn and me out for supper …because of time constraints we finally had to stop at a mexican restaurant … the kids declared the food to be on a par with the acapulco in lawrance and that makes it a 5 star place … marilyn is educating my palate and ordered lengua tacos … for those of you who need a translation, benjamin informed us that we were eating beef tongue … marilyn knew that … i found lengua to be delicious … Benjamin tried it and said he would order it now that he had tasted it …

… we arrive at the ted stevens international airport right on time …… despite a former Alaskan governor’s much ballyhooed talk about federal tax dollars being misspent, it is a fact that Alaska receives the highest percapita influx of federal funds of any state … the ted stevens international airport is a great example of what a powerful u.s. senator can achieve for his or her state … o.k., I’ve written enough about politics …

…the kids made made it through security o.k and haven’t called so they are winging their way back to the lower 48 … they are very different people after being here the past 4 months … alaska and hard work does that to people … benjamin starts student teaching and mel is back to college … the kids are planning on returning so next summer and benjamin is applying for teaching positions here … we are thankful that they wanted to travel with us for the last 2 days, … sharing themselves with us …

… it’s late … midnight … we have been writing for the past 3 hours … and the wifi here is down so will send somewhere along the way tomorrow …

… thanks for your notes to us … we read them all … writing the blog takes real effort and we are thankful that our musings are appreciated …

-lifeisagreatblessingforwhichwearethankfulrichard

p.s.
…to answer your questions … the broken tooth doesn’t hurt … am brushing it every day to keep the plaque at bay

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