Our Grand Alasakan Adventure

June 19, 2014 ? Day 30

Got up and moving so we could go to the local burger joint that also does breakfast a Limited menu but huge portions.  I asked if I could get a 2 egg omelet and the waitress said everything came as written on the menu, which was a 4 egg omelet.  The pancakes and hash browns were the best.  Still lots of low clouds but no rain so far.  Drove back out to Keystone Canyon to snap a few pics of Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls.  Also found the Goat Trail which is a restored section of the Trans-Alaska Military Packtrain Trail which led to the first glacier-free land route from Valdez to the Interior.  There is also ?The Old Railroad Tunnel? with a sign that reads ?This tunnel was hand cut into the solid rock of Keystone Canyon and is all that is left of the railroad era when 9 companies fought to take advantage of the short route from the coast to the copper country.  However, a feud interrupted progress.  A gun battle was fought and the tunnel was never finished.? So it is the tunnel that goes to nowhere.  Also drove out to the old site of Valdez.  On Good Friday 1964 an earthquake that measure 9.2 on the Richter scale and was centered in Prince William Sound. A tsunami destroyed the original town site, killing 33 people on the wharf.  After the quake it was determined the town needed to be relocated.  So they moved it 4 miles.  Not much but some plaques to note where building were.  But a few pilings are what is left of the wharf.  Now the big business is the oil and the pipeline.  After our touring this morning we came back to do laundry.  Chatty with some folks that live about 1.5 miles from us in Centennial.  They are doing the basic trip around Alaska but were behind us by a couple of weeks.  Went to the quilt shop and made a purchase.  Now all I need it some time to sew.  Bought some shrimp and scallops, Megan is on recipe duty.  Jim and I went for a nice bike ride.  Valdez has a great paved path.  All you have to do is ride along looking at the beautiful scenery and you never notice how hard you are working.  Then we turned around and into the wind and really had to work at pedaling.  Made dinner and got frustrated with the TV, cable or satellite. In the 2+ years we have owned the coach the TV system has never worked correctly.  I will never by a Jensen product because it is a pile of junk.  Jim was also working on a fire for us.  But after 3 really good dousing with Boy Scout fuel (lighter fuel) it wouldn?t start.  The wood was still too green.  Went up to gas station to buy some more and paid $8.50 for the bundle but it did light and we had our s?mores (Yeah).  Just so everyone knows, gas in Valdez is $4.59 per gal.
Well, we have a big day tomorrow so I?ll say

