Did I Mention the Cast of Characters?

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Fathers’ Day to all you Fathers out there. I have spent the last 36 hours Chilin’. I’m not sure what I did with my Tok Blog. It might not have been written! We DID make it to Tok, or you wouldn’t be reading this! Tok is the first town after you clear the largest land entry point (legal) to Alaska. Oh, wait, now that I’m writing this, I remember writing about Tok. I’ll have to re-read what I wrote. OK, from Tok we headed to The Kenny Lake Campground for a three day stay.

Let me tell you about Kenny Lake Campground! It has an office/store with provisions for those desperate enough to pay the man. Another building houses showers and laundry on the ground floor and rooms for rent on the second floor. I didn’t make it to that building. At the end of that building is an attached structure that houses the “restaurant.” It was in transition while we were there. A fellow from Wasilla had come down and rented the added-on. He, Russ, was a character. Barry had scoped it out (of course), and we decided to give it a try - what the heck. The special of the day was chicken salad sandwich for the incredibly low price of $5.00! Sounded good to me, and it was. Barry ordered some kind of burger with everything on it. It was huge, bacon, avocado, the works. With fries. It was so good he ordered a second one! We sat back and chatted with him getting all the gossip on Sarah. His brother was in the same class as she and had dated her. He said back then dating meant if there was a dance you took a partner, but it was everybody danced with everybody! Barry asked him if she stood out, and Russ said no, that everybody stood out and she was one among many in the list of personalities there!

Barry and Larry had breakfast there a couple of mornings, but it was too early for me. Barry asked him what the special of the day was going to be the next day, and he responded - chicken salad. His dailies were actually weeklies and at the end of the week he threw away what was left! Made me stop and calculate what day I had had the special.

Just yesterday, Larry was telling me that he and Barry had ordered similar breakfast, but he wanted bacon and Barry wanted sausage. He sat the plates in front of them and the meat order was reversed, so Russ just picked up the two meats (bare hands, no plastic gloves for these guys), and swapped them right there - right then!

There were two mechanics there on and off and they had a shed next to the “general store.” The shed housed all their tools…and them! No windows only a door to prop open for ventilation. They used the campground facilities and cooked on a grill outside of the shed. Another shed housed another worker, but at least it had windows…he must have had seniority! Maybe he was the owner!

Barry made friends with the woman supervising the Campground. A very cheerful lady and knowledgeable about everything in the area. She and her husband were currently unemployed, her husband on disability. She was getting unemployment compensation and was working the campground job as a volunteer. The owners were unable to pay her, and she wasn’t able to find a job anywhere that she could get to.

I can’t say we saw a few characters along the way, they were ALL characters and every single one had dogs that were half wolf. Everyone of the dogs were “sled” dogs in the winter and just plain happy social dogs in the summer. One such followed me around the parking lot, and every time I looked around at him he’d sit back on his haunches and let out a real wolf howl. It was neat, but still sent chills down my spine. One man who seemed to be a woodworker and carver did all his woodwork from burled trees. Those are the trees that have those growths on them that look like big tumors. They have beautiful swirled patterns. In the Winter when he can’t get out at all, he carves moose and caribou antlers. He was very patient. He said the business and economy there is so bad that people are hanging on by a thread. He commutes to his home way back in the bush by way of a “mule.” It takes him two hours one way- no road, just a trail for his vehicle. He showed us his woodshop. Really woodsy! The back of his hauler was stacked high with antlers of all kinds.

From there we meandered on down the road, stopped at “Posty’s” place. Nothing there but an elderly looking native buying tons of lottery tickets and standing there going through them. With no success she got in a car driven probably by her daughter and they turned down a road that looked to be housing, probably a small village. With no other interesting “shops” in sight we drove on until we came to an old roadhouse. It happened simultaneously with a construction stop, so we had time to kill. We killed it there!

Back into the truck, and into the stream of cars tagging along behind a lead truck. It was weaving and bobbing for lots of miles before we were cut loose on our own. The roads were pretty rough even then. That dang truck of ours is so stiff, no luxury there! I was hoping that the only thing that would result from the washboard roads, the huge potholes and the hidden rising and dipping of the frost heaves would be a cervical collar. Maybe include a back brace. My insides were screaming THIS AIN’T RIGHT! The good thing was my head never hit the headliner of the truck - close but no cigar. All we needed was just a small amount of shock absorbers SOMEPLACE ON THAT MONSTER TRUCK. It was built for hauling, not comfort. The little dogs just hunkered down in very tight knots in their beds and never ever looked up - not once.

Every place you look there were not one, not two racks nailed to the houses, but enough to wind all the way across the front of their home sweet homes. It must look real spooky at Christmas hanging the lights from all those horns. Since there are no incorporated towns there are no services… like garbage pickup …electricity… running water inside … plumbing inside. Most businesses had generators, and we didn’t get invited inside any of the homes, but ahem, they haul their water from where ever they can get it back to the house, and of course it has to stay inside since it will freeze outside most of the year!!!! There were a few mail boxes on the side of the road now and then, not many. No dishes in the yard or on the roof (next to the racks). The only things in the yard seemed to be their ATVs the dogs and the outhouse.

The men don’t shave or cut their hair, probably need it for warmth! Same for the women! They ARE allowed to shoot moose out of season if they can prove they were about to starve, otherwise the only people who can shoot moose, elk or caribou all year are the natives. In hunting season they bag all they can for the coming winter, and let it freeze, or dry. They do a lot of fishing too. The resident Alaskans can dip net fish, but no one else can. No touristas!   The other thing that just astounded me was the fire wood stacked up.  Sometimes the wood pile was bigger then the house.  But up here...you keep heat in the house unless you want to look like a hairy popcycle when they find you during the Spring thaw.  If you die in the Winter there is no fancy funeral.  They prop you up outside somewhere until the ground is soft enough to dig - it's June now, and I don't think it's soft yet!!!!

While we were there we visited the Wrangle-Saint Elias National Park and Wildlife Preserve. It was an interesting day there, but that’s another story for another day. The dogs are reminding me that we’re living in Alaska time now, and that means an hour back from California time!

So, from the MABarry, over and out!