May 26, 2007
Seward, Alaska mood pictures: I put Old Al to work today and got a lot of good "mood pictures" (as a friend called them) from Seward.
The first one is of a boat in the fog from this morning:
May 26, 2007
My mood is a little better this evening, but there are definitely two people in the car now. For lack of better terms I'll call them Old Al, and New Al.
New Al says things like "You know, if someone hit my car today I wouldn't mind. As long as they don't injure me I'd walk up to them and ask how they were, exhange insurance info if they had any, pat them on the back, and go on."
Old Al says things like "Where is my #$%# hat!" when he's standing in the drizzle trying to find his hat (in the car he packed).
May 25, 2007
Well, I wonder if I will always remember today as the day the fever broke? It goes like this:
I'm here in Seward, and this morning I had a dream that we were filming a new season of Northern Exposure, and I was one of two new cast members. On a break the lady that plays Shelly came over, and she was elected to tell me that "I was a good actor, but ...", and they were letting me go. I argued that we already had a few episodes in the can, but in the end I left, very dejected.
May 25, 2007
I left my last job on May 4th, 2007, and dealing with health insurance since then has been a pain in the rump. I worked for a small company (I was the founder and part-owner, actually), so after leaving COBRA is not an option for small businesses. But, in the state of Kentucky, there is a plan called the Kentucky Continuation Plan, so I've applied for that with my previous health insurance company (who shall go nameless).
In the meantime I also applied for insurance with a few online health insurance companies to see what they have to offer.
May 25, 2007
Well, today was a quiet day of unsuccessful house/rental hunting. After more searching, Seward is still looking like a no-go.
It's hard to find a house for rent in a town of 700 people. There are a couple of homes for sale, so I'm going to call them and see if they want me to house-sit while they try to sell the homes.
There are also two commercial properties available, and I'm going to call and see if they want me to live in one of those. :) One is a former dance studio, the other looks like a suite down at the wharf.
May 25, 2007
I now find myself in Seward, Alaska. While I was waiting at the laundromat I read this ad:
"Alaska newspaper seeks full time reporters to write about Alaska Native communities from Barrow to Ketchikan and Nome to Tok." I'm not ready to start another job yet, but I read that and thought how cool it would be to travel from one community to another and then write about the experiences.
May 24, 2007
(Waiting for my pancakes at the Downtown Deli in Anchorage ...)
As cool as the scenery on this trip has been, so much of it has been about the people I've met.
An older lady at a restaurant yesterday told me about "panic hill", a section of road between Anchorage and Eagle River. When I asked a girl at the coffee shop about homes and apartments that I could rent, she told me she lived in "the ghetto" on Tudor Road in Anchorage.
Oops, the sourdough pancakes just arrived, and I'm starving.
May 24, 2007
I'm off to eat some sourdough pancakes in downtown Anchorage, then getting on the road to Seward.
For breakfast there is a place here called "The Downtown Deli and Cafe". According to a web site, "The house special is sourdough pancakes made with starter supplied by a miner in 1939." I hope they don't taste old. :)
Seward is about 125 miles south from here, and I'm going to stay at the Van Gilder Hotel.
May 24, 2007
Anchorage, Alaska pictures: I'm not a very good night-time picture-taker yet, but over the last two nights I've taken pictures out the 6th-floor hotel window at 8, 9, 10, 11pm, and midnight.
Here's the first picture taken from my Anchorage, Alaska hotel room, at 8pm:
Here's the next one at 9pm:
May 24, 2007
After a little more thinking about where to live, I've decided to start looking in Seward, which is south of here (Anchorage), and situated on the water; and Talkeetna, which is north of here, and south of Denali. Seward offers all things water-related, including kayaking, glaciers, and hiking; Talkeetna offers hiking, close proximity to Denali for more stuff, and even a local flight instructor who trains you to be a "bush pilot".
May 23, 2007
It turns out that Anchorage is mostly an older city, with old apartments, and inconsistent neighborhoods (one "good" block, right next to a "scary" block). If you're in the wrong place there's also the international airport, which can be loud. In general it's a lot like a regular city, bit it seems a little dirty, maybe just beat up from the long winters.
Sometime during the day I became a man divided against himself, and the question that was gnawing at me was this: Have I spent almost 4% of this year driving 5,400 miles to live in an old apartment in a regular city?
May 23, 2007
In my great Alaskan adventure I've gone from insomnia to amnesia. It goes like this:
After a long day of trying to find an apartment or rental home in Anchorage I came back to the hotel around 3:30pm. I was really tired, and since I'm on vacation, rather than fight it I thought I'd just take a nap.
May 22, 2007
Alaska photos: Resting comfortably in a hotel in Anchorage, Alaska now, I thought I'd share a few pictures from the last day's travel before I get into house-hunting mode.
The first picture is of an incredible mountain range that I ran into during the drive in northern Alaska:
May 22, 2007
Well, it's almost 12:45am here, and it's still light out. I haven't tried it, but I think you could read a book outside as light as it is. ATM I really do feel like the Al Pacino character in the movie Insomnia.
You think of crazy things at a time like this. I was just recounting all the people I've met on this trip, and that's a cool thing.
I left Louisville on May 8th, and it's now two weeks later -- wow!
May 22, 2007
Here are some quick summary notes as I get ready to crash in Tok, Alaska:
May 22, 2007
I'm now in a place called Tok, Alaska. I was very tired tonight, and glad I made it here. 1,000 miles in two days since Stewart is a long haul. I'll be at 5,400 miles for the trip when I hit Anchorage.
The first picture today is of a beautiful lake I ran into yesterday. This was an awesome view.
May 19, 2007
In my last post regarding Stewart, BC, I'm going to post a few pictures of the small downtown area so you can get a feel for it. When I say "downtown" I should emphasize that there's just one main street downtown, and it runs about 4-6 blocks long, depending on how you count. :)
The first picture is of the Bitter Creek Cafe, where I had a terrific dinner, even though it was the first weekend they were open. The food was both stylish and good.
May 19, 2007
Before I get too far away from Stewart I want to note some of the beautiful scenery I saw on the way here.
First, there is some of the spectacular mountain scenery on the drive, and this is actually well before you get to Stewart:
May 19, 2007
I thought I'd include a few pictures from Hyder, Alaska here, as well as one comment about border security.
First, I need to mention that Hyder had over 30 feet of snow this past winter (yes, feet), which I can't even begin to comprehend. This was twice their average, so it was bad news for them, and also for me, because I could only get a few hundred feet down the main road before it was blocked by a huge mountain of snow (with six snowmobiles parked on the side of the road).
May 19, 2007
Just to give you a little idea of the bears that I saw on the drive today (the drive that ended up in Stewart, BC), I'm attaching five different pictures of black bears I snapped along the way.
This is the first black bear I saw today, the first one of the entire trip:
