Seals on a commercial fishing bait dock. They’re waiting for a free meal of the bait fish that are in live cages under these floats. The seals are laying on the doors to get to the bait.
Dry dock for a sub.
Sculpture of the famous end of WWII kiss that took place in Times Square New York City.
Posted by: Scott in California on September 18th, 2010
The Kaisai came to port the night before so they could participate in the San Diego Harbor Tall Ships Festival the next day. The ship picked up family and friends for the harbor cruise and the parade. Here are shots of the parade.
Posted by: Scott in California on September 18th, 2010
USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class, and the first to be commissioned after the end of World War II. Active in the Vietnam War and in Operation Desert Storm, she is currently a museum ship at the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, in San Diego, California. (stolen from the web)
USS Midway in action.
USS Midway museum.
Bow shot.
SBD Dauntless.
SNJ Trainer.
F-14 Tomcat.
A-4 Skyhawk.
F-4 Phantom II.
A-1 Skyraider.
F/A-18 Hornet.
H-34 Seabat.
Flight deck.
USS Carl Vinson nuking into port with a destroyer going to sea. Notice sailors lined up on the destroyer with rows of other sailors on the carrier’s flight deck edge.
F-8 Crusader.
Nuke carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan.
Posted by: Scott in California on September 18th, 2010
This was an old Russian sub that was modeled after the successful German subs from WWII. This vessel served until the early 1970s for the Russians. I can’t imagine being on this cramped, ancient, and poorly designed death trap under the water.
I think the name of this sub was the USSR Piece of Shit.
Posted by: Scott in California on September 18th, 2010
Visited the Muir Woods outside of San Francisco. Hadn’t been in over thirty years. Those trees were still there – after many thousands of years. Here is what I stole from the web about this place.
Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service on the Pacific coast of southwestern Marin County, California, 12Â miles north of San Francisco and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It protects 559Â acres of which 240Â acres are old growth Coast Redwood forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The trees were magnificent and awe inspiring. If you stood quietly you could hear the trees move and talk to each other.
Posted by: Scott in California on September 18th, 2010
Spent the night in St. Helena, CA in the heart of the California wine country. It’s quite a picturesque town with funky old building from the California gold rush days. The weather was perfect and the plant were still in bloom.
Posted by: Scott in San Francisco on August 3rd, 2010
Project Kaisei is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco and Hong Kong, established to increase the understanding and the scale of marine debris, its impact on our ocean environment, and how we can introduce solutions for both prevention and clean
The main focus is on the North Pacific Gyre, which constitutes a large accumulation of debris in one of the largest and most remote ecosystems on the planet. To accomplish these objectives, Project Kaisei is serving as a catalyst to bring together public and private collaborators to design, test and implement break-throughs in science, prevention and remediation.
Kaisei means “Ocean Planet†in Japanese, and is the name of the iconic tall ship that was one of the two research vessels in the August expedition. The other was the New Horizon, a Scripps Oceanography vessel that was arranged via a new collaboration between Project Kaisei and Scripps to provide additional research on the impacts of debris in the gyre. Each vessel obtained a wide variety of samples from this part of the ocean which are now being analyzed. What was evident was the pervasiveness of small plastic debris that was found in every surface sample net that was used for regular sampling over 3,500 miles between the two vessels
Project Kaisei will launch its second Expedition to the North Pacific Gyre in August, where it will send multiple vessels to continue marine debris research, and in particular, to test an array of marine debris collection systems. Debris collected will be used to further study the feasibility of converting this to fuel or other useable material.Â
Project Kaisai
http://www.projectkaisei.org/
My friend Janine is one of the main organizers of this voyage. She is working along side a hand-picked crew to prepare the ship for this three-week venture. Here are a few shots of the ship in port in the San Francisco bay area. Project Kaisai plans on returning through San Diego for the start of the tall ships festival in September and then back to San Francisco.
This is their location as of August 25th.
This is where the shit is collecting.
Yea, it really has ropes (lines).
Arg matey.
Japanese for go collect some shit in the ocean.
Janine next to the ship.
