7/12 - 7/13/2009 They Call It Organized Chaos

You're gettin' two-fer this post because I couldn't type last night due to lack of electricity.

Our electric was out for about 14 hours starting mid evening last night and finally coming back on by late morning today. You really don't know how much you miss electricity until it isn't there. Evidently, the campgrounds water runs by an electric pump, therefore we had no water which ultimately means.... no toilet! Do without that for 14 hours! It also means no morning coffee! Now that doesn't mean a hill of beans (no pun intended) to me because I wake up, open the fridge, extract a Pepsi and I'm good to go. On the other hand, Bob NEEDS his coffee. I absolutely hate it when Bob can't have his cup o' morning joe. He is no ray of sunshine until he downs that first cup of java.

We didn't spend much time around the house this morning because, well, it was COLD! It got a bit chilly last night and we didn't have use of our electric heaters. True we could have turned on the heater using propane but we haven't used that in quite some time and it seems if you go long periods of time without firing that bad boy up, well, the fumes will about knock you out. I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration but it does have an odor to it and we had an errand to run anyway so we just didn't bother. I think the other thing is that we don't know how much DUST and DIRT are in the ducts. Remember, Alaska is one dusty place! One thing's for sure, one didn't dawdle getting dressed this chilly morning!

Ahh, yes, the errand. Another thing Bob wasn't happy about this morning. A couple of weeks ago Bob failed to put the gas cap back on when he finished pumping gas. For whatever reason he got distracted and we pulled out minus the gas cap. He stuffed a rag in the fill tube in the meantime to keep dirt and bugs out. We had checked several NAPA's and Auto Zones, as we came across them, for a new cap but all they ever had in stock when we asked was a locking gas cap which we find to be a pain in the butt to have and they cost $35.00 to boot. The rag was working fine! So SATURDAY while we were out and about we stopped at a local auto parts place and they had what we wanted! Hooray! No more rag hanging out of the side of the truck. Yesterday (SUNDAY) we filled the truck up with fuel and guess what? Yep, we lost the brand new, less than 24 hours old gas cap. This time it was my fault, more or less. Bob went inside the store and I was standing watch at the pump. There was some confusion about how much gas was being pumped into our truck and I walked halfway across the parking lot to talk to Bob who was now standing outside the store. I then shut the pump down, put the handle back in the pump and went inside the store too. When we came out I jumped in the truck not thinking about the gas cap and he thought I already put it on and neither one of us did, so we have a rag sticking out of the side of the truck again. Soooo,,,,back to the auto parts store only to find out we bought the last one they had on Saturday. And Bob still hadn't had coffee yet. Let's just say that I sat very still and very quietly on my side of the truck while we were in search of another auto parts store. We found a NAPA store and because the auto parts store gods were looking down upon me they had one in stock. Once again the rag was thrown into a tool compartment and hopefully never to be used again except for wiping hands on.

Our next stop was for COFFEE! Halfway through that cup, the Bob I know was coming back to life. Note to self: Invest in battery operated coffee maker.

Shortly after returning home the electric came back on, we turned on the electric heaters and warmed the place up and all was right with our world. So that's what happened last night and this morning. Yesterday afternoon was a lot more interesting.

We took a leisurely, northbound, 60 mile drive to see the Russian River Ferry. This ferry is located at the confluence of the crystal clear Russian River and aqua blue glacial waters of the Kenai River. This is THE hot spot for salmon fishing.

We pulled into the parking lot and drove up to the little ranger station/parking fee paying building and were told to fork over $13.75 for parking. WHAT???? For 20 minutes???? No, that would have bought us 12 hours which we had no intention of staying there for 12 hours. The ranger suggested we pull over on the side of the road and walk in. Yes, yes, that is much better, we'll walk in. I think that parking fee is outrageous even if it is for 12 hours! That fee doesn't include a ride on the ferry either, oh no, that's another ten bucks for all of a three minute ride! The Dumbo the Elephant ride in Disney World lasts longer than this ferry ride.

The current is so swift because of the merging of these two rivers. The ferry is attached to cables so that it doesn't float downstream.

While there were a good amount of fisherman out today I can't say that we witnessed "combat fishing". You know, literally standing shoulder to shoulder as they fished. This week is between salmon runs. While salmon are certainly still being pulled in, there are not thousands of fish in the river and not thousands of fisherman casting to snag them. Organized chaos at its best.

Each year, 60,000 to 100,000 sockeye salmon are taken from this area alone. I can't even imagine that.

The fisherman help each other when need be. Here's a fella helping net the fish on the line.

And here's that fish and the man who owns the freezer where this fish is going to wait in until its eaten.

One young teen was fishing right in front of us and caught this fish.

I thought it was pretty nice how the state, or Parks and Recreation, provide these fish cleaning stations right at the water's edge.

We watched this one fellow clean his fish.

Every once in awhile he would throw scraps to the circling seagulls. You better believe that piece of fish will never hit the water.

More and more birds were getting into the act.

These fisherman are happy!

I don't know these two but I'm assuming they are father and son. or even perhaps grandfather and grandson, but they seemed so happy to be fishing and together that I just had to snap this picture.

Every time we've been near water we've seen these signs. Bob and I think Lifejacket Loaner Stations are such a good idea.

This sitting seagull caught my attention.

...as did this one. What a contrast.

After 30 to 40 minutes or so it was time to move on. We stopped at a visitor center down the road and asked where we might view some bear at the waterside fishing for dinner. The young lady gave us directions and we headed off. What the young lady didn't tell us was that we would be traveling on a major-ly washboardy road that was so darn dusty.... Halfway through I would have liked to have wrung the young lady's neck!

We did see this pretty lake but no bear were in sight.

And then we saw this little brown furry thing. A mole?

Now, no offense is meant here, but it is what it is. Alaskan's are crazy drivers! No ifs, ands or buts about it, crazy drivers. There is very little, next to none actually, enforcement of the laws of the road. Take speed limits for instance. The signs are posted but no one pays attention to them. Bob was driving 65 miles an hour and we were being passed like we were sitting still. We had one guy jerk in back of us that was in a small pick up, towing a pop-up trailer with a canoe strapped to it that passed us with oncoming traffic coming at a pretty good speed. When he passed he had to whip in front of us to avoid a head on collision and that pop-up swayed back and forth so badly that we thought for sure he was going to lose control. Then within minutes he passed the next vehicle in front of him. Eventually, we saw this vehicle again when we were stopped by a flagman at a road construction site. Why? Why be in such a hurry that you put everyone else in danger? We have not seen a police officer patrolling the roads, or anywhere else for that matter, in WEEKS!

So that was our last two days. Oh yeah, the electric went out again this afternoon but only for about a half hour. We're glad we're leaving here tomorrow. We aren't traveling far, just down the road about 40 miles or so and we'll be staying with our friends from Quail Run, Lin and Dan and Darlene is there as well. It will be like old home week.

Until tomorrow.....