B & D's USA Hideout

PART 1:

It has taken me a while to write this piece. My hesitation is attributed to my denial that summer is over and has been for quite a while as well as the bittersweet feelings that always arrive after leaving Alaska, unsure of the next time I'll return. I can also say the common demon, procrastination, with a touch of writer's block have also been at play. But I'm here now looking back through hundreds of photos and trying to form the right order of words to describe yet another amazing experience in Alaska. For the most part, I'd like the photos to tell the story but there are a few stories and characters I'd like to tell you about.

To paint the scene, there was endless light and that sweet Alaska summer smell of Pushki and Fireweed in the air. There were a lot of people around and the Spit was plugged with pedestrians and RVs. The fishing hole was lined with curious fisherman and boats were passing port to port in and out of the harbor. Around town I recognized many people but noticed more new. Mostly, the summer started like I'd never left. This time though, nothing had changed, yet everything was different. I was sad when Matt left, but starting work almost didn't’ allow me to think about it too much. Work was busy and quickly consumed my life. Thankfully I had my old pals Sam and Elise and the new kid on the block, Maggie, there to work with me in the tasting room.

Maggie was born and raised in Homer and comes back in the summer to hang out with her awesome family. She is starting her junior year at OSU in Corvallis, Oregon this Fall.

Elise and her husband, Drew, are expecting their first child, a baby boy, in November. Drew and Brian became good friends over the summer. Drew is a halibut charter fishing captain aboard the F/V Patriot. I got to be his deckhand for a day! He and Elise always invite us to tag along with their friends or call about an open fishing spot. They've been true friends the past couple summers.

Sam is a Texas star and a red, rock & blues queen, a good friend and confidant. She and I always had fun closing the winery at night. We’d often celebrate at Alice’s after. Sam organized a wedding for local friends and asked me to be the photographer. I nervously accepted. I am fairly hard on myself but was very happy with a couple photos from that day. I also had a flawless bride to work with at an incredible home venue.

I also had my dear friend, Pam, there in Homer with me. She and her sweet pup, Keta, drove ahead of us on our trek north. Pam was moving to Homer from Portland, Oregon driving the same route she had cycled a couple years prior. She got a job at the infamous bakery, Two Sisters, and was the perfect person to have around all summer. She’d often stop by on my days off after her shift with Keta and we’d drink coffee and go to the beach and watch Keta run.

I can't emphasize enough how meaningful to me it has been to have the casual convenience of great friends at hand. Friends who don't think it is weird to hang out in the camper or sometimes pop over to have coffee or wine or pick me up to go to the farmer's market. Sometimes it is nice to be in a place where you are very much alone, sometimes it is nice to be in a place when you are so very not.

In my off time, I started making my own cards and even got them in a few places around town. I'm working on expanding my photography skills and outreach but it is one baby step at a time.

PART 2:

Brian flew into Homer late July. He made friends immediately, as I knew he would. He also had some business cards made up and ventured to the Spit looking for some part-time work. He found the perfect match at Mako's Water Taxi. Brian reveled as the captain of the 36' Landing Craft "Danika Jaye" and 26 passenger boat "Mighty Quinn". The local knowledge took him some time to get right but this was a dream for him. Shuttling adventure seekers across the Bay, giving guided nature and whale watching tours, and moving cargo was all in a day's work. It was also a bit taxing on both of us. I don't think either of us expected these fun summer jobs to be as stressful as they were at times. But at the height of tourism there is money to be made and hours to be worked. Things did slow down and we were able to take advantage of the perks of spending the summer in Alaska.

We did cross off another bucket list thing for our trip which was; go to a music festival. Salmonfest is held in Ninilchic, just 40 minutes north of Homer on the Peninsula. We towed the Hideout up there and set up shop across the street and up the road from the fairgrounds in a lumpy, grassy field. Pam pulled in right next to us under the spruce tree. She and Sam were volunteers in the beer tent which means they got free admittance to the show after their shift. Brian and I bought tickets months before, knowing we'd be here. We had an absolute blast. Pam and Brian and I met Ray Troll! For those of you who don't know him, Google him! His art is witty and creative and very cool. He designs the logo for the festival and he and his band, Ray Troll and the Ratfish Ranglers, played a couple sets.

Little Laney Bird flew over for a quick visit after spending a week with her sweetie in Juneau. It was short but sweet and Laney and Pam and I, old observer cohorts on another Alaskan ride, attempted to view the epic solar eclipse of 2017 across the Bay. The endeavour did not lead us to see the sun disappear behind the moon, but it did lead us inside Halibut Lagoon to a secluded cabin. When I think about that night, I remember Brian at the wheel of the D.J. and Pam and Keta and Laney and I, our faces illuminated by red light, using the whole booth table as a cheese and cracker board and I remember feeling really happy in this moment. We were headed into the Lagoon late for tidal reasons. It was a little tense navigating our way to the cabin via the bottleneck into the Lagoon and then the dark, slippery, wet path we had to hike in the middle of the night to the cabin, but that just makes for a better story, right?

We had trail-mix pancakes and cowboy coffee at it's finest and headed back across the Bay at the close of a leisurely morn.

Our highlight week was when Caroline came to visit us in September. It was the ideal time because the peak of tourism had passed but most of the seasonal businesses were still open. The weather was not perfect as expected, but accepted. I finished working at the winery over Labor Day weekend while Brian showed Caroline around Homer. Caroline was there for so many events in such a short amount of time it almost seems impossible that it all actually happened. The real shift was a sailor slip Brian had on the D.J. which suddenly landed us in the local hospital. Caroline was an absolute rock. We saw the whole thing from incident to stitch. Caroline knew exactly when to help and when to not. She is so perfectly independent. She was an aid on so many levels and someone I knew I could lean on. Brian was incredibly fortunate and walked out of the E.R. less than 2 hours after we'd rushed him in there. This accident prevented Brian from going back to work by a couple weeks but the wound is healed and he and the hand are doing well now.

