Big Weekend

Our weekend was very busy with no access to the internet until now. On Friday, we went out to eat with a woman from the Baptist Mission who told us about a volunteer opportunity for summer camp counselors in Kodiak if any of you are interested. After that, we went out to Fort Abercrombie and saw some bunkers from WWII and a pretty view. Saturday, we got up and met Heather (the Baptist mission woman) at a coffee shop and then went to the mission to rock climb. I made it to the top of both the easy and hard parts of the wall. We were going to go kayaking with her, but it was too cold and rainy. Next, we stopped by a sandwich shop and got some sandwiches for the road. We drove out to the "end of the road" with the secretary from Main Elementary. We had to trade our rental car for her mother's because the roads are so bad. They have these broken places in the road called "frost heaves" where the road freezes and buckles and then cracks and breaks. They are like potholes on steroids. We saw a one-teacher school out at Chiniak and met the 1995 National Teacher of the Year. The school is from K-10 and one teacher teaches all 10 students. After that, we drove out to some WWII bunkers on this end of the island. We got to go inside and walk around. Then, we drove to the Coast Guard base and went to the commissary and bought hot dogs, buns, and marshmallows. We drove to the other end of the road to White Sands beach and the boys tried to build a fire, but it was raining and the wood and everything else was wet so it never really got started. I walked around and found a bunch of big shells. We ate hot dogs either raw or warm with the taste of lighter fluid and then we left for home. Sunday, we slept in and went to church at 11am. After church, we took Joyce out for a Mother's Day lunch at a chowder house. We saw a big sea lion swimming around because the restaurant was right on the water. I took a video. Then, we had a tour of the Coast Guard base from the husband of one of the teachers at Main. Her husband is a Rescue Swimmer. We got to see the helicopters and even sit inside of one. A lot of the people he knows were in the movie The Guardian. We then went back and changed clothes and Katie, Tyler, and I went hunting for beach glass. We found a lot and it is really pretty. It was rainy all day. We went over to the principal's house for dinner and had King Salmon, Halibut, and King Crab for dinner and lots of ice cream for dessert. We came back to the Nussbaums' and had Salmonberry pie. It was a very busy, but fun weekend. I will try to get pictures up soon!