Adventures on the Journey
Once again proving that I just can’t sit still, I’ll be flying west quite soon. It’s a mixed trip, primarily business but there will be some quality time spent fishing on Ricardo’s boat. 🙂
August 24
UAL 6879 TVC 1:50 PM – ORD 1:59 PM
UAL 305 ORD 3:05 PM – SEA 5:25 PM
September 01
UAL 350 SEA 6:35 AM – ORD 12:23 PM
UAL 5440 ORD 1:25 PM – TVC 3:26 PM
I’ve been wanting an IP phone for quite a while now, and keep checking with the providers of IP phones every now and again. Finally, packet8 got local service in northern Michigan so I just had to sign up. I got the phone in a couple weeks ago and so far, it’s been great.
It took 5 days for the terminal adapter to arrive, and less than 5 minutes to get it working. It works quite well, even better than my copper based “land line”. For $20/mo I get unlimited coast-to-coast long distance, dirt cheap international long distance ($0.02-$0.05), and I can use the phone anywhere I have high speed internet.
I’ve used it to make quite a few long distance calls and the people I call can’t tell the difference between it and my land line. I’d have probably chose Vonage based on their reputation but packet8 has the better coverage and less costly plan.
The Simerson family reunion was this weekend. I went and took an bunch of photos which I posted on the simerson.net web site: http://www.simerson.net/reunion/2004/
It took a couple days to seam together the panormas, label, and get all the files ready to publish. They aren’t quite finished yet but they are at least presentable, so here you go:
Alaska: http://www.tnpi.biz/photography/travel/alaska_04/index.html
Alaska Zoo: http://www.tnpi.biz/photography/travel/zoo/index.html
Yes, we are still alive. A few people wanted us to let them know that.
We have done much. We arrived on Friday the 18th. We spent Friday in Anchorage with Karen (Jen’s college friend) and enjoyed a fresh “wild caught” Red Salmon dinner which we purchased at Sam’s Club. If you don’t have time to catch it yourself, just stop by your local supermarket and pick up fresh Salmon (assuming it’s the right time of the year).
Saturday we picked up our rental car and headed towards Homer. We didn’t make it 15 minutes before spotting a Dall Sheep grazing on a bluff above Turnagain Arm.
Homer is a little fishing village at the end of the Kenai Peninsula known for its Halibut fishing. We drove “the spit”, found the Eagle Lady’s abode, and then headed back North to the Deep Creek campground. We had a fantastic campsite on the Sound where we watched 6 bald eagles (2 mating pairs, 2 juveniles) circle, fish, and steal fish from lesser birds.
Jen has some of her Dad’s “fish fever”. You should have heard her squeals of delight as hundreds of salmon danced in the water right in front of us. The salmon are in a feeding frenzy as they prepare to head up the spawning streams.
The next day we found an old fellow with some clamming gear and rented a couple buckets, shovels, and a clam gun. We tried the shovels a couple times and realized that would be a LOT of work to catch our limit (60 each) with shovels. So, then I gave the clam gun a try and after crushing a couple, got the hang of it and we extracted a few dozen razor clams.
We put our clams in a disposable cooler and then cruised on over to Seward to spend the night. After setting up campe, we spent a few hours cleaning clams. It’s an experience that everyone should have. Once. 🙂 I can only describe it by saying that Jen was no longer disappointed that we didn’t both collect our limit.
I fired up the trusty MSR Whisperlite (stove) and sauteed our clams in generous portions of melted butter and we ate a razor clam feast for dinner. They were excellent. Afterwards, we scraped up $2.00 worth of quarters so that we could use the showers to wash the clam fragrance from us and our clothes.
The next day we cruised up to Exit Glacier park. On the way in we had to wait for a black bear cub to stop playing in the road. We hiked up a hardy mountain trail a few thousand feet, above treeline, and finally into snowfields to a nice rock outcropping. From there we could see the Harding Ice Field (120+ square miles of ice) and a great views of Exit Glacier. Jen has now seen a glacier. I’ve seen dozens, and I agree with a comment we heard from another hiker: “once you’ve seen one glacier, you’ve seen them all”.
