Portland, OR / Ketchikan, AK - Day 2

This morning we had to be at the airport just 15 minutes prior to take off.  So we stayed in our room and watched Parenthood until it was time to leave.  We arrived at Atlantic Aviation at 9:45, we got out of the car, grabbed our luggage and left the keys in the ignition.  That's all we had to do; the staff takes care of everything for us.  As we entered the lobby, we were greeted by our captain who was standing next to a gorgeously decorated Christmas tree.  We said hello to Bo, who is the project manager at Vigor Marine in Portland, and he introduced us to his wife Janelle.  I didn’t even have time to absorb my surroundings, let alone begin my investigative inquiry into Bo and Janelle's lives, because Frank and his wife, Brenda arrived and we immediately walked out to the tarmac, where a Gulfstream G200 was waiting for us.  No big deal.

I wanted to yell at everyone to stop and pose for a picture, but I wasn’t yet comfortable enough to tell them what to do.  You can't just begin bossing people around right away, that takes time. I actually wanted us to form a human pyramid in front of the plane, and have the captain take our picture, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.  So I hastily took a picture of Chad boarding the plane and then hid my camera in my pocket.  It was a nice shot of buns, though.

There were 7 seats and a couch on the plane.  We settled in and were greeted by our co-pilot, Jerome, who had a French accent.  As he began the safety briefing, I finally had a moment to take in my surroundings (because who ever listens to the safety speech anyway?)  It was surreal and incredible and trying to not be overly excited was tough.  Apparently, there is no "waiting for 90 minutes on the runway" when you fly on a private jet, and we were in the air within minutes.  I talked to Brenda and Janelle throughout the whole flight, and I was happy to have 2 hours to ask all the questions I wanted.  The boys hung out and listened to music and did whatever boys do.  Probably shot each other with bb guns and spit. 

Frank and Jerome, our co-pilot

When we landed in Ketchikan, it was sunny and bright—the sort of weather that makes you squint and blink and shield your eyes with your hands.  It was also warmer than Portland was.  As we got off the plane, I told everyone that I just couldn’t pretend like this wasn’t awesome any longer, and I was going to take pictures of everyone.  They laughed and obliged.  We went into the little airport, and I used the restroom, which had baskets full of mouthwash, lotions, and sewing kits.  I took only what I needed.  And/or what could fit in my pockets.

There were two Ford F-150s waiting for us, so we loaded up our bags, along with the catered meal that we didn’t eat on the plane, and got on the ferry which took us across the Tongass Narrows to Ketchikan.  We drove straight to the shipyard (a 60 second drive from the ferry) where we said our hellos and introductions were made.  It’s really cute to watch shipyard workers hug each other, and I admire that about the guys at Vigor, they really love one another and they're not afraid to show it.  We went upstairs to a conference room and ate our lunch.  We were joined by Chad’s boss, Mike, and Doug Ward, who is the Director of Shipyard Development at Vigor Alaska, and Brian (believe or not I didn't ask what he does, but it has something to do with communications.)  They discussed a bunch of work stuff that bored me, so I began to try and mentally guess what color underwear everyone was wearing.  I forgot to verify my guesses after they finally stopped the shop-talk, but I’m fairly certain I guessed with 95% accuracy.

I was busy guessing...

Next we all got to don some very happening hard hats and safety glasses and take a tour of Vigor Alaska.  Mike acted as our tour guide, and I stayed very close to him so I could shout out answers to any questions he might ask to test our knowledge of Ketchikan, Vigor, or shipyards in general.  He actually didn’t ask any questions, so I got bored with the tour and tagged along, taking pictures instead. 

The tour

After the tour, we all decided to go to The Arctic Bar.  And by “we all” I mean “Frank.”  The Arctic Bar is the self-described "Home of the Happy Bears," and its logo depicts two grizzly bears making sweet love. 

Frank keepin' it classy

Twelve of us walked into the bar (this feels like the beginning of a joke), and were greeted by the owner, Paula.  Paula is also the bartender, and she's the liveliest, kindest, most entertaining character I’ve met in Ketchikan.  She was so happy that we came in that she ran to the jukebox and played “What Does the Fox Say?” and started dancing and singing behind the counter while she poured drinks.  Frank bought everyone a round, and we toasted... um... I don't know what we toasted.  But it was something.  I think we said, "cheers."

