I am preparing to do a 4 day 300 mile bike ride with the Police Unity Tour in May 2009. It is a fundraiser/remembrance ride in honor of all the line-of-duty deaths that have occurred to police officers over the years. Every year this event grows. In 2008, they had 1000 riders as well as more than 100 support staff. The event rides from NJ to downtown Washington D.C. where there is a candlelight vigil at the Police Memorial. All of you who know me can understand why this means a lot. I have to collect a minimum of $1700 to be allowed on the ride as well as the first $500 within 2008. I am going with 4 other riders from my department, but we each have to raise $1700 a piece. We are doing various fundraisers (i.e. a softball tournament which was held in the fall and a basketball tournament that will be coming up called Springdale Madness). For all of those who wish to contribute or know someone who may please forward this cause on to them. I created a website to make donations easier at
Also, a quick widget on the right side of my blog makes donations simple. Any help you are willing to give would be greatly appreciated. For those who can't give monetary contributions, please keep me in mind as I train and make this 300 mile ride. Thanks to all.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Alaska Day 8; Whittier to Kenai Lodge
September 13 - Whittier to Kenai Lodge
Nov. 9th, 2008 at 6:23 PM
We grabbed a quick breakfast this morning and waited to disembark. That whole process went fairly smoothly. We were docked in Whittier, a tiny town about an hour from Anchorage. It's a very strange place. They only have 300 residents during tourist season and a population of 100 in winter. Most of them live in the same apartment buiding ("Begich Towers") off the lovely Prince William Sound. We boarded a coach bus with about 50 other people and got a quick (and I mean really quick) tour of the town. We had to kill time because traffic can only leave the city on the hour, and traffic can only come into the city on the half hour. Trains can come through whenever they want.
Why such a strict schedule? Because Whittier is only accessible by a single lane road that runs 2.6 miles through a mountain. The railroad tracks run on that same road. The tunnel is only open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the summer and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. Apparently animals take refuge in the tunnel if it isn't closed. But this also means NOBODY can get in our out of Whittier during the closed hours. Including ambulances. Or women in labor. And there's no hospital in the town. A little backwards, no? Apparently the residents are also extremely resistant to any change or growth, so they fight to keep the status quo. Weird as it is, there's something to be said for a town that refuses to be over-industrialized or controlled by chain conglomerates and Wal-Mart.
We enjoyed a gorgeous ride through the Chugach mountains. So many fall colors on the mountains right now. The only bad thing about the ride... was that it definitely smelled a bit funky. Either someone had drenched themselves Eau de Olde this morning or the close quarters just amplified the natural scent. I mean no disrespect -- I'm sure I don't smell like roses. It was just... unpleasant. Probably exacerbated by the fact that I was really beat from our week of constant activity. Anyway, we got to Kenai Princess Lodge around 12:45. What a change from our cruise week! This place is SO mellow. We're in a cabin with a wood burning stove/fireplace and a deck view of aspen trees and a mountain.
We walked the nature trails around the lodge and probably saw 10 different types of mushrooms and lichens and fungi in just one mile.
We used the spotting scope at the main lodge to watch a mama bear and her 3 baby bears on a nearby mountainside. After that, we grabbed some lunch (bison chili and a corn muffin for me and salmon sliders with pineapple and green onion aioli for Justin), then walked around the grounds for awhile. Definitely kept our eyes peeled for bears.
After that, we came back to the room and watched Wedding Crashers until it was dinner time. So very relaxing. Dinner made us miss the ship, as we now have to pay for food. Ouch. We're uesd to "free" five course meals and endless snacks at our beck and call. Oh well, this is probably a good detox from our gluttonous lifestyle. Dinner was good, though - Justin got a monstrous & meaty pecan crusted halibut steak and I got thai salmon. We had berry cobbler and ice cream for dessert.
Chatted with the very friendly table of people next to us for awhile and from what they said, we're going to really enjoy the upcoming week. They are heading south and start their cruise portion this week. So now I'm finally caught up on the journaling, and I am going to kick back in my leather chair and watch the crackling fire. Life is darn good!
Nov. 9th, 2008 at 6:23 PM
We grabbed a quick breakfast this morning and waited to disembark. That whole process went fairly smoothly. We were docked in Whittier, a tiny town about an hour from Anchorage. It's a very strange place. They only have 300 residents during tourist season and a population of 100 in winter. Most of them live in the same apartment buiding ("Begich Towers") off the lovely Prince William Sound. We boarded a coach bus with about 50 other people and got a quick (and I mean really quick) tour of the town. We had to kill time because traffic can only leave the city on the hour, and traffic can only come into the city on the half hour. Trains can come through whenever they want.
Why such a strict schedule? Because Whittier is only accessible by a single lane road that runs 2.6 miles through a mountain. The railroad tracks run on that same road. The tunnel is only open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the summer and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. Apparently animals take refuge in the tunnel if it isn't closed. But this also means NOBODY can get in our out of Whittier during the closed hours. Including ambulances. Or women in labor. And there's no hospital in the town. A little backwards, no? Apparently the residents are also extremely resistant to any change or growth, so they fight to keep the status quo. Weird as it is, there's something to be said for a town that refuses to be over-industrialized or controlled by chain conglomerates and Wal-Mart.
We enjoyed a gorgeous ride through the Chugach mountains. So many fall colors on the mountains right now. The only bad thing about the ride... was that it definitely smelled a bit funky. Either someone had drenched themselves Eau de Olde this morning or the close quarters just amplified the natural scent. I mean no disrespect -- I'm sure I don't smell like roses. It was just... unpleasant. Probably exacerbated by the fact that I was really beat from our week of constant activity. Anyway, we got to Kenai Princess Lodge around 12:45. What a change from our cruise week! This place is SO mellow. We're in a cabin with a wood burning stove/fireplace and a deck view of aspen trees and a mountain.