Neighbor boats at the dock.
Amazingly beautiful yacht.
Next door this 1940s tug boat being refurbished by a group of guys.
Posted by: Scott in San Francisco on August 3rd, 2010
Had to visit the Cable Car Museum. This is where all of the cable cars get their power throughout the city. This one power house spins the cables on the three cable lines. There is quite a hum in this building as miles of cables spin through at 9.5 miles per hour.
Posted by: Scott in San Francisco on August 3rd, 2010
Coming from New Orleans I thought I’d seen it all. But I was wrong. While walking through San Francisco, I stumbled upon a Chinese funeral procession with a second-line marching band. They weren’t playing “A Closer Walk With Thee†or “Amazing Grace†but it was culturally cool.
Posted by: Scott in New Orleans on August 3rd, 2010
While in New Orleans I checked out the World War II museum. It’s quite the sobering event to see the hardship, struggle, and human misery that was inflicted on the world by power-hungry fanatics. Everyone should visit this museum at some time in their life. You will come away with the appreciation that war is not the answer to peace in our time. The brutality and human sacrifice that is exhibited (for those of us who weren’t there) is numbing. Here are a few photos.
C-47 transport.
Recruitment posterd.
Honolulu newspaper.
Japanese propaganda posters.
American propaganda posters.
Comparison of troop levels at the start of the war.
Went to New Orleans again with Janine to hopefully go out into the gulf and put her dad’s ashes at sea in his favorite fishing and diving spot about twenty miles off the coast. But unfortunately, tropical storm Bonnie and the BP oil spill made that venture impossible. Still had a great time as you can In New Orleans. Got lucky with an upgrade and flew the red-eye from Anchorage, AK to Chicago and then on to New Orleans first class. My lucky night. So after a short meal, I snuggled down for a snooze. I had my inflatable neck pillow, eye patches, and headphones on and passed out. About 3:00 in the morning, I was awakened with something licking my hand (every guys dream). I pulled up my eye patch and looked down to find a dog had jumped up on my leg and wanted up in my lap. I picked him up, he gave me a couple of kisses, spun around a couple of times in my lap, put his head on my hands, and went to sleep. So what are you supposed to do, ring the flight attendant call button and announce a stray was on board? Upon arrival in Chicago at 6:00 AM the girl next to me awoke to find her pooch has escaped from his bag under the seat and was in my lap asleep. His name was Rocky and he was a four-month-old miniature Italian Greyhound. He had the body of a small Jack Russell with 18†legs. He looked like a baby deer. Rocky gave me a couple more kisses and back into his bag he went. Now I can say I found a dog on a plane.
I had to take a photo of poochy because no one was going to believe me.
Posted by: Scott in New Orleans on August 3rd, 2010
Had a great view from the hotel looking down on the river bend in New Orleans. I spent plenty of time having “river time†sitting on a bench next to the river (Don’t have that opportunity in Alaska. All I get is “moose timeâ€). The river was very busy this one afternoon and within thirty minutes all these ships passed by.
Flying from Baton Rouge to Dallas/Ft.Worth we encountered an amazing thunder storm. This beast was miles wide and topped out at 35,000 feet. We flew around it of course with a smooth photo op.
Posted by: Scott in Photography on August 3rd, 2010
As you can see from some of the photos, I got a new camera. It’s a big-shot Nikon with all the cool features you could ever want. These were some of the artsy photos I took.
I saw this vehicle drive by and had to circle the parking lot to get a shot of the license plate. By the time I got to the car the driver had gone into the store. I can only imagine what got out of that vehicle.
Saw these two vehicles within 5 minutes of each other on the road in Anchorage. Can there be bigger assholes then these?
Driving a Hummer with Palin and NRA stickers, a WAR license plate and a Jesus fish.
Here is what some of these stickers say:
• I’ll cling to my GUNS and religion – You can have Obama
• Miss met yet? (photo of W)
• Rush is Right – Limbaugh 2012
• Criminals Prefer Unarmed Victims
• Real Presidents DON’T Apologize for Their Country
• Live Free or Die
• Miranda Rights for Terrorists?
