Alaska, 2026, with Colin!

 Wow what a trip!

It's the end of the first week of August, coming up on a month since I boarded a plane here in Nashville to fly to Seattle, connecting to a flight to Anchorage, where I planned to meet up with my favorite son Colin for 12 days in south central Alaska.

Just to clarify, Colin is my only son. I also have a favorite daughter, Miranda.

This will be brief, because that journey lives in my heart and I want to honor its place there. My quick answer is that it was good to be able to reach out and touch my boy. I usually tear up a little when I say that. I'm a sentimental sap. I am not ashamed of that.

Colin and me on the twin engine floatplane piloted by Captain Carl, Beluga Airlines, Homer, AK

I'm not going to summarize here, because I can link to the planning document, begun September 3, 2025, at 8:15 AM. We had been talking about it 'way earlier than that, having had our similarly planned 3 week trip planned for June 2, 2020. One word: Covid19. Like nearly every trip, there were changes, both disappointment and unexpected lagniappe, but it was one of the very best trips in my life.

In some ways, it was a journey into my original experiences in Alaska, when I traveled there with my high school friend, Steve Bettis, both of us 25 years old and both disenamored with lasting relationships through divorce from wives acquired too young. In brief, we drove the ~4,000 miles intending to visit a third leg of our high school tripod, Geoff Feiler at Rainbow Valley, 16 miles south of Anchorage. Almost 6 years later, after years of playing music for my main source of income, and as Steve was about to acquire ownership of the architectural firm he had worked for several years, I left for other adventures. He remained for his own. My experiences in those late '70s have sustained me powerfully over the years. Ah, memories.

So Colin and I, he 30 and me 76, explored Anchorage, Rainbow Valley, Seward, and Homer, along with parts in between, for our 12 days. I have described them in comments at an online album distilled from my mostly daily photo dump. Here's the link if you are of a mind tuh. If you follow that link, be sure to view the photo information link for my comments/narration. And don't hesitate to leave a comment here or at the album itself!

Thank you, Colin. Thank you Steve. And thank you most of all to my love, Lee Ann, for manning the home front whilst I indulged my urge to travel. Finally, thank you for your interest. Stay well and safe.