The Northerly Journey with an Idle Mind

 "An idle mind is the Devil's workshop."    Or not.

 

I left for Anchorage before 6 A.M. yesterday in minus fourteen-degree weather.   I had my lane to myself for 55 miles before a pickup pulled onto the highway in Girdwood.  It was wonderful. I could dawdle along at whatever speed I desired and not bother anyone.   My speed varied between 50 and 60 mph on a 65-mph highway.

It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable drives to Anchorage ever.

During my northerly trek, I stopped for a photo at Portage where bridge-building continues as a DOT contractor replaces five well-worn bridges.   In this photo, a crane is rigged as a pile-driver with five or six sticks of boom.   The top ones were not lighted.

 

As I approached Girdwood, foggy conditions were ideal for light pillars and the lights from the businesses rose into the air as vertical beams.   In one particularly spectacular sight, the headlights from a distant vehicle combined into a single beam that reached high into the sky.

 

Driving alone with the road to myself gave me plenty of time to ponder some world problems.   For instance, if today’s digital generation cannot tell time by looking at a clock, how can they comprehend “clockwise” and “counterclockwise”?

 My radio, which quit working a few months ago, was suddenly working!   I  missed the clock more than the radio so I was glad to have it back.  The radio stayed off on this pleasant drive.    And, for the first time in the 17 years I've owned this pickup, I noticed that the window and outside mirror controls on the door arm are lighted.

 I continued without traffic in my lane until that pickup joined me at Girdwood.   In Indian, I followed a school bus for a half mile and then both vehicles left me alone for the rest of the way to Anchorage.

 

                    Leaving Anchorage  by 10 A.M.

 

Further pondering:   I cannot grasp the concept of infinite space—the kind of space where stars and planets dwell.    To my limited imagination, space is defined by borders, such as space in a drawer, in a vehicle, in a building, etc.

 I had all my errands done and was gassed up before 9 A.M.,  and was parked at Costco waiting for the 10 A.M. opening.   I noticed people waiting in the cold where the carts are parked out of the weather and a thought occurred.   I used my limited phone skills to discover that Costco allows seniors to shop two days a week at 9 A.M. so away I went.

 

                                                     Potter Marsh

 

Costco was out of my latest sinful obsession—pain du chocolat.    So, if you want to give me a birthday present…..

 

 

 

                                Turnagain Arm

 

 Shortly after 10, I was on my way out of town with plenty of food for the wild birds and some for me as well.   The sun broke though the fog layer along Turnagain Arm and created some delightful photo conditions.

 

                                            Turnagain Pass

 

When I reached Tern Lake, I turned off onto the Sterling to check out my favorite dipper place.   I hadn’t seen any of these remarkable birds since last winter and was delighted to find three!    There was also a lone bald eagle.

 

                                                    Two dippers on the ice.

                                Bald eagle

I was home by noon, put away the perishables, and went to bed where I slept 15 hours!!!   Re-entry from Africa complicated by Daylight Saving Time changes is an on-going process.

 

 

The 2021 Africa Journals, Chapter One: In which Murphy Rides Shotgun

 

 

Chapter One:

In Which Murphy Rides Shotgun

 

            "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.”--Robert Burns

 

    All things considered, from inception to completion and everything in between, I should sub-title this work “The Murphy’s Law Journals.”

     Nothing was easy; everything went wrong.  Murphy’s Law is an adage that posits, or perhaps warns, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”   It proved itself time and again.

     First of all, who in their right mind decides to travel internationally during a pandemic like COVID-19?

    Uh, me.  

                                                My hairdresser wears combat boots!   The obligatory pre-trip haircut.

 

    So did my friend Marg Wood, a world-traveler from Edmonton, Canada, who is an expert photographer and who happens to own and operate a veterinary clinic to support her hobbies.  I was traveling with Marg in February of 2020 on what I claimed was my last trip to Africa.  It occurred to me then that one last trip to celebrate my 80^th birthday in 2021 would be a terrific thing to do and I mentioned it to Marg.  

    Thus was born the 2021 trip.  In a pandemic.   With COVID-19 rates soaring in Alaska.   With some countries either locked down or requiring quarantines, all demanding proof of vaccination and negative PCR coronavirus tests with time limits before entering that country.

 

 

 Lobby of the Dimond hotel in Anchorage.  It's close to my errands and convenient for me to stay the night before a trip.   It beats chancing a closure by accident or avalanche on the Seward highway.   The spelling is correct, BTW.

 

     It seemed for many months to be an impossible venture but we (Marg) forged ahead.   Itineraries were planned that made my soul yearn to partake.  Six different camps, five of them new to me.   Two different countries—Botswana and Kenya.  November, my birth month, didn't work out so we opted for October, Marg's birth month.

    So much to look forward to until Murphy raised his jinx.

 

    It began with trying to solve the tech ability to receive COVID-19 PCR test results while I was en route.   E-Mail, rather than a phone, was the answer.  I did not want to turn on my phone in a foreign country and subject myself to monstrous roaming charges.  That’s when I learned about browsing online with Wi-Fi and with cellular turned off.

 

        My room at the Dimond Hotel.   The rate are higher than last year's coronavirus lockdown rates, but it is convenient.                                                               Plus, there are other perks.

