It took longer to dispose of the used oil than it did to do the change. O'Reilly's Auto Parts advertised on their website that they took used oil but we found out not in Wasilla. However, they directed us to a recycling center which did take it even though it was about an 8 mile drive.
We checked on the little loon from yesterday's territorial fight. And there it was in the cove, idly swimming along the dock. It looked no the worse for wear, but obviously had made no attempt to vacate the area. We did not see the dominate loon so for the time being this loon appeared safe.
It got quite warm by Alaska standards today- 77º and bright sunshine. However, when compared to what areas of the lower 48 states have been experiencing weather-wise, I'll gladly take this. My brother lives in Phoenix and they had a dust storm today, the midwest has had excessively hot weather, and the eastern US has been flooded with rains.
I've been involved the past 10 days or so with my 95 year old father whose mental capabilities have been dwindling. He was recently moved from assisted living to a nursing care facility. My sister has been invaluable with making trips to Brookings from Davenport, IA, to see to his needs. However, as I have POA, I've been getting in touch with caregivers and other entities to see to getting his various bills paid. Thank goodness for email and its "paper trail" to help keep track of it all. I am so thankful that Peggy and I made it to Brookings the end of April to visit him prior to leaving for Alaska.
A quick note about the sunrises and sunsets we've been experiencing. When we arrived the end of May, the sun rose at 4:35 a.m. and set at 11:14 p.m. On the summer solstice June 21, it was 4:12 a.m. and 11:46 p.m., and today it's 4:49 a.m. and 11:27 p.m. On September 3, the day we are scheduled to leave Wasilla, sunrise will be 6:54 a.m. and 8:59 p.m. Thankfully our night shades on our camper work really well to block out the light so falling asleep has not been an issue.
I continue to hope by the latter part of August there will be enough solar flare activity to make some visible northern lights as they say sky darkness happens around midnight that time of the year! (Hmmm?? I must have thought I need some filler for today's post!)
Addendum: Just as we were prepping to go to bed it started raining. Peggy went to close the outside door and said she could see a rainbow. It was a photographic opportunity!
Being a weekend and being a NASCAR fan (it's the redneck in me!), I had to watch the Nationwide race on TV. It started at 11:30 a.m. Alaska time. Tomorrow's Sprint Cup race begins at 9:00 a.m. here. I'll have to make sure I'm up and at 'em!
After the race was over Peggy and I went to Fred Meyers "super" grocery store similar to a Walmart. Peggy had registered online for their rewards card but did not get a card nor a confirmation. She asked at the store's customer service about it. When they heard we were from Omaha, they asked if we had a Baker's card because Baker's owns Fred Meyers! Small world!
It was a fantastic weather day here with temps in the low 70's and a cool breeze coming off of Anderson Lake. We walked to Grant and Debby's benches along the shore to watch the ducks, gulls, and the occasional loon swimming. All at once we heard the screech of tires. We turned around to find an airplane careening down the runway heading towards the lake. Luckily the pilot was able to get the plane under control and stopped just short of going down the ramp leading from the runway into the lake. To much excitement! Grant and Debby also heard the squealing tires and thought they'd see a plane in the lake, too.
We drove to the Sportsmans Warehouse here in Wasilla and bought our fishing licenses for our halibut fishing next week. Tuesday we drive to Ninilchik to spend the rest of the week sightseeing the southwest part of the Kenai Peninsula and to go halibut fishing. Peggy and I are pumped as have never fished on the ocean before. Our other attempt at ocean fishing last spring in Panama Beach, FL, got canceled because of the weather, and we left the coast before we could reschedule.
We grilled chicken for supper, watched some TV, took our evening walk, and called it a day!
July 14 Heard the hangar door opening first thing this morning. Grant was getting his float plane out. I poured a cup of coffee and went out to see what was up. Grant and Debby were heading out to their cabin to mow and deliver some supplies and were only going for the morning.
I watched the NASCAR Sprint Cup car race while Peggy made a recipe of ham and scalloped potatoes in the slow cooker.
When the race was over we went out to check tire pressure on the camper and our pickup. About that time the Chapmans came flying back and landed on the lake. I went to the dock to assist with securing the plane.
We visited with them a short while and then went back to the camper. We washed the pickup which was still dirty from our road trip up to the Independence Mine on Thursday. Afterward I took a nap while Peggy read and played some games on her iPad. It was mid-afternoon when I heard a plane start up in the yard. It was Grant who had his Piper J-12 (?) running. It had experienced a stuck valve yesterday just prior to his returning from a flight from a friend of his' property on the other side of the Alaska Range. Before he could fly back it took some effort to unstick the valve, including flying in his friend's plane to another person's place to borrow some tools.
As Grant rev-ed up the engine in the yard, the valve stuck again so he pushed it back into the hangar. We went out to see what was going on as Peggy wanted some fresh air. Grant spent a goodly amount of time trying to get that engine valve to open and close, but it would stick in the open position. After several attempts he resigned himself to the fact that the cylinder would have to be removed and the valve guide reamed to allow the valve to operate correctly.
By now it was late afternoon so Peggy, Grant, Debby, and I retreated to their patio for some drinks. Debby brought out photograph albums of some of the places they had been to in Alaska, and we visited about a wide variety of things and had some good laughs.
Peggy and I then returned to the camper, had dinner, and watch the last 15 minutes of Falling Skies which we had forgotten was on. Oh well...you can always watch the boob tube, but you can't always sit outside on a beautiful weather day in Alaska and have fun with new-found friends!
Forgot to mention that I discovered that the rear drivers' side tire had lost air pressure. And again, I was very lucky to find that the tire has a nail in it! Better to find it out sitting in the driveway than to have the tire go flat out on the highway. Guess I know where I'll be going tomorrow morning!
July 15 Got up in time to get to the tire store by 7:30 a.m., their opening time. I have to give a lot of credit to Diversified Tire as I was on my way home by 8:00. Amazing how a roofing nail can find my tire!
It was a cool, 60º, overcast day. Felt very comfortable except that the state bird seemed to like this weather, too. BTW, I'm referencing the mosquito!
Spent the day getting ready to get on the road tomorrow. It has been two weeks since we took our camper to explore a different area of Alaska. Peggy looked up things to see and do around the Soldotna, Ninilchik, and Homer areas of the Kenai Peninsula. As for me I have tunnel vision focusing on Thursday's halibut fishing adventure.
I spent a part of the afternoon watching Grant begin to reassemble his Piper Cub's engine after it experienced a stuck valve. He ended up removing all 4 cylinders and getting the exhaust valves reamed to prevent this issue from happening again.
Debby was off processing salmon. She and some friends get together and hang the salmon to dry and to smoke. She also brings some salmon home for canning. For those who process salmon this is a busy time of the year as the salmon are running.
This evening we went for our daily walk which isn't at all unusual. However, what was unusual was having to step way off to the side of the street to let an airplane taxi by. Many airplane owners in the neighborhood keep their planes on their property which is within about a 4 block radius of the airport.
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