Bridal Veil Falls

June 20, 2014 ? Day 31
Happy Birthday Zoe!  Hope you had a great one.
What a day!!!!!!!!!  The day started out beautiful, sun with a few clouds, little wind, temps in the 50?s.  We headed over to the small boat harbor here in Valdez and boarded the Lu-Lu Belle.  She is a lovely 75 foot yacht that carries up to 55 passengers out to Columbia Glacier.  Capt. Fred built this vessel and spends his summers in Valdez and winters in Port Angeles, WA.  Along with Tosh and Abby, his crew, we set out of the Port of Valdez.  He gave a history of the area, his views on politics and life.  There were about 25 passengers today which made it nice to move around the ship.  We started out spotting sea otters, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, then on to humpback whales (total of 5), puffins, and orca porpoises.  One of the whales even breached a couple of times, which was awesome to see. You never have your camera ready for some of the really good shots.  So I made a memory instead. Megan did captured it. As we made our way out to Prince William Sound we spotted a fishing boat that was doing a test run for salmon.  So we watched as they put out net and then reeled them back in.  Very interesting, and yes there were mostly pink salmon and a couple of silvers too.  We traded them some brownies for the privilege of watching them so close.  What fun.  I?ve only seen that on Deadliest Catch, on TV.  We had the wife of Wild Bill, one of the captains of the fishing vessel ?Cape Caution? in the Berring Sea. In the first group of humpbacks we saw one that breached several times, and another that was flapping their dorsal fins. We travelled by Anderson Waterfall, the largest one we would see for the day.  I love waterfalls, I think of them as romantic.  As we moved on we were joined by a few Dall Porpoises that like to play at the bow (front) of the ship , so we watched them for a bit.  They look like Killer Whales, they are mostly black with a white belly.  We then started to look for Puffins and Capt. Fred drove the bow of the ship into a cave were one puffin was nesting on a rock.  Capt. Fred said in a few weeks all the rock would be filled with nest and eggs.  When we went around the corner it was a large noisy, pushy group of Stellar sea lions.  And they smelled too.  A little further on was a raft of sea otters, Capt. Fred said they could grow to 6 feet long but most average around 4 feet.  He also said that usually a mama with a new otter will keep the baby on her chest until it is able to dive safely. 
Finally we are headed to Columbia Glacier, the second largest tide water glacier.  Since Capt. Fred has been doing these excursions ( began in 1979) the glacier has receded 8.5 miles.  The glacier is 40 miles long and covers about 340 square miles.  Slowly we made our way closer and closer to the glacier.  Capt. Fred had to be careful of the floating icebergs.  The deeper the blue on the ice the denser it is. Several really large icebergs floating and some with boulder size ice on them which occurs when the glacier calves and the chunk hits the water and pops back up on a larger piece of ice.  Unfortunately we didn?t see anything of that size fall today. We were sitting a little less than ? mile from the glacier.  The sun was shining bright and all was good with the world. From all the floating ice you hear a snap, crackle and pop sound or a clinking sound, with the glacier you hear what sounds like thunder.  But that thunder sound does not mean there is a section that is immediately going to calve.  You have to remember that glaciers are constantly moving, pushing forward.  Capt. Fred had been told by a glacierologist that the glacier we are seeing today formed from snowflakes that probably fell about the time of the birth of Christ.  What a way to spend your afternoon.  There are several arms of the glacier now that wind down the surrounding Mountains with their alternating bands of light and dark.  If there is a dark band that means the glacier are is moving slower and has time to collect more dirt. All toll we spent about 1 hour in front of the glacier and I could have spent the entire day. It was cool to see the ice floating around made by the underwater currents.  There would be a clear area of water and you turn around 5 mins later and there is ice floating all around. All total we saw a few small falls of ice and a few medium sizes calve but we didn?t see a National Geographic one.  Dang it!  Time to leave and head back to Valdez.  A bit tricky now that so much ice had floated in and around the bay.  Capt. Fred had to go very, very slow and almost stopped a few times because if icebergs in the way.  You have to remember when you see the tip of the iceberg that is only 10% of its size, 90% in below the water line.
Weather started to change, clouds came in and the wind kicked up.  We saw a few sea otters sleeping on icebergs and slowed down to try and get some pics.  They did not cooperate very well. Especially the mama?s with their babies on their chest. Finally made it back to Valdez around 7:45 PM (we left at 11 AM).  Not bad for a tour that advertised 5.5-7 hours long. Went for Chinese food at Fu Kung, yummy good. 
Drove out Airport Rd to check out the Valdez Glacier, but the windy was howling and the rain had begun, so we drove over to Allison Point to look for the mama bear with 4 cubs.  No sight of her and the rain is really coming down, so back to WeBe.  I think it has been one terrific day.  Hope I didn?t bore you too much.  Just to give you a weather update, we have fresh snow on the mountain peaks. TTFN

No you didn't bore us!  Some of us are reliving what we saw there.

ArdraF

We are loving your posts.......
;D

Thanks for the call and birthday wishes. Had a good one.  Need some white cake with white icing though!!!. (Are you reading this Renee??) The glacier pics are stunning. Wish I could have been there with you.  Love you

I thought I would post a couple of other pics of glacier cruise.  The one with the other ship gives you a little perspective.

June 21, 2014-Day 32
Quiet, lazy day.  After the over stimulation of yesterday, we need a laid back day.  Jim went over to Allison Point to try to catch some fish but he didn?t have any luck because the salmon aren?t in yet.  So he and Megan went for a nice bike ride this afternoon and I tried to take a nap but the phone rang and I talked with a good friend of ours.  Did some catching up with some family and then Megs and I watched a movie.  It rained off and on for a good part of the day but then the sun came out for a little bit and it felt really good. After dinner Jim and I walked to the Post Office to mail some things.  I went online with the Alaskan Marine highway to see if it might be possible for us to ride it part of the way down the inside passage.  After inputting all the info and clicking ?purchase?, it states that our motorhome is too big to reserve online and I have to call them, but they aren?t open on the weekend.  Frustration!!!!!  We will have to try on Monday.  This is just one of the little bumps everyone goes through on a journey such as this.  I can look back on it now, but I a ticked off this morning.
But all will be well, Jim just built a fire and it is s?more time, TTFN.

