Anchored down in Anchorage

Sarah Palin has the Republican VP nomination and I would be remiss in not sharing my thoughts. After all, everyone else is! I think she has definitely stolen the limelight from Barack, but most of her uniqueness is the Alaskan mystique. This state is full of strong women with unusual hobbies and we've kept and raised our own babies too....and there are lots of us with more admin experience. I mean really, almost every women in Alaska over 40 has been hunting, fishing, chopped wood, been a soccer/hockey mom and has taken her child to work in a pinch. Now, it is true that not all of us look that good, but with a little makeup, expensive clothes and a good hairdo, we'd look okay on a catwalk. After being her own boss as governor, it is very sad to see her speeches that sound like they were written for her by "the man".

And another thing....I think the governor of all people should quit using the term, "Bridge to Nowhere". I can't think of anywhere else in the US where the only road into an airport is a tollway. In Ketchikan, the only way to get to (or from) the airport is by a tolled ferry. I have been weathered into Ketchikan with students on a trip only to be stuck on Gravina Island because the ferry takes only cash. There are no restaurants, hotels or stores on the Island, so basically, you're really stuck. A ferry is cheaper than a bridge? Okay- then use the money to make it free for the next 100 years. Not only that, but the word "nowhere" is very degrading to be people who live in rural Alaska. Ketchikan might be nowhere to some people, but it's home to lots of people.

On another note, Wasilla is a small town like Alexandria, Virginia is a small town. It is a strip mall bedroom community to Anchorage. Together with Anchorage, half the population of Alaska lives right there. 90% of Alaskans live along the modest road system.

From the pictures, you can see that we're still getting out. The flowers are still robust and at their largest, like the Dahlias by Sandy. This is the best time to get out in the woods- few bugs, cool temps, beautiful colors and not too many tourists.

I went to Anchorage again to work with Dawn on her thesis. REI was a good side trip and iHop
was our breakfast stop one day. The only animal I saw on the road was a small fox. It's hunting season now, so the moose have moved way in off the road. All along the Parks Hwy there are pickup trucks with trailers for 4wheelers and/or campers.

I'm looking forward to working in Hoonah and Ft. Yukon in a few weeks. The pace in villages is slower and the people all stop to talk and see who you are. We moored up in Hoonah with our fishing boat a few years and SE Alaska is a northern rainforest- lush trees and lots of green.

Life on a fishing dock is a subculture. In many places, you sign up and wait your turn for a slip, or reserved piece of dock to keep your boat in the water. The Harbormaster rents it out by the night to others when you're not in port and boats raft up to the outside of you if they need moorage. When we fished, the boat was at Thomas Basin in Ketchikan or Hoonah when we weren't on it or living in an ocean village like Meyers Chuck. The docks usually have a hose for your water tank and occasionally electricity. The kids like to fish up and down the dock and the fishermen stop and talk. Another great thing about life on a dock is the ocean creatures- the anemone, starfish, jellyfish, eulachon, minnows that you can see swimming around the pilings. The dock rides up and down on the pilings and at low tide you can catch a glimpse of crabs in the shallows.