glacier_kitty | Entries tagged with alaska sights

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Today I worked for a few hours and then around noon mom picked me up and started driving. We had lunch at The Monderosa (near Nenana). When we went over the Tanana River bridge at Nenana we saw the tripod for the Nenana Ice Classic in the river ice! Yay haha. The weather was horrible..it was snowing and so cloudy you could hardly see the scenery. It felt like all the color had drained from the world and was full of white and grey..ugh. It stayed that way till Healy or Cantwell..it stopped snowing and there was even some blue sky! The mountains were brilliant white in the sun..wow. I even saw the bottom of Mt. McKinley. Then it got cloudy again but it still wasn't as bad as the beginning drive. In Wasilla you could see some of the Chugach Mountains and the pink sunset on the mountains was BEAUTIFUL. I thought I even saw a glacier coming down the mountain (I checked on Google Earth and it did show glaciers you could possibly see from the road. Hopefully I'll get a better view tomorrow). We found the hotel and I about died cause the view from the rooms was the mountains. I was squeaking haha. I reaaally hope the weather is nicer tomorrow..I've never been down the Glenn Highway and want to see it in its full glory!

So yesterday I left Fairbanks for Anchorage at 9 something. I had a row all to myself! The sunrise was lighting the sky and I was able to take pictures. I saw the Chena and Tanana Rivers!! I could see a little of the mountains of the Alaska Range but then it got too cloudy to see any others except for one lone mountain poking above the clouds (probably Mt. McKinley). After we passed the mountains it became less cloudy. I saw some very twisty rivers haha. We flew over Cook Inlet as we descended into Anchorage. I had to wait about an hour in Anchorage. It was somewhat clear but as time went on the clouds came over the mountains and it was snowing after I boarded for Seattle. We waited like..20 minutes or so before we finally took off. Jeez haha

After it snowed it started clearing off again. I saw some of the Chugach Mountains through the clouds and the Turnagain Arm road I took to get to the Kenai Peninsula (Whittier and Seward). The brown of Cook Inlet turned into blue. I saw mountains in the distance and thought they looked like the Wrangell Mountains. The guy sitting next to me confirmed it. I probably saw some glaciers on those mountains. Through the clouds I thought I saw a little of Malaspina Glacier..it has REALLY distinct moraines and what I saw looked like its moraines. Then I looked in the water and saw little white dots that I thought could be icebergs. Then I looked up..and about died of happiness. It was cloudy and rather hard to tell but it looked like there was a huge glacier with a medial moraine. I looked at a picture and it showed Malaspina and Hubbard glaciers relatively close together. So maybe it was Hubbard Glacier..and the white dots were possibly icebergs from it..I can't be sure though since it was so cloudy (I should have taken binoculars :P). Then it became so cloudy I couldn't see anything so I read and still looked out to see if there was a break in the clouds. Then I looked up and suddenly I could see again! I think we were flying over the Inside Passage or Canada..it looked like a bunch of fjords so I dubbed it Fjordland haha. It looked like a pretty easy place to get lost in. :P I definitely saw some glaciers around there (small though). There could have been glaciers covering the tops of the mountains too. We flew over a bunch of islands with little towns on them. We also flew over Vancouver (you were right

judeaslinksta! Hehe) and into the Seattle area. It was SUNNY and totally clear! In SEATTLE. It was amazingggg. We flew over Puget Sound, downtown, etc. Then I saw a huge mountain looming before me..it was Mt. Rainier!! Wooo! There was another mountain near it but I forgot what it was called. The sunset was GORGEOUS..deep orange. Wowww

( seattle to san diego, today and pics under here! )

Current Location: Dana's apartment in San Diego

On Wednesday after work I went to pick up Dana from the airport. I was nervous and anxious all day haha..it felt like I wasn't really at work. :P After we picked her up we ate dinner at Ivory Jacks and then went home and watched a movie and a glacier DVD that was rather boring haha

Yesterday we showed Dana around town..we went to Gulliver's Books, Barnes and Noble, the Pipeline, walked on the bridge downtown (it was colddd haha), ate lunch at a Thai restaurant and showed her where I work. We also went to the university's bookstore so she could get some UAF shirts (4 bookstores in one day? Wow haha). We went home and got cozy under blankets after being cold all day. :P Then we played Pictionary which was funnn