  Love your posts, we were there last year and Valdez was my wife's favorite place. Tell Jim the Salmon fishing is great on the Kenai River where the Russian river flows into it. You don't need a guide there. We stayed at the Princess Lodge RV park and I drove over to the park and walked the boardwalk to the River. See my post on our trip last year for some good fishing reports. Did you guys buy the Alaskan Tour Savers book? We ended up buying 2. Good luck on your trip.

;D  Michelle, good to talk to you and 'yes' - I am jealous.  Glad the trip is going well!  We are in full time wedding planning - mode, so things are beginning to come together for big day.  Safe travels, and tell Jim I will accept no more skunked days.  - Bill

Thanks for the info Henry.  We are planning on about 3 weeks on the Kenai Penn, hope to get lots of fishing in then.June 22, 2014 ? Day 33

Another uneventful day.  Took our time getting up and out of Valdez this morning.  Megan and I did our shopping at the Safeway before heading out to Glennallen.  We drove 115 miles.  Gas jumped to $4.71 a gal overnight, which was a $0.12 a gal more than yesterday.  This is really blowing the gas budget.  Oh well, it is only money, right?  Partly cloudy and about mid to upper 50?s.  The drive out of Valdez this morning was back through Keystone Canyon, which was beautiful and up Thompson Pass. It was steep and narrow.  The truck lane was exceptionally narrow and a guard rail right on the edge of it.  You take up your half of the 2 lanes going northbound.  Good thing it isn?t usually busy. Beautiful scenery with all the mountains that are snowcapped.  Stopped about Milepost 60, right next to Teikel River for some lunch and Jim fished for a little bit.  He caught 2 Dolly Varden?s, he was happy.  Detoured off of the Richarson Highway at Copper Center and took the Old Richardson Highway. As we came up to the bridge crossing over the Klutina River it was a mass of humanity.  Tough to drive through all those cars, trucks and people trying to fish on the Klutina. Copper Center was looking about as old and tired as when we were there 13 years ago.  Continued on to Glennallen and pulled in the Northern Lights RV Park.  This is another one owned by Native Alaskan?s, but in better shape than Chitina.  Tons of mosquitoes.  I hate unhooking the car and setting up with swarms of mosquitoes, but it must be done and I was faster than usual.  Jim drove back up the Klutina River to check out the fisherman.  He spoke with the Division of Wildlife guy who explained the fisherman were floss fishing and the salmon don?t eat once they enter the fresh water, so it?s not like the salmon are looking to eat the fly.  They were trying to catch red salmon but the technique is kind of like when you floss, there is a lead weight on the line and then a fly with a hook.  The fisherman throw out the fly and hope that a salmon swims past with their mouth open, the line goes into their mouth and catches on their teeth and then pulls the hook toward their mouth. If the hook goes in their mouth they can keep the fish, if the hook catches on the side they have to let the fish go.  Not his kind of fishing.  And the shores were lined up with fisherman, it is craziness.
Megan fixed a wonderful dinner of scallops, asparagus and baked potatoes, yummy.  After reading through emails and updating the checking account we decided to head across the street for some ice cream.  Dang it, they were closed, so we headed to the local IGA and picked up some Ben & Jerry.  I got Stephen Colbert?s American Dreamcone, vanilla ice cream, chocolate covered waffle cone with caramel swirls.  It was just what I needed as I got my butt kick at Snarf again.  I may have to stop playing this game, there isn?t a strategy that is working and I have tried them all.  Oh well the company is the only part that really matters.  I?ll just cry myself to sleep again tonight, not really.  Time to plot tomorrow?s drive up to the BLM land outside of Paxson called Tangle Lakes, so TTFN. 

If you want to get some fishing in..... I HIGHLY recommend "Homer Spit"..... the halibut fishing is unbelievable. I used to fly up there with my dad about once every other year. We never left with less than 100# of halibut meat (after filleting). One year, my dad caught a 180# halibut. They call them "Barn Doors".

