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!