WELCOME TO MY ALASKA JOURNAL

         Our trip to Alaska this summer was the trip of a lifetime for us.  I kept a daily journal while on the trip and have just finished writing a blog for each day and illustrating it with our photos on Flickr.

         Don and I each took a lot of digital photos.  We had more than 2000 when we downloaded all of them to the computer.  The fun of digital photos is that you don’t have film to be concerned about buying and developing.  Whenever something catches your eye you can snap away with the camera and what doesn’t work can be deleted later.

         I never dreamed it would take me ‘til Christmas to finish all the blogs, but it has.  Blogs automatically date themselves on the day they are posted, so the dates have nothing to do with the fact that our trip was the end of June and first three days of July. 

         If you want to read the whole story from start to finish I recommend that you skip down to the beginning of this linear story in reverse and work your way back up.  My photostream on Flickr is likewise backwards and at the moment, December 21^st 2010,  the ALASKA photos are at the top of my photostream. 

         The ALASKA album of photos off to the side of the page, starts with the first day at the top if you click on that to see them.  Either way, clicking on a photo will bring it up larger.  The photos in the album section are very small otherwise.

         Flickr is a wonderful website of photos by photographers around the world.  You probably have to sign on to see all my photos.  I highly recommend that as it is free and simple to sign up.

         Please enjoy my story and photos and leave comments if you want to.  I enjoy hearing feedback.

Alice

To see the best photos we took on our trip,

please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or

 try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free

 and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to

 see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 15 Vancouver to Denver to Grand Rapids and Home

         We gathered with our tour group and guide at the designated spot on the ship and waited for our turn to leave.  Our bus was waiting for us and we were off to the Vancouver airport.

         After much waiting in line we were given a very thorough checking by the security people.  To prevent setting off the alarms I took off both barrettes and was holding my long hair up when they decided we all had to be wanded instead of going through the metal detector.  I couldn’t straighten out my arms for the lady because I was holding up my hair with one of them. Then the gilt edged Bible in my suitcase showed up as a suspicious dark rectangle and they halted the line.   All this time I am holding up my hair and waiting to get my barrettes back.  If I let my hair down I will never get it back in the barrettes with out my hairbrush which is packed away who knows where, probably in my checked bag that is already gone!  Oh the trials of long long hair!  Finally the lady wanding me went  over to the ex-ray lady and made her open the bag to see what the dark object was.  After a few minutes of consultation they finally decided that it was just a Bible after all and let us through.  And gave me back my barrettes.

         Up in the air over Vancouver, I began to take photos out the window.  I got some good ones of clouds and the airplane wing and cloud patterns on the earth beneath. 

         We had to change planes in Denver and had a short lay over there.  Our planes departure was delayed because of thunderstorms in the area and there was a long line of planes waiting to take off.  We were finally cleared for takeoff, just before sunset.  As we lifted off we could see a rainbow ahead.  It looked like we were going to fly right through it.  I was able to take a photo of the bright colorful spot in the clouds and also shot some photos of thunderheads and rain with the sunset glowing through.  As we flew past the storms the light faded and my pictures became too grainy to keep.

         As we flew over Iowa around 9:30 local time I began to see tiny bursts of what looked like dandelion puffs beneath us when we were near the towns and cities.  The announcement in the airplane said we were 30,000 feet up and that there were  fireworks displays visible below.  It was Saturday night July 3^rd and many towns were doing their 4^th of July fireworks displays a day early.

         Eventually we came to a place where the whole ground below was lit up with the lights of communities and then a large solid mass of lights.  I suspected it was Chicago and soon the announcements in the plane confirmed it.  There was a curving line where the lights stopped and all was solid darkness.  That was the biggest clue to me that it was Chicago.  As we continued east I could see this dark curve extending eastward along the Lake Michigan shoreline.  At one point I could see the lighted line of Chicago curving around the whole south end of the lake towards Gary Indiana and actually saw the shoreline of Michigan too.  From our high in the air vantage point we could see Michigan, Chicago and Indiana lights all at the same time.

