Hey everybody!
I'm super excited to announce that I made it to Alaska safe, sound and ON TIME!! No missed flights (not an option-- the flight I was on was the ONLY one going that day, eek!!) and I've spent the day in Anchorage running errands and eating delicious (and free) pizza with my awesome professors, Dr. VanEynde and Dr. Tynes. Both are delightful, happy people, and I'm very excited about what's to come for the rest of the week. Since I was the first student to arrive, I kind of have an advantage: I was told a few minutes ago that since I helped my profs with their shopping and planning, that they would help me out on my leadership day. It's not cheating, but there are some planning things that I won't really be able to do ahead of time-- like finding where to buy sack lunches in Seward. The internet here is spotty and my cell phone coverage is worse, but as long as I'm in Anchorage, I can text and email (some).
Anchorage is beautiful!!! There are flowers blooming everywhere, and it's overcast, but not too dark. In fact, the lighting is what we photographers consider to be the best conditions-- it's what we call "shadowless light." Oh- and for those of you who are burning up in Texas-- It's 58 degrees here. :) Navigating this town is a little tricky, but we've had fun making lots of U-turns. It's kind of like one big Alaskan roller coaster with Dr. Tynes at the helm! We had lunch at a place called Moose Tooth Pizza-- which, as it turns out, has the highest volume pizza sales in North America! It's named after a mountain next to Mt. McKinley (the tallest in North America) and they have 13 different home-brew beers. They also had homemade soda on tap! Oh-- and the pizza was phenomenal. I'm goingto have to take a food-coma-nap here in a litle bit, but first, I must finish my homework and email it to my profs. (I hope they send alright, I was having trouble with getting very simple attachment-free messages to send this morning.)
Alright, well, I'll try to post in the morning, but it sounds like we're going to be pretty busy. Below is the week's itinerary:
Saturday, July 25 – Anchorage & travel to Seward
Anchorage Street Fair
Travel to Seward; visit Exit Glacier
Overnight in Seward
Group A; Deep sea fishing, Resurrection Bay for Halibut and Sockeye Salmon
Group B: Hike through Seward, visit Alaska Sea Life Center
Travel to home base in Ninilchik
- Monday, July 27 – Ninilchik
Purchase needed supplies
Class related activities
Group A: Halibut fishing on Cook Inlet from Anchor Point (reserved for six persons)
Group B: Red Salmon wade fishing on the Kenai River
- Wednesday, July 29 –, Homer and Halibut Cove
Tour Russian village (Nikolaevsk)
Visit Norman Lowell Gallery
Travel to Homer
Boat trip across Kachemak Bay
Lunch and tour Halibut Cove
Return to Ninilchik
- Thursday, July 30 – Hike to Crescent Lake
Travel to Quartz Creek Trailhead
6.4 mile hike to Crescent Lake
Picnic lunch
6.4 mile hike return
Return to Ninilchik
Preparation for departure to Anchorage on Friday
- Friday, July 31 – Travel to Anchorage and departure
Travel from Ninilchik to Anchorage
Plan to depart Anchorage Airport after 2 p.m.
(Cold storage available at airport)