We walked the nature trails around the lodge and probably saw 10 different types of mushrooms and lichens and fungi in just one mile.
We used the spotting scope at the main lodge to watch a mama bear and her 3 baby bears on a nearby mountainside. After that, we grabbed some lunch (bison chili and a corn muffin for me and salmon sliders with pineapple and green onion aioli for Justin), then walked around the grounds for awhile. Definitely kept our eyes peeled for bears.
After that, we came back to the room and watched Wedding Crashers until it was dinner time. So very relaxing. Dinner made us miss the ship, as we now have to pay for food. Ouch. We're uesd to "free" five course meals and endless snacks at our beck and call. Oh well, this is probably a good detox from our gluttonous lifestyle. Dinner was good, though - Justin got a monstrous & meaty pecan crusted halibut steak and I got thai salmon. We had berry cobbler and ice cream for dessert.
Chatted with the very friendly table of people next to us for awhile and from what they said, we're going to really enjoy the upcoming week. They are heading south and start their cruise portion this week. So now I'm finally caught up on the journaling, and I am going to kick back in my leather chair and watch the crackling fire. Life is darn good!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Alaska Day 7; College Fjord
September 12 - College Fjord
Nov. 8th, 2008 at 2:16 PM
Woke up today feeling quite icky. I recognized the symptoms of seasickness after taking a shower, and things went downhill pretty quickly. Add a monstrous caffeine headache and you've got a most unhappy Kate. I actually curled up in bed and slept until noon. Dragged my butt out of bed after that and got some lunch before going to the final naturalist talk. We stuck around and talked to Rob the Naturalist for a long time after his presentation. By the time we parted ways, we were entering College Fjord, so Justin and I ran back to the room to put on warm clothes suitable for the chilly glacier valley. As we were getting ready to head out to the deck, I remembered that we hadn't packed yet... oops! So after hastily packing up our "travel with me" and "meet me in Fairbanks" bags, we hurried up to 14 aft. Made it up there just as we were entering college Fjord.
Wow.
What a cool glacial system. Lot's of that famous "glacier breath" and crazy silty blue water. We saw a couple of calves off the Harvard Glacier, but nothing too dramatic - mostly just small cascades. The Harvard was insanely long and wide. I'll have to find out exact measurements. It's nuts how far you can see out there.
I really felt the Glacier Presence in College Fjord. It's hard to describe, but they're like ancient living creatures that have been there long before me and will still be there long after I die. They're so ridiculously huge, just unbelievably massive. Their size and age and slow, deliberate movement and breath makes being in their presence almost spiritual.
Spiritual or not, though, it got really freaking cold really freaking fast, so we went inside to the Skywalker Lounge. Managed to snag a seat next to the window with an aft glacier view. Nothing like warming up with a cup of hot chocolate and a view of such an awesome earth-altering force of nature.
We decided to eat dinner since it was our last night on the boat, and we went back to the Santa Fe restaurant. Justin got a chicken and mushroom puff pastry, Pepper Pot soup, caesar salad, medium rare prime rib and dark & white chocolate mousse dessert. I had a tres delicious seafood salad in an avocado, pureed asparagus & tapioca soup, herb crusted halibut and vanilla-honey icecream with crunchy almonds. After such a decadent feast and an exhausting week aboard the Sapphire Princess, we crashed.
Nov. 8th, 2008 at 2:16 PM
Woke up today feeling quite icky. I recognized the symptoms of seasickness after taking a shower, and things went downhill pretty quickly. Add a monstrous caffeine headache and you've got a most unhappy Kate. I actually curled up in bed and slept until noon. Dragged my butt out of bed after that and got some lunch before going to the final naturalist talk. We stuck around and talked to Rob the Naturalist for a long time after his presentation. By the time we parted ways, we were entering College Fjord, so Justin and I ran back to the room to put on warm clothes suitable for the chilly glacier valley. As we were getting ready to head out to the deck, I remembered that we hadn't packed yet... oops! So after hastily packing up our "travel with me" and "meet me in Fairbanks" bags, we hurried up to 14 aft. Made it up there just as we were entering college Fjord.
Wow.
What a cool glacial system. Lot's of that famous "glacier breath" and crazy silty blue water. We saw a couple of calves off the Harvard Glacier, but nothing too dramatic - mostly just small cascades. The Harvard was insanely long and wide. I'll have to find out exact measurements. It's nuts how far you can see out there.
I really felt the Glacier Presence in College Fjord. It's hard to describe, but they're like ancient living creatures that have been there long before me and will still be there long after I die. They're so ridiculously huge, just unbelievably massive. Their size and age and slow, deliberate movement and breath makes being in their presence almost spiritual.
Spiritual or not, though, it got really freaking cold really freaking fast, so we went inside to the Skywalker Lounge. Managed to snag a seat next to the window with an aft glacier view. Nothing like warming up with a cup of hot chocolate and a view of such an awesome earth-altering force of nature.
We decided to eat dinner since it was our last night on the boat, and we went back to the Santa Fe restaurant. Justin got a chicken and mushroom puff pastry, Pepper Pot soup, caesar salad, medium rare prime rib and dark & white chocolate mousse dessert. I had a tres delicious seafood salad in an avocado, pureed asparagus & tapioca soup, herb crusted halibut and vanilla-honey icecream with crunchy almonds. After such a decadent feast and an exhausting week aboard the Sapphire Princess, we crashed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
