A Different Kind of Beach
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- Ray of light
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- The bald eagle family gathering branches for their nest
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- We can see it all through these huge windows
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- Alaska “beach’
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- Judy’s house overlooks the water
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- Rocks covered in kelp and mussels
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- Lots of mussels
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- Tiny tide pool starfish
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- Big brother starfish in the rocks
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- Me with a dog and a log for the blog
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- Wild blueberries for breakfast
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- View of the traffic
I’m waking up in Paradise and life is good.
Slept well: no IVs, nobody wanting blood or something every couple of hours, just quiet in my own room.
We can make our own breakfast since we have a kitchen supplied with food. On the way here we stopped to buy perishables like milk, yogurt, and fresh vegetables, but we’re also pleased to see there are plenty of non-perishables in the cupboards. It’s always a crap shoot whether the cupboards will be bare or whether there will be food left for us by the owner or left over from the previous guests. Here, there are cans of soup and tuna fish, packages of pasta, and all kinds of other good stuff we can use. I’m hungry, but just a little bit of breakfast fills me up.
Sitting in our little cabin, we enjoy a fabulous view of the Tongass strait. This is one of the main marine highways that all manner of watercraft use to get in and out of Ketchikan. We see fishing trawlers, cruise ships, sightseeing boats, and boats that carry strange contraptions that must be for the oil industry.
Although there are no bears here, we have a family of bald eagles that live in the tree over Judy’s house. This morning a couple come over to the tree in front of our cottage and pick at some branches. They are magnificent. We study them through our big front windows.
After watching some movies on tv, we put our warm clothes on and go for a walk on the “beach.” It’s the middle of July, yet the temperatures are in the 50’s — today’s forecast is a high of 56 with showers.
Alaskan beach is a little different from the beach at home in that there is no sand. It’s rocks, rocks, rocks with some iron, seaweed, and various types of shellfish thrown in. We go out walking on the beach surveying the tidepools. The neighbor’s little dog greets us and keeps us company every time we walk out the door. Judy’s gone out of town so we go down to her deck, a little closer to the water, and chill in the lounge chairs she’s left for us.
Dinner time. There’s nothing better than the smell of salmon caught just a week ago cooking on the grill. We’ve been eating Judy’s smoked salmon and cream cheese all day long. It’s raining off and on, but it’s warm enough to sit outside on the patio with the grill to keep us warm. We roast marshmallows for dessert.
We could stay here for another week, just enjoying the peace and quiet. But tomorrow we’re on the move again, catching our flight to Seattle.
Practicing Travel 
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