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PACE 8B THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2008 North to Alaska... continued from page 7B ADDS SIGN Ralph McConnell is shown hanging a sign at Watson Lake Sign Forest, where over 70,000 other signs are located. His wife, Phyllis, made note of another Georgia couple listed on a sign and contacted them when she returned home. adventure could we stand! The next town we stayed in was Talkeena, my favorite thus far. A town full of individual little cabins that housed different shops and businesses. The train stopped right at the edge of the RV park where we stayed. We could take a round trip through the area. Anyone wanting to be picked up just holds up a white flag anywhere along the way and the train would stop, or you could ride to a certain place and float down the river. We took a small plane flight and landed on a glacier a fourth of the way up on Mt. McKinley. This was the most awesome thing any of us had ever done in our entire lives! We flew between two mountain peaks and we let out some muffled sounds but our pilot assured us a 747 could fly through there. I’m telling you, I’d never seen anything more beautiful. While I was there, I tossed out a small stone from each of the graves of two friends that had died the past year. I wanted to honor the special memory I had of them in this amazing place. They are Kathy Cash that taught at the school where I work and Blair Ferguson from Charlotte, North Carolina. We saw an avalanche as we stood there in awe! Our pilot had us make quick loud noises so we could hear them echo three different times. It was so breathtaking. I could not hold back tears, I was so overwhelmed! As I write about it now the tears fall again! Talkeena Air Flights rock! We drove up Glen Highway to Chickaloon to visit some friends of David and Margaret. Henry and Ann Tipton live in Georgia six months and Alaska six months. We parked in Grand View RV Park and it certainly lives up to its name. Snow capped mountains all around us and the Lions Head featured on front of an Alaska magazine was right outside our window. The Tiptons have a mountain top log cabin with the same views and mountains right up to their back yard. They can see big horn sheep from their window and have moose with their babies come in their yard. Once a lynx took up there. Ann has the inside decorated so pretty and cozy. The first thing you see when you walk in her kitchen is a sign that says Martha Stewart doesn’t live here. It makes you feel at home right away. They had a tasty supper of baked tur key, spinach casserole, mashed potatoes and rubarb pie with ice cream. We had so many sandwiches coming to Alaska we kind of forgot our manners and ate seconds. The next day, we took the jeep and drove down to Valdez and took a six-hour boat trip to see some glaciers. Along the way, we saw sea lions, otters, eagles and whales. There were icebergs everywhere! I felt like I was on the Titanic dodging all of them. We were served clam chowder or vegetable soup. We enjoyed our day very much. We saw the pipeline while we were at Valdez and as we went over Jackson Pass we saw banked snow or glaciers three times our height. We saw more waterfalls than we’d ever seen in our lives. Lowell called to let us know they were in Sterling at Moose River RV Park. We were heading that way and had missed seeing them for a few days. The owners of the park, Dennis and Anita Merck, have such an adventurous family. They have a cafe at the park office and cook breakfast for all the locals. It was so much fun being around all of them we wound up staying seven days. We were close to the Kenai River and the sock eye salmon were running. We hiked a total of four and one half miles to Russian River Falls to watch the salmon jump back up the falls. We were hoping to see a bear after the salmon as we have seen on TV so many times. We did not but it was so worth the hike to see such beauty. Many pink, white, and yellow blue blooms. After we got back from the falls, we decided to walk back through the campground to where there was a lot of fishing going on. Ralph and I sat down a minute to rest and David and Margaret went ahead of us. On the path right in front of them was a black bear. Margaret froze in her tracks and David kept pulling on her shirt. She started taking pictures as if she were in a safety zone of a zoo or something. As Ralph and I approached, all they could do was whisper “bear, bear” and point. I am talking just yards away! Everyone told us if we saw a bear not to run. Well I did not run but let me tell you I walked pretty fast. When we were walking to the falls, we had a plan. Let’s all stick together and yell loudly if we see a bear. I don’t know what happened to that plan but everybody scattered. I went up on a short fishing pier to the river. The bear went under the pier to the river to get a salmon. He sat there eating his salmon and we got some good pictures. He started walking again and we started toward the steps. I looked down at him and a man said to me, “The bear does not like you looking at him.” About that time the bear made a growling noise and threw up his paw at us. We got the message and got back to the jeep. David later asked me, “ Phyllis what would you have done if the bear had went on the pier after you? The only place you could have gone is in the river.” I should not tell you what I was thinking but I will. I was