tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48014091862129103292024-03-14T03:21:15.067-07:00Travel RabbleTo talk about all our adventures-large and small!travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.comBlogger253125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-35832608982407672232020-12-17T06:40:00.000-08:002020-12-17T06:40:23.389-08:00And, We're back! But from where?<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh! Hi there! Still subscribed five years on? If you are - thank you! (even though it was probably just an oversight of internet subscription management) </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-571604b3-7fff-8693-ad62-4224cddd43ea"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s been so long. So much as happened! But why? Why did I abandon you to the world of better written travel articles across the world wide web? Why did I refuse you the delights and treasures of my meandering thoughts and oddly written stories? Your questions are valid. Let me try to explain. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My last entry was back in January 2016. We had just returned from India after a year in Antarctica. We were living in a friends house on Cape Cod and our plan was to return to Antarctica for the Winter season starting February 2016. Unfortunately, Jamie had a medical issue and was deemed Not Physically Qualified (NPQ). We decided that I would still go and Jamie would bump up his plan to get a Masters in Education - I’d work and make the money and he’d focus on getting into a Masters Program. And so we did. I left for Antarctica in February of 2016 and Jamie stayed in Boston and started researching and applying to Masters Programs. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The year would have worked out great except that my mom died on March 24th, 2016. I was stuck in Antarctica for two weeks before I was able to get home. I came home for about 6 weeks (April to June) and then I went back to finish my contract. When I got home in October of 2016, Jamie was ensconced in a Masters Program, had secured us housing at a frat house in Boston (that’s another story), and I was on a slow and seemingly endless journey of grief. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While Jamie continued his Masters, I spent most of my time walking through Boston with tears streaming down my face and would occasionally try to think clearly about what I wanted to do. I applied (and got accepted) to work for the Post Office but I turned it down. I started working at an office that hosted focus groups (so bizarre and interesting). I registered with JobSeekers Massachusetts and went and did tons of skill workshops and resume advice sessions and other fun things like that. I flew out to Montana to visit my friends and then drive a school bus to Michigan. Of course I had started medication and ultimately, as spring came around again I was feeling better and I decided I would take a course with the International Tourism Management Institute (ITMI). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In May I started my course, had a job offer on day two and when the course ended 14 days later, I packed my bags and went to DC to do student tours with World Strides. Thus began my life as a tour guide. In that role I did student tours in DC and Boston. I worked with Road Scholar in Boston. I worked with a tiny New England company that sent me all around NE, up to Quebec city and down to Charleston, SC. In the off months, I got back into English teaching and worked as a TEFL instructor at FLS on the Boston Common. Ultimately, as I am wont to do, I got restless so I applied to (and got) a job with Premier Alaska Tours in Alaska for the summer of 2019. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jamie applied to and go into the Boston Teacher Fellowship program. He did a one year masters in Education focusing on Science and middle school. The program was INTENSE. He was doing work for his Masters and teaching full time as well. To offset our housing cost, he got a job with MIT as a Graduate Resident Advisor and we moved into a frat house in Kenmore square. Jamie finished his degree in 2017 and started teaching at Boston Green Academy. Middle School turned out to be a very hard place to work and was a huge challenge to his kind and gentle soul. After struggling with the experience (and with his mental sanity) he decided to take a break from education to reevaluate. He quit in June 2019 and came out to Alaska with me - also getting a job with Premier Alaska Tours. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We decided that Antarctica was the best next step. Jamie, having gotten an NPQ in 2016 was robbed of his last season and I was convincible. We applied and got accepted to work the winter of 2020. We both went to Antarctica and missed most of this shitshow year. We had even extended our contracts through to February 2021 but I ruptured my Achilles on October 1st and within a week, both Jamie and I were back in MA -me recovering and him playing nurse. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While I hadn’t been blogging these past five years, I was sending occasional emails about our travels and adventures. I’m going to try and hunt them down and post them there. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hopefully I’ll get some backdated content for our trips to: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Iceland/Prague/Poland, Germany/France, Mexico, England, The Long Trail, Montana, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, Vancouver, and daily adventures. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for sticking with me - whether it was patiently awaiting my next blog post or asking to get my email updates. You’re great. </span></p><br /></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-AYZGC88NY2tL0gv3zH8kfdPKY5vjKqDrd4doORUpCDPIDUpMGNXdcrL76qSooKeDit-4rERkMmuki_uVpPuKyhgROYw0ZcKRMig96ur1Oj3xr-JorUyZxf-SJsFghEOnfv05GZ5VPFs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="423" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-AYZGC88NY2tL0gv3zH8kfdPKY5vjKqDrd4doORUpCDPIDUpMGNXdcrL76qSooKeDit-4rERkMmuki_uVpPuKyhgROYw0ZcKRMig96ur1Oj3xr-JorUyZxf-SJsFghEOnfv05GZ5VPFs/" width="117" /></a></div><br /></span></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-85392515351296840222019-04-23T09:13:00.002-07:002021-04-07T09:39:55.342-07:00Seward with KC - Alaska <p style="text-align: left;">This weekend was epic. It started with my having a fight with an asshole couchsurfer that checked into my previously sweet couchsurfing situation but that’s not an Alaska story so just suffice it to say: he was a jerk. AFTER that, amazing epicness started. I drove to Girdwood (about 45 minutes south of Anchorage) because my friend Katie Sismour had arrived in AK and was hosting a brunch. We ate, I met her delightful boyfriend, and we went for a hike. I continued down to Seward where I met my friend KC at his workplace in the middle of a wine tasting (oh, a glass of wine?! ok). As it’s off-season right now, we had a hard time finding a place to eat at 8:30 at night and settled on a place called Thorns Showcase Lounge, Home of the Butt (halibut). That place was a trip. Padded upholstery that looked like it came from a 70s casino. Every wall was fitted with display cases for various strange unique bottles of alcohol and there was ONE waitress for the entire restaurant. She did a great job and the burgers were spectacular. </p><div style="background-color: white;"><span id="yiv8546039230ydp3ca9f6e0docs-internal-guid-b7c7ee0c-7fff-a7b1-8d36-dd547660f274"><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next day we had coffee in the hotel room - the windsong lodge where KC works generously gave me a room in the hotel for free as they aren’t open - and we took a leisurely departure as we needed to have coffee and appreciate the view. On the way out we stopped for some hard boiled eggs at the cabin the employees are currently using as a hang out (soon to be an Air B&B) and as we left I heard some new noises so, of course, I go to investigate. It’s a man with a huge portable mill, milling these big old spruce trees. We talked to him for a bit and watched the mill work (video in the photo album) before heading off down the road. </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our first stop was IRB Knives. This place has a HUGE knife out front that is coated in old CDs for the silver part, a mannequin of a woman that, apparently, he dresses daily in his ex-wives clothes and then inside it’s a tiny cozy little shop. He currently had a visitor when we arrived so while he talked a bit about the knives, the visitor, Bob White, mainly dominated the conversation with a story about how dogs were always in his garbage so he set a snare trap. When he heard the rustle of the trap, he walked out there with his gun (to shoot the dogs) and saw a bear. He promptly called Animal Control. At this point, there was a digression into the annoyance of Fish and Wildlife and regulations and yada, yada, yada. Anyway, he continues on with the story about darting the bear with lots of asides about how the wildlife guy was too tentative and nervous and slow.. Bear gets darted...and it ends there because once the bear was off their property they didn’t seem to care much. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, the owner offered us a tour of the shop. OK! And off we go past the sign that says “men only” and back into the world of a knife maker. The owner was more than generous and polite and kind with his time and energy and explanations. He showed us the furnace, the two hydraulic hammers and demonstrated the bigger one by smashing coins. (fun) He showed us his stash of handles that included various horns (moose, impala, musk oxen, bison), wood - some that smelled like burnt popcorn when sanded (we got a demonstration) and then sandlewood to clear the air. He made all custom knives and was even making one from someone’s medical piece of titanium that was in their leg. He put the screw in the handle. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, he was telling us about his love of tequila with a chaser of oranges with cinnamon sprinkled on top. I mention that I had a tequila toast at our wedding and the next thing I know, he’s pouring us shots! </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While we’re standing there a man from Utqiagvik, Alaska starts sharing pictures of the whale he and his village harvested. As a subsistence hunter he’s allowed to shoot 17 whales. Well. more precisely, he can take 17 shots. If he doesn’t actually get a whale with one of those shots, he loses it. I've added photos he shared of the harvest. I'll put them at the VERY end. You have been warned. </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally after pictures were shared and tequila was sipped, KC and I head off on our way to Homer, Alaska. We stop in Soldatna, AK for lunch at the Kenai Brewing Company and detour into Ninilchik for a peek at the Russian Orthodox church. Ninilchik is an old Russian settlement and the older people in this community are still speaking a version of Russian that was spoken when the Russians came over in the late 1700s. Pretty crazy! </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We finally arrived in Homer at 6pm and went for a ride out on the Homer Spit. The longest naturally occurring spit in the world. A spit, for those of you that don’t know your natural coastal features - is a long stretch of sand that sticks out into the water and is attached on one side. This one is a very permanent feature and has lots of businesses and residences on it. Although, I’m not sure they are permanent residences. I think they are all just vacation homes. </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the Homer spit we wandered past a ridiculous looking restaurant with HUGE Alice in Wonderland cups on the top. Aptly named “Cups Cafe” it had the best reviews on google and we went in to dinner. It was SPECTACULAR. My shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked and KC said his steak was the best he’d ever had in America. He went back to thank the chef and invite him to eat at the Roadhouse in Seward (where KC is the executive Chef). After dinner we were going to meet one of KC friends at a dance hall called “Alice’s Champagne Palace” where a band called “Rose’s Pawn Shop” was playing. I know. That’s a lot of names and nouns. It was spectacular! We danced until the band quit - about midnight and went over to our hotel (just next door) for some much needed rest. </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning we went down to the local crepe place, Wild Honey, where they replaced the “crepe” with egg if we wanted and had a delicious breakfast before heading up to skyine drive to get spectacular views of the Katchemak Bay. The peninsula is usually cloudy and raining but we had two gorgeous blue sky days!! </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On our way out and back to Homer we saw 5 moose. All of which were just hanging out by the side of the road. Unfortunately that last one decided to dart in front of our car. Terrifying! KC was driving at the time and successfully braked and missed it and we, thankfully, saw no more moose for our ride. </span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We got KC back to Seward by 4:30 and I set off to stay the night with Katie in Girdwood. On the way, I saw all these people pulled over at the side of the road and standing in the water with nets. I parked to go over and explore and they were all netting Hooligan! I had to wait around for about 45 minutes before someone caught one but it was pretty great! I mean, great and also a bit lackluster because it’s just a tiny little fish. One of the guys was telling me that earlier today (when the river was higher) his friend had caught 2 bucketfuls! So cool! By the time I finally got over to Girdwood, Katie was having a hang with friends and they invited me to join them for hotdogs and smores. Never one to give up free food, I agreed.</span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><div style="color: #1d2228; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Excellent end to a delightful weekend! </span></div><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFn4vtJE3ag96YaShg-X2HWfMnaKosyJSIcBVk6DrfbwypcEtdSouCCH1479IiDAZk_TxNkQc6gonMQ0SMZ4DkPlQoum4DMFsgIsZlSCHiosrMzLRLpYtamHFC5dg4CkeMYHdVr-0sXd6/s2048/20190427_100114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFn4vtJE3ag96YaShg-X2HWfMnaKosyJSIcBVk6DrfbwypcEtdSouCCH1479IiDAZk_TxNkQc6gonMQ0SMZ4DkPlQoum4DMFsgIsZlSCHiosrMzLRLpYtamHFC5dg4CkeMYHdVr-0sXd6/w640-h480/20190427_100114.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">View across the docs in Seward, AK</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTd4T5VjXamGKpg-tR112JT2-SZV3_WogNNRotumiL3pXOKOV_LwRLdUFJtuVZHrp7QAtAHD1kQ4bS8f18HWsHF-9zVu4I9h6EMgfukNr3Zj0K1y7aEeZ0P79Xn9qE9194bRSWqj1bpdj/s2048/20190427_111052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTd4T5VjXamGKpg-tR112JT2-SZV3_WogNNRotumiL3pXOKOV_LwRLdUFJtuVZHrp7QAtAHD1kQ4bS8f18HWsHF-9zVu4I9h6EMgfukNr3Zj0K1y7aEeZ0P79Xn9qE9194bRSWqj1bpdj/w640-h480/20190427_111052.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Remember how I mentioned that titanium knife with the bolt in the handle? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqD6UxADu66VSAMlvZw7Ab07JonAV4yXCPw2n_dPQiOqeEYAbwY06Uey9LSOBOPkUvhZr_x01E9-QCUKr2y_77mQYP5HHDZwSDIcde3Gpkjj_4QVfRqy8IxeBzybuJovEvAjBY1caIFo9/s2048/20190427_112817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqD6UxADu66VSAMlvZw7Ab07JonAV4yXCPw2n_dPQiOqeEYAbwY06Uey9LSOBOPkUvhZr_x01E9-QCUKr2y_77mQYP5HHDZwSDIcde3Gpkjj_4QVfRqy8IxeBzybuJovEvAjBY1caIFo9/w480-h640/20190427_112817.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tequila shots with orange and cinnamon. The man pouring is the knife maker. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndB-d6ulfEvK2AotEVS1O4f817gM336HZA19d8i1a8sf1tLVjCeyNYaOHDj0uuDksuJmXkvkGBtIqK_XFMJYe-_QWf5Vl6CKUCziDUm7xnotFceOs0UYnfybnHaTGECfe9xUKG5KiSZxx/s2048/20190427_120110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndB-d6ulfEvK2AotEVS1O4f817gM336HZA19d8i1a8sf1tLVjCeyNYaOHDj0uuDksuJmXkvkGBtIqK_XFMJYe-_QWf5Vl6CKUCziDUm7xnotFceOs0UYnfybnHaTGECfe9xUKG5KiSZxx/w640-h480/20190427_120110.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBzdNh9m01kVk3TE8HDLiSZD0-IH_S_SSXVtXRFgZX_XOtFwhoRuty83tsGg0TrYlFPA22cr7xFWBmhNXITdfhgfgdCO7bhwdgMd-1s99wo2JJrtukNXUlvyFaWZJ0YLcSloxcWLXdfZU/s2048/20190427_132124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBzdNh9m01kVk3TE8HDLiSZD0-IH_S_SSXVtXRFgZX_XOtFwhoRuty83tsGg0TrYlFPA22cr7xFWBmhNXITdfhgfgdCO7bhwdgMd-1s99wo2JJrtukNXUlvyFaWZJ0YLcSloxcWLXdfZU/w640-h480/20190427_132124.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The river across from the WindSong lodge. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6ePgwdrGENbt8NdERTpy8xLWX7pJUt468o0y1ab8-lCx1-E9vOQEgEzfXYkCnc50ytKe-_bwyeoiUDtW8fdrozGkJuBfq26pcp7ULhXzsfRu-zGOVzvSdlDGuwUawd39WUNnfsJqhg7P/s2048/20190427_163213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6ePgwdrGENbt8NdERTpy8xLWX7pJUt468o0y1ab8-lCx1-E9vOQEgEzfXYkCnc50ytKe-_bwyeoiUDtW8fdrozGkJuBfq26pcp7ULhXzsfRu-zGOVzvSdlDGuwUawd39WUNnfsJqhg7P/w640-h480/20190427_163213.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Russian Orthodox church in Ninilchik. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv33w1vTgjn7TlecS6g179UXtG-1tFclrw6B-F5Gg8cip9MrH0I0ET99Y2BO1tiyMA9a0UwJDSybazQuB13BlnM1XsYWQRgjyM1niPFQqOnOMZGBajf3yytajQ2ZUWaf79-MfjIiA7dQbo/s2048/20190427_173240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv33w1vTgjn7TlecS6g179UXtG-1tFclrw6B-F5Gg8cip9MrH0I0ET99Y2BO1tiyMA9a0UwJDSybazQuB13BlnM1XsYWQRgjyM1niPFQqOnOMZGBajf3yytajQ2ZUWaf79-MfjIiA7dQbo/w640-h480/20190427_173240.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Og5zWU9Ahd00ab6u7VUF9EZPF9Pvn1WcsKXIXH0rHOhYygm6UjZFXQvAVa3R-lEK3o7mravC2xQYYnHF4cIpcuLYYF4P_B133sjak7QwkTSJN2jT6klQkplZO5__V0wd_VAZuSkw7rXU/s2048/20190427_212320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Og5zWU9Ahd00ab6u7VUF9EZPF9Pvn1WcsKXIXH0rHOhYygm6UjZFXQvAVa3R-lEK3o7mravC2xQYYnHF4cIpcuLYYF4P_B133sjak7QwkTSJN2jT6klQkplZO5__V0wd_VAZuSkw7rXU/w640-h480/20190427_212320.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Three cups restaurant - best steak in Alaska according to KC. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1ngRL0tnz9Zzc9xNEHhzoWJ0z-ge3tX3VYYZA5qhkK3bxl5bbgtXyT0ER9g_jnUdol-RYXf-hmm_GA7lzZARq05Eg27SbZxV6RLDpUkuH4VP-KNvkSTILmA75rYWmbsmtz2X_ZTOx-Un/s2048/20190428_192934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1ngRL0tnz9Zzc9xNEHhzoWJ0z-ge3tX3VYYZA5qhkK3bxl5bbgtXyT0ER9g_jnUdol-RYXf-hmm_GA7lzZARq05Eg27SbZxV6RLDpUkuH4VP-KNvkSTILmA75rYWmbsmtz2X_ZTOx-Un/w480-h640/20190428_192934.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">A tiny little hooligan. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmBiKSnnbp8HzmbSYmVN44m1beASfnyNboDFi6Wj1H96ULyXWWYYEhFM8icxtS5D99sw7nVFTQQhoyXGLNnRfDYtOcwey1AqSHcrZFi0LM_XYjcHbOHJmr_knqK67EaTFc5WfYooifdvt/s2048/20190430_004410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmBiKSnnbp8HzmbSYmVN44m1beASfnyNboDFi6Wj1H96ULyXWWYYEhFM8icxtS5D99sw7nVFTQQhoyXGLNnRfDYtOcwey1AqSHcrZFi0LM_XYjcHbOHJmr_knqK67EaTFc5WfYooifdvt/w640-h480/20190430_004410.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My very annoying couchsurfing counterpart. He doesn't fully understand the "couch" thing. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyyO5L12UlGuk3YBHZ-LZzHTNYz-iZlLOMfLZoomwHxgakKqrnAf_QXffdkO1HGa8CJTJ6hTrs7KFrvZ5PtCw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">WHALE HARVEST PHOTOS BELOW. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xGVh2Uv99qndQpJxgP5H1KvuM9aNnHZDxVp6CB8SB4-mDQNQ-uuXI3qqQHyY_ROgzj5u4xMkzsSpMZSgWr3MTGCGU7zEXE7TAT-jAuCTHQwu6gtFHfvaPmYQKJqWc7EAS0owVnFPoIEc/s2048/IMG_1847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xGVh2Uv99qndQpJxgP5H1KvuM9aNnHZDxVp6CB8SB4-mDQNQ-uuXI3qqQHyY_ROgzj5u4xMkzsSpMZSgWr3MTGCGU7zEXE7TAT-jAuCTHQwu6gtFHfvaPmYQKJqWc7EAS0owVnFPoIEc/w640-h480/IMG_1847.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWnCxdkScUYS7kkh7QonXeDhpWuBdATnApSrL4K02wOn3koeEwfozSUx2Ti9h8_6AZmK-Uz8R48NAaFKUm5kAO0jWdbCjv-gpAghIvn71f0QKB3ULWAqMLJg3tX73v4x95W9SOzfk6aUY/s2048/IMG_1848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWnCxdkScUYS7kkh7QonXeDhpWuBdATnApSrL4K02wOn3koeEwfozSUx2Ti9h8_6AZmK-Uz8R48NAaFKUm5kAO0jWdbCjv-gpAghIvn71f0QKB3ULWAqMLJg3tX73v4x95W9SOzfk6aUY/w480-h640/IMG_1848.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7gCzj3Fy4-Ej20xT80tMJmBOpm7UbsQSRSMsqJ2Q1IviqKA5gEBNSJVh_DI5YgYY0bWE0Krj-UbUCSvKYyA7haZxSkOyPzZpTrsO25BfGTEOUQcv8_bMJrq_9ii6qBBG7JYxt6qiEP2p/s2048/IMG_1852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1627" data-original-width="2048" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7gCzj3Fy4-Ej20xT80tMJmBOpm7UbsQSRSMsqJ2Q1IviqKA5gEBNSJVh_DI5YgYY0bWE0Krj-UbUCSvKYyA7haZxSkOyPzZpTrsO25BfGTEOUQcv8_bMJrq_9ii6qBBG7JYxt6qiEP2p/w640-h508/IMG_1852.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vCrnygcdkNiEwiJtF5_M6Ui6-K9Pi7PCI4w0mOw9QzsPJOY6QMvGY-pJd91fnlPxLqaPncNj71Y3m0q5zu87Ye44vj8iIPj_4Yb1HfP8HrixYgaiYu6Y_4UNhTLvDvu__IRLiugEk42s/s1024/IMG_5116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vCrnygcdkNiEwiJtF5_M6Ui6-K9Pi7PCI4w0mOw9QzsPJOY6QMvGY-pJd91fnlPxLqaPncNj71Y3m0q5zu87Ye44vj8iIPj_4Yb1HfP8HrixYgaiYu6Y_4UNhTLvDvu__IRLiugEk42s/w640-h480/IMG_5116.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkC63H1KBYA5fikcFf6gd7NXTsSweerQKvjM0_ZuRWuGD4vrZeVacY7fpfAkcX8vo4qUHfpdwnNP0frUTcgH0_tBWtI46a_DjBnbIbYgqabiCJpKTKu3VDFpVlZH1dvh9cTTXtdz71uMs/s2048/IMG_5735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkC63H1KBYA5fikcFf6gd7NXTsSweerQKvjM0_ZuRWuGD4vrZeVacY7fpfAkcX8vo4qUHfpdwnNP0frUTcgH0_tBWtI46a_DjBnbIbYgqabiCJpKTKu3VDFpVlZH1dvh9cTTXtdz71uMs/w480-h640/IMG_5735.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><span id="yiv8546039230ydpd3771d49docs-internal-guid-b46155b3-7fff-7c94-f67a-43528a0d19e3" style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve re-attached the photo link here and re-organized the photos so that the new ones are on top. </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjwHxAoTKLhXXPSq8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank">https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjwHxAoTKLhXXPSq8</a></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Seward, AK 99664, USA60.104166699999993 -149.442222231.793932863821148 175.4015278 88.414400536178846 -114.2859722tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-85504389743487236172019-04-22T09:15:00.013-07:002021-03-04T09:09:32.370-08:00All By Myself - Alaska <p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">My first week here was full of adventure and sighseeting! Now that Jamie is gone, I've moved out of Jeremy's house and I'm more alone, things have really slowed down. I'm spending a lot of time studying or pretending to study and not so much time touring. Part of that is my lack of car and while they do have busses here, I've been petulant about taking them. For example, I wanted to go the library. It was going to take- from the time I wanted to leave- about 45 minutes for me to get there via bus (most of that in waiting for the bus, not the actual ride. The actual ride would only be about 15 minutes). If I walked it would be an hour and 15 minutes. So instead of waiting for the bus. I walked. My walk did take me through the woods, into the the Native Alaska Medical Center, past the University of Alaska, Anchorage and then finally onto a long strip of ugly road where I passed a RIDICULOUS real estate sign and ultimately stopped for lunch at the Turnagin Arm Pit BBQ Restaurant. (that's funny because the large body of water here is the "turnigan arm"). When I finally made it to the library where I was EXHAUSTED from my walking and probably more likely from by BBQ lunch, I napped for a while before I started "working". Got about a solid hour of research in (currently on women during the gold rush) and then set back out again to meet Jeremy back at the UAA bookstore for a talk on "Hikes in South Central Alaska". </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The day before that epic walk (only 8 miles RT, really), I met with my "mentor" from my company. She came with all sorts of practical things about tour directing that I enjoyed looking at. Luggage tags, excursion paperwork, examples of all the tools she carries (blue tooth keyboard, file folders, best bag options) and, generally a lot of enthusiasm. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We had our meeting at the local coffee shop, <a href="https://kaladi.com/" target="_blank">Kaladi Brothers.</a> People LOVE that place here. One of the women I met said that Kaladi Brothers made it onto her list of "pros" when thinking of moving to Anchorage. They do have Starbucks here. About 19, in fact. There's about 10 Kaladi Brothers and then a whole bunch of other local coffee shops and roasters that I have seen around. Infact, for as ugly Anchorage is - all strip malls- there's not too many cookie cutter stores. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's definitely a Walmart, REI, home depot, etc but the little stores all around are more likely to be local little shops and I enjoy and appreciate that. I'm still not sure what my schedule will look like. I was supposed to meet with her today and I was gonna have her give me the rundown on what her last June looked like for an example but she's sick today. If I figure anything out, I'll keep you posted. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">After our meetings, Jeremy picked me up and we went to visit our friend Sage. Another Ice Person. She bought a house here (she's from here) and had a bunch of Alaska books for me to borrow. She's also going to be letting me stay in her house in the month of May. That'll be lovely. Her house is a little two bedroom with a big picture window out the the big front yard and a huge back yard. She's going to let me stay in exchange for painting the inside of her house. I'm down! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Yesterday was a total 'study' day. I went to the UAA library and studied in their gorgeous green atrium. Incidentally, they also have a Foucault pendulum - that thing that swings in the MoS in Boston. They, however, don't have the little clay bobbles that it knocks over every hour. that's a disappointment. I'll make that recommendation. After I lost motivation there, I moved over to the UAA bookstore and went to the café where I bought myself as much food as I could for as little money as I could and ended up making a bagel with salami and melted cheese. It was pretty awesome. After lunch, I was, of course, tired so I went and sat in the lovely, practically a greenhouse walkway, where I took a nap on a bench. I woke up to a whole bunch of dogs walking through and visiting people studying (technically to support students for finals but I got a little snuggle in too). </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">After my afternoon of hard work, Jeremy picked me up and we went to his house where he had a bike all set up and ready for me to borrow!! It was GREAT! I feel so liberated! I can go ANYWHERE!!! Also, he had made pork chops and green beans for dinner and we watched a few episodes of The Good Place. Perfect night! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm hoping to do some more adventuring this weekend. Jeremy is going to visit his brother in Portland and will let me borrow his car. I might drive down to Seward and Homer this weekend. Nothing definite but a high possibility. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Hope everyone on the other side of the world is doing well. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">This was on my walk. I love anything that makes noise. It was a whole little park with noise makers. Incidentally, when i was looking for the name of this park, I stumbled upon a website talking about how <a href="https://anchorageparkfoundation.org/programs/inclusiveplay/">Anchorage is leading the nation in accessible parks! </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v4bSJT96OUESh7SfHvx4g_wPvTzQhNvhhbM9X4OLlXcwJs2Td6EWXtbdajbjwKKsrb2VLtljGaLmNXl9YAuWbINZ0_TaoBOkituqiCYwwxzPRKtnSlBS1CrPRrMdQafsyKOzHHkCzoeg/s2048/20190423_104212.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-v4bSJT96OUESh7SfHvx4g_wPvTzQhNvhhbM9X4OLlXcwJs2Td6EWXtbdajbjwKKsrb2VLtljGaLmNXl9YAuWbINZ0_TaoBOkituqiCYwwxzPRKtnSlBS1CrPRrMdQafsyKOzHHkCzoeg/w640-h480/20190423_104212.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">University Of Alaska, Anchorage</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyuhTCDOL4x7a3SSpijGE0FU4qjxgV-TEEXSSPuYuwkHsxjegrquFS4Gd6bZc1lblenFGRhVDZu7UjehmsLetEx7hfk1Q9vu5pKe20xT8vDddjBxmRq9rXUC-oxZzOZ3TafqWLe3z4KgN7/s2048/20190423_154217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyuhTCDOL4x7a3SSpijGE0FU4qjxgV-TEEXSSPuYuwkHsxjegrquFS4Gd6bZc1lblenFGRhVDZu7UjehmsLetEx7hfk1Q9vu5pKe20xT8vDddjBxmRq9rXUC-oxZzOZ3TafqWLe3z4KgN7/w640-h480/20190423_154217.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The library atrium. Isn't it spectacular?! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBtpHMptVDrR3xqEclU4j5rGBl26L4IOC0Jr8Ruk0ddM7WTX0IfNBvlcORhq6DYyKBJo0D7MDXAZxkISEPXen1o1t2yjsTEq2me0vhbT_tWGqEn-driIv7_rdOtEkHywHCK7Ks1LHwZLS/s2048/20190424_152711.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBtpHMptVDrR3xqEclU4j5rGBl26L4IOC0Jr8Ruk0ddM7WTX0IfNBvlcORhq6DYyKBJo0D7MDXAZxkISEPXen1o1t2yjsTEq2me0vhbT_tWGqEn-driIv7_rdOtEkHywHCK7Ks1LHwZLS/w640-h480/20190424_152711.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The cuddle dog. So fluffy! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPjRUIidyysrk2TmMID2OJTppp_-m4sCk4g98x4I-AGzRWHqoD5ep2AHVJC_C3859HdX0Qo-BptULii2UF5CfeIUBWAcCW5JG4G-hSwIN49-TaHVfM5gK9y5RkzqStcC3rn1TnzbCRA-r/s2048/20190424_180008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPjRUIidyysrk2TmMID2OJTppp_-m4sCk4g98x4I-AGzRWHqoD5ep2AHVJC_C3859HdX0Qo-BptULii2UF5CfeIUBWAcCW5JG4G-hSwIN49-TaHVfM5gK9y5RkzqStcC3rn1TnzbCRA-r/w640-h480/20190424_180008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's my Couchsurfing Digs</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYonVJ7ijbSpwSpLC7Om31_aimutFp3DXNWTeIH8lINPs8bxRlPBlSN9kZcQMDUMQWjqVrpToiTmXnAL0e6jKvrUwg0MIk60S9OBbUvhBa-y7bCqcePi0Vz4sXPXDewrS_24N9Htw_F9un/s2048/20190421_131043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYonVJ7ijbSpwSpLC7Om31_aimutFp3DXNWTeIH8lINPs8bxRlPBlSN9kZcQMDUMQWjqVrpToiTmXnAL0e6jKvrUwg0MIk60S9OBbUvhBa-y7bCqcePi0Vz4sXPXDewrS_24N9Htw_F9un/w640-h480/20190421_131043.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Couchsurfing Kitchen</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOpzF7KD9E87LhVBKBhlwjsGU7VwK-aLWl6ybV82Tv7SW4svMcmb2kBH_hcd3dAHqq8wC2pWzA8cZtFuDqfOZySw-Eg3QzujUSlZ5hdzAoDNtxVaUN5jEiU4V0iQXAmYYP-rbqcF0bR_s/s2048/20190421_132545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOpzF7KD9E87LhVBKBhlwjsGU7VwK-aLWl6ybV82Tv7SW4svMcmb2kBH_hcd3dAHqq8wC2pWzA8cZtFuDqfOZySw-Eg3QzujUSlZ5hdzAoDNtxVaUN5jEiU4V0iQXAmYYP-rbqcF0bR_s/w640-h480/20190421_132545.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Couchsurfing Hottub</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKpkpdgKAGyMU2AhGr7OBy_LDBx06XsZZjjEe3lnnl_v2DsMOTI7nh3ROGi1x0wNPqsr99lCGD7MFf9tsE4DIo8b07wCIYGbmhcn0EFAbSLv8f0M153IjuAgzo63Y_CepK1jNMFm2puVC/s2048/20190421_143801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKpkpdgKAGyMU2AhGr7OBy_LDBx06XsZZjjEe3lnnl_v2DsMOTI7nh3ROGi1x0wNPqsr99lCGD7MFf9tsE4DIo8b07wCIYGbmhcn0EFAbSLv8f0M153IjuAgzo63Y_CepK1jNMFm2puVC/w640-h480/20190421_143801.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Anchorage, AK, USA61.2180556 -149.900277832.907821763821154 174.9434722 89.528289436178852 -114.7440278tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-59121232832469974742019-04-21T10:14:00.002-07:002021-03-02T13:51:06.188-08:00End of the week and Jamie's Departure - Alaska <p> <span style="font-family: garamond, times, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hi all! </span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span id="yiv8546039230gmail-m_-8855057508538347632ydp21006a04docs-internal-guid-e01459ab-7fff-206c-a2e9-eddac77b2f3e"><span style="background-color: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This weekend has been a both a bit of a whirlwind as well as very mellow. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jamie left on Friday. Jams and I sent him off with a delicious trip to a conveyor belt sushi bar. We love a conveyor belt sushi bars! We dropped him off all together too early for his flight as he got through security in 5 minutes and was just sitting at the gate. Ah well. He certainly didn’t miss his flight. Jams and I then spent the afternoon studying up. Me on Alaska and him on his Human Services degree. Around 6pm made dinner and ate while watching <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/roma_2018" target="_blank">Roma</a>. Winner of the Foreign Film category at the Oscars. Spectacularly stunning film, very clear examples of class distinction in Mexico, overall uplifting but I’m not sure I’m interested in seeing it again. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next day we lounged around for awhile before we decided to get Jams back on his training schedule for his Half Marathon on June 22. We decided on a short 3 mile run along the <a href="https://www.anchorage.net/discover/trails-and-local-parks/coastal-trail/">Tony Knowles Trai</a>l. Tony Knowles was the democratic mayor of Anchorage for two terms in the early 80s and then Governor of Alaska from 1994 - 2002. The coastal trail is 11 miles and while we didn’t do all of it, our little 3 mile run turned into 5.63 so I’m really suffering today. After our run we called Jams’ friend Joe and went over to So Thai! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So Thai is the restaurant owned by the sister and mom of one of my students from the EFL school I teach at in Boston! Crazy coincidence, huh? The mom came out to say hello and I sent the picture off to her daughter. The daughter/my student (Prae) will be out in Alaska in August and I’ll see her then. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you might have guessed from the restaurants we visited, Anchorage has a huge collection of international foods and restaurants and </span><span style="background-color: inherit; color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">LOTS of thai food. T</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">hus far, they have been good. I’ll keep you posted as I eat more. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After our lunch we went home to freshen up for our night of music and dancing. The music started off at the Alaska Performing Arts Center. The <a href="http://www.anchoragecivicorchestra.org/home.html" target="_blank">Anchorage Civic Orchestra</a>, with their non-audition community orchestra with 70ish members- was performing their free concert! The theme was The Sounds of Futures Past. They played some classics - Oklahoma, 2001, A Space Odyssey, The Blue Danube and the Star Trek Theme Song. It was pretty spectacular! Especially for a non-audition community orchestra! The theater itself was pretty great too as it was designed specifically with Alaska in mind. The seats were upholstered with a Salmon Berry design and the carpet was of Alaskan Poppies. They tried to make the atrium mimic “big trees” with the tall columns and lighting (that effect was..ok). Even the bathroom stalls had ferns painted on them. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the show we went to the winter pop-up “La Potato” for a night of Djs and dancing. We met up with our friend Antarctica friend Sage, ordered some french fries (obviously as we were at a place named The Potato) and drank some beer while we waited for the DJs to start playing some actual dance music. Ultimately they did but by this time is was 12:30 and my ride was leaving. So off we went! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We woke up this morning to make Hot Cross Buns for Easter and by “we” I mean, Jams woke up, prepped the dough and then went out for coffee with a friend. I slept until 10am and then rolled out of bed in time to pre-heat the oven for his return. And pack. I had to leave Jams’ house today as his roommate is coming back and so I found a couch to surf. I think you all know that couch surfing is a community online where people offer up space in their house for you to stay for free. The place I found happened to only be 3 minutes from Jams’ house and here I am. I’m the only couch surfer. There’s two permanent residents, Wil and his daughter, and then there’s three renters. I’ve met most of them. The place is super communal. I’ve already been fed some Elk Chili, used the hot tub, met the massive Malamute dog and there appears to be a beer fridge - with keg. I’m really glad it’s a chill environment because I am BEAT today. I’ve been drinking pretty much constantly for three weeks, have been trying to cram a lot of Alaska knowledge into my poorly organized brain and have been constantly networking. I spent most of today napping/hot tubbing/organizing photos. It’s been a nice break. Honestly, being surrounded by strangers had been surprising relaxing. I’ll be moving into a friends house in May with the exchange being that I will paint the inside of her house for her. Ok! June is still up for grabs but I have a potential tiny house to move into. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for spinning back up some studying, I’m back into the fray tomorrow as I meet with my company “mentor”. I’m curious what she’s going to tell me. And I’ll try to get back to some touring as well. Maybe tomorrow will be my Museum day! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for reading these guys! I appreciate it when you let me know you like it or are, at least, reading it. It keeps me motivated! </span></p><br /><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Come to Alaska! </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here's some pictures: </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjwHxAoTKLhXXPSq8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank">https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjwHxAoTKLhXXPSq8</a><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></span></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also, don't forget that my phone works- just like a normal phone! </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Feel free to text!</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;">AND! Congratulations to Jess Rentsch for finishing her Masters of Social Work!!! YOU DID IT!! </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVte1b1Qzy01f5oyPiOReER4e9HAgAwIsOI1rM9Orbz1davVXYQjQmFeD7xjnThD1UFuFGUXVIU-dNppGcWAr4pefSkIYvSOe4noAtMuCEBiEH63pvl3GQXfTr_A1Lirik9FhjMoQv5Ra4/s2048/20190419_121303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVte1b1Qzy01f5oyPiOReER4e9HAgAwIsOI1rM9Orbz1davVXYQjQmFeD7xjnThD1UFuFGUXVIU-dNppGcWAr4pefSkIYvSOe4noAtMuCEBiEH63pvl3GQXfTr_A1Lirik9FhjMoQv5Ra4/w640-h480/20190419_121303.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbuHHZDzZiHXXHRvD4JNp_CQuSdFotBRC-ePAqdU3ybjten8LwkB5mZrlQnneBfGAn_TR4_ekopP4LEduO45k2X_AOIejqmJelF5AF0u4wP-qKorKG4qTFQU2TPiJ2x3xxn_pgH_n2jDm/s2048/20190420_123431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbuHHZDzZiHXXHRvD4JNp_CQuSdFotBRC-ePAqdU3ybjten8LwkB5mZrlQnneBfGAn_TR4_ekopP4LEduO45k2X_AOIejqmJelF5AF0u4wP-qKorKG4qTFQU2TPiJ2x3xxn_pgH_n2jDm/w640-h480/20190420_123431.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7xFi37uCBQyyOfrjjE1ET_QVLWmXTPBPksZ3egdzEuHwvoL_ALjFjRok8cKKaHAxJeVsDzmC-2_4f5WFY2qpoWnNuMYK7-kDsK3d0wOB5cpYv17aYfa_HJxdGLPXxJDisvoY_HSQTyBH/s2539/20190420_141018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2539" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7xFi37uCBQyyOfrjjE1ET_QVLWmXTPBPksZ3egdzEuHwvoL_ALjFjRok8cKKaHAxJeVsDzmC-2_4f5WFY2qpoWnNuMYK7-kDsK3d0wOB5cpYv17aYfa_HJxdGLPXxJDisvoY_HSQTyBH/w640-h312/20190420_141018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTr0LTzu-0XQQHBzn7cmyB1Dk5VX9QEyLTFHz0uliN685l9jiV5MlqesjKMqeAG-r4e_EF9NTPsrDUGUZP10iRSDZHJ2D3kyqAAJrx7Z2dJLgqbKrJhrBW7BPfGttCIQNpQ7p-hAdIkFm/s2577/20190420_192710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="2577" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTr0LTzu-0XQQHBzn7cmyB1Dk5VX9QEyLTFHz0uliN685l9jiV5MlqesjKMqeAG-r4e_EF9NTPsrDUGUZP10iRSDZHJ2D3kyqAAJrx7Z2dJLgqbKrJhrBW7BPfGttCIQNpQ7p-hAdIkFm/w640-h302/20190420_192710.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Poppies!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrGDyjgqO9s7wMyorSmAru1dJmAL2vH5193sYfuMPAhqL4Mj_DPzzheqT7uWPlXByq6fSVf94umu_EGumkoAuNtqyq7-sJjuqCaD47p-o9laxnMtx_2HrHmcVrr72Sv4E1C_wZNks1CnT/s2048/20190420_202821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrGDyjgqO9s7wMyorSmAru1dJmAL2vH5193sYfuMPAhqL4Mj_DPzzheqT7uWPlXByq6fSVf94umu_EGumkoAuNtqyq7-sJjuqCaD47p-o9laxnMtx_2HrHmcVrr72Sv4E1C_wZNks1CnT/w480-h640/20190420_202821.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMIUOGR8aiaIfNcdkQQ6OWS_GYjkDM3_uV9sMbfeADBuv4L2BhS0EpHNWWOmitHtfDZKQnaVsT-Sa-fLUQf9XBz3A8p_TpalebF3QxY7Ckrp6tVcneP79GrbrZdrBFek1bL-0ncq4EbEk/s2048/20190420_203207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMIUOGR8aiaIfNcdkQQ6OWS_GYjkDM3_uV9sMbfeADBuv4L2BhS0EpHNWWOmitHtfDZKQnaVsT-Sa-fLUQf9XBz3A8p_TpalebF3QxY7Ckrp6tVcneP79GrbrZdrBFek1bL-0ncq4EbEk/w640-h480/20190420_203207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Poppin' Dance Floor</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJclGfaUJP8bUvK8qkBHeJxLL0xePkDYAthROvAuAQJHHpo2anKsxBsfB18AJun55ajJWc5HRAcwhfU3YDOTsP-E4V-ABaOE6FUlbpaZRvSrqtZvjI9iM4oF5Y4EcMD_vKeUsifZTLbgb/s2048/20190420_220848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJclGfaUJP8bUvK8qkBHeJxLL0xePkDYAthROvAuAQJHHpo2anKsxBsfB18AJun55ajJWc5HRAcwhfU3YDOTsP-E4V-ABaOE6FUlbpaZRvSrqtZvjI9iM4oF5Y4EcMD_vKeUsifZTLbgb/w640-h480/20190420_220848.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc21qa-xQM2BpbNyexmcQvZlEEnfmIoXqKpxw9KHs14Lo03svM3wPcJaprP_FHFZXf0Eh0C8qPeGIAbd4zj4f5FUXJmlvQXMdfA945nhIFztjNntUVzkF4MDGkeR-wVFYC6Rz_15eeNdWG/s2048/20190421_113532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc21qa-xQM2BpbNyexmcQvZlEEnfmIoXqKpxw9KHs14Lo03svM3wPcJaprP_FHFZXf0Eh0C8qPeGIAbd4zj4f5FUXJmlvQXMdfA945nhIFztjNntUVzkF4MDGkeR-wVFYC6Rz_15eeNdWG/w640-h480/20190421_113532.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Just snow. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqaao0LBBYVlV0xFsAJqFHHv-es8odoXrK3asJ8xyQohlv6cMYE8owjbr035kxW468D1_eNgz23JXSiAZA7TLLKxiIUPlG-TUxfXr0-ifY7oGc8vbFqsMUjfqJE1Q_X_p9bR05ipyOlrE/s2048/20190422_112704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqaao0LBBYVlV0xFsAJqFHHv-es8odoXrK3asJ8xyQohlv6cMYE8owjbr035kxW468D1_eNgz23JXSiAZA7TLLKxiIUPlG-TUxfXr0-ifY7oGc8vbFqsMUjfqJE1Q_X_p9bR05ipyOlrE/w640-h480/20190422_112704.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wil and the Malamut puppy (who's name eludes me)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpmUvNTpJS2aNgDalxfNTiNWU7-uS3N1KoXG4WWVJAehw_lz4-nHJAZPP3n2zrFa7Dq01Mzq7FV9wk1l7wFObdyO7pjVnWj1i7pWAfxSLYX98BjOa8HbNOCR6hTnzgtxX2EBk9MtXl4lC/s2048/20190424_090536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpmUvNTpJS2aNgDalxfNTiNWU7-uS3N1KoXG4WWVJAehw_lz4-nHJAZPP3n2zrFa7Dq01Mzq7FV9wk1l7wFObdyO7pjVnWj1i7pWAfxSLYX98BjOa8HbNOCR6hTnzgtxX2EBk9MtXl4lC/w480-h640/20190424_090536.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, times, serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Anchorage, AK, USA61.2180556 -149.900277832.025009830206059 174.9434722 90 -114.7440278tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-66020725466198156192019-04-20T09:10:00.002-07:002021-02-25T09:28:58.496-08:00Day Six HOPE! <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to the cabin for another charming night! This time, instead of getting into the hot tub with four inches of cold water at the bottom, we resolved to stir it up every time we stoked the fire. Success! The water was fully hot when I finally got in. Unfortunately for me it was 105 degrees. That’s a bit out of my comfort zone. So, I got in, promptly got out and then enjoyed the night sky while sitting above the steaming water. Still overall fun. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We woke up to a snow covered view, and, honestly, I could have done without it. YES, I know I came to Alaska. YES,I know it’s cold here. YES, I know the spring and summer come later than normal. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about the snow! Fine, I’ll concede that it was pretty. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We set off around noon and went straight to the </span><a href="https://www.alaskawildlife.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alaska Conservation Center</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If only they’d had Dall Sheep I could have checked off all the Alaska “big five” animals! Dall Sheep, Moose, Bear, Caribou, Wolves. I mean, I think it’s fine to have seen them in a rehabilitation center. It still counts. The Conservation Center was pretty fun. It’s a big space that most people drive through but we decided to walk. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We started by visiting the wolves where I learned that a “pack” of wolves is usually just a family unit. Parents and offspring, usually 5-6, and in that context the idea of an “alpha” male is actually not correct. It's not stranger wolves that are fighting for supremacy - it's parents, co-parenting and annoying children. Next we saw the Caribou and was reminded of the fact that Caribou and Reindeer are the same animal. Reindeer usually refers to domesticated Caribou. Also, males lose their antlers by October. Females keep them until may. So either Santa used Christmas magic to keep the antlers on his sleigh pullers or all the dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, coment, cupid, donner, blitzen and rudolph are actually female. We strolled down to look at the Moose and we were lucky to see three of them hanging out in the shed. Moose are HUGE and their noses/mouths were even more so strangely huge. Like the width of a piece of paper. The 11’ side. Moose, as you may know, are aggressive and I learned that it IS ok to run from a moose (if you have a head start). They will often just lose interest and wander off. The moose here at the center are often used in filming for movies in Alaska. In fact, if you’ve seen Into the Wild you’ve seen an AWCC moose. Autographs weren’t allowed. After the moose we saw MuskOxen. They aren’t actually musky. Just so you know. They do, however, have some of the softest fur around - their winter under layers- called Quiviut. I’m gonna try to get some thing made with it. There's a great collective that makes clothing from them. It's a conglomeration of various native tribes. The women collect the fur (the harvest it from shedding muxkoxen), send it off to be spun and then the spun wool comes back to them they they make the garments. The designs are pretty specific to whatever community has made them so when you go into the store (in anchorage) the women there will tell you the place it was made from just by looking at the pattern. Check out the <a href="https://www.qiviut.com/" target="_blank">shop</a>! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Back to the animals and their habits - the males, when they are butting heads have the same impact of a car ramming a concrete wall at 17 miles per hour. Awesome. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t worry, more animal facts coming your way. We wandered over to the bear enclosure. On one side they had Black Bears and on the other, Brown and Grizzly. Black Bears are the ones we have in New England. Kinda small, scavengers, generally prone to run away. They don’t always have to be Black. Apparently they come in lots of colors including "Glacial Blue". I looked that up online...that color phrasing is a stretch. (It's like someone from Sherwin Williams was brought in to name it.) In a fight with a bear, the main thing is DON’T. Just don’t. "i started a fight with a bear" is something you should NEVER SAY. But if you do: fight back, don’t run. Let me repeat. FIGHT BACK AND DONT RUN. and <i>then</i> curl into a ball and cry while you wait for the bear to wander off. Hopefully it’s just aggressive and not hungry. Brown and Grizzly bears are the same species but the grizzly is considered to be a distinct subspecies. Grizzlies don't get quite as big as Brown bears as they live in inner Alaska and don't’have access to the Salmon. Grizzlies live outside of Alaska but Brown bears don’t. There you go. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the Bears we we wandered past the Elk. Elk are a bit smaller than moose, tend to be generally more skittish than moose and, in my opinion, just look like massive deer. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point we were out by the Turnigan Arm (the big body of water out here) and took in the view from out there for a bit before circling back around and going to visit the Wood Bison. The Wood Bison are an interesting story. There are no fully wild Wood Bison in America (yet). Canada has a herd of about 2000 but it took heavy management and effort to make it self sustaining. We have only 93 (originally over 115) that were released in 2015 from the AWCC making it pretty exciting to see the Bison at the AWCC as seeing them truly wild is impossible. The process of "releasing" them seems like an incredible logistical feat. They flew the females and babies out to their release area, sedated and in a plane. The males, weighing in at 2,200lbs were barged up. They didn’t want any issue in flight should one decide to act out. When they brought the first group up, females and calves, it was spring and they weren’t in exactly the place they wanted them. They needed to move them across the river but getting them to do that quickly and with no problems could be difficult so they waited until winter when the river was frozen and they put some feed on the back of a snowmobile and had them follow it to the new location. And by “follow” i mean “thunder after at high speeds”. This </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqRHe769AQM" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">video </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is pretty fun to watch. I found it captivating! I really like the shots starting at 1 minute. As a side note, this was planned. This was a thing they were working on 'training" the bison to do at the AWCC to faciliate this process once they were released. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wood Bison were followed by Sitka Black Tailed Deer. Which, honestly, were deer...so...yeah. Most interesting fact, for me, is that they are the most hunted animal in South East Alaska with an annual harvest of 12,000 deer over a 20 year period ending in 2007. The numbers are still pretty high but that’s VERY intense. And just in case you missed the key word, that’s an ANNUAL harvest number. Eek! </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally we were getting down to the smaller animals, the Coyotes. When you think of those howling sounds in the wild, ppl often think of wolves but really, Coyotes are the most vocal doglike creature out there. Singing all the time! Next we saw Twix, the porcupine. I love porcupines. They are deceptively soft looking but DON’T HUG THEM! Also, the hang out in trees. And are obsessed with salt. They’ll eat anything with salt on it -your shoes, the edge of a wooden bench that sweaty people have been sitting on, you get the idea. I mean, in reality, we’re pretty salt obsessed too..chips, pretzels, jerky. ANYWAY, I think it was just near feeding time so he was out strolling around. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We saw a bald eagle who’s wing had been shot off. This eagle, incidentally, was also featured in “into the wild”. I love how eagles look like they’re wearing pants. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next was a great horned owl, an apex predator. Don’t think they’re just cute. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And finally a lynx. And you should DEFINITELY look at this. It’s </span><a href="https://www.higherperspectives.com/alaskan-lynx-family-2631984047.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">photos </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkcq5mIIwzA" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">video </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of a family of Lynx’s playing on a porch in Alaska. Tots, presh, adorbs. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the wildlife center we were a bit tired of touring so we booked it back to Anchorage and went for Pizza at the hugely popular </span><a href="http://moosestooth.net/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moose’s Tooth</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They brew their own delicious beer and make delicious pizza, pretty much all you need to be worth a 35 minute wait. Jeremy’s friends Joe and Emily came out to join us and we had a lovely final evening with Jamie as he was only visiting AK for his April Vacation week. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The little cabin in Hope. So adorable! And set up so it gets sunlight almost all day! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJNqFgrggLs6JRhvvdgKsVEf8hAM5ELJ6RCNu2gYp2CX8tYhBII2AtpgJ8kdajTXGw-DFcUtK3tY-cqK9UIDjAXC4gvR6ckJWm4dDXYgn2-zqwOJKLjp-oneGWykoLNnM469x8qc_xV3D/s2048/20190415_174306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJNqFgrggLs6JRhvvdgKsVEf8hAM5ELJ6RCNu2gYp2CX8tYhBII2AtpgJ8kdajTXGw-DFcUtK3tY-cqK9UIDjAXC4gvR6ckJWm4dDXYgn2-zqwOJKLjp-oneGWykoLNnM469x8qc_xV3D/w640-h480/20190415_174306.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif;">Inside! so many windows!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAwMjRWjbKxjZNC3FtHVBJWNQ0Ha_E2UknBswcN6XM4XCphyphenhyphenYx9ivAsfcqj92v9j12aAR39rUoPn5Z7mDraRM7E2K3oFIQJyMUbIz8BBIq9IbeQpG7OyrR26-IhEj481RroRRWPcu8hTk/s2048/20190415_174320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAwMjRWjbKxjZNC3FtHVBJWNQ0Ha_E2UknBswcN6XM4XCphyphenhyphenYx9ivAsfcqj92v9j12aAR39rUoPn5Z7mDraRM7E2K3oFIQJyMUbIz8BBIq9IbeQpG7OyrR26-IhEj481RroRRWPcu8hTk/w640-h480/20190415_174320.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The hot tub! note the fire pit on the bottom left. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNYIGDyzpc55ju61hQWsVMgLSZnMpnDqq54XnFGwz-XS15xtXmRad1UG2mZStRwT_KUVgqeASCXEuDxalrSVvMu_f0-HNXqyoMM5EUEfn8b8c4roDgbghoY3rFyMkoJWJoAp16cA7P-2i/s2048/20190415_174403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNYIGDyzpc55ju61hQWsVMgLSZnMpnDqq54XnFGwz-XS15xtXmRad1UG2mZStRwT_KUVgqeASCXEuDxalrSVvMu_f0-HNXqyoMM5EUEfn8b8c4roDgbghoY3rFyMkoJWJoAp16cA7P-2i/w640-h480/20190415_174403.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hot tub and cabins (technically, two) in the background</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_N6M_vhFb2u9ffGGihGAGMV_12ghCooFwwTr4bHOjGVFsEB9xvWvszKVZptFEmcEQuLzy-MLh2x0Pr9rMS0rOItX4jHVBRxboePcIku_hdbz869Zve9lWSIfME5Oy1w1oLTY6sUPO7mL/s2048/20190415_174539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_N6M_vhFb2u9ffGGihGAGMV_12ghCooFwwTr4bHOjGVFsEB9xvWvszKVZptFEmcEQuLzy-MLh2x0Pr9rMS0rOItX4jHVBRxboePcIku_hdbz869Zve9lWSIfME5Oy1w1oLTY6sUPO7mL/w640-h480/20190415_174539.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We'd never seen this fun style of cap opening! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-H0Zi_uzbPuyuDmXFkWmqA7jKngI81N04R5R3u3pLd7x64dV3eQyyUS2UyEDUc5h1wv0T72X-kPrOvnO36j7bxxxISIdK-ADSTz111T-GLEPH7FSdL4Ltr4q9Ljg5_6_PyoHKubr51PP/s2048/20190415_221251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-H0Zi_uzbPuyuDmXFkWmqA7jKngI81N04R5R3u3pLd7x64dV3eQyyUS2UyEDUc5h1wv0T72X-kPrOvnO36j7bxxxISIdK-ADSTz111T-GLEPH7FSdL4Ltr4q9Ljg5_6_PyoHKubr51PP/w480-h640/20190415_221251.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8L2opZdE9cr_HB2XFA6aB8TR0iwaqB6b_iOJ-E9xc5goJl-N6nwuOWnnjEfKwKOXEsK5sQ7TwTZTNK-fzRHOqYlrY_KIUJwm7OPvuUuF2jCgx_UYlwz56DGL8J3pXECVOe7koV5vAhPYA/s2048/20190415_221456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8L2opZdE9cr_HB2XFA6aB8TR0iwaqB6b_iOJ-E9xc5goJl-N6nwuOWnnjEfKwKOXEsK5sQ7TwTZTNK-fzRHOqYlrY_KIUJwm7OPvuUuF2jCgx_UYlwz56DGL8J3pXECVOe7koV5vAhPYA/w640-h480/20190415_221456.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nighttim hottub. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzivr1QVub_sXRu77p9-rwM220N7RWDWzL9Iz1xK4zi6AaPc41w1Zp1e4r4amELLEaDkIVDQMHQmreFF1cJSuWArAYBc0jNc-O9j7d98rHCWiZhpv8FFBUUIgwg8gEeRtuGCFsLsZskD0U/s2048/20190415_221659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzivr1QVub_sXRu77p9-rwM220N7RWDWzL9Iz1xK4zi6AaPc41w1Zp1e4r4amELLEaDkIVDQMHQmreFF1cJSuWArAYBc0jNc-O9j7d98rHCWiZhpv8FFBUUIgwg8gEeRtuGCFsLsZskD0U/w480-h640/20190415_221659.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkl6wDwx1OWKTLGagHpgH3UpBBqi6PxNkQZ9osYJzn1u82S9ku6WOjB6tD6-RyQvos1CeACAGVgPmFqD0EQzsI4LZYXjWVY-HKatQpXswOIZp4qeFROXjtLoS4MpKBKcw4GUzqfaCn4iF0/s2048/20190417_232745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkl6wDwx1OWKTLGagHpgH3UpBBqi6PxNkQZ9osYJzn1u82S9ku6WOjB6tD6-RyQvos1CeACAGVgPmFqD0EQzsI4LZYXjWVY-HKatQpXswOIZp4qeFROXjtLoS4MpKBKcw4GUzqfaCn4iF0/w640-h480/20190417_232745.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNp9CrNh4xa5MyiauM6pbuPug4k7RrriKREnuL3_ryGFGPFbCp93hIeNboIqePYlh5aJy8y-8jPbvFDNa2_4-Eq1iUjbyhx4Zu57xM-8ZJq0QXi8GBbK6znvNq1D1-eY-TgXoXD9egOq3Z/s2048/20190418_130745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNp9CrNh4xa5MyiauM6pbuPug4k7RrriKREnuL3_ryGFGPFbCp93hIeNboIqePYlh5aJy8y-8jPbvFDNa2_4-Eq1iUjbyhx4Zu57xM-8ZJq0QXi8GBbK6znvNq1D1-eY-TgXoXD9egOq3Z/w640-h480/20190418_130745.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Brown Bears! (or maybe grizzly?)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM3-vWWA6yIz7bX8NEzIAHaM5uN8I6eQOm30xYKCCJPWV6wR5_urKAozMve9GOIuvfMzws_2TU5X-TT0oD5fSuJOB49Ox8jpM5J6GnXLa5gdjAiGxi3o8CSmxyB1zbqXZBxYwTxubx7Bg/s2048/20190418_143932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM3-vWWA6yIz7bX8NEzIAHaM5uN8I6eQOm30xYKCCJPWV6wR5_urKAozMve9GOIuvfMzws_2TU5X-TT0oD5fSuJOB49Ox8jpM5J6GnXLa5gdjAiGxi3o8CSmxyB1zbqXZBxYwTxubx7Bg/w640-h480/20190418_143932.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Twix, the porcupine!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge11HYuzCI_kvvCsUQvYw3hEALsvlrqA7TWe5n8MMQBPXGonXlSfApTgS8Sy4l5Xb4uqc6ClPHoj7iA22z18du5BAweOzi5qFG2kkh4fNzEV0GEsdHKdUp3SQ9Wz3aUvyjnRf1Henp1tBs/s2048/20190418_155206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge11HYuzCI_kvvCsUQvYw3hEALsvlrqA7TWe5n8MMQBPXGonXlSfApTgS8Sy4l5Xb4uqc6ClPHoj7iA22z18du5BAweOzi5qFG2kkh4fNzEV0GEsdHKdUp3SQ9Wz3aUvyjnRf1Henp1tBs/w640-h480/20190418_155206.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div></span><p></p>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Mile 79, Seward Hwy, Girdwood, AK 99587, USA60.8212336 -148.978913732.510999763821154 175.8648363 89.131467436178838 -113.82266369999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-75760325214487647962019-04-19T09:08:00.007-07:002021-02-22T12:34:19.300-08:00Day Five Alaska - Seward and Hope<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday Day Five in Alaska -Seward and back to Hope </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We woke up when KC arrived at 8:15 telling us he wanted to take us out to breakfast. OK! Don't need to tell me twice! I was up and ready and in the car waiting before Jams or Jamie were out of bed! Take me to food! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had breakfast at place in town called The Goldrush. Pretty delicious and as they gave me an extra stash of hollandaise I was pretty pumped for my eggs benny. Jamie had biscuits and gravy (spectacular), KC had corned beef and eggs (great!) and Jams had eggs benny with tomato and bacon (can't go wrong there). Most importantly, the coffee was strong. We took a leisurely breakfast and then went down to the <a href="https://www.alaskasealife.org/" target="_blank">Sealife Center</a> to meet the fiancé of an old college acquaintance who got us tickets. (Matt Murphy was my acquaintance, for those of you from UMASS. Murph from Earthfoods)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sealife center was GREAT! Started with some small exhibits of Alaska and commercial fishing, moving into some tanks with local fish and then it opens up to a great touch tank area. Aside from poking the anemones, I love watching barnacles fan out and try to catch nutrients in the water. That's a gorgeous thing to see if you want to </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6RJxGGYE2Q" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">check it out</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. By the touch tank, you can look out and see the animals that are being rehabilitated. Two otters, a baby seal, a bigger seal and LOTS of birds. The woman who got us tickets told us they just got a 3 day old baby otter and a bearded seal! (don't tell anyone, there hasn't been an official press release yet!) We didn't see either of those things but I enjoyed knowing they were there. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We wandered out into the aviary where there were puffins, cormorants, gulls, and eiders all just flying around. Some of the gulls literally flew within striking distance of our heads. They look just like your everyday bird but Jamie says he overhead the guy talking about how they are a very rare species that only nests in three places in the world. They looked like any run of the mill sea gull). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We wandered through the Salmon exhibit (mandatory in Alaska). There's lots of types of Salmon here. Once the season starts (with King salmon), you can pretty much be fishing some sort of Salmon all the way through September. The salmon life cycle, as you might know, is interesting. They are born, go out to sea (where we know very little about what they do) and then when they are about 5 years old, they come home to spawn. After which, they promptly die. When they come back to spawn is when people are doing all the salmon fishing here. On their way home, they go through a <a href="https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/dry_creek/getting-fresh-how-fish-transition-from-one-type-of-water-to-the-other/article_a98a16b2-d535-11e7-9cea-3ff49a035ec0.html" target="_blank">crazy physical transformation</a>. One of them develops a gonzo type nose. I'm not kidding - I think it's the sockeye. Anyway, as they come back to spawn, they stop eating, they lose all the fat stores in their bodies and their meat kinda turns to mush. You can really only eat them as they begin their adventure. This surprised me because as they swim upstream they get redder and redder but, while salmon meat is red/pink you don’t want the salmon you catch to be that color. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After Salmon, we went downstairs to see the big tanks and watch the sealions, diving birds and seals from underwater. Dang-sealions are big! They are more closely related to bears than to dogs. They have ears, really long whiskers and are massive. The male Stellar Sea lion (the ones up here) can get up to 2,200 pounds. THAT'S MASSIVE. It was captivating to watch them circle around. (also a little sad). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that point we were just about at the end of the center and so after scoping out the smack of jellyfish (yes, a group of jellyfish is called a "smack") we wandered out. At this point, we heard a story about a baby walrus that was brought to the Sea Life center and it was so young and sick and alone that they had to organize </span><a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlife/2017/07/05/with-round-the-clock-care-and-lots-of-cuddles-an-orphaned-walrus-starts-to-rebound/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 hour cuddle sessions</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for it. For weeks! How adorable! (and also sad). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After our sealife center adventure we wandered around Seward a bit more. We stopped into the Seward hotel and met Robby, the manager. There were lots of stuffed bears and Alaska things. The original was built in 1905, survived the earthquake and the fire. The new side was built in the 80s and they’re open all winter. Mostly, it seems, because they house a lot of the railroad personnel. And they have little trinkets that tie them to the railroad too. The bell on the desk came from the railroad depot and the big bell on the floor was from the rail station and it used to ring when a train came into the station. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, we went into a random gift shop that was Russia Themed but had lots of Alaska stuff. Russian stuff makes sense as Russia was the first nation to claim Alaska but the small Peruvian dolls and Scandinavian keychains and Atlanta Georgia Jewelry - I had a harder time making the connection. Anyway, there were great carved stone figurines, lots of Russian dolls and various other trinkets. Smelled a bit like patchouli but looked like a swanky gift shop so that was another hilarious incongruity. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next, we crossed the street to the original Bank Building -Brown and Hastings. Those two came up for the gold rush and became good friends and opened some banks. They decided they needed a move and so went up to Turnagain arm and Knik arm areas and anchored themselves in the mudflats and opened a store/bank. They called it "the Anchorage" or rather, people referencing where they were going called it the Anchorage and as they were the only thing around, it started to reference the whole area and the name for Anchorage was born. The bank then became the Bank of Alaska. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had Gelato at the <a href="https://sweetdarlings.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Darlings Candy Shop</a> - Whiskey Cream, Brownie and Peanut Butter (KC had added in Vanilla). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I chatted with Cliff in the attached gift shop where he tried to pitch the "Men of Seward" calendar and then we went to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Rays-Reusables-1644088852506935/?hc_ref=ARQvc5a-4ExKjoQwOtiPEgsagskwWo5LGlIKuVRANcmUHRmjGq_XDSPBjABueTPGV7Q&fref=nf&__tn__=kC-R" target="_blank">Ray's Reusables</a> and chatted with Ray. He's trying to make a go of a reused retail store in Seward. His old shop burnt down 5 years ago and he didn't want to end on that note so he started anew! I hope he can make it work but unless he figures out how to sell things on the internet, he's not gonna get very far. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continuing on our full adventure of Seward, we went down to the pier to see if Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center was open (it wasn't) so went to Kenai Fjords Tour Company. It's owned by the same company that KC works for (Pursuit) and we took some time looking at all their wares and trinkets which included some crazy whale, walrus penis, walrus tusk and mammoth bone carvings. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterward, we stopped at the Visitors center where I got an absurd number of pamphlets about the Kenai peninsula. (I’m sure they’ll all just sit in a pile until I throw them out). We finished up our shopping, dropped KC off at his work/house and then went back up the Kenai to spend the night in that little cabin in Hope. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudtKBYBxtRdh_2klz4u_8OM-H7iG_Sejv01BH5i0TMNYHhTrz0-A9i0dvnt7HOmjFnSFJLSSkotOjknIbqGCFmzWOsHsRt4WUDEpiQMa9Qt6ZaAy2orGU2c7CP7kXAUbNl6gIOnI7C2xg/s2048/20190417_095724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-AGnSi41G4OkgW2T0wlpXRSPotET_9Ny_buIciCqKX2q7gMbGUCqsRT666TVzlZjlmM6P6XmuVQBk902CAg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Seward, AK 99664, USA60.104166699999993 -149.442222231.793932863821148 175.4015278 88.414400536178846 -114.2859722tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-64519273065715926522019-04-18T09:08:00.004-07:002021-02-19T08:31:38.329-08:00Day Four Alaska! Hope - Seward<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Tuesday Day Four in Alaska Hope to Seward </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We woke up this morning to finish our ride down to Seward. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We didn't stop too much on the way down. We got out at the top of the Turnigan Arm Pass but mostly we just cruised on down to Seward. We started by picking up an old Ice friend at his work, the Roadhouse. He's the executive chef there and is setting things up for the coming summer. No employees (and certainly no guests) other than the managers and caretakers so he was free to come and hang out with us! We cruised the mile downtown to look at Resurrection Bay where we promptly saw some otters and then was told by the guy with Binoculars that we JUST missed the sea lion. We saw the memorial for the Railroad as Seward is the end of the line and there was a fun memorial for a man I'd not yet heard of in my Alaska Research. Jujiro Wada, a Japanese American expert musher who was hired to improve the mail trail up to Nome, proving that Seward was a viable option for commerce. His work and improvement on the trail helped to concertize Seward as the gateway for trade and transportation. See how helpful monuments are?! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">After walking along the waterfront for a bit we went over to a little Greek restaurant for lunch. Jamie got the equivalent of a Fisherman's Basket but here, they called it a Gold Mine. It was mostly the same. No clams but yes on shrimp and scallops and the white fish was halibut. Pretty good! I like to check out libraries in new towns so we walked over to the library and lo and behold! It was rainbow tiled! The tiles were all blue and purple and green and shimmery! Kinda like a mermaid. It was spectacular! I got a lot of free magazines there (some new yorkers-score!). </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">After all our wandering around we were finally ready to head over to Millers Landing where we were going to be staying in a dry cabin. When we arrived, there were 17 bald eagles sitting on the shore eating a HUGE fish they caught. And that wasn't a typo. Seventeen bald eagles. It was SO INCREDIBLE! (they're like pigeons here) Our cabin was called (still is, infact) the "rocket ship cabin" because it has a cute little belfry on top. It had two old train cars near by that we went to scope out and then, as we were right by the shore, we walked down to look at the water where we watched a seal play along the shoreline. After a bit, we got organized to go have dinner (pizza) and then head up to visit some friends of Jams who built their cute little house and are living off the grid. Check out their blog if you are interested and you should be interested because their blog title is pretty adorable. They are really rustic. 5 gallon recyclable toilet, heating water on the woodstove and using a water pump for the shower which is really just one of those big plastic bins that they stand in. They are pretty spectacularly committed. <a href="https://alaskabode.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #196ad4;" target="_blank">https://alaskabode.wordpress.com/</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">After our visit we went back to our little cabin, KC took the truck and went to sleep in his heated and cozy bed and we settled in for a night listening to the rain and the crackle of our wood stove. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a aria-label="Photo - Landscape - Apr 16, 2019, 1:32:59 PM" class="p137Zd" href="https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNt44l40sjtlAnrhxbJbl6GOopgXm6pZXmKPbPheeArkl-4pYUUjexQzaGz3vgh_g/photo/AF1QipNcReF2EIKmq-n2QSo-vVGYkoQFYKxkrlQ7n2K5?key=emlGVTd4ZU15d2tjNzFfUEVCcGQ1NTRsamZVbkxB" jsaction="click:eQuaEb;focus:AHmuwe; 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opacity: 1;"><div aria-hidden="true" class="eGiHwc"></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="KYCEmd"></div></div></a><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">View from our little cabin -you can see the train cars too! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbrUskp60OIbhNXkiibFq3lm41O-S9FgPEOzF8rrCazxtKL6Am05U4qbmJKclvtG_Y4Vzi4fuxzA_r0oT2YDXuPY6zUdNVJBI-uaCIOo3L7PdJsziGnlJB-VtdyJuaTvXvJ7XuoxiIxo1/s2048/20190416_174021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbrUskp60OIbhNXkiibFq3lm41O-S9FgPEOzF8rrCazxtKL6Am05U4qbmJKclvtG_Y4Vzi4fuxzA_r0oT2YDXuPY6zUdNVJBI-uaCIOo3L7PdJsziGnlJB-VtdyJuaTvXvJ7XuoxiIxo1/w640-h480/20190416_174021.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our Little Rocketship Cabin at Millers Corner. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuuOXNFUU3W_rg0Na165zn6r-IkDyi5CSORYAQ9Xzr28yaw-1dYAuaP7h1_2qJbfBTaTXWxO6EuqlcleHsE3eWG6xTQB1oxlCw4VjU6GIR0DgBLS0-yY1ipw7DkBVAzOCKEZRVo0o2vg7/s2048/20190416_174014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuuOXNFUU3W_rg0Na165zn6r-IkDyi5CSORYAQ9Xzr28yaw-1dYAuaP7h1_2qJbfBTaTXWxO6EuqlcleHsE3eWG6xTQB1oxlCw4VjU6GIR0DgBLS0-yY1ipw7DkBVAzOCKEZRVo0o2vg7/w640-h480/20190416_174014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Millers Landing</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvJYT0fod86rtq4M_0_p8vbS3Y6M-hMLsT6gU0e1yRKvKSdM1ITKpF6fmTh9js76mad80LDJ5Zl89WIXJVG5L-lgn31sjqL-3VIKoBYcG5Ue2ZRVEyLLuDZvGLmc260X9V_4QLVT7Wf-x/s2048/20190416_164337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvJYT0fod86rtq4M_0_p8vbS3Y6M-hMLsT6gU0e1yRKvKSdM1ITKpF6fmTh9js76mad80LDJ5Zl89WIXJVG5L-lgn31sjqL-3VIKoBYcG5Ue2ZRVEyLLuDZvGLmc260X9V_4QLVT7Wf-x/w640-h480/20190416_164337.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bald Eagles - as common as pigeons</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OmO-9NzJzvhH-bibtK9fwwKxRaNDZ_EIuwkJmraRpDax0pw8XrSQDCIUnaGcmDR5wFKvuw2TyGizrL-PiT3fkn_GHDi-ro6QE-S4lljseTvduXtcAZRR60DYj6V5iL4ymPNP5-xhVkWK/s2048/20190416_164246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OmO-9NzJzvhH-bibtK9fwwKxRaNDZ_EIuwkJmraRpDax0pw8XrSQDCIUnaGcmDR5wFKvuw2TyGizrL-PiT3fkn_GHDi-ro6QE-S4lljseTvduXtcAZRR60DYj6V5iL4ymPNP5-xhVkWK/w640-h480/20190416_164246.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Me, Jams, Jamie and KC!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2qWdpFYyfcEXsB2I8SuQ4PPC8gTKYTPEZ_G9fpuVli6wrqTBovtwfI6lMJInLCYys_z4ae-nr38rqIts7IfUtZroTbiLS5Z2nR2h5q3uryDtWYiYqWFlWwG_Zk8gLcnVtV5Ok8szXfyJ/s2539/20190416_162702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2539" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2qWdpFYyfcEXsB2I8SuQ4PPC8gTKYTPEZ_G9fpuVli6wrqTBovtwfI6lMJInLCYys_z4ae-nr38rqIts7IfUtZroTbiLS5Z2nR2h5q3uryDtWYiYqWFlWwG_Zk8gLcnVtV5Ok8szXfyJ/w640-h312/20190416_162702.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyifQIhU3Fg-N9LrtmUfp77U4dYx9p8opaDvKbEwN1kjYTwx1FaanWLy0XPUCfMJ1AZ6cwjmu2EKYSQoWLyHHz3oH3S4vZ81NrwzOOpv2xVA49awtZlmpTQhyphenhyphenM6zrcVQGJRpyyYBZpJbf/s2048/20190416_162239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyifQIhU3Fg-N9LrtmUfp77U4dYx9p8opaDvKbEwN1kjYTwx1FaanWLy0XPUCfMJ1AZ6cwjmu2EKYSQoWLyHHz3oH3S4vZ81NrwzOOpv2xVA49awtZlmpTQhyphenhyphenM6zrcVQGJRpyyYBZpJbf/w480-h640/20190416_162239.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajF7pxEGGWXm94y3JrGr-enOrmv62iMmcohS0Eo1NqIbF1hItNAo4uKikBbxnHNe_glEZc00YNtkPXWM03LsV8gIJGydPXKZ29GW8n6l6AI0XgmZeRx6m-gbaKf2M9p2jWg9XVhveCYZL/s2048/20190416_152955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajF7pxEGGWXm94y3JrGr-enOrmv62iMmcohS0Eo1NqIbF1hItNAo4uKikBbxnHNe_glEZc00YNtkPXWM03LsV8gIJGydPXKZ29GW8n6l6AI0XgmZeRx6m-gbaKf2M9p2jWg9XVhveCYZL/w640-h480/20190416_152955.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jujiro Wada</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFNiMjg6krms-k-XfgKGO-SH5HDPcqYpPhfsVHtVap8YgBfZh4K9n3cRPBPX37MxJLiCfmXVSF8Y9PTFEovRlXMjCNBWIyMSlB6VeMYbf3ko18DyHtB9GA6TFsuWZ9cVXxT-dU5lwXp2T/s2048/20190416_135617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFNiMjg6krms-k-XfgKGO-SH5HDPcqYpPhfsVHtVap8YgBfZh4K9n3cRPBPX37MxJLiCfmXVSF8Y9PTFEovRlXMjCNBWIyMSlB6VeMYbf3ko18DyHtB9GA6TFsuWZ9cVXxT-dU5lwXp2T/w640-h480/20190416_135617.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">End of the Railroad!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQphQdHDqKMlAd2-E5Pl6WbSQ3TVIe7NTvYjwKdLMPqv5EREiwg8R2g6CDxxmKsNGVakpw83k5qOsdi-dr-LtYODCN2V_kUXGuQ_kSO8IlYHVfq4fW6rZaNRCm74zTJCWId2DviNGPa3x/s2048/20190416_135411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQphQdHDqKMlAd2-E5Pl6WbSQ3TVIe7NTvYjwKdLMPqv5EREiwg8R2g6CDxxmKsNGVakpw83k5qOsdi-dr-LtYODCN2V_kUXGuQ_kSO8IlYHVfq4fW6rZaNRCm74zTJCWId2DviNGPa3x/w640-h480/20190416_135411.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ia-4goahc-f5X-wZLXEu1bSEuHfas7A2nfQeVuIGLyuFQGt5rqhPyEwAC3dh4FKO2GKQDf2HUkvwCt30wGTr_Yuc1-k5sxLtzt2uYAS1ribag6Ecw8FJ3QFNQlfCqIdkHKWRHQ9yO1yg/s2048/20190416_134826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ia-4goahc-f5X-wZLXEu1bSEuHfas7A2nfQeVuIGLyuFQGt5rqhPyEwAC3dh4FKO2GKQDf2HUkvwCt30wGTr_Yuc1-k5sxLtzt2uYAS1ribag6Ecw8FJ3QFNQlfCqIdkHKWRHQ9yO1yg/w480-h640/20190416_134826.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Resurrection Bay where we saw otters and just missed the sea lion. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqttzoSDsadZyNB1OjnQlhz7bbn7mKHff8zqJCrPSezvKTiDyrVSb8RWybdQOXzfC-GmankfhLW_C2RkvbInqMSfv1afmBiBnmw5TB0Arw-Rqb-B-RoZp-l85ghdhh3e7tlZsrgTkMRo-/s2048/20190416_133306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqttzoSDsadZyNB1OjnQlhz7bbn7mKHff8zqJCrPSezvKTiDyrVSb8RWybdQOXzfC-GmankfhLW_C2RkvbInqMSfv1afmBiBnmw5TB0Arw-Rqb-B-RoZp-l85ghdhh3e7tlZsrgTkMRo-/w640-h480/20190416_133306.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66xsssKQ2c_8HgqZ45RH32MYLCY130FASy2schEcItRqdjt4-_yFyVZ3wDdxtQ0MTKoOUKx8NCTmVfk0f3aao50RkvYktR1Eop-yhwjR4kiwCRU4lGxdVGuVFYXB5Q8k4lDOfbkKcgQyS/s2048/20190416_133259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66xsssKQ2c_8HgqZ45RH32MYLCY130FASy2schEcItRqdjt4-_yFyVZ3wDdxtQ0MTKoOUKx8NCTmVfk0f3aao50RkvYktR1Eop-yhwjR4kiwCRU4lGxdVGuVFYXB5Q8k4lDOfbkKcgQyS/w640-h480/20190416_133259.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Seward, AK 99664, USA60.104166699999993 -149.442222231.793932863821148 175.4015278 88.414400536178846 -114.2859722tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-35921901013958112972019-04-17T09:07:00.005-07:002021-02-16T10:21:46.668-08:00Day Three - Alaska. Anchorage to Hope<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Pulled out the Milepost and we started driving! Took awhile to get to that point though. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Let me backtrack to Jamie and the Auction. Antarctica (yes, i've just jumped to the other side of the globe) has a bi-yearly auction of things that are still serviceable but not really useful anymore in Antarctica. This years lot included a skid-loader, a few snow mobiles, brand-new in-package kitchen knives, kitchen shelving, Big Red Canada Goose Jackets, bunny boots, and what Jamie was looking at- inverters, radio stuff and scientific equipment. And he won it on auction! That part, while nerve-wracking as it was an auction, was easy. The next part - getting it - was less so. Once won it meant there's 8 pallets of things that he's got to ship back to the east coast and house somewhere. Figuring out large scale shipping for the first time was a little nerve racking. Ultimately he went with UPS but some of the vagaries included a $6,000 price jump from the online quote, unbelievably rude and unhelpful people on the UPS service line (multiple), finding a place to leave the items for an extended period of time and generally, worrying that all the "i's" had been dotted and "t's" crossed and that you had made the best choice at the least cost. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">So, while I had indeed pulled out the Milepost, the reality is that I spent about 3 hours looking at it before we started driving. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">While waiting, Jeremy and I took a fun trip to get coffee! <a href="https://kaladi.com/" target="_blank">Kaladi Brothers</a> is a local coffee roasting company and as Jams had worked on the North Slope he gets a 50% discount. Thank God as 4 pounds cost 35 dollars (with the discount). When we were there they were getting ready to send out the first shipment of coffee to the Red Dog Mine, the largest Zinc mine in the world. 14,000 lbs as the initial batch. They provide coffee to the North Slope employees (oil) and have little coffee shops all over Anchorage. The woman, Margaret, that we visited yesterday made us Kaladi Bros Coffee and then told us that this company was one of the factors in their decision to move to Anchorage. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">As we were finishing up that chore Jamie messaged to say he was finished, had done a headspace meditation to mentally step away from the stress and was ready for road-tripping! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Jams and I returned home, we loaded up the car and were on our way! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Our first stop was 10 miles away but still inside the city limits of Anchorage (bigger then Rhode island, remember?). We stopped at Potter Marsh Boardwalk. An accidentally manmade marsh that is now home to all sorts of nesting and migratory birds. We assume. It is, admittedly, a little early in the season. We saw some mallards, a tern and a little bird that Jamie was trying to talk to but he must have offended it because it flew right off. Most exciting thing at the marsh was a big dead animal that I'm looking forward to watching disintegrate as the season progresses. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">How was it manmade you ask? In 1917 an embankment was built for the railroad along the edge of the Turnigan arm. There were, however, streams that emptied into the arm and with the embankment, No where to go and Viola! Marsh! </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Our next stop was a Beluga point and, while beautiful, there were no Beluga's to be seen. A bit early. They come in chasing the salmon and it's not quite the right season for that. We also bust with the Dall Sheep which we had been promised were always at Mile marker 106.6. But, no. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We continued on our merry way surrounded by steep snow covered mountains and following the water. It was spectacular. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We are currently in <a href="https://hopealaska.us/about-hope.html" target="_blank">Hope, AK</a>. About 1.5 hours from Anchorage in a swanky cabin being built by friends of Jams in the first Gold Rush Town in AK. The people that live here (totaling 125ish) still live in the old goldrushers log cabins built at the turn of the century (one before last) and this place truly looks like a scene from "Paint your Wagon" (without the selling off of women and whore houses, of course). As it's a bit outside the tourist season, nothing is open but I'm excited to see the contrast in the coming months. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'll tell you about the cabin we're staying in tomorrow. Hope all is well with everyone. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Potters March Boardwalk</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gEGNlAynjmgxpu-Y-yCJv2T3hvI_dY9tBFIkzlQ9EtlanPE0zwIDahsUbgHRE9blANMn-4vunEQDyK7XgXHATOU3ZkPPdz5xLl7U0hC0ZfBonm3NIEKnyxAvYWwEMqL3jwaoz1llaiOP/s2048/20190415_140133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gEGNlAynjmgxpu-Y-yCJv2T3hvI_dY9tBFIkzlQ9EtlanPE0zwIDahsUbgHRE9blANMn-4vunEQDyK7XgXHATOU3ZkPPdz5xLl7U0hC0ZfBonm3NIEKnyxAvYWwEMqL3jwaoz1llaiOP/w640-h480/20190415_140133.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPriP6WLvW4xBORx_JRtFd5S5JvzpPkal1IJg9HPkiOnL23aDyRKvmbiFlXlAUSA4em2yStfcBOK3ArdoVWNrZ999H-uHCQfu25U4u9vqnNcB39wCOu9VW4726eC4aPouh0tcPzziWNqW/s2048/20190415_140824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPriP6WLvW4xBORx_JRtFd5S5JvzpPkal1IJg9HPkiOnL23aDyRKvmbiFlXlAUSA4em2yStfcBOK3ArdoVWNrZ999H-uHCQfu25U4u9vqnNcB39wCOu9VW4726eC4aPouh0tcPzziWNqW/w640-h480/20190415_140824.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Beluga Point<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjGJAq2J4h3XGICY6wUANBIsUzhrWxuywM7l6dWUz3g3PhGTrDwhwynhf-RiNKHSHj_0jw6V9C7JScclT8vhusr-IKRpQVmbzu6-3SDPK9tClqgYkl_vnrbFuUgSQXabsfJji_X8kb2UA/s2048/20190415_143633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjGJAq2J4h3XGICY6wUANBIsUzhrWxuywM7l6dWUz3g3PhGTrDwhwynhf-RiNKHSHj_0jw6V9C7JScclT8vhusr-IKRpQVmbzu6-3SDPK9tClqgYkl_vnrbFuUgSQXabsfJji_X8kb2UA/w640-h480/20190415_143633.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Hope, AK</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEfnAGYzaYDMP6wkEhxrycqJte4eEa3gxQmOZGhS4XEvNdGsY20akZaXxmAjGa8n6TcQoc73dfIE1qmrEtiWYiyyPw_qtrYHEf17bPWk-YXw30gj2fHeCoyLcQOQrUzcId2UogXCtoR4E/s2048/20190415_201059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEfnAGYzaYDMP6wkEhxrycqJte4eEa3gxQmOZGhS4XEvNdGsY20akZaXxmAjGa8n6TcQoc73dfIE1qmrEtiWYiyyPw_qtrYHEf17bPWk-YXw30gj2fHeCoyLcQOQrUzcId2UogXCtoR4E/w640-h480/20190415_201059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Begich Visitors Center (and their temporary iceberg)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSlllD1NaTlvI_B9qRJ6SYiAbthrGfHx-andS8qN2evbZWr133gqHEDGZlairlaVHqRbH6UYojBI0y4O9-f0j16pgHyniluuoJEHuypuenh6B2dnzOBVGCmpRTyr8_c6eMwvP38mvV_O6/s2048/20190415_154043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSlllD1NaTlvI_B9qRJ6SYiAbthrGfHx-andS8qN2evbZWr133gqHEDGZlairlaVHqRbH6UYojBI0y4O9-f0j16pgHyniluuoJEHuypuenh6B2dnzOBVGCmpRTyr8_c6eMwvP38mvV_O6/w640-h480/20190415_154043.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Hope, AK 99605, USA60.9202778 -149.640277832.610043963821155 175.2034722 89.230511636178846 -114.4840278tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-75051272093371870022019-04-16T09:10:00.000-07:002021-02-01T09:36:39.424-08:00Anchorage! Day two in Alaska! <p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday was another fun day although not a very touristy one. We started slowly with studying and snacking and connecting with people online. Always a fun time. One of the people I was trying to connect with, Margaret, lives here with her family. Two kids, a dog and a husband. I met her back in 2002 when I was driving cross country and we road tripped together for about three days. Since then, we haven't been in touch but my good friend Meg has stayed in contact with both of us and when she found out we were going to be in the same town she connected us again! Jamie, Jeremy and I went over there for a reunion cup of coffee and met the family. What a delight to catch up and hear where people have been in their lives. </span></p><div style="background-color: white;"><span id="m_7259113699644302m_-2837632629580895313ydp949b78c2docs-internal-guid-7ce9c75a-7fff-0493-73af-d586f4ec3f53"><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After visiting Margaret we meandered over to the Salvation Army (we love a good thrift store) where Jams bought some board games and I got a few white button down shirt (per my dress code). The salvation army here was a lack luster. Lots of bizarre 80s exercise equipment and and pitiful looking furniture. It felt pretty run down and wasn't cheap enough to reflect that. The cashier checks EVERY BILL you handed her. Every bill. Even $1 bills got held up to the light. Perhaps an indicator for the clientele that frequent that store? Or her idea of the clientele. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyway, after Salvy's we tried to visit some friends but they had already gone adventuring for the day so we set off to Kincaid City Park. Which, is huge. We walked past the sand dunes for the Motorcross track and up and onto the bluffs. It was another spectacular day. Again we could see the Turnigan Arm and Fire Island but we were right up on the coast this time. We strolled for a bit past very healthy people out with their dogs. Lots of runners and walkers and LOTS of dogs. I feel like every group out there had a dog. The tree cover was all pretty low and stunted and, right now, still brown. In fact in corners of the park that managed to stay hidden from the sun, they still had snow. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Out in the parks, the people walking around are exactly what you would see in any park where people are out exercising. Mostly white, relatively fit people wearing appropriate clothing (gear, puffy jackets, Solomon trailrunners) and they all seem to be dog owners. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In town, however, Anchorage is a pretty diverse area. It has one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the US and has the top 19 most diverse schools - diverse includes white people in this instance. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s pretty impressive and it surprised me. That being said, while racially and ethnically it’s pretty mixed, it seems like it’s economically pretty divided. I’ll do a bit more research on that. Anchorage is huge, by the way. Bigger than Rhode Island. 1900 square miles. Rhode Island is only 1200. Population wise, though...not so much the same. RI has about a million people and while Anchorage only clocks in at about 270,000. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I digress. After our hike, we decided that a brewery adventure was in order. We started at King Street brewery with a flight of 7 beers so we could get a full sampling. I liked them all, generally. Their IPA were a little to bitter and their New England IPA had too little flavor but they really nailed it with their Pilsner, Blonde, Hefe, and Stout. All Delicious. They don't serve burgers there but they do have a “Grizzly Dogs” hot dog stand out front and we had a reindeer dog to tide us over until dinner. Pretty delicious. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next we walked about 30 seconds over to Anchorage Brewing Company which had lovely atmosphere, fire pits, allowed dogs and had great art but I was not overly impressed with their beers. They all tasted a bit sour (and to the chagrine of the bartender - I tried 7), they were all super high in alcohol content and compared to King Street, expensive. Our ice friend Dugan and our new friend Joe came to meet us there and after a beer we left to go back to King Street. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe’s partner Doug met us there to say hello and give us all the deets about the Cabin that he’s going to let us stay in tonight and after another round of beers we went to the an adorable little 50s style diner called City Diner. </span></p><br /><div style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By this point in the day it was 8:30 and while the sun was still streaming bright and it felt like 5pm we retired to the apartment so Jams could get some school work done and Jamie could scheme on his shipment of electronics from California. (more on that later). </span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tomorrow we are off down the Kenai peninsula! </span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other random things: </span></p><ul style="color: #222222; font-family: garamond, "new york", times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunrise today was at 6:36 and sunset is 9:22. They gain about 6 minutes of sun a day. </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; margin-left: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia for only .02 an acre totaling about 7 million in 1867. (109 million today). At that time, Alaska was being used for the fur trade and as that trade was losing profit, the were ready to give up Alaska. </span></p></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jams, Jamie and I out hiking in Kincaid Park! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7uoCGS92RQK8XHDaGgvHRrpViDyRJoMEW2cSJicSGfqWGmq4Ao-WnQDsnGVb3KDJpb_fooAoxE-3aah3nUtiVoD64R0asejqaVqG0neAbN2jJeQbGUo_P_NfL_6KFe-ba7vrscOiHadh/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7uoCGS92RQK8XHDaGgvHRrpViDyRJoMEW2cSJicSGfqWGmq4Ao-WnQDsnGVb3KDJpb_fooAoxE-3aah3nUtiVoD64R0asejqaVqG0neAbN2jJeQbGUo_P_NfL_6KFe-ba7vrscOiHadh/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sanddunes at Kincaid Park</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU1tFj10QVoxSWid6HMHSoQHRNa5TC6dxRU4nmwJPntnq0uQmBtLZ3YZnACdW-4LOGhyZIOGsodwdmLYc6lCZx3uYky0dgUg0oRhtcKr8sVq-TlD65V1SgDX2ACklzSJlaPDobvBoWxnqq/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU1tFj10QVoxSWid6HMHSoQHRNa5TC6dxRU4nmwJPntnq0uQmBtLZ3YZnACdW-4LOGhyZIOGsodwdmLYc6lCZx3uYky0dgUg0oRhtcKr8sVq-TlD65V1SgDX2ACklzSJlaPDobvBoWxnqq/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Margaret and I! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxvOHEGBLORQwGQxzttKE7P5c0D9lAOHkUwDlJcGnouuYOj9B_zfG4A2oX4fGuz70QAk9s1DNEtXph_1aZrAviixSV3KOprbM6P1xphAbyo0H56TXyBOo3hkaBimUqUkTiyPAoelqHcqG/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="423" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxvOHEGBLORQwGQxzttKE7P5c0D9lAOHkUwDlJcGnouuYOj9B_zfG4A2oX4fGuz70QAk9s1DNEtXph_1aZrAviixSV3KOprbM6P1xphAbyo0H56TXyBOo3hkaBimUqUkTiyPAoelqHcqG/w195-h400/image.png" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kincaid Park</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi007E8GPuyGQa_dCXODHLf6_I2hGQL1kDFmbRATYEaHmf7fKqiFDWJz_ByJT6nV-E4iIt3g6w3VQzwyz11q5ZFp-lyzB9ZV-11t8TKe8xLb9fp4Es5btjAyoXKzqlyZsdgG-gG7_I_Tapk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi007E8GPuyGQa_dCXODHLf6_I2hGQL1kDFmbRATYEaHmf7fKqiFDWJz_ByJT6nV-E4iIt3g6w3VQzwyz11q5ZFp-lyzB9ZV-11t8TKe8xLb9fp4Es5btjAyoXKzqlyZsdgG-gG7_I_Tapk/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beers at King Street! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3shFKag-skzXwzQqfPtWzDWF89hZUa0xFHVx-9Utv3ALpK8JKseBLE7xM7ywwqIjrWnDvUoxk641vdfVp_YKijY4f6dXL-CbpGYeid6KsDnQNIyngZxLv65MkShFd_6INCooy3At5JmS/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3shFKag-skzXwzQqfPtWzDWF89hZUa0xFHVx-9Utv3ALpK8JKseBLE7xM7ywwqIjrWnDvUoxk641vdfVp_YKijY4f6dXL-CbpGYeid6KsDnQNIyngZxLv65MkShFd_6INCooy3At5JmS/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kincaid Park - you can see the track on the left of the shot</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoxWaVtX08aQjTDim7Y_UgwterejX_zDFmS0Gj7cyV6kQ4W_g6_cDiyHhdcrVtAoz8YLeVtRcUBTy_LMgMC6B3FcjqVVG5PKmDMTVG9-gCkdiKFbbz0a_QtmgxC-WtZxYbD1BOrAaBGEB/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoxWaVtX08aQjTDim7Y_UgwterejX_zDFmS0Gj7cyV6kQ4W_g6_cDiyHhdcrVtAoz8YLeVtRcUBTy_LMgMC6B3FcjqVVG5PKmDMTVG9-gCkdiKFbbz0a_QtmgxC-WtZxYbD1BOrAaBGEB/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></span></span></div></span></div>travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Kincaid Park, 9401 Raspberry Rd, Anchorage, AK 99502, USA61.1536409 -150.0553848.3618433367061 -167.633505 73.9454384632939 -132.477255tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-66424589408397569282019-04-15T11:42:00.097-07:002021-01-28T13:28:38.291-08:00Anchorage Alaska - Day one! <p><span style="font-family: georgia;">ALASKA! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here we are. I've gotten a job with Premier Alaska Tours for the summer and I'll be doing coach tours (off the cruise ships) from Seward up to Fairbanks. Jamie is here during his April vacation and we'll have a week hanging out with our friend Jams until he leaves. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; white-space: pre-wrap;">'m trying to review each day and write it down. I'm hoping it will help me solidify information for my tours as well as help me get a running list of "things here that I have done" to talk to my tour guests. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This isn't really edited as I need to move on to memorizing things about the various cities but this is what happened yesterday if you want a snippet! I'll be *fingers crossed* doing this every day for a bit to help me focus my studying. We'll see how it all works out! </span></span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This morning we went to <a href="https://www.alaska.org/detail/glen-alps-overlook" target="_blank">Glen Alps Overlook</a> in the Chugach State Park. After checking out the parking via a <a href="http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/chugach/glenalpswebcam.htm">webcam </a>(not kidding), we headed out. We drove past the hilltop ski public area to get here. We started with a trip to the bathroom (thank god) and then walked out to the overlook were we got a spectacular across the Cook Inlet. We could see both the Turnigan arm and the Knit Arm from there. We could look across the bay 110 miles and see MT Redoubt 10,197 (Iliama 10,000ft and Spur are the two other volcanoes we could see). All three of those are at Lake Clare national park. </span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1833fcf2-7fff-6114-ff35-25cd3e133a42"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After admiring the view, we went to hike the Powerline Trail. Literally a powerline walkway. While out there we saw tons of people walking their dogs, a cross country skiier, two fat tire bikers, and also some hikers who had surprisingly hiked UP the mountain to then ski down it. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterward we cruised to downtown Anchorage to go and visit the </span><a href="https://www.anchorage.net/listings/holy-family-cathedral/35782/" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Holy Family Church</a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. The co cathedral of Anchorage (with the Our lady of Guadeloupe) but we couldn’t get in. The outside was a bit lackluster. I was hoping for a big old exciting church but it was simple construction. Built in the 1940s in the Art Deco style this became the seat of the archdiocese in 1966 and was upgraded to Cathedral. As we were unable to get in, I can’t tell you anything about the inside and as I’m disinterested in going to Mass today...it’ll probably be awhile. We killed some time by going over to the <a href="https://captaincook.com/">Cook Hotel</a>. There were SO MANY eateries in the Cook Hotel but before that we stopped into the little gift shop inside and talked to Barbara. She’s moving to Reno for her retirement as her husband has died but she’s worried about finances. She decided that she would have to pay a lot of money to fix up an old place so she might as well but a new place and get everything she wants. She also told us that Anchorage is expecting an influx of 15,000 Chinese tourists this year AND that they are getting more cruise ships than this year than years past. The shop was adorable. Lots of lovely little trinkets including Mammoth ivory, soapstone carvings and miniature totems. It was a delight. Aside from this store there was a great photo gallery, a chocolate shop, a figurine/sculpture shop, another trinket shop and, like I said, SO MANY EATERIES. At least 4 on the bottom floor and there’s another on the 20th. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">After we left the Cook Hotel we stopped at Fred Myers (other grocery stores? - Carrs, Walmart, Costco, Three Bears) for shrimp, Romaine lettuce, and beer (in the same building but another store). We were looking for Singha beer as we were going to a Thai dinner for the Thai New Year but they didn’t have it. When I asked the guy he said that he didn’t think there was anywhere in Anchorage that had it. Lots of local craft brews though. We bought a local beer that had been named after some friends of Jeremy’s and then went off to our dinner with a few ice friends. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kristin and John hosted dinner (Antarctica peeps) made lap moo, pad thai, tom yum soup, egg rolls, mango sticky rice, coconut custard and had lots of beer. It was all together too much food. We met two other ice people that we hadn’t know, and then another one that we had worked with, Dugan, arrived and we had a nice little reunion! Dugan is here working as a surveyor. He told me lots of fun little things about his hometown, Homer AK. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For example: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jewel comes from there and her family stars in a reality TV show called : Alaska, The Last Frontier (but she’s not in it). </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Time Bandits, a boat from the deadliest catch is from Homer AK. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Homer boasts that it’s “at the end of the world” because it’s at the end of the highway that leads out to the over the Kenai Penninsula. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s also the “Halibut capital of the world”. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus ends Day One In Alaksa. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">View from our friend Jeremy's porch: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Z21MDYzM3tVQ-WAU7MfE0joZlRRbZx9y6o9lZn_J1wkPMnS1Fhu5IV434oJxs4IKvV72v4IOow99BIDrf1UXUwm8IXf5KJ6hRmkp9ERvCzZZnzu3EtoQPuW6cMhEJNytD0NAr8sPFBc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1Z21MDYzM3tVQ-WAU7MfE0joZlRRbZx9y6o9lZn_J1wkPMnS1Fhu5IV434oJxs4IKvV72v4IOow99BIDrf1UXUwm8IXf5KJ6hRmkp9ERvCzZZnzu3EtoQPuW6cMhEJNytD0NAr8sPFBc/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">View from the porch again: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIXBUI3F9JcpsABAVdPcc7KgxQoJXo36tuSMdt3EVz-vBI1AkJU27r08v5IPuYHVHQ_EDfuKLPyJNUbdUybAtmi2_uQrA-eTa-dq1epxQVEXzUJlMTq9KE8FLmBjkykg7bvd8R6bOy7eg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIXBUI3F9JcpsABAVdPcc7KgxQoJXo36tuSMdt3EVz-vBI1AkJU27r08v5IPuYHVHQ_EDfuKLPyJNUbdUybAtmi2_uQrA-eTa-dq1epxQVEXzUJlMTq9KE8FLmBjkykg7bvd8R6bOy7eg/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Our friend Jeremy!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOu1OnHm2IkKEZZXsJK7PvED-etuGD1NNJgWMRAoAtvrtJHP2IWzV5p7q-LTgx-CjfZylauvRzfQ6g7laSV7LodLM0zVmUw2OWORwSgSkVHDn9hdHT4KUQZjO6BgRgf4JVd1HrEFLvVEbO/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1380" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOu1OnHm2IkKEZZXsJK7PvED-etuGD1NNJgWMRAoAtvrtJHP2IWzV5p7q-LTgx-CjfZylauvRzfQ6g7laSV7LodLM0zVmUw2OWORwSgSkVHDn9hdHT4KUQZjO6BgRgf4JVd1HrEFLvVEbO/w400-h189/image.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />View of Anchorage from Glen Alps</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpmUVGtvOCoRemSH4QqasEzDxpYjEEcVmLegBW_WcN7Q9DHsRIiN7wmpByocsT8oHciSSnO2EWHVPZtZRbCxqMEbYLyFKdwggfnA8QK7yT7r_Ut0ODnFqvg6rwpRXhxFeQb5H5KM27r7E/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpmUVGtvOCoRemSH4QqasEzDxpYjEEcVmLegBW_WcN7Q9DHsRIiN7wmpByocsT8oHciSSnO2EWHVPZtZRbCxqMEbYLyFKdwggfnA8QK7yT7r_Ut0ODnFqvg6rwpRXhxFeQb5H5KM27r7E/w400-h300/image.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pano from the same area:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKPdKlex9r275kPR8yFXPSLVtMtpU7rCkVb_XSjLRehNbWlkeUgjuqRJH-m623CnPl_ujC00iodNPpG3zYmogJMXjhhcUCybTQ147tqu-vwemaqjxwUtEL3MmYTwXaNtzhPCB6f6YvdPS/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="139" data-original-width="1380" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKPdKlex9r275kPR8yFXPSLVtMtpU7rCkVb_XSjLRehNbWlkeUgjuqRJH-m623CnPl_ujC00iodNPpG3zYmogJMXjhhcUCybTQ147tqu-vwemaqjxwUtEL3MmYTwXaNtzhPCB6f6YvdPS/w640-h64/image.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Powerline Trail (note the powerlines)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cLCdB6ty5a14f1TFdG1L_v3mJaK5a7aYlVmHnWEQaxyN1TrAfgRYBOcLjHhbLDQUPAO5DGusOUNc3W5M-Ft6rbCvcwtEy8GyNCTNMBZO5q5Ykr9jnxacHU6sUpRU-8Mi2gXs_Zf6wuft/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1380" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cLCdB6ty5a14f1TFdG1L_v3mJaK5a7aYlVmHnWEQaxyN1TrAfgRYBOcLjHhbLDQUPAO5DGusOUNc3W5M-Ft6rbCvcwtEy8GyNCTNMBZO5q5Ykr9jnxacHU6sUpRU-8Mi2gXs_Zf6wuft/w640-h312/image.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /></span></div></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0Anchorage, AK, USA61.2180556 -149.900277848.93058146576243 -167.4784028 73.50552973423757 -132.3221528tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-67302063230967998042016-01-18T08:38:00.002-08:002016-01-18T08:38:56.865-08:00Jodhpur and Jaisalmer <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Jodhpur and Jaisalmer </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Out and about on our own in India. How very different from the quiet catered experience we had been having up till now. Also, Gujarat, while it has some tourists, didn’t have many westerners and didn’t cater to that group quite the same way and for that reason was a lot more laid-back for us. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jodhpur and Jaisalmer are tourist destinations and as such you get a lot of people selling you things, talking to you, and following you on the streets. After awhile, you get used to just walking by people and ignoring them completely. This is the best way to handle the situation. Unless you actually want to talk to someone, do not turn your head to engage them. If you do, you are inviting a discourse of whatever it is they have to sell you. I got a bit better at this practice than Jamie did so I found it a bit easier to walk around. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Regardless of these issues, both cities were really great fun. Jodhpur had an amazing fort with an excellent audio tour. We spent 4 hours there just wandering around looking at things. The next day we went over to the Jaswat Thada, A memorial one of the kings built for his wife. It was a very beautiful and peaceful marble structure, and we found that it and the grounds were wonderfully maintained. There we met two Australians and we all took the auto ride over to the one World Heritage site in the city, the Umaid Bhawan Palace. It was built over a period of 14 years in an effort to provide work to people during a famine (oh capitalism). Unfortunately you can’t go into it unless you pay 3000 rupees (around 45 dollars) or make a reservation at the bar which will cost at least 1000 rupees (15 dollars) and then you can’t see anything else. Staying there can cost 2000 USD! So we trekked up there, looked at the antique car museum, gazed at the outside of the building and wandered back. As we only had two days in Jodhpur we got back in time to grab some dinner and head to the train to take us to Jaisalmer. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">At the train station we met a charming Spanish couple (Alesh and Lisa) that ended up sitting with us and then staying at our hotel in Jaisalmer, the Tokyo Palace. We spent the time traveling around with them and one of the adventures we partook was to go on a Camel Safari together (the word safari is used very loosely). </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jaisalmer is in one of the driest areas of Rajasthan, and popping right out of the middle of the desert is an almost magical golden sandstone fort. Built up over the last 500 years or so this walled domain is still inhabited by 3000 people or so and filled with shops, restaurants, and guesthouses. The sellers hawking stuff was a little less than Jodhpur (probably because their are less people in the city) but still enough to encourage a brisk pace up the ancient stone ramp into the small city. Once inside we found two attractions, a self guided audio tour of the palace (nice but didn’t hold a candle to the tour of the Jodhpur fort/palace), and a collection of Jain temples. The Jain temples were absolutely stunning. It was one of those places that just desensitizes you to the level of complexity that went into its construction. The entire thing was covered in ornately covered stone, I think the only smooth surfaces were the floors that we walked on.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As mentioned before, we also did a desert tour by camel with our new friends from Spain. This apparently is the thing to do in Jaisalmer, and it seems every hotel is offering some variation of this. We thought why not and we booked through our hotel. We all jumped into a car and drove off out of the city for a half hour or so before we stopped off at a local musician village - another one of Jaisalmer’s claims to fame is music. We said hello to the villagers and then quickly made our destination, a small gathering of camels by the side of the road. We each were paired with a camel - getting on a camel is pretty easy, as they start of kneeling on the ground. Getting up for the first time is a bit of a surprise as they do so in two stages - first their back legs and then their front. And camels are tall! It was a smoother ride than we expected and our saddles worked out fine for the four of us. We rode for perhaps an hour until we arrived at a small camp in the sand dunes. We hung out for a bit while our guide put together a fire and made us some dinner. It was quite nice and peaceful, and we enjoyed seeing the stars with very little light pollution for the first time in a while - the only draw back was that another camel tour had included with it music and dancing and it clearly had some amplification equipment as we could hear it the whole time. We were not perturbed, we still had a wonderful dinner in the desert starlight. At some point, Shannon started asking if camels run and our guide said, yes, indeed they do. So he took her out for a wild, dark mildly terrifying run on a camel. After all that excitement, We made our way back in the dark (camels have great night vision apparently!) and drove back the hotel for around 10pm. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Next stop: Delhi. We are currently (hopefully) nearing the end of an epic train journey from Jaisalmer to Delhi, one that was supposed to leave at 12:45 in the morning and arrive at 10:00PM, but left at 2:30 in the morning and we are afraid to even guess when we will arrive. Adventure! Luckily we are in an “AC2” Sleeper, which is pretty spacious and comfortable enough. More to come.</span></div>
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This is the view from our hotel of the fort in Johdpur.</div>
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This is looking down at Jodhpur from the fort. The blue houses are everywhere. I've heard a few things on this point. One was that the Brahmans painted their houses blue. Another was that anyone would paint their house (or door) blue for luck and to ward off bad spirits. Whatever it was and for whatever reason it is now-I like it. </div>
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While I was listening closely to the audiofile, I can't quite remember what this room in the fort was used for. Entertaining of some sort I'm sure. Don't you just love it? I really enjoy the stained glass windows. </div>
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Jamie. Just relaxing after all that learning.</div>
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This is that palace, Umiad Bhawan, that I mentioned above. Built to feed people during a famine. Viewed from the fort. </div>
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This is kind of an hilarious story. We accidentally locked our key in our room. The hotel doesn't have extras, nor does it have a master key. When we told the front desk their faces dropped. Then they asked if we had an open window, to which Jamie replies that we do, but that no one could fit through the bathroom window. Oh how wrong we were. </div>
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To get into our bathroom window, the guy had to climb out of this room which was, thankfully empty. Notice the tiny tiny ledge he shimmied across. Unbelievable. </div>
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Desert Watermelons! </div>
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These are our camels. I'm riding ATM and Jamie is on Hot Shot. </div>
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Our camels stopped to eat what our guide described as "camel chocolate". </div>
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I really like these shadow shots. </div>
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Alesh, Lisa, Jamie and Myself at dinner. </div>
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These figures were on every wall in many of the rooms of the Jain Temples. I really liked the sign. </div>
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These two men are cleaning the temple from top to bottom. He's holding, essentially, a flat head screw driver and chiseling off the dirt on the walls. You can see the difference from above and below his tool. </div>
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The picture, above, is of the far right hand corner. You can see him reaching into that corner now. They started at the top and still have another 6 feet below them. </div>
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This is the view of the Jaisalmer fort from our hotel. This fort, unlike others I have visited, is still inhabited and still intact. You walk through the gates of the fort and BAM, it's liek a mini city. It's pretty incredible. There's temples, cafes, restaurants. It is chock-a-block full of people and things. </div>
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Interestingly, when I say it is still intact, that's a questionable statement as there are some serious issues of disrepair, mainly from water seepage. Everything in the fort is now modernized, including water pipes-something that didn't exist when the fort was build in the middle of desert back in 1156. The water seepage has created some serious issues with the footholds of the fort and consequently there has been some collapse. This, of course, is exacerbated by the thousands of people like me who come to visit the fort yearly. </div>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-32555990244609878232015-12-22T11:52:00.001-08:002015-12-22T11:52:56.489-08:00Bhuj, Gujarat, India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Bhuj </span></div>
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<span class="s1">November 16th-25th</span></div>
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<span class="s1">We arrived in Bhuj at 6:30am. We piled into an Auto Rickshaw with all our luggage and arrived at her house by 7am so we could all nap before Aarati had to go to work at 10:30. Her roommates arrived back from their holidays just as she was leaving and after they had washed up a bit, took us out to lunch before they themselves headed out to work. Dedicated women! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">All three of them are doing pretty amazing things In Bhuj. Aarati’s roommates, Hardika and Bhawna both work for a company called <a href="http://www.hunnarshala.org/" target="_blank">Hunnarshala</a>. The short version of what they do is that they are helping to get people back into acceptable earthquake proof housing using natural or waste materials. It’s pretty incredible. There’s a school on the compound that is training young boys to be carpenters, stone masons and general builders and they are learning these techniques. This is particularly necessary these days because in 2001 there was a horrible earthquake in this area. People are still recovering from it and trying to build in safe and sustainable ways. The earthquake was such a big event that people reference time as “before or after” the earthquake and we had a few people ask us if we had visited here “before quake”. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Aarati works for an NGO called Sarjeeven. I’m sure Sarjeeven is doing lots of things I don’t know about, but I do know that Aarati is out working with herders in the Kutch region: buffalo, camels, goats, sheep. She is doing work looking at the interconnectedness of their work with the artisans in the areas (block printing, wood carving, bell making) as well as helping them to find ways to keep their lifestyles and homeland sustainable. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Having heard from all three of them that we needed to get up to see the villages and the artisans, we hired a guide to take us out and show us around. We spent two days out in the desert staying in a community run “resort”, Shaam-E-Sarhad. Our guide, Kuldip took us to meet all sorts of artisans and see all sorts of work: lacquer, embroidery, Rogan painting, bell making, pottery, block printing, woodwork and leather work. It was all stunning and it’s all being done by hand. The resort we were staying in had traditional style homes so we slept in a “bhunga” the same style of structure we were seeing in all the villages we were walking through. We even got to go out to the great salt dessert, the Rann of Katch. To get there we had to get permits as it’s only 70K away from the Pakistan border. It still hasn’t fully dried out yet from the last rains so walking on it meant cracking through a shell of salt into 4 or 5 inches of mud. Pretty fun! All in all, it was a excellent trip out into the desert and I’m glad we did it. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Back in Bhuj we drank lots of Juice. Oh man. There is this incredible Juice company called Bhadia and every time i walked by we bought some delicious fresh juice from them: coconut lime, custard apple (an actual fruit), mango, guava/mango/grape, jamon (like a grape but a slightly different sweet). Man it was so good. We also did a bit of sight seeing as well, visiting the museum and the palace, walking around the lake, spotting the lone pelican, getting a haircut and generally just blending in (ha!). One of Aarati’s friends, Satish, is also doing work with Artisans and so he brought us out to meet some of them. We started with a man who has an honorary degree in Blockprinting. His work is incredible and he generously told us about the entire process. Then we went to meet a weaver who sat at the loom and showed us how everything works and finally we went to see some tye and dye artisans. In each of these places, Satish had to sneak around because if one person saw him, then he would get called over to talk to another person and it could have gone on forever. It was really neat to be seeing all this work and I was thankful to be walking around with him as clearly his connections with everyone inspired them to be generously forthcoming with us about their work. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Satish also took us on our last big adventure in Bhuj. We took the bus out into the countryside in an effort to go birdwatching. This whole experience was adventurous and a bit hilarious. The bus ride took an hour. Upon arrival we hired a rickshaw to take us out to the village were we could get a guide. We spent an hour in the rickshaw getting there. (I don’t mean to be saying “it was an hour!!” it was a great ride through beautiful desert. I’m only telling you the time so you get a sense of the epic-ness of it all). We arrived at the village just as two baby sheep had been born and the goats were being herded out into the grasslands. While we were busy oo-ing and aah-ing over the animals, Satish negotiated a guide for us and the 5 of us (6 including driver) piled into the Auto to go birdwatching. Problem was, the road was not meant for an Auto rickshaw. Let alone one with 6 adults in it. About 2 minutes in the driver and guide start arguing about how long it will take, that his vehicle can’t do this, on and on and on. We were moving so slow that at one point Satish just steps out of the vehicle and walks along beside it. Finally, we are close enough that the guide agrees to take us the rest of the way on foot so we get out of the auto and step into the grassland and are immediately surrounded by grazing camels! After leaving that area, we stumble upon a herd of water buffalo and then immediately get invited for tea with the herders. It was stellar! We continue walking for another hour through herds of buffalo, goats in the distance and past various camps of herders. All this in the hot desert grassland sun. We finally arrive at the tower and relax for about 20 minutes before having to head back. Unfortunately, we arrived quite late in the day so there weren’t many birds about and it is a bit early in the season for the migrations to start. Regardless, it was quite beautiful and a real delight. However, we had a bus to catch that night and needed to be on our way. So we started back. 45 minutes later we arrived at the Auto rickshaw, 45 minutes after that we get back to paved road, an hour after that we get to the bus and finally we arrive back in Bhuj at 4pm with just enough time to eat and pack before we get on the 5:30 bus to head out. Aarati, thankfully was able to come back and say goodbye to us and when we told her of our adventure she laughed saying “I thought you looked tired! Most people just hire a jeep from here. It’s much quicker that way!” </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was an excellent last day to an excellent stay with Aarati and her friends in Bhuj. After 16 days either with her or with her friends, we were finally setting out on our own. </span><br />
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This is the view of Bhuj from across the lake. Jamie and I took a little stroll around town and stopped here to find the resident pelican. <br />
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At night, the lakeside area is the go-to place for hanging out. Lots of food being sold, people walking around, socalizing to be done and of course the children's caroseul. While the doll in the center wore that outfit the entire time we were in Bhuj, Aarati has assured me that she does have multiple outfits and has regular wardrobe changes.<br />
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What's more fun and adventurous than getting a haircut in a foreign country? The easiest way to handle this was to find a stylist who had the exact style that Jamie wanted. Very easy to explain it when you have the model in front of you. </div>
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I liked the building. </div>
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The pink and white buildings on this street are holdovers from before the 2001 quake. Since then, building regulations restrict apartment buildings to three floors only. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br />JUICE! Jamie had some combination of guava, mango and grape, Satish had custard apples (tastes like cotton candy) and I got something that tasted like persimmon. I'm not sure juice is even the right word. It's more like fruit puree. SO GOOD. </span></td></tr>
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The bhunga we stayed in at Shaam-E-Sarhad</div>
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Entrance to Shaam-E-Sarhad. It's pretty neat what they are doing. We were very lucky to get a room. They are usually booked months out! Here's their website: <a href="http://www.hodka.in/" target="_blank">http://www.hodka.in/</a></div>
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This is the man who has the honorary degree in blockprinting. The spread in front of them are the different phases a cloth goes through until is finished. There are, at least, 8 steps. For those of you that live in the southwest, The Santa Fe International Folk Art Festival had 17 different artisans from Kutch region. This man was one of them.<br />
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Another block printer. We visited him while he was in the middle of working. You can see all the block prints on the table to the left and the piece in front of him was being finished as we spoke. </div>
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The dog got into the dye! </div>
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We lot a looming demonstration. The loom is built into the floor of the building and you can see the shuttles of wool next to the man on the left. </div>
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This work was pretty amazing. It's called Tye and Dye. That might sound familiar to you as we all know of tye-dye but this technique is amazing. In the photo you can see the tiny strings they use to tie up the fabric to get the design and below you can see the result. </div>
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This work is traditionally done by women for their personal clothes, but it has become popular. All over this region I saw this style of design although some of it was screen print and not actual tye and dye technique. </div>
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After having a cup of tea with this man in his house, he brought us out to his wood shop to give us a mini demonstration. </div>
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Jamie has a good appreciation for how hard it was. </div>
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This is called Rogan painting. Essentially, the paint is like thick, like a plastic and you don't actually touch the paintbrush to the fabric so much as guide the paint onto it with a metal stick. Can you find the flower we made? No hints. More on Rogan Painting: <a href="http://traditionalroganart.com/" target="_blank">http://traditionalroganart.com/</a></div>
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Water Buffalo! </div>
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The great Rann of Kutch. 70K out is the Pakistan border. </div>
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Our tour guide, Kuldip and is friend Trilce. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Who doesn't love a photo shoot in a desert? Jamie apparently. </span></div>
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The lobby of our resort and our great group photo! </div>
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This is a massive ship that was built BY HAND. You can see another one in the background. </div>
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Our driver in Kutch who kindly doubled as our tourguide and translator. </div>
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Camels! </div>
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Our Tea Break! </div>
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This is the herders day spot. They've put all sorts of branches around to keep the herding animals out. </div>
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An Auto in the Grasslands. </div>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-8919612278933281802015-12-05T11:12:00.003-08:002015-12-13T22:39:08.097-08:00India: Bombay to Bhuj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: left;">Bombay to Bhuj</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">November 5th - 16th </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We arrived in Mumbai on December 5th and as we walked off the plane we braced ourselves for the the craziness that is India. Except it was unnecessary. The Mumbai Airport was practically empty and there was hardly anyone around. We strolled at our leisure past the “largest public art installation” (read ‘Public” as those who can afford to fly) and as we made our way to the immigration counter there was no one in line. We paused at the lineless duty free to buy gifts for our hosts to the relatively empty luggage carousel and skipped through customs with no trouble. Pausing for a breath before walking out the doors we emerged into…serenity. It was eerily quite. We wandered over to the “pre-pay taxi” stand paid for our taxi and then walked, unmolested, right out the front door to find it ready and waiting. We should have appreciated those moments of ease and simplicity. As the taxi pulled from the airport we were instantly surrounded by motorbikes blaring their horns as they tried to edge further up into traffic, fearless pedestrians walking in front of the car as we continued to roll along, men strolling with massive carriages loaded with vegetables, huge brightly painted trucks with tassels hanging from every possible corner, cows snacking indiscriminately as they heedlessly wandered through the hustle and bustle. And all of this on the road. No distinction between drivers or walkers. Everyone in the same lane going (mostly) in the same direction. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our first foray into Mumbai traffic lasted only 30 minutes as we were staying with friends at the IIT Powai Campus. Crossing the gates of the campus we were again back in tranquility and ease. (aside from the occasional wandering cow or racing motorbike). </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our hosts in Powai were a delightful couple named Kadambari and Prabhu. They promptly fed us and then pretty much made our plans for us for the rest of our day. They booked us a taxi to visit Juhu beach and made reservations for dinner at a great restaurant near to their house.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The beach was packed! But not with people sitting around and looking at the ocean. It was rare for someone to be sitting. Everyone was standing. Talking selling things. playing cricket or soccer, wandering. Jamie and I had to be careful not to stop for too long or we'd be accosted with offers for Henna, Chai, popcorn, squeaky balloons, fruit or photos. It was a really exciting walk. I'm sure the ride back through Mumbai at night was interesting too, but both Jamie and I fell asleep. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">As Diwali was fast approaching, we only had one night with them and the next day we set off through Bombay traffic (2.5 hours to go 16 or so kilometers) to visit Aarati’s other friend Swathi in South Bombay.</span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again, another generous host who had a meal prepared for us upon arrival! We should have figured that this was going to be a theme. In fact, for the next 10 days I don’t think Jamie and I once experienced hunger. Staying with Swathi was exciting because we got to experience city life and living. We went to the bar, a comedy show, the movies, and out to eat. It was a great way to be in Mumbai. When we said we wanted to do some sightseeing she called up a bicycle tour company that she knew of and convinced him to run a tour for us the next morning so at 6:00am the next morning we were on our way to bicycle around Bombay. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our bicycle guide, Jay, was great! He was so passionate about biking and history that you couldn’t help but be enthralled with him and the tour. His support staff, Govan, rode ahead of us and got action shots of our cycling and we stopped for Chai as least twice before we made it to breakfast. The tour was only supposed to last 4 hours, but because we kept asking questions and derailing his stories, our tour lasted 6! We visited all the major sites in South Bombay: The gateway to India, Taj Mahal Hotel, Flora Fountain, Kala Ghoda, etc. At first we were terrified of riding bikes through such crazy traffic but it was fine for two main reasons. 1. It was Sunday. 2. The work day in Mumbai (and it seems much of india) doesn’t start until 10:30am. We asked about this late start to the day and he told us this started years ago when business men would stay up late to get the latest stock reports from New York. Because of the late nights, the would subsequently have a late start to the work day and this carries on to today. We also asked how he feels about biking on workdays in the height of the traffic and he got really enthusiastic. “It’s great!,” he said and then he told us about his “Mad Mumbai” tour where he takes groups out on bicycle to ride in the traffic. I was, I won’t lie, interested in trying it but Jamie, the voice of reason, said no. Check out his website <a href="http://www.odati.com/viewactivity_new.php?Activities=Cycling-Mumbai%20Cycle%20Ride&id=s-14" target="_blank">here</a>. He does lots of adventure travel too. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The next day we were off to finally see Aarati in Pune (pronounced Poona or Poon-ay). We would stay with her through the upcoming Diwali holidays. Getting to Pune turned out to be a bit hilarious. We booked a bus ticket online with Neeta Bus lines. Huge mistake. Our supposed 3 hour bus ride ended up taking 5 hours because they stopped EVERYWHERE to let people off the bus and to try to get more passengers. Even getting on the bus was a bit of an adventure: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "new york" , "times" , serif;">We bought our tickets to get to Pune (our next outside of Mumbai) online and took a taxi to the bus station. When we got there-literally the instant the cab arrives, two guys come over and say "going to Pune? come. come" and they take our bags and start walking us to this small bus. I'm trying to tell him we already have tickets and he says "yes, yes. tickets to pune". did i mention he's taken and carrying one of our bags? I'm trying to get Jamie to pull out the phone to show him the tickets while trying to not follow him and simultaneously snatch back our bag. When Jamie finally manages to pull out the e-ticket, the guy sees the ticket and is says "oh" and then points to another bus. So we go to the other bus (and now that we can look at something other than our bags being carried off by a stranger, we see that it is clearly the official one) and show him our ticket. He looks at it and points to another travel agent (the one we bought our bus ticket through). We see the name of our bus company on this tiny stall (in a sea of stall) and go over there. I feel confident this is the right place and the guy writes down our confirmation number and then points us to a bus that has the name of the company on the front. My confidence flags a bit as this bus is definitely not a bus that you'd take a three hour ride on. It looks like an airport shuttle. But we got on and ascertain that it's going to bring us to the bus that will take us to the bus that will take us to Pune. (that to a while to confirm) Part of our comfort came from the fact that the Indian customers were also mildly annoyed at this. Our departure time comes and goes. Finally, half hour later, we start moving- but we just loop around the area barking for more customers. A guy is leaning out the open door hollering "NEETA! PUNE!" (neeta is the name of our bus company). Ok, so we go back past the bus stall, pick up another passenger after half hour of hollering for more customers, we start driving. 20 minutes later, we finally arrive at our bus that's on the side of the road next to the highway and we are shuffled off the shuttle to get on the bus. I try to ask multiple people if our bus is going to the stop I want and they all seem to say yes but I can't be certain because none of them actually SAY "yes". They give the Indian head nod (which I haven't yet learned to decipher) and wave me to my seat. So. I ask to borrow a phone from some random guy (great thing about India? plenty of english speakers-more than enough). I call my friend and explain to her that we are just leaving (an hour late), tell her our bus company and then explain that while I'm sure we're going to Pune, I'm not certain we're going to the right stop. so I bring the phone to one of the 4 men sitting behind the front curtain with the driver and she asks him and gets a confirm. GREAT! We're on our way! Except that the whole bus ride (with a 20 minute stop in the middle at a rest area) is not 3 hour and 30 minutes like the website says. Instead it's 4 hours and 15 minutes. (don't forget about the hour delay at the beginning) We arrive and my friend has been waiting for 1.5 hours with her dad but she's there and she's not surprised. </span></span>Despite all that, we arrived in Pune safe to Aarati and her dad Anand and they whisked us back to their house and promptly fed us. (for all the adventure, never a hungry moment) </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anand, Shubha (Aarati’s mom) and Aarati were generous with their time, attention and space. We stayed in their “in-law apartment” and they had stocked the fridge with Kingfisher (the Indian beer of choice, it is quite nice)! We really enjoyed being able to be part of their family for a week. The Halbe’s live in a community were they seem to know everyone. We spent the week visiting all the neighbors with them, pretending we were long lost cousins of the Halbe clan. It was great fun. And an excellent way to spend the week. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We ventured into Pune with Aarati a few times and even went out sightseeing in the country side.In Pune we went to the Kelkar museum, a private collection of various artifacts and we convinced Aarati’s aunt Nilima to take us on a walking tour of downtown. Jamie’s favorite part was seeing a small group of kids being chased off with a bag full of pigeons that they had hunted, quite skillfully, with a slingshot - fluttering bird still in hand. He accidentally got a picture of this. For our countryside adventure, we went out to see the Karla and Baja caves, 1st and 2nd century buddhist caves. It was pretty impressive. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">During out stay we were treated to various culinary delights (too many Diwali sweets to mention!), a great lesson in cricket, sports on TV, a tour of Nilima and Dileep’s (Aunt and Uncle) home and collections, fun with the pup Tasha and an exceedingly relaxing and welcoming time. In return for the hospitality we happily ate all the food we were given, drank all the drinks we were offered and sang songs and taught juggling. I hope everyone was happy with the trade! </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On our final morning we had a fantastic outing with another community member who happens to be a naturalist. Rashid took us on a great local tour of some wetlands to do some good old fashioned birdwatching. It was great fun and something that we have always wanted to do, especially when we were hiking through national parks during our Appalachian Trail hike. We think we identified about 40 species, and if we had come a little bit later in the month it might have been higher as many migratory birds come south for the winter from the north.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="color: #20124d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When it was finally time to head out, we hopped on a plane to Ahmenebad, spent the day being pampered by a friend of Aarati’s there (fed again) and then took an overnight bus to Bhuj. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Juhu Beach! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The view of Mumbai from the Nariman point. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: small;">This building, Watsons Hotel, is a great example of why so many buildings are falling apart but still standing. The building gets bought with the agreement that it will be kept for a "lifetime" before something different can be done. But "lifetime" doesn't reference the person but rather 99 years and the buildings have a fixed rent. So the landlords aren't making enough money to make it worthwhile fix it up so it stays there just falling apart. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"> This is the place where all the little fishing boats put into the water and come back to unload the fish. Immediately to the right of this is a little village were all the fisherman work/live. We couldn't walk through it because in 2008, the terrorists who bombed the city came ashore here. The villagers are now very mistrusting to strangers walking around in this area. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PUB7HObGo8CNi6whc0fCPk9upA0jiotndeoNGmOLbHCHySbT85Ws3mGnXRM7RZeOYObcb9QyUS6JTgImqnzz_Q9R-UrWvwIeFHwJNgN0evRdB_odRLGqa25QUOXNVs8DW2D8cMgJNq5h/s1600/DSC04222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PUB7HObGo8CNi6whc0fCPk9upA0jiotndeoNGmOLbHCHySbT85Ws3mGnXRM7RZeOYObcb9QyUS6JTgImqnzz_Q9R-UrWvwIeFHwJNgN0evRdB_odRLGqa25QUOXNVs8DW2D8cMgJNq5h/s640/DSC04222.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">For Diwali, people draw stunnin designs outside there houses. They are made of colored sand so any wind or errant step can ruin then. They're beautiful and delicate. Often times there are tiny little oil lanterns in them or around them that get lit at night. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifFd5FRdJbH5GcMpkSFlZ85MsLHtWG_eEKjw2FeywU_9sAl-3N2I68zHarmPH9s7m9ujOAHNBaBDSNYz2y50PZ4ZXRB9nysv7DgFggVMPrpZnaKqif0fYu69tejUAHqqIifZ7-p2lRSkJ/s1600/WP_20151112_18_10_54_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifFd5FRdJbH5GcMpkSFlZ85MsLHtWG_eEKjw2FeywU_9sAl-3N2I68zHarmPH9s7m9ujOAHNBaBDSNYz2y50PZ4ZXRB9nysv7DgFggVMPrpZnaKqif0fYu69tejUAHqqIifZ7-p2lRSkJ/s640/WP_20151112_18_10_54_Pro__highres.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">More pretty designs.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BZHdFaeWQP6DcZOJ8_t2wcvUeHbddfR2iFzg_XL8VFP13CbVt6NMIv5BL5YUqC6mi7mzrfQQNSf1BjYvBo3_E1RVPV3wzcflmGhuaTOtXvidBO2-RPX7iqnDj9ErXdpL4tDD8y-jZ6za/s1600/WP_20151108_06_43_18_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BZHdFaeWQP6DcZOJ8_t2wcvUeHbddfR2iFzg_XL8VFP13CbVt6NMIv5BL5YUqC6mi7mzrfQQNSf1BjYvBo3_E1RVPV3wzcflmGhuaTOtXvidBO2-RPX7iqnDj9ErXdpL4tDD8y-jZ6za/s640/WP_20151108_06_43_18_Pro__highres.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Me and our two guides for the bike tour. It was a private tour-Just Jamie and I! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Chai all the time! A little cup of chai costs between 7 and 10 rupees. It's tea dust, milk and lots of sugar. delicious! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q5cRCIqA9HNQoBtKcS7-ljbR3VPYi6ftTP0lCZCXNCB6BSGPmslSJdqcL-Ns3DyHQ-eX46P9lT02TKSntJ0IJ6Hk6SY7SKkRysB-Fenp-I_OhtcY59XZl_rjYpu4Is0cXvsncwv_7cmN/s1600/WP_20151109_15_49_48_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q5cRCIqA9HNQoBtKcS7-ljbR3VPYi6ftTP0lCZCXNCB6BSGPmslSJdqcL-Ns3DyHQ-eX46P9lT02TKSntJ0IJ6Hk6SY7SKkRysB-Fenp-I_OhtcY59XZl_rjYpu4Is0cXvsncwv_7cmN/s640/WP_20151109_15_49_48_Pro__highres.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On our way out to Pune, the rest stop we rested at had the colorful shop with lots of treat options. Jamie face here is saying "how can you expect me to choose"?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7ARvdwbYw95YRGk0rGM-QHOzdtb25WpZcqpPmtGUFYH8MwOuS23ujFuNKA-CcHVXw7zQ3X9puCL2I4quy3UeSS3V7_MqP6b1pW1IkXJ8V-9gE5vR9ebHk2rqCPIfUOo7urAPz5Z75U0u/s1600/WP_20151112_13_23_27_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7ARvdwbYw95YRGk0rGM-QHOzdtb25WpZcqpPmtGUFYH8MwOuS23ujFuNKA-CcHVXw7zQ3X9puCL2I4quy3UeSS3V7_MqP6b1pW1IkXJ8V-9gE5vR9ebHk2rqCPIfUOo7urAPz5Z75U0u/s640/WP_20151112_13_23_27_Pro__highres.jpg" width="360" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We took a trip out to the Kelkar Musuem with Aarati. The Kelkar Museum is a private collection of artifacts across India. http://rajakelkarmuseum.com/index.asp</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMEITBlKJ2CqhNYAakNrwcPmL5gBRPCOBCHMXD2uzNz8SPw4KbgdchlLFHWLpE1B1Enr58mXUAzRHmJGXc4a8JiDv8qH0XYI978Y4cgkJsak48hGFGF0kqQpGpGBj8FQ8bte5Cnn3P2Hf/s1600/WP_20151112_12_41_16_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMEITBlKJ2CqhNYAakNrwcPmL5gBRPCOBCHMXD2uzNz8SPw4KbgdchlLFHWLpE1B1Enr58mXUAzRHmJGXc4a8JiDv8qH0XYI978Y4cgkJsak48hGFGF0kqQpGpGBj8FQ8bte5Cnn3P2Hf/s640/WP_20151112_12_41_16_Pro__highres.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Kelkar Museum. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The inside of the Karla cave. </span></div>
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Baja caves. These stupas (15 in all) are carved right from the stone of the mountain and are memorials to various Monks that lived here. </div>
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Nilima on our walking tour. Nilima is an architect so our tour involved a lot of architectural tidbits an asides. For example: you notice the brick work on this building has a design in it. That's for reinforcement. Also, the bricks are thinner than normal bricks because the clay in this area works best if it kept at this skinner version. </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">This picture is supposed to be of the blue houses. People paint their houses or door blue for good luck and security. However, Jamie also inadvertently got the sling shot kid. He's standing to the right of the lamp post, beneath the yellow sign and the soon to be dead bird is sitting atop it. </span></div>
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Why wouldn't we take a picture of this? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3P7r5cklnh2QAayKOYI_LcqOIXU7Dd10xhU3l9Z5Z3NOCutu0Nhzc1VxeiIVJzk9HTNhCcTWtLKzCw83qXyMwx1m6B_07xgudWOST2hyphenhyphencHX8QA3xiUl0PTbYxKe-D9REEKmIvbiGSSrj/s1600/DSC04361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3P7r5cklnh2QAayKOYI_LcqOIXU7Dd10xhU3l9Z5Z3NOCutu0Nhzc1VxeiIVJzk9HTNhCcTWtLKzCw83qXyMwx1m6B_07xgudWOST2hyphenhyphencHX8QA3xiUl0PTbYxKe-D9REEKmIvbiGSSrj/s640/DSC04361.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dilip and Nilima, Aarati's uncle and aunt are on an "eating leaves" fad. For the past year, they eat a plate of leaves before breakfast. They harvest them from the leaves of the community they live in. I wanted to try it so Nilima collected me some things. The big leaf on the left is a Paan leaf. It was very spicy. The long stem above it is neem. Incredibly bitter. Below that is a flower-sweet. Next ot that is something mellow and pleasant. Under that are four little green balls-bitter and pulled all the moisture out of your mouth but when you sip water after taking a bit it's quite sweet. The three leaves in the middle tasted like parsley. To the right is a leave that dried up over night so it was kind of flavorless. Under that is basil. </div>
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Jamie participated in this culinary adventure but a bit begrudgingly. </div>
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I think I did pretty well....clearly I could have done better. </div>
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Nilima, Dileep and Tasha. Aarati's Aunt and Uncle. They live right next door. </div>
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Teaching Anand and Shubha how to Juggle!</div>
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And then we took a plane to Ahmenebad and a sleeper bus to Bhuj! </div>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-38867070661054750522015-11-10T22:51:00.003-08:002015-11-10T22:55:31.040-08:0024 Hours in Singapore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Continued Travels!<br />
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On our way to India we scheduled ourselves a layover in Singapore. We had 27 hours to get out and see the city. We decided we would go out to see the city and come back to the airport to sleep. We arrived at 5:30am, got back to the airport at 11:30pm slept until 6am when we had to get on the plane and head to Mumbai. </div>
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We really enjoyed Singapore. We experienced Singapore as "Asia Lite." <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "garamond" , "new york" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px;"> It's clean, everyone speaks English, the trains/buses are punctual, and it's a cosmopolitan city. It has a true feeling Chinatown and Little India so you can acclimate to those experiences without actually dealing with the stress, crowds, and confusion of China or India. And, it really is a garden city. There are big trees everywhere. That was pretty neat.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "garamond" , "new york" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div>
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I took a bit of a lazier approach by just explaining the photos. Enjoy! <br />
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And leave comments! I love comments! Have you been to Singapore? How did you like it? No? just say any old random thing.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"> Made it to Singapore! The airport is packed full of art and decoration and things to do. Bored? Check out their roof top garden. Want a bit of wildlife, go to the butterfly garden. Too hot? Swim in the rooftop pool. Extra money to spend? Shop in every store imaginable. Lots of time to kill? Take a free tour to the city! Really. It's kind of unbelievable. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm trying to capture the "NO" signs which, you might notice includes Durians. A very smelly fruit. Other signs also told you of the potential fines you could face for breaking these laws. Smoking was $1000, eating was $500. I'm not sure about the Durian fees. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">We started our day in Singapore with a trip to their <a href="https://www.sbg.org.sg/" target="_blank">Botanic Gardens</a>. A Unesco World Heritage site. They were stunning. The gardens were used to create and experiment with rubber trees. Singapore provided most of the worlds rubber until the mid 1900s. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Look at us at the Gardens! </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">It's us again! </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">On a treetop walk!</span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The city was decorated for Christmas! We decided to take the bus from place to place so we could get a sense of the city. Glad we did. the buildings are gorgeous and, as you can see, festive. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our next stop after the Botanical Gardens was Chinatown. The first thing we did, of course, was to eat but once that was accomplished we wandered around. We both really enjoyed the architecture of the buildings in conjunction with the markets below them. </span> </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The <a href="http://www.btrts.org.sg/english-home" target="_blank">Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.</a> Yes, there is a buddha tooth here. It's houses in a solid gold reliquary that is the size of a small car. </span> </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">There was a lovely garden at the Buddha Tooth with a prayer wheel. That big structure inside spins and as you spin it you are sending out prayers. It's pretty incredible. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">And we ate again! </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">After we left Chinatown we went over to Little India. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Isn't he adorable in all the color? </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tIIZsXPGNKhJMVUFIoRxNRk88s0dDHkRx07FtwOYvlVc3sam8okwi_9K44ljiglVsdQbCPFgD3s8URV2owkdp_W1WQIiurDkTYKTsYbhXBmjtjVu6-AkQKcWCMax4nUHCdxlAuzPPm7U/s1600/DSC04106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tIIZsXPGNKhJMVUFIoRxNRk88s0dDHkRx07FtwOYvlVc3sam8okwi_9K44ljiglVsdQbCPFgD3s8URV2owkdp_W1WQIiurDkTYKTsYbhXBmjtjVu6-AkQKcWCMax4nUHCdxlAuzPPm7U/s640/DSC04106.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Diwali is coming up and Little India was also decorated. In India, Diwali is as big as Christmas in the states. </span></h3>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Again, we enjoyed the Architecture. We wandered down this street until we found a little corner cafe to eat. We were the only foreigners and I was the only woman so we got a lot of stares. </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40-T0K-UTT-PrZponMtmZMbur0xFHtM36zJ-SWiIg8mLeFEjiz9GHmT_gJAXpSga9vgYWP_Gkq8rYTNQY6TM2ZcRzjwqyIsFpFTw3n4g6HSOB9I5kUgYtbFh6vvrhGZzeNDJeGtzfxiRg/s1600/DSC04110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40-T0K-UTT-PrZponMtmZMbur0xFHtM36zJ-SWiIg8mLeFEjiz9GHmT_gJAXpSga9vgYWP_Gkq8rYTNQY6TM2ZcRzjwqyIsFpFTw3n4g6HSOB9I5kUgYtbFh6vvrhGZzeNDJeGtzfxiRg/s640/DSC04110.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">We stumbled upon a Ukulele store in Singapore. Only Ukuleles! It was so fun. And run by some awkward but charming 20 something year old men. We watched some emo music videos with them and were warned to not travel to the Philippines because the guards put bullets in your luggage. Right? Interesting. The store was pretty great and we did enjoy our time in there. http://ukulelemovement.com/ They let us play with all the Ukuleles in there! </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqKJ3UUB4zMnsfN73MHsqCsuVKqjXHU-6YFo0e8lE2ch85Jov8yvnSQUrVgIQ6JsP66gAB51M1BExST5SO-xqT5Q5kh6DTfilqGIJjE03ibrQm6MieA1qDeYyB0UOaYAEuC9LoQpzCA99/s1600/DSC04115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqKJ3UUB4zMnsfN73MHsqCsuVKqjXHU-6YFo0e8lE2ch85Jov8yvnSQUrVgIQ6JsP66gAB51M1BExST5SO-xqT5Q5kh6DTfilqGIJjE03ibrQm6MieA1qDeYyB0UOaYAEuC9LoQpzCA99/s640/DSC04115.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">And then, while trying to get to the CBD, we wandered though the underground shopping area following signs and hoping to arrive in the right place. After wandering thorugh the parking lot (followed signs) and then through the lobby of a performance hall (still following signs), we went up and escalator and came upon a Ukulele sing-a-long! Over a hundred people with Ukuleles singing John Denver and Johnny Cash! How to get Shannon to fall in love with a city? bring her to s sing-a-long! </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIqUseqccBX-o91pPR7U1oJpe2eySx5axU2OJZR42hyAkH7yNRAYMyurkvCFz0-Je5WUzcM0vIe1S6gdj6RNWoGFr-I5_PKvooGcwfnZBzUMmb2rDgfwcEcaXWXN_3uk6jaK32kObVbZf/s1600/DSC04127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIqUseqccBX-o91pPR7U1oJpe2eySx5axU2OJZR42hyAkH7yNRAYMyurkvCFz0-Je5WUzcM0vIe1S6gdj6RNWoGFr-I5_PKvooGcwfnZBzUMmb2rDgfwcEcaXWXN_3uk6jaK32kObVbZf/s640/DSC04127.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Took a break from walking around by watching the light show across the bay. Pretty amazing and such a lovely rest. </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtNuLWQwZtiSSdIiD4sAsGTjf8cKSvTQtCNRQny10xlvbvBj0fWjc3BKB3u2AbeoNnIG79ViYH8pu4eYw3_G6EJWb2y6BYqkdibflU4VxZUYhjgcXZ9UiSSOoVXP9oo4IxRWbPorTSBf_/s1600/DSC04158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtNuLWQwZtiSSdIiD4sAsGTjf8cKSvTQtCNRQny10xlvbvBj0fWjc3BKB3u2AbeoNnIG79ViYH8pu4eYw3_G6EJWb2y6BYqkdibflU4VxZUYhjgcXZ9UiSSOoVXP9oo4IxRWbPorTSBf_/s640/DSC04158.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The other side of the bay. Beautiful! </span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvoeJPM9dIB_RH1obYGB4hXJAmi6Xq79u7vkf8coU4bFqQtTlsx4cYKfrTagAW296CliaMCtzKB7BW2_mEW_WbTLzSNxG8_4GGh6xsOGSE8K7fuMNjVrinR0ro_I5NSwS7bd7obzZn9WG/s1600/DSC04167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvoeJPM9dIB_RH1obYGB4hXJAmi6Xq79u7vkf8coU4bFqQtTlsx4cYKfrTagAW296CliaMCtzKB7BW2_mEW_WbTLzSNxG8_4GGh6xsOGSE8K7fuMNjVrinR0ro_I5NSwS7bd7obzZn9WG/s640/DSC04167.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Finished up our evening with another meal! Singaporean Carrot Cake (an egg thing) and some satay. Delicious! The food stalls are really conveniently set up. You order from any one of them. They are all part of the same organization, so they give you plates and silverware that you just leave at any of the tables and the tables are bussed and cleaned. So easy, delicious and safe. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Long day. Jamie looking like a local sleeping on the train back to the Airport. We got back to the airport at 11:30, found a quiet corner to sleep until 6am and then hopped on the plane to head to Mumbai. </span></h3>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-67074086030543035972015-11-04T04:58:00.000-08:002016-01-18T08:42:56.355-08:00Leaving Antarctica <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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How is it possible that we left Antarctica less than a month ago? We still have winter friends on the ice! It feels like so much time has passed. With only one 24 hour delay, we left Antarctica on October 13th and arrived in Christchurch at 3am on the morning of the 14th. Also, to be sure that we were desperate to arrive in a warm place, we were driven to the Ice Runway a full 2 hours before we could board and then had to stand outside the entire time. It was absolutely ludicrous and we were frozen but when we were finally allowed on the plane, I can guarantee that none of us was in any way sad. To be completely honest, Jamie and I had wandered away to find a warm spot and were running to the plane as the were closing the doors and all the support vehicles were driving away. I like to think that they wouldn’t have left without us, but it’s not like there’s a steward on the plane checking tickets. While it was mildly embarrassing, it was certainly memorable. We definitely thought we deserved that duty free wine we bought when we arrived at the wee hours of the morning. </div>
