Wednesday, March 10, 2010

For The Time Being...

The Smith Family is still glowing from our visit to Alaska in June 2009.  If you are new to this blog, PLEASE be sure to click on the "Older Posts" link at the bottom of this page to read about the beginning of the trip.


At present, I make irregular posts at backWORDS, a blog about word roots and relationships - trust me, it's more interesting than it sounds here.

So, stay in touch, drop me a line, eat what you like.

Be of good cheer.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A Look Back

We digested our trip into about 100 pictures.

To these images, please add the sweetest smelling air, the pungent aroma of sourdough, the thrilling taste of incredibly brisk mountain streams, the awe of grand vistas - one folding on top of another, the soothing feel of moss, the hilarious laughter of ferns, the clicking of a camera shutter, the steadfast pursuit of reindeer sausage, the dispassion of moose being photographed, the daring boasts of city-slickers, the tears of old friends well met, the panic of confused reservations, the changing of much money, the adoration of human artistry, the taste of salmon bathing in smoke, the elusive nature of long hidden gold, the sound of rocks crashing against one another in a watery bath, the shout of parents for boys "lost" in the woods, the boredom only tarmac can bring, the shattering bark of glaciers, the joy of discovery, and the healing of one human heart - too long gone from home.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Closing Thoughts

I will make one last post here in a few days (read: weeks) that will point to a photo album of large format images from our trip. It will take a while to sort through everything and create the album.

Upon our return to Flatland, we often been asked what was our favorite part of the trip. For everyone, the train ride was nothing short of epic. If I can get them to send up one more post, I'd like to have each family member to share a memory / experience.

For me, it's so extremely difficult. The train ride was sensational and a definite highlight. It was also very important to me to see my old neighborhood and walk along the paths I trod as a child. As I have said, reconnecting with Craig B, a classmate 39 years ago, a dear friend today. That is a huge experience that will impact me for years to come.


Sunday, June 28, 2009

My Apology

A few of you are aware of another blog by your host in which I wax dire and desperate about our Plan A world and fantasize - more than a little - about my Plan B solutions to all things which stand to unravel.

In a recent post over there I commented on the near-nefarious actions of the Transportation Safety Administration. I stand by that post, but I must now also add this: on the whole I appreciate the job TSA is obliged to perform.

For example, how would you feel if the pudgy, balding Kansan (the one with the red shirt and swollen feet) trying to board Alaskan Airlines Flight 138 from Anchorage to Chicago was carrying not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR knives in his backpack??

Now mind you well, IF something like this were to happen (as extraordinarily hypothetical as it sounds) it would all be the result of a perfectly innocent souvenir orgy in the waning hours of his once-in-four-decades visit to the mightiest state in the Union. But such explanation, if it were offered to Federal Authorities, would still lack any persuasive force.

So, again still speaking hypothetically, I would like to thank TSA's Officer Schnickel for her grace and gentle certainty as she ushered me out of the screening area, returning my weapons to me only after I had crossed the Line of Demarcation separating bad passengers who may not fly from those good passengers who may. And then, from there, I'm gushing with gratitude to dear Ula (a name which looks and sounds a lot like "ulu" - a knife favored by Native Alaskans and tourists alike - which lies at the heart of the problem) of Alaska Airlines who resolved my peril by checking an additional bag and waving the customary $50 extortion fee for said overage.

So, in the theatre of my mind where only such extravagances are allowed to percolate, I am brimming with gratitude to the good men and women of the TSA who nip calamities in the bud and to the agents of AK AIR who help idiots work around their idiotry.

Thanks America, I heart you.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

How to Kill An Hour at The Airport

We're waiting to board for Chicago flight. Lyse is taking a picture... of a stuffed racoon (that a patient gave her a week or so before our trip - Lyse decided to bring the rat along with us to Alaska). She has taken its picture in front of glaciers, moose boats, planes... well, everywhere we have been. Now the rat gets to sit on the boading gate counter at gate C4 in Ted Stevens Airport. Nice goin', Rat!

