Baranoff Hot Springs Cove

Baranof Hot Springs is a very, very small village built into the back of an idyllic bay. Picture perfect with no more than 15 houses at the most. Got to enjoy the public bath house fed with the spring water, totally relaxing and refreshing.  Would have stayed in there longer but didn't want the boat to leave me.  As much as I like Alaska, I'm not moving here, just visiting thank you.  And enjoying the scenery too.  We are going into the brown bear country and will not have cell coverage during that time.  If there are pockets of coverage I will post again but if not, will catch up with you later.
As for our clients, they are anxious to get ashore and find their trophy bear. They seem to be enjoying my meals, so that's nice.  Today I made sausage/egg gravy over biscuits and hashbrowns.  This afternoon I will be making Potenza, that's a chicken, bacon and potato dish with a pepper jack cheese white sauce, my family loves it so am hoping these guys will too. Will throw together a salad and am thinking about making a strawberry dessert too. Getting used to the kitchen even if it's smaller than a phone booth, for you younger people, a phone booth is something we had to use when we were kids in order to call mom if we were going to be late.  There were no cell phones, Ipads or other gadgets for us to rely on or for mom to track us with, lucky us.  If I stand at the sink and take 3 steps back, I'm out of the galley. Standing at the sink and not moving my feet, I can work on the left countertop and turn right to work on the diesel stove.  Let's just call it compact.  Did I already describe this in a previous post?  If I did, I apologize for the repeat but that is my world at the moment.  Weather is okay today, somewhat chilly but the guys will bundle up and brave the Alaskan great frontier this afternoon and evening.  I will stay in the warm boat and hold down the fort, gladly.  Just finished trying to move a drink cooler, grabbed it by the lid and oops, the lid popped off, the cooler fell to the floor and splashed me from head to toe!  and it was cold too. The guys all got a good chuckle out of it, so glad I could bring some merriment into their lives.  geez louise.  Okay, time to get a few things done, brown the bacon, cook the chicken and potatoes and get it all simmering.  Take care and hope to visit again soon......dj

Hi guys.....the hunters have spotted bear and have left me alone on the boat to fend for myself. What kind of mischief could I get into?  Plenty I suppose but I will stay away from the wheelhouse and not touch anything.  It's pretty country but I would hate to get lost up here, like you know, if I somehow figured out how to pull up anchor and then which buttons to push to make this thing go and then I would be lost in the wilderness, oh my!  Pretty happy sitting here where it's warm instead of outside with those hunters.  They're all very nice guys and pretty focused on the task at hand.  So am I actually, after breakfast, I started on the next meal, which will be Kielbasa Stir fry, jello salad and Robert Redford dessert.  There are other names for that dessert but while keep my blog free from naughty things.  Anyways, I haven't heard a gunshot yet so they still must be tracking. Oops, they just showed up with no bears.  Better get their lunch ready quick!  see ya....dj

Hello again, this time from Kake, Alaska. We covered some rough waters last night and I did put on a patch but no puking yet. Picked up 2 nice guys from the East Coast and they are ready to get bear hunting.  Got part way up the channel and the winds were kicking up with a forecast of 60 mph winds. So we are anchored right now waiting for the winds to settle down.  The diesel stove kicked back a bunch of exhaust so they turned it off and now it needs to warm back up again before I can start lunch.  And they opened all the windows so its cold in here right now. Hope you don't think I'm complaining, just sharing what's going on.  Okay, maybe a little bit on the cold part but just cuz I hate to be cold. I'm anxious to get them a hot lunch before they head out to the woods and I'm so glad I get to stay on the boat.  Have no desire to go foraging thru the woods looking for some big creature that would just as soon have me for lunch then anything else.
Stayed fairly warm last night but found out the blankets do not want to stay on top of the sleeping bag, was remaking my bed several times during the night.  Going to take some time today to tuck things in and hopefully fix that issue.
I'm not even going outside to take pictures unless the wind/rain settle down.  I'll describe Kake for you.....a small coastal village, approx 300 people. The airport is big enough for small planes to fly in and bring hunters. You can only reach Kake from air or water, although I do see vehicles on land.  Also see house boats floating, boats beached and a very small harbor.  Not much in the way of work for the residents, any work done is fishing and a processing plant open part of the year.  They tell me there is a grocery store but from here I don't believe them. And if there is, it's pretty darn small. Betcha I'm not going to find Target or Walmart along the shore.
Going to admit that I'm spoiled, I have all the modern conveniences at home, easy and frequent shopping if I need to, restaurants to enjoy and family/friends to share fun times. Taking the time to be thankful for my life, family/friends and solid ground!  Yak again soon.....dj