We had dinner at The Salmon Bake (just outside of Seward) and contrary to the slogan on their sign, the food was excellent. We spent the night at Bertha Creek campground, where we were formally introduced to Alaskan mosquitoes. Myths suggest that the size of the mosquitoes are “Alaskan” but that isn’t the case, they’re the same size as our mid-western mosquitoes. Where they really stand out is in their quantity, intensity, and ferocity.
We could not get into the car without a few getting in. We could not unzip the tent door without them getting in. We took absurd measures. We’d unzip the rain fly, rush inside, and zip it back up. Then unzip the tent, crawl inside, zip up, and then pause for a 3 minute shakedown. As the inevitable mosquito (or three) appeared, we’d squash it. Then we could resume “normal” tent life.
Before getting out of the tent, we’d put on at least two layers (long sleeved base layer + mid-weight) on our entire bodies and then headnets. The only exposed skin left was our hands which got deet. We were mosquito-proof but only comfortable when the temperature (or wind) made it comfortable to wear two (thin) layers.
The following day we mosied up to Whittier. There is nothing to see there. It’s just a community of 185 persons, surviving in an old military outpost. We cruised though and caught the ferry to Valdez and spent the rest of the day cruising across the sound. The captain took the ferry into the Columbia Bay, right up to the edge of the ice floe (as close to the glacier edge as a boat can get).
After arriving in Valdez, we cruised around down town for a few minutes and then headed out of town up to Thompson Pass and spent the night at the Blueberry Lake campground. The views getting to and from the campground were absolutely fantastic but it was here that we cemented our plans to send a bill to the Alaskan governer for feeding his mosquitos.
… to be continued.
We’re packed. 3:00AM will come early, but not early enough.
Tim and Carol Garrington (friends in Colorado) just had their first baby! You can see details on their web site.
I have posted some of my better photos to a new “Photo Gallery” section of my site. Please have a look, vote on them and feel free to send any comments my way.
I have a most wonderful husband! Look at these beautiful flowers I received today expressing his love. I do love my laughing bouncing nutty lovable huggable Tigger!
Thank you for being you.
It’s my second wedding anniversary and I’m in Mukilteo, WA, over 2000 miles from my wife. I’ve heard many older couples describe how their love grows deeper with every year that passes. Today, I’m barely into my third decade, and two years married and I feel like that truth is an iceberg that I can only see the tip of. I had an experience last week that really brought this to the forefront of my conscience.
I was hanging out with a group of guys that I used to work with. They are all great guys, and all rich in skills related to the Internet industry. They have their own company that’s doing well and I was sitting around in their “offices”. Watching six guys working away in close proximity with piles of computer equipment all around awakened many fond memories in my past.
For a short time, I reminisced about how much fun those days were. The whole dating thing, a job that was so fun you’d work late “just because”, and chasing all manner of pursuits. However, it didn’t take long to remember the rest of the memories from the bachelorhood era of my life. It was a great time, but I left that era because this new one was calling so loudly.
Today, I’ve been away from Jennifer for seven days. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. I miss her sorely and despite having a great time here, I’m beyond ready to be with her again. I miss seeing her every day when she comes home for lunch. I love her habit of breaking into whatever I’m engrossed in so that I’ll pause and pay attention to her. I miss feeling her next to me as I sleep.
I cannot find enough words to describe all she means to me. She is the one I spent all those years looking for. She is so worth that wait. As I sat there observing “a life in the day of an uber-geek”, I couldn’t help but smile inside. Sure, the place in life where these guys are living is good, but what I have now is so much better, it needs a new category to describe it.
I can see that the future has so many wonderful and rewarding things in store. Jennifer, thank you for being so committed to us. Thank you to being so willing to learn and grow with me. Thank you for all that you are. You are great and marvelous, beyond my understanding. I can’t find words to express how much I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.