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...