Saturday July 17

Took some drugs the doctor prescribed and slept like a rock. Woke up and was still pretty stiff. With the medication I'm ok. Without it, it hurts pretty bad.

I basically lied around all day with the exception of another short walk. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty good. I scheduled a massage for tomorrow on the doctors advice.

I don't really have much to say. I was either in the front seat of the truck or up in the bed in the camper. Not a whole lot going on in either place. Sorry blog fans.

Friday July 16

I could barely climb out of bed this morning my neck was in so much pain. I was at the point where I could no longer find a body position where my shoulder and neck would not hurt. I had to get some help so I checked into the ER at the hospital in Seward. I was hurting so bad I could barely function.

The doctor gave me a shot of Novicane type stuff like you’d get at the dentist, right into my shoulder. Instant relief. He also wrote me a couple of prescriptions, which I picked up at the local supermarket. I have to chill out for a few days. Besides a short walk around the waterfront, I basically spent the rest of the day in bed with a heating pad on my shoulder watching movies. It was frustrating.

Don't worry mom.....I'll live. It's just a little bump in the road.

Thursday July 15

Woke again with a seriously stiff neck. Worse than yesterday. It was becoming a problem. It seriously killed.

Fly shop right next to the laundry mat? Perfect. Chewed the fat with the fly shop owner while my laundry spun its way to cleanliness.

Visited the largest mall in Alaska. It was pretty cool. It had a skating rink in it. There was some fruitcake skating around in a red tank top with his headphones on thinking he was Brian Boitano. He looked like a silly freak.

It was now time to head south to Seward. On the way the radio station broadcasted an actual fishing report that covered most areas of Alaska. I thought that was pretty cool. Drove for a few hours and slept at a rest area.

By then end of the day I was scared. My neck and shoulder were killing me. If it doesn’t feel better in the morning I may have to do something about it.

Wednesday July 14

When I woke this morning I had a pretty stiff neck. The kind you get when you sleep wrong or something. I hope it goes away.

I had a few sourdough pancakes for breakfast and resupplied the stock of ginger cookies before continuing on down to Anchorage.

Hit the Wal-Mart in Anchorage and bought a bunch of stuff including snacks and milk. Then I washed the truck and camper

Watched the rest of the series “Into The West” with the generator running then fell asleep in bed in the Fred Meyers parking lot.

Guess I didn’t do much today.

Tuesday July 13

I hear reports from home that Central Mass is experiencing a king sized heat wave, maybe even the hottest July on record. Here the temp rarely moves out of the 50’s, and I must say, I’m loving it.

By some fluke, I had satellite radio reception for about an hour today. Managed some live Howard, which was an unexpected treat.

Wanted to drive back down the Denali Highway to the spot where I first noticed the flat tire on my truck and fish a stream that looked really good. Fish Creek was good. The grayling were rising to dry flies and you could pretty much catch one on every cast. It was cold out and by the time I’d arrived back at the truck my hands were frozen. They got that itchy feeling as I thawed them out on the trucks heating vents. I had the entire stream to myself and it was a blast.

After fishing in the morning, I headed back towards Anchorage for some supplies.

I need to tell you about “The Milepost”. The Milepost is a book that describes every detail of the Alaskan road system. Using the book, one gets a narrated tour of what’s alongside the road pretty much everywhere you go. Using actual mileposts, literally every roadside occurrence is described to the reader, from gas stations, restaurants, descriptions of abandoned shacks, scenic views, where to see specific types of wildlife…even useless stuff like this: “MP 336 Couch on bluff to the west has giant stuffed animals.” (sure enough, there it was). Armed with “The Milepost”, the reader gains a familiarity with Alaska greater than one they currently possess of their own home town. I can’t imagine the amount of hours spent gathering info to put this type of book together. The volume of info it contains is staggering.

Stopped back in Talkeetna to take a shower and spend the night…..bought one of those rotisserie chickens for dinner … it was divine. I recall that the first person to tell me how good those whole, cooked, chickens tasted was my grandmother.

Monday July 12

Denali National Park. I’ve been waiting a long time to visit Denali

and today was the day. It’s a strange set up they have going on, where the only way one can actually enter the park is by tour bus. Private vehicles are not allowed. This made choosing one of about 15 different tour options a little tricky. I’d say I chose one of the furthest destinations, with the least amount of comfort (school bus). This combo seemed to be the most popular so I went with it.

Highlights included getting a clear view of Mt McKinley, also called Denali, the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet. Apparently getting this clear view was pretty lucky as the summit of Denali is only visible 62 days of the year. The rest of the year it’s covered in clouds.

Other highlights included seeing my first caribou (also called reindeer), and my first dall sheep (sort of like a mountain ram type sheep with curly horns). Another highlight included hearing the bus driver tell a story about how he and a friend were charged by a grizzly and lived to tell the tale.

However, overall I thought the Denali Park experience stunk. I knew coming in that there was a pretty good possibility that I’d be disappointed. I’d seen so many animals, so close up on my trip already. You’ll remember that I saw my first grizzly coming out of the bathroom back in Banff in Canada at about 30 yards. I didn’t think the park tour could top it…and it couldn’t. The tour felt like it was designed for the Princess Cruise crowd as the “nature” portion of their itinerary. The masses paid top dollar and were herded on these school buses with high hopes to see anything. Glimpses of bears and other animals were from incredible distances. It was pretty disappointing. It was also a struggle to sit for 8 hours on a school bus. For those of you who don’t regularly ride a school bus, they are a lot more comfortable when you’re in second grade as opposed to being an adult. For 8 hours I sat captive in the world of Princess Cruise Lines.

I think those cruise line tours are a sham. People are shuttled from one pristine location to the next. The stops that are made on the tour provide this idyllic view of Alaska that is not realistic. What’s real is that Alaskan’s pay $7 for a bag of chips and need to supplement their food with animals or fish that they kill and eat. I have yet to encounter a fisherman who catches a fish and lets it go. It’s all about gathering food. Casting a bare treble hook into a giant school of salmon is not about fishing for sport, it’s about food on the table. If you think of the crappiest house in your town, the one with all the old cars and junk just piled everywhere, that is what is down the back roads all across Alaska. People are rugged here, hard core, and hard working. I’d say most cruise ship tours never get to fully experience this. In most cases the shiny clean hotel is physically separated and isolated from what I’d call, real Alaska.

The reason I keep harping on the cruise tours is because they are simply everywhere here. It is by far the most common way people choose to see Alaska. Hundreds of Princess buses crisscross the state every day. Towns and areas are empty until the busses show up and people go nutty spending their money on every little trinket that says Alaska on it. When the busses pull away the areas become empty and feel a bit deserted.

Had pizza for dinner tonight and called it a day.

Sunday July 11

Pouring rain.

Got caught up in a TV series on DVD called “Into the West” and watched it until the generator ran out of gas.

Decided to cut across the state and travel the Denali Highway, 132-mile dirt road through the tundra. It’s terminus being the fabled Denali National Park. Saw a couple of moose dunking their heads under water eating grass. Tried to identify some birds and the only tricky one I could pin down was the white crowned sparrow. The road was smooth enough, but long. I could only go about 40 miles an hour max. The views were spectacular. Towards the end, I needed a break. When I got back in I started driving and instantly noticed something was wrong with the truck. I was moving along ok, but not without some kind of strange resistance. After stopping to look at a river, I scanned the truck and noticed that my right front tire was half full of air. The first flat tire of the trip.

With five miles to go to civilization, I decided to just keep driving rather than monkey around finding the jack and dealing with a spare tire. I was about five miles from help. I reached this cruddy looking service station, but at 9:30 pm on a Sunday night, I had my doubts. I pulled in and I met a guy who was a gold panner, cleaning the back of his “log cabin mobile”. The only thing the gold panner and I spoke about were gold and weed, both of which I know nothing about. There was much discussion about ounces, grams and prices, but he was tough to follow. He made a phone call for me and within five minutes, arriving by bicycle, with all necessary tools in one pocket, comes the owner of the shop. He does his thing, I fill it up with air. Before I leave, Gold panner guy offers me a few joints, which I decline. (See photo above of gold panner, actually gold panning)

I made a note to get my own patch kit so I won’t have to pay anyone to repair a flat tire again.

Had halibut tacos at a restaurant for dinner and worked on the blog for quite a while.