A Small Taste of Home

Since today is a relatively flexible schedule, I decide to clean up the airplane,do some re-packing and fly to Homer. Judy arrives tomorrow and this is one of the places that we are thinking of visiting. Before leaving Soldotna, I walked over to the Kenai river in hopes of seeing some fishermen chasing salmon, but no one was around. The river is high and moving fast, but beautiful.

The flight to Homer takes less than an hour andI takeaway cab to the “Spit”, which is where the harbor lies.the area is popular for sport fishing charters, kayak tours and various other adventure travel excursions.
As I walk along the street,watching the tourists and fishermen hustling to depart, I enjoy not having to rush anywhere today. The weather has turned more typical for southeast Alaska, cool temps and overcast skies. There is rain in the forecast so I decide to get underway for Wasilla where I will spend the night, pick up the rental car and drive into Anchorage to pick up Judy tomorrow. I fly across the Cook Inlet at Kenai, which reduces my time over water to around 25 minutes. The overcast is at 1800 feet with scattered scud day clouds below. Once across the inlet, the weather deteriorates as I approach Wasilla until I am flying at 700 AGL with 4 miles visibility in mist. The landing is uneventful and I taxi around a bit searching for transient parking. One of the differences I have observed about these airports is that very few have services for transient aircraft in the way we see other places. Most fuel is self service,and there is often no FBO providing crew cars, tie downs, etc. Perhaps there is not as much transient activity as we see elsewhere. Maybe most aircraft are based here and don’t require these services. Interesting though. I hunt up a fellow who directs me to a parking spot. Another difference… No tie down ropes are provided. This is not a problem as I have my own, but it is a difference. Maybe ropes don’t work we’ll where snow and ice would freeze them to the ground. After securing the cubmobile, I call a cab to take me to the Best Western Lake Luceille. It is a neat facility on the shore of a beautiful lake from which floatplanes are busily moving about.

After getting settled, doing some chores and a small nap, I walk about a mile to a Mexican restaurant where I find excellent quesadillas and cold Bohemia beer. Reminds me of home and I spend an hour visiting with some of the locals. Much has been written about Alaskans, often suggesting that they are either running from something or running towards something else. In my experience so far, I find them to be self reliant and friendly once you engage them in conversation. Sort of like folks in Texas. Many lead interesting lives, working hard and enjoying the outdoors. The young people who provide much of the services often live somewhere else and come to Alaska for summer work.

It feels good to sleep in a real bed for a change, but I am looking forward to the next adventure.