First day on the water

Ahoy matey!  Here I am on the water for over 7 hrs and I haven't gotten sick.  Whoopee! Of course I was just told we were heading into some rough waters so who knows what the next few hours will bring. Cooked my first meal, taco soup and berry cobbler. Going to put a roast in the crock pot pretty soon to cook overnight.  I have seen my first whale but didn't get a very good picture. They assure me I will have many chances to take photos of whales and all sorts of other animals. We pick up our first hunter tomorrow morning and the hunt begins in the afternoon.  I have been looking out at the waves and thought that keeps running through my head is.....what have I gotten myself into? I mean, really, couldn't I have just found a different job around home to get me out of the house? Noooo, I have to run all the way up to Alaska, board a hunting charter and cook my fool head off.  Guess no one ever said I did things the easy way or sensible for that matter.  Actually, I didn't go looking for this kind of change in my life, it pretty much dropped in my lap. And what do you do when an opportunity to do something new presents itself? Well, I grabbed it, that's what I did. :-)
The weather is overcast and not near as pretty as I've had up to now.  Although the scenery is still breath taking, mountains, mountains and more mountains with some water in between.  Some still have snow, makes them look like they are wearing bonnets.  We will only have internet service for a while longer, after that I'm "dead in the water"......HAHAHAHA.....sorry couldn't resist.  So if you don't see a blog for awhile, not to worry, everything is A-ok.  I will blog again as soon as the lines of communication are open again.
Well, need to clean up the galley, that's boat talk for kitchen.  I'm so smart now I can hardly believe it.   I also need to straighten up my room, I might have packed a little too much but what's a girl to do? Gotta have enough shoes, even though the amount of square space I'll be covering is fairly minimal.  Gotta have long pants, short pants and yoga pants.  Gotta have tank tops, t-shirts and sweatshirts. And then a few other essentials.  Anyways, just wanted to touch base will everyone and say hi....yak later....dj

The night before....

It's Sunday evening, the night before the boat leaves for the first hunting trip. We will travel north approx 14 hours to pick up our first client and his friend, the next ones arrive on the following day. And so it begins. I cannot count the number of hours spent getting the boat ready for the season and they were working on it long before I got here.  The assistant guide helped along with Minnie's daughter Holley and friend Linsey, who were an awesome team.  This really should be a young wo(man's) game but here we are, older than dirt and packing stuff around. Oh well, nothing has broken or strained itself yet so we are happy.
I still find myself wondering when the work will be done, probably around Oct 1st would be my guess. Not complaining as this is all part of the adventure, to see the inner workings of a small business that caters to their clients. Once onboard, their every need will be met with shelter and food and their hunting experience will be begin.  They come for different reasons and I am looking forward to finding out what some of the reasons are as I visit with them.  What's my reason for being here? To wake up my mind and body by trying something I've never tried before.  I've cooked all my adult life but not in this kind of setting.  I already messed up on an apple crisp I made for Brad & Minnie, it was so dry you had to pour milk or cream over it to choke it down. Talk about embarassing. Oh well, that's the way it goes.
Thanks for taking the time to share in this journey with me.  When I write tomorrow evening it will be from the boat as we are on our way north. Whatever we don't get packed, we will do without, I guess. Although there is a small store at our first pickup point, so that's a relief, in case we forgot something really important.  It couldn't possibly be anything food related, seriously, I believe I could put on a very nice dinner for 100 people and still have food left over. Minnie is very thorough.  Well, time to close for now.  Except I have to tell you about one of their little puppies that just snuggled up next to me, the rain started pouring and turned to hail, which brought that puppy right over to my side where he still sits. Maybe he thought I could turn it off. What he doesn't know is we are expecting thunderstorms tonight.....whoopee, guess we'll both be running for cover later.  I am NOT a thunder enthusiast to say the least. And is Alaska closer to the sky? Will it be louder here than in Oregon? (just kidding).  Talk to you on the water tomorrow.....dj

Another day of working my tail off! :-)

Good afternoon.  We have returned from working on the boat all day, cleaning, packing, reorganizing,   cleaning, packing, reorganizing.....oh, did I say that already?  :-)  Debating on whether to return this evening with more food and supplies, still have the freezer items to take onboard. Whew-wee, I'm tired and sore but not grumpy yet.  Advil is my friend. I have to repeat myself regarding Minnie, she is Wonder Woman in my eyes!  I am doing my best to work as hard as her, no way am I going to let her outwork me.  She says once the boat leaves the harbor on Monday, I should be able to relax but she might be pulling my leg, that's probably when the real work begins.
The weather is amazing, pretty sure I brought the strange Oregon sunshine we had the last several weeks to Alaska cuz I'm in shorts right now. Would love to go sit outside but Minnie doesn't have a lawn chair.....how sad is that?  She has been gone on the boat during the Alaskan summers and hasn't needed a lawn chair but she will this year. Think I will go outside anyways and enjoy the sun. Will try to post a picture of the harbor I took today but I'm a greenie at blogging so will see if it will work.
Don't want to bore you with lots of words or pics but there is so much to share already.  Took a picture of a house today that has a divorced couple living in it, she has her half and he has his half. His side is a junkyard and the ex wife's side is a normal ranch half of a house. Would LOVE to meet them but that might be a little pushy of me. My questions to each of them would be: Why do you choose to stay within 12" of your ex? Each of you now have significant others living with you, does that cause problems?  to the ex wife - Does it bother you that your ex husband leaves the front and side yards full of trash but parks a very shiny convertible in the driveway? to the ex husband - wouldn't you rather live miles from your ex instead of inches?
See what's happening to me up here?  My brain is waking up after being bored for so long, I'm wondering about stuff that I probably shouldn't be but it's fun.  Okay, going to give you a break now, have a nice evening everyone.....dj

My first several days in Alaska

Hello everyone!  I'm here in the beautiful state of Alaska, sunny skies and awesome mountains and I haven't even left the harbor yet. Minnie (the wonderful lady showing me the ropes) spent yesterday cleaning on the boat. Today will be more cleaning, then grocery shopping and then loading the boat. This is a far cry from anything I've ever done in my life. I'm out and about, seeing new things and learning about boats, diesel stoves, pump toilets and small beds. But it's an adventure and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. Today we will also be visiting about recipes and menus so I can start planning what to make for the clients.
Brad, the captain and Minnie's husband, is a very quiet (so far) and smart individual. He reminds me of my big brother Ed, an engineer's brain with a dry wit, not a bad thing though.  Just need to remember that what goes on in that brain is light years ahead of anything I will ever comprehend. :-)  Haven't met the assistant guide Luke yet but will today as he is helping us load the boat. They tell me he is a great guy with a wonderful family and lots of help to have on the boat.
I am stepping into big shoes, Minnie has everything dialed in and mastered when it comes to packing, cooking and pleasing the clients.  I am hanging on every word she shares. Not even sure what I'm doing up here, I still feel like I've gone to the coast to help a friend with their boat and will be leaving to go home in a few days. But that isn't the case. I will be here until June 18th or so and then come home for about a month with a family vacation planned during that time. I will return to Alaska mid July and stay until the end of Sept.  Wow, talk about rearranging your life in a few short months.
Okay, time to get to work so will close for today. I love my family and friends and feel blessed that with their encouragement, I can pursue something extraordinary. Love you Byron and yes, I already miss you.