Multimedia message

Thats how we roll in alaska. Joshua

Heading South

We've visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - saw some musk ox and bears. Now its time for us to grab a bite at Chair 5 in Girdwood before concluding our activities in Anchorage.

I don't hear so well in noisy joint - which this is - but all of a sudden, everyone in the Smith family got a big smile on their faces. Turns out there was a song playing... "Going To Kansas City". Wow, couldn't have planned that. In 12 hours we'll be going there and in 24 hours we'll be there. But for these last few hours "we're not in Kansas anymore". And in my heart, I may never be again.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Everyone Is Happy

Even the forest has a sense of humor. This natural spruce tree knot is about six feet across...and uniquely adorned.

The Final Countdown

24 short hours from right now, we'll be sitting on a plane on a taxi-way in Anchorage and we'll wake up from this panoramic dream.

The picture above explains this day in full - why I married this gal and why I had to come back to Alaska.

Up, UP on Glacier Creek

Happy Anniversary to us.

Webcams in Portage and Whittier

Sorry again, didn't get these posted until after our cruise. The weather started out cold and gray, but by the time we were 30 minutes into the cruise, nothing but blue skies as the photos below show. Here are cams for the (land) areas we passed through.

link to our a cruise in Prince William Sound.

We drive by Portage Glacier before entering the Anton Anderson tunnel to arrive in Whittier.
Cam 1

Popping out the tunnel on the other side, here's Whittier.
Cam 1

Fish Finish

After seeing seals, sea lions, otters, salmon, bald eagles, and dolphins - the grand finale before making our last turn to home were four humpback whales.

May We Recommend...

When in Whittier, after you ride the Prince William Sound Cruises Wilderness Explorer AND THEN eat what you've cruising over at Varly's Swiftwater Seafood Cafe. Seafood is fresh and fantastic. Two twenty-six anniversary thumbs up.

Anniversery in parkas! Woot! Happy 26th.

-Noah

Basking in the Noon Day Sun

Right in the middle of this picture are several Harbor Seals warming themselves on ice chunks calving off the Surprise Glacier. They were a little anxious to see us. There are many more seals snorkeling behind other chunks of ice waiting for us to pass before re-applying their PABA-free sun screen.

Wow! Who's Cooler?

Lysie or the Surprise Glacier?

Surprise Glacier

This area has about 200 glaciers in it. I'm not quite sure how this particular one was a surprise to anyone. But it sure is lovely.

How Interesting

We're sitting on the west side of the Anderson Tunnel that gets us into Whittier. I believe this is the longest two-mode (cars + train) tunnel in the world / continent / solar system / state... I don't know - it's unique, ok? And it is all one way at a time. The west bound cars just came through, then the train comes out. Then we (cars) go east followed by the train. It takes an hour to cycle all modes all directions. Whittier is immediately on the other side of the tunnel.

So be glad we don't have more lay-overs like this or else all my posts would be long, tedious posts of great scholastic insight and little real popular interest.

June 26

I married this little girl 26 years ago today... and now she's eating sourdough pancakes at The Bake Shop in Girdwood AK.
Happy AKniversary, Baby!!!

Multimedia message

With a knockdown early in first round, my score card reads Gideon-8 Bathtub-10. -Teddy Atlas

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Goodnight from Glorious Girdwood

looking east

Goodnight from Glorious Girdwood

looking west

Goodnight from Glorious Girdwood

looking north

Kids These Days...

All they think about is getting high... up a mountain!! Noah and Gid just topped this peak above Girdwood. It's 10:30pm so I hope they get home in the next couple hours before it gets dark. And they'd better bring some of that glacier ice down with them as proof.

Long and Winding Road








The Alaska Rail Road is an utterly remarkable experience. It cuts through the most rugged territory in North America and still, there is scarcely a ten-mile stretch in which we did not see a cabin tucked into some hillside with it's own million dollar view. It was the best 12 hours I've nearly ever spent... if I could think of something that comes in above it, I'd say so.