We tried trout fishing on a few occasions and found the trout to be quite elusive  :-\. They'd gather around and laugh at our bait..  :-[

Wow!
I just read all the posts from the last few days....which appear to be very eventful, thrilling, even.
I was laughing out loud reading about the scary campsite and how happy you were when more humans
joined the campground.  I imagine things feel extremely remote at times.
These reports are very colorful....good job.
Later,
Renee

June 23, 2014 ? Day 34

Slow start to the day yet again.  I am so glad we aren?t in a mad rush every day.  We headed north on the Richardson Highway to Paxson.  From there we turned west onto the Denali Highway to Tangle Lakes Campground. Total mileage today was 94 miles but it was slow going.  Lots of frost heaves, gravel breaks and expansion joints.  We decided the worse part of driving to Alaska was driving the roads in Alaska, not the getting here. Oh well what can you do but enjoy all the interesting people you meet and the beautiful scenery. Heavily treed and brush covering the foothills of the Alaska Range up ahead.  If it would have been clearer we might have seen the Alaska Range in front of us, the Wrangell Mountains to the southeast and the Chugach Mountains to the southwest.  We did have wonderful views of the Alaskan Range which includes Mt McKinley.  We need to go a bit further northwest to try and get a glimpse though.
We did stop at the Sourdough Roadhouse for some baked goods, cinnamon rolls and a loaf of sourdough bread.  Can?t wait to dig into them. That means an extra-long walk too.  We finally caught a glimpse of a bull moose, the first one of the trip. Had to go to the Sourdough Campground which just happens to sit beside the Gulkana River.  We let Jim go fishing for a bit, he did catch 2 grayling with his BlueFox lures. He was happy.  Back on the road to Paxson and then turn off onto the Denali Highway. Rough, bumpy, frost heaves, potholes, well, you name it and we drove through it.  Lots of heavy thick brush up on the hills and lots of snow still on the north facing side. At about mile 16 of the Denali Highway we entered Tangle Lakes Archaeological District- ?within this 226,000acre area, more than 500 archaeological sites chronicle man?s seasonal reliance on the local natural resources.  For more than 10,000 years, hunter-gathers have dug roots, picked berries, fished and hunted big game (most likely caribou) in this area?(per the Milepost).  Tangles Lake campground sits on BLM property and I like the price of a site.  Normally $12 but because Jim had the Senior Pass it was $6 a night.  There is a down side, there are no hookups. Started to unhook the Blazer when the hail started to come down.  Thank goodness is was small.  Set up WeBe in the rain and occasional hail/sleet. No shade in this campground but we are in site #18 and it was level.  Jim took off to fish and Megan and I took a short hike up the Lookout Trail.  Beautiful scenery all around us, mountain peaks with snow and all shades of green on the hillsides.
Walked down to check on Jim and he was a happy camper, he was catching fish (I think 14 was the final count).  When it started to thunder he headed back just in time for the downpour.  Fixed dinner while it rained, then it cleared up and the sun was shining brightly for us to make a campfire. Enjoyed that for a good long time and decided a short drive, to see if there were any critters out, was in order. Headed west on the Denali Highway (by this time is it a dirt/gravel road).
A little history on the Denali Highway- it is 134 miles long going East to West or from Paxson to Cantwell.  It was opened in 1957 as the only road link to Denali National Park until they completed the Parks Highway in 1972. It is very scenic and they say if you drive it you have a good chance of seeing wildlife (per The Milepost).
The only wildlife we saw were a group of women on bicycles.  One was having some difficulty and the rest were trying to help her.  We stopped to see if we could offer some assistance.  They asked if we had a bike pump, and yes we did.  But unfortunately it didn?t fit their bike.  They did say they had someone coming to help soon or later.  We were handed back the pump and on with our drive.  No wildlife but Jim did want to try his fly rod on Rocky Creek.  No luck there but he only made a few cast.  On the drive back the ladies were riding along, so the bike was fixed.  Back to WeBe and thought it was time to get ready for bed.  It is amazing that you can floss your teeth without using a light.  Still really light out.  I think I will go read a few pages of my book.  TTFN

June 24, 2014 ? Day 35
Cool, very rainy start to the day. Jim went down to the Tangle River again this morning, caught 29.  He was pretty happy.  Since it was still raining in the afternoon, we all took a nap.  When we got up Jim and Megan went to get Megan a fishing license up at the Inn about a mile up the road.  They headed down to the lake for some father/daughter time.  When they came back they were both laughing hard.  They told me that Megan had caught this huge grayling and they pulled out the camera.  There was the picture of Megan hold the rod with a fish about maybe 3-4 inches long.  I was stunned to silence.  The main point is they had a good time.  Jim headed back to the river for another hour of fishing.  He caught another 17 grayling.  Some were small and a few were good size, about 15-16 inches.  He said there were so many that it wasn?t difficult to catch that many.  We had some dinner and Jim & I took a hike up the Lookout Trail.  The same one Megan and I did yesterday.  It is really pretty with views of green mountains streaked with snow, several lakes (one right after the other), low gray clouds and a few swirls of smoke from campfires below.  Quiet and peaceful. After returning from our walk, he and Megan headed to a new part of the lake to try some more fishing.  I meandered down for a bit but gave up and went back to read my trashy romance novel.  They returned with smiles on their faces, Megan had caught 6 more fish and Jim 2 more. Jim explained that Megan was quite funny when she catches fish, he told her to hold it up so he could get a picture but she was squirming around and told the fish she was sorry and telling her dad to hurry up and put it back in the water.  She feels sorry for the fish and doesn?t want to see it hurt. They had a really good time.  It is wonderful to see them together, laughing and having fun, nothing better to end a great day. TTFN

