Alaska Trip March 14, 2006--Day 11

Today will be a hard one to beat in terms of fun and panoramic views. Before we arrived in Nome, Aunt Bonnie had bid upon (and won) a helicopter flight at an auction- a 30 minute ride in a million dollar helicopter. The helicopter is normally used for mail flights between mainland Alaska and Little Diomede island.

We had to plan our flight based on the fact that the copter can fly at about 2 miles a minute, and that we had a 1/2 hour of fly time. We decided to head out into the country near the Dexter cabin, land on top of Bear Mountain, and then land on top of "Peak 2712," one of the highest in the immediate area. After that, we flew to Aunt Bonnie's Cape Nome house, and then headed back into Nome. We saw some spectacular mountains and had 360 degree views of the countryside. There was no wind and the weather was crystal clear, which made for a great ride.

The copter crew (L to R): "Cruddy" Bob Dunbar, Moi, Marci M.D., Sandy Mazen

Top of Bear Mountain with the Kigluiak (Sawtooth) Range in the background:

Marci on top of Peak 2712:

Cape Nome House from the air:


Following our day of flight and sightseeing, we went and helped cousin Pat with some set design for a local play on the life of Helen Keller, and then had dinner at Pat and Sue's. We played Quiddler until about 12 AM, when we heard on the radio that Jeff King had been spotted outside of Nome by the radio station's spotter vehicle.
We walked downtown and watched Jeff make his way down Front Street with his team, which was highlighted by his lead dog carrying a red light. From my viewpoint it looked like Rudolph leading Santa's team of reindeer towards the finish line.

The vicinity of the burled arch finish was a total zoo, moreso than usual, probably because it was an Alaskan champion this year...I'm glad Jeff won, because he's a nice guy and a great innovator...he also happens to be Iditarod's oldest champion!

Today/tonight the mushers continue to trickle in. As I write this, the 14th musher, Aliy Zirkle, has just completed the race. We expect to see Martin in this evening after his mandatory 8-hour layover in White Mountain. Until next time!

Alaska Trip, March 10-13, 2006--Days 7-10

We've been in Nome a few days now, and it has been really relaxing. I wanted to wait to post until I had enough to report, because I figured watching movies and checking the race on the Internet didn't rank up there with moose sightings and fighting shower stalls...

So, we started Day 7 in Homer by waking up at the (butt) crack of dawn and getting down to the airport for our flight to Anchorage. We left Homer at 5:15 AM, and then flew to Anchorage to change planes for our flight to Nome. The guy at the Homer terminal had told me that without my ID, the wait in security might be about 15 minutes longer. Here's what happened....nothing. I told the lady in security that my ID had been mailed to me and was waiting for me in Nome, and she let me through, no questions asked (no other probing or prodding, either).

The flight was tiring and uneventful, and when we arrived in Nome, Auntie Bonnie let us know that she had planned a sled dog ride for us in the country (out near the old family cabin in Dexter). At 3:30, we were met in town by Conner Thomas, a two-time Iditarod veteran, and we followed him out to his house in the Dexter area. He put together a team of about 12 dogs....

Marci was the first to ride. The dogs were going crazy and tugging at the harnesses from moment one. I tried to record some audio to include on here, but I didn't have the camera set up right I guess. Anyway, when Connor pulled up anchor on the dog sled, the team rocketed out of the yard at about 30-40 mph (or so it seemed). Marci must have gotten some mild whiplash at the beginning. We tried to follow on the snowmachine and sled with Connor's wife, but ended up having an equipment malfunction on the trail. Dad and I had to use bailing wire to jury rig the spark plug wire back on so that we could limp back to Connor's house. By that time, Marci had gotten a heck of a sled ride with the team, and it was my turn. We started out by going straight up a hill...I was surprised how much weight the team could pull up such an incline. They sure are powerful animals. My ride was probably only a few miles, but it was really nice...

Days 8 and 9 in Nome were pretty much lounging around, walking downtown, shopping, and watching movies from Bonnie's movie library. Dad and I took a 2 mile hike in the wind down to the Swanberg dredge and back. Last nite, we were on Safety Patrol for Nome, which involved driving around downtown for about a 3 hour shift, looking for drunks and suspect activity. Bonnie volunteers for this activity every year, and this year we actually got some pretty cool hats for helping out. We didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 AM, and then woke up really late in the AM today.

I will blog again about our scheduled helicopter trip...we get 1/2 hour air time, anywhere we want to fly...we may actually get to see some of the mushers coming into Nome! Until then...

Alaska Trip March 7-9, 2006, Homer, Days 4-6

Time sure flies when you're on vacation and having fun. Here's a summary of the last few days:

Day 4: March 7, 2006.

Lunch at Cafe Cups in Homer. Excellent place to stop if you're ever here. We went back to Dad's cabin for more destruction. I settled my dispute with the shower stall by folding it into 3 pieces and loading it into the truck for it's final death march to the local landfill. We managed to tear out the kitchen sink, the "marijuana room" (where the previous owner had obviously been growing plants), and the toilet (too disgusting to discuss here). Later we went to the Homer version of REI, called "The Gear Shed," where Marci and Dad made some purchases. Dinner was at "Fat Olive's," a great pizza/beer/wine joint. Some of the best pizza we'd ever had, and got to sample some more of Homer's local brew.

