Kodiak, AK–I went to Kodiak Island this summer to look for bears. Yeah, the largest land carnivore bear (polar bears don’t count as land carnivores). Yep, saw them. But I’m gonna talk about bears next time. First, you need to know about Kodiak Island. It’s basically a small town, where everybody knows everybody else (like most islands) and tourists are not treated like tourists (unlike many islands). Here, there’s a friendly finger wave as you drive on the limited roads. People look you in the eye and say thank you when you shop at a store, or get a cup of coffee. As we were leaving, a fog dropped in. That happens a lot on Kodiak. We waited and waited and waited for our plane, but it didn’t arrive. Didn’t have a room for the night, and only one motel had space for us. Unfortunately, the Kodiak Airport is far enough outside town that you cannot walk and there isn’t public transportation. Since getting gas to the island is expensive, cabs are expensive, and I was about out of cash. Frazzled after returning to the motel, I wasn’t very kindly myself when I told the front desk clerk that I really needed to get a cab that took credit cards for the morning shlep back to the airport. He was gonna look it up then, but I was too tired to wait and said I’d get it in the morning. The next day, only the key drop was open, but he had a note pinned to the front office door: “Phone # of taxi that will take credit cards. Cab 25 539-5485”. He’d even called to tell them that I would need a ride the next day. I found the note in my coat pocket just today, a remembrance of the kindness of Kodiak.
