It was an on-duty day for us today, as will be tomorrow. Peggy fixed pancakes for breakfast. And since it was Sunday the NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on starting at 9:00 a.m. here. Peggy not being known as a NASCAR fan went to the laundromat and grocery store. She got back just shortly after Ryan Newman's victory.
Peggy was also on the phone today making reservations for activities and a campground in Fairbanks. If everything goes according to plan we will be there for five days starting August 6. We are excited to be taking a paddlewheel boat tour, a dredge museum tour, and going to the Arctic Circle! Getting to the Arctic Circle is one of our bucket list items. Since we have heard some horror stories about driving the Dalton Highway on your own, we opted to have a tour company get us there. On the flipside, we have also heard that there is nothing to worry about when driving the Dalton. We chose to side with caution, and also to alleviate collecting any gravel road damage to our pickup. And, this time someone else does the driving...a novel idea!!
Speaking of the bucket list, we are looking to reschedule our canceled halibut fishing charter. Hopefully the week of August 12 will hold some promise of getting back in the boat. And the tides are also favorable at that time. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
This afternoon I regenerated our camper's water softener while Peggy attended to Joey, the hangar cat. He bears watching as likes to take off on his own giving whoever watches him some exercise. Since he is declawed he can't defend himself very well. A bear might think of him as a snack should he get away from us into some of the surrounding undeveloped areas. We know that there are moose close by and there have been bears, too. Two years ago Grant had to dispatch a bear that was attempting to get into their house via a first floor window.
We watered the garden and flower pots around the compound, and then sat outside as the temps and breeze felt good. We grilled our supper and then watched the latest installment of "Falling Skies". That series will be coming to the season's end next weekend.
There are thunderheads building over the Talkeetna Mountains just north of us. It would be nice for them to bring us some needed rain. A walk through the neighborhood again brought closure to another Alaskan day.
July 29 No much new to report for the day. It got into the upper 70s again but no rain. The clouds continue to build up over the Talkeetna Mts. in the afternoon, but nothing (no rain) for the MatSu Valley yet.
We did the unsavory job of dumping our holding tanks in preparation for our trip tomorrow to McCarthy, AK, and the Kennecott Mine. This will be new territory for us again. The area has great historic significance for Alaska especially regarding copper mining and the building of the railroad.
We also finalized and made reservations for our Fairbanks trip and our return to attempt halibut fishing at Ninilchik.
Grant and Debby returned from their weekend at Hope and Whittier. They seemed to enjoy their time away. It was surprising to hear that Whittier's temperature was in the 70s. Typically coastal locations are cooled by the more temperate ocean temps.
We went shopping for salmon this afternoon. It is awesomely good when fresh and grilled. However, salmon is to Alaska as the steak is to Nebraska. As a result it gets top dollar even on sale. But, it's worth it to those of us who think a rock bass in Minnesota is awesomely good. Actually, in that case, it's the company (charter member Leech Lakers) who influence the flavor!
The salmon fishing is strictly controlled. In some places the salmon runs upstream have been less in numbers than typically expected. Yes, they monitor and count salmon. As a result many streams have either been closed to salmon fishing or the limit has been reduced. It is all supply and demand.
Grilled our supper again, did our evening walk, watched some TV, and called it a day.
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