I began this travel blog over five years ago when I moved to France. I wanted let my friends know where I was and what adventures I was having around the world. It’s grown over the years to include hundreds of posts with thousands of photos. A lot of cool experiences and memories. Here are a few of the composite email images I have sent out to all of you over the years. Hope you enjoy them and look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Snow machining, fishing, tsunamis, and moose.
Prudhoe Bay, Arctic Circle, and bear.
New Orleans, roller derby, -15 degrees, and disco dancing.
Brazil & Argentina.
Barrow, AK and vampires.
Paragliding, shootin, running, and flowers.
Laguna Beach, Nixon, Sarah, Hung, and outer space.
Halloween, fire engines, Iditarod, Cancun, and Angel & Devil.
New Orleans, SoCal beaches, Jesus, Jazz Fest, wind turbines, and state prison.
This is my first fish. It’s a 27 pound halibut caught with my friend Steve Haber of Habervision Sunglasses. Steve took me out of Homer, AK to guide me on my first halibut hit. We went to some of his favorite fishing holes out in the bay and fished at 200 feet. Here’s a map of where we fished. Just the two of us and I didn’t get sick.
View Larger Map
In the middle of Kachemak Bay out toward sea.
I really caught this thing – and it’s a small one.
Big ones like this are frequently caught all yearlong.
Everyone should sleep easier these days – I am no longer on the TSA’s “No Fly List.†Thanks to editorials detailing my displeasure with George W. Bush a few years ago, I found myself on the “no fly list.†I thought Nixon was the last president to use government agencies to harass citizens who don’t agree with them. Well, up until recently, every time I went through an airport it was: “Take off your belt and open the front of your pants.†Then be patted down, metal detected, wiped down for explosives, and all my bags searched – every fucking time for three years. I finally ran into the head TSA guy at the Anchorage airport who told me what I needed to do to get off the list. What a bunch a bullshit if a middle-aged mild-mannered professor is put on the list by angry political hacks – who among us is safe? Apparently, there have been so many people put on the list by Bush’s people that when you now make an airline reservation there is a special “redress†field you can fill in with your “I’m not a terrorist†TSA number.
Since receiving this letter I haven’t been searched once. But I did kind of enjoy that open up the front of your pants in an airport thing.
Big Brother – George W. Bush – Keeping America safe.
It’s moose season in Anchorage, AK. Moose are everywhere. Here are the two cow moose with their calves that roam around my house. Got to be care when you go out in the morning to get in your car. They could be standing around the corner of the garage and scare the crap out of you as you get in the car. You don’t want a moose that close to you if you aren’t packing.
Check out the link below to the moose just after they were born.
This is Mt. Redoubt – the one that erupted last year. I’m standing on a sand bar out int he bay off Homer, AK. Check out the link below to the other post on Mt. Redoubt.
Yes it’s June and I have on a jacket. Something’s wrong with this picture.
Visited a couple of lodges out in the bay off Homer, AK. One lodge was owned by a friend of Janine’s and had a chef from Barcelona, helipad, full-time masseuse, Tai Chi classes, fine wine and about everything high-end you could imagine for being out in the middle no where.
A view of one of the lodges.
Main deck with helipad (they have their own helicopter).
15 – 20 foot tide here.
Dock.
Main lodge with lagoon.
Lodge with main deck.
Neighbor built a Viking house on an old crab boat. He crashed it up on the shore during the year’s highest tide. Neighbors called the troopers to stop him. As you can see it’s still teathered to a tree in case there is a major tide.
Coming out of Homer harbor, cruised past the king crab fishing vessel “Time Bandit†from the hit television shot “Deadliest Catch.†It’s a cool looking boat but cooler looking on the TV show.
Who’s that cool guy with that hottie? Well, it was on college choir tour and there I was with an old flame on the bed – unfortunately playing cards. Nancy found this old photo while digging through memorabilia for her high school reunion. She found me on Facebook and there you go. Who would of thunk it that a guy who looked like that would not now be in the custody of the authorities.
Still a hottie after all these years – I mean Nancy.
