So we wave Russia goodbye and head east across the International Date Line (and have July 7th for the second time!) heading for Nome on the west coast of Alaska.

The van meeting us at Nome's harbour is driven by the town's mayor a very garrulous and enthusiastic cheerleader for the town who explains to us that he was once a Broadway actor who drank away his career before rehabilitating and reinventing himself in this far-flung corner of the US! 

Three Lucky Swedes

Nome, a small isolated community of some 4000 people came into existence at the end of the 19th century when "three lucky Swedes" discovered gold in the area. That kicked off a gold rush and at one point, more than a thousand people a day were arriving so that by 1900, Nome was the largest city in Alaska. It was all downhill from there though and as gold fever faded so did the town. It has undergone a bit of a revival in the last few decades as Nome is the end point of the Iditarod - the "marathon of dog-sled races" which begins in Anchorage on the other side of Alaska. But when the race which takes place in late February/early March ends, Nome returns to its sleepy self. The town has a couple of motels and a somewhat unusual but quite comfortable guest house named rather uninvitingly, the Dredge 7 Inn. The Inn's front door is always unlocked but kept firmly closed to keep out unwanted guests of the four-legged sort. During our stay, there was a notice pinned to the door warning guests to beware of musk ox which at this time of year like to hang around the parking lot. Not surprisingly, check in is also somewhat unusual - an iPad is kept on the front desk and you're invited to contact the inn-keeper using FaceTime (she was driving around somewhere when we managed to reach her). 

Roads to Nowhere

There are just three roads leading out of Nome, each paved for just a short distance but none connects with the rest of Alaska (the only way in or out of the town is by boat or plane). We "rented" a dual cab pickup truck from the Dredge 7 (just four of the vehicle's warning lights were on!) and headed out on one of the three roads some 75 miles (120 km) to the tiny and isolated Inuit village of Teller. Not much in Teller - the couple of hundred or so residents are mostly subsistence fishermen, sealers and whalers and otherwise survive on government handouts and food stamps. 

Teller is as close as you can get by "road" to the Bering Land Bridge which at one time connected Alaska to northeastern Russia. While not quite the most westerly point in North America, Teller is the closest point you can reach by "road" to Russia, just 55 miles away across the Bering Sea. We looked but still couldn't see what Sarah Palin said she could see - perhaps it was just too misty that day!!

By the way, the title of this blog entry is Nome's tag line. That seemed a better title than perhaps the alternative - "When in Nome, do as the Nomans do" (thanks Kevin!!!).....

And so on to the final destination on this journey - Kodiak Island off Alaska's south coast - via Anchorage of course, which is just about the only way in Alaska to get from one point to another. 

Close Encounters of the Bear Kind

Kodiak actually provides a very fitting and appropriate ending to this journey. Kodiak was essentially the first place in Alaska to be "colonized" by Russia when beginning in the late 18th century it became the centre of the very lucrative fur trade. After the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, many Russians chose to stay on.the fur trade died, but Russian influence is still evident today - place names derived from Russian words, the very prominent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Kodiak City and the oldest Russian building still standing in the US, now the Boroslav Museum. There are also several Russian churches scattered around Kodiak and surrounding islands

We also had the chance to stay again with good friends, Mary & Ron (travel tip - anyone thinking of visiting Kodiak should look no further than their Channel View B&B, not only the best view in Kodiak but also the best B&B you'll ever stay at!!). The weather is mostly kind to us and we get up close and personal with a lot of wild life that we only saw from a distance in Russia! At the remote southern end of the island (flown in by conspiracy enthusiast Roland in his float plane) we have have a close encounter with several Kodiak bears - although at 30 feet away, I think they were more alarmed by us than we were of them!

Going Out with a Bang

The only thing we missed out on this time, is a visit to Kodiak's rocket launch site. Yes - there is an active space centre in Kodiak. On a previous visit, the site was short of money and seemed to be on the verge of closing down. It has recently received a cash infusion and has been been updated and extended. Roland tells us that it's Boeing and Lockheed in collusion with the federal government - and this time, I think he's probably right! We drove up to the front gate, only to be informed by the guard that the site was closed to the public thirty minutes earlier "as they prepare for something". She couldn't say what or when the site might be accessible again (the last time we were here, there was barely a gate and certainly no guard!). I guess the clue is in the numerous aerial and antenna arrays we see in the surrounding area. I called the next day, to be informed by the guard that the gate is still closed. Mystery solved the next morning when Mary tells us that a few hours earlier there had been a test firing of a missile interceptor rocket, part of the THAAD system of defense against a missile attack on the US presumably from North Korea. 

Don't know if this is a secret, but just in case don't tell anyone.....