I do have to mention my favorite part of the debate. It was when President Bush referred to Putin as "Vladimir". It was almost like he wanted to show off that he and Putin are totally buds, and way cooler than Kerry, who's probably never even done vodka shots in the Kremlin.
I figure it was either that, or else Bush was just afraid he'd mispronounce Putin.
9.30.2004
The presidential debate
After months and months of slinging rhetoric and campaign commercials, it was good to finally see the two candidates go face-to-face tonight. In the next day or so, there will be plenty of analysis of tonight's debate to wade through, but my first impression is this: Kerry seemed calm, collected, and answered most of the president's charges. Bush, on the other hand, seemed to ramble a little bit and had some uncomfortably long pauses. He also had some good responses and explained some of his arguments in simple terms (always one of his strengths). I don't think Bush hurt himself tonight, but I'd say Kerry definitely helped himself. At first blush, I'd predict a bump in the polls for Kerry. Now we'll have to see what the talking heads have to say.
9.27.2004
Two of the coolest movies you'll never see
I'm always impressed to see people using their work experience to create something they love. When it also happens to be something I love, even better. If you read my post about the trailer for Garden State, you'll know about my fascination with movie previews. Well, thanks to Maxim (I know, I'm surprised I read it too), I've discovered a great site, collorastudios.com. Sandy Collora used to be a creature designer for Stan Winston Studios, a special effects house that has created groundbreaking work for films like the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park movies, the Alien series, both Predator movies, and a host of others, but has since gone on to form his own production company. Like a lot of film and comic book fans, Collora grew tired of listening to a variety of wild rumors about Batman and Superman movies and wished the movies could just get made, and made well. Unlike most fans, however, he actually had the budget and experience at his disposal to do something about it. Last year, he created an amazing short film, Batman: Dead End. I won't spoil the climax for you, but I will say this: Collora does more with the "stars" of a certain lame summer movie in 5 minutes than the studio managed to do with 2 hours and a multi-million dollar budget.
Now, Collora has created a preview for another movie, World's Finest. This one takes its title from the DC comic book of the same name, a monthly team-up of Superman and Batman that has them battling the evil plans of Lex Luthor, now president of the United States. Sadly, we'll likely never get to see this one fleshed out into an actual movie, but if fanboys everywhere had their wish, this movie would be in production already. Over the past couple of years, I've seen a slew of fan-produced trailers for movies that will never be made popping up on the web, but I guarantee you won't find one much better than this.
Now, Collora has created a preview for another movie, World's Finest. This one takes its title from the DC comic book of the same name, a monthly team-up of Superman and Batman that has them battling the evil plans of Lex Luthor, now president of the United States. Sadly, we'll likely never get to see this one fleshed out into an actual movie, but if fanboys everywhere had their wish, this movie would be in production already. Over the past couple of years, I've seen a slew of fan-produced trailers for movies that will never be made popping up on the web, but I guarantee you won't find one much better than this.
9.21.2004
Strange Days Indeed
Have you ever had one of those days when you just stop and laugh at the completely absurd situation you're in? This afternoon, I found myself driving around town with a wedding dress, an autographed Peyton Manning jersey, and a 3-foot blue spruce tree crammed into my car. I felt like I should have been in a Volkswagen commercial advocating the spaciousness and versatility of the Jetta. And considering the combined worth of the contents of my car were roughly equal to the value of the car itself, I was driving very carefully. I'm sure it looked pretty odd to people who passed me.
I've got two freelance jobs keeping me busy this week, so not much to post about again. The Blast tied 1-1 this weekend, but they played really well and enjoyed themselves, so we were pretty happy with the result. I'm really enjoying coaching, and look forward to doing it again sometime. I definitely think I inherited my dad's interest in coaching. Hopefully, I inherited his talent and patience as well. The biggest challenge most times is getting the boys to focus on soccer and stop wrestling, punching each other, climbing trees, or kicking someone else's ball down the field. Two hours a week with 14 nine-year-old boys is a pretty good form of birth control. (Exaggerating, but you get my point. Besides, "birth control" would mean a lot more if I actually had a girlfriend.) We've got a scrimmage this Thursday, and then only three more games before the playoffs. It seems like this season just started.
I've got two freelance jobs keeping me busy this week, so not much to post about again. The Blast tied 1-1 this weekend, but they played really well and enjoyed themselves, so we were pretty happy with the result. I'm really enjoying coaching, and look forward to doing it again sometime. I definitely think I inherited my dad's interest in coaching. Hopefully, I inherited his talent and patience as well. The biggest challenge most times is getting the boys to focus on soccer and stop wrestling, punching each other, climbing trees, or kicking someone else's ball down the field. Two hours a week with 14 nine-year-old boys is a pretty good form of birth control. (Exaggerating, but you get my point. Besides, "birth control" would mean a lot more if I actually had a girlfriend.) We've got a scrimmage this Thursday, and then only three more games before the playoffs. It seems like this season just started.
9.15.2004
Quiet week
Not much worth posting about this week. Much to my chagrin, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things at work. Alaska is fading into memory. Luckily, I just received CDs of Tom and Todd's photos and got my film developed, so wading through all of those images has been fun. Hopefully I can put something together in the next few days for everyone to see.
In between sorting through photos and going running (something which I've done a lot more frequently since my return from Alaska), I've been listening to a CD by a band called The Secret Machines. The disc is called Now Here Is Nowhere. It's a pretty ambitious mix of 70's prog rock and early 90's alternative. They're going to be playing in Indy on October 2nd at The Patio in Broad Ripple, so I'm going to try to spread the love and get some co-workers to join me.
In between sorting through photos and going running (something which I've done a lot more frequently since my return from Alaska), I've been listening to a CD by a band called The Secret Machines. The disc is called Now Here Is Nowhere. It's a pretty ambitious mix of 70's prog rock and early 90's alternative. They're going to be playing in Indy on October 2nd at The Patio in Broad Ripple, so I'm going to try to spread the love and get some co-workers to join me.
9.09.2004
Shatner's Back!
OK, who else thinks it's cool that William Shatner's got a prime-time gig again? C'mon, you can admit it. Seeing all those promos for Boston Legal, David E. Kelley's reworking of The Practice, during tonight's NFL opener brought a smile to your face. Without a doubt, the guy is a first-class ham, but he's slowly become one of those ironicly cool icons of yesteryear. Good to see him getting regular work again.
