Up early to have the bag out by 6:30 and meet in the lobby at 7:15. for some reason, group picture isn't taken anyplace cool, but rather on the stairs of the Anchorage Sheraton hotel. Drove to the Iditarod museum (and gift shop). Since it's the end of the season, decent sales on stuff.... Unfortunately, because we were early, we didn't get to see any puppies. Then we drove to Talkeetna (which I'd heard of thanks to a Man vs. Food episode) to catch the train to Denali Park. We were in a "private" car with some folks from another tour company. What's funny is that we saw their tour guide when we were leaving the Sheraton and she liked my Wicked sweatshirt. Train ride up was gorgeous, I stood outside for a bit, but it ... read more

Nice flight up from Seattle to Anchorage. A bit bumpy descending, but not terrible. Sat next to a nice couple from Scotland. Cloudy and cool here, but not too bad. The globus book said it was 45 minutes from the airport to the hotel, but it was more like 15. All checked in and off to figure out what i'm doing the rest of the day and tomorrow.... read more

long day today.... TJ picked me up at ten (and today he was on time, and would have been early if his GPS hadn't lied to him), then we drove up to Snoqualmie Falls. very pretty. drove to Fremont to see the troll under the Fremont Bridge. stopped at his parents' place to get a national forest tag of some kind, then quick lunch at quiznos. drove to and through national forest land, stopping along the way at one of the fish locks/gateways and at one of the picnic areas in the forest land. drove back to Everett for dinner, then he drove me back to the hotel. tomorrow i'm seeing Odd Couple.... read more

Charles Dickens died while in the middle of writing a mystery novel. So the world will never know the truth behind "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." In the 1980s, Rupert Holmes wrote a musical version of this mystery tale. It premiered as part of Central Park's Shakespeare in the Park and then moved to Broadway where it played for about 18 months. And now, until March 2013, the Roundabout Theater Company is producing a mostly wonderful, but slightly confusing limited run revival at Studio 54. The action takes place at London's Music Hall Royale, in 1895, where a troupe of thespians is presenting "their" version of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This is part of the confusion in the show, since the actors are playing both the actors in the troupe, as well as the characters ... read more

Okay, time to actually tell you all where we went and what we did there.... The downside to posting this after the fact is that the entire trip is now tinged with the emotional state of the second week due to worrying about friends and family due to Hurricane Sandy. So that things which were enjoyed during the first week are now remembered with bit less enthusiasm. But there is an upside to posting this late. PHOTOS! Since I'm home and photos have been uploaded, I will include some in the blog entries. As stated previously, our day started with a visit to Humayun's Tomb and the to Qutab Minar. After that, we went to the Gandhi museum, which is at the house where he spent his final days and was assassinated. I had learned some ... read more