The Walkabout: Anchorage: Where Nobody Knows My Name

GET OFF MY...err...TRAIN?

Well I made it to Anchorage and said my farewells to Randy and Kate...well we shared one more glass of hearty Alaskan spirits and THEN said our farewells. At this point I was only sure of where I'd been and still had no idea where I was going once I got off the train. And it was already close to 9pm. If I could sum up the Alaskan portion of my trip in one word..."Uncertainty" comes to mind...and pulling into the Anchorage train depot was no different.

Waiting to pick up my bag and shotgun with all the other passengers, I met a lady who was traveling with her family and friends. It was just so nice to talk with people even if they were hesitant at first to engage with a scruffball with a shotgun strapped to his back.

Having no place to go and no way to get there I was left with few options but to simply start walking. So thats just what I did. For no particular reason, left looked like a good direction to start walking. Before I even made it halfway up the first hill, I noticed a woman jogging behind me. I wondered to myself if she had any concern running up passed a guy who looked the way I did. But never did I expect her to stop running and strike up a conversation with me! Not being someone who would turn down an opportunity to chat, I tried to run along with her (yes...with a 70+lbs pack on) so as to not ruin her rhythm.

She gave me advice on things to see and places to go in Anchorage while I was in town there. She even walked me to a close by hostel and helped me find a place to stay. I knew this woman for maybe a total of 15 minutes of my entire life and in that time we had a heart to heart about the tribulations of having her hands tied in the education system, her training for an upcoming marathon, stupid ex-girlfriends, and about why I was traveling alone on the streets of Anchorage with a shotgun on my back. It absolutely kills me that I cannot remember this woman's name...so if you are reading this then you should message me. I want to try and keep in close contact with all the people who have made an impact on my journey. I pray that she has found peace in the school system and has been given the freedom to really teach her students in a way that she feels truly educates them.

Anywho...I dropped my gear off at the hostel and hit the town to scrounge up some food to eat. A concierge at a nearby hotel tipped me off to a restaurant that was still open - Humpy's. I guess I had little choice. Walking to the restaurant in the rain made the food I would eventually eat so much better. But because my stomach had been shrinking from having eaten so little over the last month, I could barely finish any of my meal.

While I tried to strike up a conversation with a barkeep, who was having none of it, the guy sitting next to me overheard pieces of my Denali stories. Thank God for eavesdroppers because this guy would eventually become the ringleader of a group of the single most selflessly generous gang of ragtag Americans I've ever had the extended pleasure of knowing.

David was his name. His beer distributor buddy, Carl, who after being my acquaintance for approximately 3 minutes, offered to pick up my dinner tab! This was all so foreign to me. Not that I don't know selfless people back east but I haven't met anyone over here who is anything BUT generous. Though I turned down the offer at first, David, offered up his basement mattress as a place for me to sleep that night. Getting to know David a little better I eventually determined that he was not a serial killer. Of course he could still be pulling the long con only to kill me later.

We got to talking about my next steps and I was torn between heading south towards Seward (Kenai Fjords) or west towards McCarthy (Wrangell - St. Elias). When David heard that I was thinking about heading to Seward I could almost see the lightbulb go off above his head. Evidently, David's girlfriend, Patricia, was in town and was leaving in the morning to head back to her place in Seward! Moments after this epiphany struck, Patricia entered the bar and before she even had a chance to really even know my name, no hesitation was made to offer me a ride the next day! The Alaskan hitchhiking experience continues!

I'm only scratching the surface of the tale of David and Patricia. But long story short, we finished our brews, picked up my gear from the hostel, and headed back to David's place. The generosity didn't stop there. He offered me food and most importantly a place to shower. I was born anew! Such an amazing time was had with David, Patricia, and David's roommate, Jobe. Now Jobe, again after only knowing me for less than an hour, offers to take me along on his hunting trip the following Friday if I'm back from Seward in time. So if you're keeping track...within moments of meeting these people, Mystery Runner helped me find a place to stay, David offered me his spare bed, Patricia offered me a ride over hundreds of miles, and Jobe was going to take me hunting!

Since we stayed up and burned the midnight...errr...5am oil, we all slept well into the next afternoon. Before long, Patricia and I were off to Seward and despite having near-cooperative weather on our side, we still were in a time crunch...Patricia works as a nurse in an elderly care home on the outskirts of Seward. So get this...we made it to her work with 30 seconds to spare and then she lent me her white pickup truck to use to putter around town in...not only that, but she gave me the keys to her home and told me to make myself comfortable (she had to work all night). With the rain starting to pick up, the night setting in, and still being drastically in need of doing laundry, I gratefully accepted her hospitality. I'm still technically a stranger to this girl at this point and shes given me the keys to all her worldly possessions! Am I just not intimidating enough?! Well the one condition was that

Generosity was second nature to these people. I tried to offer to pay for the gas but she refused to let me pay. But when the truck was all mine I totes filled it up! Hah! Take that, Patricia! I'm sure she won't mind me telling the internet this, but Patricia is also an INCREDIBLE artist. Her apartment is covered in her masterpieces. I was blown away...honestly. I was floored. She is able to bring an imagination to life that is so colorful and so creative. Fantasies put to paper. My hat is off to you, Patricia! Coincidentally, I have this idea of eventually creating an artsy map that documents the path of the Walkabout. I would want nobody other than Patricia to be the one commissioned for this project.

There you have the spark notes version of my time with David, Patricia, and Jobe. A highly watered down version but perhaps some of them can comment on parts I left out or elaborate on those already mentioned. I value my time with these three characters as one of the most emotionally rewarding times of the Walkabout. Slapped in the face with a giant open palm of generosity (have I said that word enough?). I'll cut this longwinded ramble sesh here but I'll warn you...this is not the last time the three amigos will make an appearance in this adventure. Far from it in fact. I miss them. I really do.

I chose this song ironically because NOBODY knew my name when I first arrived in Anchorage .

Not many pictures in this post but tomorrow's (or whenever I do the next one) will ought to more than make up for it. Also all these pictures are done with my phone. Candids and flashes of memories.