Tuesday August 3

Floating Willow Creek was so fun I decided to do it again. I was going to get there earlier and take up the whole day fishing and floating.

Setting up the pontoon again I was surprised to notice that it’s model name was the “Kenai Special”. When I bought it 3 years ago the name meant nothing, I had no idea where the Kenai was. It came to life for me now remembering that I’d fished the Kenai River 2 weeks ago.

Today’s float was a blast. The first few hours the sun was bright, but before long the rains came…..it poured. Catching fish, weaving in and out of currants and log jams, or just floating quietly thru the Alaskan woods with the rain pouring off your hat made the whole experience even more wild. I loved it.

I broke down the pontoon in the rain and headed to Talkeetna.

Monday August 2

The Alaskan Slam……

Got a decent haircut at Great Clips then a small radio from Radio Shack.

Drove to Willow, home of Willow Creek, the reported location of the Chum salmon. The Chum is the only one left on the list to complete the slam.

I ask the guy at the desk of the Willow Creek Campground (home to 100 loose rabbits, and a few well, 2 dimentional ones on the highway) where I can catch a chum salmon and he says, “See that bridge behind you? Walk on it and look down.” He was right, there were about a hundred chum salmon swimming below. So, in my t-shirt and sneakers, right from the Parks Highway I catch the 5^th and final species of salmon available in Alaska. Mission accomplished.

When I was thru I helped this goofy Swiss family. They had no idea (not one but 2 spinners on a snap swivel)……I gave them some of my stuff and they were on their way. It was cool watching the kids reel in these monsters.

I have a pontoon craft and I brought it with me. A pontoon is good because it can handle some pretty good white water and get you down the river away from the crowds of fishermen that seem to congregate near the roads. I decided to float Willow creek and it was great. It felt like a real Alaskan wilderness adventure. I was alone for 4 hours in the woods and rapids of Willow. Even caught a few fish.

Back in civilization, feeling lazy looking for some chow the only place still open was the Taco Hell. My rig was not going to fit thru the drive thru so I traded some kid in line a bunch of Mini Snickers bars and he added my order to his.

Revelation. The better place you are, the grosser the toilet experience. Examples below.

Anchorage not nice, the Hayatt Regency bathroom super nice.

Willow Creek nice and well, the woods with leaves not that nice.

There’s a million levels in between. Imagine where you might find an outhouse, or a Porto Jon……..Imagine where you might find yourself as you leave the comforts of a Wal-Mart bathroom. The relationship is inversely proportional and consistent.

It’s a revelation.

Sunday August 1

Took an unusual shower this morning. Unusual because $3.75 got you a record 18 minute shower time. Even more unusual was that the phone booth sized showers were literally situated in the center of the Laundromat and had no ceiling. So, when you were showering you were surrounded by the patrons doing their laundry and they could hear every move you made.

Spent the next 9 hours in a bookstore called Pandemonium in Wasilla. During that time, I had a wonderful Skype video session with my family back home. With the audio and the video so clear that I actually felt like I was in the living room at my sister’s house. Skype is remarkable and free. It was really nice to share the stories and events of each other’s lives.

While in Pandemonium, I witnessed an entire baby shower. I was there long enough to see it all…set up, guest arrival, cake, gifts, guest departure and clean up. The girl’s who attended were surprisingly good looking as far as Alaska standards go. The daddy-to-be, however, was up to snuff with Alaskan standards, dressed in work boots, plaid shirt and a grungy camo hat. He looked thrilled to be there.

Writing this blog takes a lot of time. Most of the time is spent waiting for the 10X photos to upload onto the blog website. This is how I spent the next 7 hours.

Actually located and drove by Sarah Palin’s house. It was easy to find. I just looked it up in the phone book.…..the photo above is of the end of her driveway. Obviously, no trespassing.

Finished Julie & Julia, pretty good…had some pasta. Drove through the town of Palmer and then back to Wasilla where I found a much more quiet place to sleep.