So last night we camped at the first campground that we could find in Alaska. It was in the middle of nowhere, but there were a few other campers around and there was no camping fee. Love it! I dug into the grub box and had some port out of the flask to celebrate our first night in Alaska. I also took a picture to document the ritual. Now, of course, the first picture didn’t look quite right, so I had to keep taking some additional sips in order to capture more pictures of the event. As I was on my 10th or 11th picture, and feeling a little buzzed, it hit me: my dog has basically been drunk all week on those Chinese Herbs! I felt mildly guilty about this revelation and then I just started chuckling to myself, because, as much as I’d like to argue otherwise, Tess and I are actually relatively similar. We’re both a little shy, and we both get scared by things, but we try to put on a brave front regardless. (For Tess this means that she backs up as she’s barking at something that is freaking her out). And, based on my drunken revelation, we have another thing in common. We both tend to chill out, be more open to meeting more people, and get a little sleepy when we have had more than one drink.
While I was sitting in my lawn chair basking in the glow of being in Alaska, I had Tess tied up via a 30ft cable so that she could sniff around a bit. (Tess rarely goes off the leash because due to her skittish nature she may never come back). So, while I was getting buzzed, Tess was chewing on sticks, digging, snapping at mosquitoes, and doing all the stuff a dog would normally do. However, after about 15 minutes, she let out a yelp, then a bark, and sprinted up the hill behind our campsite. I know that yelp, and Tess only does that when she sees a rabbit. She goes ape sh*t for rabbits. She won’t listen to me and she won’t stop until she catches it. She would sprint after that thing for 50 miles if she could. Of course she can only sprint so far on the tie-out so she came to an abrupt halt about 30ft from the tree and promptly got tangled in the cable. I walked up to check on her, untangled her from the cable and like the insane dog that she is, she promptly tried to chase after the rabbit again. Of course five feet later she was choking at the end of the cable and tangled up again. At this point in time I decided to screw it. I unhooked her from the cable and put her in the truck and we both went to bed. It wasn’t until the morning, as I tried to leash her up to get out of the cab, when I realized that Tess had actually pulled so hard at the end of that cable last night that she actually ripped the loop that holds her tags (and the leash) onto her collar right off. One more pull on that cable last night and we would have never seen Tess again. She would have been eating rabbit for dinner 50 miles away in the Alaskan wilderness and I would have been bawling my eyes out! Luckily that didn’t happy. On another lucky note, I found her tags and the destroyed loop to her collar before we left camp, now we just have to get her another collar to attach them to!
Side Note on the Ongoing Mosquito Battle: Before we crawled into the loft to go to bed last night I sprayed OFF around all of the seams of the truck/topper. It worked like a charm to keep any arduous mosquitoes from sneaking in via the cracks.
Notes from the Drive:
We spotted a large bull moose about 15 minutes into the drive. It made me keep my eyes peeled for danger every time we rounded another corner for the rest of the 9hr drive.
My hair is beginning to look quite stunning after 3 days of camping and no showering. It can stand up all on its own. No hair product necessary.
Everywhere you turn in Alaska there is a magnificent view. I grew up primarily in Colorado, so I am used to pretty mountain views, but Alaska is like Colorado on steroids. You are surrounded by snowy mountains and marshy wetlands and red tundra and beautiful forests and lush bushes . . . for hours on end. The Wrangell Mountains welcome you into Alaska and set the tone for the state with their snow capped peaks that are surrounded by hazy clouds. The tops of those mountains transition into the dark blue and green hills below them and those hills, in turn, blend into forests that meet up with rocky, river beds filled with powerful grey rivers flowing directly from glaciers. As impressive as this mountain range is, the reality is that it is just the norm in Alaska. It would take you days to get from one end of this state to the other, and the entire drive would be full of moments and sights just like this, sights that would take your breath away.
