Twelve Weekends when it's cheapest to fly in 2012:
* January 27 to January 29
* February 3 to February 5
* September 7 to September 9
* September 14 to September 16
* September 21 to September 23
* September 28 to September 30
* October 5 to October 7
* October 19 to October 22
* November 3 to November 5
* November 30 to December 2
* December 7 to December 9
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Belle
THIS IS "BELLE"
January 17, 2012
A new addition has come to the Keene household. Her name is Belle and she's a 3 year old black and white domestic short hair cat. We adopted her from the Fox Valley Humane Association on Saturday, January 7th and brought her home on Monday, January 9th. It's been one week since her arrival and she's certainly made herself at home. She's a people cat and loves sitting on your lap or just being near you. What a joy pets bring into your life.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Affinity Breast Cancer Center
Hi Ladies,
Back on August 18th I had the opportunity to tour the new St. Elizabeth Hospital Breast Center.
It's located on the first floor at St. E's and has the latest technology for detecting breast cancer.
It's a beautiful, completely new area built with us in mind.
About 1 in 8 women in the United States (12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 70-80% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations. The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).
I urge all women to get your yearly mammogram beginning at age 40 unless you have a history of breast cancer in your family, then talk to your doctor about a screening before age 40. I just had a mammogram using the new digital equipment, it's so easy and fast. The technologists are caring and walk you through the entire process. Don't put off getting your yearly mammogram.
You can take a virtual tour of the new St. E's Breast Center by going on-line at www.affinityhealth.org You can see the comfortable reception area, coffee bar, private waiting area, plus the amazing technology that's so integral in early breast cancer detection.
If you don't like the idea of making an appointment, if it makes you nervous waiting for the day to arrive, fret no longer. Every Wednesday between 8 AM and 2 PM you can walk into the new breast center for a mammogram. How easy is that.
So ladies, please, please, please, don't delay any longer. Schedule your mammogram today.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Alaska Cruise - June 30 to July 8, 2011
My Alaska Adventure
Alaska is as close to paradise as paradise gets. It’s a land of majestic beauty with its glaciers, fjords, azure waters, icebergs and its rugged frontier. We saw moose, whales, salmon, bald eagles, porpoise, seals, mountain goats, float planes and totem poles.
We purchased Alaska fro Russia for 2 cents an acre. What a great buy.
We flew out of Appleton at 7 AM on Thursday, June 30th. It was a 5-1/2 hour flight to Anchorage out of Minneapolis. Alaska is 3 hours behind us so the time difference was a bit getting used to. As I was getting off the plane in Anchorage, a man coming from first class stopped and let us go ahead of him. I looked at him and recognized him. I asked him if he was Todd. He smiled and said yes. It was Todd Palin. I told him to tell Sarah to keep up the good work. I knew Sarah had to be behind him so I waited in the concourse. Sure enough, she came off the plane dressed in blue jeans, wearing a rust colored baseball cap, pink back pack and texting on her phone. I started walking with her and chatting about her Alaska series, told her I had a group of 50 cruising the Inside Passage and that we were from Wisconsin. She said she loved Wisconsin. She was very friendly and cute as a button. She’s a very petite lady and she was wearing her famous designer glasses and pink lip gloss. Her daughter Bristol was behind us several yards and was watching me like a hawk. She had her son and Tripp with her. Todd walked way ahead of them – didn’t want to draw attention to Sarah. She was very incognito. Very hard to recognize. They were on our plane from Minneapolis to Anchorage. She was there for a book signing. Made my day.
We had a 1 PM trolley tour of Anchorage. Anchorage makes up 45% of the population of Alaska. Alaskans eat the most ice cream and second in Spam consumption. Hawaii is first when it comes to eating the most Spam. We saw a moose in the wild and lots of bald eagles. Drove past some of the homes that sell for $280,000. Anchorage gets 17 feet of snow per year and the average temperature is 5 degrees in January and 60 degrees in summer. The lilacs and bleeding hearts were in full bloom. They get 17-1/2 hours of daylight in the summertime and 7 hours in winter.
We drove to Earthquake Park. In 1964 an earthquake struck Anchorage, lasting 4-1/2 minutes on Good Friday. The earthquake measured a stunning 9.2 on the Richter Scale, making it the strongest North American quake in recorded history. Because Anchorage lies only 80 miles from the epicenter damage to the city was immense. 130 people lost their lives, not from the earthquake, but from the tsunami. The second wave was 90 feet high and coming at 100 mph. They had 1,000 aftershocks. Anchorage also lost 1600 feet of shoreline from the quake. Alaska averages 300 earthquakes per day.
They have a saying in Alaska. If you see a bear, stand tall. If you see a moose, run for your life. We saw a moose. He was lumbering in the wilds near a scrubby open area. They also have special fences so the moose can get in and out without getting hurt. There are 2,000 moose in Anchorage alone.
Gasoline was $3.93 per gallon. Mt. McKinley or Denali as some like to call it, is 153 air miles from Anchorage and is seen only about 20 times a year. It’s usually covered in fog. I’ve seen Mt. McKinley twice in the 3 times I’ve been to Alaska. It’s awesome.
The city of Anchorage has 270 different types of flowers. They have hanging baskets everywhere and they are watered twice a day.
Friday morning I had reindeer sausage for breakfast with an omelet. We took the train to Seward, a 4-1/2 hour train ride through some of the most beautiful country ever. We saw
a moose along the way and everyone was excited. Temperature was 50 degrees with a light rain most of the way to Seward. We passed marshes where 200 species of birds nest. Passed a coal train with 10 engines used to pull it. We saw where gun-mounted cannons were used to shoot down avalanches in winter. Saw mountain goats and glaciers. We passed Kenai Lake that is 82 miles long and 600 feet deep in places.
On Saturday, July 2nd, our first stop was at the Hubbard Glacier. It’s 6 miles wide, 76 miles long, 300 to 400 feet high and the longest and most active tidewater glacier in Alaska. 15% of the glacier is above ground and 85% below water. The darkest blue in the glacier is the oldest ice. Nothing’s more thrilling than watching a massive chunk of ice as it comes crashing down into the bay. And just as exciting is the roaring sound that goes with it. This amazing natural phenomenon is called glacier calving, but to the Tlingit (pronounced klinket) people of the region, it’s “White Thunder”. We saw a harbor seal floating on one of the ice bergs. They are 6 feet long and weigh180 lbs. We saw humpback whales. Humpbacks come to Alaska to feed on the sea’s riches. They have a plate of keratin attached to the upper jaw, which works like a strainer to catch their food. They have no teeth, so they can eat only the tiniest of seafood. Adult humpbacks may eat a ton of food per day. They eat krill (shrimp-like organisms)and small baitfish and can get to be 40 feet long and weigh 40 tons. They migrate more than 3,000 miles from tropical waters like Hawaii to the cooler waters of Southeast Alaska in as few as 30 days. Humpbacks are baleen whales and do not live in family groups but often gather into small feeding concentrations. They often cooperate in a feeding behavior known as “bubble-net feeding”. The whales circle a ball of krill, then surge up from underneath the ball to the surface, engulfing huge mouthfuls of the crustaceans. Some of the people in our group got the chance to witness this unique spectacular activity. Between 3,000 and 5,000 humpbacks visit Southeast Alaska during the summer months, a few stay year-round.
Some orcas were spotted on our cruise. The orca or killer whale is a skillful predator and will eat a variety of prey, including swimming moose and other whales. Orcas live in family units called pods and usually remain with their pod for life. Each pod has its own “language” or dialect. Males reach lengths of up to 25 feet and weigh up to nine tons, females up to 20 feet and eight tons.
