Friday, June 17, 2011

Earthquakes

One thing I didn't know about Alaska before moving here is that it is very seismically active.  I found this out earlier today, when in the middle of a meeting, the building started to shake ever so slightly.  I was sitting next to my boss who started smirking a little bit and when I looked quizzically at him, simply said "earthquake" in a soft voice, so as not to disturb the meeting.  The earthquake was actually far south of anchorage, but we felt a few little shock waves for a couple of minutes.  It was kind of cool.  There was no real apprehension among my colleagues - only a few jokes and people trying to mess with me, saying we needed to get up.  No one left their seat, except for coffee.  Apparently little quakes are a fairly common occurrence up here.

Daily listing of Alaska earthquakes:
http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Seis/recenteqs/index.html

I'm heading to do some Salmon fishing this weekend down in Seward.  So, hopefully I'll get some nice pictures and tales of adventure to share.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Moose, etc.

I've been in Anchorage for a couple of weeks now and the world couldn't be better, save the whole bar exam situation.  I start work Monday as an Assistant Vice President at a federally-chartered credit union, in the meantime, I've been taking pictures of moose licking their own balls.


Why?  Because he can.  Of course, I'm just assuming this calf is a male - I haven't yet figured out how to tell the difference between the sexes when they're young, short of inspecting their undercarriage.


A more stately picture of the young fellow.


View of downtown from the Coastal Trail, which is where I spent the better part of my Saturday.  The trail runs from downtown to Kincaid Park and then forks off into several other trails, which I didn't go for today.  The ride to Kincaid and back to my car was about 20 miles as is and I didn't really feel the need to push it.  Not to mention, it's really easy to lose track of time out there and I had to be somewhere.  Eight o'clock at night looks virtually the same as two in the afternoon.  It was a good ride though, full of ups and downs (hills, not emotions).




After conquering the trail.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Onward from Bellingham

As you may have noticed, we've been out of touch for a little while here at Dog's Eye View.  There are several reasons for this, among which are that up until a couple of days ago I was living at a Super 8 (which is much more expensive than you might think).  So, I've been busy getting settled, studying for the bar, philandering, etc.  I am finally in Anchorage though, in an apartment, with internet access.

The rest of the trip up here was spectacular.  The ferry ride from Bellingham, WA to Haines, AK was three days - I wanted to stay five (mostly because I didn't really want to face everything that leaving the ferry entailed).  Some things worth noting about the ferry that you won't see in the pictures: (1) we passed by a lot of whales, but I did not see any of them (usually busy napping, eating, philandering, etc.); (2) I did catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights that was too faint to capture on film, but alone could make the ride worthwhile.



On the way to Bellingham overlooking the Columbia River (I think).


 Bellingham, WA - a cute town with exhorbitant cigarette prices.


Me and Mom and the Motor Vessel Columbia in the background.


M.V. Columbia pulling out of port and leaving the shores of the lower 48.


My state room.


Getting tossed about the boat in some rough seas.


I have three dozen pictures like this.  Although the scenery never really changed that much, it was still pretty hard to get tired of.



Me and my first Alaskan friend, Shannon (aka, the "Filipino Dagger").  Shannon will one day be my wife, though she is not yet aware of this.



We stopped in Ketchikan before getting to Haines, where I had some time to get off the boat and check out the town, which is also a major stop for cruise ships, so there is a lot of touristy stuff there.  Fun town though.  I particularly like this picture, because it looks the eagle wants to eat the little girl. 




Driving off the ferry in Haines, AK. My first time in Alaska.  I had to go through Canada, and would subsequently reenter Alaska, but this was the first time.


Driving the Haines Highway - this polite wolf stood there long enough for me to get a picture.  I actually saw a couple of them on the road from Haines to Anchorage.

 


No, no it isn't...


Midnight in Tok, AK.


 Last rest stop on the road to Anchorage, which is a very poorly maintained road I should add.  It made it a fun drive though.  I was bouncing up and down most of time singing whatever songs came to mind (no radio stations for miles), but the truck trailer held together the whole time.

I'll have to post more about Anchorage when I get some more pics and have more to say.  I will say it's pretty awesome though.  Things are definitely different.  I got a haircut today at a Korean barber shop.  Before I could ask for a post-cut shampoo, this skilled tradesman had already gotten out the shopvac to clean up those hairs that get left behind.  Very effective and actually quite nice.