Alaskan Adventure - Adak Island

To get to Adak commercially you have one choice…Alaskan Airlines on either Sunday or Thursday on a 3 hour flight aboard a modified 737. The modification is that the front half of the seating area has been converted to cargo space. Adak doesn’t get a whole lot of visitors. There were only about 20 people on my flight. It was an uneventful flight, with some comic relief from an FAA official sitting in front of me who was coming down to do a rotation at the airfield. When the flight attendant was giving the “emergency exit” speech, the FAA dude muttered, “yeah, yeah…in case of emergency jump out of your seat and get to the aisle. Run left OR right until you hit a wall. Turn left OR right and jump out of the plane. No problems.”

Himself met me the airport, which was a treat as we weren’t sure he’d be able to come in (the medical officer has to be at pretty close call). Not only did he get to meet me, he had a few hours before he had to be back! So we gathered my bags, got the key to my lodging and the key to my rental truck. Ah my rental truck. It was an OLD Navy issued F150 with so many dents and rust that there wasn’t much more I could ever do to it. Worked for me as the ice potholes sure made driving rough going. Found out a few folks from Trident corporate had come in on my plane too for some business on the ship, so I offered to drive them from the airport to the ship. Then Himself and I headed over to my place to get rid of my things.

What a pleasant surprise when we arrived at my digs. It was a townhouse left from when the Navy had a base here. I had a fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment, complete with satellite TV with 103 channels! Nice! After bringing in my stuff we hopped back in the truck and headed out to get some supper at the “Aleutian Bar and Grill” and take a quick look around. All too soon it was time for Himself to head back to the Indy.

Next day was shore leave and everyone was able to come in to enjoy a bit of time off. Himself and I checked out the General Store (or I should say I checked out the store as he has been in it many times) and had lunch at the “The Cold Rock Café”. Then we took off in Ol’ Rattletrap to explore what we could of the island. Thaw was just starting so I didn’t get to range far afield as I had hoped…the outer roads were still snow covered to the point that you could not see where they were. But there was a beautiful black sand beach that we spent a long and lovely afternoon exploring.

Tide was out and we beach combed for shells (leaving those who still had someone living in them), interesting rocks and the rare piece of driftwood (there are hardly any trees in the Aleutians so driftwood is not common). We were the only ones on the beach unless you count the seagulls and eagles (both Golden and Bald). Too soon the day ended and I took Himself back to the ship which was headed back out to the bay.


Due to the ship business being done by the corporate folks, I ended up spending 2 extra full days on Adak. And it worked out wonderfully. Day two was one of the rare ‘perfect’ days on Adak. Blue sky, no wind…calm and peaceful. I was out as soon as it was light – that being around 9am and didn’t come back until around 7 pm. If there were something to see…I saw it. Back to the black sand beach, over to the seawall at the harbor to watch eagles and a Stellar sea lion, down to the small boat dock, up on the ridge. Rattletrap and I were everywhere. I shot a lot of photos that day.

The next day showed the other face of Adak. It’s is called “The birthplace of the winds” and she showed her moodiness with a snowstorm and howling 45 MPH winds. A good time to nestle in and enjoy a bit of that satellite TV while watching the swirling snows outside my picture window. The blow died down (winds went down to around 25 MPH) about the same time as my “Top Chef” marathon was finished, so I headed out to see this side of Adak life. BRRRR!! Dropped in to tell Elaine ‘hello’ and headed over to the grill to get a carry-out of their egg rolls for supper.

Adak town itself is an extremely small, close-knit community, from what I could see. There is a fish processing factory, the ship docks, a community medical clinic, a small public school, the airfield, public works buildings, the “General Store” for most household needs and also the “Bake and Tackle” that has a nice little bakery in it, the “Cold Rock Café” for breakfast and lunch and the “Aluetian Bar and Grill” for supper and a drink. The post office is open on Sunday cause that’s when the mail comes in and then closed on Monday. Since everything comes in by cargo ship or on the airplane, prices are a wee bit outrageious. Let’s see… I paid $7 for a package of BallPark hot dogs, $6.89 for a half gallon of milk and $3 for a loaf of bread.

Golden eagle...I think!

A cold afternoon.

Fishing boat coming into Adak harbor.

Reflections.

The Adak gas station.

Better not run out of gas!

Beach treasure.

Alaskan Adventure - Palmer & Talkeetna

On my third and final day I went north along the beautiful Glen Highway to the “Mat-Su Valley” to see whatever I could. I did have an time that I needed to be at a musk ox farm, but otherwise the day was mine.


