The GreenTortise is a bus that runs north and south along the west coast offering inexpensive transportation over long distance. They go very fast for a tortise; even pretty fast for a bus. I've read some about the GreenTortise service but never seen one until today when one went screaming past me. I played leapfrog for a few miles to get a closer look.
Janet has a hairless Mexican
something or other dog who's medically prescribed diet is exclusively
venison and peas. Some sort of allergy. Doyle says the dog eats better
than he does. Hershey, the dog, sounds like an espresso machine when he
gets to digging around in the sheepskin on the back of the couch in their
spare room. They'll host this Stone Soup which looks to turn into a cook-in
with the typical Oregon weather the way it is. Jim brought ribs and Tonya
brought ice cream and beer. I made my favourite cream cheese stuffed dates
while Janet and Doyle made salad and potatoes. Yum!
The town of Astoria Oregon was founded by John Jacob Astor as a trading post. It is the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi. Louis and Clark wintered here during their journey to the Pacific coast. Astoria is the only port of call for the USS Missouri on her journey from Bremerton to Hawaii.
Little Jon designs things
and he has a yellow 1967 MG for a hobby. We use to work together at The
Mount Washington Observatory when I had a yellow 1967 Chevy van. 1967
was the last model year they were both well made. The local neighborhood
attractions include the house around the corner where the smashing the
bedroom window scene in "Free Willie" was filmed and the cantaloupe eating
cat Norton who purrs like his namesake. 
"The Astoria column began as an idea of Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern Railway, and Electus Litchfield, a New York architect. It was to be a final monument in a series erected along the route of the Great Northern Railway. It uses the sgraffito work of Artist Attilio Pusteria and is patterned after the Tragan Column erected in Rome by Emperor Trajan in 114 A.D. The artwork begins with the discovery of the Columbia River and ends with the arrival of the railway train. In between, all of the events which led to the establishment of American claims to the Northwest Territory, and the ultimate winning of the west, are depicted on the face of the Column. The 125 foot tall column has stood above 600 foot Coxcomb Hill in Astoria for 70 years." ---JCL. Thanks Jon.
Sunday I went to the beach -- Go fly a kite said I to my Self -- and so we did. It is a strange community here abouts. Most people are still dressed as if it were winter. Even at the beach. Whilst I was wearing my next-to-nothings pareu. The little purple diamond kite was with me, flying and walking across the dunes, dodging frisbees and dune buggies. One voice heard over my shoulder exclaimed: --Is he wearing a speedo? and his companion replied: --Not even that by the looks of those cheeks...
At least camping in this garage I need not worry about the leak in my roof. And the owner is permitting me electric and water. But if this goes on another few days not only is it going to jeopardize my ferry reservations to Haines, I am going to have to call for a honey wagon and a propane delivery. When I returned from the beach yesterday I hollered in at the bay door: --Honey, I'm home! All the mechanics got a laugh out of that.
The little truck is sitting next to the Radke barn in Ferndale and all
the bikes are stuffed between the bunks. We're all on our own now. David
flew in Wednesday followed by Cassius and Charles on Thursday. We spent
the weekend getting acquainted at the Lake Associates Recreational Camp
near Mount Vernon Washington, just off the Conway exit of I-5; Charles
promptly taking a header off his bike raised welts that would have kept
a phrenologist busy for days. 
Getting the bus onto the Malispinia was no problem but we had to shut down the propane and direct all auxiliary power to the fridge; it was not enough to save the B&J's. During the first part of our voyage, through Canadian waters between our port of embarkation at Bellingham Washington and the first port call at Ketchikan, while the ship flew the red and white maple leaf from her starboard yardarm, pet calls were allowed three times a day. Pet tenders could go below to the car deck to feed, walk, and clean up after their dogs, cats, and spider plants.
By the end of the second day at sea it was evident to the discerning eye that the battery was discharging faster than I anticipated and emergency ice cream eating measures had to be implemented at once. First to go were the Doonsberry sorbet and the New York Super Fudge Chunk. Cassius and David and me took those two to the ships galley and invited other passengers to help us devour them. The next day it was even worse; the Coffee-Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz and the Cherry Garcia were near critical meltdown, the World's Best Vanilla had already liquefied into a sodden mess that could have been easily mistaken for a frappe. Other passengers were again recruited for the ordeal after we'ed exceeded our maximum daily calcium and caloric intake requirements. Finally the only thing left in the freezer is a dozen ice-less cubes and three packages of vegie burgers.
The M/V Malaspina is named after the Malaspina Glacier. In the early
1960s when the ship was constructed the glacier was said to be the largest
on the North American continent, about the size of the state of Rhode Island.
Malaspina, the glacier, is located north of Yakutat, between Mount Saint
Elias and the sea, and was at that time a receding glacier. Malaspina,
the glacier, was named after Captain Don Alessandro, an Italian seaman
who sailed the waters of the Alaskan coast in 1791, doubtless in a vessel
considerably smaller than this. Malaspina, the vessel, was originally 352
feet in length and could carry 500 passengers and 100 autos at 18 knots
while consuming fuel at the rate of 42 gallons per hour. The ship was later
lengthened by 56 feet. The original cost of construction was five million
dollars; the additional 56 feet, inserted amidships, cost six million. 
Yesterday we went panning for gold. Not nearly enough to retire on, but I did find some. Certainly enough to make one speculate that if it really was that simple then, notwithstanding all the preparation required to find and get to the "pay dirt"--just the panning part-- one could take in about fifty dollars an hour. A better choice would be working for the Alyeska Pipeline company. Perhaps I could commute by riding a pig from Prudhoe to Valdez.
Another thing we did yesterday was have a fuel spill. Probly a couple
of gallons of number two diesel went over the side due to over filling
the main tank complicated by procedural problems with the fuel transfer
system and the inclination of the roads hereabouts. 
On the way north, beyond the end of the pavement on the Dalton Highway, the air dryer commenced to act up causing a loss of air to brakes and steering during the decent of a 9% grade and a panic stop at a wide spot in the road. Looked like a good place for supper. In the course of repairs, between entree and desert, three other motorists stopped to see if we were ok. As ok as we can be considering we don't know what's wrong yet not to mention how to fix it. Eventually, during coffee, a good dose of WD-40 into the purge valve of the air dryer seemed to restore operation and we were on our way again as soon as the dishes were washed and put away.
The bridge over the Yukon River is 2290 feet long at a six percent grade;
the north end of the bridge is 140 feet lower than the south. 
Given the nature of time zones and longitude astronomical midnight happens about 01h30 on the local clock. We take turns napping, walking and feeding our several pet mosquitoes, watching the sun make curtain calls in her dance from peak to peak along the Brooks Range. There is some discussion about what it means: "Sun Set"... When the lower edge of the sun touches the earth? When the last sliver of the upper edge disappears? What if the sun slides along, she's not really "going down" here, and goes behind a mountain and then comes out again--does that count as a sun set? ...and then another sun rise? Ethan?
At Denali we parked The Cat Drag'd Inn and took a shuttle bus ride of eleven hours through mostly rain and animals. Our hike in the wild country outside the park, from an undefined rest area to the north, was more noteworthy in many respects: I wore my Limmers for the first time in many a moon. Our route took us downstream along a fast cold brook--we hopping from bank to bank as the stream dashed from stone to stone, cutting a deep, serpentine canyon, down steeply we climbed along the walls to the embankment of the Alaska tourist railroad just as the train bound for Fairbanks rolled past.
The shuttle bus connects visitor center, campgrounds, trailheads, river crossings, along an eighty mile route through tundra where the road is built on a high berm and over mountain passes where it clings to precipitous alpine meadows. More than once I wondered if the tyres had traction on the rain slicked gravel as good as the Dall sheep that lounged along the edge. Or if there were eagle wings secreted under the coat of mud splashed up by our passage and the passing buses going the other way. At each pit stop passengers would surround the bus to wash their windows; sometimes we'd just leave them open if the rain was not too bad. I think the most interesting animal we saw was a small fox observed sitting on the edge of the berm near the end of our tour. He paid no heed as the bus approached and stopped a few feet away. And then amid the scramble amongst the passengers for good viewing through the mud veiled windows, while the driver admonished us to be quiet lest we frighten off this sensitive creature now the object of our frantic clicking and beeping, the fox deigned to look over her shoulder and recognise she had an audience. She stood, preened, stretched, sat--facing us now--and rolled over. Does she do this for every bus? Was the driver issuing commands with a secret dog whistle? What does the Park Service put in her food... or is this one of Henson's Muppets or Speilbergs animatrons...
In Anchorage we fell in with KL7G and a local Amateur Radio Club at their annual Field Day weekend. Ham radio accounts for four of the twelve antennae on the roof of The Cat Drag'd Inn and we explained in our first contact with the club that we'd driven all the way from New Hampshire just to be part of Field Day in Anchorage. All of us had licenses of one sort or another (AZ9CS, KD7BQU, N1CMD, K1OIQ) and we were equipped to operate on seven bands so while the beans bubbled on the back burner more antennae were raised and generators started and power cords stretched and tangled with guy lines and burger queues. We made several contacts--NC6I, K7LHC, N7OY--enough to show we could do it and then went on with other recreational activities: balsa model building and leaded glass windows, bike riding and chicken racing, visiting around and being visited.
Getting past Canada customs was one of my more interesting crossings. They were rather more thorough than usual but I have a feeling it was only as one of the two inspectors with a fine tooth comb said: -- We've been sitting around the office all day and welcome this chance to check on your declaration compliance.
When our tour finished we were just in time for the Canada Day parade
which came along Second Ave and ended at Rotary Peace Park where all sorts
of food and games and speeches were arranged. We got out the Saco River
tubes from the bellybox under the bus and went Inner tubing the Yukon River
in the wake of Klondike II.
Later in the evening we took in a performance of the 29th season of
Frantic Follies. Robert Service wrote in his poems (The Cremation of Sam
McGee, The Shooting of Dan McGrew, and his Ballads of a Cheechako) of the
goldrush days in Whitehorse and Dawson City--the marge of Lake Lebarge
is just north of Whitehorse on the Yukon River. The Cremation was one of
the poems recited as a skit before a nearly full house. Even better was
a skit portraying The Ballad of The Ice-worm Cocktail:
"... A coctail I can understand--but what's an ice-worm please?"
Said Deacon White: "It is not strange that you should fail to know,
Since ice-worms are peculiar to the Mountain of Blue Snow.
Within the Polar rim it rears, a solitary peak,
And in the smoke of early spring (a specticle unique)
Like flame it leaps upon the sight and thrills you through and through,
For though its cone is piercing white, its base is blazing blue.
Yet all is clear as you draw near--for coyly peering out
Are hosts and hosts of tiny worms, each indigo of snout.
To miss or not to miss, that is the question. Needless to say we could well have used a month in Alaska alone: There is much unique there. There are also the usual coterie of franchises to avoid. Even without adverts on the telly, when I insisted on NOT going to Pizza Hut my guests managed to find the next biggest chain by simply noticing that TwoForOne pizza had more than one store. --Wow! Two pizzas for the price of one! they said. But what, I asked, if you only want one pizza? --Then I guess we have to go to Pizza Hut! giggle-giggle-giggle.
Perhaps I will have to return soon, before the roads are widened much
and all the curves are straightened. 
Email was difficult at best north of the border. Cell service is spotty or unavailable. A new feature some campgrounds are sporting, right up there with hot-tub and showers, is "modem friendly" and to that end will have a phone jack and power available at a desk in a lounge open to guests. The phone service is limited to local calls and 800 numbers. All one need do is jack in and log on. One such place was so friendly they even let me use their access after I canceled my reservations.
Its not too late for you to join me for the last leg of this Circumdrivebulation of The Lower 48: from Portland Oregon across southern Idaho to Driggs, maybe Yellowstone, then north to Bozeman Montana, and east to Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Some of the places along the way I expect to visit OAE's, in Saint Paul I want to try to take in a performance of The Prairie Home Companion before going on the long way around Lake Michigan to Ohio and then east through Pennsylvania, the Finger Lakes Region of New York and finally into northern Vermont to visit my motorcycle and "home" to the garage in Center Conway to close the loop and have a well earned oil change and greese job. Write me for details.
Stay Gold, bcnu, Send Money, Love, ajo
Back to ajo
Copyright (c) 2002 A.J.Oxton The Cat Drag'd Inn 