Home Base: Dillingham, Alaska

September 11, 2005

As I’m writing this, Internet isn’t available. Those around me have it, but I don’t. I was positive on Friday that I wouldn’t have to be disconnected at all. I checked my new email address while still in Homer. My thoughts were simple: if that’s set up, then when I get there, the rest will be ready.

I’ve spent over nine years in Alaska. When will I learn that what appears simple may, in fact, be complicated? Obviously I didn’t remember that on Friday and for some reason, I was shocked, yes, actually shocked when I arrived on Saturday and tried to sign in and was told my user name and password weren’t working.

Well, one negative isn’t bad.

I left Homer at 7:45 a.m. yesterday. The plane was a little late getting into Anchorage, but only by a few minutes. My next flight wasn’t until 9:41 a.m. so I had plenty of time. For some reason, don’t ask why, because I don’t have a clue, when I checked in at Homer, they couldn’t give me the boarding pass on the flight from Anchorage to Dillingham. Sure, ERA leaves Homer, and Alaska Airlines flies into Dillingham. But ERA is a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. I stood in line to get my boarding pass, looking at my watch. It was 9:00 a.m., so the 9:41 a.m. flight felt very quickly. Plus I had to go through security. Oye.

I asked one of the women outside of the ticketing area if I needed a boarding pass since I was checked through in Homer. “No,” she said. “You have an electronic ticket.”

Cool. I left the long line and tried to get through security. Oops. You can’t get past the first gate keeper if you don’t have a boarding pass. Wasted time.

I rushed back to the ticketing counter. At least the line wasn’t near as long. With my boarding pass in hand, I tackle security. Ding, ding, ding. I win the prize. I get a bag check. My lighter didn’t make it through. “Ma’am,” says the nice man (yes, he really was nice), “You can’t have a lighter.”

I nod. “Not a problem. You can have it. I wasn’t sure.”

“No, lighters have been banned since April.”

“Not a problem. I haven’t flown since 1997. I figured there would be at least one change.”

The rest of my carry-on possessions made it through. Yay. I didn’t have to share my Pop Tarts with them.

I made it on time for my connection to Dillingham. In fact, I had time to spare. When I arrived at the gate, the board had an announcement. It was delayed until 10:05 a.m. Good. That was enough time to collect my thoughts and get ready for the hour flight to Dillingham. Yet, it was a short enough time that I wasn’t ready to ring necks for a smoke. I could go another ninety minutes before fangs sprang forth and I tried to suck nicotine from the veins of anyone who appeared to have had a smoke any time after 7:00 a.m.

When 10:30 a.m. arrived and we still hadn’t boarded the plane, I was a little nervous. Not to worry. Within minutes, we were given the lovely news that our flight was cancelled. Huh? WFT?!!! Cancelled. This can’t be. But it could, because it was.

Then the confusion really began. We could attempt to get on Pen Air, which was only stand by, but they had a plane leaving at noon. Or we could catch the next Alaska Airlines flight at 5:20 p.m.

It appeared that we were to claim our baggage and recheck it either at Pen Air or at Alaska Airlines closer to our new flight time. By that time, I realized how heavy my carry-on was. Now I had to tote around two suitcases filled with books???!!!!

Back to Alaska Airlines ticketing counter (which is outside of the security area). The agent who rebooked me on the 5:20 p.m. flight had just come off a break. She was very pleasant. She asked if I wanted standby on Pen Air. I told her no, I could wait. She looked at me and said, “You’re so nice.”

Actually, as all of you know, I’m not always nice. Most of the people who were on the cancelled flight were flying over to Dillingham to hunt. I don’t have a clue how much their trip cost them. What I did know, those who couldn’t get on Pen Air would lose a day that they’d already paid for. Sure hanging out in an airport is boring, but other than spending money on food, the several hours wasn’t costing me several hundred dollars. I had to be there for Monday. I had time. They didn’t. It just seemed logical to allow the few that could go on Pen Air to be someone other than me. Especially when she told me I didn’t have to get my luggage that they’d transfer it to my later flight.

That was solved by 11:00 a.m. Great. Six hours. I had cigarettes, but no lighter, thanks to the nice security guy. No, I didn’t ask him if I could have it back, but I was tempted. I started for the outside area. I saw a woman put out her cigarette and come in. They were inside by the time I reached them. Yes, I did ask her if she could come outside so I could borrow her lighter. She obliged me.

Alaska Airlines did give out a package for the inconvenience. Five bucks off food, a phone card and 1,000 airline miles or $25.00 off our next ticket. No, it wasn’t a killer deal, but what the hell, it was better than an apology.

After I finished my cigarette, I came inside and used their phone card to call the man who allows me to wash his dirty dishes. He expected a phone call by 11ish. Well, he got it. Only problem, he expected me to be in Dillingham. Not exactly.

