More about Alaska

I haven't had a chance to deal  with photos - I upload to both computers but have to do a fancy dance to get the pics onto a flash drive in order to use them.  I know my iPhoto isn't working well, but I don't think Blogger is working well either.

I've been asked about the hours of daylight in Alaska, and I noticed changes about every two days - maybe just by a few minutes.  I usually went to bed during daylight, 9:00 - 10pm or so.  All the bedrooms have blackout shades, but I could see a small amount of light around the edges which didn't keep me from falling asleep when my head hit the pillow.  I get up about every 2 hours during the night for a bathroom run, and for the first 1 or 2 trips I could see that it was not dark yet - more like twilight.  After that for a couple more trips it was pitch dark.  I never turn on a light during the night, so I just felt my way and blessed Pam for letting me have a room next to the bathroom.  By 6 am when I usually woke up, it was daylight and I got up and made myself a cup of coffee to greet the day.  I think the reverse daylight/dark will occur as winter sets in.

We visited a musk ox and reindeer farm which I will write about when I take care of the photos.

About a week after arriving a tragedy occurred that could have been much worse.  Pam's son Clayton (my d-i-l's 1st cousin), his wife and their two children, ages 1 and 3, lost their home to a fire shortly after they left one morning.  A neighbor noticed the smoke and tried to get to their two Springer Spaniels - they called for the dogs as the smoke was too thick to enter, but the pets had gone to the upstairs trying to get away from the smoke.  The neighbor called our host, Mike, and he and my son Joe bolted out to see if they could help in any way.  It was a long day.  The house was a total loss and both dogs perished.  Clayton's wife had just lost her mother and was still grieving for her, and I think the news of the dogs hit her pretty hard.

I've been through a total house fire and after a day or so talked to her about inventorying the contents, etc.  Both Clayton and his sister are in the insurance business and have been very well taken care of by the agents.  I knew no one in insurance in the 1980's, but was treated exceptionally well, paid promptly and given replacement costs for all contents.

So that day was spent at home which I didn't mind at all.  Travel wears me out and I enjoy just taking it easy, not having to be doing something every minute, except for checking to see if the mist is on the peaks or not.

Note to Ms. B:  I recorded the gas prices at the Tesoro station in Palmer (a nearby town to Wasilla?).  It was $2.539/gal.  Thirty minutes north near Talkeetna  it was 2.63/gal., and in Anchorage it was lower by about 10cents. Seward was the highest at $2.73.  These are prices for Regular, and Premium is about a dime higher per gal.  I only checked one station in each location because they seem to be pretty much the same.