Day 14, July 12th, Living in Girdwood, AK

Morning Activities and Observations:
After a solid night’s sleep at our campsite, Tess and I woke up and made some breakfast. Tess had her standard fare, and I made some pancakes. Unfortunately, despite all the camping gear that I brought, I overlooked packing the syrup. So, I had to use brown sugar instead. And I’ve got to tell you, it wasn’t that bad. They were quite tasty as a matter of fact.

While I was cooking breakfast, Tess made herself comfortable around camp. And when I say “she made herself comfortable,” I really mean: “She kept herself busy by attempting to destroy the camp.” First she sniffed some flowers. That was innocent enough. Then she started digging up the flowers. Once she got tired of doing that, she tried digging up some tree roots. When she was unsuccessful in her attempt at tree transplanting, she tried climbing up on the picnic table to help out with the cooking. I guess since the table was outside she thought that was acceptable behavior. And when I shooed her away from the picnic table, she topped it all off by tangling her tie out cable up in the tent pegs. Of course this led to the tent fly coming loose, getting twisted up in her tie out cable and “chasing her” around camp. I swear, she’s like a living, breathing, version of Pluto. Got to love her.

As we were packing up the camp, a couple of guys, who looked like they were in their 70’s, came over to the water pump. It took them quite a bit of pumping to get the water going, and when it finally started flowing, one guy started washing his hands while the other guy kept pumping. By the time he was done washing his hands, the guy pumping looked like he might pass out, but instead of calling it quits and giving his friend a break, the hand washer decided to wash as much of his body as he could. The next thing you know, he’s washing his hair. Then his shirt comes off, and then he strips down to a Speedo with his little pot belly hanging out over it. And the whole time this is going on, his friend, the pumper, looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. When Mr. Clean finally stopped washing himself, I thought, “Ok, now it’s the other guy’s turn.” But no, they just walk back off to their trailer again. The pumper doesn’t even get to wash his hands. Now that’s true, self-sacrificing friendship. Either that, or maybe the washer smelled REALLY bad and the pumper decided it was worth risking a coronary to help get him clean.

It was a little overcast on the drive home, but I didn’t mind it too much. The clouds hung low on the ridges that we drove by and you could practically see the moisture and mist in the air. The air was so still that the lakes we passed were just like mirrors, perfectly reflecting the mountains above in their dark greenish-blue waters.

As we were passing through the gorgeous town of Cooper’s Landing I saw a rowing trailer parked by the side of the road. Now that’s a crew team I’d come out of retirement to join.

When we got home to Girdwood, we stopped by the Tourist Trap (the gift shop) and poked around for a few minutes. The store had a book called “Walking with my dog, Jane.” It’s about this guy who hikes along the Alaskan Pipeline for an entire summer with his dog. It makes Operation Fitness for Fear seem like child’s play!

Operation Trying Not to be a Complete Hermit:
A guy said hi to me at the campsite bathroom today. He actually said it to me in a different language, but I got the gist of what he was trying to say.

Given the fact that the bathroom conversation was essentially the only human contact that I had had all day long, I decided that tonight would be the night to break down and go to the local bar, Chair 5. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to introduce myself to people, but I thought it would be a good idea to be around humans and increase my odds of a face to face conversation. When I got to Chair 5, the restaurant section was already completely full so they sat me at the bar. I did my best to look like a local as I ordered some food and a cider. Within a few minutes, a couple of girls sat down next to me and started planning the details for an upcoming wedding (not to one another; to a guy). After a while one of them commented that my hair smelled good (but she also compared it to grape Gatorade, so I’m not exactly sure how to take that compliment). Regardless, that gave me an opening, so as I ate my dinner, I chatted with them a bit, and I observed a couple of things.
1) Alaskan women can drink a ton of booze and still hold normal conversations. (I was very impressed).
2) Roasted pig is apparently a common meal to serve at weddings in Girdwood.

I wouldn’t say that tonight's bar adventure was amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but I did successfully complete Operation Trying Not to be a Complete Hermit. So thumbs up all around.

Wildlife/Unique Sightings:
Motorcycle with a side car: 1
Women with what appear to be incredibly high tolerances: 3
Old, but clean guy in a Speedo: 1