And no, rooting for Shatner does not mean I'm a Trekkie. :)
And no, rooting for Shatner does not mean I'm a Trekkie. :)
Instant karma's gonna get ya
Talk about getting what you deserve. Here's a ridiculous story that's been all over the news today about a guy who was overwhelmed when his dog gave birth to seven puppies. This is a good reminder of why your parents taught you not to be cruel to animals. There's also a javascript link on the page to let you see video of the survivors.
Seriously, what kind of jackass do you have to be to want to shoot a puppy, much less seven of them? As my friend Cynthia said, it's just too bad the puppy didn't have better aim.
Seriously, what kind of jackass do you have to be to want to shoot a puppy, much less seven of them? As my friend Cynthia said, it's just too bad the puppy didn't have better aim.
9.08.2004
Readjusting
It's definitely been hard staying focused since my return from Alaska. Sitting in a chair in front of my computer is a lot less interesting than remembering all the amazing things I got to do last week. My friend Todd has also posted his memories of the trip on his blog. He's also got some great pictures posted.
As it turns out, by leaving Seward on Friday, we just missed an incredible rescue. Just 24 hours later, the same boat we had taken for our whale-watching/glacier cruise was just outside of Resurrection Bay when they came upon several people floating in the water. They were able to pull three survivors from the water and resuscitate them. Here's the Anchorage Daily News' account of the events. As beautiful as Alaska is, this was another sobering reminder of just how dangerous it can be as well.
As it turns out, by leaving Seward on Friday, we just missed an incredible rescue. Just 24 hours later, the same boat we had taken for our whale-watching/glacier cruise was just outside of Resurrection Bay when they came upon several people floating in the water. They were able to pull three survivors from the water and resuscitate them. Here's the Anchorage Daily News' account of the events. As beautiful as Alaska is, this was another sobering reminder of just how dangerous it can be as well.
9.06.2004
Day 7 and home
FRI 9/3: We get up around 6:30 and go to the entrance to the Army resort, where we meet a shuttle bus that takes us to Seward's harbor area. Seward is much larger than Whittier, and has lots of permanent residences. The harbor is on Resurrection Bay, and has lots of fishing boats, a dock for cruise ships, and a little shopping district on the shore. We get our boarding passes and board our ship, the Coastal Explorer. We're taking a glacier cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours into the Kenai Fjords National Park, which is mostly a marine park. There is a good possibility of seeing whales (both killer and humpback), although we're a little late in the season. Nikki and Tom have both seen whales on previous tours with this company, but Tom says he has never seen both types on one trip. I keep my fingers crossed for orcas (killer whales). I always loved Shamu.
We set out into Resurrection Bay, keeping near to one shoreline. We see several bald eagles, as well as some puffins. They're cool, but birds are not what I'm here for. We head out into more open water. I'm a little nervous because I know my dad gets seasick, and I've never been out on the ocean like this before, but once I adjust to the rolling of the boat, I'm fine. It also helps that I spend a lot of time out on the deck breathing the cold fresh air. We head out towards a small group of rocky islands, the Chiswells. On the sides of the islands there are some birds roosting: more puffins and things called common murres. They look like penguins but aren't.
Our captain, who is also the tour guide and has a bad habit of promising too much, tells us to watch around the far side of the island as he sometimes sees a whale out here. Unfortunately, there are only about thirty Stellar's sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. Normally, they would be pretty exciting, but after being promised a whale, they're a bit of a let down. Luckily, we head around the back side of the island and hit the jackpot. We're in an area between three islands when someone spots a humpback blowing air at the surface. Off to one side is a group of birds "working a bait ball" as our guide describes it, which means they fly in a circle around a school of fish to trap them in one area, then dive in to eat them. We're told to keep an eye on this spot because the whale is likely headed there to feed. Then we see another whale blow in a different area, so now there are two humpbacks in our vicinity. We pull up near the bait ball to sit and wait, and finally the whales appear. They begin to surface near the food, and suddenly two of them surface together, breathing in tandem. According to our guide this is very rare, and probably means those two are a mother and calf. So now we've got four humpbacks around us. Unfortunately, it's hard to photograph them, because by the time we spot them, they're already back under the water. None of them do a "fluke dive", where they raise their tails straight up before diving, so eventually we move off. I'm a little bummed, because based on Tom's previous experience, this likely means no killer whales.
We head up Aialik Bay to get a close look at Holgate Glacier. Just before reaching it, we pass a rocky cliff, and there is a mountain goat near the bottom. He looks like a large shaggy white dog, and hops up the cliff for the benefit of many cameras on the boat. The glacier is huge, and a river of melt comes rushing out at the bottom. We get to see it calve, but it's not as impressive as when we were kayaking, probably because the sound of the engine drowns out some of the thunder. We get a few pictures and then head back out of the bay. On the way out, we pass another boat from Kenai Fjords Tours. Their captain must have been in radio contact with our captain, because he announces that he's changing course and that we're in for something very special. Based on his previous track record, I don't get my hopes up.
We head for an island and pull into a horseshoe shaped cove, idling in the water. After a few minutes, we begin to see large black dorsal fins carving out of the water off the one side of the horseshoe. Orcas are headed our way. As they enter the cove, our guide tells us there are seven to nine whales, most of whom are part of the same pod. There are a couple of males he doesn't recognize, and they appear to be along to mate with the young females in the pod. There is also a mother and a baby, and which is amusing itself by skidding over the top of her when she surfaces for air. The whales are curious about our boat, and come nearer and nearer, finishing with the mother and baby passing right beneath the boat for a "hull inspection". It's kind of scary to see something that large just beneath the surface of the water passing under your boat. Meanwhile, the young females, trying to attract the attention of the young males, are doing something very curious. They surface on their backs with their white bellies pointed towards the sky and flap their tails against the surface of the water. I assume this is some sort of breeding signal, but it also makes for an amazing picture. I shoot an entire roll of film in about two minutes. The whales continue to play around the boat, and their dorsal fins, some as tall as five feet, surface all around us. Finally, our guide has to take us back since we're already running late, and the boat has to make another trip that day. It's hard to leave that cove.
Heading back into Resurrection Bay, we have the wind at our back and are "surfing" the waves, meaning we're going in the same direction as the breaks. Less bouncing and faster speeds. I sit right at the front of the boat with the wind in my face, happy as a clam. No thoughts of seasickness are crossing my mind now. Just before we dock, we pass a couple of sea otters who are struggling with the choppiness of the water. Normally, they like to lay on their backs, but it's difficult to do because of the size of the waves. Once we disembark, we do a little shopping in Seward, then head back to Anchorage.