Sunday, July 3rd, we arrived in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city. It is situated at the foot of the Juneau Icefield, home to 38 major glaciers and 100 smaller ones, covers nearly 1,500 square miles. Juneau was home to the Tlingit, the indigenous people of the area. It is believed the Tlingit first made contact with prospectors. Two of those prospectors were Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris who were led by the Tlingit chief to gold in the nearby mountains and streams. The find was the first major Alaskan gold discovery and in 1880, nearly 20 years before the Nome and Klondike Gold Rushes, the pair staked out a 160 acre town site on the beach. Juneau quickly grew and today the city’s main focus is state and federal government, tourism and commercial fishing. Juneau maintains a definite frontier flavor with its narrow hillside streets and small-town atmosphere. You’ll find lamp posts trimmed with colorful banners and flower baskets – just a few of the many ways Juneau says “welcome” to its visitors.
I rode the Mount Roberts Tramway to the top of the mountain. It’s a 60 passenger aerial tramway that takes you on an 1800 foot ascent over the rain forest to the mountaintop where you’ll find a visitors center, hiking trails, Native culture and art, shopping and dining. We saw Lady Baltimore, a beautiful bald eagle that had been shot in the beak and lost an eye. She will never be able to be returned to the wild. Also saw a bald eagle nest with 4 tiny baby eagles in it. The panoramic view from there was incredible.
When in Juneau, you have to stop at the Red Dog Saloon, said to be haunted. Juneau’s population is a little over 30,000 and is Alaska’s third largest city behind Anchorage and Fairbanks. Juneau is the only capital city in the United States that is not accessible by road. Downtown Juneau goes from sea level to more than 3,800 feet above sea level within a mile of the coastline. One of the more popular excursions is to the Mendenhall Glacier, which has been receding at a rate of about 200 feet per year since 2000.
Monday, July 4th we arrived in Skagway, the gateway to Klondike gold. Skagway is surrounded by rugged mountains and embraces the pioneer spirit of the Last Frontier. As you walked down the boardwalk, you could hear barroom pianos and train whistles throughout the town. We watched the 4th of July parade. It was a very short parade. They go down the main street, which is 8 blocks long, turn around and go back up the street to the starting line.
Skagway has 834 year round residents and takes its distinctive name from the Tlingit word “skaqua”, which is said to mean “home of the north wind.” Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass & Yukon Railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation it shares with the Eiffel tower and Panama Canal. It’s one of the most popular excursions with tourists. Lots of interesting shops
in Skagway including a Sarah Palin Store. Skagway is also haunted. The Red Onion Saloon is home to the town’s most famous ghost. Creeping footsteps, clanking chains and pounding hearts can be heard. And the ghost also seems to like watering the plants.
The Golden North Hotel also boasts ghosts. It was recently converted into a shop.
Tuesday, July 5th, we went to Icy Strait Point and Hoonah, Alaska. What’s more authentic than glaciers, salmon and a legendary Tlingit tale? The marine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park is millions of acres worth of snow-capped mountains, coastal beaches, deep fjords, freshwater rivers and lakes and tidewater glaciers. Long ago, this was the ancestral home of the Tlingit before a rapid glacial advance forced them to relocate to Hoonah. The village of Hoonah is the largest Tlingit settlement in Alaska. Also part of the Hoonah heritage is the historic cannery. Built in 1912 to service the salmon industry, it also served as shelter for Hoonah’s residents after the fire on June 14, 1944. The fire destroyed much of Hoonah, including homes and priceless Tlingit cultural pieces. The U.S. government assisted in rebuilding the town by providing World War II housing that had been on its way to Hawaii. These “war houses” still stand in Hoonah’s downtown. I took a short bus ride into Hoonah and saw the war houses and how
the Tlingit people live.
We had light rain most of the day. We saw humpback whales, bald eagles and harbor seals. Icy Strait Point has the world’s largest zipline. It’s 5,330 feet long with a 45 minute bus ride to the top of the mountain and 90 seconds to come down at a speed of 60 mph. Cost: $120 per person. Temperature was 52 degrees.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011, Ketchikan, Salmon Capital of the World.
