Happy Birthday, Don

I went out to Dyea looking for bears last night and nobody got stuck in the mud. In fact, Don is the only person I know who ever got stuck out there.

Anyway, I lucked out, and saw the first fishing bear of the season. My friends who work at the dog camp out there have been telling me for a week that the bears are in.

This little guy was very efficient for the first half hour. There is a channel behind him that makes a sharp bend and he is very good at catching fish in the corner. Once he crossed that sand bar into more open water, he was less successful. He eventually wandered downstream, across the bridge I am standing on to take this picture. Then it was getting late, so I went home.

H A, B&P, Vol II

We're back from Haines.
We met the ferry early (6:00am) and had a smooth ride over.
We went straight to The Bamboo Room for breakfast. Despite it's fancy name, it is a diner-type place with good breakfasts. Then we went out to the Chilkoot River and Lake to see if any grizzlies were there. Lots of fisherpersons, but no bears. As many spectators as fishers. We went back several times, and spent time spectating, but no bears. One sow with two cubs left just as we drove by, but we missed them. We, of course, went to the local quilt shop, and tried to go to the Hammer Museum, but it was closed. We checked into our B&B where we watched the three ships from Skagway sail past on their way to the next port.
Our hosts prepared a good breakfast, regaled us with tales of life in Haines, and we headed out. The road was uncrowded and in good shape (only 21 km of construction) but NO wildlife. Oh, except for a pair of trumpeter swans in the same pond where we saw them last year. The fireweed was in spectacular form on several stretches of road. We stopped in Whitehorse for some groceries and ran into one of our neighbors in the store. After we got back here, she knocked on our door. She had locked herself out! We assisted her, got her back in, then she and I went looking for bears in Dyea. Again, no luck. The salmon are plentiful, though.
So, today is our actual anniversary. It is raining already and we both have to work.
And that's the way it is; 41 years and counting.

Happy Anniversery, Bill & Peggie: Vol. I

Tonight we had a little celebration with friends.
It started like this:
We decided to go to Haines this weekend to celebrate our anniversery because we both have to work on Monday. (our actual date is July 25, for those who don't track such things)
Earlier this week I got a call from a couple we met this year on the trail to Lower Dewey Lake asking if we wanted to meet for drinks. We already had a dinner date, so I suggested we meet tonight, instead, to toast our anniversery. Fine. Then I realized that we hadn't seen Jeff and PJ recently (since we were at their anniversery party) so I called and invited them to join us. Good, so far.
Oh, slight backtrack; Dennis is the bartender across the street who we met last year when we called The Bistro our backyard place and went there more or less regularly. So we were planning to go tonight to kick off the celebratory weekend. OK back on track.
Yesterday, one of the jewelry store people we met at the beginning of the season ran into me on the street. She was on her way to the airport to leave. She was not having a good time here. So I stopped into the jewelry store to see how the rest were doing, and one of them, our neighbor at the apartment lamented that we haven't seen each other for a while, so I suggested she join us at The Bistro. Along with another coworker who was in on the conversation. So they came.
Then as I was walking past the library on my way home from work tonight I ran into Lynn (aka Atlin from our card playing buddies from year one) and she said how she missed seeing us so I told her she and hubby Robert should join us, so they did, too. Then, another couple we met and have had multiple contacts with over this summer came by and joined our group, too. Then a young lady who met Peggie at the quilt shop last year, and who became our favorite waitress at the BrewCo was walking by, so she stopped in for a while, also.
So, this is why we are having such a good time here. We celebrated our anniversery with friends from years one, two, and three. From Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, St. Thomas, California, and Arizona. From twenty-something to sixty-something. Most of them did not know each other before tonight. Peggie and I had a great time. We think everybody else did, too. The conversations moved randomly around the tables and now more people know more people than they did before.
And tomorrow, when we get on the ferry, four of them are also getting on the ferry, with Juneau as their destination. We discussed just partying all night. But, really, let's be real, we are too old for that kind of foolishness.
In fact, it is too late to be up writing.
Good night.

We better make hay!

We are losing daylight at the rate of 4 minutes per day. We are down to seventeen and a half hours already. We went out to Dyea at 8:30 last night because the salmon are starting up the creek and we hoped to see some bears. No luck on the bears. But on the way home through the woods (yes, and over the river, but no Grandma's house) we really noticed that our headlights were on. Also the reflective road signs actually reflected.
On Saturday I went with two others to go gold panning in a creek known to have some gold. We had a wonderful time. We did not find "color" though. Then we went further up Montana Mountain than I had been before. We found a road around the big washout. It was getting late, so we did not go to the end of the road. That is for another day. Anyway, I had my camera set wrong and ruined my pictures, so have to go back to get good ones. There is something (awesome? can't think of the word) about being above timberline.
We are looking forward to this weekend. We will celebrate our anniversery in Haines. We are ferrying over on Saturday morning and driving that beautiful road back on Sunday.

We will just have to go more often.

On Sunday, we went to Montana Mountain and saw that moose in the previous post. Yesterday after work we went back to pick up the fabric Peggie was rusting. On the way, we saw a wolf! He was that dark brown color we see on a lot of bears. At first we thought is was a bear, until we got closer. He was into the woods before we could get the cameras out.


Comment on Casey's efficient apartment manager: It is obvious she doesn't live in Skagway.


I have to apologize to Neptune. I forgot to post Happy Birthday on Tuesday. As I am sure you all know, Neptune has completed it's first orbit of the sun since its discovery 165 Earth years ago. So in Neptunian time it is one year old. We don't count the first four and a half billion years because we didn't witness all of them. The USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL all refuse to deliver cards or gifts.

Best moose sighting, yet!

This is a beaver pond on the north side of Montana Mountain. Don may recognize it from his jeep adventure tours.
We had gone there to rust-dye some fabric on that old compressor's engine parts that are lying all about. (see previous post) We had been there last year, but never got back to do the rust-dying. I knew about the pond, so I walked over there as Peggie was laying fabric. Even though I was hoping for a wildlife sighting, I neglected to take my camera. When I saw this young fellow, I had to go back to the jeep. Peggie was ready to come look, also. We were able to watch him eating for over twenty minutes. He was unaware of us. A couple of beavers were busy in the pond, and several ducks were also around. Our original view point was 100 yards away, but we were able to move around and get within 50 yards. His antlers are less than a foot long, and felted. He was eating from the bottom of the pond, completely submerging his head. While he had his head in the water, we felt safe to move around. Finally, he moved into the forest.

How's this for an idyllic vacation spot?

We had a great time. We'll tell you more soon.

Happy Birthday, Margie

It may not be polite to discuss a woman's age, but since you are my little sister I'm going for it.
60. Don't tell Mom, she may think she has to be old if her youngest is 60. The big 6-0.
Side note to Margie's children and grandchildren: she is 60 now, so you have to be very quiet and very nice to her. Help her do things like blow out birthday candles. Don't place the cake directly under the smoke alarm. Share the candles as they come out of the cake, when there are this many, (60) you lose a LOT of frosting if you don't lick the candles.
Be sure to call Dick and invite him to the party. He is 65 now, and probably can't remember things like his sister's birthday. You can probably fool him into thinking it is his birthday.

Follow-up report

The fireworks were amazing. We stood on the waterbreak at the small boat harbor. The fireworks were launched from a tug about 300 yards out. They fired a steady stream for a full half hour. ( a full half....) Then a second launch point on the dock joined in for the last 15 minutes and doubled our pleasure. It was cold and windy. And a bit surreal to see snow in the background of July 4th fireworks.
I did get to see the parade. It started an hour before my tour. It was shorter than usual (I am suggesting that usual is what we have seen the last two years) perhaps because many would-be participants had to work. Traffic was totally disrupted and I had to walk my passengers several blocks to get on the bus.
I checked with customs and they confirmed the killing of Friendly.
I checked with Spirit Lake and they confirmed that the RCGB I saw was their bothersome bruin. He had been relocated to Bennett which is 27 miles away and across the lake. So he had walked the 27 miles, but not crossed the lake.
I had great people on the tour. One couple insisted that I call them so they can have us to dinner when we visit San Francisco on our way home. The woman is a 70 year old Chinese American who went horseback riding for the first time in her life. She is a self described city girl and was nervous just being in such wide open country, much less on horseback. The man is an avid hunter/fisherman who promises to prepare some kind of wild game when we visit.

There is such a thing as TOO friendly.

Peggie and I went for a Sunday drive today. We encountered police (RCMP and Conservation) hightailing it south with lights and sirens. We were curious, as we had seen no emergency on our way north. We didn't know what the Conservation vehicle was until later. On our way back to town we observed two Mounties with rifles walking along the road. I put two and two together. This was the same curve in the road where I have, on numerous occasions, both this year and last, seen a bear I named Friendly. Why? Because he approaches vehicles in a very friendly way.
This is bad for the bear. Somebody who should have known better has fed this bear from a car window. Probably more than one somebody. Fools. Now the Mounties or Conservation officer will shoot the bear. Not its fault. We asked at Customs and, sure enough, somebody reported an aggressive bear. Well, at least it hasn't hurt anyone, yet.

Tonight we get our Independence Day fireworks at the harbor. Tomorrow, I will be driving to Yukon, so will miss the parade. Shucks. I like the parade. Anyway, Happy Birthday USA.

RCGB

On Thursday, I saw a new sight.
First, it was the first grizzly sighting I've had this year. Second, the bear was in a "non-grizzly" location. ie: not where anyone ever sees a grizzly. Third, it had on a radio collar!
Yep. Normal in that it was busily eating leftover dandelions, but wearing a radio collar. Questions arise. Why is it being monitored? Was it relocated as a problem somewhere else? At Spirit Lake, where we are taking our horseback riders this year, they recently had a grizzly relocated because it kept trying to get at the horses. I will have to talk with them to get a description of the bear.
Anyway, it was a different thing to see.
Of course, there is the remote possibility that this was a radio controlled animatronic device being operated by somebody hiding in the woods. (Pun intended, I couldn't help it.)

Oh, I forgot to post this yesterday, so Happy Birthday, Dick, a day late.

Comments Anyone?

I think I have fixed the comments problem that Blogger has been experiencing so if you've been having difficulty leaving a comment try it out. We miss hearing from you.

I read about the solution on a blog I read on a semi-regular basis. A simple change in the comment setting to "pop up window" seems to fix the problem. So if you've been missing comments on your blog, try the solution.