Saturday August 27

The End

Arrived home around noon and spent the day unpacking and finishing the blog. It's bittersweet to be here and I'm brokenhearted that it's all over. Alaska was astounding, filled with wild places, wild animals and wild people. I'll miss it very, very much.

It was comforting to walk in the door and find a big box with the word Talkeetna on its side lying on the kitchen floor. It had contained all the smoked and frozen salmon I’d mailed home. If fishin' is the mission, all 5 species of salmon and many other interesting fishes can all be caught on a fly rod, on or near the paved roadways of Alaska. I hope to share my experiences with others maybe by giving a seminar about it all at the Fly Fishing Expo in Marlboro, or at the Outdoor Expo at the Centrum in February.

The guy that changed my oil in Fairbanks reset my odometer by accident so I can only estimate that I drove about 12, 000 miles, about a years worth of driving in 75 days. It never once felt like a burden.

Massachusetts has to stop forcing the gas stations to remove the thingy that holds the pump lever down. I filled my gas tank more than 75 times with the lever pinned down and never spilled a drop.

If you see me staring off into space in the next month or two, just leave me be. I just might be thinking the longest days I'd ever seen or the hardest pull I've ever felt in my fly line. I might be thinking of bears or eagles or the cutie who danced MJ at the fair, or the doctor who put the needle in my shoulder to ease the pain, or the West Valley Wolf Pack. I might be thinking of Arctic Thunder!, or the kids hammering humpies in Hope, or the heckler lady that got tossed from the ball game, or my man Mark from Talkeetna, or Rob from Fairbanks, or the wilds of the Arctic Circle.

Extra Big Love to my little SB. You made the trip even better than I'd ever imagined. Thank you so, so much.

Thanks so much for reading my blog. I seriously hope you enjoyed it. Over 7,000 photos were taken during the last two and a half months, the best of which ended up right here in the blog. Maybe I've inspired you to get out, travel, see new things and new places. Travel truly gives you a broad wholesome view of the world and is a learning experience that you can't acquire any other way. Next summer??? Aloha!

Friday August 27

Drove most of the way home. Shacked up near Buffalo and decided to drive the last bit tomorrow morning. The journey is almost over......

Thursday August 26

The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field.

Got to the stadium around noon for a 7pm kick off. Spent the time acquiring tickets, blogging, and talking to people who strolled by the camper and saw where I was from.

Final score, Packers 59, Colts 24. Saw a couple of very good quarterbacks. Manning especially is a genuine field general. The guy can call the play, change the play, and tell his recievers what routs to run without any huddle at all. Aaron Rodgers is no slouch either. I bet he becomes one of the best QB's in the league before long. It was also cool to see former Patriot hero Adam Vinatieri up close.

Overall though, it was pretty cheesy in the land of cheese.....

Examples:

-Ridiculous male cheerleader giant flag guys. You know the type.

-No female cheerleaders. We all know that can be one of the best parts of any Pats game.

-Stupid songs....every time the Packers score they play "I Don't Want to Work, I Just Want to Bang on the Drum All Day"......I don't even get that.

-Silly Packer Chant, "Go Pack Go" set up by even sillier music.

-No seats! All benches....just like the old Foxboro Stadium. Even the expensive seats were benches.

-Lame quiet fans. No intensity like the rabid fans in Gillette.

-Crowd full of uptight rich families.The insanely rowdy (and drunk) 18 to 40 year old male was in the vast minority.

-Microtrons as opposed to Jumbotrons. Foxboro's are WAY bigger. Miami's are even bigger!

-Cheeseheads...need I explain?

The best parts were that I could see great and I brought my binoculars in to get an even closer look. They served cheese curds at the snack bar that were pretty good. The stadium itself felt small but in a good way, sort of what Fenway might feel like to a visitor.

Busted out 3 more hours driving after the game. All of Wisconsin is under road construction.

Wednesday August 25

More uninteresting driving. Closed out the day in Wisconsin. My mission was to go to the Colts Packers game in Green Bay tomorrow night.

Today's highlight? Took the best shower of the summer at a truck stop, hot and hard, just the way I like it.

Had chicken pesto pasta for dinner at a place called the Red Robin. They had TV's everywhere, somehow even had one inside the mirror in the men's room.

Tuesday August 24

Time to fly.....

Drove all day to Hill City, South Dakota and was rewarded for my efforts with dinner at the Alpine Inn. They only have one thing on the menu and it's dirt cheap, filet mignon. Stopped twice here last year and was pleased to discover that the food was still delicious.

Drove another 4 hours and stopped at Wall Drug for an hour. Slept in Mitchell, SD.