I was early for my appointment so I stopped at an overlook to take in the view for a while. At the same time there was someone else also enjoying the peaceful scene. We both were carrying cameras. That is how I met Calvin Hall http://www.alaskasaurora.com/ I had a very pleasant visit with him, talking about the area, ravens, and photography.
My visit to the musk ox farm was an appointment because they weren’t yet open for the regular tourist season when they have trained docents to lead the tours. I had the pleasure of being shown around by one of the herdswomen who actually cares for the animals. The tour starts in a small museum with very nice displays. Then you head out to the pastures to visit with the animals themselves in their segregated by age pens. Musk ox aren’t in the cattle family at all, but are more closely related to the goat. Their native name is Oomingmak which means “bearded one”. The farm has a joint venture with the Native owned Oomingmak Musk Ox producers cooperative http://www.qiviut.com/ . The farm harvest the soft undercoat (more on how later) called QIVIUT (ki-vee-ute) and sells it to the co-op. They then turn the wool to yarn and knit beautiful and expensive shawls, hats and so on (a stocking cap costs $170!). But oh man…that wool is softer than cashmere. The qiviut is gathered by putting the musk ox into squeeze chutes and combing them out. You get about 5 pounds of qiviut per musk ox and 2 oz bulky skein of yarns sells for $80. Yep…you’re figuring that right. Each musk ox produces about $3200 worth of qiviut.
As suggested by Mr. Hall, I headed up the other side to see if I could get a glimpse of Mt McKinley before the cloud cover came in. The native people call it Denali (hence the name of the park it is located in), which means “the great one” or “the high one” depending on which source you read. There are works in progress to change the name back to Denali. That is the one I like best. But anyway…I did see Denali as I drove towards Talkeetna but by the time I got to a place where I could pull over the clouds had covered its face. But at least I saw it!

Now this was my last full day in the Alaska mainland and I STILL hadn’t seen a moose. Moose warning signs, moose *leavings* in the backyard, moose pictures…but no moose. Maybe they were all hiding out with Bigfoot. Then at long last I spotted a moose on the other side of the highway moose fence at Ft Richardson. I made a 10 mile detour to get back around so I could get this picture of him!
The next morning I packed up my things and headed towards my next adventure on Adak Island.

Year old musk ox calves.

Musk ox bull.

Beware of moose!

Alaskan Adventure - Seward Highway

Next second day I headed down the Seward Highway. My goal was to get all the way to Seward, but that didn’t work out because of the nasty weather. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have gone down it the day before when the weather was perfect and saved Friday for Anchorage. As it was, I drove into slushy snow/rain and winds that were around 35 MPH or better (when I stopped my car for pictures, it would rock!). But in spite of all that, it was still incredibly beautiful.

As you drive from Anchorage, to the right is the Turnagain Arm (bay) with ice floes gliding by faster than a person could run. In the summer Turnagain Arm is home to Beluga whale. The area is known for its bore tides, which is when an incoming tide rushes up a river or narrow mouthed bay against the current. At Turnagain Arm it causes a wave that can be up to 10 feet high and travel up to 15 MPH. “Good” ones don’t happen all the time and darn it, when I was there was not a time to see one…that was going to happen just TWO days after I left!

To my left were the bases of mountains. Some rose up fairly steep, while other areas were cliff faces that shot straight up. Small conifer trees took what grip they could on the rocky slopes and where they couldn’t grow, bright colored moss and lichen filled the niche.

In-between the peaks and mountains were deep snow filled valleys (for lack of a better name). With the warming weather, slushy precipitation and high winds, that snow didn’t look all too stable. And signs warning of avalanche areas didn’t make me feel any better either. At one point just above the town of Bird I pulled into a turnout feeling very uneasy about going farther.

As I stared down the highway I started getting the “hair up on the back of your neck” feeling. One thing I’ve learned in my almost 46 years is when you get that feeling…LISTEN!! (Personally, I think it’s ones guardian angel jumping on your head!) So I turned around and headed back north on the highway.

As I made my way back, I pulled in to the turnouts that were on the land side of the highway. I’d take a look and go back out on the road. Didn’t really sink in that I was always able to pull straight out. That is until I made a turnaround to get a picture I wanted and saw this highway warning sign…

One of my stops on the way back was at Indian Valley Meats. It’s a place that processes fish and game, both for individuals and commercially. And it is also a B&B with a gorgeous view of the water. I picked up some different types of jerky as gifts for Himself, my Dad and some salmon jerky for Cindi’s Maggie and Jack (must not forget the canine kids!).

http://www.indianvalleymeats.com/

Chukars

Moss and lichen

Windswept trees along Turnagain Arm

Dangerous mud flats

Earthquaked!!

Last night or this morning (4:37 AM)…however you look at it…there was an earthquake about 270 miles north of here near Evansville, IN.

According to the comments on the local newspaper’s web site, a lot of people were jolted awake and things rattled pretty good. One person said that her cats ran up onto her bed and sat there staring at her. (Hey Mom! How’d you do that!?)

And I slept right thru it. Didn’t help that I’d only been asleep for 2.5 hours because I had laid my hands on my newest “SisterChick” book and had a marathon night read. But I was miffed.

10:15-ish AM. Himself and I were in the family room when the wall lamp started rattling. And kept rattling. For a good 30 seconds it rattled. Now I know this lamp is a bit wonky and will vibrate when the door slams or such but nothing like that was happening. Himself and I looked at each other and said “Earthquake!” Shortly after the lamp stopped rattling, the stained glass piece next to it started gently swaying. A perfect example of P and S seismic waves.

A check of the earthquake web site confirmed it. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

Magnitude 4.5
Date-Time
· Friday, April 18, 2008 at 15:14:16 UTC
· Friday, April 18, 2008 at 10:14:16 AM at epicenter
Location
38.539°N, 87.865°W
Depth
10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region
ILLINOIS
Distances
· 13 km (8 miles) E (81°) from West Salem, IL
· 14 km (8 miles) W (275°) from Allendale, IL
· 15 km (10 miles) NE (48°) from Bone Gap, IL
· 68 km (42 miles) NNW (336°) from Evansville, IN
· 207 km (129 miles) E (92°) from St. Louis, MO
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 2.7 km (1.7 miles); depth fixed by location program
Source
· U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

Event ID us2008qzbw

Magnitude 4.5 - ILLINOIS
2008 April 18 15:14:16 UTC
Earthquake Details

The Schultz family seismograph

Alaskan Adventure - Anchorage

As I said in my 1 March post, I was given the opportunity to travel to Alaska to be on the ship Himself works on.

I arranged it to have 3 full days (outside of my coming and going days) to explore the Anchorage area.




Anchorage was a blast!! That city is in the middle of the most beautiful setting...mountains on one side and Cook Inlet on the other. Wow!




I spent my first day in Anchorage town itself. First stop (because it opened earliest) was the Russian Orthodox museum. Although very small and rather limited in its displays, it was interesting and since it was free nothing was lost. A bonus was the fact it had a nice little gift shop with both Russian items (icons, mastroika, dolls, etc) and Native Alaskan art…both at good prices.

Right across the street is the Anchorage Museum. Its displays are of “things Alaska”. Special exhibits while I was there included one on Iditarod founder Joe Redington and one on the Yup’ik people and how they have survived on the tundra (with many cool hands on displays like snow slit goggles). There is a tremendous history wing that goes from ancient to current times. Then, being downtown, I checked out the many cute shops with art from local artists. I found several nice Native pieces at good prices. They were done by young ‘up and coming’ artists rather than the well known masters.

My final stop was at the Alaska Zoo. This I found to be disappointing. It reminded me of the old-time ‘roadside zoos’ that disappeared (thankfully!!!) in the 60s. Most of the animals were in small wire fences cages with “doghouse” type shelters. The wolf enclosure was large and had an observation deck, so I got some great photos there. And the musk ox was in a corral so I got some nice close-ups of him. That silly beast decided we were buddies and he wanted to play. He would come racing up to the fence like he was charging…only to come to a sliding stop at the last moment. Then he’d put his nose thru the fence for a pat. One of the times he did that, a couple was walking up the trail. They BOTH screamed as he charged towards me. LOL

While in Anchorage area I tried to eat just things that are "Alaskan". If I could get it in TN I wasn't interested. So I had a lot of seafood (fresh ocean caught salmon, halibut, clams and prawn) plus some caribou. The sourdough pancakes at Gwennie's were wonderful. There was a distinct "ale" flavor to them.

Native basketry at the Anchorage Museum.

Model of an arctic home.

Scrimshaw on a walrus tusk.

Beautifully beaded seal skin mittens.
Polar Bear at the Alaska Zoo.


Arctic Timber Wolf

North...to Alaska!

I am packing my bags and heading to Alaska! Himself has landed me a job working as a pantry chef and also a photographer on his ship. I’ll be flying out next week and spending a few days in Anchorage before flying down to Adak to meet his ship. I’ll being staying a day in Adak also.

