To Nome I go! The flights are looking good, the skies are friendly, and my parka is packed. The journey there will be a bit convuluted. From Sacramento to Seattle to Anchorage to some god-forsaken small town to Nome. Good thing I happen to love airports. What I'd like to do at each airport, being a tea-totaller myself, is buy a glass of local brew for a fellow traveler on each leg of this trip. With my luck, I'd buy a brewski for the guy that turns out to be the nervous light-weight pilot of the turboprop headed to Nome. Since I'm headed in this morbid direction - not a real surprise to most of you that know me - let me take a moment to say a few things just on the off chance that the plane goes down, or some misguided terrorist confuses Nome for a city of political importance, or an irritable grizzly gets hungry during a geocache expedition. Just in case I have to be buried - whole would be nice, but if DMORT has to be called in to piece me together and ID me by dentition, I know they'll get the job done - here's a few thoughts.
*** At least I went down doing something spontaeous and anomalous. Of course, it'd be ironic if I died traveling somewhere so cold rather than headed to the tropics.
*** My life has been so full of excitement, adventures, heartbreaks, love, laughter, experiences; celebrate a life well lived, not a life cut short.
*** Make sure you play Green Day's 'Time of Your Life'
*** In lieu of flowers, sponsor one of those benches that provides a place of quiet contemplation overlooking the Pacific.
But seriously....I'm sure I'll be around to post many more blogs. In fact, Puerto Rico is on the horizon if Alaska's monochromatic backdrop is too dreary for you. Well, I'm off...I've got plenty of reading material -- Jeffrey Deaver is the author of the hour -- to see me through roughly 13 hours of travel. Is the Aurora Borealis visible this time of year? That'd be incredible. I'll let you know.
4 comments:
Have fun! You can't die on this trip, btw. Who would I run my international marathons with??!!! Just remember this: if you get chased by a bear in Nome, climb a tree. I just found out that bears can run uphill and downhill equally well, but some adult bears cannot climb trees...
Puerto Rico is great. There are so many things that are similar to Africa there, but then, just when you think you're actually back in Africa, you pass a McDonald's or Wal-Mart!
Have fun in Nome. As a fellow cold-hater, I have to say I don't envy you.
Alright, no dying allowed. I'd never be able to eat at Terryaki Time again. :D
Looking forward to wonderful accounts of fabulous adventures. Have a great time.
Nome is not the weird, ultra remote place you may think. It's a rugged but friendly and awesome home. Breakup is now so it's not the prettiest time of year but it'll be mostly light so sorry not likely to see northern lights. Oh and Alaska air flies a 737 into Nome but the turboprops are actually more fun. Good travels.
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