We were right about the windshield view. It went from this when we arrived.
To this the next morning.
Scored a moose by the roadside.
A momma moose and two kids!
Munching in the flowers. 157617580144.7740.558216555641856017@FeluriaAB90” style=”width:5.7833in;height:3.8416in” width=”555″/>
We meet up with our bus driver, Mark.
Who is also our airplane driver.
The plane is a Cessna Skymaster 336 twin engine push/pull.
One engine in front.
One engine in back.
Luke, a friend of Mark’s, joined us.
He’s riding with us today. When he flies, it’s this Cessna 152 Magnum, tricked out with big tires for rough bush pilot landings in the back country.
We crossed the Cook Inlet to the west, and got a look at the biggest peak over there, an active volcano.
Did some low-level flightseeing.
That’s how we got to the beach with the bears yesterday; Mark landed us on it.
When we were through with the bears, he flew us into some serious back country.
Past the volcano.
And glaciers.
Many glaciers.
And that volcano.
Always with a puff at the top from the sulphur escaping.
We flew back across the beach.
Across the water.
Back over the spit. (I can just make out the bus way out there from here.)
For a slam-dunk landing back at the little airport in Homer.
Another awesome experience. It took sixty years to get here to Alaska, but we’re making the most of it now.
Digging for clams.
Brown bears.
In a really scenic setting.
Up close.
And wandering off into the mist.
A short drive to Homer Spit.
The first view of the spit in the distance looking down.
The approach.
And we’re there. The view from our windshield.
I think there is going to be more to the view than we can see today.
The Great 2019 Alaska Trip map
The Alaska portion of the trip
4,560 Miles to Sandpipers.
Cruising the Sterling Highway south to Anchor Point.
We’re driving two-lane highway, but Alaska has done a great job with passing lanes and pullouts. No trouble with traffic. And the fireweed. All along the highways there are fields of purple fireweed in bloom; sometimes entire mountainsides.
It is truly spectacular.
We’re still covering new ground. Driving these highways is like discovering Colorado all those years ago. Every new highway a new adventure, a new wonder.
Tonight we have a room with a view;
…the ocean from a distance, on the other side of a meandering river meadow.
Kyllonen’s RV Park
The Great 2019 Alaska Trip map
The Alaska portion of the trip
At Anchor Point, all these miles later, we just ran into our next-door neighbors from Fairbanks!
4,541 Miles to Sandpipers.
