Bad and Good News

If you have a float plane in Ketchikan, you can park it at the municipal lot.

Some good news – and some bad news. We were in a campground in Hazelton, British Columbia, last night and a young First Nation man named Keith (of the 'Ksan people) offered us a sockeye salmon he had just pulled out of the Skeena River. She (for that was her gender) measured about 14 inches and weighed around 7-8 pounds. I initially said thanks, but no thanks. Jo then asked if he would clean it for us and he said he could do that. We agreed on a price of $10 which seems like a pretty good bargain for sockeye ($12 a pound in the local market).

Keith asked for a filet knife which we don't own. I offered him our handy-dandy Ginsu bread knife which he spurned. Jo found a Heinkel knife which was sharp enough to do the job and he cut off her head and scooped out the entrails. I handed him my $10 Canadian and told him we'd think about him when we ate the fish.
We cut it up into six thick steaks so we have three excellent meals in our future. That's the good news.

Bad News is we have developed a nasty drip-drip of brake fluid from our emergency brake system. This is one of the poor pieces of design on our rig. While we were in Alaska, we left a campground with the brake on and didn't notice the warning light for just under a mile. We stopped, re-set the brake and the light went off. But it came on every time we stopped thereafter. In Haines, Alaska, before we boarded the ferry for the first of the five legs of the journey by ferryboat, we found a mechanic who discovered the brake fluid had splashed all over the undercarriage. He topped up the reservoir and the light went out. I thought we were out of the woods. But two days later, the light stayed on when I moved the gear into drive.

Since then, I have spent a fair amount of time on my back under the rig, topping off the fluid while getting lots of it in my hair.

When we arrived in the large city of Prince George, BC, today, we visited the GM dealership and they said they'd have to order the switch that is probably broken from Vancouver and it won't come until Thursday. For that privilege, they would have to charge $99.80 for shipping. The part, they said is $89. I had already found the part on the Internet for $33 so that stuck on my craw. I told them I'll wait until I get back across the border and get the $33 part shipped to me somewhere in Montana or South Dakota. In the meantime, I'll be bathing my head in dripping fluid. Who said this was the easy life?

We thoroughly enjoyed the ferry experience – although I can't say I can recommend driving on and off the ferries at low tide. It seemed that every departure but one occurred at low-low tide. The ferry people do a wonderful job of placing blocks of wood on the ramp so you don't rip the rig apart when your rear end trails on the metal ramp. And they are very good about guiding you when you back up 50 or 60 feet into the bowels of the ferry boat (scary stuff that!).

But the traveling down the marine highway is definitely to be recommended. It was a real treat to get off at these tiny little Alaskan towns like Sitka, Wrangell and Ketchikan and explore the local aboriginal culture. Most of these towns are essentially aboriginal so it is a great way to meet the local folks in their home (and real) environment.

I even was able to help one Tlingit woman replace the flat tire on her tattered old car.