Pics of the Alaskan Range and Megan's huge fish.

June 26, 2014 ? Day 37
Yeah, we were going on an excursion today up to Chena Hot Springs!  The road was very nasty for about the first 15 miles, lots of frost heaves and expansions. It was like being on a roller coaster and Jim hates roller coaster.  Megan and I were okay with them and I was driving.  The trek out to the hot springs is about 60 miles and the road ends at the hot springs.  We were questioning why they maintain a road back there.  Well, on one of our tours today we got our answer.  The hot springs were found in the early 1900?s,  one person went back to town (Fairbanks) and put a claim on it to find out someone else had put a claim on it.  There were 2 brothers who took a boat up the Chena river after they heard a surveyor talking about steam rising. The brothers came back to Fairbanks to file a claim to find out there was a claim on it for agriculture purposes.  Well, the brother find out it is being developed commercially and filed a law suit. This went back and forth in the courts and the state finally stepped in and took the property over as an Alaska State Park.  This is why the road was built. After many years of the State being in the red they sold it to a couple by the names of Connie and Bernie.  Some of the original builds from 1905 are still being used. There is an outdoor hot spring pool, probably about the size of a 25 meter pool, temp around 104 degrees. Indoor pool round 88 degrees, a few other hot tubs.  Hotel rooms, horse stable, Ice Museum, huge greenhouses and a geothermal generator and about 50 chickens, 4 goats, and 5 reindeer.  We took a tour of the greenhouses and the geothermal generating plant.  They generate a lot of their own power.  Bernie believes in sustainability.  The generator also heats the greenhouses and they grow their own lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and flowers.  The tomato plants had to be 6-7 feet tall and they keep the temps in the building at 75 degrees year round.  James, our tour guide, said the tomato plants last up to 12-14 months each. I wonder how long my little plant will last. They use the produce there at the restaurant and for the 60 staff members, the rest is sold at the Farmer?s Market in Fairbanks. We took in the waters and had nice conversations with some folks from Ohio, Florida and Washington.  Had some lunch at the restaurant, I had a salad of their fresh greens and then we headed over for the Ice Museum. We donned parkas for the trek into the museum which is kept at 25 degrees in summer and 20 degrees in winter.  There are 2 ice carvers, a husband and wife team, and they compete all over the world.  They have 3 guest rooms, if you want to stay overnight, just a mere $600 a night, it does come with its own ice outhouse. Beautiful sculptures of jousters (full size), polar bear, flowers, wedding chapel (yes, someone got married 2 weekends before) an ice bar with bar stools with reindeer hide on top of seat.  Megan and I enjoyed an Appletini in a carved ice martini glass at the bar, pretty cool. We got to keep the martini glass too!  But we were told to take the glasses outside and break them with a wish and the wish would come true.  So we did.  Now back safely in WeBe, still cloudy and we had some good rain today, but we have memories too.  Baked some cookies and time to have a few, TTFN

The polar bear bed and Megan and I making our wish and breaking our martini glasses. And an ice sculpture.