In Anchorage, we stop at the REI store. Tom and I walk through the kayak section and discuss what exactly I would need to get started. All the kayaks are on sale for Labor Day, and it's very tempting to buy one. Might be kind of tough to get it on the plane, though. We head back to Tom and Nikki's and while I pack up my stuff, Tom grills steaks and Nikki and P.I. make a delicious salad. I stuff myself, and then it's time to head to the airport. Todd and Cynthia are there for one more day, and P.I. for two, so I'm the first to leave. It's very difficult to go. I'm hoping that they will ask for volunteers to get bumped from my flight, but no such luck. I spend six hours on the way to Dallas getting kicked in the leg by a sleeping two-year-old, then spend my entire two hour flight from Dallas to Chicago in an unconscious state. I'm so tired, I barely register the hot girl in the seat behind me. I drive back to Indy in a daze, force myself to stay up until 10 pm, and then pass out for close to fifteen hours. Back to real life.
I am 99.9% positive I will go back to Alaska. I had an incredible experience there, and I'm so happy I got to share it with friends. We owe Tom and Nikki so much for all the planning, guidance, and preparation. But even with everything we did, we barely scratched the surface. I'm overwhelmed by the wild beauty of the place, and living in a state where it seems like every available inch of farmland is being turned into a subdivision, it nice to know there's still so much land that has never been touched by human feet. I can't wait to see it again.
We set out into Resurrection Bay, keeping near to one shoreline. We see several bald eagles, as well as some puffins. They're cool, but birds are not what I'm here for. We head out into more open water. I'm a little nervous because I know my dad gets seasick, and I've never been out on the ocean like this before, but once I adjust to the rolling of the boat, I'm fine. It also helps that I spend a lot of time out on the deck breathing the cold fresh air. We head out towards a small group of rocky islands, the Chiswells. On the sides of the islands there are some birds roosting: more puffins and things called common murres. They look like penguins but aren't.
Our captain, who is also the tour guide and has a bad habit of promising too much, tells us to watch around the far side of the island as he sometimes sees a whale out here. Unfortunately, there are only about thirty Stellar's sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. Normally, they would be pretty exciting, but after being promised a whale, they're a bit of a let down. Luckily, we head around the back side of the island and hit the jackpot. We're in an area between three islands when someone spots a humpback blowing air at the surface. Off to one side is a group of birds "working a bait ball" as our guide describes it, which means they fly in a circle around a school of fish to trap them in one area, then dive in to eat them. We're told to keep an eye on this spot because the whale is likely headed there to feed. Then we see another whale blow in a different area, so now there are two humpbacks in our vicinity. We pull up near the bait ball to sit and wait, and finally the whales appear. They begin to surface near the food, and suddenly two of them surface together, breathing in tandem. According to our guide this is very rare, and probably means those two are a mother and calf. So now we've got four humpbacks around us. Unfortunately, it's hard to photograph them, because by the time we spot them, they're already back under the water. None of them do a "fluke dive", where they raise their tails straight up before diving, so eventually we move off. I'm a little bummed, because based on Tom's previous experience, this likely means no killer whales.
We head up Aialik Bay to get a close look at Holgate Glacier. Just before reaching it, we pass a rocky cliff, and there is a mountain goat near the bottom. He looks like a large shaggy white dog, and hops up the cliff for the benefit of many cameras on the boat. The glacier is huge, and a river of melt comes rushing out at the bottom. We get to see it calve, but it's not as impressive as when we were kayaking, probably because the sound of the engine drowns out some of the thunder. We get a few pictures and then head back out of the bay. On the way out, we pass another boat from Kenai Fjords Tours. Their captain must have been in radio contact with our captain, because he announces that he's changing course and that we're in for something very special. Based on his previous track record, I don't get my hopes up.
We head for an island and pull into a horseshoe shaped cove, idling in the water. After a few minutes, we begin to see large black dorsal fins carving out of the water off the one side of the horseshoe. Orcas are headed our way. As they enter the cove, our guide tells us there are seven to nine whales, most of whom are part of the same pod. There are a couple of males he doesn't recognize, and they appear to be along to mate with the young females in the pod. There is also a mother and a baby, and which is amusing itself by skidding over the top of her when she surfaces for air. The whales are curious about our boat, and come nearer and nearer, finishing with the mother and baby passing right beneath the boat for a "hull inspection". It's kind of scary to see something that large just beneath the surface of the water passing under your boat. Meanwhile, the young females, trying to attract the attention of the young males, are doing something very curious. They surface on their backs with their white bellies pointed towards the sky and flap their tails against the surface of the water. I assume this is some sort of breeding signal, but it also makes for an amazing picture. I shoot an entire roll of film in about two minutes. The whales continue to play around the boat, and their dorsal fins, some as tall as five feet, surface all around us. Finally, our guide has to take us back since we're already running late, and the boat has to make another trip that day. It's hard to leave that cove.
Heading back into Resurrection Bay, we have the wind at our back and are "surfing" the waves, meaning we're going in the same direction as the breaks. Less bouncing and faster speeds. I sit right at the front of the boat with the wind in my face, happy as a clam. No thoughts of seasickness are crossing my mind now. Just before we dock, we pass a couple of sea otters who are struggling with the choppiness of the water. Normally, they like to lay on their backs, but it's difficult to do because of the size of the waves. Once we disembark, we do a little shopping in Seward, then head back to Anchorage.
In Anchorage, we stop at the REI store. Tom and I walk through the kayak section and discuss what exactly I would need to get started. All the kayaks are on sale for Labor Day, and it's very tempting to buy one. Might be kind of tough to get it on the plane, though. We head back to Tom and Nikki's and while I pack up my stuff, Tom grills steaks and Nikki and P.I. make a delicious salad. I stuff myself, and then it's time to head to the airport. Todd and Cynthia are there for one more day, and P.I. for two, so I'm the first to leave. It's very difficult to go. I'm hoping that they will ask for volunteers to get bumped from my flight, but no such luck. I spend six hours on the way to Dallas getting kicked in the leg by a sleeping two-year-old, then spend my entire two hour flight from Dallas to Chicago in an unconscious state. I'm so tired, I barely register the hot girl in the seat behind me. I drive back to Indy in a daze, force myself to stay up until 10 pm, and then pass out for close to fifteen hours. Back to real life.
I am 99.9% positive I will go back to Alaska. I had an incredible experience there, and I'm so happy I got to share it with friends. We owe Tom and Nikki so much for all the planning, guidance, and preparation. But even with everything we did, we barely scratched the surface. I'm overwhelmed by the wild beauty of the place, and living in a state where it seems like every available inch of farmland is being turned into a subdivision, it nice to know there's still so much land that has never been touched by human feet. I can't wait to see it again.