Day 5: March 8, 2006.

Finished up minor cleanup and screw tightening at the cabin, followed by a tour of some Homer art galleries. Also made it out on the Spit to the Salty Dawg to get a friend a sweatshirt, and to try to find a geocache (we struck out due to some snowdrifts). Click on photos for the full pic:
We also checked out my favorite lighthouse for some photos...

We visited some local art galleries, and Dad also got to set up some accounts for the propane and electricity at the cabin. Late in the day, we did some more geocaching near a local "Islands and Oceans" museum, which led us to a snowy trail. I was busy fiddling with the GPS (looking down), and when I was about 12 feet from the geocache location, I looked up...into the face of a moose. There was a huge moose laying almost precisely where the geocache was supposed to be...scared the living crap out of me. I accepted it as fate that I was supposed to find the moose instead of the cache, and moved along....later in the evening we visited Cuz Ken to return his tools, and finished the day with Ken and Linda for dinner at the "Homestead" in Kachemak Bay. Again, great food (notice a trend?), and great company.

Day 6:March 9, 2006.

Today we got up for our flight to Nome, fairly early. Got to the Homer airport at about 7:15, only to discover that our flight was to be late. The guy at the airport counter reported that the tardiness of the flight would most likely interfere with our travel plans (partially due to the fact that I am without ID, too). We had to reschedule our flight to Nome for the 10th. We spent the day shopping, had afternoon coffee at Captain's, and took a great snowshoe to look for another geocache (struck out again!).

After our hike, we headed to Anchor Point, the western-most highway point in the U.S.

to see the sunset. We watched the sun set and Mt. Augustine spew ash from the cab of the truck, toasty warm with plenty of wine and cheese. Tomorrow, to Nome!!!

Alaska Trip March 6, 2006--Homer, Day 3

Today we were lazy all morning. Perfect morning to be in vacation mode. I checked the Iditarod results on line and updated the blog while Marci made us a crab and jack cheese omelette and we drank about a pot of coffee a piece. The local blend is pretty darn good!

About noon, the water truck guy came by to fill up Aunt Bonnie's supply tank, and Dad observed. Then Dad took off to go to his cabin, and Marci and I made the 0.4 mile trek on snowshoes. It was just enough distance to get warmed up for destruction activities at the cabin.

I have observed that there's something extremely cathartic about cutting loose with a hammer and some cordless power tools. I went to work trying to tear the shower stall out of the bathroom, which became quite a task. The shower was wedged pretty tight into about a 3.5 foot space, and I had to deal with getting the drain out of the way first. I finally grabbed a cordless circular saw and cut the drain out by making a series of about 10 slices around the perimeter. I was able to move the shower out into the main bathroom area, but got it wedged between the door and another wall and effectively locked me in. After Marci rescued me, I got wise and started beating the hell out of the base of the shower with a hammer (while thinking of nasty clients back home). I cut a few sections out of the shower base so that it would "fold" a little bit to create more room. I think I put a beating on the shower stall, but it's still standing/leaning and still isn't out of the bathroom, so I will have to pummel it into the final rounds of submission later today.

Marci managed to pull out the countertops, the kitchen and bathroom sinks, the curtain hangers and a shelf, so the place is starting to take on that "gutted cabin" feel. At about 4 o'clock, we went to the local landfill with a truckload of trashed building supplies. Landfills are interesting in Homer in that they're free. And, they're a great resting point for scavenging bald eagles.

Sandy Mazen treated us to a great dinner around 5, preceded by Alaskan Pale Ale and Snoqualmie's Naked Gewurztraminer, smoked salmon and cheese. Dinner was honey-glazed Alaskan King salmon, salad and rice. An excellent meal. We finished off our day back at Bonnie's by watching an episode of La Femme Nikita, Season 3.

As for the race....looks like former Iditarod champs Doug Swingley and Jeff King are leading the pack this AM, but we won't know the real story about the mushers and their positions until after the 24 hour layover. Martin is cruising with an fast team, and is resting in Rohn after the ascent over Rainy Pass.

That's all for now...time for a cup of Joe!

Alaska Trip March 5, 2006--Homer, Day 2b

I woke up this AM early, since my wife saw it fit to "burrito" all of the covers away from me at some time in the night. I heard Dad having a coughing attack in the next room, and I was pretty thirsty, so I got up. That was about 6:30 AM. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I blogged out yesterday's activities and then watched the sun rise from Bonnie's front room while e-mailing the Mom. Marci and Dad got up in the 8 o'clock hour, and we all lazed about a while before getting ready to go to meet Ken at Bishop Beach to check out his beach house. After a quick stop at Captain's Coffee (where Ken managed to find us..he's good at this!), we headed down the beach in both of Ken's Toyota 4WDs to the beach cabins. I had been there in 2002, and when we arrived I noticed how much the place had changed. He has added two lower cabins, one a bedroom, and one a sauna, and one bigger place above the "middle" cabin (the only one that was there when I was here before). In addition, he had built a small sleeping quarters to the west of the main cabin areas, which looked pretty cozy.

We had some sandwiches and soda at Ken's cabin, and then took some pictures of a little mink, apparently a local resident. We learned from Ken that we were perhaps some of the only California natives to ever see a mink in the wild. They are cute looking critters, but I imagine they have quite a temper if they need to.

After driving back down the beach into town, we stopped by Dad's cabin to show Ken the "damages." He made a lot of suggestions on what to tear down and what to try to salvage. We proceeded to rip out a bunch of paneling, several junky looking shelves, and prepped the bathroom for removing basically everything. We tried to start a fire with the used paneling, but it didn't spark up.

Following our 3 hour cabin cleaning efforts, Ken and Linda invited us to dinner again. We ate pasta and faux veggies (Quorn), which was surprisingly good. Afterwards, we had a quick slide show of pictures from Dad's camera for the day, and had some excellent champagne that Ken got for his 50th birthday. We finished our day by checking out Ken's used book collection on Nome and on Alaskan history. Ken gave me a copy of Rex Beach's "The Spoilers," and signed it.
I drove us home and we dropped a bunch of borrowed tools for tomorrow's activities at Dad's cabin along the way. After cleaning out Aunt Bonnie's kitchen, I have made it as far as the computer. Starting to melt down, however. We have a big day tomorrow.

Alaska Trip March 4, 2006--Homer, Day 2a

Following breakfast at Cousin Ken's house, we left and checked out Sandy Mazen's pad. A pretty nice place in town. The weather was outstanding...clear, and nothing like the weather that had been forecast (snowy). Sandy invited us over for dinner on Monday night, and we accepted.

After leaving Sandy's, we drove out to check out Dad's new cabin. We have photos, but I will have to show some of those later. There was enough snow to snowshoe the 200 feet or so up to the front of his cabin, but the shoes weren't really necessary. After looking around inside, (Marci did jumping jacks to stay warm), we realized that the previous owner hadn't really known what he was doing, in a construction sense, and had messed up the sheet rock pretty well. In addition, the shower was dark orange (stained from the iron bacteria water problem in the well), and so was the kitchen sink and the toilet. The walls were covered with a hideous paneling. It was easy to make a list of things that had to go!

Later, we drove down the road to Aunt Bonnie's cabin and settled in...unloaded our stuff for our stay. We then drove into town with our laundry list of things to get for the cabin. After getting a little food at Don Jose's Cantina, we checked out Spenard's hardware and the True Value hardware stores. We found all kinds of good stuff for the cabin, but at a slightly higher price than would be expected in California. Comes with the territory. Cousin Ken managed to track us down in the True Value, and invited us over for dinner. Linda cooked us up a seafood feast, complete with salad, rockfish, shrimp, and Alaskan King crab. Very good stuff. We chatted and drank wine until about 10ish, then got in our borrowed Toyota and headed back to Bonnie's cabin. A very LONG day, but very nice. The bed was soft and inviting, and we all zonked out pretty quickly.

Alaska Trip March 3-4, 2006--Homer, Day 1

Well, Marci, Dad and I made it to Homer. It was a long haul, and we're tired, but we're here. We started in Sac at 7 PM, and wouldn't you know it, I forgot my flippin' money clip and ID. Not a great way to start a trip. The guy at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter made it sound like I was going to have an awful time getting through security, but it wasn't too bad. I got taken aside and patted down, and then a security guy had to search the inside of my carry-on travel bag. That was it! Good thing I had already ditched my portable thermo-nuclear device in Dad's check-through baggage!

After a short flight to Portland, we got off the plane and grabbed a quick bite to eat, then it was back on the plane for the 3 1/2 hour leg to Anchorage. The flight was uneventful. I tried to nap, but in those sardine-tight seats it's damn near impossible.

Once in Anchorage, we found the ERA flight check in counter, which reportedly didn't open until 4 AM. Perfect time to check into some sleep on the airport's fine "sleeping" benches (with the help of IPod). I think we all managed a couple of hours of sleep before being woken up by the "Yamal-Russia" Arctic Winter Games team. All 30-some odd members of the team managed to get in the line at ERA before us (rather, they camped out in front of the check-in counter), which resulted in a long wait once we woke up around 5:15 AM or so. Finally, we got to check in, and the lady at the ERA counter gave me some attitude about not having an ID. She got to search my bag as well (but only my check-in bag!?), and we were on our way.

The flight to Homer in the puddle jumper airplane was quite nice, but not at all quiet (Note to self: bring earplugs next time) We landed safely in Homer and my cousin Ken and our family friend Sandy Mazen were there to greet us. After a trip to Ken's house (where his girlfriend Linda fixed us breakfast of sausage and eggs), we watched the sun rise over Kachemak Bay. Spectacular. And then our day began...