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September 7, 2004
howdy from Anchorage
Hello from Anchorage! I'm staying at my friend Eskimundo's house which overlooks the Cook Inlet. From here I can see the chain of volcanos along the Aleutian peninsula. It's wonderfully sunny. However, my host is not big on the food stocking thing, and the car he had planned on letting me use has a flat tire. There is no 7-11 around the corner. So when he gets back from work we will discuss getting me to a car rental, as I have no intention of starving to death on the top of a mountain.
We arrived here early this morning. Yesterday I hiked up a mountain gorge to a hot spring with my brother. On the way there we could see adult Chinook salmon spawning in the clear stream, and I saw a few coho salmon leaping the falls. On the birdwatching list I spotted a kingfisher, an ouzel, and several mergansers, a kind of fish eating duck.
Before that I was in Portland playing in their gay team's 2nd match ever. They were pretty darn good for their 2nd match, and they have a good coach that teaches the basics well. I played for the Portland team as a fullback. Not my favorite position, but it was a chance to play.
I also went to Hood River which is east of Portland along the Columbia Gorge. Most of the people there live for windsurfing, including my brother. Knowing he would try to get me to windsurf, and knowing it's a very technical sport that takes several days to learn, and that we didn't have several days, I worked very hard to refuse his offers to windsurf as politely as possible. So then he offered the chance to go "kite flying". Picturing diamond-shaped kites with bows on their tails, I said sure.
When we got to the beach to fly the "kite" I realized it was more like a frikkin' parasail. I realized it was my brothers intention to teach me how to parasail-board or whatever since I didn't want to windsurf. Most of the things my brother likes to do are highly technical involve fucking around with gear. To my brother, fucking around with gear is a highly rewarding and entertaining passtime. He could fuck around with gear all day if he could. In fact, he spent two hours before our seemingly simple kite flying experience fucking around with gear. When we got to the beach he spent another half hour fucking around with gear before we got going. As for me, if the return of enjoyment must exceed the time fucking around with gear, not vice verse. Not so for my brother. For him it isn't really fun unless there are lots of snaps, latches, ties, zippers, levers and things to fuck around with and ajust. He will just sit there in a trancelike state for hours fucking around with gear, adjusting it, fondling it, absorbing the experience with his gear.
Anyhow, once we had finished the requisite period of fucking around with gear, we were ready to fly this "kite", which was a 10' arc of inflated mylar that can lift you out of the water. Eventually, you are supposed to be on a snowboard-like surfboard and have the kite drag you through the water. I told my brother we might have better footing if we were on land instead of wading in the water, and he said it's better to be in the water should you get yanked off your feet so you don't get dragged on the beach rocks. I would learn this lesson later on.
I got the kite to fly very well, and it was very strong. In fact you need one person to hold you down as you fly it. I had my brother get my digital camera to take a pic. After he took a few shots he said he was going to put it back in my pack, and the minute he turned his back, the kite yanked me off my feet and began dragging me into the Columbia River. Once I got the kite to crash, I thought it would be cool to launch it again, even though I was not touching the bottom of the river. Stupidly, I launched the kite again, which dragged me further into the cold river. At that point I crashed the kite again, and swam back to shore. "We are done," I declared to my brother. We had to spend some quality time fucking with gear again, and went home.
Posted by jimbo at September 7, 2004 3:16 PM
Comments
OMG, funniest post ever!!!
Posted by: Ken at September 7, 2004 4:57 PM
Messing around with gear, that sounds like a leather dude sorta thing. Is your brother a closet leather dude. I wish I was in Alaska watching wildlife...
Posted by: homer at September 7, 2004 4:58 PM
damn! now I really wish I'd have gone to the avalanche game...it'd have been nce to meet you. My other half is on the team and I was supposed to go but ended up sick all weekend. Apparently they only lost by half as much as the first game, which was quite impressive.
Posted by: gecko at September 7, 2004 6:19 PM
Kitesurfing is real fun. And, compared to windsurfing, it takes only a fraction of the time to learn. You seem to have the right talent if you managed to get onto the water on your very first day.
Well, it is slightly more turbulent than fishing - but you will jump higher than the best trout. And, your gear-time-to-play-time ratio will improve significantly after only a few tries.
So, visit your brother often - and you will get hooked by the air time you get.
Posted by: Schorsch at September 8, 2004 4:48 PM
But where are the photos? Especially of Raimundo's volcano perch?
Posted by: John at September 8, 2004 4:57 PM