Sunshine in Kodiak

Just in case you didn't recheck my blog before I posted this one, I also added pictures to the last post--for your viewing pleasure!

On Monday, Steve and I were able to go fishing on the 'U Rascal'. We arrived at the dock and found the boat at about 8:00 am, and spent the entire day, until about 6:00 pm fishing. There were 6 other touristy fishers on the boat with us.
We had a ton of fun. We were all able to catch quite a few fish. I caught 3 halibut (that we kept), two black sea bass, a silver salmon, and a king salmon. Steve caught 1 halibut and 3 king salmon. I also caught a starfish, which we, of course, returned to the sea, and one of the other guys caught an octopus, which the captain kept to use as bait for the next few days of fishing. FYI I DID actually fish, although Steve never managed to remember to take my pictures while I was slaving away to catch his dinner!
At the end of the day, they don't actually let you keep what you catch, but divide all of the fish up evenly among the passengers on the boat that day. This worked out okay, even though Steve and I actually caught more salmon than all the others put together, as we will be taking home about 90 lbs of fish. YUMMY!







We also finally acquired a car on Monday, which has made it possible for us to get out and do a little more than we would be able to otherwise. Here she is!




On Wednesday, we were able to check out Kodiak's brewery. They had about 8 beers that we tried, and then Steve and I each bought a growler (1/2 gallon bottle) of beer. He chose the Hefeweizen, and I chose the Oatmeal Stout. I also bought one of their T-shirts, because on the front they say,

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
--Ben Franklin

and on the back they have the logo:



Every Wednesday night, there is an "Open Mic Night" at The Old Powerhouse, which is a sushi place with a view on the bay. Steve, Wes and I all went last week, and Wes was requested a few times to come up and sing with the others. I didn't really know any of the songs they were singing, so I just watched. It was great fun to watch Wes singing with his friends.
One of the unique things about The Old Powerhouse is the toilet seats that they have in the ladies restroom there. You're gonna think I'm crazy for blogging about toilet seats, but REALLY, they were crazy! First of all, they were heated, just just that warm feeling you get when you sit on the seat right after someone else just got off of it, but actually heated. Even SSFB would have sat on these seats, just to try them out. Next, there is this weird control panel on the side of the seat with little buttons that say front, back, etc. When you push one of these buttons, let's say you push "back", warm water squirts your bum. If you push "front" then the water squirts you in the front. You can choose how warm the water is, how strong the stream is, and whether the stream is constant or pulsing. I'm not joking. There are operating instructions that you're supposed to read before you use the thing!

Anyway, we went again on Wednesday this week, but the room that was usually used for open mic night was reserved by a different party, so it wasn't going on. I did, however, remember to bring my camera this week, so I was able to take some pictures of the yummy dinner,







and also of the toilet seat.




After our sushi dinner, we went for a short hike together.





On Thursday, I ended up having the day off because the hospital was being evaluated for accreditation. The weather was amazing, and Steve and I bought some Bear Spray (pepper spray for bears) and went hiking. We went to a trail called Termination Point, which took us out along the coast to a point where you are almost completely surrounded by water. It was really really beautiful! The hike took us a little over 5 hours, and boy were we tired and sore afterwards! We didn't see any bears, and so didn't need to use our bear spray.














Steve had to take off last night, so now I'm a single chick in Kodiak! I'm sure Wes will keep me in line. That's what big brothers are for. I think that Steve had a really great vacation. After we watched him board the plane, Wes drove me to the head of the Buskin River where you can actually see the planes as they take off and so we saw Steve's plane take off and flying overhead. The problem is that now that the amazing wonder-Steve is gone though, I won't be able to post any new pictures until I get back home, so ENJOY the ones you have gotten in the last two posts! =)