Phone call jump starts summer

Resslin' Around, by Casey Ressler

The phone rang and the caller ID gave me a mixed message -- there wasn't a name listed, but the area code on the number was quite familiar. It was from Michigan State University, my old stomping grounds more than seven years ago.

"Hey Casey, this is Brad Thompson. I lived in your dorm here at State. Do you remember me?" the voice asked.

Of course I remembered him, but I couldn't get past how weird it seemed to be getting a call from someone I hadn't talked to in eight years.

"Yeah, my wife and I are coming to Alaska in July, and we thought we'd be near Wasilla," he said. "So I thought I'd give you a call."

Alaskans live for those calls. They don't have to come from the best of friends -- I knew Brad through several mutual friends in college, but we weren't close by any means -- to make the summer exciting. Out-of-state visitors make you explore your own backyard again, and rediscover why you love to live here. Getting to play tour guide for the summer and show off your favorite things about Alaska is exciting.

"That's a great time to come -- just when the reds are running and the silvers are starting. And you'll have to get to Hatcher Pass, and definitely Denali, and definitely a couple days on the Peninsula," I hurriedly told Brad. "And I know of a couple really good camping spots out of the way."

There are big differences in the way Alaskans think, and the way those in the Lower 48 think. If a visitor is anywhere near your house here, you offer it up and tell them to stop on by. By "near your house" you mean anywhere in the state. In the Lower 48, they could be the same distance away, but they would be eight states across the map.

A couple hundred miles up here is a day trip -- down there, it's a voyage. If you're ever in the neighborhood, say from Seattle north and from British Columbia all the way west to Russia, stop in and say 'hi' is the thinking most Alaskans have.

I told Brad I'd pick them up at the airport if they needed a ride. "I'm only an hour away," I told him -- and realized that's another difference in thinking. Here in the Valley, we run to Anchorage for a single item if we need it. Down there, MSU was a little over an hour away from Detroit, and I was in the Motor City just three times in four years. If you have to drive an hour for something down there, it's a vacation.

The differences in thinking is just one reason Alaskans are here in the first place, although there are plenty of other reasons, such as Pioneer Peak, Denali and a slow float down the river with a fly rod.

"I said I'd never come back to Alaska, and now I say I'll never leave," I told Brad. "You're going to love it up here."

I hung up the phone and I was juiced about getting out and showing off all of Alaska again.

Brad said he fly fishes, so I was already making a list of the flies he needs to tie before he gets here in a couple of months. I wanted to start tying some flies up myself.

I know a handful of other Alaskans got that same phone call last night. Plenty more will get that phone call today, tomorrow or next week.

The summer is reason enough to be energized, but phone calls from out-of-state visitors only add to the fun of the season.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. When he takes a vacation, he often travels as far as the Talkeetna River in search of a good time -- and rainbow trout.