Ketchikan is built on a one large solid rock. Most of the town is built on piers. Fishing has long been the bread and butter of this rustic town and the first fish cannery opened in 1883 and by 1885 three small canneries had opened. The industry reached its peak in 1936, when 7 canneries produced 1.5 million cases of salmon for distribution all over the world. The forests of high-quality timber near Ketchikan spawned the town’s other claim to fame: premium forest products. Red and yellow cedar, western hemlock and Sitka spruce are all in abundant supply here. Spruce was in especially high demand during World War II and Ketchikan quickly became the world’s supply center for premium wood.
Ketchikan is also Alaska’s wettest city; on average, a jaw-dropping 13 feet of precipitation falls here annually. Tourism plays a vital role in Ketchikan’s economy and the city is widely known for its impressive array of shopping opportunities. Handmade native drums and hand-carved masks and totem poles along with carved ivory and whalebone figures. A handmade totem pole will cost you $2,000 per foot and they average 7 to 8 feet tall.
Ketchikan is in the heart of 17 million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest in the United States. More than 250 species of birds have been identified in Ketchikan. Migrating humpback and orca whales, as well as sea lions, seals and porpoises, are often spotted on cruise excursions. You’ll also see Sitka black-tail deer, mountain goats and wolves in the higher elevations. Black bears can be seen in streams in search of food.
The world’s largest collection of totem poles can be found at the Saxman Native Village and Totem Bight State Park. Totem poles were never religious objects; instead, they told stories, kept the past alive. Traditionally the Native men who carved the poles, carved from western red cedar, were the only people welcome in every village and they worked hard for this honor. The carvers went through training before a village hired a pole carver. They made him pass the equivalent of a graduate level exam on local mythology. It could take a year to carve a large pole and if the carver got it wrong, if he did something that changed the story, his life was in the villagers’ hands. Today the new breed of carvers are making totem poles relevant to everyone. They depict the lives and history of the people who create them and represent ancestral pride. Among the figures frequently appearing on poles are animals found in the region, including eagles, ravens, frogs, bears, wolves and whales. A typical “life span” of a totem pole is between 50 and 60 years, after which the pole becomes so rotten that it topples to the g round, where it is left to decay or used for firewood.
I rode the Ketchikan Duck. It’s a state of the art amphibian – it’s a bus, it’s a boat and yes it floats. We traveled to the salmon ladder on Ketchikan Creek viewing the spawning grounds. The female salmon swish a hole in the sand with their tail to lay the eggs. The male salmon fertilize the eggs and then swish their tail and bury the eggs. Both the male and female salmon then die. The fingerlings feed off the dead bodies. The salmon have a toxin in their skin that gives off an odor so no predator will destroy the food source for the fingerlings. The salmon return 3 years later to the same spot where they were born.
There are five species of Pacific salmon that return from the sea to Alaska’s streams each summer to complete their life cycle. The five species are: king salmon, cohos, sockeyes, pinks and chums. The king salmon is the largest of the five species and are Alaska’s state fish. They are also called Chinooks. Cohos or silver salmon are the last of the salmon to spawn and are great for poaching or grilling. Sockeyes or red salmon are the number one salmon for smoking. Spawning sockeye turn a brilliant scarlet color, their heads are olive colored. Pinks, humpback or humpy salmon are an important commercial fish for canned salmon. Chums are seldom used for food but provide much of the commercial salmon caviar. Alaska Natives feed these salmon to their dog teams.
We saw bald eagles and their babies along the Tongass Narrows. Saw the local fishing fleet with their catch of salmon and viewed the seaplane docks and waterfront community.
There is so much to see and do in our 49th state. It’s a beautiful state and a must on your bucket list.
Alaska is as close to paradise as paradise gets. It’s a land of majestic beauty with its glaciers, fjords, azure waters, icebergs and its rugged frontier. We saw moose, whales, salmon, bald eagles, porpoise, seals, mountain goats, float planes and totem poles.
We purchased Alaska fro Russia for 2 cents an acre. What a great buy.