This year there have been only two seasons in Alaska – Winter and Summer. Spring came and sent one night while we all were sleeping. The trees have finally popped, the sky is that amazing Alaskan blue, and the moose are out. Here are a couple of shots of the first few days of summer.
My seven year old niece Layla had a class project called Flat Stanley. It is similar in respect to the traveling gnome in the Travelocity ads. A gnome escapes a person’s lawn to travel the world. Photos are regularly sent back from interesting places. You’ve seen the ads.
Instead of a gnome, each child draws Stanley. Since Stanley is a two-dimensional drawings, he is called Flat Stanley. Each child sends out Flat Stanley to friends and relatives near and far. The person receiving Flat Stanley has to photograph him doing something interesting or at an interesting place. Knowing that Uncle Scott lives on the other side of the world (Layla lives near San Diego) Flat Stanley should visit there. Previously I had sent her photos of animals and other crazy Alaskan stuff, so she had an idea of what she was hoping for. Flat Stanley finally arrives so I carried him around in my car. It took less than a day until what I wanted to see happen, happened. I also had to write a story about Flat Stanley and his encounter with whatever. Here is what I saw along with my best seven-year-old writing ability.
Flat Stanley and the Moose
Flat Stanley went on a trip way up north to Alaska. He wanted to see a real live moose so he hitched a ride in his friend Scott’s car. Flat Stanley and Scott drove all over Anchorage, Alaska in search of a moose. Finally, on the third day, Flat Stanley spotted a moose by the side of the road. Flat Stanley wanted to be in the window right next to the moose but Scott told him that was not very safe. Moose are real big and very dumb. They can easily get scared and may hurt you if you are in the way when they run. Flat Stanley said he wanted to be a safe traveler to he had Scott put him in the window and then had Scott drive about ten feet from the moose. Flat Stanley waved with both hands as Scott took the picture of him and the moose. Flat Stanley said goodbye to Scott and went off to his next adventure.
I sat in a restaurant across the street from the Pony Wheel Ranch one Saturday afternoon and couldn’t stop watching the human drama being played out in a tight circle. It broke my heart to see these tethered ponies walk endlessly in a small circle carrying on their backs the children of a now single parent. Apparently, this five minute ride was the one sure way each kid would know that they were with the best parent – the one who really loved them. Save us from our domestic bliss.
Went to a house party this last week. And typical with the sloppy and often wet and muddy external world, the common courtesy is to remove your shoes before entering a home. I saw this conglomeration of zapatos in the foyer and couldn’t resist the photo op.
This would make a great commercial for oder eaters insoles. The room was ripe.
Saw this in SoCal and could resist taking the photo. Huge paint spill directly out the driveway of the paint store. This was at least a 5 gallon bucket. It went down the street forever.
I have been jonesin’ for Jazz Fest for the past three years. Finally made it so I wanted to share some of the sights and sounds of the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest.
There ain’t nothing better then the snacks at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. For three days my friend Janine and I listened to music and ate our way across the fair grounds. Here are a few of the tasty treats we sampled.
Mardi Gras Indians have a tradition of showing off their costumes during Mardi Gras. The tribes have been around for over a hundred years and are the result of the reverence the Black slaves in the New Orleans area had for the Native Americans. The Native Americans often aided the slaves in the quest for freedom. The tribes parade to show their respect. In the 1930s, 40s, the gangs often killed each other over perceived wrongs. The costume contests began in the 1960s when the gangs (tribes) figured out that killing wasn’t a healthy choice. Now days, the tribes parade during Mardi Gras and at Jazz Fest.
Stayed with some friends on the La Quinta golf course near Palm Springs, CA. Quite the beautiful irrigated section of the desert. All around this area is dry and arid, but irrigation can make any patch of sand lush for the PGA championships.
Visited my friends Gary and Diane and we went to Balboa Island (Southern California – next to New Port Beach) for lunch. Here are a few shots of Balboa and the Fun Zone.
Let me see here. Are they trying some form of entendre humor? If not, I want to participate! I’ll join any fun that has three gears in the front and six in the rear.
