saltwater coffee in Prince William Sound
Guiding from her kayak, Blackstone Bay, Alaska, 2010
It was my first year at MICA in 2009, Joolee was a lead guide and I was an intern. On one of our trips I was told to get fresh water for our coffee that morning. Not really knowing where the water source was I asked and was pointed in a direction down the beach. I walked up and down the beach for a while not really finding a stream and I didn’t want to take up too much time. I went back into this marsh area an found water and figured this must be it. I sipped some water from my hand and it didn’t taste salty and decided to fill our water bag from the marsh. After returning to camp I went and started cleaning up the camp site as Joolee made coffee.
When I returned to our kitchen everyone had their coffee and was sipping on it saying that it tasted funny. Joolee explained that it might be the water treatment and nobody really said anything else and they all finished the rest of their coffee. I received my cup and took one sip and spat it out, it was definitely salty! Joolee looked at me and said ” where did you get this water??” I explained where I got it from and we then found out that it was brackish water and the stream she had pointed too was further down the beach.
So unfortunately I had made everyone drink salt water coffee, and surprisingly Joolee didn’t leave me on the beach. He he Thanks for always putting up with me Joolee and having the patience to deal with me ha ha! Love you and have an amazing birthday!!!
Manders
joolee's forty 
Dearest Itty Bitty Bebbee,
It is my sincere PLEASURE to have to put up with you! What a treat that life guided us to the same wee suburb of Tent City where, for at least part of the last several years, I’ve had the joy of dwelling across from the Gorgeous Golden Nugget and it’s Gorgeous Little Dread-Headed Inhabitant. As for the brinalicious coffee, I’m sure we’d have figured it out sooner, had we not had miso remnants in our mugs to confuse the signals reaching the palate. How one person can be so sweet and so studly simultaneously amazes and delights me (and everybody else). oxo, joolz