Desperately trying to find an internet connection I tried the grocery/liquor store but it was Saturday night in this large village and it was not a place that I wanted to hang around. I asked a guy who was filming the boat race and he said that I should try the Yukon Inn, a bar not too far away. No thanks I thought, I don't need to sit in the corner with a laptop in what turns out to be the only bar on the Yukon River in Alaska on this Saturday boat race night. But after ten minutes of pacing I thought what the hell, and walked with my backpack past log houses and a sawmill and giant tanks of fuel toward the neon open sign. After the first beer I asked the bartender about a wifi password and she said no, no way. I had another and ordered a pizza, beer makes me hungry for pizza, and after 30 minutes the shift changed and Cory started up as night shift bartender. He is a nice guy, very good at his job, and said that the bar was a family place and began pointing around the bar to his cousin, cousin, aunt, second cousin, uncle, other uncle on the other side, another cousin, and grandfather. Just as I was leaving he asked me where I was from and when I told him about our trip he said. "Are you Pat Kelly?"
"Why yes, how did you know?"
"You have a couple beers coming to you already bought by Dave"
I had no idea what he was talking about and no idea who Dave was.
Turns out it was Super Dave Peck from Fort White, Florida had used his skills and properly predicted that we would somehow end up at this place and he called the bar and talked to Cory and set the whole thing up. Cory let me use his phone, mine apparently useless in the bush in Alaska, and I gave a quick call back to Fort White to say thanks. I brought the other half of pizza back to Jeff on the boat and in a couple minutes we were both bellied up at the bar, they close at 5 you know, having our beers and celebrating, again.
Cheers, Dave.
Well played my man.