doodlebugs's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member doodlebugs on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/doodlebugs en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:36:13 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Merry Christmas — Girdwood, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198628580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198628580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198628580/tpod.html Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:36:13 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Girdwood, Alaska, United States

Christmas day was great!  We missed our family but we had the most beautiful white Christmas ever.  We had booked a snowmobile tour and then dinner at the Seven Glaciers restaurant which is a tram ride at the Alyeska Ski Resort.  Snowmobiling or snowmachining as Alaskans call it was a total thrill.  I'm not really the speed demon or thrill seeker type.  I kept a nice easy pace and took very few risks. My predominent concerns were how to keep my fingers and toes from freezing off. We had total of 4 people.  There was our guide and a German guy (Andre) living and working in Chicago as a futures trader.  All in all the tour lasted about 3.5 hours.  The handle bars on the snow machines are heated but if you leave them off long enough your fingers will freeze through the gloves.  We had non stop snow fall the whole time we were playing.  It was pretty easy to get stuck in a snow drift.  At some stage our guide's machine started giving him trouble. He kept borrowing my machine so I asked him if he'd be willing to give me a ride so I could feel what it was really like.  OMG!  It was a cross between riding a roller coaster and a motorcycle wreck.  It was totally terrifying. Dave and Andre didn't have any shyness with pushing their machines to the limit.  The guide kept having to go patrol for them. We ended up hooking up with Andre later over dinner at Alyeska and had a great conversation.  It turns out he was more traveled than us and knew quite a bit about several topics we've been keenly interested in as of late.  At the end of our dinner I got to use the one German word I know "tchuse." 
]]> One Surreal Day — Anchorage, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198885260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198885260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198885260/tpod.html Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:18:33 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

We have been wrapping things up to start our journey back to Texas. We booked a room at the Captain Cook Hotel, one of Anchorage's nicest hotels with an indoor pool and full service spa.   Paul's flight from Boston was delayed due to the usual holiday nonsense with travel.  We agreed to drive back to Palmer and check in on the dogs until he could make it home.  Dave took the evening shift and I drove out in the morning.  Dave's visit went perfectly smooth.  I took in a massage and hung out at the pool while he drove to Anchorage.  It was incredibly relaxing.My turn didn't go as well. The adventure started out in the parking garage early in the morning.  I hadn't really been driving much.  Combine that fact with one blind eye (no depth perception) and a narrower than usual parking gargage and you get a fender bender.  Blah!  Not a good start to the day for sure.  I didn't realize I had backed into another car.  Some lady was yelling at me to look.  Precisely in the middle of this accident I get a call from work.  I don't recoginze my co-worker on the phone at first or what he is trying to ask me.  Essentially he is telling me I HAVE to work a 12 hour shift on the night of my wedding anniversary because there is no one else. When I got out of the car I saw that my rental car had a nice grapefruit size indentation in the bumper.  Luckily the other vehicle had nary a scratch on it...small miracles.  I spent half the drive just beating myself up mentally over the incident when I got a brainstorm.  I asked someone for a recommendation for a body shop which one of the locals in Eagle Creek was quick to provide.  I called the guy and he agreed to give me an estimate.  My thinking was if it was cheaper than our insurance deductible that had to be much better.  Also, I have no idea what the car rental agency would charge when they saw the dent.  When I pull into the guy's body shop I immediately get stuck in the ditch.  Great! Can this day get worse?  4 guys come out of the body shop with a pack of their hounds (what is it about Alaskans and dogs??!).  They push me to the road and we start again.  The owner looks at my dent and muses for a bit.  I rapidly explain my logic about trying to stay under the deductible and just fix it myself if the price is right.  When he hears that he blurts out $100 to fix it. I guess the deductible explanation was his cue for what to charge. He goes on and on about how it will take 2 hours and maybe I should just go wait at the nearby coffee shop while they are doing the repair.  I agree to the price but I dunno some little instinct just kicks in and I opt to wait at the body shop.  15 minutes later after what looks like some heavy blow drying (turns out to be a heat gun) the mechanic reaches up and just pops the dent back into place.  I look at Rick the owner and say "2 hours?"  He says how about $50 instead?  Jeez..anyway so I leave the body shop much happier.  I feel like maybe I've saved myself hundreds of dollars by fixing it before the rental agency can lock eyes on it but who knows.  Our Garmin GPS doesn't seem to understand Alaska particularly Palmer especially well.  As usual she misses the cue for me to turn off.  Clever me decides to slow down and illegally cross the snow and ice covered median to get to the exit anyway.  As it turns out I completely cut off an Alaskan police man in his cruiser.  I'm telling you the blind eye thing is killer!  Of course he pulled me over and he was ticked!  He says "Do you realize if I weren't paying attention and on the ball you would have run me off the road?"  I'm like "uh...uh... sorry." I hand him my Texas driver's license.  "Texas," he says with a tone of "that figures."  He asks me what I'm doing in Alaska at the WRONG time of the year.  He makes a point of telling me I'm up here at the wrong time.  I babble on about dog sitting and wanting a White Christmas and then promptly burst into tears.  At this point I'm so totally stressed by all the events within a span of an hour and of course the dogs are still waiting to be fed and walked after being on the deck all night.  He says "I don't handle crying so stop crying."  Then he gets a less angry expression on his face and says "Look just take a moment and maybe say a prayer...calm down but please be careful from now on."  He speeds off without giving me a ticket which I would have deserved.  More small miracles.  It is easy to get upset over these little things in life but any fellow travelers reading this - even this kind of stuff is all part of the adventure.  Stay safe and obey the rules of the road. When little things like happen remember it could be much worse.
]]> Life in Palmer — Palmer, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198186560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198186560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1198186560/tpod.html Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:25:38 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Palmer, Alaska, United States