Day 6
THU 9/2: I wake up around 7:30 to heavy rain. Our tent has stayed pretty dry, thankfully. I get dressed and walk down to the other side of the beach. I see Nikki, who joins me with some interesting news. Sometime after we went to bed, a lone kayaker landed at our beach and set up his tent under our tarp. To do this, however, he had to move all of our stuff out from under the tarp into the rain. All of our food is soaked. When Tom got up at 6:30 to start breakfast and discovered this, he was not too happy. The kayaker was asked to leave, and did so. What a jackass. After dealing with him, Tom, P.I., and Nikki head off up the hill to collect blueberries for breakfast. I return to the tents to find that Todd and Cynthia's tent appears to be floating in a puddle, and they are soaked inside. While Cynthia puts on her remaining dry clothes, Todd and I go over to the tarp. We see three otters swimming along the shore. They climb out on to some rocks and chase each other all over the beach. They look a little smaller than the sea otters from the day before, and have longer tails. Tom later tells me that these must have been river otters, because sea otters almost never come to shore. We have pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast. Nikki bravely sacrifices her body to bring us these berries, taking a spill on the way back. After breakfast, Tom, Nikki, P.I. and I strike camp. Todd and Cynthia stay dry. The rain is pouring down now, and there is a cold wind coming from the direction of the glaciers. We stay huddled under the tarp waiting for the boat, which arrives about 45 minutes late. I am damp and chilly, but not even close to miserable. It would have been nearly impossible to ruin this trip for me after the day we had on Wednesday.
When the boat does arrive, we load it in near record time, and then most of us promptly fall asleep on the return trip. We unload at the dock and chat with Pete and Pete for a little while, then head to a small cafe for lunch. I have a fried halibut sandwich made from a fish probably caught the day before. I don't think I've ever had a better fish sandwich. We stop by the kayak place for some quick merchandise purchases, and then pile into the car and head to Seward. We go back through the tunnel, then continue down the Seward highway. Because of the rain, some views are obscured, but it's still a gorgeous drive.
We're staying at a townhouse in the Army's resort in Seward, so we get checked in and head in for another much-needed shower. Todd, Cynthia and I walk down to the lodge to dry some wet clothes and play a few games on the foosball table in the laundry room. After cleaning up, we head over to Exit Glacier, just outside of Seward. The rain has let up, but there is a bitingly cold wind coming off the glacier. We take a few photos, but don't stay too long. We eat dinner at the Resurrection Roadhouse at the Seward Windsong Lodge. I have seafood chowder, a blackened chicken salad, way too much bread, and two pints of Alaskan Amber (Amber beers are incredibly good up here). Needless to say, I sleep very well.
When the boat does arrive, we load it in near record time, and then most of us promptly fall asleep on the return trip. We unload at the dock and chat with Pete and Pete for a little while, then head to a small cafe for lunch. I have a fried halibut sandwich made from a fish probably caught the day before. I don't think I've ever had a better fish sandwich. We stop by the kayak place for some quick merchandise purchases, and then pile into the car and head to Seward. We go back through the tunnel, then continue down the Seward highway. Because of the rain, some views are obscured, but it's still a gorgeous drive.
We're staying at a townhouse in the Army's resort in Seward, so we get checked in and head in for another much-needed shower. Todd, Cynthia and I walk down to the lodge to dry some wet clothes and play a few games on the foosball table in the laundry room. After cleaning up, we head over to Exit Glacier, just outside of Seward. The rain has let up, but there is a bitingly cold wind coming off the glacier. We take a few photos, but don't stay too long. We eat dinner at the Resurrection Roadhouse at the Seward Windsong Lodge. I have seafood chowder, a blackened chicken salad, way too much bread, and two pints of Alaskan Amber (Amber beers are incredibly good up here). Needless to say, I sleep very well.
Day 5
WED 9/1: We get up at 5:15 to a misty rain, load Tom and Nikki's kayaks and all of our gear and head south in two cars to Whittier. We take the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm, but just before reaching the point where the road turns towards Seward, we get off. Ahead is a railroad tunnel. In 2000, they converted it so that cars could pass through, but only in one direction at a time. If you miss your window, you end up sitting and waiting for up to an hour, thus the reason for our early departure. We have a boat to catch. We drive through the tunnel, which is not your average tunnel. Instead of concrete and fluorescent lights, we are surrounded by raw rock and a few electric lanterns for two miles. Pretty intimidating. We leave the tunnel and arrive in Whittier, where Tom tells us, "the weather is always shittier". This proves true, as it is rainy and chilly. I barely register this, since I am enthralled by the view. Whittier is a harbor town on Prince William Sound, surrounded by mountains topped by ice fields, with glaciers descending in various spots. The town is so small that everyone who lives there lives in a single apartment building, which looks more like a large hotel. It's also a port for cruise ships. We head to the docks and go to Alaska Sea Kayakers, where we receive our boots and life jackets, paddles and kayaks. We get two double kayaks, one for Todd and Cynthia, and one for P.I. and I.
We carry all of this gear down a ramp to the water, where it is loaded on to our charter boat. The kayak place partners with Honey Charters, owned by a guy named Pete Heddell. He is our captain for the trip, and once we're all loaded, we shove off for our campsite. We head east into the Sound, and eventually turn back to the southwest into Blackstone Bay, where our campsite and kayaking area is located. We land on Willard Island, at a spot called The Eagle's Nest, rather appropriately named because some bald eagles have a nest in a tree just off the beach. When we land, another Pete is waiting for us. This Pete owns Alaska Sea Kayakers, and has two guys with him who he's been guiding on a trip. We switch places with them, unloading our gear on to the stony beach and setting up a tarp to protect it from the rain. After loading the other guys, the boat leaves, and we are alone in the most remote place I've ever been. It's likely that there is no one else within 20 miles of us.
