July 1st

We have officially been on the road for one month now. I can’t say I’m really homesick like I thought I would be. This routine has become normal and comfortable.

THE DETAILS

THE WEATHER: Started out at 55 degrees and cloudy…. Of course. The day warmed up to a balmy 79 degrees, slightly windy and partly cloudy. By the end of the day the wind was strong and so iit felt much cooler.

THE DISTANCE: 0

We had a slow start to the day knowing we didn’t have anywhere to go. In the afternoon we took the bike out to a botanical garden here in Anchorage. It wasn’t extremely impressive, but a fun way to spend the afternoon. We took the guided tour with another couple from Atlanta, Ga.

Matt Clark is a friend of ours from Weare. He serves in the Army and has been to Afghanistan and Iraq. He will be in North Carolina in the fall to begin training for Special Forces. He and Gary have been good friends for a few years now and he happens to be stationed up here in Alaska so we arranged to meet up with him. He came to the RV park and we went to dinner in downtown Anchorage at one of his favorite Thai restaurants (Bernie’s Bungalow). It was delicious. Afterwards we walked along the downtown streets and looked into the tourist shops and Gary stopped at a fishing store to pick up flies that he didn’t have. He brought 200 with him, I can’t imagine that there is a fly he doesn’t have!!

As we meandered through the streets we came to a shop that specialized in furs. We would love to get something for the floor in front of the fireplace but they are always so expensive… but we like to look. There were some beautiful furs there…. Beaver, caribou, wolf, bear, etc. As Gary & Matt discussed furs I began a conversation with the interesting little man who ran the shop. He stood only about 5 foot tall due to his age his back was no longer straight. I found out later that he was 80 years old and his name is Jack Kimm. Come to find out, he was born & raised in Alaska. He is an Eskimo. He has visited 190 countries and he can prove it by the dollar bills from each country that adorns his wall. Another wall are the names of all the climbers that have made it up Mt. McKinley and come to his shop to post their name. He was fascinating to talk to. He told me his story about getting drafted into the army by President Truman. “He say, you go, I must say, “Yes sir”” and he stood at attention and saluted. He only knew about 50 English words when he was drafted. He signed all the papers and then asked a man who knew English what he had just signed. He began to cry when he talked about the “good sons from all 50 states that did not return”. He spent 4 ½ years in the service and learned many more words before returning home. He told me when he returned from the service his father told him, “I have taken care of you long enough, you now, take care of me.” So he made sure every Friday his father had $500.00 in his pocket. He said, “Sometimes he only had $270.00 so I make it $500.00. Until he died.” I asked if he had ever been married. “Oh, yes, every one needs a Peggy and some kids”. He asked Matt if he had a “Peggy” and told him he should. He had 6 children, of which, 4 of them are girls. He said, “It is hard to raise a virtuous woman when they all want to grow up to be a Hillary Clinton, wear the pants and run the White House!” OMG! We were all laughing out loud listening to him go on.

He then began asking Gary some questions about why he was in Alaska, and what he was planning on doing with his retirement. His suggestion was to use his time visiting every country and learn what they have to teach. He would be a wiser man for it. He spoke to us about what Confucius says, and we spoke to him about what Jesus, the Christ, says. When he heard that Gary was going into the woods with only a 44 he said, “That is for bad men in the city, not bear in the woods.” Jack firmly stated, he needed a 12 gauge shotgun pump alternating round of double OO buck and deer slugs. Gary said, well, I don’t know anyone with a shotgun. He said, “I have a shotgun, I lend you mine”. Before any one of us could say a word he had turned around, picked up his shotgun case off the stairs and handed it to Gary. We were all just staring at him with our mouths opened. He then proceeded to tell Gary, when he comes across the bear, and his “ticker is stampeding”, calm down, decide where you are going to place the bullet and then, “Don’t miss!”. Don’t hit him in the leg or the rump, because that will just make him pissed and he runs very well on 3 legs. He dusted off a soft shotgun case, gave him ammo and then asked him if he had a good knife. Before Gary could answer he reached behind the counter top and produced a serious looking knife in a case and said, “This is 100 times more useful than the gun.” Unbelievable. He told us the best way he deals with a bear encounter is to drop his head, walk the same way as when you first saw him and begin talking to the bear; “Hello bear… I’m not interested in your woman….. I’m not interested in your kids…. I’m not interested in your food… and just keep walking slowly.” Jack was an incredible man to meet, and we look forward to talking more with him when we return his gun in a few weeks.

We finished the night at "Glacier Brewhouse" having a beer and laughing about our encounter with Jack. We didn’t get home until the sun had set and it was getting dark!!!


PS: I'll post pic's of Jack, Matt, the gun & the knife at a later date! Stay tuned.