Today it was clear and sunny! (So it was colder too..-20 something) We could see the Alaska Range pretty well. We went up to the university and I saw Mt. McKinley! Then we got gas at Fred Meyer and as we turned the corner these two guys fell in front of the car. I thought they had fallen and were hurrying to get out of our way but I soon saw it wasn't the case. One guy with a bag was trying to run away while the other was holding onto his arm trying to stop him. There was a lady watching so I figured the guy stole her bag and was trying to escape. He was trying really hard but the other guy kept holding onto him. Other guys came and they got the bag away from him and got him to the ground (he was STILL trying to fight back too). There was like..4 guys on top of him. They got his shoes off and were searching his clothes for something he may have hidden in them (I kind of expected them to find a gun! Eep). Something that looked like a spoon was pulled out of his clothes..we had to leave then though. Wow..that freaked me out! I've never seen that happen before. I hope there's a story in the news about it so I can know the full story. After that we went to mom's work and went inside the tower! I have been wanting to go in one of those towers since I was a kid! You could see the mountains and a little of the frozen Tanana River! A guy gave us a very cool brief tour (I lovee listening to the people talking to the pilots :D). Then we drove to Chena Hot Springs! I'd never been in the winter. First we toured the Ice Museum (it actually felt WARM coming in the 20 degree room after being in -20 haha). People can sleep in different rooms in the museum for a night. The sculptures were pretty well made. After the tour mom and Dana shared an appletini (I had a sip..very strong and sour haha). Then we had a late lunch and went into the hot springs. OMG..the walk from the building to the water is PAINFUL when it's -20!! My feet hurt so bad haha. We were racing to get into the water and I totally slipped and fell on the ice. :P We were just like..lamenting on how cold and crazy that was when we got in the water haha (by gasping a lot :P). A bunch of steam was coming off the water from the temperature difference and the trees were COVERED with frost. Our hair got SO frosty too haha. After the hot springs we went back to town and got dessert at Chili's (it smelled sooo good in there!). Then we went back home. Dana is amazed by the cold..she said it's the coldest she's ever felt. She leaves tomorrow afternoon..aw. I shall post pics when I get Dana's (I just let her and mom take all the pics :P)

Yesterday we drove down the Richardson Highway through the Alaska Range to Paxon. The Richardson is the way to get to Valdez which we drove down last year..but it was cloudy and rainy. Yesterday it was sunny..OMG it hardly looked the same. It was like seeing it for the first time haha. We missed crazy beautiful scenery!! We went on a different side of the mountains than the Parks Highway (the way to Denali and Anchorage). That's where all the glaciers were hiding too haha (I think the Denali side is on the rain shadow of the mountains and gets less snow). We ate lunch at Rika's Roadhouse! We ate there last year on the way to (and from!) Valdez. Their buffalo burgers are so good!! And they have tomato basil soup! From Paxon (hicktown :P) we got on the Denali highway and drove 38 miles on it (it's 100 some miles and ends at Cantwell. It used to be the only way to get to Denali I think). Most of it is dirt road. On one side was the Alaska Range and in the distance on the other was the Wrangell Mountains! Though the weather wasn't great over there and clouds were obscuring some of those mountains. Now for pics..

( yay )

The Yukon Quest: A one thousand mile sled-dog race, run round trip between Whitehorse, Yukon, and Fairbanks, which many think is tougher than the Iditarod. The Quest passes through a whole lot of nothing in temperatures that would make a polar bear shiver (the Yukon Quest starts in Fairbanks next year!!)

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Nailed to the Wheel"-Edguy

Movies watched this week: Mars Attacks

Today the tour bus companies were giving free tours to Fairbanksans to practice for the summer. Mom and I went and Jackie and Brenda and her kids came too. It was neat..it rather made me feel like I was on vacation though haha. Then mom and I went to watch like 3 videos at the visitor center haha (the Yukon-Charley River preserve, the Gates of the Arctic, Alaskan wildlife). We had lunch, walked by the (OMG MOSTLY UNFROZEN) river and got some fudge at The Fudge Pot. Yay!