We flew out of Appleton at 7 AM on Thursday, June 30th. It was a 5-1/2 hour flight to Anchorage out of Minneapolis. Alaska is 3 hours behind us so the time difference was a bit getting used to. As I was getting off the plane in Anchorage, a man coming from first class stopped and let us go ahead of him. I looked at him and recognized him. I asked him if he was Todd. He smiled and said yes. It was Todd Palin. I told him to tell Sarah to keep up the good work. I knew Sarah had to be behind him so I waited in the concourse. Sure enough, she came off the plane dressed in blue jeans, wearing a rust colored baseball cap, pink back pack and texting on her phone. I started walking with her and chatting about her Alaska series, told her I had a group of 50 cruising the Inside Passage and that we were from Wisconsin. She said she loved Wisconsin. She was very friendly and cute as a button. She’s a very petite lady and she was wearing her famous designer glasses and pink lip gloss. Her daughter Bristol was behind us several yards and was watching me like a hawk. She had her son and Tripp with her. Todd walked way ahead of them – didn’t want to draw attention to Sarah. She was very incognito. Very hard to recognize. They were on our plane from Minneapolis to Anchorage. She was there for a book signing. Made my day.
We had a 1 PM trolley tour of Anchorage. Anchorage makes up 45% of the population of Alaska. Alaskans eat the most ice cream and second in Spam consumption. Hawaii is first when it comes to eating the most Spam. We saw a moose in the wild and lots of bald eagles. Drove past some of the homes that sell for $280,000. Anchorage gets 17 feet of snow per year and the average temperature is 5 degrees in January and 60 degrees in summer. The lilacs and bleeding hearts were in full bloom. They get 17-1/2 hours of daylight in the summertime and 7 hours in winter.
We drove to Earthquake Park. In 1964 an earthquake struck Anchorage, lasting 4-1/2 minutes on Good Friday. The earthquake measured a stunning 9.2 on the Richter Scale, making it the strongest North American quake in recorded history. Because Anchorage lies only 80 miles from the epicenter damage to the city was immense. 130 people lost their lives, not from the earthquake, but from the tsunami. The second wave was 90 feet high and coming at 100 mph. They had 1,000 aftershocks. Anchorage also lost 1600 feet of shoreline from the quake. Alaska averages 300 earthquakes per day.
They have a saying in Alaska. If you see a bear, stand tall. If you see a moose, run for your life. We saw a moose. He was lumbering in the wilds near a scrubby open area. They also have special fences so the moose can get in and out without getting hurt. There are 2,000 moose in Anchorage alone.
Gasoline was $3.93 per gallon. Mt. McKinley or Denali as some like to call it, is 153 air miles from Anchorage and is seen only about 20 times a year. It’s usually covered in fog. I’ve seen Mt. McKinley twice in the 3 times I’ve been to Alaska. It’s awesome.
The city of Anchorage has 270 different types of flowers. They have hanging baskets everywhere and they are watered twice a day.
Friday morning I had reindeer sausage for breakfast with an omelet. We took the train to Seward, a 4-1/2 hour train ride through some of the most beautiful country ever. We saw
a moose along the way and everyone was excited. Temperature was 50 degrees with a light rain most of the way to Seward. We passed marshes where 200 species of birds nest. Passed a coal train with 10 engines used to pull it. We saw where gun-mounted cannons were used to shoot down avalanches in winter. Saw mountain goats and glaciers. We passed Kenai Lake that is 82 miles long and 600 feet deep in places.
