Alaska 34. Road Warriors August 12

We saw some whales, talked with various people and had a decent breakfast on the boat before arriving. We also got the sad news that our halibut charter had been cancelled due to wind — which was probably good since the ferry was running really (REALLY) late. It also took all the pressure off getting off-loaded which, unsurprisingly, took a long time.

We were able to check in to our Airbnb a bit early — which was adorable, and VERY Alaskan (looked like a shack on the outside but was very nice inside).

We had to pass by the “trolls” before we actually made it to the door though: one GIANT mastiff, one medium golden and one happy terrier. Nowhere in the reviews did anyone mention these dogs. We LOVE dogs. ALL dogs. But I can think of several people who would not have gotten out of their cars. No one came out to call them off, so we just assumed they must be nice. 

I know, probably not the smartest move, but we like to think we are dog whisperers. And, as is usually the case, these trolls were all show/no go. We are well versed in that language.

We got settled and headed out to explore.

We hit a spot called White Sands Beach, which is very much an overstatement on the “white sand.” It is closer to “Black Sand Beach with white sprinkles.” But it was beautiful. And as we were leaving, I saw something far off a point in the water. We backtracked until we could get close enough to see what it was: medium size fish torpedoing out of the water! Obviously salmon, but we had no idea they did that. We presume they were Pinks. Super mesmerizing  and fun to watch.

The big debate of the day was hike? No hike? Yes hike? No?

No. 

No hike.

We drive.

We drove to the top of the hill overlooking Kodiak Town where there were sentinels of windmills absolutely ripping through the wind. Gorgeous view. From there, we planned to drive to a river to fish, but the road looked pretty sketch. I was dumbfounded that Dave didn’t just point the Bronco down the path and go. I fully expected it and prepared to keep my mouth shut. But, no! He surprised me! I was happy! Instead, we turned around and headed back the way we came.

And promptly got a flat tire.

Oh the karma.

It has been several years since we had to change a tire in the wild. And the first time with the Bronco, but it went pretty dang smoothly, if I do say so myself. That tire went from full to flat in a matter of two minutes. I could feel the air rushing out, but I couldn’t see what popped the tire. 

We dropped it off at a tire shop on the island that was luckily still open and were told it would be done by the next afternoon — assuming they could fix it.

We checked out an area we might want to fish and read about a problem bear in the area (which was BEAUTIFUL).

I yelped restaurants on Kodiak to see what sounded good and learned that, like much of Alaska, restaurants aren’t really a “thing”. Oh, they have them. It’s not that. It’s just that they don’t really have NICE restaurants. I don’t need fancy. I just need GOOD. But the only GOOD seems to be in the form of deep fried and french fried. I mean…

I can do that. 

But…

Those dumbbells that are wasting away under the seat of the Bronco aren’t gonna save me from french fries, so why even bother? I’ve decided I’m gonna be fat and happy until we get home. Case closed. 

Anyway, as I searched for a restaurant and realized there were NOT THAT MANY. Then, I noticed that literally all but TWO (of the not very many in the first place) were closed on Mondays. We got to choose between “Noodles” and Old Henry’s Alaskan Restaurant.” A ramen shop or bar food.

We picked bar food. And I had my childhood favorite eating-out meal of deep fried shrimp (much to my dad’s dismay as it was usually the most expensive thing on the menu). I used to BEG to have deep fried shrimp at EVERY restaurant we ever ate at, most commonly, Mr. Steak. Remember Mr. Steak?? Basically, eating in Alaska is like going back to the late 70’s and eating out at Mr. Steak, now that I think about it. 

I gotta say, my deep fried shrimp was to DIE for. Dave’s was not. He got the “Captain’s Platter” which was a medley of grilled seafood — one item of which was bacon-wrapped scallops. The problem is, bacon doesn’t really crisp up (or even cook for that matter) on a grill in the time it takes a scallop to cook. So it was unappetizing at best and dangerously raw at worst. And it kind of wrecked everything else for him.

But the beer was good!

We were super tired — or maybe that was just me, as Dave slept pretty well on the ferry and I did not — so we didn’t dally. We went back to the Airbnb and pretty much went right to bed.