Calming Uncertainty

Taken by the Ferry Terminal in Auke Bay

I hate to admit it, but I have not eaten a hot meal since I moved into my Alaskan cabin-in-the-woods.  I've been living on fruit, cereal and sandwiches.  It's not that I can't cook because I can - I just don't.  And it's not that I can't afford to eat a meal out once in a while - I just haven't.  So this morning I decided that I wanted (needed) to eat something substantial and hot, and that I was on the hunt for an open sit-down restaurant in Auke Bay, 

I knew that there were a couple, but had no idea what their hours were on a Sunday.  I figured that if any were actually open on a Sunday it was a good bet that they would not be open until noon at the earliest.

I wanted to bike today, and this morning it was pouring with rain.  Every shred of snow was gone, and the thermometer outside my door said that it was about 42 degrees outside.  Rain - not too cold - yeah, it sounded like good biking weather to me, so I got geared up and headed out.

I took these pictures from the side of the road on Glacier Highway.  The first is of a harbor that is apparently completely unused during the winter months.  As I was putting my camera back into ziploc bags though (used to try and protect my camera from the rain) I noticed that pieces of the harbor have apparently broken free from the main structure and were floating freely in the cove.  Looking closer, there were also a couple of small boats that had also broken free.

I took this picture for LC.  It seems that there are rednecks in Alaska as well as in Tennessee.  A completely run down house, and a yard trashed beyond belief in all directions.  It is the only home I have seen like this since my arrival in Juneau.

It wasn't until I stopped to take pictures of my favorite boat graveyard (located close to the Ferry Terminal) that I noticed the fog in the middle of my pictures.  Yup - it had been raining hard ever since I left the house, and although I had been trying to protect my camera, it was obvious that water had gotten into it.

Since I was close to the terminal I went into the building, and tried to dry out my camera using a hand dryer in the restroom, but the fog spot was still there.  I decided to hold off on taking any more pictures and see if it cleared up.  I don't have a camera worth many hundreds of dollars - I have a small digital camera that my oldest son bought for me for less than a hundred dollars.  But my son bought it for me, and I was hoping that I had not permanently messed it up.

By the time I walked out of the Ferry Terminal I had been inactive for a few minutes and my body temperature began to drop very quickly.  I was very cold.  I got back on my bike and continued down the highway, but found that I was only getting colder.  By the time I got to Auke Bay I was completely freezing, and knew that I had to do something to warm up quickly.  I checked one restaurant and it did not open until 12.  The only other one I knew about opened at 11 which only meant a 15 minute wait, but I was too cold to wait outside in the rain.  I biked down to the harbor and walked into the ladies changeroom, which I remembered was kept fairly warm.  The heat helped to prevent my body temperature from dropping even more than it already had, and so did the extra fleece I had stashed in a dry bag in my pack. 

At 11am I rode across the road to a bar and grill called Booyah Grill and ordered coffee and a hamburger and french fries - cost of $10.50.  I could easily imagine that this restaurant is a big hit with the boat crowd in the summer............

In a few short minutes I had in front of me non-stop coffee and a huge burger and fries.  This was my first visit to this restaurant, but it will definately not be my last.   Great food and lots of it.  I finally got my hot food fix, that I had been needing so badly. 

This picture was taken from inside the restaurant, just a few minutes after I sat down.  Beautiful view of the harbor.  And yeah - water still in my camera.

45 minutes after I sat down I was full of burger and fries, I had warmed up, I had left a message for my Mountain Boy to reassure him that I was still alive and well, it had stopped raining , and YEAH!!!!! my camera had dried out.

Pictures taken of the trip home - many many pictures around the Ferry Terminal where there was a lot of action on this Sunday

A man fishing in pretty rough water

If you click on this picture it will enlarge enough so that you can see the eagle sitting on top of the boxes

I was only about 4 miles from home when I stopped one last time at Lena Beach.  This is a nice little area that contains great views from a very quiet cove, picnic shelters and picnic tables, fire pits and bar-b-que pits.

My cell phone was wrapped in two ziploc bags to protect it from the rain.  As I was walking along the shoreline enjoying this very quiet place I dug out one of the bags and filled it full of blue/black shells.  Happily they made it home in one piece, and I put them in a bowl (a cereal bowl for now until I can find something more appropriate) - a souvenir of my morning in the cold rain.

This borrowed mountain bike is serving me well, and providing me with much pleasure while I continue to discover the area that I now live in.  Today it gave me a few problems - tough gear changes and one occasion of chain suck.  Even this non-mechanical woman can figure out that I had better clean and relube this bike soon if it is going to continue to serve me well, until I get my own bike up here.

One last picture taken at the Ferry Terminal.

No amount of beautiful pictures can serve to calm the uncertainty of my Mountain Boy when it comes to moving here.  I can understand that.  We are both well travelled, but this place is not like any place either he or I have ever been to before.  I told him before I left Tennessee that if this place is not right for one of us, then it is not right for both of us.

I hope that this opportunity that has arisen recently for us to sell our house in TN actually pans out.  I am too afraid to hope too much.  I guess we will know soon.

And then he will come to Juneau Alaska.  And then I guess we will have many questions answered.