By the way, only 3 days left until I’m in Cebu!

Thursday afternoon I caught a flight (bush plane) from Cordova to Chitina. We hugged the Copper River the whole way, and the flight was amazing. Once in Chitina, a crew from camp picked me up and brought me to the Canyon Creek site. I got the camp internet up Friday morning, and then drove a new 175 hp jet skiff down river 80 miles to the Baird Canyon site to set up their internet. Then, Saturday morning was back to Canyon Creek to install a wind generator and get the solar running. This camp is where I’ll be staying until I head for Cebu. I got word yesterday that my camera arrived in Cordova, and will be delivered here on Monday. Yahoo! I will post some pictures as soon as it arrives. It’s very cool to be out here and still connected to the internet.

“National security, the economy, the environment and even the weather are tied to our reliance on oil. So when the leadership in Washington fails to take serious action on cutting oil use, it fails big-time. Everyone seems to get this but the Bush administration.” — Froma Harrop, Seattle Times

Have we become a nation of whiners, or what? From what I can see, GW is not using all the oil that is coming into this nation. We are! So why is it up to his administration to lessen our dependecy on oil? All these people are blaming him, but we are the only solution, as we are the problem. I am sure that this columnist is living in a house, driving a car, and consuming goods, just like the rest of us. I don’t know too many people who are ready to give these things up. I know I’m not. I can talk about it like everyone else, but at the end of the day, I’ve used my share (or more) of energy. Yes, George W is an idiot, but how does that reflect on us? We voted him in twice (maybe once). If he’s an idiot, we’re bigger idiots! A nation full of idiot whiners. Sounds harsh, but that’s the picture I see when I read these stupid articles placing all this blame in one place. That’s just my opinion.

Well, today I sold the VW, and I am incredibly happy about it. I’ve been very fortunate in meeting Keith Cox here in Bellingham. He owns a VW/Audi dealership and he has allowed me to have free use of his shop to get the van ready to sell. He is truly a great guy. My check from Bob (New Orleans) should be coming on Wednesday, and then it will officially be his. I’m planning to purchase plane tickets to Palau, and put the rest into a 3 or 6 month CD so that I’ll be able to purchase transportation when I’m done with my travels. For the next couple of days, I’ll be waxing, cleaning, polishing, etc, getting the VW ready for Bob’s cross-country trip back to LA. I’m anxious for all the adventures that lie ahead. Alaska is bound to be an adventure, and I can’t see how a summer in Palau can be that bad, especially in good company.

I just picked the VW up yesterday afternoon at the VW dealer in Bellingham, WA. It seems like they did a great job replacing the head gasket and testing all the components. This is the only time in my life I’ve paid someone to work on my vehicle (Ouch!). But, it works again, and I didn’t get dirty. Keith Cox Autobahn in Bellingham is letting me use his shop to get the van sale-worthy, and then he is going to consign it and help sell it. His idea of it’s value is right in-line with mine, and his commission is very fair, so hopefully things will work out with it. Today I just couldn’t stand it, and I went to BestBuy to get a new laptop. It is a bad-boy machine. Here’s the specs: HP Pavilion DV1000 Special Edition, 100gb HD, 1gb DDR memory, WideScreen WXGA display (beautiful), remote control, DVD/CD writer, and, it will actually etch the surface of CDs after they’re burned. YeeHah. Once I get my old Olympus camera in the mail, I’ll be back in the swing of things. I made sure to set up all the bios passwords I could, so whoever steals this one won’t be able to use it! Friday the 28th I’m flying from Seattle to Cordova, and I’ll be busy working in the shop up until then. Last night I camped west of Bellingham near Mt. Baker. Tonight, I’m heading towards the coast just south of here.