Homer After All…
There are plans and there are plans… then there is what actually happens… Who knew, right? I rode off the other day with Anchor Point and the yurt in ALI’s mirrors, after having decided Homer was just not in the cards this trip… Yep, I’d allowed another weather forecast to make my choices for me.
It was a clear day for the most part, as I headed north along that quite scenic route that lead towards Anchorage. Now, I do need to let you know that I’m especially partial to the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.
When I was up here the last time, I’d decided that the area of this vast state that lies up around Fairbanks was nowhere near as appealing to this mountain lover as the more coastal region… east and south of Anchorage… and that the peninsula was a little extra special.
We hadn’t ridden on down to Homer on the first trip either, so I didn’t know what that part of the peninsula might look like, but the area around Seward was spectacular!
And, further east to Valdez and Skagway were also prime trekking areas. Before arriving this time, I’d already gotten it into my noggin that I most likely would not even bother going to Fairbanks…
It should also be mentioned that Mt. McKinley lies between Anchorage and Fairbanks, nearer Fairbanks though, and that it is most certainly worth a look-see. The highest point in North America at over 20K feet, it is an amazing huge lump in the earth’s surface, and it is visible on a clear day from a hundred miles or more away.
Truly a wonder! We did get a gander at it on my first trip, though, so I wasn’t feeling any particularly strong urge to go there this time… Been there, done that…
I also knew that even before riding through Soldotna on our way to Anchor Point, that the road had leveled and straightened out considerably, and that most likely it wouldn’t change much all the way to Homer… so, I didn’t view missing a visit there as a tremendous loss. I can be so naïve sometimes… most of the time, actually…
Anyway, we arrived in Cooper Landing and hunkered down to ride out the impending… whatever… As an aside, let me say that the weather so far on this entire trip has been most cooperative and user-friendly!
Even the spate of a couple of showers after arriving here have been sporadic and very light… the worst of it we’ve had right here might have caused me to pull over and wait a while a few times, but I doubt I’d have even bothered to ‘suit-up’. So much for the ‘drama channel’ and its melancholy forecasts…
However, I certainly can’t complain about the outcomes of following those over-blown predictions of precip, because serendipity often lies just beyond a foreboding look immediately in front of us… as has certainly been the case with this stop…
So, I was going to remain in Cooper Landing for a few more days (who knew how many?), the weather had cleared, and it appeared to be a great day upcoming, perfect for a short ride… Homer unexpectedly became a viable option again.
Another word about the weather… The temperatures have been most pleasant for this intrepid trekker… That is, as long as I’ve either guessed right or stopped soon to make attire adjustments and corrections…
Nearly every day I’ve worn my Gerbings, and all but one or two I’ve turned them on! With those very few exceptions, they were still needed as an extra layer, but ever since departing Kamloops, BC, I’ve been mighty glad I’d brought them along on this ride!!!
Highs usually, grudgingly climb into the 60sF, but if they do, it’s always late in the day… The mornings usually start out in the high 40s to low 50s… It can, however, be a little cooler or warmer than that on any given day…
As for precipitation… the proximity to large, cold bodies of water has an enormous impact. Combine that with even slight changes in wind speed and/or direction, and the outcomes can vary widely! Then you throw in the effects of frontal movement, and... No wonder the weather pros have such a difficult time making accurate predictions!
I made the mistake of having a large breakfast before hitting the road… I tend to often become drowsy when riding, particularly following a large meal…
I’ve learned over the years that eating sunflower seeds (I pop them into my mouth still in their shells, then remove the shells and eat the goodie, spitting out the shells) while riding will ease that considerably. And, this year I’ve learned that ‘Kickstart’ by Mountain Dew, has a lot of extra caffeine in it, and it can also help… I was consuming both in large quantities on the ride this day!
Thinking of Troutdude, who watches me like a hawk when I get drowsy...
It was typically cloudy most of the way and most of the day. There were, however, periods of sun now and then, and they offered clear views and a most pleasant ‘mood’ for doing exactly what I was doing!
The mountains near the shore across Cook Inlet were shrouded in clouds most of the time, however, so one of the better views along this stretch of road was largely unavailable… Oh well, I did get a good look on the way down the other day…
As we descended the bluff that lead us down into Homer, I saw just in time a pullout for scenic viewing… It was quite cloudy there at the time, so the view was quite different than it would have been had it been sunny…
View of the 'spit' from above Homer, AK
Oh well… it was still awesome! I pulled in, took a picture of ‘the spit’ and bay, plus the mountains in the background across the bay, but I decided to wait to take some ‘relief’… there was a line at the ‘facility’ reminiscent of the ones Troutdude and I had stood in at Rocky Mountain NP last month…
We rode through town on the main road that would take us to the spit… A flat body of land protruding out into the bay and upon which restaurants, bars, condos, motels, souvenir shops, and RV parks are located, and where literally thousands of people came to get caught up in the excitement of fishing in the ‘halibut capital of the world’… It was interesting…
And, it was crowded! Nothing appealing to this guy at all about traffic congestion, crowds of people, creeping along as folks in front of me earnestly search for a parking place close to the action…
I did see the ‘Salty Dog’, a famous landmark on the spit… a restaurant and bar that nearly everyone who’s ever been to Homer mentions… Their parking lot was full, and pedestrians were all around, so I chose to pass on going inside… Besides, I had a dinner engagement that evening... Arden had invited the gang from Kingfisher's and yours truly up to her place for dinner that evening, so I couldn't afford to dawdle much...
Lady Luck was smiling on me again, though, as on the way out there, we’d passed an actual Honda shop! My first full day in Cooper Landing, I’d changed ALI’s oil but, alas, not her filter…
That was the first time I’d ever done that, but I didn’t have one with me and I didn’t know when we might pick one up, and the oil really needed changing… so I rolled the dice, figuring I’d just change it again soon along with a filter, as soon as I could find one… I stopped and bought two at that shop on the way out!
The ride back ‘home’ seemed longer than it had on the way down… Rides are like that for me, though… After 'making the turn' all roundtrip rides I’ve ever taken were always sort of a… downer, I guess… on the homeward leg, because it was then there was no avoiding the reality that the trip would soon end. It seemed longer because I was repeating the route I’d taken down that day and most of it just a couple of days before… there was much familiarity… almost routine, you could say…
A great day in the saddle, though, and I’m mighty glad things worked out just the way they did. ALI seemed to appreciate a chance to stretch her… limbs…, too, and I just know she took comfort in seeing me pick up a couple of new oil filters for her…
DDT