Now that I have realized exactly how drunk Tess is on her Chinese Herbs, it makes me chuckle every time that I see her kind of stumble from her bed in the back of the cab to the front seat. Sometimes she just gets kind of tired on the way from the back seat to the front and she ends up just laying down on the console between the two. Her head will be hanging down, resting on her paws, which will be stretched out on the front seat and her back legs will be about a foot higher, still on the backseat bed. It kind of looks like she’s in the “hankering” position . . . a position that is ideal for passing gas. She’s a sloppy drunk but she’s harmless. And I love her.
I needed to pick up some feminine products today on the drive, so I stopped at the first store I could find. Here’s something about small town Alaska that I like: they don’t kill you with variety. They just carry the necessities. I didn’t have to choose from 15 types of tampons and pain killers. There was only one option of each. That makes decision making quite easy.
We’ve passed about 40 old trucks so far. They aren’t on the highway; rather they are parked by houses near the highway. They clearly don’t operate anymore, but in a place that is so vast and remote, they don’t really get hauled to the dump. They just rest in peace in the front yard.
The road continues to be bumpy. The last time that I was on this road, I was driving through snow for 12 hours in my 1986 Toyota Corolla. I wasn’t speeding at the time, but I also wasn’t going slowly either. In hindsight, if I knew how bumpy it was back then, I would have slowed down. I’m amazed I didn’t fly off the road!
I stopped to buy Tess another collar in Anchorage. Again, there wasn’t much of a selection, so I’m not too happy with the color, but it will have to do. There’s nothing like a pastel rainbow collar on your dog to help highlight your preference in women.
Today’s Cheesey Playlist:
Kelly Clarkson “My life would suck without you” (this is a dedication to Tess)
Zac Brown Band “She’s got whatever it is,” “Joelle,” “20 miles”
Wildlife Sightings:
Rabbit: 1
Squirrels: 4
Moose: 1
Arriving in Girdwood: So, we finally made it to our destination (after only 9 hours of driving AFTER we hit the Alaska border). All I really wanted to do was settle in and take a nap, but before I could do that I had to meet up with the property manager to sign the lease on the place I am renting this summer. I had to wait to meet up with the property manager until she got back from her halibut fishing trip (I am telling you, practically everyone is rough and tumble in Alaska by lower 48 standards). Once the property manager arrived at the rental office she kind of looked at me suspiciously (which anyone would do if you saw me after 3 days of car camping) and asked to meet Tess. Of course Tess wouldn’t let her pet her, but Tess behaved pretty well, all things considered. As the property manager walked me through the lease she sounded kind of gruff and still slightly suspicious. I don’t know if she was just tired from fishing or if she didn’t trust me, but her tone was starting to annoy me. She didn’t waver from her suspicious tone as she slowly read through the 28 page lease and just as I was beginning to think I couldn’t take it anymore, her cell phone rang. Guess what my tough property manager has her ring tone set to people? That’s right. Barry White, “Let’s get it on.” Um yeah. All semblance of toughness faded as soon as that song started playing. She quickly silenced the phone, handed me my keys and I took off for the house. She, in turn, probably called whoever was on the other end of the phone back and lined up a date for the evening . . . .
Notes on the House (Henceforth known as my Palatial 70’s Pad):
I rented this place sight unseen, and I opted for the house instead of the apartment because I wanted to give Tess six walls that no one would be knocking against. Upon pulling up to it I thought, holy crap, this is a one bedroom? The place is huge. It is baby blue on the outside, and on the inside, the baby blue theme continues. There is baby blue carpet throughout the house. There is a loft upstairs, and down stairs there is an orange kitchen countertop. There is also a built in cabinet, with an etching of various moose and wildlife, hanging in it. Of course, this piece of “art” comes with a back light, so you can turn the light on and the thing practically glows. I can’t wait to try and woo the ladies with that sucker. Seriously. This place must have been a swinging pad in the 70’s. In addition to all of this, there are two garages, one on each side of the house. The one on the right side of the house has a boat and a couple of snow mobiles in it. The one on the left side of the house is as big as the house. It comes with a 2 story garage door, a lofted workshop, and a lofted workout room. I will make all the jokes that I want about the 70’s décor in this place, but the man who designed this garage is a genius. I am in heaven!
That’s all for tonight. Let the true Alaskan Adventures begin tomorrow!
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