Chitina Tracks

One summer we drove to Chitina. A bunch of us kids went and I can't remember why...maybe Girl Scouts. We stayed in an old hotel that sagged in the middle, had cables on the outside holding it up or keeping it from tipping over , who knows.. and who knows when it was built, but it was a fun place to stay. We drove to the end of the road which took us to the Copper River. There was a track that ran up a steep, rocky hill, which I think took you to a thing-a-ma-jig that took people across the river.
In "town" near the old hotel were some left over railroad tracks, plus an old pumper car, without the pumper. We kids would maneuver it onto the tracks, then push it up the incline until we were tired...then with a mighty shove and a hop on..we would ride it down and off the tracks...then do it all over again..and again..and again. It's a miracle we didn't kill ourselves. In those days no one worried about liability...if you were stupid, you paid the consequences for your choices. Amen!
I have such wonderful memories of our visit to Chitina..

Back Yard Jungle

Here is another picture of our backyard, my little sis and our dog, Lassie. The building in the distance has Valdez Sheet Metal Works written on the front of it.
After looking at this picture, I now realize that the picture with the all the gloves hanging on the line were in the yard on the other side of the fence.
I wonder if we ever mowed that grass. I sure don't remember having to push a lawnmower around the way we had to at our house in Gig Harbor. We were convinced that our parents had children so they would have someone to mow the lawn and do the dishes :o)

Alaska Steam Ship's Denali

One of our return trips to Gig Harbor in the early 50's was on board the freighter-passenger ship Denali. We left right after Christmas and crossed the Gulf of Alaska in fairly stormy weather. When we heard the first "boom" we were a little worried, but one of the crew explained that the constant booming was because the ship had a flat bottom .
When we got off the ship in Seattle, it was absolutely terrifyng driving on the freeway after living in Valdez and leaving behind the slow pace that everyone traveled.

Robe Lake Water Skiing

Look at the way we took off ...right off the float. None of us had ever done it before and it never occurred to us that it might be a whole lot easier if we sat down on the edge of the float with our skis pointed up. We made it first try though, and made sure we didn't fall because we had only the clothes on our back. The waterskis were quite heavy and resembled fence boards.

Airport Runway

This is what the Valdez runway looked like in the 50's. I imagine it looks a whole lot different now. I think the plane was either a DC-3 or DC-6, but what do I know.

Humble Home

This was the house we lived in in Valdez. It belonged to the company dad worked for..North Star Stevedoring Co. During the winter, we were able to go out the upstairs window and off the porch roof, something we would never have been able to do in Gig Harbor.
I presume it was torn down and not moved to the new town site as some were after the tsunami. I wonder if anyone would know :o)
The picture below was our backyard. It was very close to the bay and when the tide was really high, our basement would fill with enough water for my sis to float her boats. We never did figure out whose gloves those were or what they were used for.

New Museum

Gig Harbor's new museum is well on it's way! The top picture is the backside of the building which has the view of Mount Ranier and the bay.
The bottom picture shows the main entrance.
It is a tall building that now sits smack in the view corridor so we wont be enjoying the glimpse of the mountain when passing.....kinda sad if you ask me.

Grandpa's House

My walk yesterday took me past the house that my grandfather built. It is a 3 story brick home, and there used to be a road along the water right in front. The road is still there in front of the house, but most has washed out elsewhere along the shore. When grandpa built the house, there was no deck in front, nor garage. Nor did I ever see my grandmother clad in a bikini like the woman standing in the open garage door.

Power Tower

I took a long walk on the beach today and found some more interesting rocks for my friend's "ditch". He had a drainage problem from all the winter rain we had and the years of sediment and roots that finally plugged up his drainpipe. He dug it up..all 50 feet of it, cleaned out the pipes, relaid them, and we have been hauling rocks from the beach to cover the pipe. Have you carried a bucket of rocks lately??? Try it and see how far you get!!!
Once back at my son's house, I hauled out the clippers and went to work on his overgrown jungle. It's hard having a home and being gone in the summer.
A couple weeks ago my friend and I drove over to the Olympic Mts. and along Lake Cushman. It was formed by the dam that was built to bring electricity to all of us. Those towers you see near the bridge are part of the transmission lines. When I was a kid, the mast of a fishing boat touched the power lines and all hell broke loose. Melted a whole bunch of stuff, and scared my cousin and me half to death, as we were rowing nearby.

Narrows Bridges #2 and #3

I was surfing "youtube" this morning and came across a video of the collapse of the first Narrows Bridge. It opened in July, 1940 and went down in November the same year. The 3rd bridge opened a year ago with much hoopla and those of us with Good To Go stickers on our windshields pay $2.75 to cross. I suppose that is a bargain, because when the 2nd bridge opened in the 50's it cost .50 cent a car and .10 cents for each passenger, coming and going.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI Maybe you've seen this video, if not, enjoy. My mother drove across the bridge the morning of the collapse, and while in Tacoma it fell, making it necessary for her to drive the long way home through Olympia and Shelton.

Daisies galore

After checking the beach for mussels and finding the tide too high, I settled on a picture of my friend's flowers as I came back up the driveway. The home he lives in was lived in by a woman from England who loved flowers. She and her husband lost the home to the bank, and he bought it for a song. No worries about adjustable mortgages and all that crazy stuff!!!

Fishing news

As of today, fishing in southeast Alaska isn't good. It has been a cold, rainy summer so far. Hopefully, the fish are just late and that soon their hatches will be overflowing!

Gig Harbor

Gig Harbor still has a very active fishing community. Most are members of old fishing families who immigrated here from Croatia in the early 1900's.
I hope to show a little of that part of the harbor and also introduce you to the surrounding area as it is really quite beautiful!
Hop on board and enjoy the ride!