Seward, AK (07-08-14)

Seward is located on the Kenai Peninsula, a couple of hours south of Anchorage.  We just had a couple of days to explore this area so  we had to make decisions on what we wanted to see.








One of the debates I have had is whether I want to go on a sled dog tour.  I have mixed emotions about it, but I decided that sled dogs are definitely a part of Alaska that is unique, and I have loosely followed the Iditarod race over the years, so I am interested in it.


The Iditarod is an annual race that runs from (near) Anchorage to Nome, some 1000 miles away. It takes about 9 days of travel to run the course, and that’s for the winner.  The non-winners take longer. It’s an exhausting, sleep depriving race.  No one is allowed to help the musher with the dogs, so they each have to care for the sled, themselves and all the dogs’ needs.

Each musher starts with 16 dogs, but many are dropped off along the way, for a variety of reasons. All dogs are examined by a vet at each checkpoint for any health issues that may have developed and some dogs just don’t like long distance running.

  In 2013, at age 53, Mitch Seavey was the oldest person to win the Iditarod, and his son Dallas is the youngest ever to win- in 2012 he won at age 25.  He won again in 2014.
 
 



 
 
 
The Seaveys use these summer sled dog tours to both condition and socialize their dogs. Since there is no snow here, the dogs pull a sled that has wheels on it.
 
 
 
 






 

Our guide talked about the history of the races, mushing in general and the dogs themselves. I would have sworn that Alaskan Husky was a breed of dog, but as it turns out, Siberian Husky is a breed, but Alaskan sled dogs are mutts. They are bred to run. Any dog that doesn't love to run is not bred for these races. I think Paul and I got a little queasy at the thought only breeding dogs that want to spend all day running and nothing more.

One of the most famous dog sled trips, known as the Great Race of Mercy, took place in 1925 when an outbreak of diphtheria took place in Nome. It was winter, and no planes had ever flown that trip in the winter, so to get the needed serum there, 20 teams of mushers and over 100 dogs relayed the serum to Nome, each driving about 100 miles.
 

Once the history lesson was done, we moved on to the dog yard.  As soon as we walked into the yard, the noise level intensified as the dogs all began shouting "pick me! Pick me!"

 
 




 
 
16 dogs were harnessed and away we went on our two mile trek. Of course, I expected to hear the word "mush" from the musher, but it turns out thats a myth. They actually say things like "alright" or “hike”  to get the dogs moving. The dogs definitely understood the commands from the musher, even when they were told to turn right, or go straight etc.
 
 
 




 
 
 

After our short trip, they brought us over to meet the latest puppies.  They were cute, but neither of us held one- we just watched as they were passed around.

I’m glad we did it, but now I can definitely file it under “been there, done that”.

It seems I can’t get enough of the wildlife adventures here in Alaska. Paul and I bought a coupon book before coming up here- its called the Alaska Tourbook-and its full of 2 for 1 offers. 

One of the excursions we were interested in is in Seward.  Its a wildlife boat tour, but the 2 for 1 deal is only good on their evening cruise.  Since it stays light forever up here, that’s not a big deal. I particularly wanted to take this cruise because I know that a few days ago, they saw killer whales along the way,  and seeing killer whales is still on my bucket list.





As we pulled away from the harbor, we enjoyed the All You Can Eat prime rib/baked salmon buffet.  It was excellent.








It was a beautiful night, and we were using our new binoculars to check out the eagles and Steller sea lions along the shore, but I was just thinking that we weren’t going to see anything of real interest when the National Park ranger on board called out that there were humpback whales off in the distance. 

The captain was able to approach closer so we could get a good look at them, and soon, something really awesome happened.  We had heard about a phenomenon called Bubble Net Feeding, but it is rare to actually see it.

Bubble net feeding is when a pod of humpback whales work cooperatively to capture fish.  They make a big circle under water, blowing out bubbles as they swim in a circle. The fish think that the bubbles are a net, so they stay in the middle.

The whales tighten the circle and work their way closer to the surface. You can tell where they will surface because the seagulls have figured out how this works and they are waiting for the whales.

The whales shoot straight up out of the water with their mouths wide open, gobbling up the fish.








This pod is just learning this behavior- transient whales have been teaching them how to do this, and both the captain and the park ranger had only seen this phenomenon twice before.

We watched them do it several times before they had had their fill.  The boat was pretty rocky and the sun was shining so it was hard to get good shots of it.

So, even though we didn't see killer whales, the trip was certainly worth taking!

