Day 4 Sunday January 12

And a cat named Charlie

Not as much fun without ball, but still.

     Based on a recommendation by mein Host at the Fair Grounds, S arose in the early dark to bike to the Mind's Eye coffee shop. It was dark and sleet/raining and we went off in the wrong direction and no tail lights and the milk tank trucks were on the move. Eventually we found the place and we settled-in for the duration with the fireplace and the wifi, scones, etc. Back of the coffee shop was taken up by an esoteric Aleutian kayak factory and school. Talked to the kayak guy about skinning materials other than seal hide, his first choice.

     Out of the fair grounds diesel screaming, we exited out the back of town onto the road to Petrolia, Honeydew, Shelter Cove. Where we are now and have been for the last 4 or 5 hours of the afternoon and evening having driven the patchy and steep roads for about that long to get here to the Cove. Van crouched in the open grass of camp at one end of the airstrip, we made the round of the bars which was all there was of social life in downtown Shelter Cove in January. We watched the Hawks Packers game at all three available venues plus two young women singing and playing their guitars at Marios which the guy at the market said was condemned due to its nearness to the crumbling bluff (which it was - touching the edge- I saw). S said the singer had a great voice. Lot of the younger guys seemed to hang out on the deck touching the edge, smoking cigarettes probably because a sign inside said that smoking marijuana would get you 86ed. One big guy, with a dyed red mohawk whose color would change according to something about football, set out the insta-pot with free chili but we had already had something at Gyppos (as in gyppo logger) which had a good pingpong table center stage and piping hot. S had the seared Brussel sprouts and I the brat.