I asked him to call the laboratory and let them know I would be a little late.

I went through security again. (By the time my flight left, most of them knew my first name.) It was time to use the fiver dollar food certificate. No, it didn’t cover the cost, but it saved me five bucks, so I can’t complain.

I realize this is long, but there’re a lot of things I want to get down before I forget them. I’ve never flown from Homer to anywhere. The view from the air is nothing like the view from the road or the water. Each method of travel has benefits. I’m glad I finally saw my home from the air.

I knew Alaska had millions of lakes. Minnesota has nothing compared to the lakes up here. They were everywhere. As I gazed out the window, I couldn’t count them. Yes, there are that many. They range from pond size to very large. We spent a few minutes flying over lake Tustemena. I saw a boat on it, going fairly fast, but from the altitude, I couldn’t see the boat, just the wake.

Somewhere around TurnAgain Arm, we flew through clouds. Okay, I have problems with planes and clouds. The man who allows me to wash his dirty dishes has his private pilot’s license. The one fact he taught me that hidden in those clouds is cumulus granite. Before we were swallowed by the clouds, I saw plenty of mountains. Yeah. Cumulus granite.

I was a little disappointed by not being able to see TurnAgain Arm from the air. Because on the road, it is ugly. Well, it’s ugly when the tides out. When the tides in it has the appearance of being a lovely beach. Yeah. Right. It’s mud flats. It’s ugly.

By the time our plane left Anchorage, the clouds had lifted. I saw the island in the middle of TurnAgain Arm. I’d heard about it, but it’s not something visible via the road. It’s visible from the air when the clouds aren’t obstructing your view.

I really don’t know if I saw all the things I thought I saw. I have no clue what route we took. I miss my internet because I want to Google things to see if I’m right about what I saw.

I believe I saw Illiamna Lake. Whatever I saw, it was huge. So huge that as I peered out the window I couldn’t see the end of it to the left nor the front. I didn’t know if we were flying directly over it, but within a couple minutes I realized we were flying along the shore. I’d say from the time I looked down and saw the plane was over the water and until the plane was past the lake was ten to fifteen minutes.

It’s about 313 air miles from Anchorage to Dillingham. The flight was an hour flight. We were only on one edge of the lake. I haven’t done the math, but I’m going to assume the square miles of that lake’s high. I’m not sure if it’s Illiamna, but I believe it was.

The next thing I noticed as we left the lake behind us was the mountains. Extremely rugged. Even raw. Gigantic.

We’ve been in Alaska since early June 1996. Yesterday I feel in love with Alaska all over again. While I realize there’s more of the state I haven’t seen, yesterday gave me somewhat of an understanding of just how large Alaska really is. The one thing I realized, Alaska will never be tamed. She’s too large, too rugged, too raw for man to ever tame her. I also realized all the fighting over Alaska and even within the state of Alaska about Alaska is stupid. Man will never tame Alaska. I imagine those who believe there’s a chance of that happening have lived like I lived until yesterday…on the highways, be they the marine highway or the road system.

There are a few who have traveled off the road system who are fearful that Alaska will be tamed. I suspect if any one took the time, they’d find some special interest money behind the passionate plea to save Alaska. What I saw yesterday from the air is a teeny, tiny portion of Alaska. Man will not over-develop Alaska. It’s impossible. Anchorage can be over-developed, Kenai can, even Homer, but not Alaska.

As we descended there were several things I noticed. One, the area is a lot flatter than what I’m used to. There are a lot of bogs, swampy areas surrounding Dillingham. Their trees are alive. Coming from the Kenai Peninsula, it was great to see live trees. They don’t have near the spruce we have on the Kenai, but the ones I’ve seen are healthy and gorgeous.

The airport is closer to what I’d always imagined an Alaskan airport to be like. It’s their life line to the outside world, yet the buildings are built for practicality, not optic pleasure.

One of my future co-workers met me at the airport. He’s here on a temporary assignment. He leaves in October. He’s not crazy about the area. Before we came to the hospital, we went into Dillingham. It appears that for a town this size, there are a lot of bars. I know it bugs my co-worker. He doesn’t drink. Neither do I, but at this moment, it really doesn’t bug me that bars are a big part of the night life here.

We stopped at one of the grocery stores. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of Diet Coke. I picked up a twelve pack. It was on sale for $6.48. My receipt shows that I saved $2.81. Do the math if you want to know what the normal price will be. I’m too tired. A jar of Jiffy peanut butter that was $6.99 is $7.95 here. A loaf of OroWheat 12 Grain bread is $3.75 here, versus $3.89 in Homer. Hum. A package of two dozen eggs in Homer is around $2.79-$3.12ish. In Dillingham the same package is $4.59. A gallon of 2% milk here was $6.49. The expiration date was September 19^th. A half gallon was $3.89 with an expiration date of November sometime. I went for that one. I can drink that much before November. I also purchased two other sale items. Two bags of Kettle Chips for five dollars. Two Red Baron pizzas for ten bucks. I saved $2.75 per pizza. I just ate half of one. I don’t care how much Digorno’s cost, next time, if I buy pizza that’s what I’ll buy.

The next stop was the hospital. It’s small. Very small. But it looks nice. In fact, out of everything I’ve seen here, the hospital appears to be not only visually pleasant, but efficient. The buildings in town appear to be built for efficiency.

I met one of the doctors and saw the lab. I’m not near as nervous as I was before stepping into the lab. I still have a lot to remember, but I know it’s there and it will come back.

Then I saw my furnished apartment. I don’t know what others expected, but before I arrived, I expected much less. A couple times they sounded almost apologetic about the living quarters. Okay, maybe it’s because I’ve lived so many years without kitchen cabinets, or we’ve lived without other things, but I was very pleased to see the apartment.

They said it was small. I expected small. I live in small. I have more square feet here than I have at home.

I’ll post pictures of the place later. I didn’t get any pictures on the plane. By the time I boarded for Dillingham, I was exhausted.

I’ll try to take pictures of the surrounding area. Once I’m all set, I’ll branch out and include pictures of Dillingham.

My thoughts? The scenery isn’t like that around Homer. Even so, I imagine Dillingham is pretty close to what Homer was like before the tourist made it to the end of the road. From the pictures I’ve seen of the Homer that used to be, it appeared to be built based on efficiency. The Homer of today is built for tourism.

Yes, people are swarming to the Dillingham area to hunt right now. The difference between the hunters in Dillingham and the tourists in Homer: the hunters fly into the airport, board a much smaller plane to fly out into a remote area. They won’t see running water or flushing toilets until they’re ready to board the plane and leave. Not only that, they don’t complain about what services aren’t available. The restaurants in Dillingham don’t count on meeting payroll from tourists’ dollars.

The economic base of this area is different than Homer’s. Homer pretties up her streets for her guests. I can’t imagine Dillingham spending five plus years arguing over a traffic light. If the city needed it, they’d install it without a minutes concern about how the tourists would view such a modern thing in their quaint little town.

That doesn’t mean I assume Dillingham doesn’t have problems. The number of bars per capita dispels such an idea. What can I say? Homer has a problem with alcohol, too.

Right now, all I know is I want to learn more about this area. I want to learn the good and if I listen, I’ll hear the bad. Every community has a healthy mix of both. I don’t expect any area to be all good. At the end of my assignment I won’t be an expert on Dillingham, but after living and working here I hope I’ll have a better idea of what this community is really like.

At the very least, I expect to have tasted a part of Alaska that’s very hard to find in 2005.

The only downside I see to this whole assignment is within my control. I can change it. I want to share it with my mate. I want him to see these things as I see them. That part of it I can’t change. I’m here. He’s back in Homer.

Eventually, we hope he can come over with the dogs. I do worry about the dogs over here. They’re used to their space. The apartment is a four-plex. The neighbors are big on slamming doors. My dogs break out into a healthy bark when they hear strange noises. I’m afraid they’ll find a lot to bark at around here. Not animal noise, but human noise.

So, after a little over 24 hours, the one aspect many don’t like about Dillingham, prices, hasn’t sent me into shock. I’d always heard Homer was the most expensive place on the road system, and even higher than some Bush areas. I believe it. What little I’ve seen, the cost of living is barely higher than Homer and if yesterday’s grocery experience was “normal” some items will be higher, some lower.

The veggies looked as fresh, if not fresher, than what I find in Homer.

The weather is similar to Homer’s. Yesterday was overcast, mid 50s. Today started with drizzle, then rain, back to drizzle and about 8ish p.m. some blue was showing with sunlight. It’s 9:37 p.m. now. It’s dusky. Within an half hour I expect it will be dark. I have the bedroom windows opened and the window in the kitchen. I turned the heater as low as it would go.

There were a few things I didn’t bring that I wished I had. One is a nice comforter. I love sleeping with the windows open and last night I did get cold.

There isn’t a bath mat, so one will be shipped in a care package. The apartment is furnished, including the kitchen. However, there are a few basics I’m missing. I don’t have a dish rag, or any tea towels. They are in the care package. I’d like to have a rug in the kitchen. It’s in the care package.

The towels are small, so two towels with five wash clothes are in the care package. Two extra pillow cases will be tossed in.

I’m not a coffee drinker, so I don’t miss not having a coffee pot. I do like toast. Too bad. There isn’t a toaster. I’m spoiled and love my microwave. I’ll have to learn to adjust to life without one.

In a few hours, I’ll be at work. I have a lot of questions. I expect several will be answered tomorrow. But for each one answered, I’m sure more questions will pop up.

I’ll attempt to share as much as possible.