Welcome to Ketchikan (aka KTN)

One day, 40 years ago, Dan said to me, "Marry me and we will run off together and live on an island!"

I pictured ................... a beautiful tropical island where there are white sand beaches, breath-taking azure seas, and rollicking in the surf, just the two of us - one with nature..................

Dan pictured .............. Revillagigedo Island, in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, surrounded by the Behm Canal, where they get 168 inches of rain each year. Ummmm, I did the math....that's 14 feet!

                                     Welcome to Ketchikan Alaska.

I must admit, the weather Saturday and Sunday, when we got here, was just about perfect for mid-May in Southeast Alaska. The sun was shining, the sky was, for the most part, cloud-less, and the temperature was a balmy 68 degrees.  Sunday we checked in with Taquan and Dan got all he needed to start getting re-acquainted with Taquan's operations.

I headed for Walmart. The apartment wasn't all we thought it would be. The term partially furnished apparently was meant to be loosely interpreted. It had a bed and two stained counter-high stools. All cooking utensils, plates and plastic "glasses", plus greased-stained toaster was all crammed into a tiny cupboard (like the one over your refrigerator). We looked at that, looked at each other and said "we're not eating on those". Then we went into the bathroom.................

Now, you have to realize that when we started searching online for a place to live, there were quite a few to choose from. However, Taquan was slow in getting back to us with a final answer regarding employment. We wanted to wait to make sure Dan really DID have that job before we shelled out rent money. By that time, when we called on some of the places, they were mostly all gone and what was left was this efficiency in a building we knew from last time, and a couple of places the rental property manager said we wouldn't want to live in. A fellow Taquan pilot we knew from last time came to look at it for us and pronounced "it's, okay." When we got here, Adam told us, "I assumed there was nothing else available." But after a lot of trips to Walmart, we were able to put some lipstick on the pig (as my girlfriend Jean says) and it turned out all right. We now have a Walmart futon, Walmart dishes, glasses, silverware, one pot to go along with the skillets I brought from home, my own toaster, a Walmart coffee maker, and the all important Walmart NEW toilet seat and bath rugs. Not to mention the Walmart plastic shelving and three-drawer thingys to act as dressers. My other girlfriend Shelly said it is like we moved back to college.

But we made it our own, and, after all, it IS right downtown. Plus it is only a 2.5 mile walk to Taquan. Not that we have done that, because Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it rained all day and only got up to 45 degrees. I dropped Dan off at work, went to Walmart (yeah, they know me there by now), Ketchikan Power and Utilities (KPU) (you can thank them for hooking up the internet - I did!!), the "mall" and Creek Street. Then picked him up for lunch, back to the apt to put all my Walmart treasures away, clean, scrub, vacuum (oh yeah, had to buy one of those), etc., pick him up for dinner (out, of course), then back to the apt and next day do it all over again. (wow, have I been here 4 1/2 days already?)

But I've met some pretty nice people, got to hang out near the airplanes a little, and may have already found a part time job at a little shop on Creek Street. And today the sun is shining, there are three ships at port, and Dan is flying 5 trips to the Misty's (Misty Fjords). I may even tackle cooking dinner tonight. Life is good!

Looks like I will most likely be the one doing the "Dispatches." Although Dan said that he will chime in from time to time. I will even include some more pictures now and again. Here are just a couple more......

The Office

My favorite airplane and favorite husband

Ramping the Beaver at end of day (at full power)