I got a couple weeks left
I had left Troy New York to come to Anchorage Alaska in order to experience life as I had never known it, but it wasn’t enough to free my mind. My plan was now to travel away from this Northern city out into the untouched wild of Katmai where I would meet some crew and from there maybe earn some cash putting my biology skills to work studying the birds and mammals of the area.
My story starts on the breakdown lane of the only highway leaving Anchorage. After standing there for an hour or so with my thumb out and my nerves on end I discovered that hitchhiking at 7am in Anchorage is not a good idea. You have the commuters, the druggies, the government workers all rushing to go somewhere and never willing to give a ride, especially when the passenger has a huge pack slug on her back. Finally, a man and his wife in a sky blue rusting Ford pickup truck decided I didn’t look like bad company and pulled over to ask where I was going.
“Homer! No worries if you folks aren’t going that far, but if you’re headed in that direction it would be helpful.”
“We’re headed to Soldotna and we can drop you off there. Hop in.”
The wife got out and moved the seat so I could crawl in the back. The ride wasn’t the most comfortable of all situations I’ve been in, but it could have been worse. I was shoved against the back seat window by plastic bags filled with rancid smelling fishing gear.
“You guys headed out to the bay?”
“Yep, we heard the salmon were running strong and it wouldn’t hurt to get a couple of kings in the freezer. The Halibut should be hanging around there too. Uncle Bucky caught a 90 pounder there last month!”
Fishing was one thing that I found hard to get interested in. As far as I was concerned the only purpose for fishing was survival and this was hardly survival fishing. This was freezer fishing. It’s killing something for the purpose of leaving it in the freezer to become freezer burned and thrown out. I never liked fish anyway.
The trip was long, but I appreciated the fact that I even got a ride. Hours later we arrived in Soldotna and I was left at Hummie’s Gas and Beverage. The sun was blocked by gray clouds that hadn’t let the sun shine through in days and the cold had started to become less bearable. Like Sam McGee, I thrive for warm weather, and standing there on the dusty barren road, I wished to be in Hawaii were the warm sea breeze could carry my fears away. My eight year old hiking boats were the only thing that felt warm. Thank God for Smartwool. “And the miles stretched down the long road.” One foot after the other, head down, concentrated. I was determined to get to the Dairy Queen before I started asking for another ride. This way, the road was bound to be more populated, and I would have a chance to catch a ride all the way to Homer without another switch off. Plus, I could start to get the feel of my pack, and my back and hips would start to adjust to the weight. There wasn’t far to go until my destination and I wanted to get there before 4:00pm if possible.
While I walked down the road with cars and trucks zooming by, my mind started to wander. How the hell did I end up here? I was never one for change, and my plans to come up to Alaska had been spur of the moment and my reasons highly debatable. I came here to better myself, to get away from everyone I thought I knew, and to start to understand why things in my life were turning and changing the way they were. My family was always a supportive one, but it was hard to find support outside of them and I had trouble finding it in myself. As my father always told me, “learn your weaknesses, acknowledge them, and then try to conquer them as best as possible, but be sure to never forget them.” I realized now how right he was. I had cornered one of my major weaknesses, but now I had to figure out how the hell I was going to tame the beast of insecurity.
By the time my mind had come to a break in its line of consciousness, I was standing in front of the Dairy Queen. “Sounds like some weird Transvestite.” But, the Dairy Queen had chocolate and peanut butter ice cream shakes, and I wasn’t about to pass something like that up. Walking in, I wondered what strange world I had suddenly entered. Russians and frozen dairy treats were everywhere. Tall women with strong cheekbones and wonderful taste in fashion all huddled around small tables with their frozen delicacies. I felt like an intruder, an outsider who was made to feel uncomfortable by the stares of angry faced women. In my uncomfortable state I looked up at the ceiling and noticed the hundreds of model airplanes dangling from small strings. They were beautiful, soul warming, expressions of pure freedom. I plan on returning to this state to fly one of these winged angels. But right now it was time for some peanut butter chocolate blast.
Coming up to the counter I realized that not only were all the customers in the establishment women, but the workers were also all female. For some reason this made me slightly uncomfortable but I ordered my delicious blast, paid, and left with a swoosh of the door. Now to find a ride…
-AcE
My story starts on the breakdown lane of the only highway leaving Anchorage. After standing there for an hour or so with my thumb out and my nerves on end I discovered that hitchhiking at 7am in Anchorage is not a good idea. You have the commuters, the druggies, the government workers all rushing to go somewhere and never willing to give a ride, especially when the passenger has a huge pack slug on her back. Finally, a man and his wife in a sky blue rusting Ford pickup truck decided I didn’t look like bad company and pulled over to ask where I was going.
“Homer! No worries if you folks aren’t going that far, but if you’re headed in that direction it would be helpful.”
“We’re headed to Soldotna and we can drop you off there. Hop in.”
The wife got out and moved the seat so I could crawl in the back. The ride wasn’t the most comfortable of all situations I’ve been in, but it could have been worse. I was shoved against the back seat window by plastic bags filled with rancid smelling fishing gear.
“You guys headed out to the bay?”
“Yep, we heard the salmon were running strong and it wouldn’t hurt to get a couple of kings in the freezer. The Halibut should be hanging around there too. Uncle Bucky caught a 90 pounder there last month!”
Fishing was one thing that I found hard to get interested in. As far as I was concerned the only purpose for fishing was survival and this was hardly survival fishing. This was freezer fishing. It’s killing something for the purpose of leaving it in the freezer to become freezer burned and thrown out. I never liked fish anyway.
The trip was long, but I appreciated the fact that I even got a ride. Hours later we arrived in Soldotna and I was left at Hummie’s Gas and Beverage. The sun was blocked by gray clouds that hadn’t let the sun shine through in days and the cold had started to become less bearable. Like Sam McGee, I thrive for warm weather, and standing there on the dusty barren road, I wished to be in Hawaii were the warm sea breeze could carry my fears away. My eight year old hiking boats were the only thing that felt warm. Thank God for Smartwool. “And the miles stretched down the long road.” One foot after the other, head down, concentrated. I was determined to get to the Dairy Queen before I started asking for another ride. This way, the road was bound to be more populated, and I would have a chance to catch a ride all the way to Homer without another switch off. Plus, I could start to get the feel of my pack, and my back and hips would start to adjust to the weight. There wasn’t far to go until my destination and I wanted to get there before 4:00pm if possible.
While I walked down the road with cars and trucks zooming by, my mind started to wander. How the hell did I end up here? I was never one for change, and my plans to come up to Alaska had been spur of the moment and my reasons highly debatable. I came here to better myself, to get away from everyone I thought I knew, and to start to understand why things in my life were turning and changing the way they were. My family was always a supportive one, but it was hard to find support outside of them and I had trouble finding it in myself. As my father always told me, “learn your weaknesses, acknowledge them, and then try to conquer them as best as possible, but be sure to never forget them.” I realized now how right he was. I had cornered one of my major weaknesses, but now I had to figure out how the hell I was going to tame the beast of insecurity.
By the time my mind had come to a break in its line of consciousness, I was standing in front of the Dairy Queen. “Sounds like some weird Transvestite.” But, the Dairy Queen had chocolate and peanut butter ice cream shakes, and I wasn’t about to pass something like that up. Walking in, I wondered what strange world I had suddenly entered. Russians and frozen dairy treats were everywhere. Tall women with strong cheekbones and wonderful taste in fashion all huddled around small tables with their frozen delicacies. I felt like an intruder, an outsider who was made to feel uncomfortable by the stares of angry faced women. In my uncomfortable state I looked up at the ceiling and noticed the hundreds of model airplanes dangling from small strings. They were beautiful, soul warming, expressions of pure freedom. I plan on returning to this state to fly one of these winged angels. But right now it was time for some peanut butter chocolate blast.
Coming up to the counter I realized that not only were all the customers in the establishment women, but the workers were also all female. For some reason this made me slightly uncomfortable but I ordered my delicious blast, paid, and left with a swoosh of the door. Now to find a ride…
-AcE