what about the plastic animals?

Kodiak Russian Cemetery

Walking around town I came upon the Russian Cemetery.  Russian fur traders came to the southern Alaskan coast in the late-18th, early 19th-century.  The oldest house still standing is from 1808.  As I later learned at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Russian settlement of Alaska was not very successful.  The original fur traders hunted the sea otter, densest fur of any animal, to near-extinction.  That resource gone they introduced silver and blue fox to a number of islands, raising the animals for their fur.  Tastes in fashion changed and Europeans were no longer wearing fox.  Gold, oil and other mineral resources were found but not exploited in any real way.  Finally they gave up and dumped it on the Americans.

Some gravesites were well-kept, others were in an advanced state of decay.  The skies opened up and it started pouring while I was taking these photos.  Luckily I had the foresight to pack my wet weather clothes for Kodiak.  Everything I brought to the island was either waterproof or quick-drying.  The cotton clothes were left in the trunk of the rental car on Homer.

At the Movies

The movie theater in Kodiak.  Madagascar and the latest Star Wars movies were playing while I was there.  I chose Star Wars.  Star Wars came out when I was sixteen.  I saw it at the Kallet Theater in Pulaski, NY.  It was the last movie I had to be driven to by one of my parents.

A Brooklyner Weisse at Mary's Fish Camp in the West Village.  A beer and Mary's mako shark BLT with onion rings hit the spot for lunch yesterday. 

After lunch saw a double feature at the Film Forum.  They are running a series of movies made by Paramount Studios before the Hays code was implemented.  Yesterday's features were Murders in the Zoo and Island of Lost Souls.  The latter being one of the creepiest movies ever made.  Sunday and Monday they have a Marx Brothers double feature:  Duck Soup and Horse Feathers.

Another movie choice for Monday night:  Some Folks Call It Un-American along with the band The Mountain Goats.  On top of the Fulton Mall parking garage.  Fireworks will be visible.

At the Crab Festival

I was not in a tourist/sightseeing/photography mood that first morning in Kodiak.  I think I was just tired, as it took me forever to get going that day.  Even though I wasn't in the best of moods the Crab Festival was great, furthering my theory that isolated, smaller communities throw the best festivals.  Alaska King Crab were once king in Kodiak.  The crab catch has declined so much in recent years that salmon and other fish are now more important.  I was a day late for the crab parade.

A bicycle race, a marathon, an ultramarathon ("three started, three finished"), and a race up a mountain and back all ended at the Harbor Master's building, next to the fairgrounds.  As contestants were finishing their respective races to cheers, the Fisherman's memorial service was being held in front of the Harbor Master's building.  It was a beehive of activity. 

After the memorial service the Kid's Sawdust Pile began in the parking lot across the street.  The Lion's Club scattered a thousand dollars in coins in a giant sawdust pile for kids to find.  I was expecting it to be a mad house but the kids were pretty well-behaved.

The King Crab sandwich I had was delicious, despite the Subway bread and melted american cheese.

Kodiak Groceries

The kosher section at the Kodiak Safeway.  I was surprised that there was a separate kosher section.

Lay's Dill Pickle Chips

I learned of Lay's Dill Pickle chips from Tien last December.  You can't buy them in the city but I managed to find some when I was upstate at Christmas.  Mmmm, they are junk food excellence.  I bought another bag when I went to DC last winter.  As that bag ran low I went to several grocery stores in the city without any luck.  Desperate, I called Lay's consumer hotline.

"Where can I buy your dill pickle chips in NYC?"
"What's your zip code?"
"10026"
"We have them in Buffalo.  Will that work for you?"
"Buffalo is 400 miles away."
"Oh."

The rep said they can't keep up with demand, and that they will expand the sales area as production capacity increases.  I was a bit dubious about that explanation.  How hard can it be to buy some more Twang and spray it on potato chips?

Walking down the snack aisle in the Kodiak Value Center grocery store I see the chips.  Doesn't it seem odd that Lay's can't supply the largest market in the country but can supply a non-chain grocery store on an island of 13,000 people in the North Pacific that can only be reached by ship or plane?

Kodiak's Primary Industry

Anyone care to guess what Kodiak's primary industry might be?

The Star of Kodiak, in the second picture, was a World War II liberty ship.  It was brought to Kodiak following the 1964 tsunami and is used as a cannery.

Welcome to Kodiak

After the long ferry trip, during which I read a great portion of Caren Lissner's fine novel, Carrie Pilby, it was nice to have a warm welcome in Kodiak.  The Crab Festival was in full-swing.  I got there just as the police were breaking up a teen-age fistfight. 

I was on the island for two days.  The first day I took in the Crab Festival and explored the town on foot.  The second day I rented a car and got out of town.  I did not fly out to see the bears.  It rained a lot while I was there.

Note:  I'm at home this week using up the last of this year's vacation days.  My internet connection, which is usually good, has been really inconsistent the last few days so bear with me while I work through that problem. Right now, though, I'm off to see the new Dinosaur exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.

Light Saber Spoon

They were probably still called Sugar Smacks the last time I bought them, but how can I resist getting a box of Honey Smacks when a light-up Saber Spoon is enclosed?  The cereal is still delicious in a 56% sugar by weight sort of way.  With his violent past is Dig'Em a Jedi Knight or a Sith Lord?

Unrelated, but wow:  Take a look inside Detroit's Guardian Building.

Leaving Homer

That's pretty much it for my room at the Driftwood Inn.  Shower and toilet are behind the bed.  Storage space below the bed.  Sink is to the right.  Bunk bed on top.  There were big wooden hooks against the wall to hang stuff on.  Despite the tiny size, the room was nice and clean.  The people running the inn were very nice and answered all my pesky questions!

I only stayed one night before leaving early the next morning on the M/V Tustumena to Kodiak.  The ferry takes 9.5 hours.

It was rainy or foggy for much of the ferry trip.  We did see lots of puffins, a couple of sea otters, and a few killer whales.  All too far away to be photographed.

One of the Barren Islands, about 4 hours into the trip.

More Barren Island and other trip photos on flickr.

Truck Fire!

There was a truck fire earlier this evening at 114th and Frederick Douglass.  I could smell the fire as I came out of the subway at 116th St.  There were lots of flames when I first saw it, but the firemen had it under control by the time I got the camera out and got a little bit closer.  You can see a little bit of flame in the truck's cab in the top photo.  Nobody was in the truck and I didn't see anybody hurt.  It looks like the motor for the cherry picker in back caught on fire.  They may have been putting up a sign for the trendy new restaurant on the corner.  Yes, trendy, at 114th and Fred Douglass!

Homer!

You drive beyond Anchorage heading east along Turnagain Arm, cliffs of the Chugach Mountains to your left.  Are there any Dall Sheep?  Can't look, the road is too winding.  The train from Seward is between you and Turnagain Arm to your right.   Ignore Girdwood.  Bypass Portage Glacier, you can't see it anyway. Bypass Whittier.  Whittier will come later.  Note the trees killed in the 1964 earthquake.  Make the turn at the end of Turnagain Arm, driving west along its southern shore for a short distance.  The road turns inland and climbs up a glacial valley.  Drive on past the Hope Cut-off.  Beyond Summit Lake the highway continues to Seward, but Seward isn't on your itinerary this trip.  Take a right onto the Sterling Highway.  You're surrounded by the Kenai Mountains, driving parallel to the Kenai River.  The Anchorage radio stations have all faded out.  You were prepared for this.  Pop The Very Best of Ray Charles purchased at a very low price at Fred Meyer into the rental car's cd player.   There's no fast-forward or track selection on the cd player.  If you want to hear the last songs on the cd you need to hear all the songs on the cd.  Stop at Gwin's for lunch.  A lunch you'll remember for the next 12 hours.  Coming out of the mountains you're surrounded by flat lands and scrubby spruce.  This is all you'll see for the next 50 miles.  You speed up.  65, 70, 75.  A state trooper headed in the opposite direction motions for you to slow down.  You can live with 65.   The traffic isn't too bad for the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  Then again, maybe this is heavy traffic for the Sterling Highway.  No need to stop in Sterling.  Gas up in Soldotna.  You like Ray Charles but he's now repeating himself for the third time.  One radio station and it's not doing anything for you.  Throw in the six-dollar Sarah MacLachlan live cd.  It's not too bad and she doesn't sound like Ray.  The highway runs inland here.  No looking over to the right to see Cook Inlet and Mt. Redoubt beyond.  The rustbucket Nissan behind you alternates between staying a quarter-mile back and zooming up to within a couple of car lengths of your bumper. Finally it passes you.  Stop at Ninilchik.  Ninilchik is busy!   No eagles though, and it's too cloudy to see across the inlet.   Less than an hour to go now.  Beyond Anchor Point the road turns southeastward.  The clouds begin to thin.  Up over one last hill and

It's Homer!  Founded by a gold prospector and con artist from Brooklyn. 

Homer!  Kachemak Bay, the Spit, and the Kenai Mountains beyond.

Homer!  Where the Land Ends and the Sea Begins.

Homer!  Halibut Capital of the World.

Ahh, Homer!

