The bus ride, or motor coach as they say, back to Anchorage wasn’t bad. Our driver was Tina, Tina Turner. And let me tell you she was a trip and a half. Living in Alaska for nearly twenty years, she currently resides in Wasilla. She is your true Alaskan woman, enjoying all types of outdoor activities including hunting and fishing. With five children and seventeen grandchildren she had some stories to tell. Some of the best ones included having the dedicated chain saw to cut up moose – you quarter them with a chain saw dontchaknow. One of my other favorites was about getting on the “call list” for road kill. Apparently if a moose is hit there is a list one can get on to get a phone call to come and get it. You just have to donate a quarter of it to charity. I kid you not. She was also full of all kinds of history and general knowledge that kept us entertained throughout the five-hour plus ride.

The route stopped at Talkeetna Lodge, which was about mid-way and gave us more than just a chance to pee and stretch our legs. Out on the back deck was this incredible view of … drum roll please … yup, you guessed it – The Mountain. This was our third day in a row of a clear view of McKinley. That don’t just happen (reference to a Luke Bryan song that’s stuck in my head). I was in heaven snapping away and experimenting with different filters. I wish I had more than twenty minutes to play, but twenty minutes was better than nothing and I got some decent shots.

We arrived in Anchorage at 1:15, right on time. Bob and I were starved (yes, again – we eat more than most people so we’ve been told – we are the only people on the planet who eat three meals a day apparently) so we walked around the corner and grabbed some lunch at the museum café, the drop-off point. Then we got a taxi to the Avis place for our rental car. I couldn’t help but laugh when we pulled up. It was a satellite office, and I use that term loosely. I swear it looked like a drive-through coffee place. But it served the purpose and we were on our way by 2:30.

The initial drive once we got through the city was incredible!!! I have never seen a coastline like this before. The road winds through the mountains and the ocean. It was a jaw-dropping ride. I didn’t take many pictures for several reasons; first, the light was all wrong – I would’ve been shooting into the sun; second, we have to drive the same road back to Anchorage on Thursday so I’ll have another opportunity; third, we’re riding the train from Anchorage to Seward Friday morning and I’ll have yet another chance at getting some shots – hopefully with better lighting.

After we left the mountains the drive was pretty boring, until we got to Kenai Lake. The silt from the glaciers filter into the river and lake giving it an unbelievable green color. It was gorgeous!! We stopped to snap some pictures and found a little store to use the restroom and get a drink.

As we got nearer to Homer views of the mountains started peeking through and we got excited all over again. The closer we got the more beautiful the scenery. By the time we got to our “lodge” (again I use that term loosely), we were stoked and starving (there’s that eating thing again!). After checking in to our “cabin” (more on that later), we booked down to the spit to get our fishing license and register for the charter the next morning. Since it would save us 30-45 minutes we really wanted to make that cut-off at 8pm. We had ten minutes to spare. The restaurant a few doors down was recommended and we found ourselves sitting at Captain Pattie’s ordering grilled halibut for dinner. It was divine, melted in our mouths.

Somewhere around 9:30-10:00 we came back to our “cabin” to unpack what we needed for the fishing trip in the morning. I took a shower so I could sleep a little later in the morning. I’m not sure what time I finally turned off the light, somewhere around 11:00 I think.

Cabin details – ok, so when I say cabin I mean cabin. I guess it was really meant for guys (or real Alaskan gals) coming there for hunting and roughing it. One of the first things that struck me was the toilet paper was mounted on the wall BEHIND the toilet. ??? FRO? WTH? What’s really puzzling is that there was room to put it on the wall in front, or beside, the toilet. Maybe a yoga instructor doubled as the carpenter for them. There was absolutely no storage space at all. We were there for three nights – living out of suitcases (three of them – no actually four) yet again. It got pretty messy and out of control. There wasn’t much in the way of service either.

(Side note: One thing I noticed pretty quickly after arriving here was my breathing was so much easier. I had no problems with my asthma at all the entire time we were in Alaska. The air there is so much cleaner than our air at home.)