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May 23, 2002
well, hello to everyone from
well, hello to everyone from seward, alaska. my flight was ok, i slept a lot and looked out the window at the mountains, much of this trip has been a flashback to the last time i was here. got into anchorage ok, ended up taking a few busses before i got down south of town near the old seward highway. stuck out my thumb and less then 2 minutes later this snowboard bro in a truck picked me up. he drove me to girdwood, where i applied for a job but then got right back out to the highway and got another ride. this time it was from a guy named dave, the other dishwasher at the restaurant i worked at in denali 3 summers ago when i was here last. he owns a cabin in hope, a town of 150 people, most of them miners, which is funny cause dave is a hippy who makes tye-dye tshirts out of the back of a schoolbus. anyways, he dropped me off outside of hope and i sat there a while till this lady kathy picked me up, she had ozzy blaring and was just starting on a 40 ounce, she wasn't drunk though. her boyfriend had just kicked her out and she was driving down to the city of kenai to get some pot and go fishing. she was fun to talk to, she as into car racing and fishing and motorcycles, she had a hells angels tattoo on her ass that she couldn't show me cause she was driving, which was fine by me. her facial features reminded me of my first girlfriend, it was weird. she drove me all the way to seward, and during the course of the drive she asked me at least 3 times if i had any pot. i got into kenai and walked across town, looking at the bakery by the harbor and the yukon bar, but i was too tired from all the travelling to drink and walked out towards this glacial runoff that has a cool grassy spot next to it. right as i was about to start climbing up the hill to the grassy spot to pitch my tent and cook some food, this 50 year old black guy named leroy pulled up in a beat up orange van. he's up here looking for work in a cannery or something, and suggested we go get a beer. i jumped in and we went and bought a beer and some whiskey, then drove back and climbed up to my campspot. i stayed away from the whiskey but he got pretty drunk, telling me stories of his time in the navy and all his travels. i made us some food and then he climbed down to sleep in his van and i crawled into my tent and fell fast asleep, even though it's pretty light out even at 11 pm. i woke up, this is yesterday mind you, and started walking into town. i stopped at the bakery by the harbor, because i remembered getting good hummus bagels there when chad and i drove down last time. they were playing the weakerthans on the stereo, and everyone working seemed happy, so i asked if they had any work. 15 minutes later i was in the back, washing dishes. they started me at 8.50 i think but i'll get raises and all the food i can eat. the owners are pretty old and quite laid back, and there are 2 guys from idaho, named dave and mike, who are super cool. i'm camping on private property with them out about 1.5 miles from town, and i have the use of a bike for the summer. the owner, ed, might even let us use one of his vehicles for the summer, which would rule. dishwashing is crappy, but i'll probably get to move up and work at the counter. we get our water out of this glacial runoff stream and it's so cold and clean, it's a really nice setup. today i'm going in in 45 minutes, i'm gonna catch a shower and a shave after work, i'll have to pay 2 bucks till i meet someone who'll let me use their shower, which shouldn't be so hard. i'm hoping aaron can get a job at the same place when he gets down, all the employees are cool. the owner let us borrow his van last night after he bought us 2 round of these huge beers at the breeze bar, we went back to camp and sat in the trailer that mike lives in, listening to music and drinking a little more and i cooked up some couscous and veggies from the restaurant.
the 4th 5th and 6th of june i think is the girdwood forest fair, a bluegrass festival that i hear is really fun. hopefully they give me work off, but i don't think i'll work past july 15th anyways, i wanna get up to denali and also do a sea kayak tour out of either here or kenai, go check out some glaciers and fjords.
ok that's all for now, i do miss you all, but i'm having tons of fun and luck so far. off to wash some dishes.
Posted by bendan at May 23, 2002 01:19 PM
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