On the Kenai Peninsula

Gwin's Roadhouse

Kenai River

Laundry Basket

After stopping in Eklutna I drove through Anchorage, along Turnagain Arm, and onto the Kenai Peninsula.  I stopped at Gwin's Lodge Restaurant (warning: very slow-loading site) for lunch.  The Kenai (mushroom, onion, swiss) burger was a tasty gutbomb.  I was stuffed.  Maybe the strawberry-rhubarb pie had something to do with that.  The salmon chowder was excellent, too.  Okay, maybe I ate a bit much.

I needed to walk off the lunch so I climbed a bluff overlooking the Kenai River.  On the bluff I stumbled upon the laundry basket.  The river is incredibly green because of the copper in the sediment.  At least that's what I was told.  I don't think the laundry basket had anything to do with copper in the river.

A little further down the road I was still in need of a walk so I stopped when I saw a historic marker.  The marker said something about an interpretive trail.  The Information Center was empty, and I couldn't find rocks 1 and 2.  The walk along the river was enjoyable.  By this time the rain was largely behind me and it was only a few more hours until Homer.

A Quick Stop at Thunderbird Falls and Eklutna

Not too far from Anchorage is the Athabascan village of Eklutna.  The main attraction to a tourist is the Russian Orthodox Church and cemetery.  I visited the church grounds on my last visit (you can see those pre-blog photos here) so I only stopped for a moment this time. 

Not too far away is Thunderbird Falls.  I made the short hike to the falls, which were difficult to see and more difficult to photograph as I was shooting straight into the sun.  More interesting was the wildlife in the parking lot.  The insect photo is life-sized.  I have no idea why a backbone and ribs were there.

Unrelated:  My favorite photo of the day.

Along the Parks Highway

Since 1917 people have been betting as to when the ice will go out on the Tanana River in the Nenana Ice Classic.  A tripod is set up on the ice in winter and you have to guess the month, day, hour and minute that it sinks.  The bridge in the background is for the Alaska Railroad.  It is the second longest single-span steel bridge in the U.S. President Harding drove in the ceremonial golden spike to complete the railroad.

I didn't see any bears.  I did see...

... moose droppings aplenty.

Fiddlehead ferns.

So far I haven't provided much of a narrative to these Alaska photos.

I went to Alaska for a meeting in Fairbanks.  It was an easy choice to spend some extra time there.  This was my third trip to the state.  For reasons I don't remember I only took an extra day the first time I went to Fairbanks several years ago.  Two years ago I went to a conference in Anchorage and took a week off to visit Seward and Homer afterwards.  This time I took 11 days off.  Next time I might not come back.

My meeting ended around noon on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  I had to hurry down to Homer, about a 600 mile drive, by Friday night in order to catch the Saturday morning ferry to Kodiak.  That schedule meant I largely had to skip Denali National Park.  I was also not quite in vacation mode on the first day of driving.  I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked.  These photos are all on the Parks Highway that runs between Fairbanks and Wasilla, about 50 miles from Anchorage.

On the vacation part of the trip I drove from Fairbanks to Homer, took the ferry to Kodiak and back, stayed a day or so in Homer, and drove back up to Anchorage for an evening.  From there I took a short drive to Palmer, where I spent a day before driving to Valdez.  I spent two days in Valdez, took a different ferry to Whittier and then spent a day as a tourist in Anchorage as I waited for my evening flight back to Newark.

Sunset, Brushes with Fame, Update

Did anyone else see the gorgeous sunset this evening?  I only had time to snap a quick photo out of my window.  Wow, was it beautiful!

Brushes with fame:

1.  In his book review essay yesterday, Neal Pollack describes a reading he gave in Seattle back in the fall of 2000 in which he sang "God Bless America", shed his street clothes and finished reading in a Superman costume.  I was there!   I was in Seattle for a conference and had a free night so I went to see Pollack.  He was very entertaining, especially the intentionally bad poetry reading.  Who knew he was not enjoying himself?

2.  Transporte Ativo, the Brazilian equivalent of Transportation Alternatives I gather, is using one of my bicycle photos on their website (click on "banco de dados" then "roubos").

3.  A Statue of Liberty photo of mine is being used on the New York Correction History website about Governor's Island.

Update:

Vincent DeLong's 1864 Diary is once again up-to-date.  The Siege of Petersburg has begun and it is not very pleasant.  Unfortunately, these pages are so faint that I can't make out all the writing.

Oil Pipeline

nice pants.

If you go to Fairbanks you have to see the oil pipeline.  There's a viewing area at Fox, just a few miles from Fairbanks.  The pipeline is 48 inches in diameter.  At peak capacity it transmitted over 2 million barrels of oil a day in the late-1980s.  Today it carries less than half that amount.  Hmm, so why do we have to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge?