D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

Down From The Mountains
Thu Jun 25 2009

My oh my.

I have flown a lot of miles.

That Alaska is a long way from here.

When I was there, someone asked me how I liked Alaska. I told her I was 'bemused'.  She looked at me and said she thought it looked more like I was 'bewitched'.  .  .  I'm putting that down to the glacier burn on my face.  ;-)

Speaking of glaciers.....

Here are a couple of pictures:

[album 65561 Glacier1.JPG]

I thought my raspberry beret looked good with a glacier backdrop . . .

Here is another one:

[album 65561 Glacier2.JPG]

It is very hard to show the scale of the thing....

One more:

[album 65561 Glacier3.JPG]

The captain of the boat told us that the water pouring out of the middle of this glacier was quite unusual. It looked like a big chunk had recently fallen off right there and revealed this torrent flowing out into the inlet. While we were there, several hunks fell off into the water. Nothing HUGE mind you, but each time it sounded like a big SLAP and boom like a cannon had gone off. I kept wishing someone had put up a little 6 foot figure on the shore near the glacier so we could understand the scale of the thing. I'm guessing we were about 3 football fields away from it at least. You could hear it creaking and cracking. Eerie and awesome. My favorite part was on the far right where there was an area of solid blue ice. Wow. 

We hung out there for at least 30 minutes while the captain sort of twirled the boat around very slowly so everyone could get a good look. It was really something.

More pictures in the coming days.

The one thing that effected me the most in Alaska was the fact that it never really got dark at night. I was there over the Summer Solstice. Here is a picture taken at 10:30 at night.

[album 65561 Glacier4.JPG]

I had to lay something over my eyes to get to sleep.

(Oh how demure she is.... she had a knee sock over her face half the 'night'. It was ridiculous.)

Well, the curtains didn't block out enough light. It was very easy to stay up till midnight and your body thought for sure it was only 9 or so. Weirdness personified.

I really have to run. There's very little food in the house, and the dog food bag is empty. I got the royal welcome home from the canines last night. Fiona ignored me. The little rascal.

It's good to be home.

But I'll be dreaming of Alaska.


For a long time.
8 Comments
  • From:
    Diane (Unauthenticated) (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    The glaciers are absolutely awesome! Nature can be amaingly beautiful. I hope to see them myself one day. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more. Welcome home my friend!
  • From:
    InStitches (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    Awesome!

    So what brought about this sudden adventure?
  • From:
    Allimom (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    Where in Alaska were you, and which glacier is that?
    Alli
  • From:
    Mamallama (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    WOW!!
    Amazing!

    That's a cat for ya. That's what my Lili does whenever I go on vacation. Little snits.
    It's good to have you home. :o)
    Big HUGS!
  • From:
    Dustbunny3 (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    Nice adventure and also nice to be home . Dogs always welcome you and Cats have that stiff greeting till hungry. The heat is back and the garden is a jungle (right). Alaska is such a place of wonders and so large you can spend years and not see it all. I loved the few times I was there but not a place that would care to live .
  • From:
    Pragmatist (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu Jun 25 2009
    Eagerly awaiting more pix. You're right about having some kind of measuring stick to get the true size of those glaciers.

    I thought I recognized that raspberry beret.

    Canine welcome, yes of course. Feline welcome, good luck with that. But you didn't say anything about spousal welcome.

    Nice picture of the night sky. Looks like the sky here at 3:00pm today.


    Bless
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Jun 26 2009
    Thanks for sharing the pics. I can't imagine how beautiful it must have been in person and you MUST tell us how you wound up in Alaska. Was it planned or spur of the moment???? (I know some people don't like to say they're leaving on a planned vacation for security reasons).

    I've always wanted to go to Alaska but given where we live Newfoundland or Labrador would be closer to see the migrations of the 'bergs. I've seen them from the air which is an awesome sight but I'd like to see them at eye level like you did.

    You lucky duck!
  • From:
    MizzM (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri Jun 26 2009
    Thank you for sharing your pictures! I look forward to seeing more! Alaska has become my new "dream vacation." I'd much rather go there than Hawaii. You have given me a new goal...