Bill Hess

The next day Terry and I flew from Fairbanks to Anchorage and stayed with dear friends Curt and Renee Rudd. We spent the rest of the evening visiting with them.

The next day we drove to Wasilla to meet with Bill Hess and the Alaska Railroad's Denali Star. I've always wanted to see Bill fly Sancho, his agile little drone. We met up in an empty parking lot across the road from the 557 Restoration Company. Bill was a little concerned that the sprinkling rain might short out Sancho's electronics so he thought he'd try to launch it from the open rear hatch back of his car. I believe Sancho's collision warning system sensed the car walls around him and spun out of control onto the ground. Fortunately, Sancho emerged damage free.

Bill writes an almost daily feature on Facebook entitled, "WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS." When I asked him about the purpose of this mission, he replied, "Define as best I can the town that I live in, Wasilla, and how it relates to the trains that run through it." 7/17/23