really thinking maybe if I go out where some men are fishing the bear would eat them instead of me. Now I said it. I have it off my conscience. Ha! Ha! We left there and were on a back road headed back to the park and spotted four more bears. One had two baby cubs. We stayed in the jeep and watched them as they climbed a tree and walked around as though we weren’t there. The next morning the paper told about two bear attacks in this area. That is when we really got scared. A woman was attacked while picking mushrooms from the back and she just played dead and lived. A fourteen-year-old girl was attacked while on her bike. The paper said it was the worst attack they’d seen in years. We were feeling pretty lucky. Now Lowell was so disappointed he had not seen a bear so we went down the same road three times where we had seen four and did not see any more. We took a day trip to Homer Spit which is a narrow strip of land that stretches five miles out into Kachemak Bay with a horizon of snow capped mountains. It is a very peaceful fishing village known for Halibut fishing. Homer Spit is also the home of The Eagle Lady Jean Keene. She has fed bald eagles in the winter for 20 years. She started with two and now over 300 bald eagles ascend on her backyard as she feeds them fish scraps from a nearby seafood plant. There is a book about her and Margaret and I wanted one. Well leave it to our friend Lowell. He goes up and knocks on her door. A neighbor comes out to see what he needs. He tells her he wants some books. She tells him some sad news. The eagle lady is in the hospital and may not recover. She is 80 years old. The neigh bor goes in her house and brings him out the last two books Jean had signed. What a treasure we’ll always keep. The next day, we stay close to the river watching men fish. They call it combat fishing during the salmon ran. They stand shoulder to shoulder to cast and get their lines all tangled up. It is something to watch. I could sit and watch them all day long. I got to know a lot of people in the mornings at the cafe. Two men went home and brought me two salmon they’d caught and one they had smoked. I told them the only salmon I’d ever eaten was out of a can. We cooked it on the grill and had fried potatoes and slaw. Lowell had an awful day trying to catch a fish. I shared one with him. No bear, no fish. One lady I met at the cafe was Cynthia from Tennessee. She heard me say yard sale and the next thing I know me, her and Margaret are going. One sale we were at we saw moose and two babies. When we left and was at the end of the driveway, Margaret was talking to some body and the moose came close to our car. We were yelling, “watch the moose,” and she thought we were yelling come on and she comes walking within feet of the moose. We were told if a moose had babies she would stomp you to death if she felt her babies were threatened. If Margaret gets out of Alaska in one piece, it would surprise me. Lots of people at the cafe talked about how they lived in Alaska during the sum mer and had another home somewhere else, and all the other places they’d go. I told them I had to figure out how they do all of that because I had to eat a lot of baloney to save money to just come and visit. Ralph and I celebrated our 36th wed ding anniversary while at Moose River Park. Anita, who owns the park, made dinner for us and invited all of our new friends. What a celebration! Dennis cooked steaks on the grill and we had baked potatoes, salad and can you believe king crab legs? She also made homemade cherry pie, blackberry pie and my favorite pecan pie. On top of all that, Joyce and Lowell bought choco late cake. That is the best anniversary I can ever remember having! Being on my dream vacation and sharing such a special day with such special people. We will not forget Moose River Park in Sterling. The next day was very sad. Ralph and I were flying home leaving behind our friends we came with and Lowell and Joyce who we’d been with since Idaho. All the bear hunts, hikes, tour ing, dinners together and just plain fun. All of the local people told me to eat lots more baloney to save money so I could start saving money to come back. They thought I was kidding but I wasn’t. I’ll let them think what they want. As we pulled out heading toward Anchorage, Joyce and Lowell were waving a white handkerchief yelling bye and I was crying my heart out. Alaska was not what I thought it would be, it was more than I could ever dream it could be! Thanks David and Margaret Ledford for having Ralph and me along on the journey of a lifetime. Who do you want protecting your family from criminals? v^Brad Smith 11 Years Experience as Assistant DA • Numerous trials successfully prosecuting rapists, murderers, child molesters and drug traffickers • Assisted on every death penalty case in past 12 years • Presented thousands of cases before grand jury • Endorsed by District Attorneys • Endorsed by Police Benevolent Association of GA Donna Sikes NO Experience in DA's Office • NO experience prosecuting criminals • ZERO criminal jury trials in past 10 years • NEVER presented a case before the grand jury • Not endorsed by ANY District Attorney Brad Smith Is the ONLY Candidate With a Proven Record of Protecting Our Community from Criminals. Brad Smith The Obvious Choice for District Attorney www.BradSmithforDA.com VOTE AUGUST 5 IN THE RUN-OFF Paid for by The Committee to Elect Brad Smith District Attorney