There's a pupuseria open up the hill, so George and I decided to check it out. The pupusa I had was pretty good, though it's probably not something I should make a habit of given the cheese content. On the other hand, for $1.90 it's quite a deal.
One of the things on the menu is the "Taco Guanaco". "Beef bratwurst wrapped in a flour tortilla filled with mozzarella cheese, and your choice of salsa (roja or verde)."? Sure, you only live once. Except that now I may not even get that far, because it really is what it sounds like...a hot dog covered in melted cheese and wrapped in a tortilla.
Next time I'll draw the line at the pupusa. Not that the sausage place we like down the street is much better, but at least those are covered with grilled onions rather than melted cheese.
(No, the walls aren't really yellow, but they sure do look it when lit entirely by incandescent lights.)
My share of the Permanent Fund dividend for 2006 comes out to $1,654. That is not enough money to have made staying in Alaska for another winter a good value.
Strangely, I'm actually having a hard time thinking of ways to blow the whole wad in one go. It still doesn't cover the media stand from Crate and Barrel that I want (which is why I bought one at IKEA for $180), and there's not a whole lot more furniture we really need for the apartment now Hookers and blow, maybe?
Nothing interesting is happening.
Tomorrow we're signing a lease for an apartment in the morning and then I'm going back to Alaska for a week in the evening. We won't actually be moving in until October, so the timing is not quite as ridiculous as it seems.
The apartment is at the bottom of the hill just west of University Village. It's not Ballard or Phinney Ridge, but the location is certainly better than my mother's condo. University Zoka, Ravenna Third Place, and J. Crew are all within walking distance, and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are both only about a mile away. The big drawback is the lack of a great neighborhood pub, but if I walk up to the U District I can at least be confident that the return trip will be downhill.
For my next trick, let's see if I can pull my finances in order enough to buy a condo (or a house, if the market crashes) when the lease runs out next year. I'm actually putting some effort into finding a well-paying job now.
I am not very good at parallel parking.
On the other hand, driving around town is pretty easy here. The locals are all polite and non-aggressive and most of them have cars, not Suburbans and F350s that are being driven like cars anyway. I do miss those 45-50 MPH speed limits on the arterials, though.
Tasty discovery: Cafe Presse on 12th Avenue next to Seattle University. I took the bus there.
Saturday I drove up to Trapper Creek and out toward Petersville to spend a night at a co-worker's cabin. She advertised it as sitting around a campfire drinking beer...which was exactly how the evening went. I didn't really think about just how much beer we drank until the next morning when I awoke to a splitting headache. A final inventory showed that of the original 42 beers, only four remained. Not bad for three people.
Sunday was mostly spent in the throes of the headache. My original plan was to drive up to Denali and go on a heli-hiking tour, but my touring companion had apparently sprained his ankle a few days before and we called it off. Instead I took a nap in my hotel room, ate some very tasty (and very spicy) pork curry, and made some progress on the book I've been reading since July. Eventually I was conscripted to play a game of Trivial Pursuit, but I had to get up early so I passed.
Getting up early on Monday was well worth it. I arranged for a ride on a bus out to Wonder Lake and saw all of the "big four" (moose, caribou, dall sheep, grizzly bear) within the first two hours of the trip. Although the sheep sightings were lousy (as is usually the case), the bear sightings were great and caribou were particularly numerous. I did not get to see The Mountain but the time spent wandering in the woods next to the lake made up for it. For my troubles I received only two mosquito bites. Upon my return we gave the flightseeing another try (this time a glacier landing) but weren't able to get any seats with my gift certificate. Consolation was going out for "one last drink" with several acquaintances that turned into four beers and two shots in only two hours.
My wits remained with me, though, and I was in bed by midnight. This is important because on Tuesday morning I was finally able to secure two seats on a glacier landing tour. Unlike most flightseeting tours, this one was on a helicopter. We flew over tundra in full fall color, landed on a glacier and then flew back over craggy mountains, kettle ponds, and braided rivers. It is impossible to understate the majesty of the experience, and my travel partner and I both agreed that this tour was superior to all other Denali activities.
After visiting a few more acquaintances, my last stop was the sled dog demonstration where I was able to see this year's puppies for the first time. It's a shame these things cost money...if I could find a way to spend all my days flightseeing, hiking, and drinking beer without promptly going broke I could stay at Denali forever. As it stands, I certainly feel a sense of completion after this weekend.
A lot can happen in two weeks.
August 17th: Last day at the office
August 24th: Pick my father up at the airport.
August 26th: Load up the car and drive to Beaver Creek, just across the Canadian border
August 27th: Drive to Haines, board the Marine Highway
August 31st: Arrive in Bellingham. Drive to Seattle and drop my father off at the airport.
September 1st: Move into new apartment in Seattle (assuming we find one by then)
Although August 17th is my last day at the office, I will be working for the company remotely until the end of September. At that point I'll mail the laptop back to Alaska and, unless they can get me a job with the Woodland Park Zoo, give up my company E-mail address and fill out a check-out form.