We get our gear squared away, then explore the area to pick our campsite. The beach extends off to our right, stony and flat, dotted with a few patches of grass and dead tree stumps. To our left a rocky hill rises sharply away from the beach into a forest of evergreens. I would not want to have to carry our gear up that slope. Luckily, we don't. Straight ahead, a path leads us in under a stand of trees about 50 yards off the beach, and it's here that we set up our tents in three small clearings. The path winds in a circle among gnarled, moss-covered trees and large evergreens, up and down over tree roots and fallen logs. It looks the way that I've always imagined Peter Pan's Neverland would look. The only sounds we hear are a roar that sounds like a highway with steady traffic, and what seems to be not-too-distant thunder. The traffic noise turns out to be rushing water. The melt from the ice fields on the mountains across the bay rushes down to the bay in torrential waterfalls, and we hear it in the background all day. The thunder, it turns out, is calving glaciers. Large chunks of ice break off the face of the glacier and fall into the bay, creating this noise. To give you an idea of how tremendous this is, the nearest calving glacier is about six and a half miles away.
After setting up the tents, we head back to the beach and gear up for kayaking. I wear long underwear top and bottom, a short-sleeved shirt, a fleece jacket, waterproof jacket and pants, and a wool hat. Over all of that I wear a life jacket. Tom gives us a brief lesson and a warning that the water is between 38 and 42 degrees, so if we fall in it's an instant emergency situation. He has a radio tuned to the Coast Guard frequency, but there's no guarantee that anyone will hear it. It's not powerful enough to reach the nearest Coast Guard station, so unless another boat is in the area to relay the message, we're on our own. With that in mind, we push off from the beach. I'm in the back seat of our kayak, which means I control the rudder with foot pedals. After a few moments of rockiness, P.I. and I settle right in. Your butt is actually below water level in the seat, so it's a totally new experience for me. We've barely begun to practice paddling when a harbor seal pops up nearby. Tom says it's acting strangely, as it doesn't seem to care much about us being so close to it. It's either sick, injured, or giving birth, but we can't figure out which. We head off into the bay. I begin to feel like this may be the coolest thing I've ever done. We begin to pass chunks of ice right away, evidence that we are headed towards the calving glaciers. As we travel, several more harbor seals pop up to investigate us, including a pair who had been chasing each other but decide we're more interesting. These guys are all more active and inquisitive than the first seal we encountered. As we head closer to the glaciers, the chunks of ice get larger, and we can see sea otters in the distance, some on top of the ice. Towards the end of the bay, a spit of land reaches towards us, dividing the water into two areas. There is a glacier on either side, and it is Beloit Glacier on the left that's been doing most of the calving. As we get nearer, we see some gigantic ice chunks fall into the water. We land on the beach on the spit of land. There is a small low area of grass and trees, but soon tree-covered hills shoot up away from the beach towards the glaciers. Todd remarks that if you took out the glaciers, the landscape would look like Jurassic Park. It feels that wild.
We make freeze-dried Mexican food by adding hot water to the bags, which is much better than it sounds, not least of which because we're starving. I soon christen our landing spot "Bug Beach", because there are small swarming black flies that won't leave us alone. They don't bite often, but when they do you know it. Several of us leave with large bumps on our faces. We refill our water bottles with filtered water from a stream that runs down from the hills, then get back in the kayaks. Nikki has gotten tired from paddling her own kayak (we've gone about 4 miles at this point), so she and I switch places. She's in the back of the double with P.I., and I take the single. We paddle closer to Beloit Glacier and take pictures. Then we go back past our lunch spot to the glacier on the other side, Blackstone. The wind is coming heavily off the glacier here, and rain has begun to fall, so the water gets a little choppy. We turn and head back, seeing a few otters along the way. They are by far the cutest animals we've seen. I'm enjoying the single kayak. It feels good to test myself at something new, and to exercise with a reason for expending the energy. At one point on the return trip, we come out of the choppy water into a calm, glassy area and stop paddling, just drifting along. The rain lets up, and there is mist ahead of us. Todd & Cynthia are coasting along ahead of me, and there's no noise other than the rushing water. I am so at peace in that moment. I am now convinced that this is the coolest thing I've ever done. I start calculating how soon I can afford a kayak.
After pausing for Tom to take a few pictures of birds sitting on ice chunks that look like they're walking on water, we land back at our campsite. We've gone just about 9-1/2 miles. Sitting under the tarp to get out of the rain, we play some euchre and make quesadillas for dinner. It begins to get dark, and the rain gets heavier, so we head off to bed. I sleep very well listening to the sound of the raindrops on the tent's rain fly.
We carry all of this gear down a ramp to the water, where it is loaded on to our charter boat. The kayak place partners with Honey Charters, owned by a guy named Pete Heddell. He is our captain for the trip, and once we're all loaded, we shove off for our campsite. We head east into the Sound, and eventually turn back to the southwest into Blackstone Bay, where our campsite and kayaking area is located. We land on Willard Island, at a spot called The Eagle's Nest, rather appropriately named because some bald eagles have a nest in a tree just off the beach. When we land, another Pete is waiting for us. This Pete owns Alaska Sea Kayakers, and has two guys with him who he's been guiding on a trip. We switch places with them, unloading our gear on to the stony beach and setting up a tarp to protect it from the rain. After loading the other guys, the boat leaves, and we are alone in the most remote place I've ever been. It's likely that there is no one else within 20 miles of us.
We get our gear squared away, then explore the area to pick our campsite. The beach extends off to our right, stony and flat, dotted with a few patches of grass and dead tree stumps. To our left a rocky hill rises sharply away from the beach into a forest of evergreens. I would not want to have to carry our gear up that slope. Luckily, we don't. Straight ahead, a path leads us in under a stand of trees about 50 yards off the beach, and it's here that we set up our tents in three small clearings. The path winds in a circle among gnarled, moss-covered trees and large evergreens, up and down over tree roots and fallen logs. It looks the way that I've always imagined Peter Pan's Neverland would look. The only sounds we hear are a roar that sounds like a highway with steady traffic, and what seems to be not-too-distant thunder. The traffic noise turns out to be rushing water. The melt from the ice fields on the mountains across the bay rushes down to the bay in torrential waterfalls, and we hear it in the background all day. The thunder, it turns out, is calving glaciers. Large chunks of ice break off the face of the glacier and fall into the bay, creating this noise. To give you an idea of how tremendous this is, the nearest calving glacier is about six and a half miles away.
