A mixed bag.

Today, Peggie stayed in bed. She has caught a baaad cold and can hardly breathe. She cannot drive and blow her nose at the same time, and talking makes her throat sore, so she decided she needed rest. And she did. She slept most of the day. She expects to work tomorrow.
But I had a great day. Working for tips is pretty cool. Frequently, somebody tells you what a good tour it was and gives you a great tip. Sometimes the tip doesn't matter at all. Like today.
I had an old Russian/Israeli couple who spoke not a word of English and their Russian/American daughter. Both through the daughter and by observing them, I could see that they were having a good time. But my day was made when they stepped off the bus. The old man (70 something) held out his hand, looked me in the eye and said, "I don't speak English. That was a great tour." While his wife smiled and gave me a thumbs up. The daughter said over his shoulder, "He has been practicing that all day."
Yeah.

So, how was my birthday?

I got "Happy Birthday" greetings from my passengers as they got on the bus. I thought it was because Peggie had picked them up at another dock and told them when she brought them over to my dock. But then it became obvious that that wasn't it. Then I discovered that she had taped a "Happy Birthday,  Bill" sign in my bus where they would all see it. So that was cool.
Then I got to Caribou Crossing and got "Happy Birthdays" from people there. Then, I was eating lunch when from behind me I heard "Happy Birthday to you......" and I turned to see half the crew singing and bringing a piece of cake with a candle on it. Peggie had gotten there before me. Then, I got hugs from all the pretty girls. So that was cool.
When I returned to the shop after tour, there was an envelope for me. A gift certificate at my favorite coffee shop from the rest of our crew. So that was cool.
We had previously decided to have king crab for dinner for my birthday. It is expensive, but you only turn 65 once. It isn't like 39. We started with Dennis' famous marguaritas. Then Casey called to tell me she had sent me an Amazon gift card and suggested some music we might like. So that was cool.
We had finished dinner and were on our second round of marguaritas when our boss and his wife came in for dinner. They bought the next round for us, while they had their dinner, then invited us over to enjoy a bonfire and more marguaritas. Well, after two marguaritas, nothing sounds as good as a third. So, sure. When we tried to settle our substantial tab, we were informed that it had been taken care of. Nice gift. So that was cool.
At 1:30 we decided it was time to go home. Luckily it is only a three block walk. Next day we got to sleep until 11:00. So that was cool.
Then Greg and Julian skyped with us for a while. Julian didn't say much. But, still, that was cool.
(Just fyi, Tomoko and Ariana were sleeping off some jet lag having just returned from Japan.)
So I had a good birthday.
Good thing, too, 'cause I'm nearly old.

Happy Birthday, Bill

I remember falling in love with a young 20-year-old boy who, it seems, turned 65 just a few short years later! Still love that "boy" and looking forward to celebrating many more milestone birthdays.

Happy Birthday, Bill

I wish myself a happy 65th.
This is the last birthday with significance attached to it from outside. Only because of Medicare, since I already retired and I already get Social Security. So from now on birthdays will just be what they are: celebrations of living another year. Well, if I live to be 100, that will be significant.
Tomorrow Peggie is taking me out for king crab. Fresh Alaskan King Crab. Served up hot and buttery right in Alaska. And the next day is off, so we might have an adult beverage or two.
Today, I took a jeep to Whitehorse for a new windshield and saw two bears on the way home. Peggie took her regular tour and saw another moose in Tormented Valley. That's two in two days. Both in places where I have not heard of moose being before. It is fun having her doing tours and getting to see these things.
Yukoners are celebrating my birthday, also. They call it Discovery Day and take a three day weekend. (The klondike gold was discovered on Aug. 16, 1896.)

What I didn't see.

Yesterday was a good animal sighting day. I saw a mountain goat, I saw two bears, one of them was a long look. What I didn't see was a big, bull moose, with a large rack of antlers swimming across Lake Bernard, climbing out and shaking like a big dog, and walking away as if it owned the place. But Peggie did. With a busload of pleased tourists.  I also did not see two cubs up a tree. I didn't see the mama bear shake the tree, then climb 15 feet up and swat a cub, then climb 5 more feet and grab the second cub and shake it, then shinny down, followed by two chastised cubs. But Bryan did. I did not see a bald eagle in a dead tree so close you could walk up to it. Which then took flight right overhead displaying a five foot wingspan, while a professional photographer took pictures (which will be emailed). But Peggie did.
On the other hand, I did not see 100+ on the thermometer. But Casey did.

Never a dull moment

Okay, there are some dull moments. But.....
On Wednesday another driver (different company) who lives near us told us he saw a car hit a moose on the highway.
One, he saw a moose. Rare enough to be cool.
Two, he saw the moose hit by a car. Sad for the moose and the car, but cool for the witness. (No human was harmed in the telling of this story.)
Three, the car didn't stop.
How in the world do you HIT A MOOSE and just keep driving?!
The moose rolled over the top of the car, landed on its feet and limped off the road.
So yesterday this driver went looking for the moose to see if it survived. It did not. He found the carcass just off the road. So today, Peggie and I had some off time (tomorrow is actually our day off) so we drove up there and found the carcass, too. It is a calf. When we told customs what we were going to do, she told us the mother had been hit by a car and conservation officers worried the calf wouldn't survive alone. Apparently, he didn't.
Tonight, I was outside talking with this driver when the police pulled up. They wanted the story because the car was returned to Avis with dents and broken windshield, but the driver did not report the damage. He just dropped the car off and got on his ship and sailed away! Does he (she) think nobody knows who rented that car? Does he (she) think to just get away with it? Is this person even thinking at all?
Or maybe he (definitely a he) is embarrassed by the brown, smelly stain on the driver's seat.
Ethical question: do I count the carcass as a moose sighting? Peggie and I both saw it, so we would stay even.
I must admit, I like knowing where there is a moose carcass. And that it is well enough hidden that nobody is going to stumble on it accidentally. So later I can go see it again and watch the decay and scavenger activity over time.
On another subject: Peggie went to gas up tonight and the lady at the station gave her a bag of fresh-caught-today-in-the-harbor shrimp. Never having had such a thing before, she looked up a YouTube video on how to clean and prepare them. Bryan, neighbor and fellow employee (driver) headed and de-veined them and Peggie grilled them. I don't care for shrimp all that much, but they said they were good.
Today was a good day.

Second day off in a row.

This is the first time this season we had two days off consecutively, together. So I was wondering: Is there such a thing as two in a row? Seems like it would take at least three to form a row. If you put two pennies on the table, is it a row? Do two stars form a row? Yeah, I know we talk about two in a row all the time. Doesn't mean it makes sense.
We did laundry and other chores, then headed to Montana Mountain. We got a late start, so picked up lunch in Carcross and had a Thomas picnic at the beaver pond we call the moose pond about four miles up.
Then we did some butt-busting for three hours and turned around at the 12.5 mile point because it was 5 pm. Peggie took the wheel and drove us back down. I was on the downhill side, so I spent the time wishing for a narrower wheel base and a wider road. The only wildlife we saw was a mountain goat that ran down the road ahead of us. We remarked on the lack of snow on the mountain. Last time there were large snow patches and it was later in the summer than now. We didn't even need jackets. Coming down is always faster because we don't stop to look at things as often. We made it all the way home in only three and a half hours.
I don't remember if I have talked about the road construction. Yukon did some paving and chip sealing in the first five miles of road over the border. The first mile is good asphalt. Then the rest is chip seal. At first, they did a regrind on the old asphalt and laid that down. For two weeks in June we had to use oil remover and hand scrub the buses to get the oil/dirt mixture off. Then they laid down oil and gravel and we had major dust and loose surface for a month. One car slid off the road on a gravelly curve and took a few rolls. Nobody hurt. Finally, they swept the gravel and now the lines have been repainted. The road is finally in good shape.
Julian is six months old today. Way to grow, Julian!