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<span class="s1">Arrival in Christchurch was awesome, by the way. There was a mild misty rain when we landed and even before they opened the plane doors we could smell it. Never has rain coated tarmac smelled so sweet! It almost made the 45 minute wait for a shuttle to our hotel worthwhile. After our 3am bottle of wine to celebrate our 1 year in Antarctica, we drifted off to sleep to be awoken by WARM SUNSHINE streaming though our window. The sun was HOT! I had forgotten that was a thing. It was so shocking and delightful that Jamie had to remind me that I was standing in the window with my sleepwear on. After that delightful morning where we could smell every tree and flower and when I teared up at the sight of flowers (true story), the rest of our stay in Christchurch felt like a purgatory. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jamie had secured a contract for the following winter and was ready to do all his medical paperwork. I, however, didn’t get mine until the end of the first week in the city. That delayed our departure from New Zealand from Monday the 19th to Friday the 23rd. There is nothing worse than sitting in Christchurch waiting to leave. I think the city is pretty amazing, definitely worth a visit and has a lot to offer but overtime we are there we are just waiting to fly out. With that energy looming over a visit, it can be exhausting. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">On the bright side, both Jamie and I left Christchurch with contracts for the upcoming winter season- 2016 February- and had nominal issues getting ourselves through our physical exams. Best part about leaving Christchurch? We were going to Port Vila, Vanuatu! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Why Vanuatu you ask? Because it has a house that met the requirements. Back in July, a friend of ours mentioned getting a beach house and just lounging in sun and warmth to counter the dark and the cold. Being in the throes of winter and working 6 days a week for at least 54 hours a week, nothing sounded better. As the only thing that mattered was “warm” “beach” and “sun” we didn’t care too much about where we went so we created a criteria for our beach rental. These were our requirements: could sleep 9 people, beachfront, pool, full kitchen, outdoor lounging area, housekeepers, available car and (if possible) a feral cat that would come visit. The Casa De Mar in Vanuatu satisfied all of our requirements an, Voila! There we were. We arrived on October 23rd and stayed until November 4th. The majority of the time we spent lounging in the sun (with some adventures out to buy food). It was glorious. We avoided major sunburn and feel well rested for continuation of our travels. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">While our main goal was to sit around, we did manage a few excursions. We hired a driver to take us around the island. We stopped at various gorgeous swimming holes and finished up with a stop at the hot springs. Another day, the ladies who maintained our house took us to the market and taught us how to make traditional Ni-Vanuatu food. Finally, on our last day, Jamie and I booked a trip out to another island for an overnight to see Mt Yasur-the world’s most accessible volcano. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">While we enjoyed Vanuatu, we are both excited to continue on with our travels. Upcoming adventures include a 22-hour layover in Singapore, a month in India, Mexico for a wedding/ a bit of travel and then home for the holidays. Arrival back in Boston-December 16th! Can’t wait. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4p2jWFDDGsNFA9jnO4ipvZ_fzjyaqhzBllPCWhgnSOqf1W67UvZp13tja291yNiIkonxKh-wa2hTn5faFIcpsn4lVln5DFOCvkLoL2C9OJFt783XOcYvmSdULfAPVqO9OKttkre7wx3Y1/s1600/WP_20151029_16_35_18_Pro__highres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4p2jWFDDGsNFA9jnO4ipvZ_fzjyaqhzBllPCWhgnSOqf1W67UvZp13tja291yNiIkonxKh-wa2hTn5faFIcpsn4lVln5DFOCvkLoL2C9OJFt783XOcYvmSdULfAPVqO9OKttkre7wx3Y1/s640/WP_20151029_16_35_18_Pro__highres.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our Vanuatu house. Casa De Mar. They let us use the truck to drive into town for groceries. John rented the motorcycle for a day of death-defying fun. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our bedroom </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmlRb1ucOx0xAoksEiY1BykubdJzcPeEUOwOsyxIWUk1iJYes1gSi3Y56aNs_oopDptwpMZ_Os1kAOnTn3trXjrKg41ZC7Zpdp0Z-9gQbEDOoI6hxuY8THXbtA1rcphvcN9U3QwSjSVZ4/s1600/WP_20151029_16_41_51_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmlRb1ucOx0xAoksEiY1BykubdJzcPeEUOwOsyxIWUk1iJYes1gSi3Y56aNs_oopDptwpMZ_Os1kAOnTn3trXjrKg41ZC7Zpdp0Z-9gQbEDOoI6hxuY8THXbtA1rcphvcN9U3QwSjSVZ4/s640/WP_20151029_16_41_51_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">backyard of the property </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi111SOIe6eJd43zDzKhq7redXTGVeJQAdCyR_NeXCJV0spoDU2wkmnu1feJLOlvahX0029moDlgSIjwLCAJK6kVl3Rg44b7-LCiL-B6LFiu1RzclyqLgKlhxppLBsiGSg7Pb4PauV9Gf_s/s1600/WP_20151029_16_41_43_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi111SOIe6eJd43zDzKhq7redXTGVeJQAdCyR_NeXCJV0spoDU2wkmnu1feJLOlvahX0029moDlgSIjwLCAJK6kVl3Rg44b7-LCiL-B6LFiu1RzclyqLgKlhxppLBsiGSg7Pb4PauV9Gf_s/s640/WP_20151029_16_41_43_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Our backyard </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAH6OycqcYyuINliIidXJzA-wxBop-I70kV46HZ8T4-DCBQuXDjbbL42wfHwV51oOfSwmWAIVSS2IGQN-h30qK5pL1hUqmZeJYC1WgMN0zN1oxa_ZpcLxAPMCzuKGsu7zP1jYRMtjqb_tW/s1600/_DSC0190+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAH6OycqcYyuINliIidXJzA-wxBop-I70kV46HZ8T4-DCBQuXDjbbL42wfHwV51oOfSwmWAIVSS2IGQN-h30qK5pL1hUqmZeJYC1WgMN0zN1oxa_ZpcLxAPMCzuKGsu7zP1jYRMtjqb_tW/s640/_DSC0190+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Our group beach excursion.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsUhs2D6M1msQdmeXfqo_ZJRjwwqkeT63mMXQZScNRam9GXmMulntoMDWVyFmxRNJ7FeZTg4Xa7OkXiEoAT3tyoDAyDgSEvaw1KFPX8ZhozWazAi8de_hvq27JOV1oxX9jx33Xr52sSYl/s1600/WP_20151024_17_56_31_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsUhs2D6M1msQdmeXfqo_ZJRjwwqkeT63mMXQZScNRam9GXmMulntoMDWVyFmxRNJ7FeZTg4Xa7OkXiEoAT3tyoDAyDgSEvaw1KFPX8ZhozWazAi8de_hvq27JOV1oxX9jx33Xr52sSYl/s640/WP_20151024_17_56_31_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Cooks in the kitchen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Halloween night!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Trying kava for the first time at the Melanesian feast we attended. Best to down it in one quick go...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ladies who took care of us all week volunteered to cook us a traditional meal. We started by laying out Banana leaves. Next came the copped up carrots, onion, cabbage, manioc, potato and sweet potato. On top of that the seasoned chicken. Then we poured coconut milk (freshly squeezed) on top of it all. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Everything got wrapped up and folded together to be tied up with the steps of the banana leaf. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After everything was prepped up, we spread out the stones (volcanic) to put under and over the food. It cooked like this for an hour. These stones belonged to one of the ladies who generously dismantled her home cooking fire to provide this experience for us. Very generous of her. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished product. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tdZVZh2sC3CUHUs8J1X3IxPIJKX_ZAOTA_MP5K_p5lVvSFxOAbVukGjxouzjcthuQhJQoJ52D6gkdPGA1zs8WOr-ss4X9v_vO2zGQjCu0Y3Fgtv-cYkCWVtWAOOJwcHE2vpMsHT3u_D5/s1600/WP_20151102_15_55_12_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tdZVZh2sC3CUHUs8J1X3IxPIJKX_ZAOTA_MP5K_p5lVvSFxOAbVukGjxouzjcthuQhJQoJ52D6gkdPGA1zs8WOr-ss4X9v_vO2zGQjCu0Y3Fgtv-cYkCWVtWAOOJwcHE2vpMsHT3u_D5/s640/WP_20151102_15_55_12_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gigantic bananas.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6Nmk-dn23nIjoGnR1XE9X8G-_EWqsLQHVTeGXmTAQaV3C4vHwKXRdkhbIGnfvoybdO2aBK6CgVgIyCgHWLsjTjLLeW6x0Z51nYBmm0XvhPV_NtmL9ZGUUHzkBwTnoJxATKvyAbBD0KWO/s1600/WP_20151103_11_58_54_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6Nmk-dn23nIjoGnR1XE9X8G-_EWqsLQHVTeGXmTAQaV3C4vHwKXRdkhbIGnfvoybdO2aBK6CgVgIyCgHWLsjTjLLeW6x0Z51nYBmm0XvhPV_NtmL9ZGUUHzkBwTnoJxATKvyAbBD0KWO/s640/WP_20151103_11_58_54_Pro__highres+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our final day, we took a charted plane to see a.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LIVE VOLCANO. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The big grey mountain behind us is the volcano. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The volcano. We were close enough to throw a baseball into the caldera. This was probably the most amazing natural feature we've ever been seen, completely amazing and so worth the trip.</span></div>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-43119510340444690492015-10-10T13:11:00.003-07:002015-10-11T15:23:10.427-07:00A Year On IceWe finally made it. We are scheduled to depart Antarctica tomorrow. For Jamie, it will have been over one year and just under one for me. It's been incredible. So incredible that we have signed up to do another winter. Yes, you heard it right. We are coming back in four months to spend another season under the dark yet glittering skies of Antarctica. We'll both keep our same positions-Jamie as the Galley Admin and I'll again be an Equipment Operator with Best Recycling. We were both thrilled to get our contracts again and we can't wait to come back. It makes leaving a bit easier.<br />
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In my last post I talked about how the sun was just starting to give us a lighter shade of dark blue. No longer. We are in full on bright mode now. I woke up last night at 2:30am because I had forgotten to pull the shade and it was bright as day out there. Now that the sun is really and truly up, I am happy to be seeing it and am feeling more centered. I like that it's bright out and I can see the mountains and recognize people from a distance. But I still miss the coziness of the darkness and the night sky. I had a brilliant dream about the stars the other night-there was so much twinkling and glittering!<br />
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With the sun coming back we got two weeks of nacreous clouds. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_stratospheric_cloud" target="_blank">Nacreous clouds</a> can only be seen when the sun is between 1 and 6 degrees below the horizon and only at the poles. The are beautiful. The are, unfortunately, a cause of and contribute to the hole in the ozone but they are beautiful. "Oil Streaks in the Sky" is the way on friend described them. They were a beautiful treat to welcome the sun back. <br />
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The move into Summer was a bit more intense than I had expected it to be. There are always stories about grumpy "winterovers" hating when new people come in and I was convinced that I wouldn't be one of those people- I like people! I get a lot of energy from people! Oh but I was wrong. The influx has two main phases. The first in "Winfly" (short for "winterflight" it's the first flight after winter). Winfly doubled our population in two days. While it's true I was happy to see all the new faces I forgot that it also meant that I would lose the cosy community of Winter where I knew all 141 people. All of a sudden there were 160 new faces on station and I hardly knew them. Also, because i do like people, I found myself drained of energy because I was trying to figure out who everyone was and be welcoming...in short, I found myself hiding in corners, eating in my room and only sitting with faces I knew from winter. While I don't think I was particularly mean-I was not happy.<br />
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And then summer started. Our station population jumped to 600 in a week. I felt manic AND panicked. Trying to get a meal in the galley became an exercise is patience and crowd control. I thought I was managing it well until a friend found me standing by the salad line and came over to check-in on me because I looked so lost and overwhelmed. A lot of people all at once!<br />
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On the bright side, there are a lot of great things happening with all the new people on station. We had scientists come in for Winfly this year so there's been science happening since August. The dance crew has already put together and performed a dance performance, departments are filling in and getting lots of work done and all the trails are back open for summer recreation. And while the sun is up 24 hours a day now it still dips a bit and we are getting stunning colors on the mountains.<br />
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I'm looking forward to another Winter but right now we are both really looking forward to Vacation! We'll go to Vanuatu for 10 days, India for a month, Mexico for 2 weeks and then home for December 16th! Home for the holidays! It's gonna be great!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nacreous Clouds</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sea Ice training. We went out on the ice and learned how to look at a crack and decide if it was safe enough to cross with a vehicle. it invovled lots of shoveling, drilling and a little math. It was a cold but enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. </span></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-55294617324019378712015-07-13T17:41:00.001-07:002015-07-13T17:47:00.304-07:00Bad Weather in AntarcticaPractically halfway through July. Time is flying by. At 1pm the sky is hinting at a light blue these days. I was expecting to be thrilled that the sun is coming back but instead I'm a bit apprehensive. The darkness has a nice mellow quality. I don't feel bad just relaxing in my room or having quiet time. It's OK if I don't want to go hiking or if I don't take a lunchtime walk for exercise. It's dark and cold out! You SHOULD stay in. However, now that the sun is coming back, it's almost like I can sense the coming frenzy. In August our population with double and we'll have normal days and nights. I am looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong but it feels like the end of a nap. You know you'll be refreshed when you get up, but you'd just love it go on a little while longer.<br />
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I was worried our winter would pass us by without a good storm but we were given a doozy of one last Thursday. We categorize our weather into three "conditions". Normal daily operations is Condition Three. This is nice weather and we have no restrictions. The parameters for Con 3 are: winds less than 48 knots, visibility greater than or equal to ¼ mile, and Wind chill temperature warmer than -75°F. Condition two comes with restrictions to recreational travel but work as normal continues about town: Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute or Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained
for one minute, or Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute. It's not uncommon to have Condition two weather. It's cold and windy but workable. Condition One is rare. This was the first time I'd experienced it here. Condition One means you cannot leave whatever building you are in without a Search and Rescue escort. If you are in the dorms, they set up rope lines between the dorms and the dining hall so that you can eat but you have to travel in groups and check out with the firehouse when you leave and then arrive at the next building. In this recent storm, it got so bad at one point that they cancelled ropeline travel between buildings as well. Condition one parameters are: Winds greater than 55 knots sustained for one minute or Visibility less than 100 feet sustained for one minute or Wind chill greater than -100°F sustained for one minute.<br />
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The morning started out with bad weather. We tried to drive up to work but couldn't make it. At one point we tried to follow someone walking but once they got 15 feet in front of us they would disappear. Finally we had to roll down both front windows and just drive hollering directions between driver and passenger. We stopped at the first building we came to and walked the rest of the way. About 15 minutes after we got to work, the operations manager called us to warn us that they would be changing the condition and we should head down the hill now. It was 8:30am. Travis and I struck out to get down the hill together. Instantly, we were almost blown over and couldn't see any landmarks or buildings. Instead, we walked toward the hazy streetlight in the direction of town. When we got there, it was not where i expected to be and only being able to see 20 feet in any direction, I couldn't orient myself. Thankfully Travis knew where we were and got us back on track. We stopped in at the galley, gathered snacks and provisions and then went to our rooms to wait out the storm. The weather continued to get worse throughout the day so we had a snow day! It was great fun. People came and hung out in our room, we made arts and crafts, listened to music and generally just hung around. <br />
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While we had a great relaxing day, many other people got called out to deal with all the issues the arise from a Condition one storm. One of the main issues is temperature moderation. The science building, IT building and NASA equipment is all very sensitive to temperature and with the winds blowing so hard and fast, it's hard to moderate temperature which meant that alarms were going off in all of those buildings all day and people had to be traveling back and forth trying to keep McMurdo systems up and running. The galley, of course, has to go to and stay at work during Condition One, the Search and Rescue team is out and about escorting people to and from buildings with their GPS systems and fire dispatch becomes a hotbed of activity as people are calling in and out to walk between buildings, report alarms or request assistance. <br />
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The next day is when the fun of clean-up happens. Fleet Operations is the crew with all the big equipment to get out and plow town out. The were in their trucks ready to start working at 7:30 on the dot. When we walked up to our barn, we had a HUGE snowdrift in front of our barn doors. The smallest part of the drift was up to my hips and it started at the door and then came out about 25 feet. Thankfully, because we have buckets for our loaders, fleet ops came up to help us get out so we could get to work helping to dig out town. The winds were so intense that in some places there was no snow on the roads but in others it would be 5 feet deep. Trucks were buried in, cardboard had blown all over town, many of our big shipping containers had been knocked around, off stacks or blown down the road, the supply crew had to take a full assessment of all their outside storage and, of course, everyone who was able was out shoveling. While my co-workers were helping to plow, I had to cruise around town to hunt down all our lost or tipped trash bins and set everything back in order. By the end of the day, remarkably, town was pretty much back in shape. There's still a few things that need to happen, but mostly, it looks good. This is very important because we have a flight coming in this week. The same crew that puts town in order also has to get the runway up and running. With the condition one that we had, it means there job will be all the more difficult. They will have to plow and groom the 14 miles of road that leads out to the runway and then smooth and groom the runway to the specific requirements of the AirForce. Not only that, but out on the iceshelf, the wind really whips through so many of our building there are flipped over, moved and I've heard rumor that one is even lost.<br />
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For all that, it was really insightful to be in Antarctica during a Condition One. It was a good reminder that this is a wild place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB7p4Zqwr4Qh7zBiJIcVyZiSlbFxtWsyzuRGDl0TgGc046ptmHm8OUrr54zPAKiVGUalyjWahDc2ij2gmZ3IAb6DLVAV2mRyIoXVhaycg47GptI7-flUAAUQ5bUIZTceLyXT6Ac6rJbp8/s1600/IMG_8528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB7p4Zqwr4Qh7zBiJIcVyZiSlbFxtWsyzuRGDl0TgGc046ptmHm8OUrr54zPAKiVGUalyjWahDc2ij2gmZ3IAb6DLVAV2mRyIoXVhaycg47GptI7-flUAAUQ5bUIZTceLyXT6Ac6rJbp8/s640/IMG_8528.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the walk back to town through the nasty weather, I went to take my pants off but the zippers were clogged with snow and ice. That was from less than 10 minutes walking outside. Snow gets everywhere. It is insidious! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our friend Dan standing outside our dorm door during the storm. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuI_WAqqUXUIXH_BpLFdMNukAPRscJz94awwA1vHbNtySXJBYM7mvzO180XBfBG9swT4otq6dk1M0YAIxxsku4TRBaUwyjFwi_xMHIvmYCi9ov-FU2ie1Os9vIp_nNpRvsB2vcM5vCfvRI/s1600/IMG_8530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuI_WAqqUXUIXH_BpLFdMNukAPRscJz94awwA1vHbNtySXJBYM7mvzO180XBfBG9swT4otq6dk1M0YAIxxsku4TRBaUwyjFwi_xMHIvmYCi9ov-FU2ie1Os9vIp_nNpRvsB2vcM5vCfvRI/s640/IMG_8530.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A short progession of the snow accumulation inside one of our windows. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">A nice fine cover. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Could make a snowball out of all that. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is our bedroom window. I keep that wool blanket over the bottom half to keep out light and cold so that we can look at the stars while in bed. This window also got a little snowy.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP15YFDHNcjBYh9fG7XORNNv729lET9_PkJ1OIj6EYk8P0PQErA-TLEyWQWOy5zfNi-nXqVULP_QQW9uxblaHKrY7lPqKSIgqevb-GYXprrmYN5vCSMlXmVqw1TPhe1gv6ng3BGMNOmeg5/s1600/7.9+storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP15YFDHNcjBYh9fG7XORNNv729lET9_PkJ1OIj6EYk8P0PQErA-TLEyWQWOy5zfNi-nXqVULP_QQW9uxblaHKrY7lPqKSIgqevb-GYXprrmYN5vCSMlXmVqw1TPhe1gv6ng3BGMNOmeg5/s640/7.9+storm.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">The light is about 5 carlengths away. There's a whole building there.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is just one of 5 milvans that got blown around during the storm. One blew all the way down the road. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjf4qiLBKTWipP7vzDNM2tMEwlt5WLAYMqmcH-3w2LTDtMMcxBXaiEz4f4E3FWSdI5KXqUTtEOHjZLxQuQql00acRksdSSRPH89Qlkb-dKzhbqNMei44rpOQ44s_ORsrIeIKLZlLFdV-g/s1600/Bathroom+module.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjf4qiLBKTWipP7vzDNM2tMEwlt5WLAYMqmcH-3w2LTDtMMcxBXaiEz4f4E3FWSdI5KXqUTtEOHjZLxQuQql00acRksdSSRPH89Qlkb-dKzhbqNMei44rpOQ44s_ORsrIeIKLZlLFdV-g/s640/Bathroom+module.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is the bathroom out at the airfield. Thankfully all the good inside would have been frozen. </span></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-29150016606266102402015-06-24T21:40:00.002-07:002015-06-24T21:40:18.466-07:00MidWinter in Antarctica <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">June 21, 12:58pm. We picked this time because it was solar noon for us in Antarctica.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The cross at the top of our hike with the southern cross constellation in the night sky next to it. In case you don't know the southern cross, it's the ver bright stars that look like a kite with five stars. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">To kick off the Solstice I got up and ran the MidWinter Mile race. Just one mile but with windchill (and it was windy) it was -56 so that mile was a big accomplishment. I have a blue ribbon but that's becuase she crossed out the 1st and wrote 4th on it for me. (fourth out of my age category...of which there were four of us). </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUnZxpUfFpqDMKHOmJ0YWyIHX60jKmA4gbgkhD9CCDw-bwlErQbipdD0aj7egmvr-_pfJ8vZcFwAqvCns5TnRq5dGpAzhtflYSiYNMOR25eRzSCwYqd0Z09h2rqG1mAz8eszXrz7P5D9D/s1600/_MG_3760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUnZxpUfFpqDMKHOmJ0YWyIHX60jKmA4gbgkhD9CCDw-bwlErQbipdD0aj7egmvr-_pfJ8vZcFwAqvCns5TnRq5dGpAzhtflYSiYNMOR25eRzSCwYqd0Z09h2rqG1mAz8eszXrz7P5D9D/s640/_MG_3760.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Out center pieces for midwinter. We collected old Antarctica photos and old lookin things to decorated. Simple and nice. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzGDinapbjtJ9e9o8_dqwBvbHM5RDn-mAzGYTSWssv6up55jX6LyYDkI8j4yOS2dTuiM8vdyMOnEtixu-RWKx4y6KF76uM2g5Js6xywXGxN0aj2Nd0iDdlSHrvL6ApL_dzW_k8W1bIH_W/s1600/_MG_3763.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzGDinapbjtJ9e9o8_dqwBvbHM5RDn-mAzGYTSWssv6up55jX6LyYDkI8j4yOS2dTuiM8vdyMOnEtixu-RWKx4y6KF76uM2g5Js6xywXGxN0aj2Nd0iDdlSHrvL6ApL_dzW_k8W1bIH_W/s640/_MG_3763.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">To make the galley look special, we set all the tables, hung flags, christmas tree lights, put up tents, had live music and an open bar. Good times.</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZmWGD9Y0We_wtOXvs0-y0iy0PtkyN2o66Pz8QDPHF5_u_LP9-iWigGx2iTJqE7O3zteV05oECnoTf8zW1uGAIUWK0hRqdYshb48DwEI4TXfELH-qkjVWladE5y9OB0GB86DZEyok8YRw/s1600/_MG_3769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZmWGD9Y0We_wtOXvs0-y0iy0PtkyN2o66Pz8QDPHF5_u_LP9-iWigGx2iTJqE7O3zteV05oECnoTf8zW1uGAIUWK0hRqdYshb48DwEI4TXfELH-qkjVWladE5y9OB0GB86DZEyok8YRw/s640/_MG_3769.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This project came out really cool. Many of us got a "<a href="http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/670931/19861340/1344870520757/Tom+Crean.jpg?token=zfN8KsEVDz6E1Xp%2B8%2Flh0q6DxdY%3D" target="_blank">Tom Crean</a>" re-creation photo. Tom Crean was on three major Antarctica expeditions. We got our photos taken and then wrote up a little bio on how we ended up in Antarctica. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uXNqhbQK4KwGGbr8iVKaUKGZTc9KgGWNunWrcAuQuqrgNRhPd_BkhPNi0UvP-ygyP6sPMbFn30lKA1VRmDy1UWLxu-fq2kyol1ypQSEEQjqrbmn9VS2p_BrSAIjHyOr46fj4SYw7hn-p/s1600/_MG_3770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uXNqhbQK4KwGGbr8iVKaUKGZTc9KgGWNunWrcAuQuqrgNRhPd_BkhPNi0UvP-ygyP6sPMbFn30lKA1VRmDy1UWLxu-fq2kyol1ypQSEEQjqrbmn9VS2p_BrSAIjHyOr46fj4SYw7hn-p/s640/_MG_3770.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The galley, as usual, made incredible food and desserts. These were our appetizers. Lavender tea cakes, spinach and cheese bowls, candycane beets and cream cheese, duck pate, edamame puree with fried nori and wasabi, and two others i can't remember right now. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsLvemW8mSbO3dq791eSsYhprEg6wIM1x2avus6zIG9thAAWcFqxfzuTNsAJdOMs8oScQUc8AD54ZOv5ETSt_IiA7rQqTwhqvik5bUeGWz0B6uK9_qizGb3x-3Oz3xZ_wLRUINb7XUMNf/s1600/_MG_3784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsLvemW8mSbO3dq791eSsYhprEg6wIM1x2avus6zIG9thAAWcFqxfzuTNsAJdOMs8oScQUc8AD54ZOv5ETSt_IiA7rQqTwhqvik5bUeGWz0B6uK9_qizGb3x-3Oz3xZ_wLRUINb7XUMNf/s640/_MG_3784.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">That isn't even all of the desserts. It continues on. This is just the chocolate section and you can't even see the chocolate fountain. jeremy (our baker) made a dessert for each nation was wintering. With all that and then including the choclates, we had 32 different dessert options. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB50ghXL78hB2ExU17q-ZLpdb41QAeKCFQFKY2ZOKIIZaqb5rA-wajxeBM0hAuWhCaI6GkSrVA3SEw2zGJ9y7KslvGRghVtRaPcvzXYZGYqrfi6xwOqvNc_s-C4BNx46AcSM03h_uSLzmb/s1600/_DSC9108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB50ghXL78hB2ExU17q-ZLpdb41QAeKCFQFKY2ZOKIIZaqb5rA-wajxeBM0hAuWhCaI6GkSrVA3SEw2zGJ9y7KslvGRghVtRaPcvzXYZGYqrfi6xwOqvNc_s-C4BNx46AcSM03h_uSLzmb/s640/_DSC9108.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's some more in no particular order: Flan, blood orange jellies, apple cider jellies, pavlova, peanut butter fudge, panna cotta, peanut butter cups, candied pears covered in chocolate, almond joys, orange chocolate, midn chocolate, chocolate coverd cherries, bonbons of various flavors. Some of my other favorites included the German cheesecake, russian tea cakes, lemingtons and Tres Leches cake. and that's not even everythin</span>g. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDM4FFgdJ9Un9up2FZFCz_3qjru5wrpJM5gu2I7tbT1GjZ945bsf0rMCChSdiiK6AaJWft1cGtAoDd9R5qW90o1z3_NV5h0RwwZSq2VKRHoBEVG2hvV_q3K_E-rtVZn7VahApCGGC88vvX/s1600/_DSC9083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDM4FFgdJ9Un9up2FZFCz_3qjru5wrpJM5gu2I7tbT1GjZ945bsf0rMCChSdiiK6AaJWft1cGtAoDd9R5qW90o1z3_NV5h0RwwZSq2VKRHoBEVG2hvV_q3K_E-rtVZn7VahApCGGC88vvX/s640/_DSC9083.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Working in the kitchen, jamie had to cook and then serve during the meal. here he is making fresh tossed cesear salad for everyone. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmauvO9y-LrehZHTHhcYHYbWTp1RPALtNPT-7-WjW2L1G5xWKP-o8yt_s4a7C4XyW12014DwwBG-qpEnT3i0RUTRMMcLPMJte6CEJXYBNMBY7pEjNgWpzH96B4iESG0xEqca0CKmDYOHT9/s1600/lr-5420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmauvO9y-LrehZHTHhcYHYbWTp1RPALtNPT-7-WjW2L1G5xWKP-o8yt_s4a7C4XyW12014DwwBG-qpEnT3i0RUTRMMcLPMJte6CEJXYBNMBY7pEjNgWpzH96B4iESG0xEqca0CKmDYOHT9/s640/lr-5420.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On of the things I love about Antarctica is that we love a good photo booth. This one was made by my Co-worker Travis. It's a recreation of Scotts hut. This is the Wastie Crew this winter. Myself, Travis and Rob. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwM67PhMWrN_Vl7gpCbiE1dMeTzpaGWoHFA1HIRrGJ4Eswa4f5DEfv8cRRvJAtSaIX8ajx1mcUDgSVvHvk4CxqnGcuHszujjJ9Z4Jaq24OnB1dNkvsFqbZNYvD00D3q4CQ7d1CInOMy59/s1600/lr-5868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwM67PhMWrN_Vl7gpCbiE1dMeTzpaGWoHFA1HIRrGJ4Eswa4f5DEfv8cRRvJAtSaIX8ajx1mcUDgSVvHvk4CxqnGcuHszujjJ9Z4Jaq24OnB1dNkvsFqbZNYvD00D3q4CQ7d1CInOMy59/s640/lr-5868.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are LOTS of violent(ish) photos. Debbie and Julie kind of ruin it with their smiles and laughter.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym13-YSCYPnDs2n8sds5ao_4PKONWlJ-M05PpPLhG9PIUtgiXDFHHRpJ5tJz_Mk6OlSjTEKDo5i3h23HZZ5AV2fgu0QEvOcEhcdjxckTPZSl8a2KEq9OAwrLXZzpDpz38tgiE-w-8jM_5/s1600/20150621-DSC_2963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym13-YSCYPnDs2n8sds5ao_4PKONWlJ-M05PpPLhG9PIUtgiXDFHHRpJ5tJz_Mk6OlSjTEKDo5i3h23HZZ5AV2fgu0QEvOcEhcdjxckTPZSl8a2KEq9OAwrLXZzpDpz38tgiE-w-8jM_5/s640/20150621-DSC_2963.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just to keep the night going, Jamie and I then bartended the after party at the Gallaghers. Rebranded and redecorated as an ice cave and called Club Krystal. </span></td></tr>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-62997283039498331632015-06-06T04:26:00.002-07:002015-06-06T04:26:23.353-07:00McMurdo Winter C17 June Flight <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The first official "winter flight" came and left last week. It was a big event. It's remarkable for any plane to arrive on it's scheduled day so for a plane to be only 3 hours late on it's inaugural winter flight is pretty remarkable.</div>
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For the flight to land, we turn out all the lights on the runway because they use night vision to land the plane and the lighting will ruin their ability to see. To help them use the night vision more effectively, we put out the incredibly reflective cones all up and down the runway. INCREDIBLY reflective. According to the pilot, they could see the cones 250 miles out. I was lucky and got to go out to help with them. It was kinda fun to be out there during all this prep for the plane and to see who all is involved. The Fleet Operations guys had been out there daily for 6 days prior and then constantly for 30 hours prior to the flight. They groom the runway so that a plane can land on it and considering that the runway had been unused for 6 weeks, they had quite a task cut out for them. This was not made any easier by the bad weather and wind bringing in snow drifts and uneven ground. They were all exhausted. Also, in the days leading up to the flight, there's around 4 mechanics that just hang out incase a vehicle breaks down. To add to the excitement on the Pegasus Runway, a seal had made it's way onto the runway. The firefighters had to use their expert skills at Wildlife Management to move it. Unfortunately, they aren't allowed to touch the seal, so "expert skills" amounted to them waving their arms and yelling "shoo" from about 3 feet away. The seal could have cared less. It was kind of hilarious and kind of sad because it's quite possible the seal was out there in the first place because it was sick and dying. As a side note, I often think about how if the seals talk to each other, I imagine they experience us as a kind of "alien adduction". Especially if it's scientists that are coming upon them they get treated to spinal taps, anal probes, flying vehicles (aka helicopter or airplanes) all that craziness. Not so far off from our "alien" stories. OK back to the flight. </div>
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For loading and unloading the plane, the supply crew gets brought out to become the "cargo" crew to help get all the pallets of food, equipment and luggage off the plane. The fuelies are standing by in case the plane needs fuel (unlikely for a C17) and then people like me get brought out to do the little tasks and fill in where needed. The plane lands, does not shutdown, unloads and reloads and then heads off again-all in less than an hour. It's a pretty remarkable system. </div>
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In other news, May is over and done! June is here. We are moving so quickly through this season. May brought with it the end of "Civil Twilight" so we are in darkness all day long. I've included a picture of May 1st and then May 31st (both taken at 1pm). I'm surprised at how easily I've transitioned into living in constant darkness. I thought it would be much more difficult. I took me quite some time to get comfortable with constant daylight so I expected a similar thing going in the other direction but it hasn't been so bad. My guess is it's because I was here for the transition. It's not like I stepped off the plane and it is was dark constantly and I had to adjust immediately. Experiencing the change has been very helpful. It was a mildly difficult sleeping when I could still see lighter colors in the sky. I think my body was waiting for the sun to come up each day because the sky would be somewhat light in the morning but then when it never did it just meant I was tired all day long and then couldn't sleep at night. When that was happening it felt like it took forever to wake up. As it is, it still feels like I'm not fully awake until around 10am, but I can sense that this is slowly lifting and I'm settling in as there is less variety to the light. I've also made some dedicated life choices and I think those have helped stabilize my mood and transition. I do a "bootcamp" class twice a week and try to walk/run two other times. I've also been drinking a lot less and trying to sleep 8 hours every night. Who knew doing healthy for your body would lead to healthy things for your mind! Gosh! Can't believe I'd never tried it before! </div>