After setting up the tents, we head back to the beach and gear up for kayaking. I wear long underwear top and bottom, a short-sleeved shirt, a fleece jacket, waterproof jacket and pants, and a wool hat. Over all of that I wear a life jacket. Tom gives us a brief lesson and a warning that the water is between 38 and 42 degrees, so if we fall in it's an instant emergency situation. He has a radio tuned to the Coast Guard frequency, but there's no guarantee that anyone will hear it. It's not powerful enough to reach the nearest Coast Guard station, so unless another boat is in the area to relay the message, we're on our own. With that in mind, we push off from the beach. I'm in the back seat of our kayak, which means I control the rudder with foot pedals. After a few moments of rockiness, P.I. and I settle right in. Your butt is actually below water level in the seat, so it's a totally new experience for me. We've barely begun to practice paddling when a harbor seal pops up nearby. Tom says it's acting strangely, as it doesn't seem to care much about us being so close to it. It's either sick, injured, or giving birth, but we can't figure out which. We head off into the bay. I begin to feel like this may be the coolest thing I've ever done. We begin to pass chunks of ice right away, evidence that we are headed towards the calving glaciers. As we travel, several more harbor seals pop up to investigate us, including a pair who had been chasing each other but decide we're more interesting. These guys are all more active and inquisitive than the first seal we encountered. As we head closer to the glaciers, the chunks of ice get larger, and we can see sea otters in the distance, some on top of the ice. Towards the end of the bay, a spit of land reaches towards us, dividing the water into two areas. There is a glacier on either side, and it is Beloit Glacier on the left that's been doing most of the calving. As we get nearer, we see some gigantic ice chunks fall into the water. We land on the beach on the spit of land. There is a small low area of grass and trees, but soon tree-covered hills shoot up away from the beach towards the glaciers. Todd remarks that if you took out the glaciers, the landscape would look like Jurassic Park. It feels that wild.
We make freeze-dried Mexican food by adding hot water to the bags, which is much better than it sounds, not least of which because we're starving. I soon christen our landing spot "Bug Beach", because there are small swarming black flies that won't leave us alone. They don't bite often, but when they do you know it. Several of us leave with large bumps on our faces. We refill our water bottles with filtered water from a stream that runs down from the hills, then get back in the kayaks. Nikki has gotten tired from paddling her own kayak (we've gone about 4 miles at this point), so she and I switch places. She's in the back of the double with P.I., and I take the single. We paddle closer to Beloit Glacier and take pictures. Then we go back past our lunch spot to the glacier on the other side, Blackstone. The wind is coming heavily off the glacier here, and rain has begun to fall, so the water gets a little choppy. We turn and head back, seeing a few otters along the way. They are by far the cutest animals we've seen. I'm enjoying the single kayak. It feels good to test myself at something new, and to exercise with a reason for expending the energy. At one point on the return trip, we come out of the choppy water into a calm, glassy area and stop paddling, just drifting along. The rain lets up, and there is mist ahead of us. Todd & Cynthia are coasting along ahead of me, and there's no noise other than the rushing water. I am so at peace in that moment. I am now convinced that this is the coolest thing I've ever done. I start calculating how soon I can afford a kayak.
After pausing for Tom to take a few pictures of birds sitting on ice chunks that look like they're walking on water, we land back at our campsite. We've gone just about 9-1/2 miles. Sitting under the tarp to get out of the rain, we play some euchre and make quesadillas for dinner. It begins to get dark, and the rain gets heavier, so we head off to bed. I sleep very well listening to the sound of the raindrops on the tent's rain fly.
Day 4
TUE 8/31: I wake up before everyone else and walk down to the Teklanika to take pictures. I see what appears to be a bear in the distance but later am not so sure. Tom & Todd join me, and we hike north along the river bed to a rocky hill that rises above the river. We climb to the top and are treated to a commanding view of the river valley just as the sun comes over the eastern mountains, bathing everything in a golden glow. My bear appears to have been a stump from this view. We go back to the RV, have some french toast and spend 20 minutes rehashing the previous night's events. This is the beginning of what will become a running joke throughout the trip. I seem to have freaked P.I. out with my flailing, and rightly so. I can't ever remember doing anything like that before.
We pack up and head back towards the park entrance. Along the way, we see some cars pulled over taking pictures of a large bull moose off to the right of the road. We get out as well. The moose gets closer and closer to the road, and eventually when everyone gives him enough room, crosses the road right in front of us, probably 15-20 feet away. He is HUGE, and surprisingly majestic for a creature that is so often portrayed as goofy and awkward. My adrenaline is pumping. Back in the RV, we continue the ride. Much of the smoke has blown out during the night, so we get better views in this direction, and the colors are fantastic.
Back in Anchorage, we clean out the RV and take our first showers in three days. Glorious. After returning the RV and doing some laundry, we eat dinner at a place called The Bear's Tooth Grill, which is owned by the same people who own The Moose's Tooth Pub, where Tom and Nikki took me on my first visit to Anchorage. I have Yucatan Lime soup, a pizza, and get my first taste of my new favorite beer, Northern Light Amber, a house beer from the Moose's Tooth Brewing Company. I'm not holding out much hope for finding it in Indianapolis. After dinner, we quickly crash before another early morning.
We pack up and head back towards the park entrance. Along the way, we see some cars pulled over taking pictures of a large bull moose off to the right of the road. We get out as well. The moose gets closer and closer to the road, and eventually when everyone gives him enough room, crosses the road right in front of us, probably 15-20 feet away. He is HUGE, and surprisingly majestic for a creature that is so often portrayed as goofy and awkward. My adrenaline is pumping. Back in the RV, we continue the ride. Much of the smoke has blown out during the night, so we get better views in this direction, and the colors are fantastic.
Back in Anchorage, we clean out the RV and take our first showers in three days. Glorious. After returning the RV and doing some laundry, we eat dinner at a place called The Bear's Tooth Grill, which is owned by the same people who own The Moose's Tooth Pub, where Tom and Nikki took me on my first visit to Anchorage. I have Yucatan Lime soup, a pizza, and get my first taste of my new favorite beer, Northern Light Amber, a house beer from the Moose's Tooth Brewing Company. I'm not holding out much hope for finding it in Indianapolis. After dinner, we quickly crash before another early morning.
Day 3
MON 8/30: We get up around 6:30 to catch a park bus just outside our campsite. We'll take this bus all the way to Wonder Lake (mile 85) and back, about a 7-1/2 hour trip. The bus is basically a glorified school bus, and the road is a bumpy dirt path that winds along the edge of the mountains, but no one's worried about comfort. We're all too eager to catch a glimpse of the animals that you're expected to see on this ride, and we are not disappointed. By the time the day is over, we'll have seen a moose, two Dall sheep, 3 caribou and 14 grizzlies. We stop at Polychrome Overlook and Eielson Visitor Center on the way in, but the smoke is still heavy and visibility is not so great. There are still some amazing views, which makes me wonder how incredible it must be when it's clear.
