Dispatches from Camp Ketchikan: First Week in KTN

Well, we completed our first week in KTN. We were very busy. Dan started ground school on Sunday. I started looking around town. Dan would take a lunch break and I would pick him up and we would go to the A&P grocery store (the locals call it Alaska & Proud) for lunch. Now, I realize that sounds odd, but they have a Great salad bar, deli sandwiches and even hot food sold by weight. We love to get the salads and eat them at their little cafe on site.

Then it is back to work for Dan and back to serious looking around for me. Do you know how many jewelry stores they have in KTN? I DO!! Then I'd go pick up Dan at the end of the day and we would check out which restaurant we would like to eat at for dinner. Seriously, I know that some day I'm going to have to cook dinner. But in the meantime, the picture above is of the historic Gilmore hotel and our favorite hang-out, Annibelles. The picture to the right is of a cruise ship downtown at berth #3. Note the sunny sky in both pictures.

Friday and Saturday were Dan's two days off that week. And Taquan was having a cook-out for lunch at the hangar. It was a good way to meet the new people and for them to meet the new us.

Later we decided to spend the rest of Friday driving to the West end of the island (14 miles to the end of the road). We stopped at Knudson Cove Marina to check out a place where we could go on a kayaking tour. Also, they would rent you kayaks after they saw how well you could handle yourself. They also offer fishing from the kayaks, but that is where my ears lost interest. It was a pretty marina and the people there were very friendly.

At the end of the road is Settler's Cove and a really nice park. Here is a view of the ocean and the cove. We also saw two yearling black bears along the road................where's your mama???

We talked to the park ranger and she said, "Oh yeah, the mama and her two yearlings live around here. We see her often." Yeah, but I didn't see her, I'm still wondering where she was. Probably keeping an eye on us. So when we walked through the woods, I spoke VERY LOUDLY!!

It was just beautiful there. The walking paths, the bridges and the stairs up to see the water falls. This time of year there are a lot of waterfalls as the snow is melting off and there is no soil to absorb the water, only rock down which it will fall. The result is breath-taking.

We decided to head back and stopped in at Taquan to watch them ramp up the planes for the end of the day. They bring the planes to the dock, to a teeter-totter like ramp, line up the plane and put on full power while driving it up the ramp. The tricky part is knowing when to stop so that when the teeter-totter levels, you don't go shooting across the dock! Then the ramp guys secure the ramp and tie down the plane. They do this with 5 of the planes, put two in the hangar and one outside the hangar. If you think ramping the planes is exciting, to get the two in the hangar, which is up the hill, they drive a truck with a special trailer on the front, down the launch ramp while the plane drives at high power, trying to line up with a bulls eye on the trailer, sticks it onto the trailer and then, while still at high power, the truck backs up the hill with the airplane at tow until they are on level ground at the hangar. They then hook up a hoist to lift the plane off the trailer and bring it into the hangar and set it onto the floor. It is just amazing to watch.