I guess when you drive all day the story isn't that interesting.

Monday August 23

Spent the day fishing the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody. Guys in the fly shop hyped it so much that I had to give it a go. Moved from spot to spot throughout the day and managed one monster among other smaller fish. I had it in my head that this would probably be my last day fishing on the trip so I savored the moments.

Back to Cody I had breakfast for dinner at a place called Grammy's.

Sunday August 22

Got up late and browsed the shops on Main Street Cody again. Headed to the Sierra Trading Post Outlet store. I'd been there before and found some great deals. Walked out with a new jacket, hat, and pair of gloves all for dirt cheap.

Met Sis and Ian at the historic Irma Hotel for lunch. The Irma Hotel was started by Buffalo Bill Cody himself and is a relic from the wild west. We all went for the buffet.

With that, it was time to bid farewell to my sister and her husband. I was more than pleased to hear my sis say that it had been her best vacation ever. It was nice to have visitors on my trip and it was great to be able to share such an amazing place with them.

The last few days were all out and I was pretty exhausted. I spent the rest of the day asleep. At night the wind howled and shook the camper violently.

Saturday August 21

Ok, here goes. The horseback ride was the most stressful thing I did all summer. It was pretty horrible. Here’s the story. The horse in front of me bites the horse in front of it which belongs to Ian. Ian’s horse does the double back kick and wheels around and they square off, both horses pawing the ground. In all the commotion the horse in front of me backs up causing my horse to get crushed into the one behind me. All the horses are spinning around and the dust is flying. This all happens 2 minutes into the ride. Sweet……only 2 more hours to go.

5 minutes later it all happens again. The wranglers are yelling at people and everyone is freaked out. It was scary. Personally I don’t know how Ian kept going on the ride. I would have been freaked out. The kid’s horse was angry and he was on it.

For some reason the horse I was on wanted to walk with his head over the back of the one in front of it. I spent most of the 2 hour ride looking at the back of the horse in front of me and pulling on the reigns to back him off. It was torture. I think there was some nice scenery on the ride but I wasn’t looking. I still don’t like horses.

At one point even one of the wrangler's horse was freaking out rearing up on hind legs. She was screaming for help and yelling for the leader to slow the group down. These are the people who are supposed to be in charge.

It took us at least an hour to de-stress after the ride. We were all completely freaked out.

On our way out of the park we saw something you don’t see every day. A huge grizzly bear crossed the road in front of us and then swam slowly across the Yellowstone River. It was cool to see his neck and head moving as he paddled with the rest of his body under water.

Got out the chairs and watched the bison jam up traffic at fishing bridge. Some people sat in their cars a long time waiting for the road to clear.

Headed out of the park for Cody, Wyoming. Visited Wayne's Boot Shop and strolled around town before hitting the rodeo at night. The rodeo is always great. I still can't believe that they run it every single night in June, July, and August. After the show I met a little girl who showed me how to throw the lasseau. Her dream was to own her own horse, so her family uprooted from New Jersey and headed west. She was granted her wish by the "Make a Wish Foundation" and now gets to ride "Snow" every day.

After the rodeo we hit the Silver Dollar Bar and Grill in town where we were treated to some amazing drunken antics by the locals as well as some pretty mean 2 steppin'.

Friday August 20

Immediately saw 2 coyote pups chasing after the million moths that were flying around. Got great looks with the binoculars and scope. Took some complimentary showers at the Old Faithful Inn that were not as powerful or hot as last years.

Other animals we saw today included sand hill cranes, pronghorn, bison, and both Grizzly and Black bear. The looks at the Grizzly and Black bear were awesome. The Black Bear in particular was so close. My sister was the first person to see the Grizzly and before long there were hundreds of people looking out at the beast…but it all started with her.

If nature is the religion then the Lamar Valley is the chapel. There’s not a nicer place to be on earth. The views are endless and the animals are everywhere.

Capped off the day with a ranger talk at the campground. It was about all the nature you could see in the park. The ranger had a little system putting little diamonds next to the animals. No diamond for an animal you could see without trying, 3 diamonds for the impossible, the mountain lion for example. We saw at least 2 of the 2 diamond animals today. Love the ranger talks. The guy sets up a fire in the pit next to the stage and does his thing. It’s dark and quiet and even a little cold…..love it.

There were a few characters in the crowd that were funny. My sis was rolling in the isles over one guy who responded to everything the ranger said. Let’s just say he was into the talk. Another guy was taking photos of every animal the ranger put on the screen, no doubt, going home and showing all his friends the animals he “saw”.

Horseback ride tomorrow…….scared.