Alaska & Beyond, pt.xviii

Additional comments from the present (Nov. 1, 2019): I spent a few final days with Matt & Drew in Anchorage. We did some exploring, and a LOT of nothing. It was quite nice. When I left, it was actually pretty odd to say goodbye. Being on my own again took a slight adjustment, but quickly felt normal again. There were definitely a few times I turned to say something to someone that wasn’t there. Good guys, those two.

July 14, 2019

Anchorage has been an interesting place to spend a few days, recharge the batteries, do some laundry… normal stuff.

Downtown is pretty cool. The mountain views are great. Otherwise, it’s just a smaller town of about 294,000 people.

Didn’t really do a whole lot while I’ve been here. Leaving for Homer tomorrow, and hoping the weather cooperates.

Hopefully there will be more interesting things to come…

July 15, 2019

I left Anchorage this morning with some light rain. Nothing too bad, but Alaska is finally feeling like what I expected. Of course, it would pour off and on all day, which was neat.

It took forever to get to Homer. Not because it’s far; it really isn’t. Mostly because I stopped constantly. Holy crap were today’s sights epic.

To get here you have to travel along Chickaloon Bay, through some state parks, by a national park. Obviously, all the awful things to look at. The Seward Highway is a pretty excellent drive.

In Girdwood, about 45 minutes out of Anchorage, I decided to take a detour. Found a gravel road, and followed it to a glacier view. The pictures don’t do any of this justice. There’s also a brewery there I’ll check on tomorrow. Girdwood is a ski resort town, and it looks the part.

After that I found a wildlife conservation center. It was sort of cheesy, but still cool. Saw brown bears. Hopefully the only ones of the trip. The rest of the animals, minus the deer, I’ve seen in the wild this trip. Oh, two bald eagles today! They’re so cool to watch.

The rest of the drive was pretty much ride ten feet, stop for a picture, ride ten feet, stop for a picture, etc. I did stop for lunch at a roadside food truck. Ok food with borderline creepy service. Way too attentive. Odd.

When you pull into Homer you drop down a hill with ridiculous views of Kachemak Bay. Seriously jaw dropping. Got a mix of sun & rain for my stop, which was nice.

The Spit Pano.jpg

Then I went to the end of the road, the spit. It’s a peninsula as far as I can tell, but a really skinny one. All the tourist type spots. Camping. More views that border on unbelievable.