Alaska

Alaska

2007- June- I spent a week here with my sister, her husband and her father in law.  We went to Denali and saw no animals.  We took a train through the mountain range and the views were breath-taking.  We went to Fairbanks, Anchorage and the Arctic Circle. This was beautiful week.

2017- March- I took my nephew here with the expressed intent of watching the beginning of the Ididarod race.  We felt in to Anchorage a week early and went dog sledding, ice fishing, glazier watching, and curling. We went to ice sculpture contest and braves the ice and cold.  But unbeknown to us, the dog race was moved to Fairbanks so we missed the damn race.

2017 In Review

 2017 In Review

Jan 1- Snow Geese Migration- I went to Bombay Hook to watch them.  At first, I could find them anywhere.  But then I looked in the sky and saw a flock heading to a watering pool.  And there they were, thousands of them.

A snow storm at the beach- January- Long Beach Island, NJ

The Women's March in Washington, DC on January 21, 2017

Alaska;  2/27-3/7

car

The Carters- March 26

I moved to West Chester, PA

I got my lifetime pass to our national parks.

Kevin got married to Emily

1/29/17 @ PHL airport

I traveled across country from the east coast to the west coast in four delightful days.

I visited 39 breweries this year.  A new record.

I went to the Great Sand Dunes in CO

I saw a tiger in the wild at Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

My sweet Elliot was born in August

I saw the Living Goddess in Kathmandu, Nepal.

I traveled to Nepal in November and December.

I traveled to Bhutan in late December.

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A Crisp, Clear Winter Afternoon

A Crisp, Clear, Beautiful Winter Afternoon

Anchorage, Alaska

March 2017

Everywhere I looked, it was beautiful.  The air was clean. The colors were vibrant. The landscape was magnificent. But it was cold and there was a permanent layer of ice which was four inches thick. It would be months before it all melted.  And as I looked around at this beautiful scenery, I thought to myself, "Thank God, I don't live here. All of this winter would kill me."

Dog Sledding in Alaska

Dog Sledding In Alaska

A Near Collusion

Willow, Alaska

March 2, 2017

We are on a dogsled in Alaska.  The dogs run through a narrow passageway.  Suddenly, a dog sled approaches us from the opposite way.  They are quickly approaching us and it looks as if we might collide.  Without any instructions from either mushers, the two lead dogs compensate for the crowded course.  Our dog vies to the right and runs alone the slope of the passage and the other dog makes the same compensation and we pass as if we are two trains in the night.

White Mountains- Alaska

White Mountains

Alaska

2-28-2017

We took a left on to the main road to Downtown Anchorage. These mountains came in to our sights and we stopped in the middle of the road to take photos.  Little did we know that these mountains are everywhere and we would eventually take hundreds of photos of these magnificent structures.

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Thoughts on Alaska

Thoughts on Alaska
My Trip to see the Iditarod
Feb 27- March 6, 2017

• It's really cold there. And very icy.
• The white, snow covered mountains are gorgeous.
• people bundle up to keep warm and fashion is not a concern.
• Alaskan king crab claws are more expensive in Alaska than they are in Maryland.
• Curling is a strange sport.
• I enjoyed ice fishing more than I had anticipated.  I knew I would like it but I was surprised at how relaxing it was to just sit, fish and chat.
• Dog sledding is thrilling.  It is amazing to see these dogs run like crazy for long periods at a time.
• There is plenty of public parking in Anchorage.  It seemed as if every third business was a public parking lot.
• Reindeer meat hotdogs are sweeter than a regular hot dog.
• I didn't get to see any Northern Lights so this is unfinished business.
• I went to see the Iditirod in Wasilla but the start location was changed at the last minute to Fairbanks. This is more unfinished buisness.
• I had contemplated the idea of participating in the Running of the Reindeers.  After I watched the event, I was glad that I chose to be a specator only.
• The long ride down South #Route 1, along the bay, is beautiful.  It took forever to travel down the road because I stopped so many times to take photos.
  
