Another Rainy Day in Hyder

It's been one of those days....I had a run-in with a bear this morning and the 4Runner won't start. The bear incident was nothing serious. I was walking to Stewart and there was one right across the road. Skeena and I managed to get away without disturbing it, but there wasn't any traffic which meant there weren't any vehicles around to flag down. I was starting to eyeball cars parked alongside the road to see which ones were unlocked in case it came lumbering down the road after us. About a quarter-mile down the road my friend Kim came driving along so she stopped and picked us up. Yesterday a guy in Stewart was attacked by a bear inside a house he was cleaning out. He wasn't hurt, but that must have been pretty frightening nonetheless.

I've decided to leave on Wednesday. I don't really have much to do today, and because of all the bears running around, it's a drive everywhere kind of day. I was going to head over town to fill the 4Runner with gas but it won't start. It turns over but won't catch. The guy down the street is going to stop by and check it out when the rain stops (which, the way it's coming down, may not be today). Ken thinks the starter may be wet, which is possible because one does have to drive through an awful lot of mud puddles around here. I guess I'd rather have it not start here rather than on some back road. I really don't want to have to worry about it making the trip back. (This means that I may be calling the people who know a thing or two about Toyotas and asking questions.)

On the positive side the cluster of bug bites I have on the left side of my forehead and on the back of my neck seem to be abating. That might be because I've scratched them off.