After that, who knows? I've already gotten some responses to my resume on Monster and even have a phone interview with Amazon scheduled for tomorrow. It will be nice to have something soon, if for no other reason than that I'll be able to blow my PFD on frivolity (or, more likely, furniture) rather than rent.
I took the Twin Peaks trail above Eklutna Lake (Anchorage's water source, best in the US*). The official trail only goes as far as the tree line, about 3,000 feet at this balmy latitude, and then forks into a trail that heads down into a cirque and then up to a high ridge and a trail that goes along the peaks overlooking the lake. Suicide isn't actually painless, so I took the flatter trail back toward the lake, eventually stopping at the point where I took the accompanying picture. Note that the lake is about 11 miles long.
(Secret background story: my uncle tried to sell my cousin and I on this very hike when I was about 10 years old and the road to Eklutna was still 10 miles of dirt rather than 10 miles of pavement**. This was in June, so there were snow patches on the trail even at lower altitudes. Although I don't remember the trail being quite so steep, I do remember turning around after no more than a mile. I only had to wait about 20 minutes back at the bottom, so I'm sure they didn't make it to the top either. On this trip I did pass a few children near the bottom, but everyone I ran into past the first mile was an adult.
The guidebook only talked up the other trail, but had I researched my route further beforehand I would've discovered that it actually went quite a bit further up the mountain. On the other hand, I'd guzzled 90% of my 32 ounces of water by the time I reached the overlook, so it's probably for the best I didn't add another three miles of shade-less bushwhacking to the trip.
As I was breaking my knees on the return (after busting my calves and hips on the climb), I noticed that anyone who looked like they'd actually prepared for the hike was carrying trekking poles. Although I came prepared with clothing not made from cotton, I'd never even thought about using trekking poles. Anyone know if these things actually work?
*A local bottled-water company also sells water from the pristine, glacier-fed Eklutna Lake. What a coincidence!
**Driving to Ekultna Lake always makes me feel like I'm in a car ad. The speed limit is 30 but I easily did 40-50 on most of it. The only real drawback is that the road is about as narrow as a road with a center line can be, so passing other cars can be dicey.
My escape plan from Glacier Bay was AS flight 77 to Anchorage via Juneau. Total flight time 2 hours and 50 minutes.
The flight was late coming in from Juneau, so we boarded thirty minutes late. The captain then told us that we weren't going to take off yet after all due to cruddy weather in Juneau. This being Alaska, he assured us, the weather could change at any minute.
Nearly two hours late, we departed Gustavus. Just as we were about to land, the captain aborted the landing. We took a broad circle around Juneau again and were told if we couldn't make the second attempt we'd fly to Ketchikan, about 200 miles south. As the clouds were still barely 500 feet above ground, the second attempt was aborted too. On we flew...to Sitka. They never did tell us why we didn't go to Ketchikan.
The clouds at Sitka were very thick as well, but unlike the one in Juneau Sitka's airport isn't in a narrow gap between two mountains, so we landed successfully. At this point the twenty minute GST-JNU flight was pushing three and a half hours. After much deliberation, we decided to try Juneau again and, if not, just head on to Anchorage.
Here I should probably add that Juneau is the site of the worst crash in the airline's history. It really is a dicey approach for a jet. Small planes were making the trip just fine, but I suppose flying Air Excursions to Juneau wouldn't have helped given the problems with the JNU-ANC leg.
Back at Juneau, we circled around several times, tried the approach, and gave up once again. Although the words "fuck it" didn't cross the loudspeaker, I'm sure they were exchanged in the cockpit. We finally landed in Anchorage at 11:15, approximately six hours after the original departure time and three hours late.
Based on the complaints around me, I was one of the few people on the plane who had booked a seat all the way through to Anchorage. To be fair, I am a bit disappointed I didn't get a free trip to Seattle out of the deal. If nothing else, it would've given me a day off work.
But, whatever, this is still a small price to pay for getting to go back to Glacier Bay. They are now running a whale-watching tour, so I got to see a dozen whales (including two complete breaches), several dozen bald eagles, a group of sea lions swimming alongside the boat, and just about everything else that makes the area completely awesome. Did I mention the two complete breaches? It doesn't get much more impressive than seeing a forty-foot whale leap completely out of the ocean. No, really, a forty-foot-long whale leaping completely out of the ocean. Twice!
25% off if I tell them you're my friend, though I can't promise you'll get through the land of mist and rain without any plane delays.
Recent Comments
-
turandot said:
You shouldn't let that kind of thing stop you... *lives up a hill, has the bruises to prove it* read more
on Alaska is an eagle -
Sean said:
I decided to get a desk instead (search for "Loop desk"). No bike, though, because east and west both lead... read more
on Alaska is an eagle -
gloria said:
that is sure a pretty cabinet, you should totally get married and register for it. or something.You never did buy... read more
on Alaska is an eagle -
gloria said:
I really like the bear picture, the colors are nicely complementary. read more
on Long weekend
You should see the hill. 54th Street is so steep I'm impressed I don't scrape my bumper at the cross... read more
on Alaska is an eagle