A Corney day

Well, the long days seem to be the norm, I guess. (duh)
This morning, we ate a lovely breakfast outside, then wandered into town to mail mom's postcards. They've such a neat, tidy downtown.
As we left the town of Canistota, we took a bunch of farming photos; mom had remembered that this month's Firehouse gallary show has to do with farming.

Then, we went towards Mitchell, SD. There, we visited the corn palace (everything it promises to be!). Lunch was next door at the Stadium. The waitress there was in the peace corps in some eastern European country I'd never heard of, but then she returned. After lunch, we wandered a couple doors down for a cup of joe and some internet time. Again, I ended up talking to the people in there about Alaska and volcanoes. In exchange, I was let in on a sad story about a child, a rock, and a goldfish. Meanwhile, the internet wasn't working, and they couldn't get it to work. Roughing it :)

The badlands were calling, so we bade Mitchell goodbye and headed back onto the interstate to continue our westerning. Just before the Missouri river, we checked out a visitor center/overlook. They had a great display of Louis and Clark stuff. Loved their spellings. What a cool scientist, too. We'd finally reached, by the appearances of vegetation, some juniper land. We're definitely getting further west!

We arrived in the badlands in the early evening, with plenty of time to do a small hike to the window overview. Pretty! We found a nearby campground, then zipped down the park road to get some more sunset photos in.

Camp was a nice affair with my humongous tent finally winning my approval. The thing is BIG, 6 people big, and not meant for wind. Original misgivings were tossed aside as I got used to the luxury of not stepping on anyone, or anything, and being able to stand up inside.

Dinner was almost at the nearby trading post. Then almost at the park entrance. Then almost in the nearby town of interior. In the end, it turned out to be a Turkey Tetrazzini backpacker dinner. Tasty!

BTW, Not sure if I mentioned it in my previous post. I'm still beating myself up for not pulling over and taking a photo of the 60' Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN that we passed on I-90.

Onward to South Dakota!

Day 3 : Sunday, August 17, 2008 (written morning of 18th)

Yesterday was another long, long day. We started off in Wisconsin, not too far from the border of Illinois, in the town of Milton. Inspired, we opted to go to Heidi's pancake house for breakfast, rather than wander next door to the Cracker Barrel.

We took some back roads to get to Heidi's, which was also near the interstate, though a couple exits north. When we arrived at the place, it was no longer Heidi's. It was a cheese shop. Nice, but not what I was looking for. We went back down the road a small ways to eat at "Emmiline's Roadhouse" instead Emiline's is "Almost on the water", being a block away from the river. There, it was Sunday brunch with stroghannof, french toast, etc.

Then, we hopped back on the interstate, staying on it 'till we checked out a cheese shop in Mouscaton. The lady running the shop had the perfect prairie home companion accent. While there, I saw in the local tourist rag that there was the Corn and Tater festival in nearby Grand Marsh. Why not? So, we headed out to the festival.

Grand marsh was a tiny town, but there were hundreds and hundreds of vehicles parked around. Apparently, the tater festival was a HUGE deal. There were all sorts of games that reminded me of the sorts of things I'd dream up as a child. People were betting on which square a chicken would poop, there were minnow races, photos, horseshoes, a mechanical bull that children were riding, a wagon shuttle to the parking lot, lots of food (taters, corn, BBQ beef, and a cookie), kiddie tractor pulls, some crafts. All in all, quite an event. Mom and I ate some food and talked about our travels to a pair of interested folk sitting next to us.

After that, we took local roads west (21) 'till we hit I90 again. Headed West. Stopped at a DQ just before getting back on the road. Dinner was unimpressive, if not friendly. "The Ranch", in Fairmont, MN.

The rest of the journey was pretty much a blur 'till we stopped, again around midnight local time, at a Best Western in Canitosta. ("can-of-soda?"), just west of Sioux Falls. The hotel, though was 4 miles this way, 4 blocks that way, 4 more blocks the other way. Man was I tired. I'm still tired. The guy at the desk told us, before we asked "why is the hotel so far from the interstate?" Apparently there's a chiropractor clinic nearby that's all the rage.