 

     Then, finding a place to get such a test.   I drove to the airport in Anchorage to check out its testing site and discovered that it did not do PCR tests that other countries require, just TMA tests, whatever that is.

     Around and around I went, checking here, checking there.   The library parking lot, a sports venue  parking lot.   All with much angst and confusion.   I wound up at Walgreen’s and got the negative result 24 hours later, in time for my departure and within the 96 hours that Kenya allows.   Not without frustrating online complications, you understand.

 

Oh, yes, I did.   There's no water shortage in Anchorage though I did consider the energy it took to heat all that water.   My stressed-out mind and body luxuriated in this tub.

    Then arose a problem with my original itinerary which took me through London.   At that time, Great Britain was requiring 14-day quarantines regardless of where you arrived from, or whether you were simply transiting the country.

 

No more breakfast buffets.   Instead, you tell the attendant what you want and it's packaged for you.  Coronavirus rules.

    I changed that quickly.   Now it was Alaska Air to Seattle and overnight.   Icelandair to Reykjavik to Amsterdam.   

     Aha.   Here’s Murphy!   I could transit through Holland without quarantine.   But, as I was planning on overnighting in Amsterdam before flying KLM to Kenya, I would have to leave security and fetch my luggage, thus falling under the quarantine mandate.

    Around and around on the not-so-merry carousel.  Before it was settled, Holland relaxed the quarantine rule and I decided not to leave the airport at all but stay in one of the hotels within the airport.   

    There’s much more to this, but I’m already past 500 words and I haven’t even mentioned the online visa mess.

    Nonetheless, I have stories to tell and photos to share, so let’s get on with the show!!!

    Oh, hi,  Murphy.   I’ve been expecting you…

 

 

                        Anti-social distancing reminder.   I LOVE this airline.

 

    In chapter two, I’ll catch you up on what Murphy wrought between Seattle and Nairobi.

 

 

 

 

 

Some Teasers

 I am still in recuperative mode since my arrival home last Sunday afternoon.  Sleeping odd hours, eating odd hours, and editing photos when I can stay awake.

This trip, from before it began to when it ended, was fraught with technical and mechanical issues.  Then, on an Icelandair flight from Reykjavik to Seattle, I was returning to my window seat after a visit to the restroom and trying to maneuver across two seats with the front seats leaned back, leaving less room than the paltry plane allows.

My foot grabbed the carpet with determination and tenacity, I head a "POP" and felt a stab of pain from the left knee.  The pain went away after a few minutes but when I tried to stand up eight hours later, I knew I'd torn something in that knee.

I managed to get to Anchorage and to the place where I'd left my truck.   The battery was dead.   Fortunately, it started right up with a jump.

In the meantime, while I try to figure out how to begin the 2021 Africa Journals, here are some teasers:

They all have stories behind them so stay tuned.

Plus, I will have some remarks about the wisdom of traveling internationally during a pandemic.

Miss Me? Give up on Me?

 I am on my way home after a wonderful month in Africa with cameras and friends and lots of birds and animals, along with our gracious hosts in Kenya and Botswana.

As I write this,  I’m in the Amsterdam airport after an eight hour flight from Nairobi and I have a five-hour wait for my flight on Icelandair to Seattle.

I plan to overnight there and fly to Anchorage the next morning where I will buy a few groceries before driving home to Moose Pass.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess.  I have more than 30,000 photos to view and edit.  First though, sleep!  Lots of sleep!

Hey, Clyde!

 Your birthday present was early this year.   

It's all gone now so here's a consolation gift along with a Happy Birthday!

Is It Worth It?

 

 IF, and that is a really big if, I get to where I'm going, it probably will be worth it.

But right now, with all the Covid testing required, what country requires what, where to get the tests, etc.,  I am at the farthest extent of my tether.   Just to throw a half dozen monkey wrenches into the mess, I had a vaccine booster Tuesday and spent the next 35 hours in bed with lots of joint pain, a general malaise,  and a big swelling on my arm.

Technology has passed me by and that makes everything much more difficult.   Even recorded telephone answering devices drive me bonkers.   Talking to a real person at the other end of the line is next to impossible.

Add to that, applying online for visas is a nightmare the first, second and third times you try.   I did finally get the visas so now everything depends on the Covid test results and whether I get them with the allotted time frame.

 

So, with all this whining and sniveling, I leave you with these because it reduces my stress level an iota to look at them.

 

 

 

 

As the Days Pass

 What am I doing these early days of September?

The same thing I've  done every year from spring until snowfall for the last 16 summers.   I clean up after inconsiderate jerks who throw litter all over the forty plus miles of highway that I cover.

This below photos show a pile of litter I collected during ten days along a five mile stretch of highway that I had previously cleaned up last mid-June.   Much of this is intention litter, but much as also unintentional, such as the exploded tires, coolers, pieces of vehicle bodies, etc.

I added five more bags to the pile today.

I also watch the waterfowl on Tern Lake and if the weather is nice and the lake is calm, I kayak out to take photos.

But, most days I watch from the shore.   I think a lot of the migrating bird have left.   The resident swans are still here, though.   They will remain until all the lake freezes over then fly to a nearby open water source.   

If we have a thaw during winter, I frequently see them return to Tern Lake and stay for as long as weather permits.