OMG, we are in Hyder Alaska, population 50. We had breakfast at the Glacier Inn this morning and there was a sign that says "Get a warm Hyder welcome - get Hyderized. So Jim says "you should do that!" Turns out this warm welcome includes a shooter of undisclosed alcohol, no smelling, tasting, etc, just a straight back shot. So I am thinking, we've got all day, Jim will forget. Dinner time comes and we are back at the Glacier Inn for burgers and Hyderizing. I stall as long as I can, but eventually it's time for my shooter. Kris the bartender pours my shot from a bottle in a brown paper bag; she goes over the rules, gives me a glass of water as a chaser and says bottoms up. Jim is there to memorialize the whole thing in photos. I chug the shooter straight down and then the whole glass of water and I am sure I am about to go blind! Then Kris takes my shot glass and sets the remaining alcohol fumes on fire! Kris unveils the bottle of mystery alcohol, its Everclear 151 proof grain alcohol! The label says CAUTION Extremely Flammable, Handle with Care and WARNING Over Consumption May Endanger Your Health. Kris gives me a card that certifies I have been Hyderized. I think I deserve a medal! 63 years old is no time to have your first shooter!

I had planned to blog about Telegraph Creek Road and the towns of Hyder, Alaska and Stewert, British Columbia but I don't think I will be able to think straight much longer. Farewell.

It's 3 hours later, I can still see, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Of course my throat feels like sand paper, I have a headache and my eyeballs hurt! Jim's eating a pudding cup (with Maggie's help) wish he wouldn't scrape the cup so LOUDLY!