2008 Christmas Letter

Another year has come and gone and yet another one of these Christmas letters.

Beth and I were meaning to get Christmas cards out this year. We wanted to include pictures of the new dogs, but they just don't cooperate with photo taking. The paparazzi would have a tough time with these two. So it looks doubtful we'll get any cards out this year. Perhaps belated Christmas cards will be sent. 

Anyway, here's some of what's happened in the year past:

The Dogs

As you've already learned, we are now proud parents of 2 old English sheepdogs. This summer, Beth was training Elliott, an old English sheepdog, for some friends. They were going to relocated him to Chicago with his owner once he was trained. Beth got the itch for a dog at that time. It looked possible we might adopt Elliott as him relocating to Chicago did not look promising. But we were told that they wanted to keep Elliott. Therefore, we got Bubbles at 6 weeks old in October. In November, we learned that Elliott could not move to Chicago and life on the farm where he was staying was not working out.  Would we want him?

We briefly looked into finding him a good home. In the meantime, we brought him to our house, where he and Bubbles got along really good.  Elliott became housebroken in 24 hours, far faster than Bubbles. So we decided to keep him and make him a part of the family. We originally thought about getting 2 dogs so they keep each other company. Bubbles seemed like a bit of work and we started re-thinking that idea. But this arrangement seems to be working out... most of the time.

The pack is now complete!

The Band

Nootril Drop was on and off this past year. Over the summer, Daren, our drummer was off for 3 weeks in Germany to visit in-laws. Don't we all wish our in-laws lived overseas. But once he got back, I headed out for 2 weeks for Alaska. So not much happened during the summer months. However, we did get some gigs at Oliver's in Peoria Hts in May, Sept and Oct. One weekend, we played a benefit that got some exposure and media coverage. We even had a Halloween gig where Dave, our bass player, and I were judges for a costume contest. 

We're now working towards writing our own material. Currently, we have two originals in our set listing. They've gotten some positive responses thus far. The only gig we have scheduled is for January 24, 2009 at the Peoria Sportsman Club near Manito, IL.

Rock On!

Travel

Anyone who reads this blog read all about our Alaska trip. If not, search under the "Alaska" label on this blog. Alaska was the real highlight in travel for 2008. 

Our other trip Beth and I took was to Lake Louise/Banff, Canada in March. We met Beth's sister Pam and her husband Bill there. Bill wanted to try cross country skiing, which believe it or not, all the rentals and lessons were booked. I managed to get a couple of days of downhill skiing in. And in the process, got Bill hooked on skiing. I have to hand it to him, he's 10 years older than me and is just starting out. He seems to be sticking to it as we all have a trip to Jackson Hole for March '09. We also drove around and saw the sights of the Canadian Rockies.

We also took a couple of other smaller trips; Atlanta during Labor Day where we saw the DragonCon Convention (a sci-fi/comic book convention) and Charleston, SC.

Family

I am happy to report that everyone is feeling good and doing well.  Two-thousand eight is the first year in a long time that we did not have some kind of death in the family.  In 2000, it was Aunt Helen, '01 and '02 were ok, '03 Dad passed away, '04 Uncle Charlie went, '05 Great Aunt Jeanie died at almost 92 years, '06 Great Uncle Gene went with his boots on and lastly, in '07 Trixie had to be put down. Jim Rinkemeyer gave us a bit of a scare in November with some problems, but he's doing fine now. I guess there's not much of us left.

Mom turned 65 in May and we held a surprise party for her. Beth's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (where the trip to Charleston was their gift). Jack turned 8 and he started the third grade this fall. Dennis still likes to hunt and fish. He still oversees the operation of his smoke shops. Dennis has recently taken on the challenge of treasurer of the local PTA.

That's the past year in a very small nutshell. Hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday season and wishing all a great new year!

MySpace vs Facebook

Is MySpace now on life support?

It seems to be that Facebook is now the popular website to interact with friends. A year ago, it was all about MySpace. Facebook at that time was deemed more for "older," more professional people (perhaps mid-20 somethings). This might be a good example of how young people can be so fickle.

I have a profile on both services. To tell you the truth, I though MySpace was easier to use and navigate. You can allow music and video to be played on your page. As for Facebook, there was more of a learning curve. It's interface is not laid out well; it took me some time just to figure out how to upload pictures. Their applications you can add are mostly a piece of crap that may or may not work... from my experiences and in my opinion. I don't know... maybe I just turned old.

One last thing I noticed between MySpace and Facebook, is that all the women on Facebook use their entire full name; first, middle and last. With no initials. An example would be Jane Mary Doe. What's the facination with the chicks using their full name and not the guys? Why? This is not done on MySpace. In fact, many MySpace users have a nickname, alias or a term we used in the 70's on CB radios, "handles."

Toyota vs Ford

To read a good analogy of what American corporate culture has succumbed to today, read this. This is a post from a conservative blog called Illinois Review, which I glance at every once in a while.

Disclaimer: I have owned a '97 Ford F-150 and was very pleased with it. Earlier this year, I traded that for an '08 F-150 and again I have been very pleased with this Ford product and have found both trucks to be of high quality. I did chuckle a bit reading this story, however, it is a sad truth.

AMVETS Building Not Historic

The powers that be voted Tuesday night not to designate the Amvets building as a historical landmark. And I am happy with the decision and happy for the Amvets!

I think it was wrong for the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF... not Chicks I'd Like to F...) to push for this designation after 5 or 6 years the Amvets were trying to sell their building and they finally received a bid and purchase agreement. I belive that many on the city council voted it down because of the situation many of these players were in.

According to CILF, the building passed the criteria to be considered "historic." And it is probably so. But in my opinion, from what I know, I think it is just an old building with beautiful design. They just don't make buildings like that anymore. But what was historic about it? And CILF wanted the city council to stand with them and designate this building a historic landmark. And once this is done, they wanted the Amvets to make the proper improvements and refurbishments at their expense. This is what I think is really wrong.

As a property owner, you have several responsibilities. You need to ensure that your property is kept up on modern fire and saftey codes, follow any zoning laws and make sure it is clean of litter and nuisance free. But if CILF had their way, what right do they have to force the Amvets to make unneeded renovations to satisfy the historic landmark certification?

The Amvets is not made of money. Their membership is declining rapidly from older members passing away and younger veterans not signing up to join. The reason they were selling was to get a smaller, more manageable and economical facility. That is what they were going to do with the proceeds. The Amvets next door neighbor, the Riverside Community Church, was going to raze the building to make way for a youth center. Basically, shit happens and life goes on. While I hate to see a beautiful old building go down, the alternative would have been for the Amvets to stay where they are and watch the building, and their post, fester.

It would be unlikely for the Amvets to sell this building had this historic landmark been made. Who is going to buy a building that was just designated as a historical landmark and that they would have to put upwards to a $1 million of renovations? Instead, if CILF really wants to save that building, they need to buy it themselves and they can then perform whatever refurbishments are needed on their dime. As it stands now, its the Amvets building and they can do what they want with it, within reason of course. And that includes selling it to Riverside so they can begin construction of its youth center.

This Was Nothing

Warning: This post may not be safe for the squeamish.



There is a recent interview with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by a local Anchorage TV station where she is involved in preparing turkeys for Thanksgiving. In the background, you see some of the process it takes to get the bird to the store and/or dining room table. In effect, there has been some disgust and outrage.

This is nothing. I will admit, the camera operator may have picked a better backdrop, whether they were gutting a turkey or field dressing a deer. But I am guessing that those who find this disgusting are pretty much "city folk" who more or less have never seen, nor never imagined, some of the things that go on out in the country. I've seen much worse. Each winter I head down to St. Thomas, MO to partake in the annual hog butchering with my Uncle and cousins. My Uncle's neighbor does all the really hard work. We purchase the hog from him and we simply cut out the pieces we want, i.e. pork chops, ribs, bacon, sausage, etc. I like to go for the liver sausage myself, which entails a lot of "head meat." (I've got pictures and video if anyone is interested. I debated about putting them up, but decided not to.)

My mom has told me stories of her childhood living in Argyle, MO. They did not have much. So whatever meat or vegetables they grew, they tried to make the most of it. That's what everyone did after going through the Great Depression. If they decided to have chicken for dinner, my Grandma would go out to get a chicken and would swing it around to break its neck. After it was done flopping around, my Mom (or perhaps some of my aunts and uncles) would have the duty to take the feathers off of it.

