What a crazy-long day of travel. Sarah and I were up and on our way to the airport in San Jose by 4:30 am, so we could start our long grinding trip North to Alaska. To get there as cheap as we possibly could, we had to fly from SJ to LAX, where we had a 3 hour layover, before flying 3.5 hours to Minneapolis, where we had another 3.5 hour layover before catching our final flight of 6 hours to Anchorage. All said and done, we touched down in AK around 12:15 am. It was quite the day.
Some highlights were surely watching the crazy old man in Minneapolis who was using his 3 foot salmon shaped stuff animal as an air guitar and singing as loud as he could for everyone in the terminals enjoyment. It was really funny (and somewhat refreshing) to see someone who simply just doesn't give a damn what you may think of him. He was just living life and having fun. I was disappointed when the airline attendant made him shut down his performance.
Another highlight was the last ten minutes before we touched down in Anchorage. The night sky looked like what you see at dawn when the sun is rising and about to peak over the horizon for that first glimpse of sunlight for the new day, but it was midnight. From the plane's window it looked as if we were scraping the tops of the snow covered mountains that surround the Cook Inlet. We finally were here, Alaska, the last frontier.
We grabbed a cab to the hostel and were greeted with a nice note telling us to make ourselves at home.
Staying in hostels is quickly becoming one of my favorite things about traveling. The people and the stories and adventure that surrounds the hostel style of travel is so appealing and I feel like I am alive and part of something so much bigger and more special that myself. I love the conversations and stories we share with all the adventurous and like minded people. It just feels right.
Today is the 14th, we are staying here another night before we hitch our ride into Homer tomorrow, which is where we'll be calling home for the next 3-4 months. The trip to Homer is about 225 miles but takes nearly 7 hours because of the terrain and it's remoteness on the Kenai Peninsula. It is supposed to be a truly beautiful experience and I just can't wait!
Spending this summer working in Kachemak Bay State Park along with one of my best friends in the world is gonna be amazing...I hear we may even have to be helicoptered into some of the trails we will be working on this summer!! Oh man, so many adventures await in this new and amazing place! I can't wait to get out there!
Until next time.
Kristo
