My 4th of July weekend - Part Two

This is the end to today's other blog post.

When we had dinner on Sunday, and when I went inside the house on Monday AM for a shower, I really paid for it in the form of allergy/asthma woes. So I kept my time indoors to a minimum.

On Tuesday evening, my step dad and wife had other plans. A picnic at Miller's Landing. We were advised that we were on our own for the night. No problem, as far as we were concerned. We had a belated Birthday Dinner for Jul at Ray's and took our time enjoying it. Drinks - seafood dinner - desert. Marina-view window. It was perfect. Afterwards we walked to Safeway for a few things, then home to the tent. Our front-yard camp, by the way, was clear across town near the Sea life Center. We probably walked 15mi in total on Tuesday. And probably close to that on the other days. When we got home, our hosts were still out. We hung-out in the tent. I emptied the day's photos to my laptop (extension cord from the house to the tent.... but no wi-fi). At some point, later that night, Mrs. Adrift slipped out to the car for a snack. We're going to have a 'no food' rule for the tent in case we camp in bear-country. When she got back, I also decided that a snack was in order. I also had one beer left in the cooler (Midnight Sun Kodiak Nut Brown). So here I am. Sitting in the Kia with my beer, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and some organic kelp-flavored puffed corn things. And in drives my step dad and wife, just back from the picnic. I didn't mention this, but step dad and his wife first met at AA about 20 years ago. They've been 'dry' since and I didn't think they were involved with the program any longer; but it turns out that this was an AA function picnic. So they pull in and find me sitting in my car. Beer in hand. Jul in the tent. Probably kelp-chip crumbs on my chest for all I know. I got out and made chit-chat and helped carry in the ice chest and folding chairs. Step dad invites me in, but I politely decline. It should be assumed that the grounds are cat-allergies, right? I tell hem that we're heading home in the morning and we'll say goodbye then.

Now fast forward a couple hours. They're asleep. Mrs. Adrift and I are not. I've got to pee. Unzip sleeping bag. Pull on some shoes (already wearing PJ pants). Unzip tent... cool out but not cold. Step to front door and ... Locked! Wha?? They had the house unlocked when they weren't even home when we arrived! And unlocked the night before. Did I say something to offend? Was it the beer? I only had the one! (not counting Ray's, and we walked that off long before). I can't ring the bell. They're asleep at this hour. Told my wife about it and both of us lay awake in our bags wondering what had happened. It could have been an accident, but I don't think so. I considered pulling up camp right then and heading for Anchorage. But between the 4th of July traffic and the possible drunks on the road. And my tiredness, I decided against. Instead, I got dressed. Packed the car with everything but the tent and sleeping bags.

Woke up at 6am on Wednesday. Pulled down the tent. Left a thank you note on the door and we hit the road. At least as far as the Breeze Inn (for breakfast). ;) Got back to Anchorage by noon at a slow and easy pace. Almost no traffic until Portage. Nice.

So. Another bridge burned? Maybe. I don't think I'm camping there again. Next time we'll reserve a campsite in advance and just pop in to say hi. Or meet them for lunch. We've learned lessons over the years about how to be a good house guest. I think we've burned bridges in our youth staying with friends or relatives while on the road. Either by outstaying our welcome and not knowing the signs, or walking into a domestic squabble that we did not know existed. In this case, I honestly don't think we did anything wrong. But the bridge is burned all the same.

My 4th of July weekend - Part One

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. It was kind of messed-up having the 4th on a Tuesday this year; so I did the only thing I could. I took Monday and Wednesday off and made a mini-vacation of it.

The original plan was to camp a couple nights on the Kenai and end up in Seward for the last two days. Turns out that we spend Saturday buying last minute things and getting ready so we pointed our little Kia south on Sunday afternoon. The first choice for a campsite was Hope. No luck. I didn't reserve any campsites in advance and Porcupine in Hope was booked up. We saw some tents and lots of space down on the grassy Hope mud-flats, so checked that next. Nope. Dusty, with flies everywhere, and only one port-a-potty for the whole camp. No way. We headed out of town. We did, however, pull over to investigate a 'check engine' light (disconnect neg batt cable.... wait a few sec's and re-attach. light went out). And since my cell decided to have coverage in Hope, made a call to check up on our teen. Then back on the road.

Plan B was to find whatever we could along the highway. In less than an hour, we were approaching Summit Lake and a campground sign that I had never noticed before. Tenderfoot Creek. Once again, we drove the campground loop. Reserved. Reserved. Reserved. Occupied. Occupied. Reserved. Open.... wait - open? Cool! We snagged the only remaining campsite and it was perfect for the tent and close to the bathrooms. We set-up our new tent for it's first night out; and spend the afternoon walking around the lake and checking things out. It was my wife's B-day Sunday, so I made dinner and chocolate brownies in the skillet over a backpacking stove. Dinner was okay. The brownies rocked. Pulled out a B-day gift that was stowed for the trip. Afterwards a campfire (Micki, forget you just read that part), and played cards. Also took in a movie. Well... not so much a movie-movie. More like video podcasts on the iPod. Roughing it '06 style.

Monday AM was pancakes, break camp and hit the highway. We showed up at my stepfather's house in Seward in mid-afternoon. I'm allergic to their cats so we set-up the tent on their gravel-covered front yard. Thank god for sleeping mats. I also learned that the car's floor mats make a nice entry rug in a pinch. It was windy, but no sign of rain. We guyed the tent down. My step dad left the house open with a greeting note, but it wasn't needed. He and his wife (my mom's his ex) arrived when we did. They were happy to see us and pumped to have us BBQ with them. Main menu item? Angus beef from his wife's ranch in TX. Hmmm. I KNOW we told them that Jul's vegan. They didn't know that I have been leaning that way. We ended up buying some salmon for my wife and I took one for the team and ATE BEEF. Yeah, I'm not proud of it. But they were so proud of their ranch and were making such a BFD about it, that I didn't want to insult our hosts.

The rest of the weekend went pretty well. Lots of walking around Seward. Lots of eating crappy food. We found an excellent coffee shop with free wi-fi named the Sea Bean. They opened this week. It's like a Kaladi store. Saw the fireworks. Took lots of photos (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/somewhereinak/ for those). Watched the Mt. Marathon race. Walked around town some more. Had one nice dinner at Ray's. (nice being fish that was baked, not fried). We stayed a 2nd night to avoid the mass exodus of Seward, and headed to Anchorage on Wednesday AM.

Unpacked. Hot shower. Nap. :) Now today I'm back at work.