AK Trip Days 2-3, Lounging in Homer

Well, it feels like we couldn't have been much more lazy in the last couple of days...lounging around Aunt Bonnie's cabin and Dad's new cabin, and taking the short jaunt into town several times for supplies and a meal or two.

Two evenings ago, Dad and I got a call from my cousin Kenny, who invited us over for dinner on Sunday night. Ken's girlfriend, Linda, fixed us a nice meal of grilled/BBQ chicken, broccoli, wild rice, and appetizers of crackers and smoked salmon. Good stuff. After dinner we were treated to some of Linda's homemade blueberry and raspberry wine. Excellent. After a nice post-dinner visit, Ken was off to work to (apparently) deliver a baby, and we were off back to Dad's cabin for some cleanup and arranging (until approximately midnite).

Yesterday we spent going to Ulmer's and Spenard's Building Supply (Homer's hardware stores), and of course to Captain's Coffee for some joe.

It's been nice catching up on sleep and pleasure reading these last few days (I'm reading a pretty good true-life Search and Rescue book called "Lost In The Woods."), and of course, checking in on the Iditarod, where plenty has happened in the last several days.

The lead mushers are in an area between the Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints, part of which is contains the 35 mile stretch known as the Farewell Burn (site of Alaska’s largest forest fire, which burned up a million and a half acres in the summer of 1978) . According to trail reports, the section between Rohn and Nikolai this year is, for the most part, barren. There's a good story from Anchorage Daily News about this section here.

Martin is still in the top five on the Rohn to Nikolai stretch, and his speeds between earlier checkpoints so far indicate that he's got a fast team. We hope that he's taking it easy on this section, as it is often tough on the dogs (and mushers) to navigate without snow on the trail. Up to this point the trails have been slick and fast.

Two of the upper echelon Iditarod mushers have scratched this year, due to crashes and injuries. Four time champ Doug Swingley, and one of our favorite mushers, DeeDee Jonrowe, both broke bones and scratched after hitting the same patch of ice. Read DeeDee's story here, and Doug's story here.

Currently in the lead is Lance Mackey, who comes from a family of famous Iditarod mushers. He is wearing bib number 13, which has significance because his Dad (Dick) and half brother (Rick) were both wearing the number when they won the Iditarod in 1978 and 1983, respectively. Lance won the Yukon Quest again this year, so we know he has a dangerous team.

That's all to report now. Hope all is well for all of you reading on the "outside," as Cowboy Bob:

and other Alaskans call the lower 48.

Oh, I almost forgot...we ate pizza and had some of Homer Brewing's finest ales at Fat Olive's restaurant last nite. Oh YES. I can't decide which brew is the best, that is, between the Red Knot Scottish ale, the China Poot Porter, and the Broken Birch Bitter. Methinks I must take another taste test to find out..maybe a growler full o' the Old Inlet Ale will be the winner?! More to come!

AK Trip--Day 1, Anchorage to Homer Road Trip

Hello all, and welcome back for Iditarod 2007. Here's some photos from our first day in AK . Dad and I flew into Anchorage Friday evening, and stayed at the Lakeshore Inn near Lake Spenard. I started my day with a brisk walk in the sun to "Rent-A-Wreck" to pick up our rental vehicle. A nice tall coffee kept me warm for the hike in the 12 degree weather. After about a 40-minute walk, I drove the Ford Explorer (hardly a "wreck," not a bad way to go if you need a cheap car rental) back to the hotel room, Dad and I loaded up, and hit the road (Highway 1 South) towards Homer.

Along the way, we stopped at several places on the Turnagain Arm (a part of the Cook Inlet) to watch the ice flows move.

As you can see, we had some great weather. For lunch, we stopped in Girdwood, home of the Alyeska ski resort, for lunch at the "Chair 5" restaurant. I had one of the better IPAs I've ever had from Glacier Brewing (Anchorage), and a great spinach salad, nicely balancing out my "good" and "bad" vacation calories. Here is a pic of the slope:

Following lunch, we continued on our road trip south through Cooper Landing, Ninilchik, Soldotna and Anchor Point along our way to Homer. Around sundown, I was able to snap a nice closeup of the volcano, Mt. Iliamna, off the coast to the west:

After reaching Aunt Bonnie's cabin in Homer, Dad and I checked out the new look for his cabin in Homer...he's had a local carpenter and his crew do quite a few internal improvements since last year's visit. Here's what the new kitchen area looks like...quite cozy!

Today's activities are forthcoming...we shall do some shopping for cabin stuff, some hiking/geocaching, and of course, we'll be keeping track of the Iditarod (and hopefully drinking some more great beer). The race restart in Willow took place this morning, so the teams are finally on the move. Our man Martin started with Bib#19, and had a team of happy looking dogs out of the chute. More soon!