We arrived in Anchorage just in time for some fresh caught salmon and crab and thirty minutes of souveniring. Our hotel was a fiasco in a variety of ways - all resolved now and fading fast in the distance as we are ensconced in our last lodging, Bud & Carol's B&B in Girdwood. Oh my goodness, this place is perfect for weary travelers and for energetic explorers - both of which we a little bit are.

I've posted up some more of Noah's fabulous pictures above. Be sure to click on them to enlarge and get a peek at the majestic scenes we devoured with glee yesterday. (You've figured out we've run about two days behind in posting up good pictures. Once we settle back in at home, we'll put together a better album of all photos to share and enjoy.)

Our persistent conversation after going this long and this far into Alaska is when do we move up here and what shall we do to earn our cabin on the hills over-looking salmon-laden streams, moose-parading meadows, beaver-engineered lagoons, and eagle-soaring skies. I'm sure we'll think of something.

Greetings from Girdwood Base Camp

Alyse and I are walking down to Glacier Creek, a pretty big "creek" that flows from the glaciers high above. The boys? Well, they are about halfway between the top of Alyse's head and the ridge of the mountain straight above her.

Joshua took his bear knife with him so we're not worried.

What?!

-noah

The Younger Three

...love exploring.

Considering His Options

Ansel Adams Jr explores the waterfall.

Ready, Action

Noah is setting up for a family photo at McHugh Creek on the Seward Hwy on the way to Girdwood.

Not A Bad View

Flying between the Chugach and Kenai mountain ranges.

Trains, Autos, ... And that other one...

Doesn't seem right not to fly in a float plane in a land where as many people fly as drive. Our float plane gets airborne.

Highly Recommended

When you come to Anchorage, and I know you will, you simply must stop at Gwennies on Spenard for the BEST SOURDOUGH PANCAKES in Alaska!!!!

Plan B

Always have a Plan B for everything - EVERYTHING!! If your motor fails you *after* landing in a lake: row, row, row your plane...

This IS Alaska!!

A float plane tied up to a log cabin.

Nice Landing

Gideon oversees the landing of a float plane.

Webcams - Anchorage and Girdwood Area

Thursday we wander around the Anchorage area.

Here are several links to webcams in the Anchorage area. Be sure to check in occasionally and hit F5 to refresh the image.

Cam 1 looking southeast
Cam 2 looking north across Turnagain Arm toward Wasilla
Cam 3 looking east
Cam 4 another southeast view
Cam 5 looking north from downtown toward Mt McKinley
Cam 6 looking down 4th Ave where we'll be doing some souvenir shopping
Cam 7 looking over Lake Hood just east of the airport - world's busiest float plane "airport"

After goofing around in Anchorage for a while, we're off to our Bed & Breakfast in Girdwood at the base of the Alyeska Mountain Ski Resort (no skiing, though). Here are a couple cams with different vistas of Girdwood.

Cam 1 four miles south of Anchorage on the Seward Hwy leading to Girdwood. Watch for us!
Cam 2 base of the Alyeska tramway
Cam 3 further, much further up the tramway.

Of course, all this time, we'll be keeping our eye out to the west - across Turnagain Arm - at the smoldering Mt Redoubt volcano.
Cam 1
Cam 2
Cam 3 not sure when this one will come back up - it was knocked out by an eruption in the Spring

Webcams on the route from Fairbanks to Anchorage

Sorry, I forgot to post this up yesterday.

We say goodbye to Fairbanks today as we board the
Alaska Railroad train to travel from Fairbanks to Anchorage through Denali / Mt McKinley. We depart Fairbanks at 8:15 - no sourdough pancakes today!

Here are links to webcams that will give you a glimpse of the area we are passing through and what the weather is like. Tune in often and hot F5 to refresh the image.

A
view of parking for McKinley Park (passing by here around 12noon). Train tracks on left - watch for us! Same location, looking south. A view of the Alaska Range from Summit (the village, not the top of the mountain!) (passing by here around 1pm).

A
view of McKinley from the south across famed Wonder Lake.

A
view of the Mt McKinley from Talkeetna (passing by here around 4pm).

