I am taking the train back to Anchorage on Sunday. Alaska Railroad (the Aurora Winter Train) has year around service throughout the state. It was originally named Alaska Central Railway in 1903, starting in Seward and extending north about 50 miles. Then in 1910, they reorganized into Alaska Northern Railway and added another 21 miles to Kern Creek. Our government lent a hand in 1914 (wasn't that in the middle of WW1?), with $35 million to extend the railway to Anchorage. Merely a tent town as of 1915, Anchorage gets going and the railway moves its headquarters here. In 1923, President Warren Harding drives in a gold spike at Nenana, completing the railroad between Seward and Anchorage. But Harding suffers food poisoning on his way home in San Francisco, and dies. With only 5400 people living ... read more

World Atlas website says: The Arctic is a region of the planet, north of the Arctic Circle, and includes the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Baffin Island, other smaller northern islands, and the far northern parts of Europe, Russia (Siberia), Alaska and Canada. The Arctic Circle, incidentally, is an imaginary line located at 66º, 30'N latitude, and as a guide defines the southernmost part of the Arctic. The climate within the Circle is very cold and much of the area is always covered with ice. In the mid winter months, the sun never rises and temperatures can easily reach lows of - 50º F in the higher latitudes. In the summer months (further south), 24 hours of sunlight a day melts the seas and topsoil, and is the main cause of icebergs breaking off from the frozen north ... read more

Just a short flight up from Anchorage lies the mysterious city of Fairbanks. This city is known as the gateway to the Aurora, and to Denali. At 64 degrees north latitude, it is known for sunsets and sunrises that last forever. Yet, for only about 35,000 residents, it garners more than its fair share of publicity. And it is less than 120 miles to the Arctic Circle. Why am I here? To see the famous Northern Lights. the Aurora Borealis, of course. The city is relatively new, having been founded in 1901 by Captain E.T. Barnette, while he was headed to Tanacross. He set up a trading post after meeting up with some gold prospectors. But the new settlement was named after a Republican senator from Indiana, Charles W. Fairbanks, later the 26th Vice-President on the ... read more

For some reason, I always thought Hawaii was our 49th state, and Alaska the 50th. Our largest state entered the Union on January 3, 1959, when I was in the 7th grade. It was acquired in 1867, mostly known then as "Seward's Folly" after the U.S. Secretary of State who engineered the purchase form Russia. I would imagine Putin probably throws daily darts at a photo of Seward on his bathroom wall each morning. But at $7.2 million, the cost was a bargain at about 2 cents per acre! The multitude of critics thought it was a horrible waste of money until gold was discovered in the Yukon in the 1890s. Alaska is bordered by the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean to the north, Canada's Yukon Territory and British Columbia to the east, the Pacific Ocean ... read more

It seems that we never get tired of visiting our favorite islands, Hawaiian style. We will visit both Kauai, our favorite, and Maui, where our timeshare is located. We are meeting my brother, Bob, and his wife, Laura on Maui, along with my cousins (Gayle and Nick), also from Clovis. We are planning a grand birthday for the Feb. 20th birthdays, Sheri and Bob. And no matter how many times we visit the islands, we never get bored with the gracious island vibe and activities. It is always nice to get out of the colder mainland winters and stifling fog, and also transform our own attitude to the "island" attitude. We also have dear friends to visit, our favorite places to eat and play, and mostly, just relax. But I will spare you all of the ... read more