Bird watching on a trip to Alaska

I had a wonderful time on a long-ago trip to Alaska, but two things remain forever in my memory.

For one, I had never seen so many tall, rugged mountains as those we flew over getting to our destination. And secondly, we flew there in a float plane, a new form of transportation for me. I was thrilled that the takeoff went well, the flight was smooth, the landing uneventful and when we finally transferred to a dock, no one fell in the river.

At our lodge, I was informed there was a glacier just across the river from us and that the ice in our drinks would come from that glacier.

Naturally, I paid close attention to that ice and can report I found it essentially tasteless. I was expecting a fishy taste or maybe salty. But evidently that particular glacier was pure water.

Another thing I will never forget was advice I received on cleaning up Alaska style.

There was a big outside grill at the lodge, where meat was prepared. I asked the waiter how they cleaned the grill, recalling that I used a wire brush on my little Weber kettle at home.

“Oh, that’s not a problem for us,” he assured me. “The bears come up at night and clean it right up!”