By the time we reach Wonder Lake, we've already seen the sheep (which are mountainous and live high up in the rocks), and 6 grizzlies. It's the time of year when the bears are eating berries,so most are on the grassy slopes of the mountains just above the road. They are doing something called "the berry bob", where they lower their head as they strip the berries from the bush with their mouths, then lift their heads to eat them. Also, we see a young male chasing a ground squirrel. He has no problem running down the slope as he gives chase, which explodes P.I.'s belief that if a bear chases you, you should run downhill. When we get to Wonder Lake, we see the caribou grazing near a pond. We leave the bus and wander around on the tundra. It's very soft and springy, and walking around on it is a strange experience. It's almost like one of those inflatable moonwalk things at the fair. We get back on the bus and look at the caribou some more, then start our journey back towards the campground.
After another stop at Eielson and a new stop at the Toklat River, we decide to leave the bus and hike along the road. At this point, the hill to the right of the road drops sharply away 500-700 feet to the valley below. Looking down, we see a mother bear and her two cubs traveling along the river below. Watching the cubs is amazing. They wrestle, chase each other, chase their mother, attack some caribou antlers that they find, and splash in and out of the water. At one point, their mother gets ahead of them around a bend, and the cubs start to panic. Eventually, their mother comes back to track them down, so they stick closer to her after that. We hike up to Polychrome and catch a different bus, from which we see several more bears. About a mile from our campsite, we leave the bus again and hike the rest of the way. We have pasta with a homemade sauce for dinner, and watch "Rat Race" on the RV's DVD player before falling asleep. And that's when the craziness begins.
MON/TUE: At some point around 3:30 am, Todd climbs out of his bed, apparently sleepwalking. He steps wrong and falls down the stairwell to the door, causing the door to make a loud bang as if it had slammed. P.I., who is next to me in the RV, sits up and screams. I am still halfway in a disturbing dream about the RV being attacked by wolves, and become convinced that a wolf has gotten in the door and is attacking P.I., so I attempt to save her by trying to push it off of her, shouting for help all the while. P.I. is also shouting, I assume because she's being attacked. Meanwhile, Cynthia is shouting because Todd is not in bed next to her, Nikki is screaming, Tom is trying to figure out what's happening, and Todd can't figure out why he's out of bed. After about 10 seconds of pure chaos that feel like 30 minutes, P.I. makes me realize that she is in fact being attacked, but only by me. I stop pushing, but am still confused. A rather loud conversation catches everyone up to what is happening (and probably wakes up everyone else in the campground), and some sort of calm is restored. Once assured that everyone is OK, the men go right back to sleep. The women, however, barely sleep the rest of the night because, as Nikki said, "my heart was beating so fast, I thought I was having a heart attack".
By the time we reach Wonder Lake, we've already seen the sheep (which are mountainous and live high up in the rocks), and 6 grizzlies. It's the time of year when the bears are eating berries,so most are on the grassy slopes of the mountains just above the road. They are doing something called "the berry bob", where they lower their head as they strip the berries from the bush with their mouths, then lift their heads to eat them. Also, we see a young male chasing a ground squirrel. He has no problem running down the slope as he gives chase, which explodes P.I.'s belief that if a bear chases you, you should run downhill. When we get to Wonder Lake, we see the caribou grazing near a pond. We leave the bus and wander around on the tundra. It's very soft and springy, and walking around on it is a strange experience. It's almost like one of those inflatable moonwalk things at the fair. We get back on the bus and look at the caribou some more, then start our journey back towards the campground.
After another stop at Eielson and a new stop at the Toklat River, we decide to leave the bus and hike along the road. At this point, the hill to the right of the road drops sharply away 500-700 feet to the valley below. Looking down, we see a mother bear and her two cubs traveling along the river below. Watching the cubs is amazing. They wrestle, chase each other, chase their mother, attack some caribou antlers that they find, and splash in and out of the water. At one point, their mother gets ahead of them around a bend, and the cubs start to panic. Eventually, their mother comes back to track them down, so they stick closer to her after that. We hike up to Polychrome and catch a different bus, from which we see several more bears. About a mile from our campsite, we leave the bus again and hike the rest of the way. We have pasta with a homemade sauce for dinner, and watch "Rat Race" on the RV's DVD player before falling asleep. And that's when the craziness begins.
MON/TUE: At some point around 3:30 am, Todd climbs out of his bed, apparently sleepwalking. He steps wrong and falls down the stairwell to the door, causing the door to make a loud bang as if it had slammed. P.I., who is next to me in the RV, sits up and screams. I am still halfway in a disturbing dream about the RV being attacked by wolves, and become convinced that a wolf has gotten in the door and is attacking P.I., so I attempt to save her by trying to push it off of her, shouting for help all the while. P.I. is also shouting, I assume because she's being attacked. Meanwhile, Cynthia is shouting because Todd is not in bed next to her, Nikki is screaming, Tom is trying to figure out what's happening, and Todd can't figure out why he's out of bed. After about 10 seconds of pure chaos that feel like 30 minutes, P.I. makes me realize that she is in fact being attacked, but only by me. I stop pushing, but am still confused. A rather loud conversation catches everyone up to what is happening (and probably wakes up everyone else in the campground), and some sort of calm is restored. Once assured that everyone is OK, the men go right back to sleep. The women, however, barely sleep the rest of the night because, as Nikki said, "my heart was beating so fast, I thought I was having a heart attack".
Days 1 & 2
This is the beginning of my recap of the Alaska trip. I'll be posting them in installments, usually broken up by day:
SAT 8/28: After a long, cramped flight from Chicago, I get into Anchorage at 10:45 Saturday night. The approach to the Anchorage airport brings us in over the water, and there's a scary moment when we are descending and I can't see anything but water. Nikki, Cynthia, and P.I. pick me up, because Tom and Todd are getting the RV ready for the next day. We hit the grocery store on the way back to Tom and Nikki's, then pretty much go straight to bed for the first in a series of early mornings.
SUN 8/29: We get up around 6:45 (Alaska is 4 hrs. behind Eastern Time) to start loading all of our gear into the RV. It was plenty big enough for six people, although I can say that because I got to sleep on the big bed. I don't know how the ones on the tiny beds would feel about that statement. Leave Tom & Nikki's around 8:00 and start the 3-hour drive to Denali National Park. A lot of the drive is just your average highway... with gigantic mountains all around. The closer we get to Denali, the more the colors start to change. Autumn has arrived in Alaska.