         We landed in Grand Rapids around 1:00 am.  By the time we found all of our luggage and got in the car it was 2:00.  By 3:00 am we were home and falling asleep.  It was a wonderful trip!

To see more photos of our flight  home, please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 14 LAST DAY AT SEA

         This morning we had a meeting with our tour group to discuss the plans for leaving the ship and riding the bus to the airport in Vancouver.  She gave us instructions about when to put out our luggage and where to meet as a group for our departure.

         We packed our bags again and managed to find room for all the gifts we had bought.  Then we went out side on deck as it was a beautiful day.

         There were many photos to take on this last day at sea.  We were sailing past Canada now and the coastline was dotted with many islands.  The steep hills, or mountains were covered with spruce trees and very green.  The sky and sea were very blue and there were some interesting cloud patterns as well to make the photos interesting.

         We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.

To see some of the best photos we took today, please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 13 KETCHIKAN

We had a leisurely morning, breakfast at the buffet again and back to our cabin where I took some photos so we could remember what a well designed compact little space it was.  The mirrors on opposing walls really made the space seem bigger than it was. We chose to take the inside cabin and use the savings to sign on for more extra excursions.  We were glad we did.

         Our City Tour of Ketchikan began right after lunch.  The first stop was to the fish hatchery where we saw salmon hatching and some live bald eagles that had been injured and were being cared for at the hatchery.  I took photos of a rushing stream that furnished fresh water for the hatchery.  Our guide showed us some wild berry bushes and berries that were ripening.  They looked like raspberries but were bigger and less flavorful.  The natives harvest great quantities of them and the bears love them too.

         Next, our bus took us to a museum that had some very nice exhibits of native art and craft work.  There were totem poles, woven baskets, bead work a stuffed bear and many useful hand made tools. 

         The last place we stopped was an outdoor collection of totem poles that had been brought together and mounted on special posts to preserve them from rotting.  They were lifted above the ground on protective pedestals but you wouldn’t notice unless you knew where to look.

         Back on board the ship there was information hung on  our door about the plans to meet with the tour guide tomorrow to discuss the trip home.  We were all shopped out,  tired and hungry.  We enjoyed another good buffet dinner and a restful evening.

To see photos of Ketchikan, please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 12 JUNEAU AND MENDENHALL GLACIER

          A rainy morning.  Our activity today began with a catamaran jet boat ride to see whales.  We saw lots of them, and learned that they migrate annually between Alaska and Hawaii.  The whales appeared above water so quickly and dove again before I could get a photo of them with the still camera. I did get some shots of seagulls and sea

lions, and many photos of foggy shoreline with spruce trees.

         After the boat ride we went to see the Mendenhall Glacier.  This glacier was best approached by bus.  The bus took us to a nature center where we saw exhibits about the glacier, wildflowers and a stuffed brown bear and a wolf.  It was all very interesting and educational. 

         We stood in the doorway to the nature center and looked out over the glacier and the lake in front of it. The lake was filled with large chunks of ice that had broken off from the glacier.  There was also a waterfall near the glacier.  It was a rainy day and the fog coming off the glacier made for interesting photos.

To see my best photos of the Mendenhall Glacier and the jet boat cruise, please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

         

ALASKA DAY 11 SKAGWAY

         We began the day with a tour of the Jewel Gardens.  I was expecting a botanical garden a bit bigger than this.  I know, I am spoiled having lived near one of the best gardens in the country, The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.  Everything seems small and less cared for after hanging out there for several days a year for nine years. 

         They did have some pretty flowers and I took some flower close-ups.  The gardens weren’t much bigger than my own back home, but they did have a feature that mine don’t have.  There was an electric train set up that was pretty amazing. They must put it away  for the winter, but there it was chugging around the track and through the tunnels in the rain.  It was a cute set up and I took several photos. 

         After the guided tour, they served us a nice Tea inside with a good selection of scones and cakes and chocolates.  We found a few more items on our gift list in their shop before boarding the bus to return to the ship. 

         We dropped our purchases off in our cabin before getting on the Street Car Tour.  Skagway is very small and most of the shops are filled with expensive goods for the tourists that come on the cruise ships.  There were lots of jewelry shops featuring the same kinds of things that were in the jewelry shops on board ship.  Then there were some very nice shops selling Alaskan made fine art goods also pricey.  The street car guide was a very theatrical lady in Victorian dress and a big hat with flowers on it.   She was very entertaining as she told us stories of frontier days in Skagway

Again, we returned to the docks where the ship was and waited for the train to pull into the station for our train ride to the top of White Pass.  The cars had large windows, but the lights on the ceiling reflected in them and made it difficult to get pictures so after a few miles I went outside to join a few other passengers. We were in the last car and  could stand on the little porch on the back.  From there we had a clear view of all the scenery behind the train and occasionally off to the side.  Most of the time the left side of the tracks were so close to the mountain and with the speed of the train everything was a blur, but on the right side and straight back there was some spectacular scenery.

I took lots of photos of mountains with railroad tracks. 

         Once we arrived at the pass, the engines did a switch around and came and joined the train at the back.  The train then went back down the mountain and we were in the first car.  I went inside then because the view was blocked and the air was full of diesel smoke.  At one point as we rounded a bend, there was a mother bear with a cub beside the tracks up ahead and I just caught a glimpse of them before they tumbled off to the side to get away from the train. 

         When we reached Skagway again we boarded the ship and walked around a bit and went to the buffet.  There were several other very nice dining rooms on the ship but we enjoyed sampling all the wonderful things on the buffet so much we never did go to any other one.

To see my best photos of Skagway, please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 10 GLACIER BAY BLUENESS

         In the morning when we reached the upper levels where we could see outside we were happy to see blue sky and calm blue water. 

         The weather had cleared and it was going to be a good day for glacier viewing. After a big breakfast at the buffet we put on our warm layers and took our cameras up and outside to take photos.  It was like being in”Blue Heaven”.

         The breeze at the front of the boat was still chilly as the boat was moving and the air was cold in spite of the bright sunshine.

         The plan for the day was to see Glacier Bay.  We also saw Icy Straight.  The captain took us to see an extra glacier today because the weather was so beautiful and we missed seeing the Hubbard glacier yesterday.  According to my notes, we saw Margerie Glacier, Johns Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh  Glacier.  We also saw whales, a young eagle, seals and sea otters.

         I spent most of the day up on deck in the sunshine taking photos.  Don took a lot of photos too.  I have over 400 photos to select and edit.  The great thing about digital cameras is that you don’t have film to buy and process. You can just click away whenever you see something that looks interesting.  If it doesn’t turn out it is no loss as you can just delete it.  Consequently I take many more photos than I would with the old style film camera.  Photos of blue sky, blue mountains and blue water can start to get repetitious.  But, I LOVE BLUE.

     I have selected 36 of the best photos that tell the story, to put up on Flickr for day 10.

         To see all 36 of my best photos of the fantastic blueness of Glacier Bay,   please look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA DAY 9 LOOKING FOR HUBBARD GLACIER

We awoke to a cold and rainy morning.  After a delicious breakfast buffet, we went to some talks about the glacier we were going to see today.  The naturalist told everyone to go to deck 7 for the best viewing of the glacier.  So everyone was up on deck 7 making it very crowded at the railing.  I walked around and found a great spot on the sports deck.  We saw lots of ice bergs but it was too foggy to see the glacier and the ship eventually turned around.  I took some photos of the icebergs and the fog.  The water was full of chunks of ice and the fog was interesting, but it was not a huge photo day.

We went into the shops on board the ship to look around and we watched the crew build the champaign tower for later in the evening.  I think it was going to be served at midnight or something.  After a big delicious dinner in the buffet dining room, I went back to the room and fell asleep and didn’t wake up until seven the next morning.  I guess after nine full days of traveling I was worn out.

To see all my photos of  fog and icebergs, look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Alaska Day 8 Boarding the Diamond Princess

After breakfast I took a few more photos around the grounds of the Princess Lodge at Kenai where we had been staying for several days.  There were some very pretty flowers and the always spectacular scenery from the deck overlooking the river and the mountains. 

We were to board ship at 11:00 am after a short bus ride.  There weren’t many photo opportunities on the bus as it was raining and raindrops on the windows didn’t make for a good view.  I did get a photo of  the mountains and a glacier valley before we arrived at the tunnel.  The only way to reach Whittier Alaska is to go by railroad tunnel through the mountain.  The tunnel had been modified for use by busses as well as train and I got some interesting shots of that adventure.

After getting checked in to our room on board ship, we had a delicious lunch buffet.  We walked around and explored the ship.  After the emergency drill all passengers had to participate in we went back to the buffet dining room for dinner and ate too much again.  We then explored the ship and took more pictures, attended a Welcome to the Ship Show in the theater, and then found a good dance band and danced for a while before going to our room.

Please leave a comment,  I’d love to hear from you.

To see all the photos for this day:    Look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Alaska Day Seven : Glacier Cruise

We boarded busses for Kenai Fjords National Park Glacier Cruise at 9:15 am.

There was a big gift shop at the docks and I bought some more Alaska Christmas and birthday gifts before boarding the boat.  I took photos of the harbor and all the boats at the docks while I waited for the cruise to begin.   Once we were out to sea there we photo opportunities every minute.  We saw lots of wildlife.  Sea otters, stellar sea lions, seagulls, a humpback whale, dall porpoises, puffins, cormorants, common murre (they looked like penguins) , bald eagles, and so much beautiful scenery of rocky shores and spruce trees.  Always the spruce trees.  We watched the glacier “calving”.  I learned that I could not capture either whales surfacing, or glaciers calving with my still camera so I held the video camera in one hand and aimed it in the direction of the possible action and just let it run while I snapped still shots with the other.  Does that make me a crazy photographer?  or just a crazy tourist?  The cruise lasted most of the day and the crew came around serving chicken wrap sandwiches for lunch.  Later in the day after we had all been outside in the cold watching the glacier they made fresh hot chocolate chip cookies.  It was a rainy misty day with no sun,  and being close to the glacier with all that ice,  it was very cold and damp outside on the deck of the boat.

To see all my photos of rocks and spruce, ice and wildlife:    Look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Alaska Day Six The Bus to Kenai

Alaska Day 6 Kenai Peninsula

We boarded the bus at 8:30 am arriving in Anchorage in time for lunch.  Don and I decided to eat our granola bars as we walked and do some shopping.  We still had lots of birthday and Christmas gifts to find for all the people on our lists.  We found the tourist center and a nice gallery called Cabin Fever where we made many purchases. Back at the bus at the agreed departure time, we found our seats and were in for a photographers dream drive.  We traveled on the Seward Highway.  It goes along a fabulously scenic inlet.  Captain Cook thought this was a river it is so big.  It was low tide and there were interesting patterns in the glacial silt as well as large shallow calm stretches of water mirroring the mountains on the other shore.  It was a beautiful ride.

We arrived at the hotel which had a lodge building with two restaurants and a huge deck overlooking a turquoise blue river and millions of spruce trees on the mountains.  Up the hill from the lodge was a gift shop, another building with a hot tub and many building with guest rooms.  Our “room” was a bedroom and a living room.  The living room had a woodstove in the corner and opened up on its own private deck that looked out on more mountains and trees.

After checking in and putting our bags in our room, we went back to the lodge and decided to walk the trail below the deck down to the river.  It was a steep road, much better going down than coming back up.  Once down to the river there were wild roses everywhere as we had seen so many times in Alaska.  We explored the trail and came to a lookout deck beside the river.  After taking lots of pictures we hiked back up the trail and met our tour guide Connie and people from our group for dinner.

To see all the photos for this day:    Look up alicehuntstudio   

on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Alaska Day Five Mt McKinley

         Don left early in the morning for a fishing trip.  I bought  some breakfast snacks and ate on the observation deck.  It was overcast and so there was no sign of Mt McKinley.  Then I walked around the grounds taking photos of flowers (there were big Alaska lupines, huge white daisies and beautiful pansies) until the bus came at 9:00 to pick me up for the nature walk at Byers Lake.

         The nature walk was fun.  Byers Lake is beautiful with a narrow path along the edge.  Our guide was kept busy pointing out the wildflowers.  There were blue geraniums, blue bells, purple wild iris, ground cover dogwood, twin flower, devils club(nasty thorns on the leaves and stems) and ground creeping raspberry.  There were interesting tree roots and mosses and lots of ferns.

         As we reached the farthest end of our trail we spotted a loon.  He/she,  followed us back toward the bus as we walked we watched the bird swimming and surfacing keeping up with us as if posing for photos.

         Back on the bus to return to the lodge, we stopped at a high lookout point to see if Mt McKinley was out of the clouds yet. It wasn’t, but we had a great view of a big river bed and a melting glacier at the base of the mountains. 

         We arrived back at the lodge a bit late but in time for me to catch the horse wagon ride where I did some more panning for gold and saw some reindeer.  There was a beautiful mountain lookout with one lone cabin.  What a place to live that would be.  The wagon ride lasted most of the afternoon.

         In the evening Don and I went to Talkeetna on a bus to catch a jet boat ride on a big wide and shallow river.  Many of the trees along the river bank were broken stubs.  They had been mowed down in the spring by the ice jams.  We took lots of pictures including a distant storm,  and an eagles nest. 

         Along the way we stopped to see a replica of a native village.  The cabin had grass growing on the roof,  there was a hole in the ground lined with twigs we were told was a native refrigeration device.  They would put the food inside and cover with more sticks and the cold of the ground would keep the food.  Also there was a little cabin on very tall stilts in which they kept  more food out of reach of bears.  There were furs on display as in all these little villages.  One was a big bearskin with the paws still on.  I took a photo of my hand holding the paw and the claws were as big as my fingers!  The wide flat river gave spectacular views of the sky and we took so many pictures.  I could only select a few of them for my flickr photostream. 

         On the way back to the lodge on the bus the clouds parted and Mt McKinley appeared.  We tried to get a photo from the window of the bus as it turned to face the mountain.  By the time we arrived at the observation deck at the lodge the clouds were closing in again but the top of the peak was still visible above a layer of clouds.

         We ate some pizza and walked around the grounds a bit taking photos.  It was still a light twilight when we went to our room at 11:30 pm.

To see all the photos for this day:    Look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Day Four The Train to Talkeetna

The Boardwalk along the river at our hotel gave us fabulous views of mountains and the river.  We didn’t have time to take too long of a walk.  We had a bus to take to the Nenana River Jet Boat Ride.  When we arrived at the river there were  trappers cabins and we heard all about trapping, had hot cocoa and a sweet sugar topped bread.  We panned for gold again and then we went out and got in the boat.  As with most of the Alaskan rivers we saw there were many sand bars as we turned corner after corner.  Each bend in the river brought more exciting views.  The driver seemed to enjoy going fast on the curves and the boat skimmed across the water like a water ski.  The river was only three feet deep  and was cloudy with glacial melt.  There were no salmon here in this river a thousand miles from the sea.  The clouds started to lift and by the end of the ride we had blue sky and blue water in our photos. 

We arrived back at the hotel just in time to board the bus that took us to the train for Talkeetna. We rode in a Princess Line train car with a glass domed roof.  The dining car was below and our group took turns going below for a delicious lunch.  The ride lasted several hours and we took many photos through the window.  Taking photos through the window was a challenge because of reflections but we managed to get some very good scenic shots anyway.

By the time we arrived at the hotel we had a late supper and walked around the deck but McKinley Mountain was already tucked into a blanket of clouds for the night.  By midnight  there was darkness.  It wasn’t completely dark but much more so than it was in Fairbanks.  I took a photo which shows an almost dark night.

You can see a selection of the photos I took at my photostream on Flickr.

To see all the photos for this day:    Look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA Day 3

THE BUS FROM FAIRBANKS TO DENALI

We put our bags out before 7:00 am and went to breakfast.  The bus didn’t leave until 9:00 and we had time for a walk.  There was a path on the grounds of the hotel and we decided to see where it led. It was a beautiful morning.  The river was like a mirror reflecting the trees along the banks.  The sunlight filtered down through the spruces and birch trees.  The path that went around the hotel grounds was short but pleasant.

At 9:00 we boarded the bus to Denali.  As we got into the mountains some of the streams still had snow in them and there were valleys of cold permafrost where the spruces were very stunted.  The bus driver stopped at a lookout point to let us out of the bus to stretch our legs and take photos.  The view was immense.  I needed at least three shots just to take it all in with the wide angle lens setting. We arrived at our next hotel with time to shop before we had to get on the bus to the Denali National Park.  We grabbed our granola bars and crossed the highway to the shops.  That big buffet breakfast we ate earlier allowed us to lunch on just the granola bars.  I picked up gifts for my list of birthdays and Christmas presents I was looking for.

At 2:00 pm we joined our Natural History Tour in to Denali.  It was to be a five hour trip.  At one point we stopped to take a guided hike there were many wildflowers.  The ground beside the path was spongy with a deep layer of moss. Back on the bus we saw mountains and streams.  The streams and rivers were shallow beds of gravel with a few channels of water.  At one point we spotted caribou in the middle of one of these streams and I took a photo through the window of the moving bus.  When we arrived at the furthest point of the trip we stopped to take pictures and hear a talk by a native Alaskan.  The colors of the mountains and hills as the late afternoon sun peaked out from between clouds ranged from bright greens to dark blue greens to nearly a sky blue.  The rolling hills and mountain peaks with the shadows of the clouds stretching across them tempted me to take a photo everywhere I looked.  
Back at the hotel, we were off again with the tour group for a delicious dinner of ribs and salmon and a fun Alaska theater show.  It was a comedy skit about Alaskan history.  We had a great time.  
You can see a selection of the photos I took at my photostream on Flickr.

Look up alicehuntstudio   on Flickr or try this link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

ALASKA Day Two Fairbanks

I awoke at 2:30 AM and peeked out between the room darkening drapes.  The sky was pink.  In Fairbanks the sky never really got dark.  Being just south of the Arctic Circle the sun did dip below the horizon for an hour or two but it never got darker than dusk..  I grabbed my camera and took the picture, Fairbanks Dawn, and went back to bed. 

            The dining room opened for breakfast brunch at 6:00 and we were up to taste the caribou sausage and have scrambled eggs, bacon, strawberry yogurt crepes and many other delicious and filling things. 

            The bus left for the gold mine tour at 8:00.  On the way to the gold mine we stopped to see the Alaska Oil Pipeline.  It was quite an engineering project.  They seem to have thought of everything.  The oil is very hot when it is pumped from deep in the earth and the pipeline is built over permafrost.  In the photos you can see the heat dispersing flanges atop each leg of the support system that keeps the pipe above the ground.  Another consideration was the frequent earth quakes in the area.  The structure is designed so the pipe rides on crossbeams and can bounce up and down as well as shift side to side if it needs to.  Another interesting fact,  the caribou herds in the area are thriving,  they love to huddle near the pipeline to enjoy what warmth is gives off in the cold Alaska winter.