Cheapest gas: 1.52 in Fairmont. also got gas in Wisconsin.
Mileage: 539

Rock and roll is here to stay

Cleveland Rocks!
Well, at least, there's the Rock and Roll hall of fame there. We started from Barkeyville, OH (not Sharon, as I'd previously thought. Sharon was where the local newspaper was from). We started from Barkeyville at around 10am, crossed into Ohio by 1030, and passed our first automobile plant at 1100.
We had our first breakfast at the hotel (OK, but it was all baked stuff), so second breakfast was on the turnpike, where we watched a little cat work over the visitors for food. Actually, she looked like she had quite the setup, with a great little nest in the bushes, and plenty of visitors to offer food.
While at the rest stop, mom picked up a brochure for the R&RHofF... so we went. It was OK. I really enjoyed seeing Janice's car and seeing some original manuscripts with cross outs of various artist's songs. Some of the guitars were pretty neat, as were George Clinton's dog shoes. Other random things that I was particularly impressed with: Michael Jackson's zombie jacket, ZZ-top's junkyard-style metal guitars, and John Lennon's guitar that had its paint stripped and had a couple carvings of him & Yoko etched into it in pen.

I had a small conversation about volcanoes with the coat-check girl as I picked up my camera (no photos, check all cameras, please). She saw my regatta shirt, and asked me if I was really from up there. Yep. "Do you know about the volcano that's erupting up there?" "(sigh) yeah." The license plate is still getting double takes, and as mom puts it "we're making kids very happy who are counting license plates from different states".

All in all, it was a day of tolls and toll booths. Indiana was ugh. Illinois was filled with tolls and construction. I'm still not down with "Those damn I-states", and made a point to drive to Wisconsin before stopping.

Mileage: 570, total: 1012 (442 yesterday, revisionist)
Meals: Hotel for breakfast, Turnpike for breakfast II, Hamburgers at the R&RHoF for lunch, Fazoli's (Turnpike) for the most nutritious meal of our trip (dinner), and later a shake & fries to keep me going 'till after midnight Central Time.

Gas: ~4.00 /gal along the way

On the road again!

Well, The summer's been great, but it's time to mosey. Yesterday's trip started after lunch, which was later than I'd hoped, but earlier than I expected. The high volume of traffic turned out to be a perfect sendoff from the east-coast. It took forever to cross the Tappan Zee and make it on up to Hwy 84. Rain accented the red tail-lights of the endless stream of cars. While frustrated at the slow start to the trip, I'm thrilled by the thought that -- once I make it past Chicago-- I won't have to deal with traffic any more!
Meanwhile, Harry Potter was playing on the MP3 player. Since the player works through the car audio, every now and again, a radio station would stamp out the story, and the station would have to be changed. It is only then that we realized (over and over) that the radio was on full blast.
We made it through Norbert before reaching the end of consciousness, and pulling over in Sharon, PA.


Today, I'm hoping we'll make it into Minnesota. The day is gorgeous, and I'm ready to get going.

So far, Since leaving Saratoga, I've had at least 4 conversations about being from Alaska, along with 3 (so I could tell) times overhearing people mentioning it after seeing my vehicle.

Food:Breakfast- last of the duck eggs w/bacon. Lunch:Some sandwiches by the Milford PO, then Arby's for dinner. This morning was the food buffet with a side of internet (free wireless, but the computer needed to be plugged into the wall).

Gas: Filled up once in Scranton $3.59/gal

Lodging: Comfort Inn, Sharon PA. midnight.
Next Time: Check out the anthrocite museum and coal mine tour near Scranton, PA.

