Girdwood Alaska, Truth (?) in Advertising

Girdwood Alaska is an odd little place.  It has a whopping big ski resort and real estate values are sky high.  But it also has a sort of hippie tradition.  When my son and I were there about 6 years ago we were - speaking of sky high - surprised to notice people openly smoking marijuana in the streets as they walked their huge, wolf like dogs.

This time we just swung in for a stop.  There was a large outdoor chess set with a black painted traffic cone filling in for a rook. There was a place that had gone out of business called Goodie's Whole Food Coop.  There was another place called Driftsale that had all kinds of new age crystals and herbs and such for sale.  Across the street from that we saw this:

Well, a rather high powered claim, perhaps the availability of beer put them over the top.  I had to stick my head in and look.  Dissapointment.  There were a couple of scraggly haired young guys doing laundry.  The ceiling was painted with stars and planets.  There was an attached hair salon, not open.  The claim of food was borderline true, there was a food truck run by "Cheech and Nong" that advertised Thai food.  The special of the day was tamales.  Beer?  None in sight.

Here is another Girdwood business.

Full points for honesty.  But as Tourist Traps go this was not on the level say of Treasure City.  In fact the merch was artistic and witty.  My wife got my fisheries biologist son this for his upcoming birthday.

Storm Troopers riding salmon.  Cool.

Strolling to the Copper River

Fishing had been a bit slow so our host/guide suggested we try a spot down river a ways. Specifically where the Klutina and Copper rivers meet.  His directions were quite easy to follow.

Over the bridge.

Take the path to the left.  Ignore the no trespassing signs.  The land owner does not really care.  Oh, he is also the host of a reality show about guns.  To be fair if the second sign No Fires No Trash is meant to be taken seriously the more generic No Trespassing could be considered null and void.

Oh, and you had better bring bear spray.  This is a sort of veterinary grade tear gas.  It looks like a grenade but I am told that you point and spray.  Lobbing it at a grizzly might only momentarily confuse it.

It was a near perfect day.  Lovely scenery and fine company.

We saw a few other fishermen along the way, none of them seemed to be having much luck.  Salmon are slippery customers, when they are running strong you catch them.  When they are not, you are just flailing at empty river.

As we went through denser and denser woods things did start to feel a little creepy.  Nothing major, a peculiar sound here, a dead porcupine there.  Some sections of the woods

just seemed a little too quiet.  We saw piles of moose droppings twice.  But bears?  Nah, just a story to tell tourists from the  "Lower 48".

Fish Eyes

King Salmon do not in fact have anthopomorphic "Disney Eyes".

They are in fact rather "beady"

The one on the right, fish not human, weighed about 38 pounds

Roadhouse - Copper Center Alaska

On a previous fishing trip to Copper Center my sons and I had a couple of meals at the Copper Center Lodge.  It was a funky old log building parts of which dated back to the original 1896 gold rush era structure built to house and feed prospectors.

As a business of course it had its ups and downs, several fires had damaged it as one would expect in a building made of oiled logs and heated by burning wood through a long winter.  But it was a local institution serving the needs of construction workers, travelers, fishermen.  It became known as one of the last of the classic Alaska roadhouses.  When we were there we were interested to note that most of the men - I don't recall about the women - were carrying substantial pistols.  This seemed entirely appropriate on a day when my oldest son had a brief encounter with a grizzly bear while fishing a half mile away.  I had something made from reindeer meat.  It was OK.

A year or so after our visit the old place burned again, this time being completely destroyed.

Happily they have rebuilt, continuing the tradition of the site if not exactly on the same spot.

Here is a photo of the Copper Center Lodge circa 1915.

And the same spot, more or less, today.  They seem to be slowly working on a good sized replacement structure.

You see a lot of retired US Army trucks up here.

The actual cafe that is a continuation of the Roadhouse is in a vintage log building but nice and tidy inside.

Had an excellent breakfast with reindeer sausage.  Traditions both persist and evolve.  The sign on the wall says that open carry weapons are welcome but asks that they remain holstered unless "needed"....and that accuracy would be appreciated if they were.

But while the TV had Fox News on a couple of guests grabbed the remote and put on MSNBC.  After they left somebody else switched it back.  Politics in Alaska are interesting.

The website of the current incarnation of the Copper Center Lodge:  Old Town Copper Center

A Travel Camera for rough neighborhoods

I have for years used a variety of Canon digital cameras for blog and general photography.  Most of my recent stuff has been taken with a SX210SX.  It is a nice unit, the 14X digital zoom is helpful and it shoots at 14.1 megapixels.  That's more than I really need.

But it did have a couple of small problems on my last archeology trip to Vindolanda.  I was working in a lot of mud which eventually got into the mechanical works.  So the camera sometimes sticks when you power it up.  The other problem was that technically it is my wife's camera.

So while doing a little pre-travel shopping I happened to swing by the camera counter at Target and saw this:

It is a Panasonic TS25.  Now, I have not used Panasonic brand cameras before but this one was very reasonably priced.  $130 on sale.  It only has 8X zoom but there are no mechanical parts to get gummed up.  It is billed as being waterproof to a depth of 7 meters and for up to one hour.  It is dust proof, nowhere for archeo mud to slither in and dry.  It is shock resistant, rated to survive a drop from five feet onto solid wood.  It is freeze proof.  It is probably able to survive being chewed on by medium to large sized wild animals. And it shoots at 16.1 megapixels, so a decent photo of said animals could be obtained from a respectful distance.

Just the camera for the road ahead, and if it works out, for future wet/cold/dusty fun.

Off the Map

I sometimes wish I were born centuries earlier.  In an era of GPS and jet travel it is technically very difficult to be literally "off the map".  But one can come close.

I will be....away for a week.  Somewhat out of the way geographically and sailing new horizons in other ways.  Internet access is uncertain.

So back in a bit.  Tales to tell I hope.

Darth Vader Meets Hello Kitty

We had some "loaner grandkids" up at the cabin recently.  Great fun, and it was nice for their official parents/grandparents to get a little break.  Fish were caught, games were played.  Tantrums were endured.  It got me thinking about the differences between little boys and little girls, both of which we had represented.

Naturally there are not supposed to be any differences of significance.  Little girls can grow up to be astronauts or fire fighters or President.  And boys, well, not so much is said about them but if Barbie can be Anything she wants to be we assume Ken can as well.

But recently I made a rare trip to a place where gender differences are alive and well.  And gonna stay that way.

The Shoe Outlet.

Boy's Shoes on one side of the counter, pink girly shoes on the other.

Darth Vader and Spiderman.

Pink.

So very, very much Pink.

Buzz and Scooby and Woody for the Boys.

AAAHHHHH !

Kids, especially the younger ones, don't give a hoot about what they "should" wear based on some standard of Political Correctness.  They just know what they like.  It would be cruel to try and over rule them.  Later of course, things change.  A Sign of the Times: