Belarde's Pump Truck

Its a bird, Its a plane, No Its a Concrete Pump Truck!

This was taken on my job down in Kodiak. You can see the forms for new retaining walls at the Teen Center there, and a big blue boom reaching down from the sky.

That big arm is a Concrete Pump Truck. You back the Redi-Mix (Cement) truck to the Pump Truck, dump the concrete in the hopper, and the concrete gets pumped through that long arm and out the hose at the end. Its pretty convenient for jobs like this, things way off the ground like floors of a building, or places you don't want to drive the big trucks.

Three truck loads of concrete later the tops were finished and insulation was draped over the walls to keep them from freezing overnight.

Halibut Etouffee on a Cold Fairbanks Night

Last weekend I went to Fairbanks to visit Aimee. In case you haven't looked at the weather for Fairbanks its been cold up there! And its only going to get colder.

To combat some of that cold we made Etouffee with an Alaskan twist. Instead of using shrimp or crawdads, we used some of the Halibut Aimee caught when she came to visit in Kodiak.

Looking out my office window
Longing for the open road

While I had a mostly good 6.5 weeks in Kodiak its very nice to be back home. Too bad the weather this summer wasn't as clear as it was today. I can't remember how many times the mountains actually came out to be looked at.

Don't let the lack of snow and clear skies fool you, its pretty crisp out there. I never did check the temperature today but you definitely didn't want to go outside without a coat.

I've decided its too cold to ride anymore. I fell bad asking the KLR to start in the cold like this and it takes forever for it to warm up. Besides, it doesn't get above freezing and ice is a problem when you rely on friction to keep yourself upright.

Its good that winter is here. We cram a lot into the summers because we know how short they are and its time to rest up. We've only got 7 months until it starts all over again.

Bamboo Room, Haines AK

When I was working in Juneau we spent about six weeks in Haines surveying the road out of town. We would always eat at the Bamboo Room for breakfast.

The reason they call it the Bamboo Room is because there is a bar and the dining room in the same building. Back in the day they were separated by a bamboo curtain. Its the local hangout for old guys who drink coffee in the morning.

One morning I over heard the oldest one talking about Timothy Treadwell, the guy famous for being eaten by a bear. He said "I met that Treadwell guy once. I said your an F'n idiot! One of these days you're going to get eaten by those damn bears! And look what happened."

I had to stop on my way through after Dawson for old times sake. It turned out that my friend Bar Tender Judy was working that day. Since there was a big bike race in town that weekend I gave up my seat in the dinning room for some kids that were under 21 and ate in the bar. The pancakes were still as good as I remember

Ship Creek, Downtown Anchorage

Some friends from work learned me up on fishing for Silvers and we've been out a few times since my last fish post.

Eric and I went to Ship Creek in Downtown Anchorage on Monday night. After we'd been there about two hours Eric decided to leave and I said to him, "You know, as soon as you leave I'm going to catch one."

And sure enough, he walked around the backside of the bridge and I hooked the one in the picture above. I hollard at him and he came down to help me land it and take this picture.

Its not the biggest Silver I've caught but it is pretty tasty! I had some of it for Salmon quesadillas tonight.

Something Fishy

My First Attempt at Filleting a Salmon

Monday night I went fishing with Rich, Eric, and Tanya from work at Bird Creek about 50 miles south of town.

We heard the Silvers were running, and they were. Just not as hard as hard as we thought. Thats OK thought. I haven't been fishing in the river like that so they showed me the ropes and we had a good time hanging out and trying to catch some fish.

Tanya caught the first Silver, then Rich and Eric caught a few Humpy's and Chum. You'll have to ask me in person how I got my fish, because its kind of a funny story.

We're going to hit up Ship Creek down by the Port friday morning. Wish us luck.

Mirror

Alaska State Park in Haines, AK

This is at the end of the road into the state park in Haines. The road runs from the inlet, up a salmon river, to where it starts at this lake. In the Fall you are pretty much guaranteed to see grizzly bears stocking up their fat supplies for winter.

When we were there surveying in '05 we saw a couple large Boars and a Sow with two Cubs.

There isn't really much more to say about this spot besides its a lot more beautiful in person and on a clear day. Even though I had clouds there is still a nice mirror effect on the smooth water.