A friend my husband and I have made since arriving in Alaska announced this recently that he and his wife are moving down south to Ohio after many years here.
I talked to him on the phone this week and he sounded a little wistful, with just a few days in town left. “There are so many things we haven’t done yet,” he said, adding that he’s coming back in August to get their home ready for sale and hopes he can eek out a few more Alaskana experiences before leaving the state for good.
I felt just this way when we were leaving Colorado. There were places that we just didn’t get to during our 10 years there, experiences that we didn’t have that are now much more difficult to achieve then a simple weekend trip. Floating the Yampa River comes to mind, rock climbing at the Colorado Monument, hiking more of the Colorado Trail, seeing more blues shows in Telluride.
This came into further focus tonight with the arrival of my aunt and uncle from the Seattle area. They’ve spent the last week in Alaska, cruising, fishing, rafting and staying in a big cabin in Cooper’s Landing. They were bursting with news and we ate their fresh red salmon for dinner.
Why is it that people come thousands of miles to experience what’s in your backyard but it seems impossible to get a couple days off to see the same when you actually live there? And if we do get those days, we’re more likely to fly off to someone else’s backyard and experience it. It’s one of those real-life mysteries like what’s in Spam.
Why is it that people come thousands of miles to experience what’s in your backyard but it seems impossible to get a couple days off to see the same when you actually live there? And if we do get those days, we’re more likely to fly off to someone else’s backyard and experience it. It’s one of those real-life mysteries like what’s in Spam.
Anyways, I’m starting to cook up my Alaskan bucket list so if and when I leave Alaska, I’ll have ticked off some of those things. Here comes the brave part: I’m putting it out there for all you readers to appreciate and hold me accountable. And I’m willing to hear some ideas too.
Here's the start of my list:
-Walk on the beach in Pilot Point, Alaska. This is the village where my mom was born.
-Earn my turns at Hatcher Pass.
-Take a flying lesson.
-Splash around in an ocean kayak at Kayakers Cove.
-Catch a King Salmon. Learn how to smoke fish.
-Hike out to Lowell Point near Seward.
-Climb a peak in the Chugach Mountains.
-Do a big river trip, anywhere.
-See the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
-Splash around in an ocean kayak at Kayakers Cove.
-Catch a King Salmon. Learn how to smoke fish.
-Hike out to Lowell Point near Seward.
-Climb a peak in the Chugach Mountains.
-Do a big river trip, anywhere.
-See the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
I'm anxious to hear what's on other people's lists. Post them here or Tweet me.
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