Almost there—Napa to Anchorage today

June 29, 2008

Filed in: Alaska, The Way We Live Now

First can I say that C pulled up the seven-day forecast for Homer, Alaska on his iPhone yesterday afternoon as we were being driven to the most awesomest wedding ever in the history of nuptials and that we’re in for one entire week of straight rain?
Seriously, seven little crying cloud icons down the entire screen, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… every single day is rain. And cold. 50s, low 60s and rain.
I just want to cry. T just wants to stay in Napa, his emotional home on planet earth, and listen to the grapes quietly ripen in their skins. Who would know if we actually went or not? Download a few pics of, say, bears or moose or glacial whatever, something that looks sufficiently Alaska-like, and we’re home free.
I did truly think of canceling our trip for an hour or so, then got distracted from my worries by my 10th glass of chardonnay, so we’re going whether we like it or not. It rains on all our vacations, how should this be different?
Other random bits: it’s a pretty big coincidence we’re going to Homer just a few days after the Supreme Court knocked down the punitive damages related to the Exxon-Valdez spill. Hard to believe that was so long ago, and I hadn’t really ever thought about how much it must have—and obviously still does, if this piece from the Times is any indication—impacted the very area we’re traveling to. We are going to be one big chunk of land over from Price William Sound, but yeah, of course, it’s water (and oil) and it’s all the same big soup; it doesn’t make a distinction which side of the peninsula it’s on.
In all that I’ve read about the Kenai, I haven’t seen so much as a single syllable that mentioned the Exxon-Valdez, but duh, I’ve been reading travel stuff and even the good, supposedly unbiased guidebooks or whatever have no need or desire to get into either the politics or the potentially-tourist-offputting physical aftermath of the spill.
More randoms: I stumbled across the fishing forecast for the Homer area. I have a fondness for language related to things I know nothing about. I have absolutely no idea what this report is saying, I just love the words:
Homer Spit (15)
King salmon
Bobber with eggs, herring and No. 5 blue Vibrax spinners best on the incoming tide. King salmon fishing at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon should be fair this weekend. Remember, anglers may no longer fish with weights or bobbers beyond the hook or hooks.

Got that everyone? NO BOBBERS beyond the hooks! Don’t make me have to come down there …