Starting the Western Aleutian Adventure

** This is the first post of a long series of log-entries from my trip to the Western Aleutians. The plan was to go set up seismic stations on Little Sitkin and Semisopochnoi. **

I'm now onboard a 737 heading to anchorage. Fairbanks was in fog, and looked beautiful, as Chena ridge peeked out over the Tanana valley. Shortly after takeoff, we passed through A second layer of clouds, a thin yet opaque veil that obscured the details below. I'm excited. Within 3 hours, I'll be in Homer, and starting my trip to all points west. I'll even be on the other side of the date-line, though I'm unsure that Alaska celebrates its true position in the world.

Security was tight, and I raced a bunch of firefighters for the pleasure of having my bags thoroughly searched. I think it took the lady, at a diligent pace, mind you-- a half hour to get through my backpack and computer case.

My baggage became the equivalent of one of those dolls that teaches you how to work zippers and laces, and such. I've had only one hour of sleep last night, as I tried frantically to get my abstract together for the Ecuador trip in Jan. Unfortunately, I didn't really come up with anything exciting. I burned a CD for Steve, but *ack* it ended up just sitting on my table at home.