( i have pics! )

Midnight sun: If it's 2 AM and bright as noon, it's summer in Alaska. The farther north you go, the longer the day gets. Barrow, the northernmost community, has nearly two months of solid daylight (and darkness in the winter..)

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: "Framing Armageddon"-Iced Earth

So yesterday the flight to Anchorage left at..10 something PM. I saw the Chena and Tanana Rivers and possibly Nenana (the village) but then it got too cloudy to see anything (even though it was dark you could still see the ground). I didn't originally have a window seat but a whole row was empty so I took it haha. I think that's possibly the shortest flight I've EVER been on. It was like we were in the air for 10 minutes haha. We got to Anchorage at 11 or 12 something AM. The flight to Seattle left at 1 something AM. It was FULL. I was in the middle. We met a nice lady that talked to us like crazy haha. She lives in Soldotna (Southern Alaska?) and other places in the Lower 48. After we landed she said we could have traded seats. :P It may have been too cloudy to see anything, and I dozed most of the way anyway. We got to Seattle at 5 something AM. It was raining..it's always raining or cloudy when I go there! :P While waiting for the next flight that lady came and talked to us more..she gave us her phone number and she told us to visit her haha. The flight to DFW left at 7 something. I had a window seat! When we were in the air the pilot was talking about the weather in Texas and stuff and then he was like "on the left you can see Mount Rainier!" and I was like "NOOOOOO" cause I was on the right side haha. Though we did follow the Rocky Mountains most of the way. We got in to Texas at 1 something. Whoa we stepped outside and it was WINDY. You could just feel the humidity and EEE IT'S WARM! Oh man the weather outside is great. And I said hi to my kitties. :D It rather feels like I never left..I did see some new stores though. And I SWEAR I saw a sign that said "glacier" haha!

( pics! )

The How to Speak Alaskan book is upstairs..so it's being skipped today :P

Yesterday we visited mom's work (she's an air traffic controller..actually Brenda is too haha). There weren't many people since it was the evening shift. While there we learned that the president was stopping at Alaska near Fairbanks on his way to China for the Olympics (they have to know since around him is a no fly zone). After dinner we drove into the hills up to Murphy Dome..it was coooold up there but you'd get a GREAT view if it wasn't cloudy. I saw some of the Alaska Range, flooding from the Tanana River, tiny Fairbanks, and some lake thing that mom said looked like a dam. On the way back I saw a moose but it went into the woods before mom and Brenda could see. Brenda took pics but I don't have them on my computer

Tomorrow I leave for Valdez! I come back on Thursday

( pic of the day )

Today's stupidest quote: French Creeps. Chapped Liver (menu items at a New York City deli)

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "The Looking Glass"-Avantasia

Mom and dad went to Lowe's yesterday..I went along and showed dad the Alaska Pipeline, the ice tower thingy, and the airplane a guy's living in. I got pics this time

Dad leaves today too. He did a bunch of work at the house haha

Friday five:
What's your favourite TV network? FOX
If you could create your own channel, what would it be? Blah
What TV show did you watch as a child that you wish they would bring back? Eh
What show have you always hated, and wonder why they ever made such a dumb show? Don't Forget the Lyrics
What TV show's seasons would you buy on DVD? ER?

( pics )

Today's stupidest quote: A Century of Dance, Sunday, May 22nd, 3:00 PM. Rectal is open to the public--FREE Admission! (invitation to a dance recital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Titan"-HammerFall

Two of the people mom works with came over and I went with them to get a snow ~~blower~~ thrower. It's like shoveling snow with a machine haha. Then they took us to where a guy lives in an airplane. I swear haha. He took the wings off though. We also saw this big ice tower thingy and the Alaska Pipeline. We came back to the house and mom was shown how to use the snow thrower and the guys ate the breakfast casserole mom made and talked..they've left now though. I've seen buildings in the town painted pink, purple, turquoise and blue on the same building...oooook :P

Mom said for my birthday we'd take a train to Denali and stay overnight and do stuff...ooo haha

( pic of the day )

Today's stupidest quote: We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite (sportscaster Murray Walker)

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Under Pressure"-Queen