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Enjoy the pictures. I started us off with pictures from the Top Gun party to show off my awesome makeup and crimped hair. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZqq0wWUbG7sx_9enEoX-hLme7kQDPJ9HtjGlWnixSbeUVyEBfe2aX1nzaHZdaa6M_SJKuLjvUx1CnPFpeOMTvuc9r-PcXjqkMLC3vbrFffUsOyOA81TUhnr6Z3kjm_CNGUWKxK2HBYiO/s1600/20150523-DSC_0487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZqq0wWUbG7sx_9enEoX-hLme7kQDPJ9HtjGlWnixSbeUVyEBfe2aX1nzaHZdaa6M_SJKuLjvUx1CnPFpeOMTvuc9r-PcXjqkMLC3vbrFffUsOyOA81TUhnr6Z3kjm_CNGUWKxK2HBYiO/s640/20150523-DSC_0487.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The supply department put on a Top Gun Themed party and as I didn't have flight suit, we just went for a general 80s look. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Aren't we adorable? The party itself was incredibly fun. They decorated the cargo bay with Cargo netting and airplane props, we had a beanbag toss (called Corn Hole in the Midwest-who knew!) and they had a Tom Cruise Scientology Center. The Scientology center was great because the Scientologists had, earlier, in the season sent us a LOT of literature on Scientology, bizarre, but we finally found a use for it. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR21zyyen3yZSfT4R1Lves7LA8V_v07JPZjB0aw8Rt9tzIPQCJzN91xTPqPmbM-K3pnFG0d8_U-w9a2gfByycpkQWJ4SMjfNujQUxBgnpsVCpTbTHKqau8GLXIg3FgabxaJ00Zr1V9YkU-/s1600/6.4+Mail+mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR21zyyen3yZSfT4R1Lves7LA8V_v07JPZjB0aw8Rt9tzIPQCJzN91xTPqPmbM-K3pnFG0d8_U-w9a2gfByycpkQWJ4SMjfNujQUxBgnpsVCpTbTHKqau8GLXIg3FgabxaJ00Zr1V9YkU-/s640/6.4+Mail+mountain.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On that C17 flight we got mountains of mail! More mail for 142 people in June than we got for over 700 people in December for Christmas. The flight came in on Wednesday. The mail lady and 12 volunteers started sorting Thursday Morning at 9am so that everyone could get their mail by Thursday afternoon. What service! And thank heavens too as we had planned Christmas for the Saturday following the flight. Santa comes in JUNE! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not only did we get mail on that flight but we got fresh vegetables! 3700 lbs of it! Nothing better than fresh lettuce in Antarctica! And Coconuts and Papaya! And Feijoa! What's a Feijoa you ask? It's a fruit that looks a bit like a kiwi but is bright green and has a sweet/tart flavor. As I was eating this Feijoa (in Antarctica), I was marveling at how rare it is to try a truly new food. I can't remember the last time I've had something that I had never had before. It was a delight. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And here's the plane! Landing in the dark. Four people were scheduled to leave on that plane however by the time the plane left, it has 8 people on it. It brought us 7 in so our winter population is down to 141. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">May 1st 13:00</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4GNl2r2B7jQFKInw0JtKvMf76hp1q2lYB02mzfJnLg-jEYTQgc1nXT8anYZqNpK8r5N30P_5WpinUUB-hheE3xpmM3ebDS9PW7yGW_xPsZ_aOlF0dca-7_SFE77voCIA4I-OvgbjnxVn/s1600/IMG_8512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4GNl2r2B7jQFKInw0JtKvMf76hp1q2lYB02mzfJnLg-jEYTQgc1nXT8anYZqNpK8r5N30P_5WpinUUB-hheE3xpmM3ebDS9PW7yGW_xPsZ_aOlF0dca-7_SFE77voCIA4I-OvgbjnxVn/s640/IMG_8512.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">May 31st 13:00. Admittedly, it's not this ridiculously dark when I'm taking this photo. My sad camera has begun to die and doesn't do a great job anymore. we have gotten a new one. HOWEVER, my point is clear. the sky is black and at 1 pm it's nighttime outside. </span></td></tr>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-50157356345373057952015-05-23T19:55:00.001-07:002015-05-23T19:55:49.743-07:00Science Fairs, Open Mic Nights and Pulp Fiction Live Reads in Antarctica? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Science Fairs, Open Mic Nights and Pulp Fiction live reads. And you thought Antarctica was boring in the winter! And all this within the span of 2 weeks. </div>
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The fun started with our Open Mic Night. We've been having these pretty consistently once a month. We have some excellent musicians here that get up and perform for us all. We had a five person jazz and blues band, an excellent banjo/guitar duo with original music, a dueling guitars performance and a dance routine. For a community of just barely 140, that's pretty impressive. We had some stellar, almost professional performers and then you had people like me who just enjoy an audience. This most recent one I was requested to play Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips so I obliged. I also sang back-up for my friend Katie who dedicated her favorite song to her mom. The woman who's been organizing the event is leaving soon. I'm hoping someone else will take up the charge because I'd like to avoid getting my hands into one more project. </div>
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Open Mic Night was followed up two days later with a Science Fair! I find it hilarious that we were hosting a science fair at a science station when all but one scientist have left. On the other hand, I think our fair was much more entertaining than if we had real science to look at. (not to insult any of our researchers in McMurdo's First Annual Winter Science Fair). I thought it was funny and insightful that of the 10 or so experiments we had, only two of them weren't focusing directly on McMurdo or the McMurdo community. With such an insular community, we are often and mostly focused inward. That in and of itself is an interesting thing to think about and look at. But, let's get down to what our participants put forth as their all important research. </div>
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My question was about our Radio Station: Ice Radio 104.5. When listening to Ice Radio, I felt that the vast majority of the songs that got played (when the station was on Autoplay) were Country or Christmas-sometimes both. My question therefore was: does Ice Radio play mostly Country and Christmas? My hypothesis was "yes, yes it does." The result, however, was no. Unfortunately, I couldn't answer part of my question. I couldn't find information for Christmas as it's not listed as it's own category. I did discover that while the station is not playing mostly country, it is playing a lot of it-Country is played 21% of the time. I had a lot of fun putting that together. Other experiments were "what's the chance of a guy finding an eligible woman?' That one was slim as there are only 7 available women on station right now. Crazy, huh? There were a few about the galley: How many average calories is a meal, how many ounces does each bowl hold, which mug keeps your coffee warm the longest? One of my favorites was a survey of travels to see how well traveled we are as a group. The average number of countries people here have been to is 20 and the average number of states is 39. Pretty good I think. </div>
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The best part? We made Sorbet from liquid nitrogen. Liquid Nitrogen is a byproduct of our water treatment plant. (I'll tour that and get you the full story in the future). What a great use of it, huh? Can't let it go to waste. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The following week we had a Pulp Fiction live read. Essentially, we read the script of Pulp Fiction in front of an audience. This was way more fun than I expected it to be. We had a few rehearsals and honestly, I was worried it was going to be super boring. When we did the full read though-it took more than three hours! Isn't that insane? But then, when it was finally time to perform, it was so good. Having an audience made it much more entertaining and people really hammed it up making it much even more engaging. My friend watching said it was just the right amount of camp and seriousness. She said it was a great evening of "good theater". I'll give her a little leeway with her "good theater" comment but it was pretty interesting. If you remember Pulp Fiction at all, Jamie and I were "Pumpkin and Honey Bunny" the couple that hold up the restaurant at the beginning and end of the movie. I think we did pretty well. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">It'd be great if I had photos of those fun things I was just mentioning, but well. I don't really. Sorry about that. I'm working on it. For now, just enjoy these fun photos! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">OK. So you've had to see lots of pictures of me driving loaders. Well...there you go. If you look closely in this photo, you can see the windmills poking up over the hill. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This happens once a week. Jamie puts in a food order and then it all gets delivered on Thursday. The people pulling the food are called "food monkeys' because if they have to get something that is up higher they have to, literally, climb up those boxes to get the requested items. Often, what we get served in the galley is restricted by what is accessible in the freezer. After the vessel comes in summer, this freezer is so full that we can only access things on the outside of the "box" of frozen food that gets built, filling the center of the freezer. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">With such a small community, the medical staff tries to make sure that as many people as possible are trained to help assist in an MCI, a Mass Casualty Incident or any emergency that would overwhelm our two medical professionals. I've been trained to use the X-ray machine but other people are trained in labs, pharmacy, general triage, recording or just basic assistance. They have held a few training sessions since then where they'll bring in "patients" and we'll have to respond as if it's a true situation. Very interesting and I'm enjoying learning new skills. </span></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-33812937158637953002015-05-02T02:48:00.001-07:002015-05-02T02:48:28.341-07:00The last Sunset at McMurdo <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Hello! </div>
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Guess what we had last week at 1:45pm on April 24th! The last sunset! Now, don't be thinking that we are wandering around in utter darkness just yet. In fact, it's still quite bright for a few hours in the afternoon. I've included a picture I took at 1pm on the 24th, still plenty of light. </div>
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March and April have been fun months to be living through. For March we had almost normal sunlight. The sun would set around bedtime and rise as we were getting up. It was novel. The first time I didn't have to close my shades at bedtime was very exciting and all the summer people were marveling about it at breakfast for a few day. After that novelty wore off, we got the April sunset. Pretty much constant sunrise/sunset colors. The mountains and sky were a stunning pink and red all day long for weeks. It was a delight. One of those days, I looked over toward Erebus and saw the steam coming out of the top, but with the pink sky, the steam was glowing red. Spectacular. </div>
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I'm curious to see how I'll settle into the darkness. As it is, I can still feel myself waiting each day for it to get brighter and experience a minor sense of relief when I walk out of a building and it's a bit lighter out. I wonder if this isn't partly because the sky is still in the process of lightening and so I expect it to get bright. Perhaps I won't feel that expectation when we are total dark mode. It will be an interesting experiment. I have a friend her that's been tracking all the data for sunrises and sunsets. She's still putting information together so will have some trends to share with us in the future, but for now I've learned some interesting facts about twilight. </div>
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There are three different types of twilight: Civil, Nautical and Astronomical. Nautical is named this way because it's the twilight when seafarers can see the stars enough to navigate. Astronomical Twilight is when it's dark enough for astronomers to stargaze. In any day, you will go through all three of those twilights. Start at night, move into astronomical, next is nautical, then civil and then day. </div>
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Currently, with the sun just setting, we are in Civil Twilight for most of the day. The sun in only about 6° below the horizon. On May 11th we'll move into Nautical twilight with the sun 12° below the horizon. We'll have Nautical twilight at some point during the day until the next sunrise. We'll start with about 6 hours a day and then by June it will drop down to 3. So there is no point during this winter when we will have full "night" for 24 hours. Isn't it all so interesting?!</div>
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And Auroras! There have been some sightings but I've yet to see any. I'm really excited for an Aurora viewing. </div>
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Well folks, I hope everything is well with you wherever in the world you might be. Enjoy the pictures! </div>
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This is my 1pm photo on the day of the sunset. I've been taking one every day (almost) at this time and I'm hoping to put them all together. We'll see. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A storage space at Lake Hoare in the Dry Valleys with the Canada Glacier in the background. That glacier is their source of water. They collect (you're going to love this) "Glacier Berries" and melt them down. Glacier berries are parts of the glacier that have calved off. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A super secret silent dance party on New Years' eve. We met up at 11:30pm, brought our own music and headphones and danced around to our own beats to ring in the new year. It was incredibly fun.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The inside of an empty LC-130. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_498tKcvO0jOn_8hu0YJP7RBROjCsifd9b_SCHfvrab1ao4Y22GtbwzbgyZ1IH7-GHYRv7PJ64poiPyDR0Npld1gkAo2VDeX19DL81-MUyFIXy9V_-qrSP2baGeKeiTYEBMR8i-JrA_k/s1600/IMG_8087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_498tKcvO0jOn_8hu0YJP7RBROjCsifd9b_SCHfvrab1ao4Y22GtbwzbgyZ1IH7-GHYRv7PJ64poiPyDR0Npld1gkAo2VDeX19DL81-MUyFIXy9V_-qrSP2baGeKeiTYEBMR8i-JrA_k/s1600/IMG_8087.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I like the story of this Helo pad with it's tiny H. When the painters were sent out there, the Head Pilot told them to paint something fun on it. The painters painted a butterfly. You can kind of see the outline of it still. Someone, however, didn't like that and made them go back out and repaint it. What a bummer. On the bright side, because of this project, I was allowed to ride out in the extra seat on the helicopter and got a little fly over in the Dry Valleys. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeXqTSDuljYRtX8i0_6K-l4YLv4kyr1Zh0pvwtBBB9hIgKju_DN3mqKYg__T-pd2ojCmo8liaxJlWPX0ADAmiC3mWm7FXvULY4trXyYwlhcNeui_cnEtvTpQEceA72Ov6iiue3knTi7oz/s1600/IMG_8327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeXqTSDuljYRtX8i0_6K-l4YLv4kyr1Zh0pvwtBBB9hIgKju_DN3mqKYg__T-pd2ojCmo8liaxJlWPX0ADAmiC3mWm7FXvULY4trXyYwlhcNeui_cnEtvTpQEceA72Ov6iiue3knTi7oz/s1600/IMG_8327.JPG" height="198" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The moon and Antarctica. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zYfyaJEelXn0-kwyazc6BAsCVDjMD5uDX3j0LJibkGshwsWCYGoAlzjc0Syv6sx1JtmaipJKevYtRDF_gLbpCgln6Xcl7qEIgm8Wx6kjhVLR2Ms12ZBFA60HF8TD26o5JMItWVIMyZ9k/s1600/IMG_8371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zYfyaJEelXn0-kwyazc6BAsCVDjMD5uDX3j0LJibkGshwsWCYGoAlzjc0Syv6sx1JtmaipJKevYtRDF_gLbpCgln6Xcl7qEIgm8Wx6kjhVLR2Ms12ZBFA60HF8TD26o5JMItWVIMyZ9k/s1600/IMG_8371.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It snowed in my pickle (the name of the tractor). The pickles are very old vehicles from the military and there is no real seal on the doors so the wind blows the snow right inside. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SCIENCE! The Research Assistant, Liz, touring us through the Arrival Heights building where she monitors a variety of science experiments. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzhnbGOcA3mzSyZO1uaQ64YJvCNLPwQQMD7_q5JFflB-jnbdWsyHnKkd0FIX_qRF7lWS_3eTqa3ky90TCwAe1wJvvrJ8vmYRa19kEDD1BEMiQ8A4gRnhpTzNSx7iU_A-xqLtD8_0vnih6/s1600/IMG_8385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzhnbGOcA3mzSyZO1uaQ64YJvCNLPwQQMD7_q5JFflB-jnbdWsyHnKkd0FIX_qRF7lWS_3eTqa3ky90TCwAe1wJvvrJ8vmYRa19kEDD1BEMiQ8A4gRnhpTzNSx7iU_A-xqLtD8_0vnih6/s1600/IMG_8385.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is the boxes that the science equipment from Japan comes in. HOW ADORABLE! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlohyphenhyphenPOyDhUWNWl3ereTx_WhGP4KJQl3rNxcMfC2e3nVZ0BlUrmI3bO647dxsBHnGkE5GLdwQeRfoGJyIyFVgRQOU2duTrklMKdJsFRa2uREcCTrvz3tAb1Y6iwhStJ9JTu_EhnEGTbPP/s1600/IMG_8386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlohyphenhyphenPOyDhUWNWl3ereTx_WhGP4KJQl3rNxcMfC2e3nVZ0BlUrmI3bO647dxsBHnGkE5GLdwQeRfoGJyIyFVgRQOU2duTrklMKdJsFRa2uREcCTrvz3tAb1Y6iwhStJ9JTu_EhnEGTbPP/s1600/IMG_8386.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">All the science equipment, all lit up. </span></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-23627235343039129442015-04-20T17:53:00.001-07:002015-04-20T17:53:39.182-07:00Fun in Antarctica!When we were first planning on coming down here, we had been told of all the fun things there are to do but it's a bit hard to believe how much there is to do until you've been down here. We brought books and movies down here to pass the time. Oh were we wrong. Even with a 54 hour 6-day work week, the social calendar during the summer is non-stop and infact it feels a bit frantic. Things are a lot quieter now that it's winter but there's still a fair amount going on. Here's a general list of things that happen here. Almost all of the things happen both winter and summer but during the winter it's not necessarily every week or with so much at one time.<br />
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Here's a basic list of the things that happen here:<br />
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<b>Weekly Events: </b><br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><b>Travelogues</b>:</span> Every Monday people have the opportunity to share pictures and stories of their travels. We've heard stories of peoples trips on Cargo Ships around the world, hiking the Anapunra trek in Nepal, bike trips across Australia, rickshaw races across India and all the long walks across America. The weekly travellogue is a dangerous event to attend because it just keeps adding to the list of places to visit and things to do.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">TedTalks:</span> </b>On Wednesday there's a selection of TedTalks that is shown in the galley.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Science Lectures:</span> </b> Twice a week the scientists give lectures of the work they are doing down here.<br />
American Night at Scott Base: The New Zealand base is 2 kilometers from ours and on Thursday nights they open the store and the bar to us Americans. It's really nice to be able to go somewhere new to hang out and shop.<br />
<b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">Brunch</span></span>: </b>Every Sunday the kitchen prepares an excellent brunch. When we were living in Korea I remember paying upwards of $40 for brunches that weren't even as good as these are.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Open Mic Night:</span> </b>Technically not every week, but still an incredible event. The talent here is remarkable. There are so many talented singers, songwriters, poets and performers.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Two-Step Tuesdays: </span></b> Every other Tuesday we clear away the tables and two-step!<br />
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<b>The following events are pretty self-explanatory. </b><br />
<b>Karaoke</b><br />
<b>Yoga</b><br />
<b>Insanity</b><br />
<b>Volleyball</b><br />
<b>Basketball</b><br />
<b>Soccer</b><br />
<b>Rugby with the Kiwis </b><br />
<b>Boxing Classes </b><br />
<b>Spin Classes</b><br />
<b>Trivia</b><br />
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<b>Outside Opportunities:</b><br />
<span style="color: magenta;"><b style="background-color: white;">Hikin</b><span style="background-color: white;"><b>g</b>: </span></span>There are 4 different walks you can go on here. Two small ones out from and around town, both about 3 miles. The longest is Castle Rock Loop, 10 miles and during summer you can walk/ski out to the Runway. <br />
<b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">Cross country and skate skiing: </span></span> </b>These can be rented from our "gear issue" and you can ski out to the airport, our out on the castle rock loop.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Snowboarding: </span></b>The Kiwis have an actual ski lift which if you make friends with them, you might be able to use. However, you can hike out the the hill at the Castle Rock and ski or snowboard down that.<br />
<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">Marathon and half-marathon:</span></b> Heck yeah! If you're really motivated, you can train to run the marathon or half-marathon.<br />
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<b>Bands and Parties</b>:<br />
<b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">Halloween:</span></span> </b>This is a huge party and one that people make plans for before the even get down to the ice. People come with great individual costumes and group costumes to compete in a costume contest. If you win, the prize is usually a trip somewhere. Very fun!<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Waste Barn Christmas Show: </span></b> The Wasties go all out for the Christmas party. This year the theme was from Ferrous to Paris and they decorated the barn like a street full of cafes in paris. People sing all sorts of songs both Christmas and other. Again, this is another event that people look forward to all year.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">VMF Christmas Party:</span></b> On Christmas Eve the VMF hosts the Annual Christmas Party. There's a performance from the Choir, a Santa appearance, photo booths, a photo display, live music, a wine bar, and snacks.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Icestock:</span> </b>Perhaps the biggest event of the year. Icestock is our New Years party. It starts at 6pm and goes until midnight on new years (although this year it was technically a on January 2nd and the countdown to the third was 5 minutes late). Bands practice all season and perform on IceStock. There's a chili cook-off and usually about 7-8 different types of chili to test and sample. <br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Math Club: </span> </b>This is a weekly, alcohol free party this is strictly about dancing. It is incredibly awesome. Even people who hate dancing usually love Math Club. It's early in the evening so people aren't drunk, there's no guys creeping up on women. It's dark with fun lighting and no one cares about how you dances. <br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Dance Parties: </span> </b>Aside from Math Club, there are spontaneous dance parties all the time. People love to dance here! Any opportunity to dance here!<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">General work center parties: </span></b>Throughout the season the various work centers have parties with live music (and dancing!). Carp shop, helo hanger, the BFC. Any place that has a big enough space and the time to host a party. <br />
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<b>Other Random Things:</b><br />
<span style="color: magenta;"><b>Dance Groups:</b> </span> Special Project Other is a dance hip hop dance crew and will not only put on one or two dance performances but also a great flashmob at Icestock.<br />
Cribbage Tournaments: This is an hilarious obsession on station. Tournaments are almost constantly ongoing but there is also the "Cribbage Bracelet" that people are constantly challenging each other for and then flaunt when they win.<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Film festivals:</span></b> Each season, both winter and summer, there is a film festival that people on station can participate in. During Winter, the festival branches out and becomes and international festival and people from all the stations in Antarctica participate. I can't wait to see it!<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Discovery Hut and </span></b><b><span style="color: magenta;">Cape Evans Hut:</span> </b>Discovery hut is Shackleton's hut that sits right near station. We can walk out to see it and a couple of times a year we get official tourguides to open it up and we can go inside and look around. The Cape Evans hut is a little farther out so less people can get out there. Only about 50 people made it out there this season (neither Jamie nor I).<br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Room with a view: </span></b>This is a trip we can sign up for or win by raffle. It's a snow mobile ride out to a hut with an excellent view of Mt Erebus.<br />
<b>Ice Caves: </b>Another trip that can be won by raffle and another snowmobile trip. This one goes out to the IceCaves in the Erebus Ice tongue. It's the glacier that flows off of the volcano, Erebus. <b> </b><br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Tug-of-war competitions:</span> </b>This used to be an annual event that they brought back this season. We had a team of 6 vs the Kiwis. We lost royally. The Kiwi had actually practice. We lost in seconds. But it was great fun! And a very serious event. We had to weigh in before we could compete. The Kiwis were overweight so that had to drop one person. Did I mention we lost? <br />
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Manhauling competition: </span> </b>This is a ridiculous competition where people haul, either in teams of 4 or singly, weighted sleds across the ice. Technically this is part of the Tug-of-War competition, the team that loses can then challenge the winners to another competition. Whoever decided on Manhauling, i have no idea. I'm sure you can guess, the kiwis were very good at this too. They are a bunch of young and very fit men that are competing.<br />
<span style="color: magenta;"><b>MAAG</b>:</span> A yearly art show; Performance art, painting, sculpture, music<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Ice Caves. And the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InZYgzgukmU" target="_blank">video</a> tour! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Halloween! A ghostbuster and David Bowie</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Skiing out to the ice runway. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our friend's band, Shitty and Loud. Their title is very literal. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dance Party! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Icestock!!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Inside the Nimrod hut. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">MAAG.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Karaoke! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The start of the 5K. You didn't think we actual ran a marathon, did you? </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hiking with Sage!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">VMF Christmas Party</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Holiday Meal!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Room with a View Trip</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRddTRscShm_14po8aKrSboEy3-IJSERRsKrgkWb0wZAw4Tr3jFItY8DiGT3cAIA8yzjGKCFDD_6JeAVjUdoFMGieZMmH4wlzdKC73AvjG-vl8vNDMpFnojXZc1eDGR1TiRCzpvFzUkbH/s1600/_DSC1432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRddTRscShm_14po8aKrSboEy3-IJSERRsKrgkWb0wZAw4Tr3jFItY8DiGT3cAIA8yzjGKCFDD_6JeAVjUdoFMGieZMmH4wlzdKC73AvjG-vl8vNDMpFnojXZc1eDGR1TiRCzpvFzUkbH/s1600/_DSC1432.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trivi Night. Notice the concentration. They've won twice in a row and are a bit intolerable. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke43cOMk4RgBhxhhw9HpgKLRVot09-9HMVfiqhOer1fJgxonQUMiv3xflXyeiZkTANAgl9h4HyF1g9RVpoVQtI9-BrQK4rADhN70cFYfbb4Y0Borhr8RNbCs_rM8qqyUgJLbRHdggcwPH/s1600/P1080208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke43cOMk4RgBhxhhw9HpgKLRVot09-9HMVfiqhOer1fJgxonQUMiv3xflXyeiZkTANAgl9h4HyF1g9RVpoVQtI9-BrQK4rADhN70cFYfbb4Y0Borhr8RNbCs_rM8qqyUgJLbRHdggcwPH/s1600/P1080208.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">More hiking! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOhfP6QjZxrYeL_n-fMy0KkMbQ2i96OmBuqtrwQLbyD0ymrqe-ieR-mVTCTTKPXNWUnfvGwKZIrZXJfAGxd3mvioZdvdHAQIWaqeThVo5NU5I-LsWQfsHPIull7NQf2bP5GG_acq1BTYK/s1600/SPO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOhfP6QjZxrYeL_n-fMy0KkMbQ2i96OmBuqtrwQLbyD0ymrqe-ieR-mVTCTTKPXNWUnfvGwKZIrZXJfAGxd3mvioZdvdHAQIWaqeThVo5NU5I-LsWQfsHPIull7NQf2bP5GG_acq1BTYK/s1600/SPO.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">My awesome dance crew. Special Project Other. Feel free to click the link and watch us! </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A link to my performance with <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Cdiv%20id=%22fb-root%22%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3E(function(d,%20s,%20id)%20%7B%20%20var%20js,%20fjs%20=%20d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];%20%20if%20(d.getElementById(id))%20return;%20%20js%20=%20d.createElement(s);%20js.id%20=%20id;%20%20js.src%20=%20%22//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="true" data-href="/Boompow06/videos/vb.505472090/10151806282872091/?type=1"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="/Boompow06/videos/10151806282872091/"><a href="/Boompow06/videos/10151806282872091/"></a><p>Black light dance performance boom</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Boompow06">Tom Pence</a> on Saturday, December 14, 2013</blockquote></div></div>" target="_blank">Special Project Other</a>:<br />
<br /></div>
<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-26996441899106078222015-04-16T04:02:00.001-07:002015-04-16T04:02:59.143-07:00Miscelleny More Random photos for your viewing pleasure.<br />