On Saturday, July 2nd, our first stop was at the Hubbard Glacier. It’s 6 miles wide, 76 miles long, 300 to 400 feet high and the longest and most active tidewater glacier in Alaska. 15% of the glacier is above ground and 85% below water. The darkest blue in the glacier is the oldest ice. Nothing’s more thrilling than watching a massive chunk of ice as it comes crashing down into the bay. And just as exciting is the roaring sound that goes with it. This amazing natural phenomenon is called glacier calving, but to the Tlingit (pronounced klinket) people of the region, it’s “White Thunder”. We saw a harbor seal floating on one of the ice bergs. They are 6 feet long and weigh180 lbs. We saw humpback whales. Humpbacks come to Alaska to feed on the sea’s riches. They have a plate of keratin attached to the upper jaw, which works like a strainer to catch their food. They have no teeth, so they can eat only the tiniest of seafood. Adult humpbacks may eat a ton of food per day. They eat krill (shrimp-like organisms)and small baitfish and can get to be 40 feet long and weigh 40 tons. They migrate more than 3,000 miles from tropical waters like Hawaii to the cooler waters of Southeast Alaska in as few as 30 days. Humpbacks are baleen whales and do not live in family groups but often gather into small feeding concentrations. They often cooperate in a feeding behavior known as “bubble-net feeding”. The whales circle a ball of krill, then surge up from underneath the ball to the surface, engulfing huge mouthfuls of the crustaceans. Some of the people in our group got the chance to witness this unique spectacular activity. Between 3,000 and 5,000 humpbacks visit Southeast Alaska during the summer months, a few stay year-round.
Some orcas were spotted on our cruise. The orca or killer whale is a skillful predator and will eat a variety of prey, including swimming moose and other whales. Orcas live in family units called pods and usually remain with their pod for life. Each pod has its own “language” or dialect. Males reach lengths of up to 25 feet and weigh up to nine tons, females up to 20 feet and eight tons.
Sunday, July 3rd, we arrived in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city. It is situated at the foot of the Juneau Icefield, home to 38 major glaciers and 100 smaller ones, covers nearly 1,500 square miles. Juneau was home to the Tlingit, the indigenous people of the area. It is believed the Tlingit first made contact with prospectors. Two of those prospectors were Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris who were led by the Tlingit chief to gold in the nearby mountains and streams. The find was the first major Alaskan gold discovery and in 1880, nearly 20 years before the Nome and Klondike Gold Rushes, the pair staked out a 160 acre town site on the beach. Juneau quickly grew and today the city’s main focus is state and federal government, tourism and commercial fishing. Juneau maintains a definite frontier flavor with its narrow hillside streets and small-town atmosphere. You’ll find lamp posts trimmed with colorful banners and flower baskets – just a few of the many ways Juneau says “welcome” to its visitors.
I rode the Mount Roberts Tramway to the top of the mountain. It’s a 60 passenger aerial tramway that takes you on an 1800 foot ascent over the rain forest to the mountaintop where you’ll find a visitors center, hiking trails, Native culture and art, shopping and dining. We saw Lady Baltimore, a beautiful bald eagle that had been shot in the beak and lost an eye. She will never be able to be returned to the wild. Also saw a bald eagle nest with 4 tiny baby eagles in it. The panoramic view from there was incredible.
When in Juneau, you have to stop at the Red Dog Saloon, said to be haunted. Juneau’s population is a little over 30,000 and is Alaska’s third largest city behind Anchorage and Fairbanks. Juneau is the only capital city in the United States that is not accessible by road. Downtown Juneau goes from sea level to more than 3,800 feet above sea level within a mile of the coastline. One of the more popular excursions is to the Mendenhall Glacier, which has been receding at a rate of about 200 feet per year since 2000.
Monday, July 4th we arrived in Skagway, the gateway to Klondike gold. Skagway is surrounded by rugged mountains and embraces the pioneer spirit of the Last Frontier. As you walked down the boardwalk, you could hear barroom pianos and train whistles throughout the town. We watched the 4th of July parade. It was a very short parade. They go down the main street, which is 8 blocks long, turn around and go back up the street to the starting line.
Skagway has 834 year round residents and takes its distinctive name from the Tlingit word “skaqua”, which is said to mean “home of the north wind.” Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass & Yukon Railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation it shares with the Eiffel tower and Panama Canal. It’s one of the most popular excursions with tourists. Lots of interesting shops
in Skagway including a Sarah Palin Store. Skagway is also haunted. The Red Onion Saloon is home to the town’s most famous ghost. Creeping footsteps, clanking chains and pounding hearts can be heard. And the ghost also seems to like watering the plants.
The Golden North Hotel also boasts ghosts. It was recently converted into a shop.
Tuesday, July 5th, we went to Icy Strait Point and Hoonah, Alaska. What’s more authentic than glaciers, salmon and a legendary Tlingit tale? The marine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park is millions of acres worth of snow-capped mountains, coastal beaches, deep fjords, freshwater rivers and lakes and tidewater glaciers. Long ago, this was the ancestral home of the Tlingit before a rapid glacial advance forced them to relocate to Hoonah. The village of Hoonah is the largest Tlingit settlement in Alaska. Also part of the Hoonah heritage is the historic cannery. Built in 1912 to service the salmon industry, it also served as shelter for Hoonah’s residents after the fire on June 14, 1944. The fire destroyed much of Hoonah, including homes and priceless Tlingit cultural pieces. The U.S. government assisted in rebuilding the town by providing World War II housing that had been on its way to Hawaii. These “war houses” still stand in Hoonah’s downtown. I took a short bus ride into Hoonah and saw the war houses and how
the Tlingit people live.
We had light rain most of the day. We saw humpback whales, bald eagles and harbor seals. Icy Strait Point has the world’s largest zipline. It’s 5,330 feet long with a 45 minute bus ride to the top of the mountain and 90 seconds to come down at a speed of 60 mph. Cost: $120 per person. Temperature was 52 degrees.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011, Ketchikan, Salmon Capital of the World.
Ketchikan is built on a one large solid rock. Most of the town is built on piers. Fishing has long been the bread and butter of this rustic town and the first fish cannery opened in 1883 and by 1885 three small canneries had opened. The industry reached its peak in 1936, when 7 canneries produced 1.5 million cases of salmon for distribution all over the world. The forests of high-quality timber near Ketchikan spawned the town’s other claim to fame: premium forest products. Red and yellow cedar, western hemlock and Sitka spruce are all in abundant supply here. Spruce was in especially high demand during World War II and Ketchikan quickly became the world’s supply center for premium wood.
Ketchikan is also Alaska’s wettest city; on average, a jaw-dropping 13 feet of precipitation falls here annually. Tourism plays a vital role in Ketchikan’s economy and the city is widely known for its impressive array of shopping opportunities. Handmade native drums and hand-carved masks and totem poles along with carved ivory and whalebone figures. A handmade totem pole will cost you $2,000 per foot and they average 7 to 8 feet tall.
Ketchikan is in the heart of 17 million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest in the United States. More than 250 species of birds have been identified in Ketchikan. Migrating humpback and orca whales, as well as sea lions, seals and porpoises, are often spotted on cruise excursions. You’ll also see Sitka black-tail deer, mountain goats and wolves in the higher elevations. Black bears can be seen in streams in search of food.
The world’s largest collection of totem poles can be found at the Saxman Native Village and Totem Bight State Park. Totem poles were never religious objects; instead, they told stories, kept the past alive. Traditionally the Native men who carved the poles, carved from western red cedar, were the only people welcome in every village and they worked hard for this honor. The carvers went through training before a village hired a pole carver. They made him pass the equivalent of a graduate level exam on local mythology. It could take a year to carve a large pole and if the carver got it wrong, if he did something that changed the story, his life was in the villagers’ hands. Today the new breed of carvers are making totem poles relevant to everyone. They depict the lives and history of the people who create them and represent ancestral pride. Among the figures frequently appearing on poles are animals found in the region, including eagles, ravens, frogs, bears, wolves and whales. A typical “life span” of a totem pole is between 50 and 60 years, after which the pole becomes so rotten that it topples to the g round, where it is left to decay or used for firewood.
I rode the Ketchikan Duck. It’s a state of the art amphibian – it’s a bus, it’s a boat and yes it floats. We traveled to the salmon ladder on Ketchikan Creek viewing the spawning grounds. The female salmon swish a hole in the sand with their tail to lay the eggs. The male salmon fertilize the eggs and then swish their tail and bury the eggs. Both the male and female salmon then die. The fingerlings feed off the dead bodies. The salmon have a toxin in their skin that gives off an odor so no predator will destroy the food source for the fingerlings. The salmon return 3 years later to the same spot where they were born.
There are five species of Pacific salmon that return from the sea to Alaska’s streams each summer to complete their life cycle. The five species are: king salmon, cohos, sockeyes, pinks and chums. The king salmon is the largest of the five species and are Alaska’s state fish. They are also called Chinooks. Cohos or silver salmon are the last of the salmon to spawn and are great for poaching or grilling. Sockeyes or red salmon are the number one salmon for smoking. Spawning sockeye turn a brilliant scarlet color, their heads are olive colored. Pinks, humpback or humpy salmon are an important commercial fish for canned salmon. Chums are seldom used for food but provide much of the commercial salmon caviar. Alaska Natives feed these salmon to their dog teams.
We saw bald eagles and their babies along the Tongass Narrows. Saw the local fishing fleet with their catch of salmon and viewed the seaplane docks and waterfront community.
There is so much to see and do in our 49th state. It’s a beautiful state and a must on your bucket list.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
You Tell On Yourself
You Tell On Yourself
You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.
You tell what you are by the clothes you wear,
By the spirit in which your burdens you bear,
By the kinds of things at which you laugh,
By the records you play on your phonograph.
You show what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.
By the books you choose from a well-filled shelf–
In these ways and others you tell on yourself.
So really there’s not a grain of sense
In trying to keep up a false pretense.
-unknown
You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.
You tell what you are by the clothes you wear,
By the spirit in which your burdens you bear,
By the kinds of things at which you laugh,
By the records you play on your phonograph.
You show what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.
By the books you choose from a well-filled shelf–
In these ways and others you tell on yourself.
So really there’s not a grain of sense
In trying to keep up a false pretense.
-unknown
Friday, April 29, 2011
Mom's Value
Mother's Day is fast approaching and a recent financial survey estimates mothers are worth over half a million dollars a year. The typical mom conducts the same daily business of seventeen occupations combined. Using salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, a multi-tasking mother's annual salary is calculated to be $508,700.
Raise children (Child care worker) $13,000
Plan vacation and play (Recreation worker) $15,500
Cook meals (Executive chef) $40,000
Serve meals (Food service worker) $20,000
Plan meals (Dietitians/nutritionists) $41,600
Keep house (Property manager) $22,600
Clean house (Housekeeper) $9,000
Care for pets (Animal caretaker) $17,500
Dispense medication (Registered nurse) $35,000
Attend functions (Management analyst) $41,000
Manage family finances (Computer system analyst) $44,000
Manage investments (Financial manager) $39,000
Carpool (Bus driver) $32,400
Homework & discipline (School principal) $58,600
Resolve family issues (Psychologist) $29,000
Keep family schedule (General office clerk) $19,000
Maintain family harmony (Social worker) $30,000
Total: $508,700
Raise children (Child care worker) $13,000
Plan vacation and play (Recreation worker) $15,500
Cook meals (Executive chef) $40,000
Serve meals (Food service worker) $20,000
Plan meals (Dietitians/nutritionists) $41,600
Keep house (Property manager) $22,600
Clean house (Housekeeper) $9,000
Care for pets (Animal caretaker) $17,500
Dispense medication (Registered nurse) $35,000
Attend functions (Management analyst) $41,000
Manage family finances (Computer system analyst) $44,000
Manage investments (Financial manager) $39,000
Carpool (Bus driver) $32,400
Homework & discipline (School principal) $58,600
Resolve family issues (Psychologist) $29,000
Keep family schedule (General office clerk) $19,000
Maintain family harmony (Social worker) $30,000
Total: $508,700
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pine Trees and Easter
Have you ever noticed the pine tree crosses on Easter Sunday? Pine trees know when it's Easter.
They start their new growth in the weeks before Easter. If you look at the tops of the pine trees two weeks before, you'll see the yellow shoots.
As the days get close to Easter Sunday, the tallest shoot will branch off and form a cross.
By the time Easter Sunday comes around, you will see that most of the pine trees will have small yellow crosses on all of the tallest shoots. How amazing.
Happy Easter!
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