Karl’s Korner

Good afternoon, my friends and family,
Yes, we had an amazing day today, here in Kodiak, Alaska. We got into port about 8 a.m., with a beautiful blue sky overhead and a few light and white clouds hanging over the horizon. It was a fantastic way to begin the day, and it got even better as the time passed by.
We ate breakfast on the Lido deck and then caught a shuttle bus into town, where we found a Bazzar was going on, and one of the women there was “a wounded warrior” named Robin.
We were lucky enough to meet her and thank her for her service. As with Carol and me, she and her husband were both in the service, and their son just returned from the “sandbox”, thankfully unharmed.
We walked around town and met lots of nice people.
Those who know me well know that I believe everything that happens to you is supposed to happen. That’s the way the rest of the day went.
We stopped by a grocery store to use the restroom and met two friends from the boat,
Nancy and Tom Saga. They asked if we’d like to share a cab to Fort Abercrombe to see the WWII relics there. We said, “Sure”, and we took off.
We had a loooonnnngggg walk around the park, but it was beautiful, high over the bay with fantastic views. We walked the complete “flower trail”, which was ten times as long as it looked on the map - Carol had a heck of a time walking on some of those hills, but kept up like the trooper she is. We finally found civilization again after two hours and our cab was there to pick us up.
Earlier in the day, someone on the bus remarked that the “Cornelia Marie”, the ship you see captained by Phil Harris on “The Deadliest Catch” on Discovery channel, was in port.
Carol and I decided to go see if we could meet Phil and his crew, so we took a cab over to where the boat is docked, but no one was on board. We were disappointed, but would have kicked ourselves later if we hadn’t tried.
Then is when good things came about.
We were sitting there, waiting for our cab to return, when a man walked by and offered us a lift to town. He said the cabbie would understand, so we finally agreed.
It turns out this wonderful fellow is David Jenty, Captain of the “Alaskan Spirit”, anothe ship you may have seen on the same TV show.
We talked for the trip to town, and discoverd there is much more to Alaskan fishing than you see on TV. David told us someone should write a book about what is really going on up here - it’s too long to list here - and we stood and talked about that possibility for another half-hour in town.
If I am lucky enough, David may allow me to come up, go out on his boat Salmon fishing for a month, to write their story. He also says there are a number of boat owners who would love to tell their stories too. So, let’s hope this all comes true. Wouldn’t that be something?
Keep your fingers crossed. I’d love to do it.
We’re back on board now, taking it easy. Carol is worn out and we’re heading down to the cabin for a nap before dinner.
We managed to get our dining time changed to the early dinner tonight and for the remainder of the cruise. We can’t take eating at 10 p.m.
So, that’s the latest news. Let’s hear from some of you at home.
To all my other visitors, thanks for dropping by. Don’t be strangers. Six more days of cruising are ahead - what adventures will be next? Stay tuned.
Until then, Via con Dias, my friends,
Karl & Carol