My Grandma also had 2 cousins that lived on a nearby farm. They were two bachelors who never married or had kids. There was no running water on the farm and only electricity for a light and a refrigerator in the kitchen. That's all. And it stayed that way until they died in the mid-1990s. And each December, they would butcher hogs that they raised all year. And there was no mechanical process; it was all done by hand and it was hard work. I experienced it myself one year.

Food and meat just doesn't magically appear wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store. It needs to be grown, prepared and shipped there. On the farm, all this is done on a much smaller scale; the commercial operations can be gross.

So for those who live on a farm or out in the country, this is really no big deal. It's a part of everyday life. For those who live in urban areas, I can imagine this seems gross and cruel. As for the TV station that conducted the interview with Ms. Palin, to all of them in Alaska, this was probably not strange to them; only to many of us in the lower 48. But out on the farm if you're hungry, and want to eat right, you do what you have to because as a local TV newsman says, "you gotta eat!" HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Bubbles And Elliott At Play

I don't know if everyone is getting tired of seeing all these posts about the dogs, but here is some video, via YouTube, of Elliott and Bubbles at play. They get along very well as you can see.

The AMVETS Debacle

File this one under "What the hell are they thinking" folder.

I've been reading here and there about the situation between the local Amvets Post 64 and the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF). CILF wants to designate the current Amvets building on Monroe St as a historical landmark. But CILF decides to do this right before the Amvets is to close on the sale of the building.

For the past 5 or 6 years, the Amvets have been trying to sell its building so that it could move to a smaller and more manageable facility. Finally, the Riverside Church agreed to purchase the Amvets building so that it could expand its church. This would then allow the Amvets to move to the former Penguin Tap in Peoria Hts. Until now...

CILF has single handily thrown a monkey wrench into the whole works. Riverside Church has backed off from the deal siting uncertainty over what the outcome will be since they would not be able to expand the church if CILF gets their way. Why did they wait this entire time while the structure was for sale and then during the 11th hour before closing, they want to designate the building as historic? This reeks of CILF purposely wanting to derail the Amvets/Riverside deal for reasons unknown.

The Peoria Jaycees monthly membership meetings have taken place there since 1994. And since the Amvets provides a meeting place, the Jaycees have supported the Amvets and will continue to do so. As a member of the Peoria Jaycees, as well as an associate member of the Amvets, I've spent considerable time in the building and I'm familiar with it. It is costly to maintain. Considerable capital would be needed to rehab it, which the Amvets does not have. So if the building should get the historic designation, it's very unlikely it will be fixed up anyway. And that's some gall... CILF telling the Amvets that their building is historic and they have to fix the place up on their dime. It's Amvets' building; they can do what they want with it.

The Amvets have other problems. Their membership is declining as its older veterans are either dying or falling ill while younger veterans are simply not joining. They also don't have the financial strength to remain there indefinitely, let alone rehabbing it because its a historic landmark.

I don't know where CILF gets off on taking this course of action, but if they really want to designate this building as a historic landmark, they should buy it from the Amvets for the same price Riverside was going to buy it. Then the Amvets can move as planned and CILF can foot the bill (and it probably would be a 7 digit figure) to rehab the place.

... end rant...

Welcome, Elliott

We couldn't stop at just one dog. Please say "hello" to Elliott, another Old English Sheepdog. He is the latest addition to the family as of last Thursday.

We essentially adopted him from some friends of ours.  This past summer, Beth was training him.  Once he graduated from school, he was to move to Chicago to be with his owner.  To make a long story short, it just didn't work out for Elliott to move to the big city.  We idly looked for a home for Elliott.  But we brought him to the house and he and Bubbles got along very well. And coming straight from farm life, Elliott has done very well in the house. Therefore, we decided to accept him into the family.

Before getting Bubbles, we originally thought about getting two dogs so that they would keep each other company.  Since Bubbles was a handful at times, we started re-thinking that idea. But Elliott is proving us wrong and they both get along as well as any other big brother and little sister.

Did Anyone Miss The Haunted House?

Before we knew it, the Halloween season of 2008 has come and gone.  And during that time, did any of us miss the Peoria Jaycees Haunted House? I'm sure a few did... mostly dedicated patrons of the attraction.  As for Jaycees members, I doubt it. 

After 37 years of scaring citizens of Peoria and Central Illinois, the Peoria Jaycees opted not to continue on for a 38th year with its Haunted House at Exposition Gardens.  Why?  Mainly because of little interest in organizing the event amongst the chapter membership.  Declining attendance and revenues was another factor since there are many more haunted attractions to compete with in the area. Liability was another factor as more and more, we needed to hire off duty police officers to stand guard against what appeared to be gang/trouble makers who would hang out in the parking lot all night.

The project is very labor intensive.  Most people probably don't realize how much work must go into the event before we even open the doors.  First there is pre-planning of the event and design of the house.  Then there are 2 or 3 semi-trailers loaded with props and building materials that need to be delivered to Expo Gardens.  Next, we convert a completely empty barn into the Haunted House by unloading the trailers of many pre-fabricated walls (which can be heavy), props such as a mad scientist table, bottomless pit, electric chair, fake tombstones, etc.  Then construction begins. Once the walls are up and firmly braced, the electrical work is done.  Depending upon what is featured in the house, this can range from simple to complex. Room decor gets done around this time as well as the giant facade of the house would be installed. After the fire marshall inspects the house, we can open for business. Normally, the house is open for about 2-3 weeks.  In the last several years, we would be closed on Monday and Tuesday nights as those were not very strong revenue generating evenings to open.  Once November hits, it's time to tear it all down and pack it away in the trailers for next year.  This is after working at the barn in the cold almost each night for well over a month. We're pretty burned out at this time.  In 2007, all this was done for a net profit of only $5,000. By contrast, this project made easily over $10 - 12,000 in less time 10 years before.

I joined the Peoria Jaycees in very late 1994.  My first Haunted House was in 1995.  At that time we started unloading the trailers and construction around October 1.  It would be at this time we'd get all the road signs out. Our most famous one was the big billboard type sign we place at Allen Rd and War Memorial Dr.  We haven't used that sign for the last several years as it is quite some work setting it up. Two weeks later, we'd have the house built and be open for business. Had we held the Haunted House this year, the chairman was planning on beginning construction in August.  In the last few years, construction would start earlier and earlier in the year because there was not much help from chapter members for the construction of the house. Finding volunteers for the operation of the house was not as bad. Perhaps 70% of the house would be manned by Jaycee members (in the real old days, 100% of the house was manned by Jaycees members).  Tear down was problematic.  During my first year as a Haunted House volunteer, we were probably done with tear down around Nov 10 - 15. Now days it extends to the end of the month; all because no one wants to do the physical labor.  

The physical labor aspect can clearly show why the Peoria Jaycees have cancelled this project. I guess people these days do not want to do that much work. When I was in my 30's and very active with the organization, it was a labor of love among many of us; not so much with the membership these days.  At the August membership meeting, a plan was presented for the 2008 38th Annual Haunted House.  A vote yes would be to keep the Haunted House; a no vote was to cancel this year's event.  The chapter, after long discussion, voted it down.  Only 2 votes were casted to keep it. The debate to keep it had been going on for the past 3 or 4 years. However it's not to say it won't come back.

The Peoria Jaycees Haunted House got its start in 1971.  It was originally built in an actual house on Wilcox St in Peoria.  The organization thought they had permission to "redecorate" from its owners.  Once built, they discovered that the real owners was Commercial National Bank. Yikes! The Jaycees worked things out with the bank so they could continue the event. If I remember the history correctly, 14,000 people came out to the House of Terror that year.  

I barely remember it.  No, I wasn't in the Jaycees in 1971... I was only approaching my 7th birthday.  But there was a story in the paper about it. My mom showed me and one day, I think after church, we drove past the house to see it during the day.  I remember trying to look in the windows to see what was in there.  I wanted to go in really bad.  Of the stories I've been told, there was a slide you rode down into the basement to get inside.  I'm not sure how much you can do that these days since we'd make the place handicap accessible.

I've worked many Haunted Houses in the past. I was a Haunted event judge for the Illinois Jaycees in 2001. I loved working these projects.  But I have to admit, I really didn't miss the Haunted House this year.  Instead, I helped out on the Jaycees Masquerade Ball, which could replace this long running event.

Is Common Courtesy Too Much To Ask

Is everyone getting tired of all the television and radio ads of all the candidates for political office? The election season is simply way too long now days. And the way all these ads are run, all these candidates must want these offices really bad. Or do they?

I was not in attendance for this forum. This story was told to me by one of the organizers of this event, so technically, it's hearsay. But it comes from a very good source.

The Peoria Jaycees, along with the Biltmore Heights Neighborhood Association and the North Florence Neighborhood Association held a Local Candidates Forum on September 30th at Unity Church. In organizing the event, they invited all candidates for the 18th Congressional District, the 92nd Illinois Representative District, Peoria County Board for that area of the city, the Peoria County Coroner and the Peoria County States Attorney. Colleen Callahan, running for Congress, was the first to respond to the invitation. She unfortunately had other commitments, but offered to send someone to represent her. On the night of the event, Johanna Ingersoll was the first to arrive. Her opponent, Steve Schmidt was one of the last to arrive. The most headed exchange that night was between candidates for States Attorney, Kevin Lyons and Darin LaHood.

As for Aaron Schock, the organizers did not hear one way or another from him or his campaign if he could attend. Granted, there was not a lot of people there, Schock should have at least offered the common courtesy to respond to the invite. I guess these constituents didn't matter enough for him... not even for him to take the time to RSVP.

This is not the only time he has snubbed the Jaycees. In 2004 we tried to give him an award at the annual Distinguished Service Awards. He claimed he was unable to attend the banquet, and these things have happened with other award recipients. But usually these award winners get someone they work with or a family member to accept on their behalf. Not Aaron Schock. Despite how connected he is or appears to be, he claimed he could not find one person to accept his award. You can read more here.

I look at the slate of all candidates for office this year and I'm greatly disappointed as I am every 2 years. Again, we are getting more the same. We need leadership, not more politicians. I'll take an honest "average Joe" over a typical politician any day.

Bubbles Update

I've had a few requests on pictures and stories on Bubbles in the past few days.

Bubbles has been a member of the family for 3 weeks now. And she's been getting big... 15 pounds! She's starting to walk up stairs, but can't quite make them down yet. Bubbles has started jumping on the couch too. They grow up so fast!

Night time is not too bad as she sleeps through most of it in her crate. We let her out around 11pm and then back out around 6am. We then take her back to bed with us in the morning. The potty situation is getting better, but we have to stay alert. We don't think she's picked up on the fact that she's to go outside.

Bubbles has been to see the vet and it turns out she's completely healthy. Her heart murmer is gone, there's no sign of hernia and all is well.

This weekend she'll get to meet her Cousin Max and make a bunch of new friends at the Fall Bash.

You can see some more pictures of Bubbles at my Facebook and MySpace pages.

The Hot Tub From Hell

I've been in a battle since August trying to get my hot tub water clear. I'm happy to report the battle may soon be over.

After coming back from Alaska, I did a fresh fill, where you drain the tub and fill it with fresh water. But this time, the water started getting cloudier and cloudier with the passing of each day. By September, I was taking water samples to my friendly neighborhood hot tub store for advice. Over and over, I tried balancing all the various chemicals. The funny thing was was the balance of chemicals was not that out of whack.

I did discover a loose hose on the ozonator. In late September, I went out of town, but arranged to have the ozonator repaired while I was gone, hoping that would remedy my problems. I returned home the first of October, only to find the tub in about the same condition... or worse. It was so cloudy that there was only about 2-3 inches of visibility. I decided to do another fresh fill since I had already dumped so many chemicals into it earlier. You should go about 3-4 months between fresh fills, depending upon how much the hot tub is used.

A couple of days after the last fresh fill, the cloudiness was reappearing. Here we go again.

I made a number of return visits to the hot tub store with water samples seeking advice. Finally last Tuesday night I washed my filters using the dishwasher. Upon removing them, I noticed one filter worn out and torn in a few places. I already had suspicions that my problem could be within filtration. I thought I'd pick up a new filter (these things aren't that cheap) and try things with a new filter.

This morning, things didn't look any worse; possibly a little better. I took the old beat up filter in the store, to which the store clerk claimed "it's shot." My suspicions are looking to be correct.

So with 5 new filters, I'm draining the tub right now to fill with fresh water. With a bit of luck, I'll have crisp, clear water for the Fall Bash this Saturday!

The Adventures of Bubbles

Our first week with our new addition to the family has passed. Bubbles is now 7 weeks old and getting braver, cockier and more feisty. During this time she's met her grandparents, Aunt Shari, Cousin Jack (pictured to the left), Aunt Kerri and Cousin Sara as well as a few of our other friends.

After her first 2-3 days, she has settled into her new home very well and she's exploring new territory more and more. Bubbles is starting to think she's a big dog and that she can jump on the couch anytime she wants. Though we'd give her an A for effort, the fact is there's no way she can jump on the couch just yet. It's just too high. But she keeps trying. She also likes to lay under the coffee table or the kitchen table when she naps. That is if she's not laying next to you or on your lap as Bubbles likes to cuddle.

When it's time to play, lookout! Bubbles likes to chew on your fingers, your nose or ear, your shoe laces or toes. And her teeth are sharp. She doesn't bite down too hard, but she does get carried away at times. This past weekend she made a new friend, Noah (pictured below). Noah is Jennifer Brackney's dog whom we dog sat Saturday night. We took both dogs to the Bradley homecoming/tailgate. Bubbles merely slept while Noah was busy scrounging for food. But the two dogs played very well together.

Bubbles has been doing better at night. She hasn't cried the last two nights and sleeps soundly in her crate. Although, after we let her out early in the morning around 6am, we do bring her into bed with us. And we have to keep an eye on her as she wants to try to jump down from the bed. It's too high for her and we're afraid she'll hurt herself. But this morning as I was sitting on the edge of the bed, tying my shoes with the little Bubbles next to me, she quickly jumped down. It was kind of a clumsy land, but she was unharmed. Bubbles can be fast anymore.

We haven't done much in the area of potty training just yet, but she's learning to go outside. We even suspect she understands the word "outside."

And the adventure continues with the Bubbles dog.

Bubbles' First Day

Bubbles' first day at her new home went well overall. She wined about 3 different times last night, lasting maybe 15 minutes each or so.  At some times, she howled like a wolf.  It was a bit amusing.  But she stayed by herself in her bed in a playpen.  At least until about 6am when put her into bed with us. 

We believe her first encounter with grass was last night before going to bed.  She kind of jumps around on it.  We think it tickles her somewhat since the grass is currently long.  Bubbles likes to chase and chew on leaves.  As the wind blows them, she'll chase them down and chew them.  Wait until she finds sticks.  She also likes doing the "Trixie roll" on the grass, just rolling on her back on the ground.

This morning Bubbles started chewing on my work boots.  A new toy for her I guess.  Her head is so small that she was sticking it into the opening of my left boot.  It was smelly so she had to check it out.

This afternoon she got to meet Grandma Hootie.  The treats will be coming soon!

We'll be going to bed in the next hour and we are guessing tonight will even go smoother.  Wish us luck.

Meet "Bubbles"

Please welcome Bubbles, our 6-week old Old English Sheepdog. We just picked her up today in Bloomington. Since Trixie's passing in March 2007, we knew we always wanted another dog someday. And today was the day.

Earlier this summer, Beth began training "Elliot," an Old English Sheepdog owned by Colleen Callahan's daughter Brittany. Brittany since moved to Chicago and that was part of the reason for training Elliot here. He would then later move to Chicago. But I guess that is not happening. We hoped we could somehow "kidnap" Elliot and he'd live with us happily ever after. Instead, Elliot is going to be staying on the farm, running with the other dogs. But having Elliot come and stay with us for a few afternoons and Beth working with him so often got her wanting a dog really bad.

We had been talking about getting 2 dogs so that they would have a companion, with one of the dogs being an Old English Sheepdog. The other we often figured a Golden Retriever, but if we go down that road, I'm thinking we might rescue a puppy somewhere.

So in the last few days, Beth had learned about a woman who was raising Old English Sheepdogs. There was a web site set up with pictures of irresistible sheepdog pups. I believe we came home a day early from South Carolina so that we could get a puppy.

Bubbles is now at her new home sleeping very quietly. She's wined a little bit but not a lot. Even though, we don't expect a full night's sleep.

It was a tough decision to pick one out of the 9 in the litter. We got it down to about 2-3, but finally settled on London, as she was earlier known, because she didn't seem as rambunctious as the others.

I'm sure all of you will see much more of Bubbles in the days to come.

On The Road Again

Our travels never seem to stop. I'm coming to you today from Charleston, South Carolina... Isle of Palms to be precise. This trip is a 50th Anniversary present to Beth's parents.

Buffy, her parents and I left Peoria on Wednesday and and stayed overnight in Lexington, KY. For the drive we rented a Kia mini van. So at least we're a little more comfortable. The pigeons attacked our van on the night in Lexington. The next morning, we found it covered in bird shit all over the windshield and hood. I guess that's why no one was parked in the space closest to the hotel entrance.

We arrived at our rental house last night. To get here, we had to cross a couple of long and high bridges spanning over the Inter coastal. Buffy and her mom were a little nervous in doing this. To make matters worse, it was rainy and very breezy to make things look a little more ominous.

After dinner at the Acme Cantina, we headed to the Charleston International Airport to pick up Beth's sister Kerri. Yes, she had the smarts to fly down here, though her flight was delayed about 30 minutes. This "international" airport looked dead. No stores or restaurants or bars were open.

On the way back to the house, we were going to return to the Acme Cantina for drinks and so Kerri could get something to eat. It was going on 11pm by now and Acme was closing up. We all then climbed back into the Kia, under the pouring rain (we had a small, mini hurricane going on... at least that's what it looked like on the weather map) and headed across the "scary" bridge again, only to find that Chili's, TGIFridays and Burger King were all closed. I don't know what the deal is. They apparently shut things down early around here. Banker hours if you ask me. We finally stopped at a grocery store and just picked up some beer and snacks.

Today, everyone opted to go into Charleston to shop. That didn't sound too exciting to me, so I stayed at the rental house to sleep in, make eggs and sausage, monitor the Congressional Bailout situation, go to the beach and anything else that might entertain me. I'm sorry, but I cannot look at the same crap at different stores all day long. I would love to have a guitar on this trip though. Maybe I should look up a Guitar Center around here.

Approximately 7pm tonight, Beth's other sister, Pam and her husband Bill are expected to arrive. The party will then be complete! I don't know what we're doing tomorrow. On Sunday we are scheduled to take a boat excursion on the Atlantic Ocean. And at some point, I want to see the USS Yorktown and some Civil War monuments/sites.

Dragon*Con 2008

"Get A Life!" - William Shatner

I'm visiting Buffy's sister and brother-in-law in Atlanta for Labor Day this year. Today we attended an annual event they hold in Atlanta. It is called Dragon*Con. Instead of a full blown Star Trek convention, it's a sci-fi/fantasy convention that covers all science fiction and fantasy... complete with a parade. The convention goes on all weekend long, but we went to see what it was all about today. Why and how they came up with the name Dragon*Con... I don't know.

We made it downtown in time for the parade. The parade is grouped by genres or shows/movies/comics etc. For example, they put all the super heros together, all the trekkies in a group, all the Star Wars fans in a group and so on. There are also some miscellaneous characters that show up such as the Blues Brothers and that old man from the Six Flags commercials. There are some noted celebraties attending this year's Dragon*Con including George Takei (Mr Sulu from the original Star Trek), Hayden ??? (the cheerleader from Heroes), Richard Hatch from the original Battlestar Galactica, and Adam West.

The parade was very entertaining, though I was surprised to see so few characters from Star Trek. Star Wars had the biggest representation of fanatics. Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis had pretty large amount of fanatics as well. After the parade, we headed to the Marriott, one of the 3 or 4 hotels hosting this convention. The place was packed. Supposedly, all these hotels were completely booked. We looked around and watched the people before heading to the Hilton to do the same. I even had the opportunity to have my picture taken with Darth Elvis!!

After stopping for lunch, Beth's parents and brother-in-law Bill headed back home. Pam, Beth and I headed to the Sheraton to see what was going on there. There was nothing going on, so we eventually went back to the Marriott. We took some seats in a lounge and watched the people. It was at this point when Buffy commented that she felt like the freak because she wasn't dressed in a costume. We did look a bit out of place.

Before heading back home, we decided to take one quick walk around. We found a few new things. The robot from Lost in Space was now available for photos. This was one of my favorite characters and shows when I was growing up in the 70's. We finally headed for home where Buffy was trying to come up with a costume for next year.

I can understand why these people do some of this stuff. Beth even stated that she could "easily get sucked into this." Even though it looked like Halloween in downtown Atlanta today, it is a day where someone can take a vacation from themselves and be someone else and do something exciting. It's just when these fanatics start loosing touch with reality and with who they really are. It becomes a problem when it starts consuming their daily lives. As Shatner said, "Get A Life!"

But our ventures today were very entertaining.

Alaska Pictures

If interested in seeing more photos from our Alaska trip, go to my Flickr site. Hopefully this link will work:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11445677@N08/sets/72157606770285853/

You can set up a slide show to view all 85 of these pictures. The slideshow option is located on the upper right hand part of your computer screen. Just click where it says slideshow. Once the show starts running, you can set the options to display titles and descriptions of the pictures. You may want to also set it to show the pictures slower as some of the descriptions may take some time to read.

If this link doesn't work, you can use the search function to search for people on Flickr. Just set the search parameter for people and description "rlojr."

Now that these instructions are as clear as mud, good luck and enjoy!

Rocking Boats and Roasting Past Presidents

On Saturday, August 16, the Peoria Jaycees held its annual Rock The Boat event. This is a 2 hour excursion on board the Spirit of Peoria Riverboat with a party and band in full swing. The cost is $35 and covers all the food and beer. And again, Rachel's Hippo was the top bill. And again, they played very well. They did Cheap Trick's I Want You To Want Me, which I don't think I've seen them play before... maybe it's new for them.

Anyway, during the cruise, I was witness to a ruckus. A female ship worker (she was in some officer's suit, who knows, she could have been the captain) was trying to control another woman who was becoming physically irate. The ship officer was also assisted by two other guys who were undoubtedly Spirit of Peoria employees. The woman who was being restrained was noticeably intoxicated. They eventually got her into a stairwell where they talked with her and to calm her down. At this point, she stopped resisting and just broke down and started crying. With running mascara, she looked very similar to Ozzy Osborne.

At the end of the cruise, boat officials were escorting off a gentleman who was also very intoxicated and was probably on the verge of causing trouble. I don't know what the full story on this one was either. But once off the boat, we discovered that the woman and this guy were a couple of some sort. The Peoria police were waiting at the dock when the ship arrived. Upon reaching the squad cars, the police were forced to use pepper spray on this guy.

The Spirit of Peoria's crew handled these scuffles very well. The Rock the Boat event I thought was organized really good and at least most everyone had fun.

The boat docked around 10pm, which is still early. So a few of us decided to meet up at the Camel Club on Galena Rd. Buffy and I were first there before anyone else. At this time, we were kind of hungry, so we turned around and headed to McDonald's for a bite. I had the top down on the car as we headed through the drive thru. Waiting for our food, I looked up and noticed a very sizable spider in a web underneath the soffit. Looking at the color, size and shape of it, it appeared to be a black widow. If you recall, I had a black widow in my back yard that I wrote about on this blog a couple of summers ago. Since then, I have found another 6 black widows in my yard (just this summer alone). "How can you tell?" asked Buffy. I claimed it looks similar even though I couldn't see any markings yet. Once we had our food, I pulled the car up and stopped right underneath it. I saw what looked to be some red markings on it. Face it, Peoria has been invaded by the black widow.

We returned to the Camel Club, eat our dinner, had a drink or two, listened to an odd mix of music on the old 45 juke box and hung out with friends.

This past Friday night was the Jaycees annual Homecoming where we honor the immediate past president with a party and some type of roast. For the last few years, I've fried chicken for the event. I get a few good comments and many enjoy the dinner. We can thank Uncle Charlie for giving me my fried chicken prowess. I also stepped up to run the karaoke machine since Shane Hoadley was ill and couldn't make it that night. He could have at least let us use his bigger karaoke equipment instead of that small, 5 inch screen that no one could see. But another good time was had with the Jaycees.

Alaska - Day 11.5 & 12

Saturday, August 9, 2008 - During our final day of sailing, Dennis, Shari and Beth went to play bingo. Jack was still swimming. Meanwhile, Mom and I looked through the near 500 photos I took during the trip. It took a while to look at them using the slide show feature.

Our bingo players returned and we had one big winner. Beth won the Snowball Prize but had to share it. It pretty much paid for our bar bill for the week. After collecting the winnings and eating dinner, we returned to our cabin. The question came up... now what?

Buffy went for a walk. Later I got a call. "Come on up to the Ocean Bar," said Buffy, "the whole gang is up here." So I head on up for I guess would be one last drink with our favorite bartenders. It would turn out to be last several drinks.

We were to have our bags packed and ready to be picked up by 1am. And they were not kidding. I barely had enough time to get everything in my bag by that time. I would learn I should have left the bar sooner, for more reasons than this.

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - The Volendam was to dock in Vancouver at 7am and we were to disembark at 8am. Buffy woke up to take a shower and get cleaned up. I was hungover and slept in until about 7:30am. We finally left the ship and went through Customs with no problems. After picking up our bags, we were in our final bus line for a ride to the airport. I had to leave the line on a couple of occasions. What the hell was I thinking the night before when I had 2 buckets of Heineken?

Finally, Dennis gave up on the bus ride to the airport. He scoped out the taxi line, which was moving very rapidly. And a taxi would deliver us to the correct part of the airport. So we left the bus line for a taxi. That turned out to be a wise move... especially for me.

We were going to try to meet Matt Astel, but everyone was anxious to leave and Matt was at least 20 minutes away from the airport. So our get together was scrubbed and we were soon airborne bound for Peoria.

Once home, the remainder of the day was spent on the couch, then the bed, watching the Olympics.

This was definitely a trip worth taking. Beth and I highly enjoyed it. I really wasn't in too much of a hurry to return home. While my Mom enjoyed it, she was OK with higher temperatures and getting back home; all the travel was a little hard for her. Shari liked it except for all the cold. I doubt Dennis will be back on a cruise, though he wants to visit Prudoe Bay. And I think all Jack will remember is the pool.

And so ends the 2008 Alaska Travelogue Blog.

Photo Info:
Top: Myself, Dennis, Beth and Shari for our last call at the Ocean Bar
Bottom: Our bartenders at the Ocean Bar on the ms Volendam, from left to right, "Dan the Man," Edward and "Auggie."

Alaska - Day 10 & 11

Friday, August 8, 2008 - The first part of the day was sailing into the small town of Ketchikan. We were due to dock at 2pm. It was a scenic ride in the inlet and there were whale watching opportunities. We didn't see any. Jack swam all morning with his new friends. He started some secret club with them and he had lunch alone with one of his swim buddies. A few minutes before 2pm, we began the task of getting Jack out of the pool. This proves to be a challenge. He gets out and wines that he wants to stay with everyone and swim. But moments later, all the other kids are getting out of the pool because their parents want to disembark. Once Jack realizes this fact, things aren't so bad.

Buffy and Shari can't wait to shop. And there are plenty of stores to shop at in this town. I still don't understand the fascination. You wait in line after line, crowd and crowd. Each store you go into is the same crap for sale, though perhaps displayed differently. I just don't get it. Anyway, I did purchase a t-shirt (I'm looking for a sweatshirt without the hood... impossible to find). I then left the others to find a drug store to purchase needed toiletries. On my way I encountered Crazy Dave's Reptile Show. I didn't pay to go in, but out front were two gentlemen, one with a python and one with some black monitor from Africa that was on a leash. It was about the size of an alligator.

While Beth and Shari shopped, Dennis and Jack saw some other sites. They came across a bridge on Creek Street where various people were salmon fishing. You could look down and see schools of salmon trying to swim upstream. Mom shopped close to the ship at the Outlet Store. I went back to the ship to grab my computer and utilize the local Internet to get some business e-mails, if any, and to post the last couple of days on this blog. I was at an espresso shop when I saw Mom out the window. I waved at her and she came in and hung out while I did all my posting. This damn MacBook! I'm still trying to configure my e-mail program. I can receive messages fine... it sending them is the problem. The same with our cell phones on the ship... a common theme?

At 5pm, Mom, Dennis, Jack and I had tickets for the local lumberjack show. It was an entertaining show. It was set up as a competition between the Spruce Mill Camp (US) and the Dawson Creek Camp (Yukon Territory Canada). The audience was divided and we fell on the Dawson Creek Camp team. The hostess told us the story of how Ketchikan was once a logging capital. Over in the Yukon Territory was another logging community and every now and then, these lumberjacks would get together for drinks and such. Of course bragging would go on about what they could do so then they decided to have a competition, for fun I presume, to see who's better. This was the basis of lumberjack competitions today.

Among the competitions they used specially equipped chain saws that were pretty loud. The pole climbing was very impressive, especially when they would descend. I almost thought they screwed up and were going to fall. The lumberjacks used cottonwood trees to cut on because the wood is softer. Had they used a harder wood, the show would be going on much longer. Jack was able to take some cut wood home as a souvenir. He had already got a chip of wood from one of the lumberjacks when our team had scored.

I went with Dennis to see the salmon fishing after the show while Mom and Jack returned to the ship. Beth and Shari were still shopping. They did not get back to the ship until almost the last minute. They did stop at a couple of drinking establishments where they met a local who invited them back to his home. I don't know if he goes to the tourist traps and try to pick up women. They also stopped at Fat Stan's which was right outside the lumberjack show.

We didn't do much after dinner. Went to our room and then back to the Ocean Bar to see the regulars. At 10:30pm there was the Chocolate Extravaganza by the Lido pool on Deck 8. All this stuff looked really rich and fattening. Believe it or not, I didn' t have any. Buffy and Shari did get in the long line to get their share. Dennis and I went outside on Deck 9 to check out the fog. Out in the middle of nowhere, nothing but fog and cold wind... very erie. Every now and then, you could hear the ship's fog horn.

Now it's time for sleep.

Saturday, August 9, 2008 - I am now coming to you live from the Lido Pool on Deck 8, somewhere at sea. The sun is out and there is no sign of land anywhere. Today is a full day of sailing on the Pacific Ocean until we pull into Vancouver tomorrow morning at 7am. We have already crossed time zones and we are in the Pacific Time Zone. Beth and I have already cleaned up and had breakfast. Buffy is reading while I'm blogging. Not really a whole lot to do today. At 12:15pm right now, I haven't seen anyone else.

Tomorrow, we make our final disembarkation and begin to head home. My friend from high school, Matt Astel, is actually in Vancouver right now and I'm making efforts to visit for a couple of hours.

As our trip winds down, I will probably only have one more post. I don't know if anything exciting and entertaining will happen in the next 24 hours, but if it does, maybe and extra post. Dennis is stir crazy from the cruise; Buffy loves it. I don't really want to go back to the midwest for heat and humidity. But all things must come to an end sometime.

Alaska - Day 9

Thursday, August 7, 2008 - We docked in Juneau sometime last night or early this morning. Buffy and Shari were awaked sometime around 7:30am from some loud clanking noise outside our staterooms. I never heard a thing as I was asleep. Since Juneau is in a tempered rainforest, the weather was cloudy and rainy.

We did our normal routine of going to the Lido Restaurant on Deck 8 for breakfast. Jack slept in late this morning... somewhere around 10am. This caused Dennis and Jack to miss the most of breakfast. So Dennis, Mom and Jack stayed on the ship while Shari, Buffy and I ventured into town. They were happy to go into all these different shops Juneau had to offer. I'd wait outside. After about 45 minutes to an hour, I was getting extremely board. All of us with the exception of Buffy were signed up for a helicopter tour for 2 15-minute landings on a glacier leaving the ship at 12 noon. The van took us to the airport where we donned some kind of cletes to allow us to walk on glacier ice. I had walked on a glacier about 15 years ago when visiting Anchorage, Alaska. And I did it in sneakers. That was not safe as I would slide all around. I finally noticed a sink hole of sorts and then realized that if I fell right here, there would be nothing to hold on to and it would be all over for me.

We boarded the helicopter and got to wear the headphones to talk to one another. Jack especially like doing this. He would press the button and say "Awesome!" We were able to travel up the canal along Juneau for about 10 minutes and got a glimpse of the Mendenhall Glacier. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating with us. The pilot claimed that it was too unsafe for a glacier landing and we turned around for the airport. Once landed and inside the facility, the tour manager claimed we would get a full refund since they could not deliver what they offered. So we got a free helicopter ride... it wasn't a complete loss. This was to be Mom's birthday present from all of us.. a helicopter ride to a glacier. She was happy to get to go for a ride. And the walk on the glacier may have not worked out too well for her since she mistakenly put her cletes on the wrong feet. So I guess things just were not working in our favor today... especially for Dennis.

Meanwhile, Buffy signed up for a whale watching excursion. At least things were working out for her. She was able to see a school of whales, which the tour guide said is rare. The whales were also making some sort of mating calls, which was unusual as they mate south near Hawaii.

After returning to the ship from the ill-fated helicopter ride, Dennis, Shari and myself went to take a tram ride to the top of Mt. Roberts in Juneau. Mom and Jack headed back to the Volendam to, guess what... go swimming. The tram ride was alright. It is very similar to the tram at Jackson Hole. At the top is a restaurant, shop and hiking trails with a number of lookout points. On a clear day, you could probably see quite a bit. But we had low cloud cover today. You could see most of the city, but if you hiked up higher, about all you saw was clouds. Also at the top was a wounded bald eagle they named Lady Baltimore. She was shot in the beak and when she fell, damaged and lost a retina in her left eye. With only one eye, Lady Baltimore does not have any depth perception, which makes feeding and getting around very difficult. It would be unlikely she could survive in the wild.

Shari returned to the ship, but Dennis and I ventured upward where we even ran into some leftover snow from the winter months.

We all finally met up in the pool area where we took a hot tub. When we went our separate ways, Buffy and I dressed up as it was formal night. We weren't able to get into the Rottendam Restaurant until later. I ordered the Surf n Turf, which I think is the first time I've had lobster. I can't tell you if the lobster was any good as I have nothing to compare it too. It was still good though. My only complaint was it took me 4 times to ask for a Heineken until I finally got one.

After dinner, we adjourned to the Ocean Bar where we caught up with not only Dennis and Shari, but Tracy Lynn, the girl from Rhode Island, a fellow passenger Dave from the land tour and our favorite bartenders, Auggie, Marc and Dan. And "Dan the Man" is getting to know me all to well... he might have my entire biography. He told Buffy, "Rick drinks Diet Coke during the day, Heineken at night." Just imagine if I came up here during the winter when nighttime is about 18 hours a day.... a lot of Heineken drinking! All the wait staff are from the Phillipines. And they work on the ship 11 months out of the year, 11 hours a day, 7 days a week. And they still have a wife and kids back home. Shari told them they should quit and go home to their families. Dennis and Shari left for a short while to watch a comedian, but then came back within 20 minutes.

Several Heinekens, Bud Lights and wine later, Buffy and I retired for the evening while Dennis and Shari left to lose money in the casino.

Today's Alaska Fun Fact
In the late 1800's, a Tlingit Chief named Kowee led 2 drunken prospectors to a creek which emptied into the Gastineau Channel. The prospectors, Richard Harris and Joe Juneau, found gold. This changed the course of history and the face of Alaska itself. On October 4, 1880, Harris and Juneau laid claim to the area they called Gold Creek, one of the largest finds of the Alaska Gold Rush era. In 1900, the capital of Alaska was moved from Sitka to Juneau. (source: the Holland America Daily Program). According to Andy the bus driver taking us to the airport, the town was once undecided on a name. They went back and forth between Harrisburg and Juneau, both after the 2 prospectors. They eventually decided Juneau as the bus driver put it, "they felt there were plenty of Harrisburgs but not enough Juneaus."

Photo Info:

Top - Buffy & Shari shopping yet again

Bottom - Mom just before taking off in the helicopter

Alaska - Day 8

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 – We awoke this morning around 8:30am. This is considered sleeping in for this past week. I was extra tired this morning. Last night we made our way to the Crow's Nest for a late evening. The Crow's Nest is a lounge on Deck 9 on the forward part of the ship, with about a 180 degree view of the bow. Last night was Disco night at the Crow's Nest. So after dinner and hanging out in Mom and Jack's room watching Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D, Buffy and I adjourned to the Crow's Nest. Dennis and Shari followed while Grandma Hootie stayed with Jack.

And it was last night I opted to order the bucket of Heineken as they were more economical in cost. That decision may have not made sense this morning, but it made perfect sense last night.

Anyway, we awoke and found ourselves docked in Haines, AK. It was a bit strange to once again see buildings and civilization as we spent the last 2 days looking at water, glaciers, clouds, and miles of undeveloped coastline.

It is a quaint little town that lies on the banks of the Chikat Inlet off the Lynn Canal. A small range of snow covered, jagged-peaked mountains border the town which was very picturesque. Haines appears to be a very dog friendly town. About every other car we saw had a dog in it. We noticed several of the locals walking into shops and their jobs with their dogs. And all the dogs are very well behaved and friendly.

The weather was perfect. The sun came out and it was actually getting near hot if you were in the sun with no breeze. Dennis and Jack headed out early as they scheduled an excursion that took them out to drive Kowasoki Mules. Mom stayed close to the ship as the town was a bit to hilly for her to walk far.

Shari, Buffy and I disembarked from the Volendam and walked into town in search of a diner. On our way, we encountered a live, adult bald eagle perched high in a spruce tree. Seeing it somewhat up close and in the wild was very cool.

We stopped at the Bamboo Cafe. The blueberry hotcakes were very good. The biscuits and gravy were respectable, though it's doubtful you can beat Track Inn in Chillicothe for biscuits and gravy. The hospitality was excellent.

After breakfast, we walked around. Surprisingly, there were very few souvenir shops. Eventually, we made our way back to the ship where we caught up with Mom; then later Dennis and Jack. At this point, most of us went separate ways. Jack just wanted to get back into the pool. Dennis and Shari went to eat lunch. Buffy took a nap. I trekked up to the local library to use their reliable Internet connection. I was finally able to upload all my posts from the past few days. I also caught up on some business, e-mail and read some news. It was kind of nice to get away for a while.

I did meet up with Dennis, Shari and Buffy later in the afternoon in town. Dennis was interested in going on yet another excursion; the Eagle Preserve where you can see nesting eagles and you might see bears feasting on salmon fish. We all eventually got back together at the pool on the Lido Deck. Dennis and Mom signed up for the Eagle Preserve excursion which left at 5:30pm and wasn't due back until 8:30pm. The Volendam is scheduled to depart at 9pm. Nothing like cutting it close.

At around 5pm, we all went separate ways again; I went to the gym, Buffy went to see a movie, Mom and Dennis went to see bears hunt for salmon and poor Shari had to stay at the pool with Jack. At least Jack makes new friends at the pool every day. But the kid has to be shriveled up by now from all the hours he's been in that pool. The pool closes at 7pm. And Jack got out of it about 7:05pm.

After drying and getting dressed, Shari and Jack discovered that they were locked in their room. The door handle had malfunctioned and would not allow the door to open. To make matters worse, the phone in their room did not have any directory. Shari wound up calling the Spa for help. They gave her the number for the front desk, but by that time, our steward came by while making his rounds. He made sure everything got fixed.

Dinner tonight was pork spare ribs and they were very good. Buffy joined us late after her movie. Jack and Shari went back to their room to order room service/cheeseburger for Jack and watch cartoons; Buffy and I went the Explorations Cafe on Deck 5 to watch the ship take off and write today's blog post (I hope to upload it tomorrow). We hope Mom and Dennis return safely and on time from their excursion.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to be in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Buffy has scheduled a whale watching excursion while the rest of us are going on a helicopter ride to land on a glacier.

Photo info:

Top - Mom, Dennis, Shari & Jack get ready to board back onto the ms Volendam.

Bottom - Buffy and Shari walking through the town of Haines... maybe working the town of Haines

Alaska - Day 7

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 – We awoke very early today so we can get a good breakfast without having to wait in line. It was 6:30am and we found out that the “hot” breakfast is not served until 7am. So we got a table and watched for whales while the ship cruised towards Glacier Bay.

We for the most part finished eating when Shari came up to meet us. She claimed that Dennis' phone went off around 6am, which Dennis slept through and did not answer. Shari picked it up but was too late in answering it. It was Jeff Bilsland calling. Somehow, she had heard from her mom and that a huge storm came in and there was downed trees in their driveway (Shari's mom was staying at their place). I got my cell phone and turned it on and found there was a voice mail. It too was from Jeff so I called him back. Shari was having problems with her phone, but my was working fine.

Jeff said that the tree fell in the storm. “Yea, good one. I've got a bunch of trees, which one was it,” I said, thinking he was talking about my house. Then it occurred to me, it was the office. The remainder of that tree that fell last week had fallen in the storm last night... and this time it hit the office.

Fortunately, there was little damage. With help from Beth's parents, I got Jeff a key to the office and he pretty much took care of everything. Dennis and Shari's house was fine, with the exception of some downed trees and my house came out unscathed.

The cell service on the ship is bad. If someone calls us, we can hear them, but they can't hear us. We learned, but not for certain, that wireless calls from off the ship is $12/minute. Yikes!! This is not the time you want a call to chit chat.

Shari, Buffy and I walked laps around the ship and spotted some whales. We then pretty much took up residence at a table by the Lido Deck pool and stayed there most of the day. While Jack played in the pool with some other kids, we watched the various glaciers the ship maneuvered around. From time to time, some of us would leave the table to find a better vantage point. But someone would stay with the table at all times.

It was cool watching ice chunks fall into the ocean. We didn't see anything massive, but even small slides make a thunderous sound.

Right now it's a little after 5pm and Jack is still going strong in the pool. We'll probably hit dinner I'm guessing somewhere around 6:30 – 7pm. I'm not even hungry right now as we've been munching on food all day. They will have to roll us off this ship when we're done.

Tomorrow is a port of call in Haines, AK. On Thursday we stop in Juneau, where we are signed up for a helicopter tour that makes 2 landings on a glacier.

Photo info:
It's me with the Margarie Glacier in the background.

Alaska Day - 6

Monday, August 4, 2008 - The Internet connection on this ship sucks! I spent a good twenty minutes trying to upload my blog posts from Saturday and Sunday. The connection speed is like that of dial up. But I really blame Blogger for not allowing me to post anything. Since the ship charges by the minute, I decided to write my post and then copy and paste them, so my log on time would be minimal. But Blogger wouldn't let me paste anything in. Crap!! This is why you haven't seen any new posts for a while. I'll try again later.

Today was our first full day sailing on the cruise. Buffy, Shari and Dennis were awakened by an announcer on the PA pointing out glaciers and wildlife. Buffy got up quickly to go see. I slept right through it and didn't hear a thing. I did awaken shortly there after, showered and headed up for breakfast. The breakfast line was long at 8am. Note to future voyagers: avoid breakfast from about 8 – 10am. To make matters worse, I could not get a Diet Coke. None of the bars were open yet to buy one and the restaurant doesn't serve them. I was screwed! I can go longer without Heineken than I can without Diet Coke.

Buffy and I stopped by Mom's and Jack's cabin to see what they were doing. Buffy left to go back to our room for something. Jack continued to watch cartoons, having little interest in the ship or the scenery. Mom and I stepped out on her balcony when we saw what we first thought were dolphins. Another look as they changed the direction they were swimming, I noticed black and white areas on their skin. Could they have been killer whales? We're not sure what we saw, though there were numerous sightings of dolphins all day.

After lunch, I went to the ship's gym and worked out some. The gym is in the very front of the ship on one of the upper decks. It was cool being on a treadmill, looking out the front windows while the ship was moving. But it was at this time when we were leaving Prince William Sound and heading towards more of open ocean. The boat began to rock more. This became a little challenge keeping balance and feeling little waves of motion sickness.

I then joined Dennis, Shari and Jack by the pool and sat in the hot tub for a while followed by a brief swim. Jack must have spent a total of 3.5 – 4 hours of being in the pool. That's all he wants to do.

I later cleaned up a bit and then went on my own exploring the ship more while Buffy, Dennis and Mom went to play Bingo. This would lead to be the highlight of my day; maybe the whole trip. I found the front bow and walked around it a bit. It was very windy and chilly. Moments after I stepped off the front bow, a walked towards the port side of the ship. An announcement came over the PA regarding something on the starboard side. Since I was at the front of the ship, the starboard side was right around the corner. I sprinted over there and asked one of the deckhands what was going on. Whales!

I started up my camera and some others pointed me in the right direction. After messing with my camera, I looked up and saw a huge humpback whale at the apex of his leap in the air and then coming down crashing into the ocean. Unfortunately, I have no pictures or video. The whale never did jump back up again. However you could see the water blowing out of his blow hole as swam away.

We all had dinner in the Lido Restaurant and followed up with some beverages at the Ocean Bar. It was here where we met “Lynn” who is from Rhode Island, but works for the state of Alaska. She does environmental observations to make sure cruise lines stay in compliance. This is all she has been doing all summer; traveling on cruises. She claims it gets old after a while, eating all the same food, hearing the same entertainment, etc. And she has to travel by herself.

I had been drinking Alaskan Summer Ale so I signed up for a punch card to get into a drawing for an Alaska trip. I only need to drink 8 more Summer Ales to be eligible for the drawing. I purchased a Diet Coke for breakfast tomorrow and we retired for the day.

Tomorrow will be another day of full cruising around Glacier Bay.

Alaska - Day 5

Sunday, August 3, 2008 - There is really not a lot to report on today's activities. We basically rode a bus from Denali to Seward that took close to 8 hours. We did make a stop for lunch and a couple of other stops, but essentially, it was riding a bus today. Thankfully, it is the last bus for this trip, with the possible exception of catching a bus when we fly back home.

Our bus driver this time, Eric, is a school teacher here in Alaska. He is driving buses during the summer months. We drove through his home turf and he told us stories about local towns and his school district. He educated us on many interesting facts about Alaska during our ride. We were very entertained on most of it. Meanwhile, Jack slept through a big part of the ride, which worked out for us.

We finally arrived in Seward sometime before 5pm where the bus dropped us off right at the ship... the MS Volendam. We said our goodbyes to Josiah, our tour guide and friend through the land tour of our trip. Proceeding to check in for the cruise, there were not many people in line. I did the on-line check in which really helped to speed up the process. Eleven years ago when I went on the Carnival cruise, we had to wait in an extremely long line and seemed like forever to finally get on the ship. But this was not bad. I think we spent less than 10 minutes with check in. Sweet! Of course we had to go to the mandatory safety drill to prepare in the event the ship is going to sink. And that didn't really take as long.

Jack is all about the Lido Deck, where there is the swimming pool. I recently discovered The Loft where it is a lot of video games and such for teens. Jack will also like that. Mom says she could just sit on her balcony for the rest of the trip (her room is on the port side of the ship, so she had a good view of the glaciers). We started to set sail at 10pm. Tomorrow is basically just cruising as well as Tuesday. Our first port of call will be on Wednesday (I don't remember where).

I have a bit of some disappointing news for my blog fans. While the Volendam has wireless Internet access, it comes at a price. So in the interest of saving my dollars for much needed alcohol and freeing up time to vacation instead of blogging, I will only be logging onto the Internet intermittently.

Alaska Fun Fact #1
Eric the bus driver's school district is approximately the size of West Virginia. And in the state of Alaska, which is incredibly large in size, is divided in Burroughs instead of counties like most other states.

Alaska Fun Fact #2
There is an estimated 300,000 moose in Alaska. According to Eric, he has to get moose collision insurance on his car, which he has hit a moose in the past. And on the bus ride today, we got to see a moose feeding in a pond. So collectively, we have seen 1/100,000 of all the wild moose in Alaska on this trip thus far.

Alaska Fun Fact #3
According to many of the people in Alaska, this summer has been the coldest in the past 60+ years. There has only been a handful of days that the temperature has been over 65 F. Eric, the summertime bus driver and school teacher, talked a bit about the receding of glaciers and global warming. At the top of mountains where there are glaciers, are ice fields. These are bodies of water turned to ice from years of accumulated snowfall turned to ice that is unable to drain. Once full, the ice starts flowing over the top, just like pouring more water into an already full glass. Eric claims the recession of glaciers is twofold from his research. Glaciers are going to melt regardless since the Ice Age is over. And while rising temperatures can explain accelerated melting, Eric has noticed that less than enough precipitation is not allowing ice to overflow from the ice fields.

Photo Info:

All of us with Josiah disembarking off the bus and onto the ms Volendam.

Alaska - Day 4 (part 2)

We got really lucky today!! Continuing on the land tour of our trip, today we were to head out on the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park. The tour was to last for about 8 hours, with boarding at 6:20am and ride in a converted school bus. Sounds brutal, but it turned out to be well worth it. Dennis, Shari, Jack and Mom bailed out, so it was only Buffy and myself that went on this excursion.

So our day began quite early. And all these early mornings, late nights and endless daylight must be taking its toll. I was very tired this morning, but I still managed to get to the bus. At least later in the morning, the skies opened and the sun began to shine.

There is only one road that takes you into the park. After 14 miles, no private vehicles are allowed unless they have a special permit. These special permits usually go to professional photographers, researchers, etc. Other than that, it is government/park owned vehicles that can enter this point. And they are only a limited number of them per day. This way, the majority of the park will not be impacted by the actions of mankind. We were instructed to eat on the bus and to leave all food, drinks, wrappers and such on the bus. This way, we protect the park and also do not become a target for animals looking for a better meal.

Our bus driver, Marsha was very informative and she talked almost for the entire tour. She knew all about the park, it's history, plants and the animals. The key word for the day was “migration,” so she called it the Marsha's Migration Tour.

Our first encounter with wildlife was not too far into the park; a snowshoe hare. It looked pretty much like a common rabbit to me. And like I said that we got lucky, it would be easier to mention what wildlife we didn't see. We also saw the Arctic ground squirrel, some raven, a lynx, dall sheep (rams), several caribou, plenty of willow ptarmigan (the state bird of Alaska) with look similar to chicken, a couple of grizzly bears with one young adult running in a field and in last 30 minutes of the tour, an adult bull moose with full antlers. The only animal we did not see was a wolf.

But the thing most exciting to see was Mt. McKinley. At 20,320 feet, it is the highest mountain in North America. So high that it can be seen on a clear day in Anchorage, 300 miles away. A large majority of the time, the mountain is not able to be seen in the park due to cloud cover. This mountain range is so large that it creates its own weather systems. We really got lucky with clear skies today.

Meanwhile, Mom, Dennis, Shari and Jack decided to take a shuttle to Denali National Park's Visitor Center. It is here where Shari probably made the quote of the day saying that she “felt that they are all prisoners on this trip,” since they have to wait in bus lines all the time and being told what activities to pursue. After looking around there for a while, they went for a ride to Savage River to look around.

Dennis wanted to start hiking around, but Mom wanted no part of that so she decided to ride the bus back to the Visitors Center and wait for them. Mom was in for the real adventure of the day. She mistakenly got off the bus a stop too early. She waited for a while for the next bus, but never really came on time. Noticing that the Visitors Center was short of 2 miles, she decided to trek out on her own. At least it was mostly downhill. It was about this time when our bus went by and Buffy and I saw Mom hiking down the road.

A short time into her hike, she came across a moose. So she just decided to turn around and go back the way she came. Later, Mom came across a couple of buses; one that was a blue campers' bus. She asked for a lift back, but they would not give it too her. Eventually, the shuttle bus going to the Visitors Center came by and she got on and made it back to the hotel.

After a nap, Mom, Buffy and I walked around the gift shops some and had pizza next door where the Princess Cruise Lines put up their passengers. While eating dinner, we ran into our tour director Josiah and one of his friends... off duty. There were no other tables available so we invited them to sit with us. We chit chatted around and learned more about how people come up for the summer and work these jobs in Alaska.

We never did find Dennis, Shari and Jack and wondered if they were still hiking somewhere. It wasn't like they were going to run out of daylight, but the shuttles quit running past 6pm.

Buffy and I later headed out to the Salmon Bake, a restaurant/bar/shops for a few drinks. Josiah was there so we hung out for a couple of drinks. We figured this was a place where the locals hang out. Heineken were $6 a bottle, so price wise it didn't seem like a place for locals. But everything else up here is a little pricier (unleaded gas is around $4.45 – 4.55 a gallon). We were here the night before after writing my previous post. One of the shots they serve is called a “duck fart.” It is Bailies, Kahlua and Crown Royal. Buffy really enjoyed it, but if I drank it, it would come up faster than it would go down. Instead, I was drinking a local brew called “Moose Drool Brown Ale.” It is a darker beer and it is very smooth, though it is a bit filling.

We ended the day getting things ready for tomorrow and, only fitting before getting on a cruise ship, watching Titanic on TBS.

So guess what we get to do tomorrow? You guessed it... another bus ride. This should be the last. We are to take a coach to Seward where we finally board the MS Volendam and begin our cruise. The ride is to be about 8 hours I hear, with a couple of stops. So I don't think a whole lot will happen tomorrow.

Alaska - Day 4

Travelogue Intermission - The Internet service suck big time on this ship.  This is my third attempt on a second try to get this post up!!!!  I will get back with everyone when I can find reliable Internet service.

Otherwise, we're having a good time! 

Alaska - Day 3

Today was another early start. Our original excursion called for a 4 hour scenic train ride from Fairbanks to Denali.  It was to be one of those glass dome cars. However, Alaska has had the highest amount of rainfall in 41 years. So, some of the tracks these trains need are flooded.  Instead, we had to take a bus to Fairbanks.  The part I don't understand was this; we were departing Fairbanks an hour earlier, but they claimed the bus ride would be faster than by train.  If that is so, why leave earlier?  Anyway, the weather by far cooperated with us as the day progressed.

Our first bus stop was in North Pole, AK.  That's right... the name of the town is North Pole and everything there has to do with Santa and Christmas.  All the street light poles are in the shape of candy canes.  Even the McDonald's sign is held up by a pole resembling a candy cane.  Coming into town, Andy the bus driver drove us completely through a roundabout in a complete circle before heading in the correct direction. He claimed he needed the practice.  The bus stopped at the Santa Claus House, a gift shop with everything tourist and Christmas.

Buffy was in bit of a panic.  She wanted several pictures of the place, but yet she wanted to shop. We only had 30 minutes.  I went and got the pictures and she shopped.  We did manage to get one photo of her with a giant Santa Claus statue next to the Santa Claus RV Park.  I am not making this up.  If fact later today, we met a family that stayed there!

We then had to head back to Fairbanks to pick up some folks at the train station (I think they got a late call while we were already in North Pole to pick these people up - good thing North Pole is only about 15 miles from Fairbanks).  Our next stop after about an hour or so was in a small town called Nenana.  There they have some large tripod pole they place on the Nenana River.  Each winter, the river freezes.  This tripod is connected to a clock and once the ice breaks free, it pushes free the tripod which then trips the clock and the exact time and day is recorded to when the ice finally breaks.  Wagers and bets are placed throughout the year on when this will happen.  The pot can get as high as $75,000.  And by the looks of this town, that's serious money.

We finally reached Denali shortly after 12 noon at the McKinley Chalets Resorts, where we'll be staying the next couple of nights.  It was nice that we didn't have to deal with our luggage.  The cruise people handle all that, though Mom's as well as Dennis & Shari's bags were late in being delivered.  We had lunch there at "the Chalets" at the Nenana View Bar & Grill.  This is a nice little bar with a great view of the river and canyon.  But poor Jack, it might just be too much excitement and too little sleep.  As he's bouncing around with energy, he accidently knocked over a glass of root beer and the glass broke.  He thought he was in trouble. 

After lunch and some light shopping and looking around, we were trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the afternoon. Dennis, Shari, possibly Jack and Mom were going to rent a Jeep and drive around the park.  But this would not happen until 5:45pm.  Buffy and I opted to take a shuttle over to Denali National Park and went for a hike to Horseshoe Lake.  On our way back waiting for our shuttle, we started talking to some people who was vacationing here. They mentioned that they were in North Pole and their kids got to meet Santa.  They also mentioned they were staying in an RV and then they stated that they stayed at the Santa Claus RV Park. "Yea, I know where that is," I said.

Tomorrow is going to be another early start.  We take our 8 hour Wilderness Tundra Tour or something like that in Denali National Park.  We hope for good weather, but the forecast calls for rain.  Sounds like Dennis is going to bail on this ride as he cannot handle being in a converted school bus with Jack for that long.  I'll let everyone know what happens tomorrow.

Photos:

Top - Buffy and I on the trail to Horseshoe Lake.

Bottom - All of us at the Nenana View Bar & Grill.