Touching the Ancient One

August 10, 2007

This took a little longer than I'd thought it would. Thanks for waiting. Calling our Alaska trip a “book-signing tour” might be overstating it a bit since Millie and I would have returned even if there was no book. Alaska is in my blood and I believe Millie is infected as well. That’s not a bad thing at all, except that the long flights to and from “America’s last frontier” seem to get harder each time. The fact that we’re willing to endure such discomfort says something about our desire to be there. Anyway, I’m calling our trip a “book-signing tour,” and I’ll tell you about that; I’ll also tell you other things about the trip, making it sort of a travel guide within the story.

On Thursday, July 12, after a two-hour Delta flight from Albany to Cincinnati and another seven-hour flight to Anchorage, we picked up our rental car and drove the short distance (1-2 miles) to Lake Hood Inn, the same accommodations we had in 2004. This time we were to stay two nights before heading out to other places. Owner Bill Floyd had left us a note. He was out somewhere but would be back soon. We settled in, watching the floatplanes taking off and landing on the lake. It seems like every home or building around the shoreline has a floatplane tied up beside it. Bill soon returned and we spent some time catching up on the past three years. At ten-thirty, we hit the sack, having to pull shades against the still-bright sun.

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