After a few days we are pretty settled in. We walk the dogs two or three times, we bundle up to go outside, and we alternate eating gourmet meals like baked salmon and king crab with easy meals like oatmeal and peanut butter sandwiches.Today I used an auger to cut holes in the lake. We'll try to catch some trout. I'm not hopeful but at least we'll get to experience standing around in -15F temperature. I'm also learning how to cross-country ski on the lake.12/24/07After hours and hours of fishing I managed to catch a small fish that I threw back and another just large enough to keep. I left the bait unattended and something (probably a dog) ate it all so I'm done fishing. Kim saw a moose in the road and we've seen a couple of bald eagles flying around so that's been nice. We drove to the reindeer farm and got a good look at reindeer, moose, and elk.
]]> Glaciers — Portage, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197928560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197928560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197928560/tpod.html Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:17:10 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Portage, Alaska, United States

We decide to check out Alyeska ski resort and Portage glacier. Alyeska had a nice hotel where we grabbed some free wifi and a not-so-free hot chocolate. We liked the idea of having dinner at the top of the chair lift so but the restaurant was closed so we made reservations for Christmas day.Afterward we drove to see Portage glacier but thought the hike to Byron glacier would be more interesting. It was an easy mile hike in the snow. We didn't see much wildlife except for what looked like bear tracks. We did see the glacier -- it is an overhang which means it is mostly covered in snow but we could still see the blue ice peeking though.When we were done we wanted to give Paul as much time to pack as possible before coming to his house so we saw a movie. We wanted to see Into the Wild (movie about Alaska) but the time didn't work so we saw I am Legend. The dog scene made Dave sad and that ruins the movie for him. Kim is more resilient and like the movie quite well.At Paul's house we visited with him while he finished packing, then Dave drove him to the airport. On the way back Dave stopped at Walmart but couldn't find the car in the parking lot and wandered around in the cold for half an hour.
]]> Newfoundland in Palmer — Palmer, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197813900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197813900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197813900/tpod.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:13:50 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Palmer, Alaska, United States

We finally met the dogs we would spend two weeks with. They are two gorgeous Newfoundlands named Moby and Baileyand weigh 150-165 pounds. We spend a nice morning talking with Paul, walking the pooches, and exploring the area. There are a few hiking trails and frozen lakes that allow cross-country skiing and ice fishing.The dogs are very nice and dispelled all my fears that they would be too large to handle. They also look warm and cuddly in case the furnace goes out.After noon we went to Hilltop, a small ski lift and took a ski lesson. We mostly stuck to the bunny slope although we went down the hill once. It was a bit terrifying after just one lesson, and Dave was using cross-country skis with no heel lock. However we hit the top of the hill just as the sun started to set and had the most magnificent view on the way down. It's so convenient that we might go back later.
]]> Anchorage — Anchorage, Alaska, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197665280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197665280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197665280/tpod.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:58:14 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

The flight wasn't bad. The view from the plane was great -- everything was white!The car rental company gave us a triple upgrade which made the rest of the trip much more pleasant.  We tried to check into the hotel at 9am and they told us to come back at 3pm! So we wandered around downtown Anchorage, bought some souveniers, had lunch, and talked to some friendly people. It turns out that Anchorage is a very friendly city.The hotel (Sheraton) was fine. It wasn't as nice as I remembered Sheratons but we got a good price on Priceline so no complaints. It was comfortable and had a hot tub in the gym.That night we went to bed a few hours after sunset which was 4:30pm). We were just getting over a cold we had caught and needed the sleep.The next day we went to the Anchorage Zoo. We've seen a lot of zoos and this one was really good. It wasn't very large but there were a lot of critters that we had never never seen, at least in their natural environment. Most of the animals were rescues that couldn't live in the wild. Some of the memorable animals were the bald eagles, moose, snow leopards, and a moose.The zoo was also our first test of our cold weather gear. The temperature was around 15F. We were cold even with four layers and took a lot of breaks in the coffee shop.
]]> Sleepover In Seattle — Seattle, Washington, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197682680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197682680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197682680/tpod.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:33:05 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
Seattle, Washington, United States

We stayed a night in Seattle to visit with Dave's mom and grandma. It was really nice to get to see them over the holidays. They had a care package and the best part was Grandma's "opium" cookies (Dave calls them Opium cookies because they are so addictive).We had a good sleep and got up early AGAIN the next morning for the flight to Anchorage.
]]> Flying Out — San Antonio, Texas, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197541140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197541140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/alaska2007/1197541140/tpod.html Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:24:21 -0500 Two weeks in Alaska is the perfect Christmas.
San Antonio, Texas, United States

Up early to catch a flight. Thanks to our catsitters! Hopefully we packed enough warm clothes and presents.
]]> Cook Islands — Rarotonga, Cook Islands http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145408580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145408580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145408580/tpod.html Sun, 04 Jun 2006 15:22:37 -0400 Our first big trip
Rarotonga, Cook Islands

To be completed
]]> Auckland — Auckland, New Zealand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145256660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145256660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/doodlebugs/world-2005/1145256660/tpod.html Sun, 04 Jun 2006 15:09:39 -0400 Our first big trip
Auckland, New Zealand

(to be completed. See previous entry)
]]>