Homer

As I'm seriously thinking about moving back to the Lower-48 at the end of this year, I thought I'd make a list of things I'll miss about Alaska if I do leave:

My Alaska Bridge to Somewhere project: While nobody has asked me what bridge I'd like to build in Alaska, my first choice is -- and has always been -- a bridge to make it much faster to get from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula. The current long drive around the Turnagain Arm is certainly nice for first-time tourists -- especially if you don't mind getting in a caravan behind a slow-moving RV until your head explodes. But after you've been down that road once, what you really want to do 98% of the time is just get to the Kenai Peninsula.

Just a quick note: As I just heard a bunch of noise in the parking lot while working, I looked outside, and was reminded that they don't put salt on the roads here in Alaska; they put down gravel instead.

One of the really beautiful things about the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska is the emerald green water that can be found in the local rivers and lakes. The following two photos were taken on my recent trip to Seward, Alaska.

This first photo is a long-distance view of Exit Glacier in Seward, with a beautiful green stream in the foreground.

As I mentioned earlier this spring, I landed here in Wasilla because it was basically the only place available. When I first moved here I looked at areas like Kenai and Soldotna, but didn't like them much. I love Homer and Seward, but couldn't find a place to live I could afford. I lived in Talkeetna in 2007, and while I still love that little town, I don't know I could live there during the winter. So this spring the choices came down to Anchorage and Wasilla.

I'm not sure what happened to all the ravens in Alaska -- specifically the ravens that were in Wasilla, Alaska -- but they have all gone ... somewhere.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a few ravens in Talkeetna. (Talkeetna is about 75 minutes north of Wasilla.) There were a few there, but not many, maybe three. This is in stark contrast to ravens being everywhere when I first moved back to Alaska in March and April. Several times I walked out of stores or restaurants only to be greeted by ravens looking for a handout.

In the most interesting news of the day -- okay, besides wondering about Mount Redoubt -- an avalanche closed down the Seward Highway for several hours today. The avalanche occurred in an area just south of Girdwood. Here's a link to the rough location on Google Maps.

Mount Redoubt erupted twice again this morning, with a blast at 9:24 a.m. that went up to 65,000 feet. (That's over 12 miles, straight up.) Commercial airline flights in southcentral Alaska have come to a halt, or a near halt. The National Weather Service is saying that there might be ash-fall of up to an eighth of an inch in Homer.

For full details, the Anchorage Daily News has the story and some incredible pictures.

I've been reading the news stories about Mount Redoubt the last few days, and it looks like it really is an active volcano, and may soon kick out some lava and ashes. One of the pictures I've attached below has the phrase "fire and ice", and all I can say is no kidding, an active volcano in the middle of winter -- how cool is that?

I don't know too much about Mt. Redoubt yet, but I'll share what I do know. I've been to Homer several times, and these pictures were taken from Highway 1 (the Sterling Highway), somewhere between Ninilchik and Anchor Point, Alaska, looking across the Cook Inlet at both Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Iliamma. Without any further ado, here are several pictures of Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Iliamma, along with pictures of two road signs that give nice descriptions and history of the mountains and wildlife in this area.

As I took the long drive out of Homer yesterday, I realized for the fourth time what a beat-down that drive is. The first couple times I thought it was just me, but man, that drive wears me out. So instead of driving on to Talkeetna yesterday as planned, I decided to just take a break and stop here in Anchorage.

I think there are several reasons for the beat-down. First, it's roughly a four-hour drive, so it's not something you want to do too often anyway. Second, it's a narrow, two-lane road almost the entire way, and the traffic is heavier on this road than almost any other road I've been on in rural Alaska. That's not to say that's it's heavy, but there is always someone else nearby, so the chances of spotting wildlife are remote. Third, though you could easily drive faster in most spots, the speed limit is 55 MPH most of the way.