Kari’s knee surgery went fine and the PT is going great. She is up walking around without her walker and has about 90 degrees of motion in her new knee, only 30 more to go. She gets her 40 staples out Monday the 27th and is already talking about going to the cabin. One tough cookie.
Interim Adventure While Waiting on the Truck Repair for the Continuation of the Big Long Adventure.
Friday August 31, 2018
Someone please suggest a new name for the adventure. This is too much to type. Kari and I hade a good run out to the cabin yesterday after her PT. The Susitna river was high and when we turned up the Yentna the water was low. We got into Silty Slough. I saw 1.7 feet on the depth finder, while the captain made an excellent landing. Later we will move the boat to the other side of the island into the main river in case the river drops overnight. Kari had her 357 with her while we walked up to get the four wheelers. Nobody has been around for a while and we don’t want to be surprised by a bear or moose. I unloaded the boat while she sat on her four wheeler and watched. I guess I have to cut her a little slack with her new knee and all. We hauled everything to the cabin and I humped everything up the stairs. Good news I unlocked the door we had lights when I flipped the switch. This is a good indication that the freezer and refrigerator are still operating. Everything has been running on automatic since we left July 22. I guess I must have hooked some of the wires up correctly. I haven’t paid attention to the weather but it must have been cloudy a few days. The generator ran a little more than normal 9 hrs. At least it auto started like it is supposed to do. I grilled a couple steaks, Kari made a salad, and along with Costco’s finest bread we had a very good meal. I did a few cabin keeping chores and started getting sleepy. We brought a new inflatable mattress that is taller 18” so it is easier for Kari to get out of bed. It is a lot easier for me too. Time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a safe trip!!!
Blue skies!!!
Saturday September 1, 2018
Woke up to sunshine, it’s going to be a good day. What I should do today and what I actually do are two entirely different things. I should work on the root cellar since it isn’t muddy and it will be easy to backfill. I just need to add a few more braces inside. Instead I start up the Kubota and mow the grass and weeds around our cabin and the two neighbors cabins. It may help slightly if we should have a forest fire. It helps with the bugs I think, but now it is cool enough so the bugs are about over for the year. I only had one minor setback today. I lost a pin out of the three point hitch and the mower was pulling at an angle. I got it temporarily back together and back to the cabin where I dug through some boxes at the Stephens Hardware Store and found a replacement pin. I went back and finished up. I mowed along some of the trails to keep them cleaned up. The river is dropping so Kari and I went over and moved the boat on out in the river to keep it floating. Good news the water is low enough that Silty Slough International Airport is open. It is better now after the high water leveled out the gravel. It was so rough with big holes it was unusable this spring. I think this year is the best I’ve seen it. We are going back in on Thurs for Kari’s PT on Fri. Maybe we can fly back out on the 11th after her PT.
Mowing took most of the day. I came inside about 5. Kari poured us a glass of wine and we relaxed for a while. We don’t have TV here or at home, a big plus. Most of our news is from our phones via the internet. I see the California Democrats are boycotting In and Out Burger because they gave money to the Republicans. In and Out is one of my favorite places to eat. I walked or took a cab to one anytime I was close by. In and Out is a very conservative organization. They hire people for the long haul. You don’t see McZombies working there like most fast food places. I read a lot of posts about the picture showing booming business. Looks like the picture may be from 2011. You should see the rant about it. Liberals isn’t this like the pot calling the kettle black. I remember a picture posted of kids in cages a few months ago that was a posed picture from the Obama admin. Anyway In and Out is a very good company. Read the book, I have. If the Democrats choose not to go there that is all the more reason for me to go there. I’m thinking about taking a detour on the way south to get my truck just to eat there. If the liberal Dems are boycotting any other businesses let me know so that I can patronize them also.
I just saw a post from the Alaska State Fair. A businessman bought a lamb from a special needs child for $22.75 a pound live weigh and donated it back to her to keep as a pet. This guy knows what it is about. He has a tool repair shop in Palmer. I can’t wait until my lawnmower breaks so I can take it to him to fix.
Anyway time to grill some chicken for dinner. Kari made a cauliflower casserole, taste just like potatoes. Don’t know why we just didn’t have potatoes. Listening to some Buffett. No not Jimmie, Warren. My 401k is going wild in Trumps economy. Also some Moe Bandy “Lets Hear it for the Working Man”. He can twist it, he can turn it, he can bang it, he can burn it, ain’t nothin the man can’t do. Sounds like somebody I know.
Kari picked some rhubarb today and made a pie. Real good with some ice cream. This cabin life is really tough. I don’t know how the pioneers made it.
