Wednesday, August 11, 2010

On a Ketchikan radio!

Last stop on the ferry before the 36 hour ride down to Bellingham, WA. This town is a bit of a bore. Just another place filled with cruise ships and over fed old tourist. The coolest part is all the fish are jumping in the marina. Sitting in a cafe next to where all the brothels used to be. A cool looking boardwalk with all these little two story houses. Those guys needed to spend there coin somewhere back in the day. There is bridge that a bunch of people are fishing off of. Seems like every cast someone is catching something. Haven't fished in AK but don't feel like getting messy before getting back on the ferry. These fish are crazy, getting like 3' of air.

Just finished reading my first book of the trip. The White Tiger. Took 5 books with me at the beginning. Most of them were meditation books along with Fight Club and one other. Never picked any of them up so I sent them home. Inga who we stayed with in Bellingham threatened my life if I didn't return this book. Going to be in Bellingham Friday so I figured I better get the pages turning. Also have Confederacy of Dunces with me. Gonna pick that up again today. TWT was a fun read. At first I thought it might be a life changing book. Like there was going to be a gem of knowledge that I've been waiting for. Turned out to be a page turner surrounding a fun story. One of my favorite lines:

"The moment you recognize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave." Adiga

In my tent after leaving Whitehorse the other night I was smelling something that smelled like chemicals. Soon I recognized the smell, it's ammonia. My body started to smell like ammonia. All my clothes and me. Disgusting smell actually. After a little research it looks like I was eating to much protein and not enough carbs. It's called Ketosis. Seems to have disappeared the past couple of days after doing laundry and taking a shower.

When and if you travel out of the country what do you fear most? Last weekend in AK I couldn't get any money out the ATM's. Late Friday afternoon and worried cause I can't get cash. Tried both ATM's in town and nothing. Then I tried again and realized I was doing something wrong. I never use ATM's out of my network. My ATM's always have the checking button as the first option to take cash out. In AK they had the Savings on top. So after freaking out, I took my time to read and look at what I was doing. Back to fears while traveling. First off, I'm not going to get or wear one of those stupid neck/pouch things. They remind me of the pouches all of the crack dealers used to wear back in the mid eighties. Anybody remember those leather Louis Vouton pouches they used to wear around their neck. Maybe that was just a NYC thing. I am always concerned about where my passport is though. Always happens at night too. Where did I leave it? Is in my shorts or in my pannier? Then I buggout about it til I fall asleep. Then I always find it the next day. That reminds me of camping just outside of Haines Junction last week. Fell asleep with some food in my tent. Was too lazy to get dressed and get outside to put the food in my panniers. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered it and fell back to sleep. Living life on the wild side.

Truly happy I got to experience Alaska. Been a great few weeks exploring up here. Next time it won't be on bike. Highlights of Alaska are definitely all the chill folks that I met. South East Alaska state fair was also amazing! Then you really can't hold a match to the natural beauty. The eagles, mountains, fish jumping, bears and beautiful vistas. Check it out for yourself if you can.

3 comments:

  1. If you leave your tent unzipped next time with food in it, you just might be lucky enough to get a cuddle -luke

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  2. I peddled with you in Bellingham today! Hope the trip to vancouver is going well!
    <3 Daisy

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