Kodiak for a day

Today we got into Kodiak around 8 am.  I had reserved a rental car so we picked it up and drove out the road (south?  It was past the airport).  We stopped at some creeks and rivers, looking for fish and bears, but we only ever saw fish.  Apparently the best places to see the famous Kodiak brown bears require flying outside of the city areas.  

fish in a very clear stream

We met our friends Natura and Michael for lunch and went to see their (totally adorable) house, complete with chickens.  J  It was good to see them again.  Natura spent a semester and a half in Juneau working on her MS degree last year, and Michael had come to visit her, so we’d gotten to know them quite well. 

Fireweed in bloom in Kodiak

We also drove out to Ft. Abercrombie State Historical Park, and stopped at a grocery store in town to pick up some more supplies for the boat.  We figured out that the boat’s restaurant is only open 3 times a day for about 1-2 hours each time.  The boat’s self-serve coffee machine uses Keurig K-cups, which they sell on the boat for $1.50 each, but we bought several packages in Kodiak to use in their machine and save some money.  There was a microwave on board too, so we had some microwave popcorn for snacking.  There’s not much to do on the boat overall, so mostly we looked at scenery and played cards, or got off the boat to explore towns while in port.  Sometimes we’d work on a jigsaw puzzle (left behind by other passengers?) or watched movies or read books on our laptops too.  It was forced relaxation.

Scenic overlook outside Kodiak the city, on Kodiak the island

Bald eagle readjusting on it's perch

Getting ready to depart Kodiak

Pillar mountain, Kodiak.  This is how they get some of the energy for the city - wind mills.