HOMEWARD BOUND WITH SNOWMACHINE IN TOW...

Well, morning came early. It was 11 degrees...felt like we were in the tropics ! Such a nice contrast from the cold we left behind in Willow. We did hear that it was -30 in Willow. Hmmm....too bad Homer doesn't have any snow.

Well, I was up early and quietly went into the house and sat in the kitchen next to the Toyo heater...so nice. I was kept company by two cats...one that was hissing at the other. Thought that I might witness an all out cat fight. They kept their distance from each other and soon the house began to wake up. mmmm....coffee.

At first light I went out with Jeanne and we started up the snowmachine. We rousted Joe and started packing up for our continuation to Seward and then back home to Willow. The trailer wasn't a tip trailer. It had a ramp that pulled out and quite a steep run to get up it. I really didn't like the looks of it and went into anxiety mode...well, as the machine was run up the ramp, it collapsed and the machine rammed into the trailer. My heart sunk and all I could think of was "there goes Serum Run". After we got the machine off the ramp that the skis were stuck through, we checked it out. Looks like it will be fine, but I am totally out of my realm...

I wanted no part of trying that ramp again, so Jim found 3 wooden planks. As I looked at them propped up against the edge of the trailer, I asked if we could screw them to the deck of the trailer. He not only screwed them to the deck, but he got some plywood scraps and secured the planks to each other so that they wouldn't separate. First two tries running the machine up failed, so Joe took a longer running start at it. Both Melissa and I shrieked and gasped as Joe was airborne and it looked like he was going to go off the end of the trailer. He stopped it like a pro...I think that I came the closest to having a heart attack without actually having one.

We tied everything down and loaded the truck, said our thanks and goodbyes and hit the road. Our trip to Soldotna was uneventful and we stopped at O'Rileys and picked up an alternator and Joe changed it out. He is one handy guy. We were then on the road to Seward. Yeah ! No flickering red warning lights...and fully operational headlights.
The drive was spectacularly beautiful. The rugged mountains meeting the water was so beautiful. Roads were icy and we passed a few tow trucks pulling vehicles from off the road. One was precariously perched over the edge and it looked as thought it would be an awful drop into thin ice...and water.

When we got into Seward, we went to Joe and Melissa's office where they run their business "Seward Helicopter Tours" leading sled dog tours on the glacier.
http://www.sewardhelicoptertours.com/

Again, the views were incredible. So were the winds. We loaded up the truck with more stuff and then drove through town and stopped at Safeway to load up on goodies for the drive back. Some day I would love to go back to Seward to spend a few days.

Well, we made it Anchorage and because we were so behind schedule, I was dropped off at the airport. I was to pick up a rental car that Ricky had reserved for us. Long story short...and Murphy's Law...I ended up finding a motel with a shuttle and got picked up. It would have been a 7 hour wait at the airport. If I had the rental I would have done many errands that we ended up having to do on Sunday.

Flexibility....patience...and perseverance.

One AM found me at the airport rental car agency and seeing a bearded Ricky. A ruggedly handsome Ricky...could have mistaken him for an Alaskan.

A short good night's sleep and we were on our quest...to try and think of everything that we needed while in Anchorage. Loaded up with about 600 dollars of food and essentials, we headed to Willow. We arrived at 9: 20 at Ted and Paula's and I quickly introduced Ricky to them. I grabbed our -60 degree sleeping bags and two pillows. Our economy rental car was filled to roof.

We arrived at Joe and Melissa's at 10pm and unloaded. Our basement room was in the upper 30's. Brrrr...equipped with our arctic bags were were very warm, however, every 3 hours we had to go and start our car and let it run for 30 minutes. (I should mention that it was Ricky who climbed out of a warm bag and went out in the sub-tempts to start the car and then go back out and shut it off.)

I have been writing this blog sitting upstairs near the Toyo stove in the dark, waiting for the arrival of daylight. The household is now waking up. Joe just walked out and said that it went down to 35 below last night and it is now 32 below.