June 27, 2014 ? Day 38
The day started out with grey clouds and light rain again.  I think the end of the world might be coming because we have not had any sunshine in quite a while.  We took a trip out to Mary Shields place.  Don?t recognize the name, she is the first woman to finish the Iditarod in 1974 and the Yukon Quest.  She is currently 69 and still mushes but just for fun now.  Her place is about 9 miles north of Fairbanks about ? mile off a dirt road, that is off a dirt road, that is off a dirt road.  I think you might have gotten the picture she is out by herself.  She made a comment that she has a cabin about 28 miles away where she goes to get away from the hustle and bustle.  I thought Megan was going to die with that comment.  She told wonderful stories of herself, the dogs and life racing in the Iditarod.  She was one tough lady.  In 1974 it took her 28 days to complete the 1000 miles. Now they complete it in 8 days. There wasn?t a staged beginning in Anchorage, when you started that was the beginning.  Finishing up in Nome.  You race with a team of 16 dogs, your load of food for yourself and the dogs, tent, sleeping bag, a few clothes and lots of booties for the dogs.  There were checkpoints were you reloaded your sled with provisions, slept for a few hours and headed back out.  Throughout the race the dogs always came first. There are vets at each checkpoint to check the dogs, if one is determined unable to race, your team of dogs shrinks, no fresh dog.  One time Mary finish a segment and set the dogs up for the night and went into sleep, when she woke up several hours later she went to check on the dogs and found them gone.  Panic set in and she searched some more to find them where she had left them but they were covered by fresh snow.  How she found them was there was an air hole and their noses were sticking out.  The dogs were quite content to be under the snow.  Her dogs are a mix of breeds, they are outside dogs year round. She used to go and train as long as the temp was -30 or warmer, since she has gotten older she doesn?t go out if temps are lower than -10. There was play time with her 4 dogs and the 3 puppies on loan for socialization.  Jim and Megan really enjoyed that, if you know me, I could have cared less to play with dogs.  I pretty much stayed behind Jim or Megan and tried to stay out of the way. Mary was very fascinating, we all ended up at her kitchen table having tea, coffee, or hot chocolate and some muffins she had made.  The muffins are similar to ones she would have eaten on the Iditarod, high in protein and nutrients.  They were tasty.
Back to camp, rain really coming down now and we decided to do some laundry.  We needed dry towels.  Went out for pizza and drive around town.  Back to WeBe, Jim went one campsite over to check out the river, which was running fast and high.  He ran into another couple who had been with us at Mary Shields house.  They came in and visited till about 10:30 PM.  After they left we all headed to bed with the sound of raindrops on the roof.  TTFN

Megs,  I can see you got your dad's genes for fishing.  I bet that was a record setting fish!  Great talking with you Mick last nite.  I hope you get some sunshine and fair weather.  Love you all

June 28, 2014 ? Day 38
Quiet start to the day.  THE SUN WAS SHINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!  One of the new tires on the Blazer seemed to be leaking air.  Jim took it over to Sears and they said it was the stem valve.  They repaired it and we were on to some chores, I got my nails done and Jim got a haircut.  After lunch went to the Morris Thompson Culture/Visitor Center.  Nice display of Alaska during their 4 different seasons and what different animals do during those seasons.  On a wall they had some sayings about ?you know it is summer when?? and one said ?beat Beethoven?.  I guess they do this 5K run in the summer and you see if you can finish the race before the end of Beethoven?s 5th symphony.  I am going to have to make a special effort to listen to that one.  Some beautiful displays of bead work.  I am too ADHD to have been able to sit and work with all the small beads.  I love to look at them though. The Culture/Visitor Center is adjacent to the Chena River.  A nice wide walking/bike path.  So many of their flowers are just coming out.  The lilacs were so fragrant, wild rose bushes everywhere.  Nice walk, we even saw a lady watering her flowers, even after all this rain.
We ventured into the industrial district in search of a fairly new microbrewery, HooDoo.  Found it and Jim and Megan had what they call a taster.  There is about 4 oz of the 5 different types of beer they currently have on tap.  Bobby is the owner and he conducted the 4 PM tour of the brewery (it is very small).    He majored in business in college and then went to brewery school in Chicago and Germany.  Worked for several breweries learning as much as he could and about 2 years ago he opened his own.  There is a lot of money tied up in one of these things.  He brews a 3 part process and tends to gravitate towards more German style of beer.  He brews about 1000 gallons a week.  Rotates his beers and so far has brewed 13 different kinds. Jim and Megan agreed they liked the 3 beer in the taster which had some banana in it.  Megan walked out with a growler to enjoy this evening. 
After the beer they were hungry and Megan convinced us that she hadn?t had a Wendy?s in over 4 years and could we go.  So we went and I think it will be longer than 4 years before I have any more, yuck.
Back to WeBe and a movie were on order for the night.  Jim and Megs went over to check out the river first and a couple in a canoe dropped off a guy who was drunker than a skunk and had fallen in the river off on the shore, along with his wet sleeping bag and other worldly possessions.  The drunk wandered around the campground and we assumed he fell asleep somewhere.
Watched the movie ?The Importance of Being Ernest?.  It had its funny parts and gave an evening of entertainment.  Now it is off to bed, hoping to go down to Denali in the morning.  TTFN