This is your typical Alaskan over-the-road truck. These trucks are usually dressed for the harsh conditions up here. Especially troubling are the moose killer front bumpers. These heavy duty contraptions can keep a trucker safe in Alaska by not letting the dumb moose that stands in the middle of the road in the middle of the night destroy your rig.
How would you like to see this coming up fast in your rear view mirror?
Is this a car or what! I know it looks a little ratty, but my brother told me he sees this guy driving it around Orange County, CA. It has one of those Mexican jumping suspensions that appears to have failed on the left rear side. I was really impress by the rear window. Try replacing that if it gets broken.
Dykes on bikes. Yes there really is a motorcycle club (and who would have guessed it) in San Francisco. But these weren’t the “gals†I saw in Phoenix. Some tough cookies there. Kinda made you afraid to make a lane change.
I happened to drive to Phoenix from SoCal two weeks after a serious week of rain. Thus when I got to the desert, everything was in bloom. The drive was amazing with great colors, sights, and smells. Here are some of the shots around the Blythe, CA area.
Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 miles north of Phoenix. Architect Paolo Soleri, using a concept he calls arcology (a portmanteau of architecture and ecology), started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth.
The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. The town aims to combine the social interaction and accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles such as minimal resource use and access to the natural environment.
Having begun construction in 1970, the town is still very much a work in progress. The population varies between 50-150 people, based on the number of students and volunteers on the site, but ultimately the town is intended to hold 5000 people. Currently there are 13 major structures on the site, of at most several stories in height, but the master plan envisions a massive complex, called Arcosanti 5000, that would dwarf the current buildings. (all of this was stolen from the web).
Okay, enough of the hype. I have always wanted to visit this place after hearing about it 35 years ago. I should have gone then. Arcosanti has fallen on hard times and you can imagine what a poorly maintained concrete structure can look like after this many years. I drove over an hour to get there and stayed about 20 minutes. This is an old hippie nest that unfortunately will not achieve the goals of its creator.
I’m not a fan of baseball, but when you are in Phoenix during spring training and have nothing else to do on a Thursday night, you go to a night baseball game. This game was between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. About fifteen national teams have spring training camps in Phoenix (the others in Vero Beach, FL). They all have their stadiums around the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Glendale areas. So, if you are a baseball fan, spring training in Phoenix is your nirvana. The stadiums are small and the players park their cars next to yours. It’s very personal.
I’ve heard that Jesus was a fisher of men and a prophet, but I didn’t know he was also a plumber. I knew he could turn water into wine and create a feast for thousands out of a couple Big Macs, but I didn’t know he could also remove a devil of a turd from someone’s toilet.
I want my Lord and Savior licensed, bonded, and insured.
As a kid my parents would infrequently take us for a trip to the desert. Along the way we would pass the dinosaur rest stop and invariably have to stop In Cabazon, CA. I’ve been inside these creatures as a kid as well as an adult. It’s one of those things you can go back to – up until now. Read the following story stolen from the web of how PeeWee’s Great Adventure has become a Creationist boondoggle.
From the interstate highway, the uncommon view of two giant dinosaurs, on an arid plain surrounded by mountains, is an irresistible magnet. But tourists are not the only ones compelled to stop. Well within LA’s convenient day-drive sphere, the Cabazon dinos became media darlings in the 1980s, appearing in everything from Coke commercials to rock videos to the film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
They were built by Claude Bell, who ran the Wheel Inn on I-10. Claude took eleven years to build Dinny, a giant apatosaurus and arguably the largest dinosaur in America. A small museum in Dinny’s belly still sells souvenirs.
Claude’s next project, a giant Tyrannosaurus with a slide down its tail, was nearing completion when Claude died in ’89. More sculptures were on the drawing board, including a Woolly Mammoth. The Tyrannosaurus was never completed and, according to the museum manager in Dinny’s belly, “it never will be.”
Update – August 2005: New owner Gary Kanter, an Orange County developer, is using the dinosaurs of Cabazon as a platform for his Creationist viewpoint. Working with Pastor Robert Darwin Chiles, they are transforming the Cabazon Dinosaurs “from tourist stop to place of worship,” according to a story by Ashley Powers in the Los Angeles Times.
 (Stolen from “Roadside America†web site)
From the road driving by.
View of the sculptures.
PeeWee hiding from the beast.
PeeWee’s Big Adventure.
Looks like a funky ride.
Even though we know dinosaurs survived the flood (on Noah’s ark) we don’t know if Jesus ever rode them. But he probably did.
While in Phoenix I made a stop at the Penske Racing museum. On display were great cars from the Indianapolis 500 and other stock car events. It was amazing to see the craftsmanship and engineering that go into designing and building one of these racing machines.
Out in the middle of the desert on the way to Phoenix from SoCal is the only gas station for miles. So you pull of to get a tank as well as drain your tank. Next to the Foster Freeze was this museum built to honor General George Patton. What the hell is it doing here? Anyway, it was closed both times I stopped through so I shot these photos through the fence. It had a great little tank display along with other WWII vehicles. Check em out.
Okay, I’m a semi-intelligent guy who is pretty aware of pop culture and its corresponding dementia. Saw these items on the back of two trucks on the way to Phoenix. You tell me if I’m out of touch with the world. I think both of these trucks should just keep on driving.
Some times I feel like I’m talking to Charlie Brown’s parents!
Cabazon, CA is one of the windiest areas in America. Because of the venturi effect resulting from all of the air from Southern California rushing to escape east, Cabazon is one of the wind power generating centers in the world. I caught these shots on my way to and from Phoenix. Different lighting going both ways.
I had allergies for as long as I lived in Southern California. As soon as I moved away, my allergies stopped. During the summer in SoCal, the smog would be so bad that I would have headaches and couldn’t breath well. I’ve been out of there for sometime, but realized what I was not missing on my return trip from Phoenix. Coming down into the Cabazon, CA area of the trip an amazing smog valley opened up to me. As soon as I hit it, my sinuses locked up and I realized I don‘t miss this place.
All of the air from the entire Los Angeles basin get blown through this one small opening between to mountain ranges near Palm Springs. There is always wind here and it contains all of the funk and pollution generated by millions of people in Southern California.
All of the air from this red area get funneled through the middle of these mountain ranges.
There are a lot of strange people driving out there who wish to adorn their vehicles with their mantra, life’s quest, or their inner child. Here are a few I saw on the way to Phoenix.
It says: “If your going to ride my ass as least pull my hair.â€
Saw this guy in the mall assuming the “my damn wife made me come to the mall†position. This guy was there for over an hour as his other half apparently cruised every store. The guy in the blue shirt is taking lessons and hates himself for it.
Was going through some old photos and found this shot I took of my son on the top of the World Trade Center in New York City. Oh how the world has changed in 14 years.
I’ve always wanted to do a stand-up comedy routine but I swear to God this is not me! It was the label on the YouTube video that came up in a Google search that someone told me to look up. This guy is another Scott Fredrickson in Scottsdale, Arizona at an open mic night at a local comedy club. I’m a comedy channel fan and he was okay for an amateur doing his schtick. Check him out.
So there is this web site called “Rate My Professor.†I recently found this and almost peed my pants when I read it. Apparently I have one student who “rated†me from a recent marketing class. On a 1-5 scale I guess I’m an competent teacher. At least my class wasn’t a 5 on the easy scale. But where I laughed out loud was on the hotness scale. One chili pepper means your a hottie. Pleeeeeease!!! I don’t need that kind of pressure in front of a class. I might want tenure or something.
Weather has been miserable here for a long time. Showing, cold, windy, and generally nasty. After snowing the night before, I woke to a glorious deep blue sky with no clouds. I wanted to take a driving trip to the Kenai before Spring came. This was my opportunity since is became nasty the next day and for the foreseeable future. I shot a ton of shots between Anchorage and Moose Pass. The low sun made the shadows interesting and colored much of the landscape with blue tones. This is the most beautiful section of the Kenai (in my opinion). Check it out.
