We awoke in Skagway and had made it through the night without toilet issues due to the new rule..........no nighttime flushing. Skagway was, by far, the smallest of the Alaskan cities we visited, with a population of 800, but it was adorable and nestled between 2 mountains. We walked through the town in about 10 minutes and decided to have a beer at the Skagway Microbrewery before undertaking the long 10 minute walk back. The bartender was a cute guy, seemingly in his late 20's, and we overheard him telling another customer that he had moved to Skagway for 10 years.
G- (to Phyllis) 10 years! Good lord! What does a guy in his 20's do in a tiny town like this? Why would he voluntarily move here unless he's a huge outdoors man or something like that.
G- (to the bartender) This is such a small town, what does one do around here?
Bartender- (In a very annoyed tone and cocky manner) What do you do where you live? Work, hang out with friends, same things we do here. (and then he walked off before I could respond)
P- Well, that question seems to have pissed him off.
G- Really! What is his problem? It was a valid question and his answer was unsatisfactory. Maybe he didn't get the point of the question. Surely there is something that he loves to do that he can only do in this town or in Alaska. Or why in the hell would he live here. What do we do? Yes, we work and hang out with friends, but we also go to ball games, plays, restaurants, festivals, and we can drive to the beach, to beautiful places, and to other states. He can only fly or boat out of here. Hello! 800 people live in this town filled with tourist shops. He probably followed a girl here and then she dumped him.
We finished our beers and I never did get an answer to my question from Mr. Pissy Pants. After running the T-shirt shop gauntlet, we returned to the ship and sat on the upper deck admiring the beautiful scenery, watching seals frolic, and sea planes come over the mountain tops and coast to a watery landing.
After our cocktail hour we headed to dinner and were pleasantly surprised to run into Hal & Jackie. This time we requested a 4 top and got to know each other better over dinner. We lingered, talking for so long that they finally threw us out. We learned that Jackie and Hal lived in a small Iowa town, were about to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary, and would be delighted if we'd come for a visit.
P- where, exactly is Iowa?
G- Somewhere up in the middle of the country.
Jackie- (in her sweet British accent) Yes, there's not much to it, just farm country. Our town doesn't even have a stop light, but we're midway between Denver and Chicago, so you're going to be passing us anyway. You two would cause quite a stir.
G- Ok! We'll go to Iowa. Are there any farms around you?
Hal- Oh sure. A pig farm and a dairy farm.
G- Really? Could you arrange for me to milk a cow? I've always wanted to milk a cow.
Hal- I don't think that'll be a problem. I'll talk to my friend who owns the dairy farm.
P- Oh, I can't wait to take some video of that!!!
We parted ways and Phyl and I decided to go sit in the hot tub before going to bed early.
G- Is it hot enough?
P- Gawd! It is too hot, I think I now have 3rd degree burns on my legs.
G- Holy crap! If we sit in here for longer than 5 minutes, my ovaries will be burled like crawfish!!!