We arrive at the park, greeted by a national park sign which is usually framed by a breathtaking view. Unfortunately, due to smoke from the wildfires raging across Alaska, much of the scenery is obscured. No chance at seeing Mt. McKinley today. Tom tells us the fires have already burned an area the size of the state of Massachusetts. We stop by the visitor's center to get our camping permits and pick up some maps, then head down the road towards our campsite. There is only one 89-mile-long road in and out of the park. At mile 15, there is a checkpoint beyond which only RVs and park buses are allowed to continue, and once we reach our campsite at mile 29, only the park buses can travel the rest of the road.
We stop at the checkpoint, because there is a nice hike along the Savage River that gives us a chance to stretch our legs, and to eat lunch. It's pretty chilly, but the fresh air makes the food taste incredibly good. We climb up to a rock formation above the road, and see a pika in the rocks. I thought it looked like a rabbit with small ears, but someone else described it as an oversized mouse. We descend from the rocks and hike the loop trail along the Savage River, where we see a few ground squirrels. They look a lot like prairie dogs, only with longer tails. After taking a few pictures, we climb back in the RV, and head for the campsite. Along the way, Tom spots a couple of caribou grazing on a hillside.
Our campsite is a rather rugged RV park on the bank of the Teklanika River. In the center of the campground there is a bathroom with a flush toilet and a spigot for fresh water, but that's the extent of the amenities. We pick our spot and settle in, then walk down to the river and hike south along the bed. Because it's a glacially-fed river, there is a lot of silt in the water that creates lots of small islands in the bed (called braiding), so it's not hard for us to find a path. We find a set of caribou antlers with part of the skull still attached. We hope it was killed far away and washed there by the river. After thinking we see an animal moving on the bed ahead of us, we climb up to the road above and walk back to camp for a dinner of brats and potato salad. No problems sleeping tonight.
SAT 8/28: After a long, cramped flight from Chicago, I get into Anchorage at 10:45 Saturday night. The approach to the Anchorage airport brings us in over the water, and there's a scary moment when we are descending and I can't see anything but water. Nikki, Cynthia, and P.I. pick me up, because Tom and Todd are getting the RV ready for the next day. We hit the grocery store on the way back to Tom and Nikki's, then pretty much go straight to bed for the first in a series of early mornings.
SUN 8/29: We get up around 6:45 (Alaska is 4 hrs. behind Eastern Time) to start loading all of our gear into the RV. It was plenty big enough for six people, although I can say that because I got to sleep on the big bed. I don't know how the ones on the tiny beds would feel about that statement. Leave Tom & Nikki's around 8:00 and start the 3-hour drive to Denali National Park. A lot of the drive is just your average highway... with gigantic mountains all around. The closer we get to Denali, the more the colors start to change. Autumn has arrived in Alaska.
We arrive at the park, greeted by a national park sign which is usually framed by a breathtaking view. Unfortunately, due to smoke from the wildfires raging across Alaska, much of the scenery is obscured. No chance at seeing Mt. McKinley today. Tom tells us the fires have already burned an area the size of the state of Massachusetts. We stop by the visitor's center to get our camping permits and pick up some maps, then head down the road towards our campsite. There is only one 89-mile-long road in and out of the park. At mile 15, there is a checkpoint beyond which only RVs and park buses are allowed to continue, and once we reach our campsite at mile 29, only the park buses can travel the rest of the road.
We stop at the checkpoint, because there is a nice hike along the Savage River that gives us a chance to stretch our legs, and to eat lunch. It's pretty chilly, but the fresh air makes the food taste incredibly good. We climb up to a rock formation above the road, and see a pika in the rocks. I thought it looked like a rabbit with small ears, but someone else described it as an oversized mouse. We descend from the rocks and hike the loop trail along the Savage River, where we see a few ground squirrels. They look a lot like prairie dogs, only with longer tails. After taking a few pictures, we climb back in the RV, and head for the campsite. Along the way, Tom spots a couple of caribou grazing on a hillside.
Our campsite is a rather rugged RV park on the bank of the Teklanika River. In the center of the campground there is a bathroom with a flush toilet and a spigot for fresh water, but that's the extent of the amenities. We pick our spot and settle in, then walk down to the river and hike south along the bed. Because it's a glacially-fed river, there is a lot of silt in the water that creates lots of small islands in the bed (called braiding), so it's not hard for us to find a path. We find a set of caribou antlers with part of the skull still attached. We hope it was killed far away and washed there by the river. After thinking we see an animal moving on the bed ahead of us, we climb up to the road above and walk back to camp for a dinner of brats and potato salad. No problems sleeping tonight.
Back in town
Well, I'm back. Alaska was incredible, and no matter what words I use to describe it, they will never do it justice. I'm going to make an attempt, and will be posting it in installments, since it's rather wordy. I'm just checking a few facts with my fellow travelers, and then I'll begin posting.
Before I do, though, I want to give a huge thank you to Tom and Nikki Ulmer, our hosts on this trip. They did so much planning and preparation before the rest of us arrived that we would have been lost without them. Tom acted as our tour guide, photographer, cook, and even camp policeman. His experience was totally invaluable, and it would not have been the same trip without him. To get a taste of what we saw, check out Tom's photography. There's already some stuff up from our trip. He's extremely talented, and his stuff is for sale at very reasonable prices, so buy something already. And thanks to Nikki for being our reason to go to Alaska. Without a friend to visit, none of the rest of us probably would have ever made it Alaska, and definitely never had the experience we had last week.
Also, another thank you to Todd, Cynthia, and P.I. (a.k.a. Engine No. 1). They were also a big part of the trip, and I'm glad to have been able to share my experiences with them (and save them from imaginary wolf attacks). Readjusting to life in Indianapolis is going to be tough after the week we just had.
Before I do, though, I want to give a huge thank you to Tom and Nikki Ulmer, our hosts on this trip. They did so much planning and preparation before the rest of us arrived that we would have been lost without them. Tom acted as our tour guide, photographer, cook, and even camp policeman. His experience was totally invaluable, and it would not have been the same trip without him. To get a taste of what we saw, check out Tom's photography. There's already some stuff up from our trip. He's extremely talented, and his stuff is for sale at very reasonable prices, so buy something already. And thanks to Nikki for being our reason to go to Alaska. Without a friend to visit, none of the rest of us probably would have ever made it Alaska, and definitely never had the experience we had last week.
Also, another thank you to Todd, Cynthia, and P.I. (a.k.a. Engine No. 1). They were also a big part of the trip, and I'm glad to have been able to share my experiences with them (and save them from imaginary wolf attacks). Readjusting to life in Indianapolis is going to be tough after the week we just had.
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