Plans are now that I’ll get into Anchorage around 3:30pm, which will give me a bit of time to look around. I’ll spend one day (plus my coming and going days) checking out the city. I want to see things that are Alaskan…if I can see it around here, I’m not interested!! On my list are these possibilities: The Alaska Zoo, The Anchorage Museum, the AK Museum of Natural History and the Russian Orthodox Museum. Plus some cool gift shops. And I’m looking for restaurants that feature Alaskan cuisine.

The second day will have me traveling to Palmer. I’m still working on arrangements but hope to go dog sledding, and see a musk ox farm and a caribou farm. Maybe a wolf rehabilitation center too.

The third day I have hopes of taking a “flight seeing” trip to Denali. If I can’t arrange that, I might drive down to Seward. Supposed to be a FABULOUS drive.

I’ll get into Adak on a Sunday (planes come in only on Sundays and Thursdays) and will spend Monday exploring the area and taking tons of pictures. Sometime Tuesday I will either be picked up by someone from Himself’s ship or I’ll hitch a ride on a fishing boat out to the ship.

From there, I’ll be working in the kitchen and doing some documenting photos of production. And of course photos for myself!

We will move from Adak, to perhaps Dutch Harbor, to Akutan and then a bit up to about Kodiak from where we cut across the Gulf of Alaska. I think we will come over to a bit north of Glacier Bay area. From there, it’s down the Inner Passage to Seattle.

All in all, a 2 week trip.

We’ll spend a few days in Seattle before coming home.

Bon Voyage!

Every year we take a trip. Some years we go overseas and some years are touring thru the US. The common factor is that I plan each one and then implement those plans on the journey. And although it’s a lot of fun, it’s also a tremendous amount of work.

So this last fall when we start batting around ideas for our ’08 trip, I stated I did NOT want to do some big excursion. I wanted a vacation where I could relax…maybe a resort or something like that. Just something that once I got it planned out, on the actual vacation I didn’t have to oversee a thousand details.

The trip we came up with was a cruise. Now we had to decide “where”.

An Alaskan cruise was nixed by Himself since he does that twice a year. (One of these days I’ll do it!) Caribbean was kinda ‘ho-hum’ to both of us. It’s so overdone now and we aren’t partiers. I didn’t feel like going overseas for a Mediterranean cruise. So we started leaning towards a Hawaiian cruise. A friend went on one with his wife last June and loved it.

But while researching the different cruise lines, I saw itineraries for cruises thru the Panama Canal. Wow! I trotted that pony past Himself, and he was just as excited as I was.

Out with Hawaii and in with the Panama Canal.

More research…

I found out that the Canal season is September thru April. After that, the lines bring their ships to the Caribbean for the summer party season. Since Himself works Jan – April and June – mid Sept, that narrowed down the ‘when’ pretty quickly.

We ended up going with Princess Lines (#2 choice was Holland America). Reason for Princess is that it offered everything we wanted at a better price. It’s not as glitzy as Holland America, but I really don’t care about a golden lobby.
We have a balcony suite on the right side of the ship (so we can watch land as we sail from the Canal to CA). The ports of call are Aruba, Columbia, thru the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Huatulco Mexico. We get on in Ft Lauderdale and off in Los Angeles.

I can’t pick our excursions until July! --Sigh-- But looking at what they have offered this last season, I know what I’m aiming for. Aruba – snorkeling off a wooden sailing boat, Columbia – Panoramic Cartagena, Folkloric Show, the Canal is a thru cruise with no excursions, Costa Rica – a jungle canopy tour, Nicaragua - Colonial Granada, Masaya Volcano & Craft Market, Guatemala - Lake Atitlan & the Mayan Highlands, Mexico - Rural Communities & Traditions.

In Ft Lauderdale we want to go on an Everglades airboat tour, a cruise along the Ft Lauderdale shore and dinner at the Mai Kai dinner show. In LA, we’ll probably go with Gray Line and do a Hollywood tour and rent a car for a run down to San Diego.
And there are things to do while you’re sailing too. Of course the first thing everyone thinks of is eating. Yes, there’s plenty of food. With Princess you can pick either seated dining (where you have the same time and table every meal) or open dining (such as a restaurant). We are doing open dining since we don’t want to be tied to a schedule or set of people. Seated and Open dining have the same menu, just a different atmosphere. There are 3 formal nights, which will be fun! (Can’t wait to go shopping for that!) But there are also classes offered – such as pottery, cooking, photography and so on. There’s the spa – I’m going to get my first full massage and facial!!

And the best part is once I get off that plane in Florida, I am The Queen. Everything will be set up and all I have to do is enjoy!