Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America

Friday May 25, 2012 Foggy Bay to Ketchikan We took the rollers on our beam as we headed up Revillagigedo Channel and when they slowly smoothed out we were glad to be back inside the Inside Passage. Into Tongass Narrows the boat traffic picked up and as we caught sight of the Ketchikan skyline we realized that it was dominated by cruise ships, four of them. No Betty, we are not alone! So there are 9,000 exta people being bussed, floated and flown around today. Everyone is friendly and helpful, even the fishermen as when BJ summons them to help land the shiny yacht in among the fishing fleet. We are in a boat basin full of small fishing boats, which make us feel like we are really in Alaska. I had to find a McDonalds ... read more

INSIDE PASSAGE, ALASKA As you cruise north from Vancouver the landscape gives way to miles and miles of wilderness. Vancouver is a very densely populated city, but British Columbia as a whole is not. Except for the occasional tugboat pulling a raft of logs or a Ferry transporting passengers and their vehicles the horizon before us is clear. Clear, clean and beautiful. Snow-capped peaks fringe the narrow passage ahead and the shores are an immense forest of lush green trees. Alaska's first city is our destination. Ketchikan is billed as the salmon capital of the world and the whole city is waiting for us to arrive. We are the on the first cruise to Alaska of the season for Princess and the first to arrive at the dock on this Monday morning. We are the first ... read more

We arrived in Anchorage on the 24thof February having spent the past 6 months working and living in Vancouver. Checking into our hotel. They informed us that we have arrived on a good week as they were celebrating Fur Rondy which is a Winter Festival held in Anchorage, Alaska every year in late February. We dumped our backpacks and headed downtown just in time to grab a perfect spot for the Grande Parade, It was pretty cold standing there -9 degrees! After that we walked down to the Snow Sculpting Competition. The work was very impressive a polar bear playing a piano, Peace signs, Jesus even a Banana Split. It was going to be a tight competition. It was now time to watch the dog sled racing and see the blanket toss a traditional activity where ... read more

Greetings ! Let me introduce myself --I'm a 51 year old fat white women. My last child has just graduated and I am now ready and free to focus on myself. My weight is slowly but surely making me a "liability" in the field that I work in. I work on the Alaskan North Slope as a construction cost / scheduler. I am sure I am the largest person here or at least the heavest women. Everyone says get the "surgery" came close to it in 2002 but backed out. Partly fear - I have never had surgery before and concern - I have seen several people fail to keep weight off after the surgery. Cost around 5K to 10K. Surgery was option number ONE. Then I researched Fat Camps for adults. You see I went ... read more

ALASKA, A COOKS TOUR It’s May and time for my trip to visit my brother who lives in Chugiak, Alaska, a small bedroom community in South-Central Alaska, about 20 miles north of Anchorage. I arrived in the early morning; it was still dark at their house. The sun was soon up and I heard a low howling by one or two dogs. In rapid succession more and more dogs joined in the synchronized baying. The eerie howl was enough to cause shivers, enough to make me imagine that I was in the midst of a wilderness or perhaps engrossed in reading The Call of the Wild. It was the wakeup call of the sled dogs kept at my brother and sister in laws house. Chugiak is a quaint collection of modern, homemade, cabin like and curious ... read more