Paula in all her dancing glory

Notice the ashtray?  Yep, indoor smoking






Me and Brenda

A while later, Paula came up to us with a platter of deviled eggs, “My boyfriend was so excited that you were coming he made deviled eggs!  There's candied bacon on top!  He candies it himself!”  Now, I won't try food at potlucks if I don’t know who made it.  So you can imagine my reluctance in sampling a deviled egg, served to me in a bar by a complete stranger who has choreographed a dance routine to “What Does the Fox Say?”  But I watched everyone else take one, so I followed suit.  And it was delicious.  And if you think bacon is good, wait until you try candied bacon.

There was a man sitting at the bar and he was wearing an oversized flannel, a trucker cap from which flowed shoulder length black greasy hair, and his front teeth were missing.  He staggered to the juke box and selected “What Does the Fox Say?” and Paula once again broke out in her animated dance, every now and then calling out, "A-hee-ahee ha-hee! A-hee-ahee ha-hee!" in response to that God-awful question.  We visited for a while longer, and decided to move our group to O’Brien’s Pub.

The sun set at about 4:00 and it was magnificent

At O’Brien’s we ate Guinness battered fried mushrooms and vegetable curry soup and shared cell phone pictures of our pets.  After about 5 minutes of exchanging compliments and civilities about how cute our animal-children are, Doug and I stumbled upon an amazing discovery.  He and his wife Rosie, as well as Chad and I, both own a brainiac pet as evidenced by the picture below.  Also, I learned that Doug lived in Jackson Hole, WY in the 70s and 80s.  My uncle Tommy has lived there since the early 70s so naturally I thought, I bet they know each other.  And I started investigating.  Turns out Tommy knows Doug's brother, Corky.  My aunt Chris worked with him in the 70s and my cousin Travis went to school with Corky's son.  I tell that only to remind you that we're all connected to Kevin Bacon by 6 degrees.

Intelligent pets who wear glasses

With only a few hours left until the Christmas party, Bo, Janelle, Chad, and I drove to The Cape Fox Lodge.  Chad and I relaxed in our room for a bit and at 6:30 we went downstairs for the party.  We spent the night schmoozing (I don’t believe I’ve ever "schmoozed" before).  We people-watched, and ate, and schmoozed some more.  We also listened to the DJ play “What Does the Fox Say?” and stared in wonder at the grown men and women who seemed delighted to hear it.

So Christmasy!

The Chamber of Commerce was hosting their “Enchanted Forest Gala and Auction” across the parking lot, and Doug and Rosie invited us to come.  We walked in while they were in the middle of a Christmas tree auction to raise money for local charities.  After about 8 minutes of listening to this, we all ran back to the Lodge as fast as we could:  Click hear to see why we didn't stick around

One of Vigor’s customers—a very sweet lady—stopped Chad and asked him, “Do you dance?” 
“No, I don’t,” he said.
Grabbing him by the hand, and dragging him to the dance floor, she yelled over the music, “You do now!”  And so he danced.  People, listen to me… CHAD FAST DANCED!  It was a splendid sight to see.  I hid behind a speaker and took a picture as proof, and I was caught.  Both Chad and the lady came over and led me to the dance floor.  Chad looked deep into my eyes and pleaded with me to dance.  I saw a hint of panic in his eyes.  “Oh yeah, um, I don’t dance,” I said, and ran away, leaving the cast of Dirty Dancing on the dance floor.

Terrible quality, but still: Proof!

After Johnny and Baby finished their routine for the final talent show, we went back to the other party where a band was playing.  We listened for a while, but when the employees started un-decorating the tables, and loading carts with empty dishes, we realized that the party was winding down and it was time to call it a night.  We have to be down in the restaurant for breakfast at 7:30 am, and then we fly home.  So I'm in our room, and Chad went back down to to talk to some of his Tacoma guys that are up here working.  I think he really went down to request "What Does the Fox Say?" one final time. 

What the fox say?
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!

-The Niemeyers