So now it starts, she shouldn’t do dishes with her knee the way it is. This has gone far enough. Does she have a note from her Dr.? She can kick a football so she can do the dishes. I grilled the chicken. Looks like we are going to have to go out in the yard and tussle. Maybe I better not. After all the PT, she is in better shape than I am. And she has a lot of guns. I only have a 22 pistol and a shotgun to carry on the Kubota. If Kari would let me use her AR I would mount it on the hood of the Kubota. If a bear gets after me it would be just like a WWI airplane. I just have to remember to lower the front bucket so a bullet doesn’t ricochet and get me. Ok, I guess I’ll do the dishes. I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a great day!
Blue skies!!!
September 4, 2018
Not too much to report the last 3 days. This adventure is a little boring. Sunday afternoon I got started on the root cellar bracing. I can’t remember the morning. Must have slept in. The cellar is kicking my butt. I’m not as strong as I used to be so getting the beams in place and drilling the pilot holes for the lag bolts takes some time. I take a lot of breaks to ride down and make sure the boat is still floating. The river is still dropping slowly. I quit early because we were invited to dinner at our friends and neighbors Roger and Myra Phillips. They live just a short boat ride down river. We had a good meal and visit. So far as of Tues this has been the highlight of the trip. Roger posted that in the Yentna river out front about 26000 cubic feet of water goes by us every second. He did the math and came up with about 18 billion gallons of water a day and this is during low water. I can’t imagine the number during flood stage. Kari managed to pilot the boat back up river to our cabin and keep a few gallons under the boat. The sun is setting and the light is beautiful on Mt. McKinley. Obama came up here a few years ago and renamed it Denali so Senator Lisa Murkowski would continue to vote with the Democrats, but it is still Mt. McKinley 20,321 feet. That changed a few years ago too. It was 20,320. It’s time for another nap.
Wednesday September 5, 2018
Wed. Sept 5. I forgot or just tried to put it out of my mind that the diesel shop called yesterday and said there was internal damage to #3 cylinder that the compression was 0. Last week they called and said #3 was good. Compression was 300 psi and they wanted authorization to check further. I asked why the the compression was good last week and 0 this week. The shop said they had a bad gauge the first time. They said they wanted to change the engine. I asked about repairing the bad cylinder and they said the mechanic that was working on it didn’t want to do that. They are going to call back with a quote. I’m guessing at least half of what the truck is worth.
Kari and I staked out the runway at Silty Slough International. Landing east is about a 600 yard par 3 with a slight dog leg to the right and a water hazard about halfway down the runway. The river is off the left of the approach end about 60 yards. Landing west is a par 4 with the approach over the river and trees to the right on the island. There is a slight rough on the approach end otherwise the fairway is smooth and fast. Like the tower told me in 1979 when I was flying Beech 99s into Chicago Mieggs Airport, “There is a two stroke penalty for going into the water.”
We put up the windsock so now I think we have everything in place to get federal funding from the Trump Administration. Like most people I like socialism when it benefits me. So everybody please keep buying airline tickets and pay the tax into the Aviation Trust Fund so that I can get federal funding and have a good airport at my cabin. I envision building a dam to dry up the slough and getting an all weather runway with an instrument approach when Trump is re-elected. Possibly a control tower. One of my buddies should end up as head of the FAA. Maybe I can even get a grant to get my truck repaired to use at the airport. Silly me that’s not the government way. We are going for 2 new trucks. After all they are free, the government is paying for it. Bernie you are getting to be my hero.
The root cellar bracing is all finished. The mowing is done, so now it is time to take the Bush Hog off the Kubota and put the backhoe on. Not my favorite chore, but this time it goes easier than normal. Now the hoe is ready for tomorrow. It is about time to wine down, have some dinner and take a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a good day!
Blue skies!!
Thursday September 6, 2018
I woke up early and went right to work on the root cellar. I added another 2 inches of foam board to the roof and started backfilling. It took about 3 hours to get most of the dirt back in place. I want to add more later and cover the whole thing with topsoil so Kari can sew wildflowers. We loaded everything into the wagon and hauled it across Silty Slough Airport to the boat on the other side of the island. The river is really low so Kari had to really pay attention to stay in the main channel and keep some water under the boat. It was a beautiful ride in with some great views of Mt. McKinley. We only had one minor problem. When she slowed to enter the launch at Deshka Landing we came down off step. It is a no wake zone. There is a new sandbar across the mouth of the launch. We were stuck briefly and couldn’t make it across the sandbar. She backed the boat off and turned back out into the river. We went downstream several hundred yards. She got the boat on step, made a bat turn, and screamed across the sandbar. Nice landing captain. I backed the trailer down the ramp after a strenuous walk up to the parking lot. She loaded the boat and her GMC Yukon struggled a little bit hauling the boat out of the water and up the hill. I’ll be glad to get my pickup back to Alaska. Another adventure in the record books.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a safe trip!
Blue skies!!!
The View from the Outhouse 