How long does it take to get from Homer, Georgia, to Homer, Alaska?
Well, that depends.
Northeast Georgia’s Homer is 33 miles from where I live. And the journey to Alaska took me 76 years, seven months, 27 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes.
But why did I wind up 4,578 miles from home anyway?
In our family of 16—when vacation travel is on the ballot—popular vote rules. Alaska was this year’s winner. The soundtrack of the adventure was Dionne Warwick’s song “Trains and Boats and Planes.” We rode them all. And after 10 days of rambling around in America’s 49th state, here’s a sampler pulled from my mental backpack:
§ The museum on the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska was a good first stop for a short course on the state’s history, people, nature and wildlife. A walk through the botanical garden was a preview of the floral wonders awaiting. Flowers flourish in Alaska’s almost endless days of sunshine. And if you think cold weather kills mosquitoes, think again. Those pesky blood-suckers could be Alaska’s state bird.
§ An eight-hour ride south—sitting in the glass dome of the Wilderness Express, atop the tail-end railcar of the Alaska Railroad—gave us a panoramic view of the rugged beauty. Every scene was a postcard-worthy photograph. For some of our eight grandchildren, this was their first train ride.
§ Talkeetna, an unincorporated village of 997 people, captivated everyone. To accentuate its laidback culture, Aurora (a cat) is the honorary mayor. And if you walk to the dead end of Main Street—chocked with a mishmash of eclectic architecture—you might get a look at North America’s king of mountains, Denali, aka Mount McKinley.
§ On our river-raft float, both guides pleaded, “Take my picture.” They were startled by the clear view of the 20,310-foot king and his court of adjoining mountains that are typically shrouded in clouds. Twice, grandsons and their dads, with Denali in the background, caught salmon in the Chulitna River. In excited unison, they reported, “Incredible.” (Yes, on every family trip, fishing poles and tackle are carry-on “luggage.”)
§ There wasn’t a universal favorite, but Homer was high on everyone’s list. The Homer Spit is a 4.5-mile-long skinny finger of earth that sticks into the heart of Kachemak Bay. The salt air, raucous seagulls, chatter about catching halibut and salmon, snow-capped mountains, and boats of every kind said to me, “This is the Alaska that I imagined.”
§ A 15-minute water-taxi ride delivered us to the off-the-grid Odyssey Lodge, perched on the hillside of a high-tide island. From kayaking to hiking to pointing out breathtaking vistas to meals to remember, the eager-to-please staff made it happen.
§ And Alan, Emily and Eric, along with their spouses and their children, made a “first” happen for Odyssey. The lodge’s water taxi took 14 of our family to China Poot Bay’s Kachemak Bay State Park, which has no facilities, and dropped them off for eight hours of unguided exploring and fishing. Pam and I chose books over sloshing around in the rain.
With his flyrod, grandson Wyatt Wilson caught and released a guesstimate of 40 rainbow trout. His dad, Tom, said, “The salmon were stacked so thick in the stream, it seemed as if you could walk across their backs to the other side.” Alan, Eric and Tom froze and lugged home 60 pounds of wild salmon filets in their coolers.
Sitting around the dinner table in Anchorage, I was quizzed about my favorite memory. I recapped all of the above before choosing.
As a grandfather, I cherished most the smiles, the wide-eyed wonderment, the nonstop laughter and the arm-in-arm best-buddies camaraderie of our eight grandchildren. All along the way, strangers complimented Wyatt, Hayes, William, Henry, Fenn, Bayard, Smith and Stella on their politeness, congeniality and obvious love for each other.
That memory will keep me smiling forever.
I am a lucky grandpa.
But I didn’t have to experience the Homer-to-Homer-and-back trip to discover that.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
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One of the highlights of the 10-day Alaska adventure was rafting down the Chulitna River in Talkeetna and getting a rare view of North America’s tallest mountain, unobstructed by clouds. With Denali, aka Mount McKinley, in the background are, from left, Dink NeSmith, Heather NeSmith, William NeSmith, Fenn NeSmith, Alan NeSmith, Emily N. Wilson, Smith Wilson, Wyatt Wilson, Henry Wilson, Hayes Wilson, Tom Wilson, Stella NeSmith, Eric NeSmith, Connell NeSmith, Bayard NeSmith and Pam NeSmith. |
