No Longer a Tourist; Not Yet Alaskan

Going back to that revved up dog analogy. Perhaps this could be a personality trait?

Most of you know that Mom has made her first trip to Alaska. We have had a pretty rigorous adventure through the Last Frontier. I will also need a vacation from our vacation. Having a guest in a place as gorgeous as AK can be a learning experience. It is part of getting your sourdough license. It also reminds you in several ways why that is actually still a pretty good idea.

There were several things we have already done. The last few days have been in Homer, for two nights, and Seward last night. In Homer we tooled around the town, went to the Islands and Ocean Visitors Center, and down to the spit to look at the shops, ending with a 4:00 beer at the Salty Dawg Saloon (est. 1957) and dinner in Fritz Creek at The Homestead. See Mom and MO at the Salty Dawg here.

Since we were there Thursday and Friday, we met the massive strand of people gayly on their way onto the spit. Tourists! Everywhere! With their bewildered looks, their clumsy gazes, their slow ability to digest what is around them. As we were leaving I may have swerved into oncoming traffic to get a shot of a bald eagle literally 10 feet away. I suppose that may have sort of been a slightly touristy thing to do...

This time of year, we Alaskans see a lot of out-of-state and country plates, but for the most part the tourists drive cars with licenses just like mine. I wish they had stickers on them like in Hawaii so you know which cars are the tourists and which are locals. Maybe that could be part of the sourdough plan- you get a sticker to put on your car after you been here decades. A different color dedicated for each decade. Then the cars with the stickers actually have the authority to run non-stickered cars off the road when they act stupid. Just a theory.

So that was the drive and in Seward we caught a Fjords night tour. No, we didn't take the damn long one. Yes, I know it is way better and you get to see glaciers calving. No, I have never seen it before and yes, I'll be sure to do it next time. Do they by chance have a 21+ trip with alcohol and music? That would be spectacular.

Ok- so the kids were really cute watching for wildlife and it was amusing to hear their shrieks of delight for a possible sighting, and even more amusing to watch the adults push them out of the way with their dinky digital cameras and video recorders to catch a glimpse as well. The cruise proved itself in the end complete with otter friends, jellyfish, birds abound, sea lions doin' it, puffins and bald eagles, even porpoises and yes- EVEN A WHALE! We're not sure if we got it on film, because the battery died immediately afterwards, but I'll be sure to host a live feed ASAP. Oh yeah, and that kid is just fine.

One thing that has added to a slight bout of irritability in the last two days is the cold, hard truth that I have not yet established myself as a local. It's rough, man. The locals are treating me like one of them. A tourist. Who knew these dinky towns have tax? Umhf! The biggest tourist trick in the book and I've been falling for it all week!

After awhile, I started giving in and just acted like a tourist. Did I mention I was irritable? I didn't tip. I complained about service. I made sure to reference every piece of Alaskan history incorrectly. I budged into lines, and tapped elderly ladies out of the way. Hey being a tourist isn't so bad. It's just that I know what the smile saying "Have a nice day" really means, and as an chechako working on sourdough status, can appreciate it.

Nah, Alaskans really LOVE tourists. What other time can we relish in the astonishment of others? When else can we share the horror stories from the winter or embellish on close encounters with wildlife? When else can we show off our guns and skins to people? Tourists are FUN, ready and willing to eat up anything you want to divulge, taking great care to capture it in a photo or on film. Tourists really are a welcome entertainment to our long days, and certainly Alaskans love to share the beauty with anyone.

I'll end with the quote of the day, quite an appropriate one for becoming an Alaskan.

"Platitude: an idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true."

- HL Mencken