            We stood in the pouring rain to watch how the gold ore is pre-washed in running water and  caught in a washboard like ditch to eliminate much of the gravel before panning for the actual flakes.  We were each then given a pan with some gravel in it and taught how to wash the rest of the gravel away to reveal a few flakes of gold.  Together we both found about $20 worth of the yellow metal.  The gift shop weighed everyone’s findings and put them in a plastic container for us.  We then shopped for souvenirs until the bus left.

            The next adventure was an afternoon  riverboat ride on a stern wheeler.  The spruce trees in the area are strange looking because they struggle to grow in the permafrost.  They are tall and skinny and the branches are not neatly graduated from top to bottom like we are used to seeing.  They had lots of “character”.  We floated past log cabins and the home of  Iditerod champion, Susan Butcher, and saw her dogs.  After training runs around the property they all jump in the river to cool off during the summer.  The boat also went to a replica of a native village where we saw examples of furs, native clothing, salmon being smoked and there was a huge stuffed moose. 

            Our third event of the day was an evening salmon bake and a comedy show about life in Alaska.  The best skit was a take off on the “whose on first” done as a sled dog race.  It was still daylight when we arrived back at our hotel. And, though it was still daylight,  we were tired and ready to sleep and we had to have our bags out in the hall at 7:00 the next morning.

To see all the photos for day 2 please visit my photostream on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/

Coming soon,  Alaska Day 3 Denali

ALASKA Day One Flying from Grand Rapids MI to Fairbanks Alaska

            We lifted off from the Grand Rapids airport early in the afternoon on a beautiful day.  The sky was blue with just a few little white clouds along the horizon.  Soon we were soaring over the coastline of West Michigan.  I took a beautiful photo of the Lake Michigan shoreline.  The horizon is diagonal as I wanted to get the full length of the curving shoreline that was visible from the airplane window.  If you look closely at the shore you can even see several rows of sandbars all along the edge in the water. 

            After an hour or so in the air we landed in Minneapolis before flying on to Alaska.  I found the repetitious shapes of roofline and plane windows interesting and took a photo of the sight while we were waiting for the plane to take off again.

            As we flew north and west I snapped a lot of pictures out the window.  The buttermilk sky below us was beautiful.  It was almost as if there was an upside down view of the ocean and sky but the dark blue was really the clear sky we were flying in and the clouds were below us.

            As we got further north and near Alaska  the clouds became very small and far between.  I could see lakes below.  Some of them were smooth and reflected the clouds and sun like mirrors.  Others were rippled with wind currents that made them shimmer and glitter in the sunlight.  I could see little clouds above the lakes and the shadows they cast on the  water below.              Occasionally we flew over more dense banks of white clouds all beautiful expanding puffs of moisture in the blue sky.  Since I love the color blue I could hardly stop taking pictures it was all so beautiful.  Once I had just put my camera away when Don said “Oh!  Look”  and pointed to a small jet below us.  I quick grabbed the camera and turned it on again in time to snap the shot of jet and jet trail zooming out of a big bank of clouds.

            As we got closer to our destination, mountains began to appear below us.  Blue and blue green and mossy green, they were jagged and still covered with snow in places.  One mountain had what looked like a glacier flowing in stripes of white and blue green.  At other times there were small lakes and crazy looking rivers that glinted in the sun.  A spot of sunlight seemed to be following us on the ground and reflecting in the water like a silver mirror.  It moved along as we moved over the ground.  The sparkles progressed over the landscape as we continued towards Fairbanks.

            Once we landed in Fairbanks it was a short bus ride to our hotel which was owned by Princess Cruise Lines.  It was located on a river and had a lovely deck overlooking the water.  We ate burgers in the little restaurant in the hotel and then relaxed on the deck for a while before turning in for the night.  It was still daylight as we were near the longest day of the year and this was Alaska. It was still early in the evening Alaska time too,  but at home it was probably after midnight as Alaska is one time zone further out than California and we  had been up a long time.

To see all the pictures that illustrate this blog please go to my photostream at Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36275350@N06/   or search for alicehuntstudio once you are on Flickr 

If you haven’t been to Flickr before, it is a huge photo sharing website with beautiful pictures from all over the world.  It is free and you might have to “sign up”  to get into the  photos but it is easy to do and well worth it if you like photography.

Soon I will have Day Two photos edited and the journal entry edited for a blog so check back soon for the next installment.

ALASKA

It has been a while since I wrote.  Early June I was focused on weeding thinning mulching and pre/deadheading the gardens before leaving for two weeks in Alaska.  The house also needed to be left spic and span for the big annual party/picnic/family reunion that was to occur the day after we returned..........

June 19th we flew to Alaska for two weeks.   Two weeks with no internet!  It was a real vacation.
A photographers dream come true......... and something Don and I have always wanted to do.

Now I am back and getting all the photos out of the cameras.  As soon as I have some of them edited I will start putting them up on Flickr and Facebook and writing more blogs to share all the fun.

New Bead Necklaces by Alice Hunt

I have recently finished creating several new necklaces using my handmade beads and beads of natural polished stone and pearls.  This one has seven of my aqua blue and gold handmade porcelain beads and four of my large handmade porcelain beads with solid gold luster.  Setting them off are freshwater pearls and polished fluorite beads that are aqua with just a hint of lavender.  Dangle earrings are made with surgical steel hooks and the clasp and extender on the necklace is fashioned from gold filled wire.  I designed it so the necklace can be adjusted for length by hooking into the links of the "chain" at different points to create the look of a "choker"  or a longer length necklace.

See the other new porcelain bead and stone necklaces in the NECKLACES section of my website:

http://alicehuntstudio.com

Lunch and Pastels and Pottery by Trish Joseph

Last week I had lunch with friends.  We enjoyed a long lunch and visiting and then we went to see Trish Joseph's showing of Pastels and Pottery at the Little Yellow Frame Shop in Richland Michigan.  I took lots of photos and they are now up on Trish's page in the Gallery of Friends section of my website: alicehuntstudio.com  

Her pastels are vibrant florals except for one which is of a bowl of fruit.  I love the bright colors and the almost Van Gogh movement of lines.  Her pots are beautiful and represent her wide range of talents.

Trish has been experimenting with glazes and styles for many years and has perfected many distictive looks.   Some are salt glazed, some are wood fired,  others are fired in standard gas or electric kilns.  Her handles are especially interesting and distinctive as well as her sculptural and carved designs.

Please check out the many photos of her work on my website under "Gallery of Friends"

Please leave a comment,  I’d love to hear from you.

See Jewelry and Buttons designed and made by Alice Hunt at these sites:

http://alicehuntstudio.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AliceHuntStudio

Work by Trish Joseph Featured at The Little Yellow Frame Shop in Richland Michigan

Celebrate Spring with an art show of new colorful floral pastels.

Opening night of the exhibit is Saturday, April 24, 6-9 pm.  Trish Joseph will be there  to greet you as you visit the show of at least ten new energetic, bold florals combining pastels and colored pencil.  The gallery will be showing her pottery  as well, and several figure drawings which are also in pastel.

Chocolate and cheese nibbles will be served.  Please come and join Trish on Saturday, April 24, 6-9 pm at The Little Yellow Frame Shop and Gallery (8174 N. 32nd Street, Richland, MI 49083)

If you are unable to attend that evening, the exhibit will be on display until Saturday, July 31.

For a map and more information please visit www.LittleYellowFrameShop.com

or call 269.629.9507

Please leave a comment, we love to hear from you.

To leave a comment…..

Click on Comments and the comments

already there will show up and at the bottom

a box to  “Post a Comment”   Write a comment

into the box and select a way of signing or remaining anonymous then click post

comment and it will send me an email

to approve the comment before it is

published on the page.