Goin to the big city

  Homer, Alaska, United States
Friday, July 18, 2008

I feel the end quickly approaching.  I had my first dream last night about "clocking out"

view from the lost sandal hike

on my last day which is a sure sign that the end is neigh.  These dreams grow more frequent and agitating as the summer dwindles.  Its as if my subconscious is just teasing me with a taste of my freedom and then its quickly yanked away upon waking.                                                                                                      
 

me

Its been a pretty interesting week what with me driving to anchorage to pick up the sister and her friend and then turning around and bringing them to Homer.  On the way over to anchorage I stopped at this old Russian orthodox church that is set up on the Cliffside overlooking the cook inlet.  The onion domed church was

russian church

surrounded by a quaint graveyard that still used wooden markers as their headstones.  The markers were adorned with beautiful bouquets and wreaths of flowers and it made for such a peaceful quiet scene.

cool graveyard

After this stop and a quick breakfast I continued on to the Skilak lake recreation area and did a couple of nice hikes.  Didn't see any bears unfortunately but the views were awesome and there were moose and chipmunks abound

same

so no complaints (other then the mosquitos).  After a few hours hiking around I climbed back aboard the rental car and continued my drive. It wasn't long before I took another detour into portage valley which isn't a very long drive but is filled with glaciers rolling down  almost sheer cliffs.  When you look up you just see this wall of blue and white looming over you and its beautiful.

same

I would just like to point out at this point that I didn't break a leg, I didn't have a major equipment malfunction and all in all things went pretty smoothly for one of the first times in a long time.
 
After portage valley it was time to leave nature behind for a little while and enter the sprawling metropolis that is anchorage.  The best way to describe anchorage as far as appearance is that it has an uncanny resemblance to the suburbs of Chicago.  Lots of strip malls, box stores and fast food

same

joints but nothing of any real character or architectural styling.  That being said, its absolutely wonderful to go into a borders book store or a Best Buy electronics store.  It seems a little silly I suppose but sometimes you miss simple things like these when you are overseas and then upon my return to America I am banished to the end of the road known as homer which really has nothing to offer when it comes to indoor entertainment other then churches and bars, both of which are really depressing.  I made it to REI which is just the greatest outdoors store on earth and I replaced my sandles that died a horrible death on the trail a few weeks ago.  I should have known better really.  The sandals were a gift from my grandmother and although she means well and is a lovely woman, she doesn't know squat about outdoor footwear.  The sandals that I received as a gift look decent enough but were flimsy and shoddily made.  They should never have been put on a 10 mile hike in the middle of Alaska.....i feel responsible for their death.
 
I was able to find the anchorage airport without much trouble but my mind was fooled and now I am sad.  The only time I drive into the anchorage airport is when it is time for me to board my big bird to asia but the picking up of the sister triggered the time to get the hell out of Alaska gene and I really wanted to just get on a plane and get  out of the cold.  It wont be long now but it was a bit of a tease to see that damn airport again before it was actually time to get going.

The drive back to homer was uneventful and I dropped the two girls off at the cabin that they are living in around 1am (they are staying in my friend walts spare cabin).  The cabin was all spruced up and nice except for the 5 or 6 guns lying about here and there.  I think it threw the 

front of my restaurant (job #2)

girls for a loop but they were too tired to really notice and complain.  Its Alaska, guns are just what people do, its not a big deal.

on a final note on the situation, sam the ex girlfriend is driving to anchorage on saturday and boarding a plane for st louis on sunday.  to say that im relieved and happy would be an understatment.  i dont wish her any ill will, i just want her out of my life on a permanant basis and that time has finally arrived.  as the rock group motley crue once sang..........girl dont go away mad, girl just go away.