Tuesday 7-31
Some of us are becoming too familiar with the signs of aging: aches and pains, sleeplessness, irregularity, receding hair-lines, raging ear hair, reorganized physiques, and I almost forgot, forgetfulness…but it dawned on me this morning that the clearest sign of getting old, is the overpowering need to have breakfast at McDonald’s. Having returned to urban civilization, Nancy and I decided that this morning, “we deserved a break today, so we got up and got away to McDonald’s”. There’s nothing like a good, healthy oval of hash browns to kick-start the day.
The two principal missions today were to sign up for Medicare Part “B” (also a pretty good harbinger of aging), and get the Admiral’s jacks fixed. In the latter regard we were foiled by scheduling—EVERY RV repair service in town is booked for more than a week—so we’ll delay the repairs until our return passage through lovely Anchorage. With regard to Medicare, we were pleasantly surprised. We had thought I had to sign up right away, but we were advised I could wait for up to 8 months, and that works out well for us—plus we had prompt and courteous service which enabled us to escape Anchorage more quickly. On the way out of town, we stopped at Costco, Wal-Mart, and Fred Meyer to re-provision. At Wal-Mart we encountered the most macho RV we’ve ever seen. This thing was built on the frame of a retired missile launcher…HUGE tires, 4 wheel drive, camo paint, a monster. We did not get a look inside, but we’re thinking it’s done in pastels, possibly pink.
What a difference 20 miles makes. Just south of Anchorage the real Alaska re-emerges. We’re on the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. The tides here are dramatic, and they’re just beginning to rise across vast mud flats. Our daughter warned us about these siren mud flats that are really like quicksand. People venture out onto these plains to explore and beachcomb, sink into the mud, and drown or disappear. A well-defined fear of quicksand is also a sign of being old. Back in the day, quicksand was a key feature of most westerns and every Tarzan movie. Contemporary films have lots of drugs, violence, and sex. Seems to me we ought to replace some of the drugs and violence with good old fashioned quicksand. As we head south, so does the powerful tide, and as it meets the out-flowing river, the confluence produces intensely turbulent waves. We pass Bird Creek where 30 or more salmon fishermen are lined up on the banks with military precision. We overnight overlooking Turnagain Inlet and the mountains on the far shore. Beats the heck out of the “Golden Nugget”.