  

To read more stories, check out:   bkmemoirs.blogspot.com

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Anchorage Curling CluB

Anchorage Curling Club
Anchorage, AK
March 2017

"It's really a simple game to play but it's a lot of fun.  Do you want to play with us. I've been playing since I was 4 or 5."

She looked to be about my age but then she told me she still had high school kids so she must have been ten years younger than me.  She explained the rules and the scoring and I got about 30% of what she was telling me.  The bottom line- someone launches the 42 lbs stone and two people sweep a friction path towards the goal which is a red bullseye at the opposite end of the court.

She spoke about the game with so much damn enthusiasm.  She met her husband, when they were 30, at a curling club. "It took us awhile to find each other but he's the one. He loves curling too."

There are about 100 members in the club.  There are leagues and competitions and championship games.  But Wednesday nights, the night we are there, it's open floor.  The public is allowed in to watch and play and learn the sport.  I am there with my 14 year old nephew and he gets out on the ice immediately and loves it.  I watch him and marvel at the agility of his thin, lanky body.  He jumps right in there and become a viable team member.

My host continues to explain the rules and strategies of the game.  Again, most of it escapes me.  I am too preoccupied with all of the slipping and sliding of the players who walk and run on the ice in their street shoes.

Clay's team lost which means they don't have to clean up the ice after the game is over.  The winners do that and they buy the first round of drinks.  We leave before any of them have too many drinks.  I saw how they walked on the ice before they consumed alcohol.  I didn't have any desire to see them maneuver the icy parking lot.

Running Low On Fuel

Running Low On Fuel

Crossing The Arctic Circle

Alaska

June 2007

 It is around 10PM when we board the plane which will take us across the Arctic Circle. There are six passengers and one pilot.  Glenn, my brother-in-law, sits in the front seat with the pilot.  I sit right behind the pilot. The pilot tells us that he has already put in a long day but he won't finish until 2AM when he brings us back to this airport.  He is jovial and causal as he flies low along the mountain ridge.  Glenn is engaging him in conversation when he notices that the fuel gage indicates  that we are running out of fuel.

"Hey buddy, do you see this?  We are almost out of fuel," Glenn alerts him.

"Oh that, yea, don't worry about it.  That gage is broken and we have a backup tank so we should be OK", he tells us with a tone that is too casual for me. I am not comforted by his reassurance. But we don't crash and I see him checking on the fuel tank with we land and I decide to sit further away from the dashboard on the way back.

Fair Warning

Coldfoot, Alaska

June 2007

Why would anyone live here.  I wasn't even comfortable being here.  What if we ran out of gas?  We would have been shit out of luck.

WISEMAN, Alaska

Wiseman, Alaska

June 2007

I wonder why this sign became necessary. Wiseman sits above the Arctic Circle.  I had to take a small plane to get to the nearby town and then take a beat up , old school bus to get to this town.  It was a huge effort.  So the only people who want to go there, really want to go there.  No one ends up here by accident or out of desperate circumstances.

I wonder if belongings have been taken.  Again, I can't imagine anyone trying to take the bobsleds, the moose antlers, the snow trackers, the summer teepees, the dog sled reins or any other thing up there that is so critical to the life and death of these few people.

I wonder who couldn't figure out that he should "respect people's belonging."

The Junkyard

The Junkyard

Cold Foot, Alaska

The Arctic Circle

Summer 2007

We are in a small town just above the Arctic Circle.  This is the neighborhood junk yard.  People bring their broken heavy equipment and leave it here for anyone who needs an old engine, an extra large wheel, a tractor seat or any other things that have never been directly nessarily for me to improve the quality of my life. But apparently, this junk yard is the saving grace for this neighborhood.

Alaska- June 2007

The outhouse

The community junk yard.  People come here for spare parts.

This guy uses this plane very day for his commute to work

Heading to the Artic Circle.

Fishermen's boats

Winter sled

d
Don't travel any further unless you are well prepared.

A typical  home in the Artic Circle.

Coldfoot, Alaska

Antler Sculpture

A summer residence option for many.