(no subject)
Dear North,
Trees should taper. A pole with green fuzz hanging from it is not a tree.
Love, Fishy
Trees should taper. A pole with green fuzz hanging from it is not a tree.
Love, Fishy
2004-05-02
(no subject)
Some updates:
Denali (Mount McKinley) is really big. Not much was open at the park there, but we got to drive in much farther than private vehicles are allowed to during the summer. We talked to one of the rangers who keeps their sled dogs, which they use in the winter to patrol the park. I found the dogs surprisingly enjoyable to interact with, and I'm usually not a big fan of dogs. Being bred for a useful purpose, instead of just slavishness, seems to help.
Still no moose. But since friday we've seen a fox, three swans and a bunch of bald eagles.
Homer is a pretty cool town, but it does weird things to birds. 6 of the bald eagles we saw were hanging around the fishing docks acting just like gulls. They were flying around like gulls, fighting over perches like gulls, poking around in the sand on the beach like gulls. It was rather sad. Welfare raptors.
Whittier is very weird, and amazingly ugly. It's a tiny little fishing town of about 300. Until 4 years ago you could only reach it by sea or air. Now there is one lane of converted train tunnel providing land access. One lane for both cars and trains. In both directions. Radar is involved. The town itself is set on a tiny shelf of land surrounded by some very pretty mountains. Almost everybody there lives in a single 13 story condo building. There is also the rotting hulk of a concrete mini-arcology that could house 1200, but it was damaged in the '64 quake and was abandoned. The rest of the town is highly industrial, covered in train yards, rusting vehicles and fishing equipment. I'm glad I visited, but I'm even more glad that I don't have to live there.
If we can schedule the sea kayaking properly, we're going to take the ferry back . Camping out on the sundeck for 2 days doing nothing is sounding a lot better than driving. I'm way behind on my reading. Speaking of, I found the perfect souvenir for myself at the University museum in Fairbanks: a textbook on permafrost. Very neat stuff.
Tomorrow: Valdez!
Denali (Mount McKinley) is really big. Not much was open at the park there, but we got to drive in much farther than private vehicles are allowed to during the summer. We talked to one of the rangers who keeps their sled dogs, which they use in the winter to patrol the park. I found the dogs surprisingly enjoyable to interact with, and I'm usually not a big fan of dogs. Being bred for a useful purpose, instead of just slavishness, seems to help.
Still no moose. But since friday we've seen a fox, three swans and a bunch of bald eagles.
Homer is a pretty cool town, but it does weird things to birds. 6 of the bald eagles we saw were hanging around the fishing docks acting just like gulls. They were flying around like gulls, fighting over perches like gulls, poking around in the sand on the beach like gulls. It was rather sad. Welfare raptors.
Whittier is very weird, and amazingly ugly. It's a tiny little fishing town of about 300. Until 4 years ago you could only reach it by sea or air. Now there is one lane of converted train tunnel providing land access. One lane for both cars and trains. In both directions. Radar is involved. The town itself is set on a tiny shelf of land surrounded by some very pretty mountains. Almost everybody there lives in a single 13 story condo building. There is also the rotting hulk of a concrete mini-arcology that could house 1200, but it was damaged in the '64 quake and was abandoned. The rest of the town is highly industrial, covered in train yards, rusting vehicles and fishing equipment. I'm glad I visited, but I'm even more glad that I don't have to live there.
If we can schedule the sea kayaking properly, we're going to take the ferry back . Camping out on the sundeck for 2 days doing nothing is sounding a lot better than driving. I'm way behind on my reading. Speaking of, I found the perfect souvenir for myself at the University museum in Fairbanks: a textbook on permafrost. Very neat stuff.
Tomorrow: Valdez!