While Bri-guy was resting, us girls went across the Bay to play. We met the the most interesting fellow named Felix. He aided us in our failed attempts to start a fire in the rain with wet materials on Glacier Lake. We somehow managed to get it going and enjoyed it for that short while. I had to convince Caroline not to run away with Felix to Costa Rica. Just kidding, but for real, that kid will probably travel the globe.

Brian's spirits bounced back pretty quick and though he was out of commission for any literal "hands on" activities, we still managed some pretty awesome excursions. Bear Viewing was probably the coolest thing I have ever done in all my time spent in Alaska. Brian and Caroline and I showed up to KBay Air upon the requested early hour arrival but were delayed for fog. Fortunately skies cleared and our pilot, Fluffy, yes, Fluffy, flew us and another couple across the Cook Inlet to our 43rd National Park, Lake Clark. The park is comprised of 4 million acres on the Alaska Peninsula and is at the top of the list of least visited parks due to its remoteness and limited accessibility. We had such a clear day for flying. Fluffy landed us on the beach in line with the other Cessna 206s. We plodded through the muck and soft sand in a single file behind our fearless pilot and knelt down when instructed to do so. We huddled around and talked quietly while snapping hundreds of candid movements of grizzly bears. As was explained to us, the bears assume we are some sort of alien that land in their backyard, tip toe around with weird devices held up to our faces and then leave. We keep our distance, don't move too quickly and never bring food or leave anything behind. And for that we were able to witness the everyday humdrum in a bear's life. I have seen many bears in Alaska but it is never often enough to actually get to really watch them. We moved around to get a better look at different groups of bears. We watched a single female mostly lay around, stand up, pee, sit and get comfortable again. The mama bear and cub did the same. The cub is chubby and so cute. Mama pushed off the other female which was exciting to watch. As the tide came in we watched bears saunter out from the tree line to the beach to claw up some salmon for dinner. But as the salt water quickly and quietly swallowed the beach, we too had to go.

The flight home was not something words or even photos could ever really illustrate the beauty of, remoteness, color or feel of the landscape below. With all the rain and overcast skies lately, the pilots took the long way home and we flew around the summits of Iliamna and Redoubt Volcanos'. White steam swirled out of the volcanoes like the way the heat from your first cup of coffee does. Glaciers streaked down mountain sides like candle wax and the river below branched like turquoise veins. We shared cookies, Brian fell asleep, Caroline sat in the co-pilot's seat and the couple in the back tried not to be sick. I mostly mouth breathed on the window and took as many photos as possible and I tried to permanently tattoo the images below in my brain.

So far on Caroline's visit to Alaska we have checked off a number of things off the "I can't believe we saw that" list. For wildlife; bears, otters, whales, puffins and bald eagles. But no moose. Sorry, Caroline. We'd been bar hopping, hospital visiting, bear viewing, hiking across the Bay, we went to a friendsgiving, the end of season winery staff party and to as many of our favorite restaurants we could fit in. Captain Drew took us out fishing on the Patriot and put us on some really nice halibut. Brian was eager to be helpful but it came down to Caroline and I reeling in the 70lbers. We sent her home with a 50lb box of fish for the fam., saved some for us and gave the rest to Capt. Drew. Catch 5 beautiful fish in the halibut fishing capital of the world, check.

On Caroline's last night we had a fire on the beach with a beautiful sunset behind us. We drank Coors Light and the best pizza in the world and laughed about all the things that happened over the week.

PART 3:

Brian and I had a week or so to get everything together and plan our drive to Oregon. In truth I wasn't looking forward to it. I felt like I just did it and remember the stresses of this drive south last season. But I was wrong, the weather was pleasant, the foliage was beautiful and we saw a once in a lifetime display of arora borealis. The lights were so fast and green and just stupidly spectacular. We saw the display over our favorite camping spot on Kluane Lake in the Yukon.

We had a really smoothe ride for the most part and made good time. We did take a wrong turn, which brought us down a one lane dirt road and broke a window but in return we saw a lynx! What a mythical, magical looking creature.

For our Anniversary we took a ferry over to Vancouver Island. We left the Hideout parked at the terminal and drove Star aboard. We reserved a room at the Sook Harbour House and had a really relaxing and restoring weekend. In part this was also a Christmas gift from Tom and Liz, thank you both so much!! We drove into Victoria for the day and walked around the city and over to the wharf. A water taxi brought us back after sushi and ice cream.

The last jaunt was to Astoria, Oregon for a couple nights and then Tillamook from there. My next season with Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife started on October 2nd and Brian went back to work on the 15th.

Well, I wrote more than I wanted to write and it took longer than I wanted it to take but we're here at the end of my Homer write-up. Nothing about our time in Alaska will be forgotten, most memorable of course are the people. Special thank you to The Fry Family and the entire Bear Creek Winery staff as well as Mako Haggerty, the water taxi drivers and lovely ladies in the office, Brian and I are so greatful and so lucky to have had such extraordinary experiences with indefinitely indelible people. The community is what makes Homer addicting. You can find comfort in friends, support and incubation for creativity as well as the necessary solitidude and just to be who you are.

My friend, Christina Whiting, is a writer for the Homer Tribune in her weekly column, Meet Your Neighbor, and did a story about us! Check it out!

http://www.homertribune.com/article/1745adventurous_lifestyle_calls_couple_to_alaska