Blogs from Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, North America - page 13

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North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks May 31st 2009

FST CAMP To give a more detailed description, the camp is along this looooong gravel road that just winds away into the forest. We have neighbors, but everyone is tucked away from the road, so it's really easy to forget they exist - though there are a few friends of the camp that stop by on many nights and are great company. So, like I said, we are based along this long road, there is the communal kitchen/shower/ant-kitchen porch centrally located, then a couple little houses that have been built over the years. Nearly everything is at least partially, if not mostly, created out of scrounged or re-used wood/materials. There is just STUFF everywhere. Literally. Bruce, our amazing artistic director and fearless leader, keeps everything and is constantly on the lookout for new and surprising things ... read more
Lola
Trees!
Trees

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks May 25th 2009

BONFIRES I have come to the conclusion that the bonfire is just old-timey trash tv. You can sit, stare, not think, and it just makes you feel good. And you can criticize ohhh cmon! youre going to put the log that way? Nonono, you shoulda leaned it UP, like Teepee! OUTHOUSES There are no indoor toilets at camp, but there are several very nice outhouses. The way to "flush" the outhouse is to throw a few handfuls of sawdust and a shake or two of some decaf coffee down there after you go. It is a brilliant method, keeping the smell virtually inperceptable. But yet, everytime I go to leave, I feel slightly unfinished without hearing that satisfying wooooooooossssshhhh announcing the end of my potty experience. MORNINGS This is only my third morning here, but I ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks May 23rd 2009

I have arrived. Note: I just almost finished reading the book The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (almost because I had a meager 30 pages to finish before leaving, and I just couldn't justify bringing it along for so few pages and so much vital space.) But I highly recommend it, and I think I may openly borrow her formatting style - that of an encyclopedia. We shall see how it works out. TRAVEL, AIRPLANES AND CARS Getting to your flight on time is one of the most stressful things I have ever encountered. Not only is that mortal fear of MISSING YOUR FLIGHT but I can't help but be constantly aware of all the other people watching me fumble through the security checks. I realize most other people are just as ... read more
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks May 20th 2009

Hello new and old friends! I am about to embark on a series of new adventures and it is going to be a long time until I am on the same mainland as all of you so here is the place I'll be commenting and posting tons of pictures! Right now I am in the Panera in Yorkville setting all this jazz up, tomorrow I pack like crazy and say my last goodbye to my dearest boyfriend, and Friday at 8:30am I fly to Alaska! I find it funny how Alaska is often viewed as just as exciting and exotic as some forgein country. Like, I am pretty sure if I told people I was working in Mexico or Canada for the summer it'd get something more like "ooohhhoooo neat, have fun!" but when I say ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks May 16th 2009

Life can change in the blink of an eye. On Wednesday morning, my partner's grant-funded position at the university here was eliminated. This came as a huge shock; we had no hint of this happening. Because she's a foreigner, my partner would need to leave the country within 30 days. I was supposed to be gone for 2 months. We have 4 animals, and suddenly no new income - you do the math. A house sitter seems like an extravagant luxury suddenly, doesn't it? So of course I decided to cancel my trip. I emailed the course director at the dive place, I was busy looking into seeing if I could get any refunds from all those non-refundable tickets (4 flights and 3 airlines to get from here to there). I was digging through my purse ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks February 28th 2009

Text Coming Soon - no time right now, but you can pretty much get the story via pictures. Figured I should upload SOMETHING before I completely forget.... read more
The Instructor
Jim and Casey
Liz

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks February 26th 2009

Sorry for the delay! I know my fans are waiting. :) This morning, Jim Madsen from the IceCube project (the one who got all of us KSTFers involved in this in the first place) showed up in Fairbanks. It was good to spend a little time talking with him and hear more about his intentions with us teachers. I will devote a post to all of this soon. This morning was also exciting because there was a sled dog team outside in the parking long. Some of the dogs had just finished the Yukon Quest the day before! As you can imagine, they were tired...well, the ones that had raced were. I guess that 14 had started, but only 10 of them finished. I was afraid to ask why they didn't finish (don't worry, they didn't ... read more
We're Hungry!
Chow Time
Maybe if I'm good...

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks February 25th 2009

We spent the whole day in the hotel again. We learned all about uploading photos into the PolarTREC webpage, writing journal entries, and a few more things that I probably won't need after this week - except that it's good to know what Casey is going to be doing. We also got to sit in on a phone call from someone from Raytheon, which is the company that currently takes care of all the logistics for the teachers traveling to and from the Antarctic. It was neat to learn what these people will have to go through in order to get to their locations in Antarctica. The situations that each of the teachers will have (I think there are about 6 going to the Antarctic) varies quite a bit. Everyone will fly into Christ Church in ... read more
Ice Carving
Spring!
Man-eating Alligator?

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks February 24th 2009

Well, the trip started out kinda dull, but this was the day I've been waiting for! We were supposed to spend all morning in a hotel conference room again learning how to upload photos (boring and doesn't even pertain to me since I won't be taking part in a PolarTREC trip), but instead, when we showed up, they told us to rush back up to our rooms and get our cold weather gear - the winner of the Yukon Quest was going to be crossing the finish line in a couple hours! Around 9:15 am or so, we geared up and headed down to the Yukon River to wait for the dogs. The Yukon Quest is, from what I know, a race not unlike the Iditarod. It's 1,000 miles long and takes place on the frozen ... read more
Finish Line
KSTF Cheerleaders
Ice Church

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks February 3rd 2009

I went to Alaska for the first time in February of 2007 with my daughter for her birthday. The temperature in Fairbanks went as low as - 50 F during the night and as high as - 5 F at noon. It was too cold for the Northern Lights to show, but the land is very beautiful. We drove far out of town, approximately one hour north, both during the day and shortly after midnight. It was breath taking. Included are some pictures taken there.... read more
Igloo
Mountains
Noon




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