Many of these I took with permission off the USAP shared drive. People have incredible cameras and I am taking advantage of the photography skills.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn5q4vDBe5yGHceEMY1yn75CMo7bOS7WuAuAXkZ6K2Du5XMnY5YgaquiLf-CiqnWbFbTJQneNzeyOXOudb9tIphbNwq_t5Z60OXyHwF1htzE6lWCauEBAoAU0cNtLx3akal93uCyTcCrP/s1600/4.10+Sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn5q4vDBe5yGHceEMY1yn75CMo7bOS7WuAuAXkZ6K2Du5XMnY5YgaquiLf-CiqnWbFbTJQneNzeyOXOudb9tIphbNwq_t5Z60OXyHwF1htzE6lWCauEBAoAU0cNtLx3akal93uCyTcCrP/s1600/4.10+Sunset.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the view from the back of my dorm. That's hut point and the mountains behind are the Royal Society Range. You can walk out to that point in about 20 minutes from town and get a great view. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GX7uUebj7eZrhVo4JcwmfAkkY_IICKFW4isguhNg_me0sQqo-X5F6q8qlyjG26bbG64VE3NT0DTkwqbHMq1WGgbGSfkGh4GFOJKQof0Iwe2MOi3Gdv2Q8lcs-CaxOSghM0oHy4f9nAXF/s1600/4.10+Boot+Camp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GX7uUebj7eZrhVo4JcwmfAkkY_IICKFW4isguhNg_me0sQqo-X5F6q8qlyjG26bbG64VE3NT0DTkwqbHMq1WGgbGSfkGh4GFOJKQof0Iwe2MOi3Gdv2Q8lcs-CaxOSghM0oHy4f9nAXF/s1600/4.10+Boot+Camp.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My co-worker Travis and I run a bootcamp class twice a week. This is our warm-up. This is one of the many opportunities people have for exercise here. Yoga three times a week, spin class twice a week, pilates twice a week, bootcamp twice a week, volleyball, soccer and basketball each once a week. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPm_TZOGZD4VASNDnL81x8nh6GJ1XDBIuHyHVU8KA59qWZkjVo7W133Y4dU_Ucd1W3f-8vnrBfIAMzmyW4qoyfBTASwf87zu_H07NHsBHBC9yiHJ5NbAG579-i6RsxGs10Ttp0sd6_6zk/s1600/4.6+Pinguinos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPm_TZOGZD4VASNDnL81x8nh6GJ1XDBIuHyHVU8KA59qWZkjVo7W133Y4dU_Ucd1W3f-8vnrBfIAMzmyW4qoyfBTASwf87zu_H07NHsBHBC9yiHJ5NbAG579-i6RsxGs10Ttp0sd6_6zk/s1600/4.6+Pinguinos.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the penguins that wandered into our bay. I posted a picture of them last week, but this is a much better one. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b-JvkAQZPZAuNpCkm2nUojegFlGmrhmIeozi0NC-Z-xmW7jMZubbPV-Yg0MHU5in_mkXYPUPBsZ8Ehh34TNZnjjevfE2G99OZqHbC6SbEe-mPrEhPm77Q2IOdmV6qlI1dUjsW_W5cglW/s1600/4.11+McMurdo+from+Pegasus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b-JvkAQZPZAuNpCkm2nUojegFlGmrhmIeozi0NC-Z-xmW7jMZubbPV-Yg0MHU5in_mkXYPUPBsZ8Ehh34TNZnjjevfE2G99OZqHbC6SbEe-mPrEhPm77Q2IOdmV6qlI1dUjsW_W5cglW/s1600/4.11+McMurdo+from+Pegasus.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">I took a trip out to visit the pegasus crash site. It was 6:30pm and getting darker. It was quite dark before we left so the good photographers got some excellent photos. This one is looking back toward town and the mountain in the background is Mt Erebus. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4iErY6YTRDVGvBkpQ6yjIFtW1MB5lmAMJh5sXGUsVE5inuGdJCNdKAWKDWlKSCaqSRYETBwCxgp5-zKq82BTEVsTnDlQ_BVbwtqTjFdxZiE7SVqvW1K2rApjcenObVCMqfZP9Y6-5LPy/s1600/IMG_8156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4iErY6YTRDVGvBkpQ6yjIFtW1MB5lmAMJh5sXGUsVE5inuGdJCNdKAWKDWlKSCaqSRYETBwCxgp5-zKq82BTEVsTnDlQ_BVbwtqTjFdxZiE7SVqvW1K2rApjcenObVCMqfZP9Y6-5LPy/s1600/IMG_8156.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are my co-workers in our oh-so-cozy break room. </td></tr>
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<br />These next sequence of photos are from the McMurdo Luxury Homes tour. People all opened up their rooms and we toured them. There are some incredibly creative room set ups and I thought you might like to see them.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEt1vALaJqvrVLfA9_K7AmikmqDiOL2HUNKa1apFDPX1CMCGLhwrAgUZuhJSxq7KNqocT4TywoN3SY0Mt4mYQ6a1Gjq7TUFV_Y8RM0jI66KYVknH9mcQM6YyVCdI1sXscPiNPm4fPcKnrF/s1600/IMG_8303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEt1vALaJqvrVLfA9_K7AmikmqDiOL2HUNKa1apFDPX1CMCGLhwrAgUZuhJSxq7KNqocT4TywoN3SY0Mt4mYQ6a1Gjq7TUFV_Y8RM0jI66KYVknH9mcQM6YyVCdI1sXscPiNPm4fPcKnrF/s1600/IMG_8303.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kira and Brad in there exquisitely decorated and matching room. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXby9EwlZCXfIEQG8sPrj0PVI0bXrIO1V-aSRqqHomfqXh3_X0ZzpU5GkiJ1BQoDP_RhRjDNiGtPEHdI0nVraVANphLYdmSQyIp27UZIW-Dxz0YTQcBUqUSdJKilfejp_78JLi2BwOFGOJ/s1600/IMG_8304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXby9EwlZCXfIEQG8sPrj0PVI0bXrIO1V-aSRqqHomfqXh3_X0ZzpU5GkiJ1BQoDP_RhRjDNiGtPEHdI0nVraVANphLYdmSQyIp27UZIW-Dxz0YTQcBUqUSdJKilfejp_78JLi2BwOFGOJ/s1600/IMG_8304.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, that is a climbing wall. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieujkzek5xHVmmusG1R7vb81Rj1h8021J44B2AzZqQokEqvqYjaTLQ6vLXj0iIbElhyphenhyphenC72uLtBEIjeNrLSmFc7rIC4XISnzc-_PMivDT0WlWHCngnZRZILptWXYNZgNCihyphenhyphenywNzXzvzSb_/s1600/IMG_8305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieujkzek5xHVmmusG1R7vb81Rj1h8021J44B2AzZqQokEqvqYjaTLQ6vLXj0iIbElhyphenhyphenC72uLtBEIjeNrLSmFc7rIC4XISnzc-_PMivDT0WlWHCngnZRZILptWXYNZgNCihyphenhyphenywNzXzvzSb_/s1600/IMG_8305.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The zen masters living room. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96mE9YHr4dnou1tTgVO5C1H-W4UoiwGxwTDE9Lxlb2i5Bnj9i5xCRSN5gPWvr-oHXLPKQUq8SD3l3DZIPkOgVtJWo6wez5KyziyeZGghzpoqpoeyBFPlwcIw5on0E2aX8LwXG-KPnliG-/s1600/IMG_8308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96mE9YHr4dnou1tTgVO5C1H-W4UoiwGxwTDE9Lxlb2i5Bnj9i5xCRSN5gPWvr-oHXLPKQUq8SD3l3DZIPkOgVtJWo6wez5KyziyeZGghzpoqpoeyBFPlwcIw5on0E2aX8LwXG-KPnliG-/s1600/IMG_8308.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excellent wall hanging giving the illusion of two rooms when there is, indeed, only one. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYa9dXQyhg4FOTR0domQWp4-5ID0kWaX1qK82dSl2eNBPwmmIYWe0J7QpQ3v0ly6KFSOqCchFuI7B0pe7c8FXwvmr6-6eIVoOiNpvcFZh1TQM1gxtOTKTpu9mwafUsRazYFXwUIcO5iVa/s1600/IMG_8309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYa9dXQyhg4FOTR0domQWp4-5ID0kWaX1qK82dSl2eNBPwmmIYWe0J7QpQ3v0ly6KFSOqCchFuI7B0pe7c8FXwvmr6-6eIVoOiNpvcFZh1TQM1gxtOTKTpu9mwafUsRazYFXwUIcO5iVa/s1600/IMG_8309.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paige and John in their cozy living room. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SzHRmerXuIMTvf00lc2_wl-0Z3F60_WwvwXTdKsef14t_mX1a1Wpsj3jAIFDK0ML-3TAdb-8pfZ7RF044yE9stXVPR9K9JTUqxBggGsznbYbBSON14jWE2ItoJ1xXfgVpcQ9volqLR1p/s1600/IMG_8310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SzHRmerXuIMTvf00lc2_wl-0Z3F60_WwvwXTdKsef14t_mX1a1Wpsj3jAIFDK0ML-3TAdb-8pfZ7RF044yE9stXVPR9K9JTUqxBggGsznbYbBSON14jWE2ItoJ1xXfgVpcQ9volqLR1p/s1600/IMG_8310.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Need a tapestry?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu5aaAyv1KRCgIEl6Rio0berJAKcu4Bplarraq0xQSlkMCsvfzhTtEL2mXcm0ih27ZfMP_T7RrPjYqtuSN8cYTz0lm3pBfD86leAufsrAYUnaaxgeYZUb4bC-tqq0Vq0FBnD9-krheSvO/s1600/IMG_8311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu5aaAyv1KRCgIEl6Rio0berJAKcu4Bplarraq0xQSlkMCsvfzhTtEL2mXcm0ih27ZfMP_T7RrPjYqtuSN8cYTz0lm3pBfD86leAufsrAYUnaaxgeYZUb4bC-tqq0Vq0FBnD9-krheSvO/s1600/IMG_8311.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric in The Parrot Lounge. He inherited this room from two summer people who did a lot of after-market additions. They also left a lot of booze and Eric opens up the bar once a week for anyone to visit. What a great guy! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiss6TfVwifaaFf3gVa0Ho9e2tc4DzKmrI069pH8zWGHe2JMHuiRUOx_w7fWpQge_ElOQsGz6UbUjq5BuOQihyNy57nHWMkU2klk6M0WDY8c00UL2QE-3XYCgk2nZTk6op3v4sfVnV8wKL/s1600/IMG_8312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiss6TfVwifaaFf3gVa0Ho9e2tc4DzKmrI069pH8zWGHe2JMHuiRUOx_w7fWpQge_ElOQsGz6UbUjq5BuOQihyNy57nHWMkU2klk6M0WDY8c00UL2QE-3XYCgk2nZTk6op3v4sfVnV8wKL/s1600/IMG_8312.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just loved the lanterns.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-55528609801786628502015-04-09T02:31:00.000-07:002015-04-09T02:31:00.115-07:00MiscellenyI take random pictures, every week, and then don't do anything with them so I'll just post them here. <br />
Why not?<br />
<br />
This is not just this past week as I have a backlog, but here you go:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-DizxCnlLhvZGDl5YxjKUXyVnNCkB-tN07hPUBjz2j9b7GQTKGRFQBIcDdbyUfc2yhUBnn0GynZvTMfOk6fw9n8DyKlMAq_Sa2D_jpW6_Md21wDtsti4fRM9su2wvW7IJDCVwwmeELTO/s1600/IMG_8202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-DizxCnlLhvZGDl5YxjKUXyVnNCkB-tN07hPUBjz2j9b7GQTKGRFQBIcDdbyUfc2yhUBnn0GynZvTMfOk6fw9n8DyKlMAq_Sa2D_jpW6_Md21wDtsti4fRM9su2wvW7IJDCVwwmeELTO/s1600/IMG_8202.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes we find perfectly good cake in the foodwaste bins. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBxmwxwTmsh1Ap97g4X-NbCn91BHQ9C67Pp2lWGZ9TBye8d5LTwoAmZGnyB_m1OvNWYqu5_vcjDnnJIHT3TpJoDP4p8be9gPE6qryMzXS4Ks4k6Gf3-2vFBtkMbtL2ikVH-oX0TUz9vNE/s1600/IMG_8205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBxmwxwTmsh1Ap97g4X-NbCn91BHQ9C67Pp2lWGZ9TBye8d5LTwoAmZGnyB_m1OvNWYqu5_vcjDnnJIHT3TpJoDP4p8be9gPE6qryMzXS4Ks4k6Gf3-2vFBtkMbtL2ikVH-oX0TUz9vNE/s1600/IMG_8205.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's Rob, posing next to our truck that we can't move because that stupid Skua bird is in the way. We walked out to get in our truck that morning and a bird had parked itself right in our way. Because of the Antarctic Treaty, we aren't allowed to just shoo it away. The general policy of wildlife is that you can't do anything to alter their behavior (let's not talk about having an entire base). You can't walk so close it looks at you, you can't make loud noise to disturb them and you certainly can't shoo them out of the way. We moved our morning meeting into the galley and waiting another 20 minutes for that Skua bird to fly off. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6n2hR7ziIFoqLsrPG9jHv-mg9jT3rh-nl13sXMrSlGf8BO3CDY4D66vPhza0sLs6Dtoz0ePQ0LuYX0nKfq50yJqIlwtRFhpKusXmIln4siGLR8B7cgckEP7gOsMvwvvraZ7HQov7b2ue/s1600/IMG_8242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6n2hR7ziIFoqLsrPG9jHv-mg9jT3rh-nl13sXMrSlGf8BO3CDY4D66vPhza0sLs6Dtoz0ePQ0LuYX0nKfq50yJqIlwtRFhpKusXmIln4siGLR8B7cgckEP7gOsMvwvvraZ7HQov7b2ue/s1600/IMG_8242.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got to play with the metal bailer the other day. I put all these drums in here and then I got to crush them! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNpZeJ6g_28SUP4Nn9o4GMggem-BgP8t5cxLEgdLJsbZ4WFfPIzf7W8MIU-Rcn-fxPEEkLmrIkk5Cdu-2JyeDenk-qsRABYlPWp9x95jZ2haFRxhZmI4apBXmqEnh3YhrvJ9fmFtgV5i8/s1600/IMG_8245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNpZeJ6g_28SUP4Nn9o4GMggem-BgP8t5cxLEgdLJsbZ4WFfPIzf7W8MIU-Rcn-fxPEEkLmrIkk5Cdu-2JyeDenk-qsRABYlPWp9x95jZ2haFRxhZmI4apBXmqEnh3YhrvJ9fmFtgV5i8/s1600/IMG_8245.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All down into one tiny cube! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTi79ke-FxLaOrswBzTMXMqsA_Ff_m_Mk4P_WI3Klc3p1GPkUdLDUkeZn73y82BAnQRXGfWKOKZUROizlS5eRpoNZJe4hT52hdFYxsqVf-TFQFssSBPvZVTLjt83yFqVwEP7vDa2phgstN/s1600/IMG_8246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTi79ke-FxLaOrswBzTMXMqsA_Ff_m_Mk4P_WI3Klc3p1GPkUdLDUkeZn73y82BAnQRXGfWKOKZUROizlS5eRpoNZJe4hT52hdFYxsqVf-TFQFssSBPvZVTLjt83yFqVwEP7vDa2phgstN/s1600/IMG_8246.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was so fun I decided to give you another photo. These are all the tin cans from the galley. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcWwrm4XMhGRJP1BAFVBKJUfMy6v1FCyRN0glfUMfNVnBFFLcZFVtME3EwgReeQF5B7eXjXq2rc08tb9gycqj9P5p3_nh69k1kYg9sCexKMnNNJUQ50Ln-J10CzTwR2ShLFtlW5FSq7B0/s1600/IMG_8247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcWwrm4XMhGRJP1BAFVBKJUfMy6v1FCyRN0glfUMfNVnBFFLcZFVtME3EwgReeQF5B7eXjXq2rc08tb9gycqj9P5p3_nh69k1kYg9sCexKMnNNJUQ50Ln-J10CzTwR2ShLFtlW5FSq7B0/s1600/IMG_8247.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at that pretty cube!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_hXd-jq0VJ2xHPpt_XnXysX2MG1EbQTjpsxNfV-PBu19e8jUh0RhuNx2EtW8wmpvP1tf5dsdvLMxc1z7pYL5r0scWBfStnyXjA7ist8usYvCWut7lvjsUlsaxEFSbYKSATt_hGwps2qZ/s1600/IMG_8262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_hXd-jq0VJ2xHPpt_XnXysX2MG1EbQTjpsxNfV-PBu19e8jUh0RhuNx2EtW8wmpvP1tf5dsdvLMxc1z7pYL5r0scWBfStnyXjA7ist8usYvCWut7lvjsUlsaxEFSbYKSATt_hGwps2qZ/s1600/IMG_8262.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This fun looking vehicle didn't want to work in the cold morning so the VMF had to send out the Emergency Recovery Vehicle (a pick-up truck with all sorts of gadgets attached to make vehicles go) to warm it up. You notice the hose and engine? That's a huge heater to warm the engine up. On cold mornings the VMF is very very busy. There were no less than two times we had to call them ourselves. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7rBOe0V0NdVsPKumR8VKkk8eZNWGviOwc7jb84Gu0JM3KHw2NBVaPwu9SMX33KL81JGOCWSJRiS-Xpk2HWLZ5HQYnqSY2j2igUeZuBB9LCXsFCaJpC6AbcvZn8oOC2_evVzanY9AbOZ-/s1600/IMG_8321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7rBOe0V0NdVsPKumR8VKkk8eZNWGviOwc7jb84Gu0JM3KHw2NBVaPwu9SMX33KL81JGOCWSJRiS-Xpk2HWLZ5HQYnqSY2j2igUeZuBB9LCXsFCaJpC6AbcvZn8oOC2_evVzanY9AbOZ-/s1600/IMG_8321.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Penguins! These emperor penguins had been hanging around for a couple of days and they walked right into our bay! What a great afternoon. The Waste department took our van down (no Skua impediments this time) to look at the penguins. For people without transport, we had a van driving people down from work centers all afternoon. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwMsLeQJR4ghyu484DBVGdfQtpdRserpJafMlreWuCjgGs7BlC6IkaCDUPyz8tO306gLnIQOjsym2SFrlOsZPULTrnM2bA0uK_bkWjNpid1j31_O7LNXgrB3VPyA2RryCVIcH2SUe6eI_/s1600/DSC03043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwMsLeQJR4ghyu484DBVGdfQtpdRserpJafMlreWuCjgGs7BlC6IkaCDUPyz8tO306gLnIQOjsym2SFrlOsZPULTrnM2bA0uK_bkWjNpid1j31_O7LNXgrB3VPyA2RryCVIcH2SUe6eI_/s1600/DSC03043.jpg" height="144" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We won a night out at this little hut on the ice (random drawing). It was cloudy when we arrived and stayed that way all night so we didn't get any stargazing. I'm not to upset though. The weather had called for aggressive wind with temperatures at -72 (with windchill) so I was fine with it being overcast and still. The next day, however, was beautiful!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hAGeR3qMQb3ROCMykQaYN-o4cnhZ9UuCO9V4iMNACkIKFoX9jLjIIgul46WHjvRp_N-DP97U1Oz3iWYWiELFgbuwJOkHG5l64aEvnuK7Wl0ZrmWHzgipUWN0ffjGu5QPsVGeKBDenh1Z/s1600/DSC03173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hAGeR3qMQb3ROCMykQaYN-o4cnhZ9UuCO9V4iMNACkIKFoX9jLjIIgul46WHjvRp_N-DP97U1Oz3iWYWiELFgbuwJOkHG5l64aEvnuK7Wl0ZrmWHzgipUWN0ffjGu5QPsVGeKBDenh1Z/s1600/DSC03173.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's that same hut the next morning. That mountain in the background is Mt Erebus-the cloud above it is steam-it's a living volcano. </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_vtxVvhYuOIOBm6cQPGXzNrT3TtxUWUxB5Iyq9n8F_ZQYWggs0R6Scp2o-WRbAP1jp2yHrUSAvVXrhpY6W9oLJF6-KhvQiu7n0TPIFwX9tCkDQYg1HBi0H654Zr8AIuZadPfFcG4dR9v/s1600/DSC_7886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_vtxVvhYuOIOBm6cQPGXzNrT3TtxUWUxB5Iyq9n8F_ZQYWggs0R6Scp2o-WRbAP1jp2yHrUSAvVXrhpY6W9oLJF6-KhvQiu7n0TPIFwX9tCkDQYg1HBi0H654Zr8AIuZadPfFcG4dR9v/s1600/DSC_7886.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Clearly we chose the right group of people to go with-outfits, wigs, food and fun photos shoots. Such a great night out. All these photos are compliments of our friend Debbie-far right. </span></td></tr>
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<br />travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801409186212910329.post-28522310462509019542015-04-04T20:36:00.001-07:002015-04-04T20:37:51.746-07:00Cold Weather in McMurdo<div dir="ltr" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_5412" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
When Boston was getting pummeled with snow and cold weather, a friend asked me if I was annoyed when people on facebook complain about the temperature. Honestly, when I read those posts I think "wow, that's cold" even when it's probably colder here. The reason is that I don't even think about the weather or how cold it is here. I never check the temperature and I'm often out and about in just a fleece (and insulated Carhartts/two shirts/long-johns and thick socks). But I'm not always wearing that massive Canada Goose jacket they give us (read a recent article about how those are up and coming in the fashion world, BTW). It's been around -13 lately. <br />
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In terms of feeling the cold, I've decided that people just don't dress for the cold - come on people! Take that extra 15 minutes to put on all those layers and you'll be toasty warm. And so fashionable too! Nothing better then going to a bar and having to spend 15 minutes taking off your snow pants. I get that it's annoying and there are times I don't dress for the cold and in the 4 minutes it takes to walk from one building to the next I will be FREEZING. These times usually occur when I'm dressed up and going to the bar or going to dinner and have forgotten a critical aspect of my "extreme cold weather" gear. Or intentionally don't take it. Last night I had a dress on and my hair did and I literally ran from building to building because my legs were so cold and I didn't want to ruin my hair with my hat. <br />
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In reality, I have all the tools to stay comfortable and keeping warm takes very little effort. I know exactly what I need to stay warm and there are some crucial elements that are the most important things for my comfort: Neck gaiter, hat, gloves, warm footwear. While I, of course, will also put layers on my bigger body parts, if there's no icy wind blowing down my neck or my nose doesn't feel like it's turning into an ice crystal, it's usually pretty manageable. While our vehicles all have heat, the heat just blows a warmer version of cold air when I am constantly getting in and out of them and there are multiple places where the vehicle cab is open to the outside so, in general, it's pretty chilly in there. If I can keep my extremities warm, even if I can feel the cold on my arms, I'm usually pretty good. Unless there's WIND. Oh man. The wind is brutal - cuts through everything (yes even that $1000 Canada goose jacket). Ugh! That's why it's good to check the weather forecast (now that the cold is really coming in-i'm taking the weather a bit more seriously) Here's the weather for April 1st.<br />
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<table class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9729" style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', 'lucida grande', arial, tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.6399993896484px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 310px; word-break: break-word;"><tbody class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9728" style="margin: 0px; width: 310px;">
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<i>
Regional Summary</i></h3>
</td><td class="yiv2616627986" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_13325" style="border-spacing: 2px; margin: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_SummaryDateLbl" style="color: #929292; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;"><i>4/1/2015 7:04:58 AM</i></span></td></tr>
<tr class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9727" style="margin: 0px;"><td class="yiv2616627986" colspan="2" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9726" style="border-spacing: 2px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_RegionalSummaryDescription" style="margin: 0px;"><i>Calm to start, but bundle up! A large weather system dropping across the Ross Sea will bring cold, howlin’ easterlies today…Should see eased wind tomorrow…</i></span></td></tr>
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<h5 class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_10772" style="background-image: url(http://intranet.mcmurdo.usap.gov/media/images/bg-dataelement.gif); background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', 'lucida grande', arial, tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 8px; padding: 5px 6px 3px 8px; text-align: center;">
<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_TitleLabel" style="color: #2d679a; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px;">McMurdo Station</span></h5>
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<table class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9906" style="background-color: #d7d7d7; color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', 'lucida grande', arial, tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 16.6399993896484px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 230px; word-break: break-word;"><tbody class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9910" style="margin: 0px; width: 230px;">
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<img class="yiv2616627986" src="http://intranet.mcmurdo.usap.gov/media/images/weatherIcons/cloudy.jpg" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_ConditionImage" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; min-height: 70px; width: 50px;" /></div>
</td><td class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_10897" style="border-spacing: 2px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_10896" style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px;">
<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_TemperatureC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -2px; margin: 0px;">-19°<span class="yiv2616627986" style="font-size: 15.3999996185303px; margin: 0px;">C</span></span><span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #b6d0e1; font-size: 28px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">|</span><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_TemperatureF" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -2px; margin: 0px;">-2°<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_10895" style="font-size: 15.3999996185303px; margin: 0px;">F</span></span></div>
<span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TEMPERATURE</span></td></tr>
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<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_wChillC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px;">-24°<span class="yiv2616627986" style="font-size: 11.1999998092651px; margin: 0px;">C</span></span><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_wcPipe" style="color: #b6d0e1; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">|</span><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_wChillF" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px;">-10°<span class="yiv2616627986" style="font-size: 11.1999998092651px; margin: 0px;">F</span></span></div>
<span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">WIND CHILL</span></td></tr>
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<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_Skies" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> SKIES:</span> Mostly Cloudy</span></div>
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<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_Visibility" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> VISIBILITY (MILES):</span> Unrestricted</span></div>
<span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_Winds" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> WINDS (KNOTS):</span> NE @ 3</span></div>
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<tr class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9913" style="margin: 0px;"><td class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9912" style="border-spacing: 2px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986yui_3_16_0_1_1427823585682_9911" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> STATION PRESSURE:</span> <span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_StatPress" style="margin: 0px;">29.210 in.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="yiv2616627986" style="color: white; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"> UPDATED:</span> <span class="yiv2616627986" id="yiv2616627986MainContent_AstroRegionOne_ctl00_WeatherWidgetSingle_LastUpdated" style="color: #5690b3; margin: 0px;">Apr 01, 2015 07:04 AM</span></div>
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How do I get ready for my day? My basic outfit is long johns, one long sleeve lightweight wool shirt, one thicker wool shirt, mountaineer socks and then my padded Carrhart overalls. I'll put a hooded green fleece on over all that and bring my Big Red just in case. I'll put on my thinsulate boots and then head up the hill to the Waste Barn. Once there, I'll open up 12 (at least) little hot hand packets to bring with me. I put some in my pants pockets, my big red pockets, my fleece pockets, inside my mittens and sometimes in my shoes. . Part of what I do to prepare for the weather is to have three pairs of hand gear. I wear my work gloves mostly, but if I need to do something that involves some dexterity I have a pair of thin gloves- after using those, my fingers are usually frozen so at that point I'll put on my mittens (pre-warmed with the warmers) to warm my hands before switching back to the work gloves for work. If I know it will be really cold and the steel floor of my loader will be wicking heat away from my feet, I'll put on my FDX boots, big blue boots with an insulated booty and a felt liner (of which I have two). I avoid wearing these boots because they make my feet 4 times bigger and it's exhausting to clomp around all day, but I will put them on (with warmers inside) if my feet get cold. </div>
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If the wind is aggressive, I'll put on two hats and pull my gaiter up over my nose and mouth. </div>
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Lately, it's been getting really chilly. I walked outside the other day real quick to grab something and the cold took my breath away and I started coughing. I've become more diligent about checking the weather. In fact, the above forecast was the first I had checked in a long while (and inspired this post) and it really helped me toward the end of my day. Because I knew it was going to get windy (miserable for working outside) we switched our day around to avoid the weather. Unfortunately, I'm still learning how tied down things have to be and the one cargo strap I had on all my cardboard boxes wasn't enough so I had to chase down a whole bunch that had gone flying in the last 15 minutes of my day. I felt better when I saw other departments had also lost things during that storm. </div>
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I've been checking the weather a bit more diligently lately and this is what I have to look forward to tomorrow: </div>
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<tr style="margin: 0px;"><td class="lessLeading" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(128, 128, 128); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 5px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><span id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_DayLabel" style="font-size: smaller; margin: 0px;"><span class="titleSpanFC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">UPDATED:</span> Sunday, April 05, 2015</span></td></tr>
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<tr style="margin: 0px;"><td rowspan="2" style="margin: 0px; padding-right: 10px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><img src="http://intranet.mcmurdo.usap.gov/media/images/weatherIcons/partly-cloudy.jpg" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_conditionImage" style="height: 70px; margin: 0px; width: 50px;" /></td><td style="margin: 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px;">
<span class="tempTextFC" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_MaxTemperatureC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 23px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -2px; margin: 0px;">-19°<span style="font-size: 16.1000003814697px; margin: 0px;">C</span></span><span class="bigPipeFC" style="color: #d0d0d0; font-size: 28px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">|</span><span class="tempTextFC" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_MaxTemperatureF" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 23px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -2px; margin: 0px;">-2°<span style="font-size: 16.1000003814697px; margin: 0px;">F</span></span></div>
<span class="titleSpanFC" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_MaxTempLabel" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">MAX TEMPERATURE</span></td></tr>
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<span class="wChillTextFC" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_MinWindChillC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px;">-44°<span style="font-size: 11.1999998092651px; margin: 0px;">C</span></span><span class="bigPipeFC" style="color: #d0d0d0; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;">|</span><span class="wChillTextFC" id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_MinWindChillF" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px;">-47°<span style="font-size: 11.1999998092651px; margin: 0px;">F</span></span></div>
<span class="titleSpanFC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">MIN WIND CHILL</span></td></tr>
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<span id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_Skies" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="titleSpanFC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">SKIES:</span> Mostly Cloudy</span></div>
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<span id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_Visibility" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="titleSpanFC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">VISIBILITY (MILES):</span> Unrestricted, patchy blowing snow</span></div>
<span id="MainContent_ThreeDayForecastWidget_TomorrowForecastWidget_Winds" style="margin: 0px;"><span class="titleSpanFC" style="color: #2d587f; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">WINDS (KNOTS):</span> NE-E 7-17, becoming NE-SE 15-35</span></div>
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The best part about this? The high is -2! That's warm! This weekend it was -14! </div>
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Let me know if you have other questions about the weather!</div>
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As for the daylight, i've been taking a daily photo (usually) to chart the sunlight, as the sun goes down I'll compile them all for you! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_5k-K5aZEtUCiAd8N0jutsTT04KzH6qtoSrj5OWYZHHeXe9ggLH59l0_d9BpvCq42LshD_Hz-2qERhYnA_pRUmYYdzaCcPF3nbHZIVEtCMjd-PpY1YBLgR6p-MB0Xo8v3VGXIJg782yL/s1600/IMG_4246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_5k-K5aZEtUCiAd8N0jutsTT04KzH6qtoSrj5OWYZHHeXe9ggLH59l0_d9BpvCq42LshD_Hz-2qERhYnA_pRUmYYdzaCcPF3nbHZIVEtCMjd-PpY1YBLgR6p-MB0Xo8v3VGXIJg782yL/s1600/IMG_4246.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Weather!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;">t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGSZuBWS5HFN4n9pqVr79g6J6Kbk0DegRhNn76xfJQJ1jlLgomHgNgfyPOd0nMMv7AF_imo9g1vucT0y-lQHvKNt0ZLZgwLlfgYoDgbb1IU4UB6CSwONjIav8bxWbvVRS_U9kFCPJNDTJ/s1600/IMG_8261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGSZuBWS5HFN4n9pqVr79g6J6Kbk0DegRhNn76xfJQJ1jlLgomHgNgfyPOd0nMMv7AF_imo9g1vucT0y-lQHvKNt0ZLZgwLlfgYoDgbb1IU4UB6CSwONjIav8bxWbvVRS_U9kFCPJNDTJ/s1600/IMG_8261.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was a moderately cold day. My eyelashes started frosting. This was the first time this has happened to me. Since this day it's happened quite a bit and much more aggressively. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl1ZGohcYrZ5dXiwsWz66Yt5hZJUS_psnlvDgdyWx0vY0h8vYaK0SUeXsBtCQSBcAzftzXbGlfA7rDIYLAk1DvpDWFuhHueauNehQ4P05KXDzFTU-BqSCrn46pIYXDT6dTcXavVCc2WfUs/s1600/DSC03127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl1ZGohcYrZ5dXiwsWz66Yt5hZJUS_psnlvDgdyWx0vY0h8vYaK0SUeXsBtCQSBcAzftzXbGlfA7rDIYLAk1DvpDWFuhHueauNehQ4P05KXDzFTU-BqSCrn46pIYXDT6dTcXavVCc2WfUs/s1600/DSC03127.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here I am climbing out of an igloo all bundled up ( I didn't build it). Notice the big FDX boots, the double hat, the gaiter, mittens and big red. I do, indeed, have handwarmers in almost all pockets and inside my boots. </span></td></tr>
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travelrabblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090599488033909351noreply@blogger.com0