Alaska, First trip, June 1996
June 18th: "Just got to Fairbanks today, graduated yesterday. What a whirlwind, I'm done with school ...so the flight was gorgeous. I took photographs of Mt. McKinley and some snow-capped islands. A breathtaking site. Hopefully I'll get a chance this summer to improve my photo skills. I got shown around Fairbanks today and told some "inside" stories. This town reminds me of Ellensburg actually. flat, dry, old looking. But its got this lazy character about it that I like. The houses here have character. Poetry painted all over them like they want to whisper to you as you walk by. In the winter temperatures can change more than 30-40 degrees in several minutes or hours and sometimes the houses creak...
June 18th: Today was pretty good. went on a riverboat ride in a huge sternwheeler, which was built in 1989 in Seattle. We went on an old (simulated) Athabaskan village on the Chena River - free food and drinks and a free can of salmon.
June 24th: I got sick several days ago with a cold-flu virus. I got up at about 3 pm, felt nauseous so I went to the bathroom. I felt really dizzy so I walked into the living room. Next thing I know, I am lying on the floor and my chin hurts, I'd fainted and hit my chin on the way down, breaking the coffee table. Went to the hospital and got three stitches, exactly where I did when I was 5 and fell off the counter that I had climbed up on to get crackers.
....The bus yard is dusty when the wind blows, wisps of dust fly through the air. The drivers lounge is called the shack, or 'love shack' because of its tin roof (B-52s song) --All the books are about Alaska and Fairbanks - the pipeline, Gold dredge, the gold rushes, and the Athabaskan people. On hot days the yard is dusty. When it rains, it's like walking across runny chocolate pudding.
Now that I am preparing my travels to New Orleans, multi-tasking on my slow free dial-up internet service, I am re-reading my travels and time in Alaska, 12 years ago. It is reminding of such good times up there. 24-hours sunshine in June - 80 degree weather. Then, late august snow. The journal goes from the usual tourist sites and experiences to more less-known places, once I got to know people who lived there, such as a reindeer scientist. It was a whole different world once you got off the beaten track.
..the mosquitoes bit like there’s no tomorrow, today was the first day it was kind of cool ... At the West mark hotels the biscuits are delicious -- these particular bugs are the worst -- they scare the hell out of me .. they look like flying reindeer, and they love to fly real close.
June 26th -- I gave my first city tour today -- I had a great group of people who went in my bus, so it went well. The morning tourists supposedly go smoother because most of the people are tired if they have morning river boat then city tour. $22 in tips, not bad. We saw two moose on Farmer's Loop Highway, right after pulling onto it from the dredge. I had just said they might see moose and they should yell out if they see any.
Some interesting questions from passengers: "Do you have a big termite problem in Fairbanks?" and "What month has the highest birthrate?"
July 5th: I'm here in Anchorage. They Bay, seagulls. We drove from Fairbanks today - 400 miles. Gorgeous mountains coming into Anchorage - so tall, they tower the surrounding black spruce. The company is putting us up at the West mark Hotel. I went for a walk downtown, cute shops. I worked 70 hours in the last 7 days. Yesterday on a city tour, the tourists passed around an envelope and gave me $73 in tips.
July 7th --Finally I have a day off tomorrow and think I will go take pictures of the museum.
July 8th --- I'm here at the University of Alaska Fairbanks museum. The sculptures here are very linear. The wood center has this black copper roof and red jutting structure outside. The walls have yellow .. the valley reaches out from here, with open expanses. 85 degrees.
'I drive this massive coach,
thick diesel clouds
spitting out as I accelerate'
July 11th -- 10 pm, Just got back from pm rail. Too many people got on my coach, so I had to ask about 7 to get off. This old fart said to me, as he got out, "What, can't girls count anymore?" I just wanted to trip him as he came out. That's the part of the job I dislike the most. The sexists comments -- they're plain rude sometimes.
I'm inspired to poetry here.
'Once, at the gold dredge, the sun-filled cerulean blue dome was invaded by dark cottonwood clouds; bladders full, they let loose thunderous ice balls on the tin roof, drowning out conversation. Then, sun again.'
Now, in late July it feels like Fall.
Fireweed: Blooming at the bottom first, fall is upon us when it blooms at the top -- called fireweed because it's the first flower to grow after a fire.
August 16th: I'm in Tok now, eating at the Westmark Hotel. On the Alaskan Express. I love this drive. Talked with a woman from Australia the whole way down. She was interesting and said she was in China during the cultural revolution"
(During the summer, I met locals who had such interesting jobs: woman who was a caribou scientist at the university; through her, I, and the two good friends I met bus driving, Christy and Stephanie, met other locals who knew fun places to go.
August 19th -- I saw the Northern lights for the first time at 1:15 am. The sight was absolutely amazing, like a brilliant screen saver, all over the sky. Even people who have lived there for years said they were the best that summer. "
