Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 225

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North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage February 11th 2008

So far sooo good! I just spent a great 10 days in Alaska visiting friends from this summer and seeing what it is like without 24 hours of sunshine. I thought it would be mostly dark but actually the sun came out at about 9:30 and set around 5:00 so not too much different from home. I saw 5 moose which I absolutely love. It was WICKED WICKED cold so I didn't really spend too much time outdoors but did get out some and even though it is cold Alaska is still extremely beautiful in the winter. However Carrie told me it was literally the coldest two weeks they've had this winter with even some record lows. The mountains look even more huge covered in snow, and when the sun sets on them... just unbelievably gorgeous. ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage February 9th 2008

Complications Laura has been having some complications with the pregnancy over the last few weeks. It started with a migraine that lasted more than two weeks. It was probably stress related, which makes sense. I was supposed to be going back to Iraq for a few weeks to testify in a murder trial. Thankfully, I was excused by the judge. While the migraine was in full swing, she got an infection that caused her to start having contractions - real contractions. The doctors were very concerned but could not stop the contractions or relieve the headache. We had to go back several times. finally, a combination of complete rest and pain medicine relieved both the migraine and contractions, but it took over a week. There were some pretty scary times during that week. Laura was 28 ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Glacier Bay January 17th 2008

Full moon, sand beach, bonfire, pizza and friends... Sounds good and was... but really, what were we thinking!!! January in Glacier Bay. 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8.3 degrees Celsius)... Snow and ice, long-johns and gloves... not your typical full moon beach party for sure. The days were short, maybe 7 hours of daylight. We skied, ate, slept and sat by the fire for hours. We brought a duffle full of wood to burn - it was our saving move. Next day I paddled up the river a ways. White snow and blue sky. ... read more
Full moon over White Gap
Dundas Bay beach
Frozen rockweed

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali January 3rd 2008

I flew to Minneapolis on September 8, 2006, changed planes and flew on to Anchorage, Alaska. I flew Northwest Airlines, using Expedia.com. Roundtrip was $731.80. It was inches and feet. Things close early in Alaska. I took the city bus downtown from Ted Stevens Airport. Stevens is a Republican senator. The Hilton Hotel served as a landmark. I walked to the Alaska Railroad depot on 1st Street. It was late evening, and the train to Denali National Park did not leave until morning. I pulled an all-nighter. I entered a karaoke bar called The Woodshed and sang Elvis, Beatles, ABBA and Shania until 2:30 AM. I sat in the Marriot for a couple of hours and dozed. The train depot opened at 5 AM, and I bought a ticket to Denali. My instincts told me to ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage January 2nd 2008

Jan 2, 2008: The Girls Move in Together We moved the girls into the same room on New Year's Eve with no intention of staying up late ourselves. (We've been battling a cold for the last week.) As it turned out, we rang in the New Year trying to get the girls to stop waking each other up. Selah, the little one, would wake up and cry because she was in a new room. Then, Jaeden would wake up and cry because there was an interloper in her room crying and waking her up. That would make Selah cry more. We had a run away chain reaction - similar to the chain reaction that occurs in a nuclear explosion only stronger. Finally exhaustion overtook everyone and we were asleep around one am. Of course, they woke ... read more
Exhausted
-10F... Kiddie Pool Anyone?
Jaeden & Selah With Mr. Bear and Teddy

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage January 1st 2008

Hello Friends and Family! We will be leaving on our trip in 3 days (Thursday the 4th of Jan) and today is Heather's last day of work before we leave. We've been saying goodbye to as many friends as possible but it seems that it's now crunch-time and won't get to see everyone we'd like. It's been bitter sweet saying goodbye to our friends at work or elsewhere. At the same time, it's getting exciting as the date comes near. Here's the outline of our trip: Anchorage to San Diego to see Heather's twin sister Heidi (aka, Heizer, Heizerschintzel, or just Schintzel...all nicknames of endearment). We'll spend a couple days in the CA sun with Heidi and then on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there we'll fly down to El Calafate and bus to Patagonia to ... read more
Will someone hand me some peanuts?

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage December 28th 2007

Okay, I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. I'm back in Alaska now with my family. I got back on November 30, but before I get into all that, let me catch you up briefly on October and November: October - Yawn Nothing happened in October. The new "Concerned Citizen Program," which was started a few months ago, seems to be working very well. We are paying Iraqis, including former insurgents, to work with Coalition Forces against extreme terror groups that are unwilling to negotiate, like Al Queda for example. Sun Tsu said that the best way to win was without fighting, and this certainly falls into that category. Of course, all the fighting that we have done over the last several years has set the stage and forced the more ... read more
Goodbye Iskan
Goodbye Iskan - 2
The Mountains

North America » United States » Alaska » Anchorage December 12th 2007

The grey of the ocean meets the base of the Chugach Mountains as they rise into pillars of ice and snow, almost transparent against the dull, white sheet of a sky. From the city their presence are always felt as they tower over buildings and peak into the city through the open streets running from South to North. The sun rises later each morning from the breast of one peak, simply to fall a little earlier each day between the crevices that lie between two others. Even the Alaskans who have spent their lives in the city watch these ever-transforming giants in admiration, like children who stand mesmerized by the constant changing of the clouds. Here, in Anchorage, I am living in a two bedroom apartment with , Lacey, this awesome hippie chick, and her cat, ... read more
Sun Glazed
Moose Track
City Stalkers

North America » United States » Alaska » Glacier Bay November 24th 2007

A different planet this… The sun is low, all day. In the early afternoon it is late - the sun slides below the cloud shrouded mountains and dusk lingers just three hours past noon. There is only one color to be seen, blue, from the glacier ice and from the fleeting windows through the wind driven clouds. The bits of blue mix with an infinite number of shades of gray - and the white of snow, everywhere. There is a feud between the snow and gray. Even in the faintest of sunlight snow on the landscape wins and white prevails. All day gray rules the clouds but in the last moments of dusk the landscape concedes and gray is everywhere, then goes to darkness. The red kayak is my space ship - I slip into another ... read more
Blue ice at high tide
Harbor porpoise check out the boat
The south shore of Reid

North America » United States » Alaska » Fairbanks November 23rd 2007

Thursday, November 22, 2007, Thanksgiving Day On the road again, with my children in Elan’s car again. Not getting to drive again…. And so we are back again on a road trip to Fairbanks to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jim, Kathy & John. We planned on leaving at 7 or 8 this morning but it did not happen till 9AM. I think that while at one time driving to Fairbanks was 7 or 8 hours now it is less time. Elan was mentioning that the trip seemed much longer as a kid. He needed his pillow, blankets, books, cd’s, walkman and his teddy bear. Now we just hop in the car and we are off. Molly of course still has Sugar Plum who is a world traveler. Checked the road conditions and the road was supposed to ... read more
Thanksgiving3
Thanksgiving4
Railroad crossing




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