The Cosmic Kitchen in Homer, Alaska

The Cosmic Kitchen has quickly become my favorite place for lunch in Homer, Alaska. The blackened halibut tacos are incredible!

Cafe Cups in Homer

Cafe Cups comes highly recommended for dinner in Homer, but I've never been able to get in -- they keep closing for the winter before I get here in late September! They're located almost next door to the Pioneer Inn on Pioneer Avenue.

Exit Glacier, Seward, Alaska

In case global warming eventually melts every glacier on the face of the earth -- or you just don't get a chance to take a vacation in Alaska any time soon -- here's a picture of what Exit Glacier looked like in Seward, Alaska, at least on my vacation on September 21, 2008.

Seward, Alaska pictures: Resurrection North campground

Seward, Alaska pictures: Should you happen to be driving around Alaska in an RV, I highly recommend the Resurrection North campground in Seward, Alaska, which is located directly on the waterfront of Resurrection Bay. Here's a view of some of the RV's parked in the campground:

Beautiful mountains everywhere

The thing that always blows me away about Alaska is how beautiful the country is, even in areas you just think you have to drive to in order to get from Point A to Point B. Take my drive today from Anchorage to Seward. Should just be a workmanlike drive to get from where I am to where I want to be, right? Not in Alaska.

Here are just four of the many, many pictures I took along the way that show you what a mind-blowing view Alaska has to offer, even on your "driving days."

Notes on Wasilla, Alaska

With Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin now being Vice President Candidate Palin -- and also being the Mayor of Wasilla just two years ago -- I thought it might be a good time to share my thoughts on Wasilla. I think I have a relatively unique perspective of having lived 44 years in The Lower 48, and five months in Alaska last summer.

The things that stand out about Wasilla are:

Back to Alaska!

Ahh, just getting ready to hop on a plane tomorrow and head back to Alaska. I'm going to start this trip in the south, either in Seward or Homer. Hmm, let's see what the southern-Alaska weather looks like in mid-September:

"Rain...heavy at times. Highs near 50. South and east wind 10 to 25 mph. Through Portage Valley and Turnagain Arm...east wind 40 to 55 mph with gusts to 80 mph, decreasing to 30 to 50 mph late in the afternoon. Evening lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s."

This is gonna be fun!

Best Italian restaurant in Anchorage

In 2007, when I lived in Alaska, I asked a lot of people what the best restaurant in Anchorage was, and I often got the same answer: Villa Nova, an Italian restaurant on Arctic Avenue in Anchorage.

Don't let the simple strip-mall location fool you: as soon as you walk in the Villa Nova, the Italian atmosphere kicks in, starting with the water fountain in the main entrance. The service has always been terrific, and the food was as good as any Italian food I've had anywhere, and I've spent to in over 40 states by now.

Back in Kentucky

Well, it's been a long time since my last update. How things have changed. One day I'll get around to filling in all the details, but here's the spoiler: I'm back in Louisville, Kentucky, very refreshed, enjoying the holidays, and ready to get back to work in 2008.

Brownie in Hyder, Alaska (for the kids)

Here are a few pictures I took while on the mountain road around Hyder, Alaska. I took these pictures for some third-grade students in Kentucky after they sent me this stuffed animal they named "Brownie".

Brownie actually made the trip more fun. A lot of times I would think "Oh, I don't feel like stopping, I just want to keep driving", and then I would think about Brownie and the kids, so I'd pull over and take a few pictures. This always ended up being a good thing.

So, for the kids out there, here's Brownie with the scary mountain road behind him:

The view from Hyder, Alaska

I think it's pretty darned funny, the first time I came to Stewart, British Columbia, and Hyder, Alaska, I was pretty badly freaked out, lost, and running out of gas. I was cruising down a mountain with my car in neutral, essentially praying there was going to be a town and a gas station at the bottom of the mountain. For all I knew I was about to be starring in the remake of Deliverance.

Two videos from Hyder, Alaska

Here are two short videos from today's trip in Hyder, Alaska. This first one shows some of the snow from the road, and gives an idea of the steep cliff off the side of the road. Trust me, you want to stay on the road.

Steep cliff off the side of the road in Hyder

Following some bears in Hyder, Alaska

I've seen a lot of bears this year, but unfortunately earlier in the year I didn't know how to use the video controls on my camera. These days I do know how to use the video controls, and on my way back into the town of Hyder (as opposed to the more rural area up in the mountains) I came across a momma bear and three cubs. Here are two video segments as I followed momma and the cubs for a little while.

First, here's where I first saw them, as they were eating something off of a rock on the side of the road:

White-capped mountains in Wasilla

After taking care of my phone and electric bills in Wasilla (at the MTA and MEA, respectively), I made this video while driving south to Anchorage this afternoon:

Driving through Wasilla, Alaska, September, 2007

How beautiful it is to see the mountains becoming covered in snow! Things are significantly whiter up north in Denali, where it was snowing when I left two weeks ago, but this is still very pretty, and all the white makes a huge difference in the scenery.

A video of Denali, from the Talkeetna river

Here's a quick video of the Denali mountain range, as seen from alongside the river(s) in Talkeetna:

The Denali range, from Talkeetna

I only have a few days left here, so it's a real treat being able to see the full range at least one more time before I go.

The free store in Talkeetna

Somehow I've managed not to have any stories here about the "free" store in Talkeetna. Known as the Free Box Community Store, everything in the "store" is indeed free.

The concept is simple: If you need something you're welcome to stop in the store and see if they have what you need. If you don't need something any more you're welcome to drop it off at the store for other people that might need it.

Snow-capped mountains in Denali

After staying a few days in Healy, Alaska, accompanied by some long rain storms, I drove back to Talkeetna this morning. I hadn't thought about it too much, but when I looked up in all of the mountains I saw the same thing: snow.

September sunrise in Healy

This morning's sunrise led to some incredible views. I stayed at a bed and breakfast named "Denali Lakeview Inn" (which I highly recommend), and had these incredible views from my room and the deck outside the room:

This next one is my favorite:

Last day for shuttle buses in Denali

Wow, I was incredibly lucky that the last day you can ride a shuttle bus in Denali was a very beautiful day. Like all the days lately it was very windy, and it was also cold, but it was well worth it.

I walked into the Wilderness Access Center at 7:15 a.m. and was lucky to get on a bus at 8:00 a.m. That's not something you can normally do during the summer, but this being the last day I thought I'd be able to get a ride at the last minute, though not quite this fast.

This first picture is from somewhere along the bus trip to Fish Creek:

Fall in Denali

It's definitely fall in Denali National Park. The colors are so vibrant I don't think these pictures do them justice, but hopefully they'll give you some idea of what it's like.

This first picture is from the top of a hill, looking out over a sea of green, yellow, and orange trees: