Seward

 We decided to travel from Anchorage to Seward by train.  This was to give everyone a break from driving and to make sure everyone had a chance to enjoy the scenery.  Like many tourist attractions in Alaska during the summer, it is good to book this one ahead of time.  As my mom worked on our itinerary, she ended up adjusting the schedule at one point because the train was fully booked on the original day she wanted.  Anyway, I highly recommend it!  It travels slowly enough that you can get a good look at the scenery.  We were lucky to see moose and Dall sheep from the train.

Be forewarned that the Anchorage-Seward train has an early departure time, but it's still well worth it in my opinion.

One of the reasons we were going to Seward was to take a day cruise in the Kenai Fjords.  I am going to go out on a limb here and not recommend the multi-day cruises on the huge cruise ships, despite never having take one in Alaska.  Why not?  For one thing, they have every appearance of being environmentally disastrous.  Also, small towns end up being absolutely overwhelmed by the sudden influx of hundreds of people from the cruise ships.  Day cruises are a different matter, though.  If you are interested in seeing marine animals, they may be your best opportunity to do so.

The day we arrived in Seward, it was very rainy, as locals told us it had been most of the summer.  We visited the Alaska Sea Life Center, which I also recommend; it's another opportunity to see marine animals, albeit outside of their usual habitats.  The next day, miraculously, it was sunny!  Perfect weather for our cruise.

Since I get motion sickness sometimes, I'll discuss that portion of the cruise.  Most of our time on the ship, we stayed in Resurrection Bay, where the water was fairly calm.  We did venture out at one point into the ocean to see humpback whales.  I was not feeling great during that time, though I'm happy to say I avoided having to throw up in front of everyone.  I would say if you are at all prone to motion sickness, be prepared with anything that has helped you in the past.  I took a Bonine before getting on the ship and wore acupressure bands.  I also brought ginger candy.  I must have had a distinctly seasick look at one point because a kindly deckhand fetched some ginger ale for me and told me to keep focused on the horizon.  All of this helped, and eventually we returned to calmer water.  Even with the motion sickness, I would take a cruise like this again.  Just be as prepared as you can.

We saw lots of wonderful animals on the cruise:  humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, seals, puffins, and sea lions.  We also saw Holgate Glacier, which was amazing.  It's wonderful to just be around the animals and enjoy them.  I like trying to take pictures, so one lesson I'll share is that if you're interested in photographing the marine animals, invest in a camera with a decent zoom lens.  I will share some pictures to illustrate my point.

Look hard to find the fin!

More whale fins and birds circling around hoping for fish

Seabirds in the rocks

Sea lions lounging

Glacier!  No hidden animals here that I know of

A seal relaxing on the rocks

One final indistinct whale picture

Coming up on the glacier

Talkeetna

 When we first started discussing a trip to Alaska, we were considering visiting Denali National Park.  My parents had been there previously, decades ago, and hoped to see it again.  The rest of us were interested, too.  However, when my mom began researching the trip, a number of obstacles came up.  The lodging in the park itself was accessible only by private plane, and was therefore out for us (and most other people, I would imagine).  Lodging within striking distance of the park is limited, and with July being a peak month for Alaska tourism, it was sounding like visiting Denali National Park could turn into a logistical disaster.  After doing further investigating, my mom suggested visiting the town of Talkeetna, where one can sometimes view Mt. Denali (on clear days), and where there is plenty of lovely scenery and places to hike.

As a word to the wise for anyone thinking of traveling to Alaska, lodging in Talkeetna is pretty limited, too, and it seems like a lot of people use it as a stopover between Anchorage and Denali National Park.  So, if you'd like to visit there, particularly in the summer, it is worth booking ahead.  My poor mom had a terrible time booking lodging for us several months ahead of time.  The place where we ended up staying was lovely, but they ended up bending the rules for us (they normally required a three-night stay but allowed us to stay for just one night).  So, we were lucky in that way.

Unfortunately, it was quite rainy while we were in Talkeetna, so no views of Mt. Denali for us.  We visited the Talkeetna Historical Society Museum, which was housed in a cluster of small buildings.  They had some interesting exhibits, and my mom even recognized the names of some people who were mentioned in some of the informational materials.  At least in the past, they had a "moose dropping festival."  I couldn't really figure out what that was about, but they had some fabulous t-shirts on display, none of which, sadly, were for sale.

The town itself had an almost festival-like atmosphere when we visited, with outdoor booths selling a variety of crafts, in spite of the rain.  The scenery was also very beautiful even without views of Mt. Denali.  (Unfortunately, some sort of technological/personal failure seems to have resulted in my losing my pictures from around our lodge, so anyone reading will have to take my word for it!)  One thing to keep in mind about anywhere, really, but maybe Alaska in particular, is that rain can alter your plans and expectations.  Especially if you're on a tight timeframe, it may be best not to have a list of things you absolutely must see or do and just focus on enjoying what the weather allows you to do.

Musk Ox Farm

One of the places we visited in Alaska was the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer.  My parents and sister and I had previously visited in 2002, and it was fun to go back.  I highly recommend it to anyone visiting that area of Alaska!

I always love seeing a furry animal, but we learned a lot, too.  Native Alaskans had traditionally used mux ox hide, but only relatively recently had started using yarn made from the musk ox undercoat (aka qiviut).  At the farm, they comb out the undercoat (so they can get a clean collection, and it doesn't get mixed with dirt, twigs, and poop on the ground if it falls out on its own).  They send it to Peru to be made into yarn, which I thought was interesting.  It made me wonder if there were similarities between qiviut and alpaca fiber.  

Musk ox are also pretty tough customers.  The guide showed us places where they had headbutted the fence.  We were also instructed not to crouch down to take any photos.  

We were lucky in that the critters were obligingly hanging out near their fences when we toured.

Alaska 2024!

 We just got back from the longest trip we've been on in years, visiting Alaska and Washington state with my parents and sister!  For anyone reading who does not know, my mom was born and raised in Alaska.  We were all last there in 2002; she really wanted to go back, and the rest of us were definitely enthusiastic.  This was Scott's first time visiting Alaska, and he was very impressed with the beautiful scenery.

We used Anchorage as a base of operations and made some side trips, including to Talkeetna (with hopes of getting views of Mt. Denali) and Seward (to take a cruise in Resurrection Bay).  Some advice for my future self and for anyone else wanting to travel to Alaska:  The bulk of Alaska's tourism is concentrated in the summer months.  I have no statistics to back this up, but my impression is that most tourists to Alaska take cruises.  These cruises overwhelm small towns (and honestly, even cities like Anchorage) when they come to port.  Cruise-goers also take trains in order to travel into the interior, particularly to go to Denali National Park.  All of this is to say, plan very early if you don't plan on taking a cruise with a predetermined itinerary.  My mom had a terrible time getting lodging in Talkeetna, and she had to change the day that we traveled by train to Seward because the train was booked up.  You may need to make reservations well in advance if you feel strongly about eating in certain restaurants. You also may be eating a lot of early bird dinners to try to beat the crowds.  One thing that fascinated me wherever I went, is that Alaska seemed awash in tourism infrastructure (sometimes there seemed to be more of that than things like supermarkets or pharmacies that might benefit the locals), but yet it doesn't seem to be sufficient for current demand.  

So, here are some impressions (and photos!) from Anchorage.  You can see lovely scenery in pretty much any direction.  There are some good food options downtown, where we stayed (shout out to Fire Island Bakery, particularly their peanut butter cream cookies!).  One thing that I found very sad was the amount of homelessness I saw, particularly among Alaska natives.  Clearly, not everyone is benefitting equally from tourism dollars.  I highly recommend the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where you can learn about traditional culture of Alaska natives from around the state.  I particularly liked the outdoor exhibition of traditional homes.

Our hotel warned us of a very Alaskan hazard.

Wildflowers, including my mom's favorite, fireweed

Large flock of seagulls!

Replica of traditional dwelling at Alaska Native Heritage Center

Totem pole at Alaska Native Heritage Center

Losing Stella

 A few weeks ago, our beloved cat Stella had to be put to sleep.  She had had some months of ups and downs.  It was startling how quickly the final decline took hold, though.  One day  I was telling Scott that we needed to bring the cat sitter over to show her where Stella's food was ahead of a trip we were planning.  The next day, she stopped eating and didn't start eating again, no matter what we offered her.

I think euthanasia is one of the odder duties of pet ownership.  Nobody wants to have to make the decision about when an animal will die.  Yet, very little of it was truly in our hands.  Stella stopped eating when she stopped eating.  Ironically, it was a couple weeks before both Scott and I would be free for the summer, and not a great time for either of us to miss work.  But since death was inevitable, we wanted it to be quick and humane.  The vet who ultimately came to the house to euthanize her cautioned us against waiting too long.

The bright spot in the sad situation is that we both got to spend time with her at the end.  Due to a primary election in the district where I work, I had the day off the day before Stella died.  I had the opportunity to check in on her and see that she truly wasn't eating.  The day she died, Scott and I both made the call to just stay home.  We spent time with her until the vet arrived, and stayed with her, talking to her and petting her, throughout the process.

Perhaps inevitably, losing Stella made me think of when we lost our old cat Laila.  She was also euthanized after a series of ups and downs.  With Laila, I was less aware of signs of decline in cats.  I also didn't think to arrange at-home euthanasia, so one of her last actions in life was taking a car ride, which no cats really like.  I was also in the midst of my dreadful grad school 2.0 program, so I went to campus, and even dealt with a bunch of tiresome drama, before heading home to spend time with her before we took her to the vet.  This is a regret of mine.  I'm grateful that things were different this time for Stella and that I am no longer under such pressure to minimize actual life events (the principal at my school, who only rarely responds to emails I send when I need to take time off, responded about how sorry she was about my cat and encouraged me to stay home with her).

Right now, it just seems way too quiet at home.  We even miss the things that drove us nuts, like Stella consistently waking me up ten minutes before my alarm and yowling during our phone conversations.  She and Laila both added a lot to our lives--two very different kitties with very different quirks.  I think the best tribute to both of them is to give a home to another kitty, and I know in time we'll be ready to do that.

A First Time For Everything

 Being liberal has been an important part of my identity since I was a teenager.  I have always voted for Democrats.  To be honest, I'm pretty unenthusiastic about most Democratic politicians, but I generally like the party's platform.

Virginia, where I currently live, is one of the Super Tuesday states.  It is also a state that allows you to choose which party's ballot you request during the primaries.  I decided to vote early on Saturday, since our early voting location is close to the farmers market I usually visit.  I will confess that I don't always vote in the primaries.  When I've lived in other states, the primaries have often been all but decided before I even get a chance to vote.  Really, one could make a very strong case that this is true in this election as well.

And this is where it comes down to my first time voting for a Republican.  I didn't feel that there was any point in voting in the Democratic primaries because we don't have a real choice (and no, I don't count Dean Phillips as an actual choice).  There doesn't appear to really be a choice for the Republicans, either, but the idea of another Trump presidency so horrifies me that I felt compelled to try.  I voted for Nikki Haley, a politician with whom I have little to no common ground, but who I don't think is actively trying to destroy our democracy.

The funny part for me was having to actually request the Republican ballot from the election workers.  Apparently, I was very afraid of what people I don't know, and whose political leanings I don't know, thought of me.  When they asked which ballot I wanted, I said "I'll take the Republican ballot this time," hoping they would read between the lines and realize my true party affiliation.

And that's my story of expanding my horizons in a way that I never thought I would.  

A Modern--And Decidedly First World--Problem

 Anyone else hear of our modern day, swashbuckling porch pirates?  I first saw the term on Nextdoor, a social media site I joined mostly to learn about local fireworks displays and see if anyone was giving away any good free stuff.  Suffice to say, I'm engaging pretty minimally with it, although it's occasionally good for a laugh or even some useful information.

As everyone knows, times have changed when it comes to packages.  Many of us (and I'm as guilty as anyone else) are ordering things, usually online, that we might have purchased from brick and mortar stores 20 or 30 years ago.  This means a constant stream of packages going pretty much everywhere and posing a potentially tempting target.  The flipside of this bonanza is that the packages are at least as likely to be, say, underwear or cat food as they are the newest iPhone.  In fact, in one of the times when Nextdoor entertained me, someone found an abandoned opened box of CPAP supplies on a street corner.  She kindly decided to drive it to the address on the box

We've had a series of package thefts in our condo building.  We don't have porches, but I guess you could still call the perpetrators porch pirates, since mailroom pirates doesn't quite have the same ring.  Since our building was built in the late 80's, it dates from a time when people were receiving fewer packages.  We have a little alcove with our locked mailboxes and shelves for the packages.  The going theory is that our porch pirate has been coming in behind residents who are not properly conscious of security (we've received a number of accusing emails to this effect) and then helping himself.  Someone isolated a security footage photo of this person and posted it on the outside door.  Whether this is to warn him or to shame him, I'm not sure.  We're being led to believe that this is a top priority for our city's police....

Since none of our packages have gone missing, I have the luxury of being mildly fascinated by the porch piracy phenomenon.  I've been wondering how any of these porch pirates make money off this endeavor.  How do they even decide which packages to take?  If there are too many to take them all, they have to choose a few, probably quickly.  Otherwise, they risk being stuck with the dreaded box of CPAP supplies with no resale value.  Even if they were to get something potentially resellable, how do they find a buyer?  I have limited experience selling things, but enough experience to know that it's not always easy to find any buyer at all, or in particular to get someone to pay what you think an item is worth.  All in all, it seems like a lot of risk for not very much reward.

In the case of our building, I don't think pretending that the residents are willing to get into it with someone trying to follow them into the building is going to solve the problem.  I think the problem might cost money, either collectively by paying for some sort of additional security for the packages (e.g. creating a locked package room or paying a doorman) or individually (e.g., people who are worried pay for P.O. boxes and pick their packages up).  

Just as I'm as guilty as anyone else of receiving packages, I'm also as guilty as anyone else of sometimes forgetting my own good fortune and getting upset about things that are definitely not matters of life or death.  So I'm not trying to shame anyone for being upset about their packages going missing.  I know it would bother me, too.  But I do think it's mostly a problem that stems from good fortune, both in terms of having the money to buy stuff and having this modern convenience of not having to head to stores every time you want or need something.  To name just a few areas of tremendous misfortune in the world, I think many people in Gaza, Syria, or Ukraine would be very grateful if porch piracy were the most dire problem they were currently facing.