Posted by: Scott in Uncategorized on March 6th, 2010
I told everyone I grew a beard because my friend and colleague Dave had this cute little gay beard and I wanted one too. Okay, he’s not, but his beard is.
In the early 1920′s, settlers had come to Alaska following a gold strike. They traveled by boat to the coastal towns of Seward and Knik and from there, by land into the gold fields. The trail they used is today known as The Iditarod Trail, one of the National Historic Trails as so designated by the Congress of the United States. In the winter, their only means of travel was by dog team.
The Iditarod Trail soon became the major “thoroughfare†through Alaska. Mail was carried across this trail, people used the trail to get from place to place and supplies were transported via the Iditarod Trail. Priests, ministers and judges traveled between villages via dog team.
All too soon the gold mining began to slack off. People began to go back to where they had come from and suddenly there was less travel on the Iditarod Trail. The use of the airplane in the late 1920’s signaled the beginning of the end for the dog team as a standard mode of transportation, and of course with the airplane carrying the mail, there was less need for land travel. The final blow to the use of the dog team came with the appearance of snowmobiles in Alaska.
The Iditarod is run each year to commemorate the emergency delivery in 1925 of diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska. Nome in 1925 had changed from a booming, boisterous turn-of-the-century gold-rush camp into a small, quite town of about 1,500 people. It was fifteen years since the end of the gold-rush, but Nome remained an important settlement on the Seward Peninsula.
(stolen from the web)
The race originally began in Anchorage, but when freeways and urban life got in the way, the official start was moved to Wasilla, AK. After more urban sprawl, the official race start was moved to Willow, AK. The Anchorage portion of the race is ceremonial with each musher carrying a paying passenger on their sled for about a 10 mile ride. The mushers pack and and drive to Willow for the official start of the race.
They will let any vehicle cruise around here during the winter. If I was a betting person and it was between an ice patch and this bike, I’m betting on the patch.
This guy and some of his Holy Ghost Riders crew are always out stumbling around on the streets preaching for Jesus at every Anchorage event. I finally caught one of them on camera for who they really are.
Antithesis of the Hell’s Angels?
Baptism through beer?
Jesus bless APD (Anchorage Police Department???)
Slipping his placard behind the trash cans.
Fuck this Jesus shit, I need a drink and into the bar he went.
Every year during the Fur Rondy event in Anchorage has a three-day sprint dog sled race. It’s a 20 mile course that runs through the city. You can catch the dogs running at many good viewing spots. The course actually runs through my university’s property as it makes a full circle back to the downtown finish line. Mushers compete the three races for lowest overall time. The dogs are bred to run and that’s all they want to do. They get so excited in preparation for the race that it’s fun to watch them. These dogs are not pets. They all live outside in the Alaskan winter and if they get loose, will run away. Not because of mean treatment by the mushers (these mushers love their dogs and give them a lot of attention) but because all they want to do is run. Check out the video to see excited dogs.
Young moose are every where this winter. This two-year-old has been hanging around the university since he was born. He’s one of these babies I photographed two years ago. His mom finally kicked him out of the nest along with his other sibling so he is figuring it all out. This photo was taken from my office at the university. I was working on the computer when junior moose decided to stop by my window and initially scare the crap out of me. I got out my camera and took these shots and them opened the window and tried to talk to him, but apparently he didn’t speak English.
Somehow ended in in Phoenix, AZ for an entire day. The flight was late out of Houston and I missed my connection to Anchorage. Go figure, a direct flight from Phoenix to Anchorage. Who would have thunk it. Anyway, if I’m going to be stranded in a strange city for a day, I’m going exploring. Got a map and a metro pass and off I went.
Stopped off at the Heard Museum of Native Culture in Phoenix. I’ve always enjoyed my visits to this wonderful museum. Since my last visit several years ago, they have renovated much of the facility and expanded their offerings. Here are a few photos of their collection.
What guy can resist the Hall of Flame Fire Museum in Phoenix. This is the largest collection of vintage fire engines and equipment in the country. When you are exploring Phoenix by yourself, you gotta do all of the guy things you can.
