Woke up at about 5.30 am this morning - My beanie (which I wear to keep my head warm, and keep pulled down over my eyes to keep it dark) must have fallen off and let some of the permanent daylight in !! Actually, I wake up quite often during the night because each time I turn over I either get tangled up in my sleeping bag liner, my sleeping bag, or I fall off my sleeping mat onto the hard(er) ground - Or more usually all 3 at once !!! Anyway, had my breakfast while I packed up, as usual, and by about 8 am was ready for off - And then the next 1 1/2 hours were spent talking to people who decided to come over for a chat before I left !! Lots of interesting people in the campsite, with Brian and Margaret from Overton in Hampshire on one side, a german couple on the other side, and then Geoff from New York somewhere (but Alabama originally) who had been in Alaska off and on for many years, and had travelled extensively to many of the native villages out in the middle of nowhere. Very interesting. Anyway, by about 10 am (by the time I had said farewell to the camp owner, I hit the road - A cloudy day, but it looked lighter ahead, so I took the roof off as usual, and temp was a pleasant 10 deg C.
Got petrol in Homer, and then set off on the road back to Anchorage. I called Bill & Traci Davis in Kasilof (who had invited me fishing) but they were out - they must be fishing !!! Kasilof was about an hour or so up the road from Homer, and by the time I got there it began to spit with rain. Shortly afterwards I stopped in Soldatna to get a coffee from Starbucks, and by then it was starting to rain a bit - But it still looked lighter ahead, so I kept going topless. For about another half a mile - Then the heavens opened ! Luckily there was a covered gas station right there so I dove in there and put the roof on. A guy filling up his RV there told me that he had come from Seward and it had rained the whole way. Hmmmm. So set off from there dry, but a bit disappointed - I really do not like driving with the roof on - It takes away all the fun of the Elise - You might as well be in a saloon car.
As the rain got heavier, the local drivers seemed to go a lot slower - So suddenly instead of them overtaking me as I did my usual 55-60 mph, I was passing them. Shortly after the junction with the Seward road, there was a police car across the road, and they were only letting cars through in one direction at a time - When we got to the other end there were bits of car all over the road, but no car - I think someone had disappeared over the bank into the trees - It was certainly on a fairly sharp corner. Anyway, about 30 minutes later we came to the Whittier turn off, and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre that I had promised myself I would stop at this time. (Passed it 3 times before !). www.alaskawildlife.org They take in orphaned and injured wildlife. Those that can later be released back into the wild are, while those that can't are either given a permanent home at the centre, or are moved to somewhere else that can provide for them. Black and brown bears, Moose and calves, wood bison, Musk Ox, owls and eagles and others are all cared for here. Luckily the rain had slowed to a drizzle, so I elected to walk round the facility, unlike eveyone one else who was driving round !! Hmmmmmm. Had a very pleasant couple of hours there, and then headed up the Turnagain Arm towards Anchorage.
It was again raining quite heavily, so I decided to call and ask Tom Meacham, who I had met through Lotus connections and had dinner with a couple of weeks ago, if his offer of a bed in his very palatial garage was still available, instead of me cmping in the rain. Well, it was, but Tom and and his wife Jane were leaving at 10 pm this evening to fly to New Hampshire for the weekend - But I was welcome to use the garage !! As the garage is centrally heated, and has a separate bedroom and bathroom from the multi car storage area upstairs, it is absolutely ideal, so I am "garage-sitting" for Tom for a day or so !! It looks as though the rain is going to continue for a couple more days, so I will try to contact a couple of people I need to speak to in Anchorage tomorrow, and if I need to stay a second night here, I will decide that once I see the weather forcast tomorrow.
A few pics of today to show you how bad the weather was, but once again you have seen pics of this route in good weather already when I went south, so you are not missing anything.
https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/065HomerToAnchorage?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3R7vC58MCqLw#
