July 14, 2010

Another milestone day.  Today we signed the final papers on our condo.  Intellectually, I recognize these big steps along our way, but emotionally, I am struggling to find any response.  It is just another step.  I have concluded that the planning is what takes the courage while executing the plan is simply execution.  I imagine if I could separate my emotions with such precision, I might be a good tightrope walker, only getting nervous as I plan my routines.

In one of the most bizarre coincidences in life, my parents signed their final sale papers on their home today at approximately the exact same moment.  Their appointment was at 3:00 eastern time and ours was at 11:00 Alaska time.  How we ended up closing on our properties in the same month, let alone day, hour and minute, is a little strange.  And as an indicator of my family’s instability, my sister is trying to sell her home this year as well.  Perhaps we are nomadic people.

While my parents have an immediate plan for a new home, they have not signed the papers on that deal.  So tonight, we are all officially homeless.  What an odd family.

Tonight, Kris and I are camped for our second night at Bird Creek after spending two nights in the relative luxury of a campsite with water and electric in Seward.  We departed Hidden Lake on Sunday morning.  I had investigated a couple of fishing spots on Saturday night along the Upper Kenai for a potential Sunday morning attempt, but no one seemed to be catching anything so I didn’t bother.

We stopped for groceries in Seward, but they didn’t have any fresh fish at the little grocery store.  After setting up the campsite, we rode our bikes down to the marina and found some fresh rockfish on sale which made a good dinner.  In the evening, we took a longer bike ride along the waterfront, beyond the Sea Life Center in one direction and out near the airport in the other.  It was a pleasant evening ride.  The busy waterfront trail kept our speeds down in that stretch and the coolness brought by the sun’s disappearance behind Mount Marathon in the late evening kept our speeds down everywhere else.

On Monday, we loaded up our packs and hiked to Tonsina Point.  A crystal clear stream flows into Resurrection Bay that we have seen full of salmon in the late summer so I had hopes of either catching a salmon along the beach (no salmon fishing allowed in the stream) or finding a dolly varden patrolling the beach or the mouth of the stream.  Unfortunately, we arrived at low tide and discovered just how shallow the water is along that beach.  I tried fishing a steeper section of the beach, but the wind was so strong that I couldn’t cast well and the lure just loaded up with seaweed anyway.  I was frustrated, but it was still a lovely hike to a beautiful location on a decent day.

I suggested we try Lowell Point beach when we got back since the trailhead is only a short distance from the beach.  The angle of the beach was even worse for the wind, but I had on a heavy spoon that I was still able to toss reasonably far.  I finally had a change of luck.  The other fishermen along the beach had been there awhile and were about ready to quit when I arrived.  I made only about a half dozen casts, and reeled in an 18” dolly varden.  Fresh from the saltwater, I couldn’t even identify the bright fish until I washed it off and noticed the faint pink spots on its sides.  I cleaned my fish and quickly departed, leaving the other fishermen wondering.  We ate this fish last night and it was very good.

Kris made a pizza for dinner on Monday.  It was the first time we have used the little oven in our trailer.  It worked out very well, except we have decided that anytime we use the oven or the toaster, we need to remove the battery from the smoke detector. 

After dinner, we took a walk down to the marina area, as if our 8 mile hike earlier in the day wasn’t enough.

Yesterday we relocated from Seward to here in the morning, then headed to Anchorage in the afternoon.  We hauled the last couple of items to the Salvation Army, did a final walk-through, threw away the last bit of garbage, and took the car to the storage lot.  It was our last time in the condo.  We ran a few more errands before coming home.  It seemed like a busy day.  A relaxing evening walk to Bird Creek helped us feel a little more normal.

Today it was back to Anchorage for closing.  Then we checked out a couple of campgrounds for our final visit to Anchorage in August.  After grocery shopping, we came back home.  We went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant in Girdwood to celebrate the sale of our condo.  After dinner, I walked down to Bird Creek with a fishing pole.  I saw one person cleaning a fish, but that was the only evidence of an early arriving salmon that I saw.

I have been looking to replace the regulator on my camp stove.  This is the camp stove we used when we tented, but because it also has a small grill, I have been using it extensively lately.  The regulator has aluminum threads that thread onto the small disposable propane cylinders.  The aluminum threads were stripping out.  I suppose that most people use such stoves on a couple camping trips per year.  While they are set up at a campsite, many people would leave such a stove set up.  In Alaska, we can’t leave anything out that could smell like food so the stove gets put away after every use.  So after a couple intense years of weekend use, where the bottles are screwed on for both breakfast and dinner, and after using it about every third day in the last couple of months, it probably isn’t surprising that the threads are almost gone.  I could complain about the stupidity of an aluminum fitting, but it would last a long time under more typical use.

The hard part was finding a replacement.  No one sells such a piece.  I didn’t look online.  I suspect I could order one, but where would I have it shipped?  I was about to give up.  In fact I had given up, but was passing back through the camping department at Fred Myers when I realized that perhaps there was a cheap stove that would include the part I need.  We scanned the shelves and found a couple of single burner stoves for less than $20.  We dug through the boxes and found one unit that was configured the same way but actually used brass for the fittings.  So we bought a small stove just to get the regulator.  I hate throwing away a brand new piece of equipment, but the regulator would certainly cost me just as much by itself.