Wolfe/Cathey Alaska Adventure: Day 18- July 2

Day 18 – July 2^nd


Waiting for our turn to board the ferry

One more day in a dream vacation…..

This morning was set to be very casual. The plan to leave between noon and 1:00 pm was the result of backwards scheduling. The ferry leaves at 11:45 p.m. so they want us to check in at 8:45. We will need to eat our last real meal before ferry cafeteria food at 6:45, keeping in mind that the tunnel to Whittier opens for our direction of travel every hour on the ½ hour – so 5:30 p.m. 185 miles, with a grocery and gas stop brings us to 5 hours travel time or 12:30 p.m. departure. Obviously we didn’t cut it too close; we had up to 8:30 to go through the tunnel. We will talk more about the tunnel experience later…..

Fact 1: If we miss the ferry the next one is one week later. Fact 2: If we can get on that ferry departing one week later we probably won’t have a berth to sleep in. Fact 3: If the above two things happen, Chuck and I will single men in six months.

Alaska loves their moose

I think Barbara is praying for safety through the tunnel passage

“Sleeping-in” meant 7:30. We usually meet for breakfast at that time. We had two great meals in Homer; both at the Sourdough Café, walking distance from our wonderful lakeside cabin. Last night I decided I had to eat halibut in the “Halibut Capital of the World”. Well, the plan went awry but with a bonus. As the waiter placed a salmon dinner in front of me he told me the chef had made a mistake and was grilling me some halibut too. I told him he should take the salmon and eat it himself and I would wait for the halibut. He insisted I keep it and he would be back with what I had ordered. I shared some of the salmon with Chuck and Barbara, but I had the best two pieces of fish I had ever had. Yes, I said that same thing about my salmon at Sheep Mountain Lodge. It was a great meal, with amazing friends, on a fantastic vacation!

Four people..still happy after all those miles

The reason you come to Homer besides the Halibut

Chuck..the negotiator

The next morning we returned for the best breakfast of the entire trip; sourdough French toast, sourdough pancakes, fried eggs, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, spinach, cheese and reindeer sausage. Since we had been wireless deprived, Shawn and I stayed to use their Wi-Fi and work on the blog. We had decided that Chuck and Barbara would go talk to some of the float plane pilots to try to arrange a short excursion. Chuck was successful and called my cell and said it’s now or never. The one hour flight in the Cessna 206 was awesome! We took off and landed in the lake right in front of the cabin. The pilot took us over the Homer Spit, across the bay over numerous glaciers and up on top of the snow capped mountains. We saw bears and mountain goats, alpine lakes, and waterfalls.

A different view of Alaska

Shawn giving our pilot some pre-flight warnings

Landing on the lake after an awesome flight

Our pilot, Jose, has over 21,000 hours flying in Alaska. We were in good hands. When we got back from our one hour float plane trip we packed up and hit the road at almost exactly 12:30 p.m. How could we have planned that better? We are professionals!

We have back tracked our route three times now. Wasilla to Talkeetna and back on the way to Anchorage; the road in and out of Seward, and the return trip from Homer to the Whittier portage road. Let me say, it’s not a problem since each time was unique and different.

Allow me to describe the Whittier Portage Tunnel. It is a one lane, two and half mile railroad tunnel. About twelve years ago it was modified for cars, buses, and crazily for motorcycles too. I guess they couldn’t discriminate. Motorcycles have to ride in the 3½ foot space between the tracks. On each side of the track there is a space wide enough and deep enough to swallow up a motorcycle tire and throw you down the road. The center is paved but has a convex shape for draining off the moisture dripping off the ceiling of the tunnel. Staying in the center of the tracks for 2 ½ miles is definitely not for amateurs or the weak at heart. It could be a vacation killer if you did our trip in reverse and took a spill in the tunnel on your first day in Alaska. Chuck reminds me to mention the confidence builder the tunnel control workers unknowingly offered. “You guys (motorcycle riders) will go last after all the cars, trucks and buses have passed through.” He didn’t say why but you know it’s because they have problems getting motorcycles through safely. They have a special tri-fold pamphlet packed with warnings and what you should do in the event you crash. We carefully read the instructions and then had to rely on our combined, 90 plus years of riding experience.

When it was our turn, we were the only two bikes, I told Chuck to go first and I was going to video the treacherous ride with my helmet cam. We were supposed to go 25 miles per hour and we stayed close together until the half way point where there is a speed sign displaying our speed. I was going 21 and tried to speed up but you can’t look at your gauges even for a second. You have to concentrate 100% on the narrow path. Chuck and Barbara had pulled away but I could see as they exited the tunnel Barbara throw-up her hands like she was at a Pentecostal church.