Friday 12 July
There were only 2 spaces for the Brooks Falls Trip yesterday, and I (Chris) wanted to go so went up this morning. Had an incredible time and saw a sow nursing her 3 cubs – today there were more fish running so also saw fish jumping into the falls and many bears catching the eating the salmon. It was incredible to see the bears in their natural environment. After arriving back at the dock, as I was getting out, I dropped my phone into the water! Had assumed that after retrieval due to the cracked screen, the waterproof phone would no longer be waterproof, however, due to the photos on the phone, we thought it was worth trying to find it so Josh, the most willing of us all, jumped into the brown water to find it was pretty shallow and fished around the muddy bottom to retrieve my phone and claim the NZ$50 as his reward money. We dried the phone out on the dashboard of the truck as we headed towards Anchorage. Surprisingly it switched on and we got the photos off first, and the phone has continued to work which was a relief.
Today, I (Ross), learned a great lesson in humility! It started yesterday when I went to buy a bottle of wine to have with dinner with Kay and Joyce. I got asked for ID!!!!!!! We called into Kenai to see what it was like, not really worth visiting unless you were there for the fishing. Decided to try ‘Arby’s’ for dinner …. I got asked if I wanted a ‘Seniors Discount’!!!!!!
Of course, I said yes – then thought about what I said!! Then I found out the reason EVERYONE gets asked for ID when purchasing alcohol in Alaska, is if you have a DUI conviction, then you have your licence re-issued with a red stripe through it, meaning that you are not allowed to purchase alcohol at all for the duration of your penalty duration.
We headed back to Anchorage, on the Sterling Highway. There was so much visible damage from the fires, with areas of burnt trees that went for miles. With the late getaway from Homer, we were not going to make it to Pam and Bruce’s while they were awake so we parked for the night.