Here is
a cool webpage that gives you webcams all along the passage from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Click on "Camera" near the top of the page. Then click on any of the small blue cam icons to see current road conditions. The train route parallels the Parks Highway all the way.
Finally, we arrive for our stay in Anchorage around 8pm. A
view of Anchorage looking southeast toward the Chugach Mountains.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

She loves trains.

-Noah

A Good Start

My tummy says "hello Anchorage" with some fresh salmon and king crab.

Comment...

Best comment wins a prize.
-Noah

Wasilla to Anchorage

Last leg is almost over. There has not been a 10 mile section that has not been breath taking! CHS

Triple-header

You can't see them, but in this marsh we saw a moose, a beaver, and two swans with their signets (not "goslings" as our fauna-challenged announcer said).
[Yes, I'm terribly sorry for offending the spelling sensibilities of my world-wide readership. I've gotten 5 hours of sleep each night for a week and on a 12 hour train ride I missed spelling CYGNET correctly. Again, I'm sorry if this made you lose a spelling bee in Karmina Burana or wherever they challenge people to know the difference between the homonyms "cygnet" (a baby swan) and "signet" (an object with an identifying symbol - a sign - on it, such as a signet ring). I am doubly embarrassed by my mistake because I am shopping for land in Kansas in the area of the Marais Des Cygne River (Marsh of the Swans). Good grief.]

dad and his state!

Glee Ride

A day on the train means all the junk food you (Joshua and Gideon in this case) can eat. A good day.

Me Ride

I picked up almost all the memories I left in Fairbanks 40 and 50 years ago. Now we're all off to make new memories together at the southern end of the line.

Free Ride!

Alaska and Alyse both turn 50 this year - so she (Alyse) gets free passage to Anchorage on the Alaska Railroad. And no one loves trains more than Alyse.

She Ride

Noah's body is here, but I think his heart is 4000 miles away in Texas. I hope Noah get to bring his special lady to the special land someday.

One More Memory

All three 'big' boys shared driving chores on the trip to Chena Hot Springs. That left Gid out. We remedied that situation at rainy midnight.

In the picture above, the vehicle on the distant right is Mr Gid getting his Andretti on in an empty parking lot. I wonder if he'll remeber where and when he learned to drive??? CHS

He Ride

Looks like IceMan is chronicling his journey the old fashioned way.

Train!

-Noah

See You Later

A popular ending to stories (other than 'they lived happily ever after') is 'and they walked home in the rain'. It captures a dark, brooding mood. Tho not dark, I'm definitely brooding over leaving Fairbanks and for the first time during our visit, we've got solid rain.

Craig B came to see us off - what a champ. A great friend I never knew I had. Of course we arrive, brimming with enthusiasm, only to discover we have no reservations. Oh snap!! Wait, here they are - for Friday... What's today? Wednesday. Oh boy.

All is well, they've shifted us to today and we're moving right now.

And we trained away in the rain.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Bless Be The Ties That Bind

Dinner tonight at the Whisenhants. Jim and Elizabeth Whisenhant were great family friends of our in the 50s and 60s and my mom has stayed in touch with them through the years. Jim (Whizzy) died about several years ago - much to early for a man so brimming with life, courage, and joy. Everyone misses him.

Tonight we dined with the Whisenhant family, including Greg who is my age, as well as other luminaries from my childhood, the Butlers and the Schillings. There are very few of our readers who would understand and appreciate the value of renewing those old relationships so I'll keep this brief. For me, it was a chance for an all-grown-up little boy to sit as an adult with the people that I admired as a squirrely little kid. Elizabeth told the grown ups to sit at one table and for the kids to sit at another. What a delight it was to be able to sit at the same table with the Whisenhants, Schillings, and Butlers. Time flies... and I'm not at the kids' table anymore.

And with that, our visit to Fairbanks comes to a close - and our discovery of the rest of this magnificent place begins. Good night.

Scenes from the Chena








Here are some gorgeous shots of our trips up Chena Hot Springs Road. Classic Alaska!!!