Penguins, Dinosaurs, and Ice...Oh My!

Hey Everybody!

Apparently I am a bit fuzzy on the lines from Wizard of Oz.

And, found a few for tidbits in Secrets of the Ice by Meduna.

The ice is 2.5 miles above sea level, but once had lush forests and dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs!

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, and highest continent on earth.

Antarctica is the world's largest desert.

An early explorer (Ross) said that seeing Antarctica baffled "all power of language."

To that I say...it's a good thing I'll have a few weeks to figure how to share it with you on the blog.

This round-trip adventure includes 11 flight segments (3 airlines) and a ship. I have completed 2 flights. I expect to board the flight #3 to continent #4 in the next few minutes.

When the plane touched down in Dallas a little while ago I texted my friend to say something like: guess I'm going to Antarctica! It doesn't feel quite real yet, but I think the 10-11 flight will give reality a chance to set in.

Best to all of you.....they just started boarding. Gotta run. Will be in touch...

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In Preparation for Antarctica....

Disclaimer: I thought I ALWAYS documented my sources, but I there is a possibility that this info came from the "Antarctic Reader" (provided by the expedition company) and another source. If I find a second source. I'll post it.

Hey Everybody!


I don't know how, but somehow seven months have passed and I am only a week or so away from catching a plane to begin the long trip to Ushuaia where I will then board a ship to the land of ice & penguins!

But first some random tidbits about this destination. Beginning with this philosophical history lesson:

Greek philosophers were the first ones to conceive of a place like Antarctica. Because they believed the world was round, they concluded that the bottom of the world must have a landmass to balance out the North. Their idea stayed on maps for more than two thousand years without any actual proof. How cool are philosophers!? :-)

What year did the first humans winter on Antarctica? 1889

The continent with the highest average elevation? Antarctica

Fire is a serious hazard in the dry Antarctic environment.

Pretty much everything I read points out that Antarctica is potentially dangerous (just a nice way to say deadly), unpredictable, and inhospitable. Still, I am eager to get there!

The Falkland Islands have a population of two to three thousand people, tourist shops (insane!), and average winds of 40-70mph. They have no native trees or native land mammals. Most importantly....they are home to six breeding species of penguins!!!!

Captain Cook was the first person to land at South Georgia. There are 12 mountains over 6,000ft and approximately 160 glaciers! Between 1906-65 1.5 million whales were hunted, which decimated both the whaling industry and the whale population. The human population is probably 10-20 here, but the penguin population is in the millions! Oh happy day!!!

The first child was born on Antarctica in 1978....that's just cool!


Ice on the white continent can be 13,000ft thick in some spots.

-129.3F is the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth. I'm hoping for something closer to near freezing temps. Freezing I can handle; -129F not so much!

Antarctic plants do not grow very fast & most of them are about 1-1.25 inches in height.

Sadly, on this trip I will not be exploring the interior of Antarctica but will be limited to the peninsula. The interior continent gets an average of 6-inches of water per year, which is only a little more than the Sahara Desert. The snow/ice that's present is believed to have built up over millions of years. The Antarctic Peninsula can average 35 inches per year.

Ok...hopefully that's enough quick facts to entice you to check the blog again when I return to wifi-land after the trip :-).

Happy November to all!

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!Change of Plans!

Hey Everybody!

I know this will come as a great shock to many of you, but I have decided to stop traveling. After a trip to a music festival this weekend I realized that I have seen it all. Don't believe me? I witnessed a middle-aged, traditional country band - with a washboard - sing & dance (yes, dance) to Beyonce's "Put a Ring on it/Single Ladies." Plus....there's Twiggy, the world famous water skiing squirrel. No way to top this stuff!

I am SO sorry I don't have a pic of the Beyonce number. It was a quite a surprise & I was not prepared. Had I known how close I could get to the stage this past weekend I would have brought a real camera!

Back to the festival.....I spent the weekend in Maryville, TN for their annual Foothills Fall Festival. It's ranked as one of the best festivals in the country, but that had nothing to do with my decision. After being there, I concur it's an excellent festival. It runs so smoothly and efficiently.....hard not to be impressed. Everyone is friendly. And the weather was as close to perfect as one could hope - probably the last 70* temps for me this year. Some locals said I traveled further for the music than anybody else. No idea if that's true, but it was totally worth the trip.

I meet a lot of people and always learn something in my travel adventures. One of the things I have learned is that giving up concerts for travel is NOT easy. My music addiction needs to be fed on a regular basis. More than once I seriously considered changing (ok, canceling) my plans to see a show, but I stuck to my travel goals - just kept telling myself it would be okay :-). Sure, I travel with some music but it just ain't the same. After nearly 7 months (that's a lot to me!) I jumped at the chance to take in a variety of local/regional and national bands this past weekend, along with a songwriter circle.

It's like Nietzsche said: " Without music, life would be a mistake."

The songwriter circle....

My impetus for the trip (in order of appearance):

Gary Allan - another California native - who does stunning lyrical work. I often think of him as a modern day Zarathustra

&

Train!

Ok, so they aren't CA natives.... But they are definitely a CA band!

These guys are just cool & it makes me happy that they exist.

But there were other good reasons to go.....including more surprises. Not only did Thompson Square put on a great show as the opening act for the artist formerly known as Hootie.....

Darius Rucker

....but also they sang Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" - one of the greatest songs of all-time. Years ago I was lucky to hear Dobie Gray (now deceased) sing that song in Nashville & it's always good to hear it live one more time. Train....if you're listening....I think you guys would do a sweet live version :-) Please!

Thompson Square

Another surprise was a diverse band, The Farm. I didn't think I knew who they were, although it turned out I had heard their first two singles on the radio. Their performance was excellent - unique, high energy & quite flawless. Pretty sure this group is going places!

Another nice surprise was Train throwing part of The Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" into the show. I have begged Mick to sing this when I've been at Stones shows - it's like he doesn't hear me! Go figure.....

One last thing....all of the above is true except for the stopping part. I can't quit now. I leave for Antarctica in about TWO weeks!!!!!!!

I know the blog hasn't been updated for a couple weeks. I will try to post some Antarctic tidbits before I leave because it won't be easy to blog from the white continent. Hope all is well at your end. I appreciate that you keep stopping by & I promise to start posting way too much about the Antarctica trip as soon as I am able (hopefully around Thanksgiving). And I promise to try not to reference Nietzsche twice in the next post...although that would be fun for me.....

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Fairbanks, AK

Hey Everybody!

My month in Alaska is nearly over. It's a beautiful state....I wish I were staying a bit longer. Yes, I admit Kodiak grew a little small for me. But any town where the parents charge the field to fight the away team's football coach after a loss is not for me. But I'd go there again with a new agenda. Not that I'm planning for that right now. After all, there are parts of the state I haven't seen at all....yet. Anyway, I have three days of activity to post, so I better get to it.

My first task upon arrival was getting to the North Pole....Capt. Heidi started inquiring about Santa & his reindeer last spring. I HAD to go! Plus, FlatJen got all into the Christmas spirit when she saw the Santa Claus House. Best of all....I found a friend for FlatJen! Just in time too....I cannot keep chasing her down. At North Pole I had to stop her from taking the sleigh. :-) One final note about the North Pole....this town has really committed to its fate. I cannot imagine even one other welding company in the world that looks like this.

Two weeks or so ago Fairbanks must have been a beautiful Fall town. Most of the leafy trees are part of the great toothpick forest now....

but still plenty of cool stuff to see on hikes. I chose the Angel Rock Trail because it was cold out & not 15miles long like the other trail I wanted to explore. The Angel Rocks are the small, exposed tips of huge granite that formed millions of years ago as magma cooled below the surface.

From the parking lot

Near the start of the trail looking toward my destination

A valley view fom the top & a close-up

On my last full day in AK (for now) I woke to a light dusting of snow & had to brush off the windows to drive. It's been a long time since I had to do that.... I thought a winter drive might be nice & on the Parks Hwy I found a bit more falling snow.

Last but not least....as I have been to Fairbanks before my main purpose this trip was the hope of seeing Northern Lights. It is clear that tourists are not the only late-night sky watchers around here...check out these seats. If I lived here....this would be my spot!

2013 is to be a period of high solar activity & Northern Lights. Northern Lights were visible 9/5 while I was on the first ferry....they even appeared in Kodiak! I saw that photo on 9/6. On 9/28 there was a small solar event that was predicted to spike the light's activity on the 30th (last nite). But it was extremely cloudy through the day. The amazing thing was how much clearer the sky got through the early evening. Thus I went to my viewing spot with high hopes & ignored the lingering cloud cover. In the end, I had a most fleeting opportunity that just barely counts. Good thing 2013 activity lies ahead!

Happy October.....thanks for stopping by!

PS Sourdough is often called a "minor religion" in Alaska. With this in mind, I tried sourdough pancakes this visit because I didn't get to last time. I like sourdough bread, but it turns out that I do NOT like the pancakes. Not even with syrup. Pancakes shouldn't have an aftertaste....

 

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High Seas to Homer

Hey Everybody!

I'm starting to dislike the line, "We're expecting some weather" or maybe I just don't want to hear about hurricanes when I'm in open water. When last I wrote it was about 9/23....the end of a beautiful & calm day on the water. I had no idea it would come to such a dramatic or LONG end.

The original ferry schedule indicated we would arrive in Homer about 2pm - giving me almost 2 full days to explore this small artsy city. But we were behind due to weather on the southbound journey, so most of us figured we'd arrive between 4-5. Ha! Turns out the stretch of Pacific Ocean between Kodiak and Homer can be more challenging than the Unimak Pass.

After roughly 16hrs of 50-70mph winds with gusts to 80 mph AND 25-30ft seas, we docked in Homer around 9pm. Our Greek taxi driver put it all in perspective. He said the ferry was like an old woman, "always slow & always rocking." I did not get sick, but wasn't having much fun either! Visibility was poor & the captain even considered turning back. I am SO glad he didn't; we'd travelled too far to have to start over the next day! On rare occasions I went on deck for fresh air. Reading became increasingly difficult. I didn't eat (except some crackers & microwave popcorn). The bridge asked us not to move around much. I ran out of sleep, but stayed in bed most of the time.

Here's the interesting part: The Drake Passage seas can reach 45ft and winds can gust up to 100mph. Of course, the vessel & the environment will be different....so maybe....maybe I won't get sick. And look, the Homer Spit has a sign for Cape Horn (part of next month's journey)....only 9,503 miles away!

Sadly, this means I had only one full day in Homer & a rainy day at that, but still I wandered around the spit and through town. I definitely want to return to Homer....a lot of places were already closed for the winter, but it just has a cool vibe. The population is about half that of Kodiak, but it doesn't feel as small.

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies proved to be a great find. Not only do they coordinate beach clean-ups and environmental education, but also the staff are cool and kind. I caught a ride to the end of the Spit with one of them & we traded music recommendations in the car. This is one of the plastic debris art projects...

The tip of the Homer Spit

It's so rare to see clean buoys on dry land that I had to include this one.

There are a bunch of stores on the Spit, but nearly all were closed. There is a campground out there too....would LOVE to camp out by the water next trip!

Ok....almost caught up to the present. Flew to Fairbanks on 9/27 hoping to see Northern Lights. Weather is not going to be especially cooperative with that plan, but I am hopeful enough that I have found my viewing spots.

Guess that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by....more soon.

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Heading for Homer

Good Morning (9/23/12),

What a difference a day makes...weather has cleared, the storm dropped new snow on the higher peaks, and the water is much calmer. This morning's sunrise was the nicest of the voyage so far.

The snowy mountain is known as Frosty Peak.

We are still behind schedule by a few hours due to rough waters leaving Dutch yesterday, but the beauty of the trip is that it just doesn't matter. The ferry retraces its southbound path with exceptions (some villages only see the ferry on southbound leg) but our times at port are greatly reduced & usually we are not permitted off the vessel - or told to stay on the dock. The Purser seemed to enjoy saying, "If you plan to leave the dock remember your credit card....for your Alaska Airlines plane ticket." Not exactly subtle, but then this is a working vessel not a pleasure ship.

We are still a long way from Homer....just over 48hrs travel time remains.

Cold Bay was our first stop this morning. King Cove was our second stop & this time we could see it in daylight. The Russian Orthodox father who so many of us chatted with on the ferry on the way down was at the dock to greet us and see off the bus load of children. It's a fishing community with a population of 950.

So: King Cove as we approach the dock

The bus arriving at the dock with boats & crab cages in the background. The kids road the ferry down for athletic competitions & are heading home.

Sand Point was the final stop for today. It was late & dark when we docked here on the way south, so at least tonight we were able to see the community. About 1000 live in this fishing community. Interestingly, most of these windy stops don't use wind turbines because they'd just get knocked down, but here they can.

Finally, sunset after a beautiful day at sea. I watched four pods of Humpbacks this afternoon - from a distance, but always nice to see them. They are travelling quickly to their warm winter quarters in Hawaii. I was pretty confident that I'd see a Fin Whale on this trip, but did not. Weather was not conducive to sightings.

The rest of the ferry trip next post.....

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Finally....Dutch!

Hey Everybody!

While not a BAD voyage by fishing boat standards, I gotta tell you we normal people took a beating from the storm that left snow on Dutch Harbor's tallest peaks overnight. (BTW: Sharm, this isn't first snow I have found for C, but it's the freshest! :-). Actually, some of the crew and long-time AK residents were nauseous and/or sick overnight. Our last stop on Friday evening was False Pass - you know, where a bunch of us had ice cream :-).

Within an hour of that port we were already rocking & tossing on the water. It didn't let up until we arrived to Dutch Harbor a little before Noon - nearly 3hrs late! In short, for a good 15-16hrs we were on a roller coaster. It rained, it hailed, the sun shone & then the rain started up again. Some people were sick all night. Others couldn't sleep because of the rocking and/or noise. Believe me, there was A LOT of both. Luggage fell and slid around, the vessel makes all kinds of loud clanging noises, the wind was howling. I didn't sleep much either due to noise & rocking, but I was never sick. Thankfully!

Unimak Pass - a point where the North Pacific and the Bering Sea collide - has (I hope) proven to be a good test for my upcoming Drake Passage experience. I have been told that we could have had a worse ride down to Dutch. I like to think I'm ready for Drake, but who really knows! What I can say is this: (1) if it had been warmer and drier I would have been sitting outside for part of the trip just because I prefer fresh air in rough waters & of course to watch; (2) there weren't nearly as many fishing boats in the local harbors as I expected in this town of 3500 residents. I've seen way more fishing boats in the smaller communities; and (3) Dutch looks a bit like Hawaii to many people & it's beautiful - except without trees.

As I said, we arrived late, so only had 1/2 a day to explore in a mix of rain, hail, wind, and occasionally glorious sun. We had lunch at the "fancy" hotel, The Grand Aleutian. It was really good....best meal most of us have had for days and days! The other hotel costs about $60 less and it's rumored to be not so nice. Same owners by the way....and both over $100/night.

We saw the old Russian Orthodox church from the yard....bldg was locked. We saw the WWII memorial site. We picked wild blueberries, which were so tasty! No bears here; no worry about wilderness wandering. We roamed stores to check out prices and produce just for something to do to warm up. Oh, and did I mention that IN THE HAIL (ok, it was brief & small, but it was still hail) I found the strength to get FlatJen right up next to a former Deadliest Catch vessel....and, in all honesty, she should thank the person who rescued her from the bear for pointing out the vessel. I didn't have a clue.

Dutch Harbor is the largest fishing port in the USA. But what makes it historically significant is the role it played in WWII. The military personnel cracked enemy codes and fought here. There are WWII bunkers & old bldgs all around.

Coming into Dutch....

Looking first at the bay & then just past the point to the Bering Sea.

Next two pics....as we're leaving Dutch Harbor.

Quick update: A former Dutch resident just told me there were not many boats because most of them come from Anchorage & Seattle. The harbors start to fill up about 2 weeks before a new season so they can ready the boat & stock it, etc. He also said it's not uncommon for 80 boats to arrive in a day. Once the boats arrive they tend to empty out Safeway grocery store to stock their vessels. So, the day before the boats come in all the locals hit the grocery store for their supplies.

PS Capt. Heidi...this is one place where you should NOT bring your boat. There really are big a*s waves here :-)

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