Having moved on from Seward, we are now sitting in Anchorage.  For the first time since we left California, the camper is off the truck.  That’s because Dozer and I are sitting in Anchorage but Paul is in California.  He flew out Thursday morning at 1 AM to attend his nephew’s wedding on Saturday. I’m not fond of driving the truck, but it’s a lot easier for me if the camper isn't on it.





Dozer and I have been very busy since Paul left.  We've done a bunch of cleaning and laundry…..and shopping.

I spent a whole day talking to my friends who are professional photographers, getting their opinion on cameras.  I really like my camera for the most part, but it has some limitations.
  As an example, with no view finder, I had no idea whether the whales I was shooting were actually in the frame or not.  Same with the eagles.  I have to guess, and hope my aim is accurate. The LCD screen is pretty much impossible to see in broad daylight. (see what a good job I am doing of justifying this purchase??). And my pictures of mountains!  Really- they are so washed out because I can’t put a filter on this camera!

 OK, enough justifying.  The reality is, when originally I bought this camera, I almost bought a DSLR for the above reasons, but I ended up with my very nice Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS20 digital camera.

After a lot of discussion with my friends (thanks Carol and Wayne!!) I ordered a new camera. My Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 arrives on Monday and I am really looking forward to testing it out!  It isn't really a DSLR, because to get a decent DSLR, I was looking at an investment of about $1400 and I just don’t take enough time playing with pictures to warrant that expense. 

Here Come the Brides (Boston, 10-18-12)

Once we arrived in Livingston TX, (technically our “home” town) we took care of some business.  We are having our wills, powers of attorney, etc. re-written, now that we are TX residents.  We had our initial appointment before our trip to Boston, which gave the attorney a few days to type them up while we were gone.  We met with the lady who offered to keep an eye on the cat, and got all our laundry done, Once we did all that, we were ready to go!!

I’m very happy we decided to fly to Boston for the weddings.  Of course, I would have been much happier if the weddings had been on different days, or even different weekends.  Both were important enough that we would have tried to fly back for each of them. We attended the actual ceremony of my cousin Greg’s wedding.  This picture is of him watching his bride walk down the aisle.

This picture is of him walking down the aisle 31 years ago when he was the ring bearer at my first wedding.  His mother was terrified because I insisted that a ring bearer should carry the real rings!

Greg and Jen exchange rings. 

Greg and Jen with his parents, my uncle Bob and aunt Tish, two of my favorite people!

After sticking around that reception long enough to eat dinner, we hightailed it out to the second reception.  I would have loved to have watched Christina walk down the aisle, since I’ve been friends with her since she was 11 years old.  Her parents are two of our best friends, even though we don’t see them too often!  We are trying to convince them to move to Arizona.  We may succeed yet!  Their daughter Dina gave birth to her first child, in Arizona, on her sister’s wedding day.  (their mom-Roseann, didn’t get much sleep the night before the wedding! Constant text updates on the labor progression!!). They were hoping that Dina would be able to Skype to watch the wedding ceremony, but she was a little busy!

 

Christina and her brother Mark.  We also got to spend time with a bunch of other good friends,all of whom we know from our boating days in MA. At one time we all had a boat on the same dock at the marina, and spent years partying together! 

Sunday we got together with my family at my brother’s house, where we ate, played cards and watched the Patriots win a football game.

Our last day, Monday, we spent the day with Stephen, ending up at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner.  We had an awesome trip, but the days passed too quickly.

Back in Livingston, we are taking care of “stuff”.  We met with the attorney and finalized the documents we need, Paul updated his driver’s license to the correct “class” for towing a trailer and we voted. Tomorrow we’ll weigh the rig and the truck again because the weighing equipment here is state-of-the-art, and it’s always a good idea to know what your vehicles weigh.  From there we head south of Houston for more partying!

wedding photos

A wedding weekend

    The wedding day has come and gone and the whirlwind of activity has given way to sighs of exhaustion.
In the weeks leading up to the our daughter’s wedding, the fullness of our days was stretched to the maximum.  With Paul and I in Michigan with the bride-to-be and her fiancé, we were all working our personal lists of things to do. The high level of activity and occasional times of heightened stress were well worth it when the “day of the rehearsal” dawned and our to-do list was mostly a “done” list.
    Paul and I had one last minute (actually, 2 hours) of panic however, just to make life interesting.  After moving the trailer onsite to Waldenwoods, we tried to open the slides and the bed slide wouldn’t open.  The design of our trailer is such that we have no way of opening the bedroom door without first opening the slide.  After a few minutes of trying, we started calling DRV, the trailer manufacturer, and Lippert, the manufacturer of the slide mechanism.  We couldn’t see if anything was blocking the slide and I was starting to think in terms of taking a saw to the bedroom door.  The bride’s wedding dress was inside, on the bed.  In the end, Lippert walked Paul through a swap of the controller that works the slide mechanism, swapping the vanity slide controller over to the bed slide.  That did the trick and the slide was opened (and a new controller was shipped out to us that day).
That was the last of the glitches, and the following 4 days pretty much ran without many issues at all, certainly nothing major.  We all started to relax and enjoy the festivities!
Rather than try to post pictures here and making this a very long post, I am posting a photo album on the blog page.  Its easier to caption the photos if I use Picasa, rather than inserting the pictures into a post.
Thursday evening was the rehearsal at Waldenwoods, followed by a casual dinner at the trailer for all those who were able to attend, which included my brothers, sister, and sister-in-law, who all flew in from Boston Thursday afternoon. 
Friday morning we were able to start the day slow before heading to the airport to pick up my son.  Afterwards, we headed out to dinner with my family and the bride and groom.
    Saturday was a busy day that started with many of the bridesmaids, my sisters and I, and the bride,  having lunch at Panera and then getting our nails done at a nearby salon.  We made it back to the trailer with just enough time to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Several of the bridesmaids came with us to the trailer to get ready, so I am sure the guys felt overrun!
Sunday morning we were up bright and early and headed to the hair salon to get hair and make-up done for the day.   Back at Waldenwoods, Jess headed for the bridal room to meet up with her bridesmaids so they could get dressed together.  I got ready myself, then brought her dress over there for her. The weather forecast was for rain all day, but I am guessing that hanging the rosary beads out the window saved the day, since the sun was out all throughout the afternoon, well past the ceremony time.
After an awesome ceremony and reception, and a very late night, we were up early on Monday, hosting a breakfast for our out of town guests, after which we retired to the trailer to relax before heading out to bring my son to the airport.  One more dinner out, with my family and then today we moved the trailer back to the RV park we had been in before the wedding.  we are both pretty exhausted and trying to recuperate!

A brief update (New Hudson, MI 9-19-11)

To say that life has gotten hectic would be quite an understatement.  We are in the final few days before our out of town guests arrive.  Once that happens, I’d like to be able to kick back and relax and enjoy!  Well, at least slow down a little bit.  Most of my family will arrive on Thursday, and my son will fly in on Friday afternoon.  I haven’t seen him since June, so I am looking forward to his arrival! 
       Thursday the festivities begin with the rehearsal at Waldenwoods.  This is just the rehearsal itself, so we’ll be having food for the participants back at our trailer.  Thursday morning we will move about 30 miles up the road to be onsite in the trailer at Waldenwoods for the 5 days surrounding the wedding.  It should make things much easier on us.   Friday evening we’ll have dinner with my family and then Paul and I have volunteered to be designated drivers so that Jess and the other “young people” can go out and have a good time at the local country bar.
     The last few days have gotten busier.  It seems that for every item that gets crossed off   the “to do” list, another gets added!  Jess and David have an apartment now, so we are helping them get their stuff moved in to it.  That entailed a trip to Wisconsin with our truck, to pick up a bed, sofas and bureaus from David’s parents house.  A very long day,  especially for Paul, who had to drive for 11.5 hours.  David has been painting their living room, which now looks awesome! Tomorrow we are taking them “shopping” in our storage unit, to see  what we have that they can use.  There are several things that Paul and I want to get out for ourselves as well.  It’s 30 ft long, and 10 ft wide and we hope to “dig in” as far back as we can, so we’ll need all 4 of us.
   The trailer is definitely shrinking as we work on projects such as centerpieces, cupcake towers etc.  Paul, being the most creative as well as the most “mechanically” talented member of  the family, is in high demand.


 









hmmmm, not everyone seems quite as busy as Paul…..















Dozer does try to help as much as possible, of course.
Anyway, I am sure the the next few days will be incredibly busy, so the next time I post, my daughter will be Jessica McClone!

Tempus Fugit

        Time sure is flying by.  Now that we’ve moved up to Michigan, we can handle all the details of the wedding much easier, and we are all feeling a little less stressed.  Jess is still living with us, and David is spending a lot of time here too, as they do errands together, including looking for a new apartment.  Every day brings a new list of things to accomplish.
       Paul is winding down his list of modifications and additions to the trailer, and is looking around, trying to find a new project to work on.  He’s also been helping with the errands, and arrangements for the wedding, but after a while, his eyes start to glaze over and he starts looking for something to use his hammer on. 
One of his major accomplishments was the addition of our Margaritaville sign. Not content to just put up the sign, he found LED lighting to put behind it. It’s very fancy LED lighting. We can choose one of about 5 colors, or we can have the lighting “scroll through” all the colors slowly, depending on our mood.                             



                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Meanwhile, the list of things that need to be fixed by the factory is growing, so it’s a good thing we are headed there in October. 
        In between bouts of wedding planning, shopping, and 3 billion doctor’s appointments, we are trying to spend some time with friends, taking advantage of the fact that we are here for a month.  So far we’ve seen a few, with plans made to see more in the next few days.
      Today was Dozer’s day to go to the doctor, and for the first time, we took him just on the leash, without the carrier, since it was a short ride.  He did well, and everyone in the office was intrigued by the cat on the leash. He wasn’t too happy to get his shots though, and has been quiet since we got home. It’s funny how much he has changed since we bought the new automatic feeder for him.  The thing is Huge, and holds about a 2 month supply of food.  Now Dozer no longer associates us with getting fed, so he doesn’t cry or fuss at us near dinner time.   And he doesn’t meow in the middle of the night, or bang on our door, trying to convince us it’s time for his breakfast. It’s amazing!  It makes everybody much happier!

This week’s activities (Muncie, IN 08-12-11)

      I have Hitch Itch.  Yeah, I know it sounds like an awful condition or something, and really, actually, it is.  My full-timing friends will know exactly what I mean when I say it.  I am ready to move. I want to ride off into the sunset, find someplace new to explore.  I want to find out what’s “over that hill”.  I guess Hitch Itch is one of the reasons we enjoy full timing so much.  After staying in one spot for a while, we love going someplace new. I am already trying to sneak in a 3 day stay in Muskegon on our way from here to Novi. I’m not sure we can do it, but I think I’d like to try.  There is a pair of Bald Eagles that make their home in Muskegon, and I’d love to try and find them.
           Anyway, that makes it sound like I’m not having any fun, and really, I am.  Now that the frantic craziness of moving into the new trailer, moving Jess into the new trailer, and getting  us all situated has abated, we are settling in to a routine that’s quite nice.  Jess and I are determined to fit exercise into our daily regime, and so far it’s working very well-so well that we had to take today off completely.  We have overexerted ourselves.  We’ve done workouts with weights, played tennis (hmmm, not great for my foot), and been biking several times. She is doing great on the bike.  She hasn’t ridden in years, but has already worked up to a 15 mile ride.
    In between all the workouts, we are working on wedding details.  We spent a couple of days building the invitations, staying up one night until 2 am to get them finished, and they have now gone out in the mail.  We’re going over all the details of what needs to be done, and when, so we can start knocking things off the “to do” list and into the  “DONE” pile.  Neither of us has much experience planning weddings, so I hope we don’t forget too many details. 
     Paul has been helping us with the the wedding, when we need him, and when we don’t, he is busy making his modifications to the trailer. He has added shelves, bought things like a quick disconnect outdoor shower faucet,  and piping to rearrange the water system, and has started researching things like water filtration systems, weather monitors, Wi-fi antennas, and bike racks. 
        All in all we are having a great time and enjoying the opportunity to be able to spend a significant amount of time with our daughter before she gets married in September.

Muncie, IN (08-06-11)

    Busy, Busy, Busy. 
        Paul and I hardly had time to settle into our new home before we moved our daughter into the trailer with us. We spent last weekend moving her out of her apartment and into the trailer.  I must say, we all did a great job of fitting all her stuff into every available nook and cranny!  We sorted through everything she owns and made separate piles for the trailer, Goodwill, and Storage.  Our original idea was to put her stuff to be stored in our storage unit in Michigan until the wedding, but in the end there was just a tad bit too much stuff to do that comfortably, so we got her a small unit of her own.  We had to scramble at the last minute because we were arriving in MI on Sunday and the office to the Storage place isn’t open.  They were nice enough to assign us a unit, unlock it, and let us fill out the paperwork for it on Monday morning.
    We dropped her belongings off and checked in to the hotel early Sunday evening.    Monday was doctor day.  Jess had her appointment in the morning, then we headed to my appointment in the afternoon.  After that we investigated florists and made a couple of appointments for early September, to make final decisions on flowers for the wedding.
     Tuesday was Jess’s dress fitting.  In the morning we went to the salon to get her make up done as she wants it done for the wedding, so when we went for the fitting, we had a better idea of the “whole picture”.   Marissa, one of her bridesmaids, was able to meet us at David’s Bridal, and Jess was really excited to have her girlfriend be there for the fun.  
       After another 4 hour drive, we were back in Muncie Tuesday evening, all of us pretty tired after a whirlwind 5 days.  Since then we’ve been getting settled, Jess has been working, and we are putting together the invitations, so they can go out in a few days.