Count-down to Vacation

We are so fortunate that we get two big vacation trips each year, thanks to Rich's great work benefits. Even though I don't get as much vacation time as he does, my employer is nice enough to let me go anyway, although some of it ends up being without pay. :) We will be heading out again on August 18 and I just can't wait! I am just like a little kid waiting for school to get out for summer vacation. I want to start packing! Unfortunately, because of the continued problems with volcanoes in the area, we keep having plane cancellations. We are getting really paranoid that we will not make it out on the 18th, which will set up a domino effect and make us miss our flight out of Anchorage as well. If that's not bad enough, we splurged and spent some of our mileage to upgrade to first class from Anchorage and we don't want to lose those seats! We have done this before and our flight from Dutch Harbor was delayed enough that we missed our Anchorage flight. Yes, they put us on another one, but there were no more first class upgrades available. So sad!

I called Alaska Air the other night to see if we could get a ticket a day or two earlier, just to buy ourselves a cushion and we could wait it out in Anchorage instead of here. Of course, there were none. I went to our local airport and was at least able to get us bumped up from the 5:30 PM flight to one at 10:30 AM on the same day. That doesn't help a lot if the whole day's flights are canceled, but it does help if that one doesn't fly but later ones do.

Man, it's complicated living out here sometimes! Send out lots of positive vibes that it all works out for us.

First, we are going to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Sarah, Miles and Elle will be in Ft. Collins for a friend's wedding right before we get there, so Sarah and Elle (and maybe Miles) are going to hang out a couple of extra days and wait for us. We are so excited to get to have some time with them and see what little Miss Elle is up to. She is growing and changing so much! We are going to go to Estes Park for a couple of days and then we will do a little more traveling around Colorado after they leave, since I do not have to be at the convention till the night of the 24th.
I am so excited about being part of the Convention as an alternate from Alaska! We have a very diverse and interesting delegation and have been having weekly conference calls to get ourselves prepared. We are participating in a "day of service" in Denver and will be working at a women's and children's shelter, so I am glad that we are doing something for the community while we are there. I know it's going to be an amazing experience, not to mention historic! Go, Obama!

From Denver, we are flying to Vancouver, BC, spending a few days there, and then catching our Alaska cruise most of the way back home. We are looking forward to relaxing and taking it easy on the ship, as well as seeing some of Alaska we have not seen. We will be stopping in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, then finishing up in Whittier. We still have to make some arrangements to get back to Anchorage from Whittier and catch our flight home on Sept. 10.

We will be blogging from the convention (or at least from the hotel, not sure if I will be able to take my computer in since I am not an "official" blogger) and the rest of the trip, so stay tuned!

July 28--Happy Birthday, Sarah!

I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you very much and am so happy and proud to be your mom! Here's a little trip down memory lane. I think Elle looks like you in some of these baby photos!

Our planter box flowers are finally blooming

BargainBookOholic

Look what came in the mail! A big ole torn up box o'bargain books from Barnes and Noble! When I lived in Abilene, the public library's annual used book sale was one of my favorite things EVER. How exciting to wander row after row of tables stacked high with every sort of book, and even better, I always wanted the ones that most other people did not. Political stuff, social sciences, biographies of weird people, nonfiction, nonfiction, nonfiction. I would leave the Civic Center with bags and bags of books, all of which were purchased for a dollar or two each. I was in heaven! I also love digging through the bargain bin at any bookstore. There is something very satisfying about buying a book for a couple of bucks when it was originally sold for $25 or more. I'm talking about nice hard-cover books, people! And not even used, though I don't mind used either. So now that I live in Unalaska, the closest I can come to this little thrill is e-digging through the bargain bin at BN.com. I rec'd an email awhile back advertising a major sale and I ended up ordering something like 29 books, most of which were anywhere from $1.99 to $3.98 each. Barnes and Noble is one of the few online stores that ships to AK free (if you spend $25, which is not hard to do). I will digress briefly into a rant about how SO many vendors charge an arm and a leg to ship to AK. You know all those advertisements about free shipping?? Well, not if you read the fine print that says, "within the 48 contiguous states." I will even get ads for free shipping and go all the way to the check out screen, only to be told that shipping is free but there's a $12 surcharge for sending my merchandise to AK. What the heck?? I don't know how many times I have cancelled the whole order out of frustration. The worst is when the shipping costs more than the stuff I am ordering. I REFUSE!! Many thanks to BN.com for feeling my pain and allowing me to feed my fix for bargain books for free. :) The box arrived yesterday, torn up but with all the merchandise intact. Now my only dilemma is where to begin! Here's a sampling of my new books:

Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet (Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant)

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood (founding Room to Read)

Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig (scenes from an obsessive girlhood)

Here, There and Everywhere by Geoff Emerick (recording the music of the Beatles)

Yes, You can Still Retire Comfortably by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth

Eating My Words by Mimi Sheraton (memoir of a food critic)

My Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Juan Williams (voices of the civil rights movement)

Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman (tales of growing up groovy and clueless)

I will spare you the whole list, but you get the idea. I am going to post a couple of photos, close my eyes and randomly choose my first read.

Summer Fog & Pizza Amarillo

Rich here. Well the fog has set in and around the town and mountains as it is wont to do when the wind lets up and summer is here and the temperature rises to a balmy 53 or so. The waters are still and the land and structures are reflected in the open bays around our town and the only motion is an occasional eagle or long-line fishing boat heading for home. A perfect day for pizza.
Kyle gave me some fresh pizza dough that he made with roasted garlic and fresh herbs worked into it and a homemade tomato sauce. I topped it with fontina cheese, yellow pear tomatoes, summer squash, diced Dixie Gold tomato, Sicilian olives and a little parmigiano reggiano and slid it onto the stone in the oven for ten minutes and finished it with leaves of fried sage. Because of its yellow look, I call it Pizza Amarillo. Mmmmm....

Oh, no, another volcano is acting up!

Cleveland Volcano erupts in Alaska's Aleutian Islands

The Associated Press

Published Monday, July 21, 2008

ANCHORAGE -- There are now two active volcanoes in Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory reports Cleveland Volcano erupted Monday, sending ash up to 17,000 feet in the air. Geophysicist Rick Wessels says pilots are reporting surface ash extending up to 50 miles southeast of the volcano.

Cleveland is about 90 miles west of the Okmok Volcano, which continues to erupt. Okmok's ash plume on Monday was nearly 20,000 feet, down significantly from the 30,000-foot level plumes reached this weekend.

Okmok, which in 852 miles from Anchorage and began erupting July 12, became more active on Saturday. That prompted the Alaska Volcano Observatory to issue a warning to pilots to be wary.

Photos of Okmok and Cleveland volcanos from the Alaska Volcano Observatory site:
www.avo.alaska.edu

The Hike of 16 Water Crossings

Last year, we decided to take a hike past the dam and into the hills and valleys near Pyramid Peak. What we did not know was that there was a fast rushing stream along the path and that we would have to cross it eight times out and eight times back! Rich didn't mind walking through the water in his shoes and socks and squishing his way along for hours but I, being much more wimpy and particular about the state of my little tootsies, was not willing to do so. Therefore, when we hiked it last year, he graciously offered to carry me on his back over each of the crossings. What a guy! It was pretty scary, let me tell you, but he kept his balance and we made it just fine. Today, I was better prepared and wore my tall yellow bee boots to keep my feet dry and to save his back. We think the water was a little higher this year and there were a few times when I really thought I might be going down because the current was strong, trying to push me where I didn't want to go. Luckily, we had no mishaps, though the stream was deep enough to top my boots in several locations and I ended up with very wet pants and a slow, steady dripping down into my socks. Not terrible, though, so I will not whine. We hiked all the way out to a little lake and were going eat our lunch there, but suddenly thousands of gnats were right on top of us, disturbing our little picnic. We couldn't take it, so packed up our food and made our way past the lake and across a big valley until we topped the hills and looked down on the edge of Beaver Inlet on the Pacific side. Another gorgeous view of the hills and the ocean, a lone pine tree (how did that get there?) and a big river flowing through. On the way back, we suddenly noticed many, many little sundews close to the ground throughout the valley. We have only seen them on the Ugadaga Trail before this and were just amazed that they seemed to be everywhere here! Just as we were beginning to feel somewhat dry, we had to start crossing the stream again. Here are a couple of funny photos; Rich managed to set the timer on the camera and catch us as we made our way across.