Travellin'

Ah, the Alaska State Ferry. Gotta say, the marine highway is a great way to move through Canada; It's very much a cruise, and you still get to feel good about not being on a floating hotel with the, and I'm quoting someone here: "Nearlydeads, Newlyweds, and overfeds". Stopping in Juneau, with 3 docked cruiseships, I was forced to laugh at the --politically incorrect, to be sure-- not-entirely-inaccurate description of the population segment. For several bocks, the town was filled with jewelry and fur shops. Where, I have to ask, does Alaska fit in?

Those cruise ships are HUGE, and I prefer to not bring a city with me when I travel. Tent, yes. Quil-lo, yep. and maybe ONE traveling companion -- not 3000.

Anyway, there was no shuffleboard aboard, but they had a decent cafeteria (good breakfast), microwaves for warming your own meal (Thai), and a bar. If you want to camp, you can set up a tent on the deck, though I can't really picture pitching around in a tent; must be a really wierd experience. Also, there plenty of places to sit and watch the world float by. Works for me!

The ferry also stops in Petersburg, which, after a rainy quarter-mile walk past crabbing pots and liqueur store, you find a lovely Norwegian bakery. That's more like the Alaska *I* know and love.

Working in the Kids Park at the Ice Park

From Ice Alaska - Kid's Park 2008

From Ice Alaska - Kid's Park 2008

From Ice Alaska - Kid's Park 2008

At it again! This year, we're helping out at the Kid's park, creating an immersive photo opportunity. "Arctic Research".

The construction is created from 4 blocks of ice, each approximately 2'x4'x6'.

Here's the album with more photos of the construction
http://picasaweb.google.com/celsoborealis/IceAlaskaKidSPark2008

The "Sick Bomb" drops

Wow. The halls are empty. A tumbleweed slowly staggers its way down the hall.
Just last week, AVO had its coordination meeting, where we discuss what we've been doing, and where the organization is heading. This year, it was held in Fairbanks, with people coming up from affiliate organizations in Anchorage, California, Washington, and Virginia. Perfect venue for exchanging both ideas and germs. (Sorry!)

Now, several of us have been out for roughly a week (last count was like 14 down...) . Symptoms? Cough, aches, fevers, more coughs... Thank goodness I've had Harry Potter on CD, 'cause it's been a struggle to even work the computer.

Winter snows

You might think that living in Alaska means that you have to contend with copious amounts of snow.
You're wrong...
and right...

Surprisingly, Fairbanks only gets a total of about 12 inches of precipitation per year; much of which seems to come in the form of snow which sticks around for months and months. However, we only get a more or less constant dribble of snow: an inch here, a centimeter there, 3 inches elsewhere. The effect, though, is a long, white winter.

However, we got 10 inches of snow yesterday within 12 hours. Mind you, it's possible that with our dry, perfectly crystalline snow that 10 inches can be represented by only a couple hundred snowflakes... In any case, it's the largest snowfall we've had in years, and the newspapers are making a minor fuss. I'm just glad (and so are the mushers) that there's enough snow for proper skiing and stuff.

I've scraped off my driveway, piling it all in one lump that will either be an 8-foot tall Godzilla, or, if I'm feeling uninspired, an 8-foot tall volcano.

Meanwhile, work starts this weekend on Ice Alaska's Kids Park at the Ice championship grounds. If the weather stays warm (it's unseasonably above zero), carving should be uncharacteristically non perilous.

Let the winter games begin!

The end is near!

Holy-moley . Is it December already? Can't be. (sigh)
This is why I shouldn't bother blogging and exactly why I should. Time gets away so quickly. So quickly, in fact, that this will be a very quick rant.

Just took my Yoga final today ("Final" is a strong word... we just showed up and went through self-paced yoga poses). Tomorrow, I deliver a stunning presentation, then turn in bunches of homework (that I haven't done yet) for a mechanics class, then start writing a paper. But the end *is* in sight. :)


Next term: NO CLASSES (I hope). My research is totally suffering, and I want to make good and graduate like a nice little PhD student.

Sunday Art

Took a real neat glass-blowing class at Expressions in Glass this morning. The link leads off to my online photo album of the event...

2006 Glass Blowing Class