perspicacious.org

Hi there! I'm in Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula. It's really, really, really beautiful here. Yesterday was sunny but chilly. Today it's quite warm, maybe in the upper 60's with full sunshine.

I drove south from Anchorage yesterday along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet and onto the Kenai Peninsula. It was really spectacular, the most beautiful drive I've ever been on (albeit a drive full of RV's.) The highway borders the water for the first half of the trip. The water was sparkling and silver, and there were big, rugged mountains all around. Many of the mountains are snowcapped, and all have canyons and streambeds full of snow. I stopped at some of the turnouts and scenic overlooks to take pictures. I laughed at the use of the term "scenic overlook." Every last inch of that drive was scenic.

I arrived in Seward yesterday afternoon and found a campsite next to the water. Seward runs north-south along the western shore of Resurrection Bay. The best real estate in town- the strip of land along the water- is a public camground. The sites with the very best view are for RV's, but I found a nice private campsite in a grove of trees. (It turned out not to be such a good deal when the people in the next campsite were really loud and drunk at 3:00AM, but it was a pretty site.) From my tent it's a couple minute's walk down to the water. The beach is rocky and cool with a chill breeze coming off of the water. I've had a hard time reconciling the temperature with the fact that the air smells like salt. It seems contradictory.

I went this morning to the Alaska Sea Life Center. The center is pretty new, and was built as a research center with money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. There were a lot of tanks with different animals (most are being rehabilitated or are unable to be returned to the wild.) The sea lions and the puffins were the most fun to watch. The puffins dive deep into the water with their wings spread slightly to steer. When they come back up they shake their heads and spray water around. It made me laugh.

This afternoon I'm going on a cruise around Kenai Fjords National Park. It will go up into the fjords to see several different glaciers and maybe some whales.

Tomorrow I plan to drive to Ninilchik, on the western side of the peninsula. I may try digging for clams. I don't know, that means that I'd have to prepare and eat them. Maybe I'll just eat a bowl of clam chowder.

It's so beautiful here, I can't even begin to describe it. I have to remind myself constantly to keep my eyes on the road. I'll write again soon.

Well folks, I made it here. It's been surreal so far, especially last night. I got here around 9:00PM, 11:00 mountain time. It was, of course, still light out. I wasn't at all tired, and I kept looking at my watch for long periods of time and thinking, "What? That can't be right."

Someone came from the rental car place to pick me up. I got a free upgrade to a Taurus. (The man at the car rental agency tried to get me to pay extra for it, but I already knew that they were out of compacts. They gouged me enough by charging me the compact rate.) This thing is nicer than my own car. The doors lock automatically if you forget to lock them. It amuses me more than it probably ought to. I drove my pretty red Taurus to the hostel and checked in around 10:00PM last night.

I started chatting with two girls, sisters, who are in my room at the hostel. It turns out that one of the girls was going to work at the same camp I'm working at. She had a family emergency and had to change plans, but she and her sister are still traveling for a few days. I spent today hanging out with them in downtown Anchorage.

What else? Um, it's chilly here, maybe in the upper 50's with a nice breeze. It was good for walking, though. We parked the car and walked to the Alaska Art and History Museum. We also went to like every kitschy souvenir shop downtown, and took a long walk along a paved bike/walking trail. The trail runs along the Knik Arm, an estuary that borders Anchorage. The view was unbelievable. There are mountains here like I have never seen before. I watched them grow larger and larger as I flew north yesterday. The mountains to the west of here are the biggest I've seen. You can see them across the Knik Arm, fantastic and snow-covered.

There are also amazing and rugged mountains northeast of the city. Anchorage is spread out and full of green parks. It's a really beautiful city. I kind of feel like I'm just killing time here before I see the "real" Alaska. I could live here, though. (If you know me I'm sure you saw that coming.) Yeah, I could live here.

I'm sorry this is so disjointed. I want to tell you everything I've seen and done, and it's only the first day. I'll formulate some more concrete thoughts before I update again. I should be able to find internet access when I head south to Seward tomorrow.

Nothing else, except maybe that the eternal sunshine is just bizarre. I'm not too vain for an eye mask. Oh, and I wasn't kidding about the mooose dropping souvenirs. They are actual shellacked moose turds turned into pins and earrings and Christmas ornaments and Swizzle Sticks. I'm trying to decide who's deserving of one.

All for now from chilly and endlessly light Alaska.

Well kids, I'm off like a prom dress. Try not to miss me too much. I'll do my best do update at least once a week. Till next time…

Oh my goodness, I am leaving tomorrow to travel to Alaska alone. Tomorrow. Alone. Wow.

I have a notepad to my left with a last minute to-do list that includes "clean out fridge" and "pay rent." Right. I posted my travel schedule on the sidebar if you're curious. I'll be able to update here occasionally, at least for the first couple of weeks. I doubt I'll be able to update at all once I get to camp. I did get a beautiful new journal. I will it fill with introspective ramblings and messy pastel sketchings– sans feedback, which I will miss.

I guess that's it. I'll miss updating, and I'll miss reading about all of your lives. Nobody get married of have a baby or join a cult while I'm gone. Have a fantastic rest of the summer!

I sure hope I'm not fogetting something…

I just got back from a party at my principal's house. She has a big, beautiful house north of town in a semi-rural area. It has gorgeous high ceilings and vegas, a big deck and swimming pool, beautiful ceramic tile, and this unbelivable shower (with a built-in seat and two shower heads.) It was actually a going away party for our amazing and talented music teacher who's somehow able to get 8 year olds to sing and act. She's going to teach in Kansas City. I would never leave Albuquerque for Kansas, but it probably does give her much better career opportunities. She said she'll be making $11,000 more. That's unbelievable. Of couse, she'll have to live in Kansas. I'll spare you the Wizard of Oz quotes.

It was nice to see everyone again. A month was just long enough to get teaching out of my system. We only talked the tiniest bit about school and kids. Everyone asked me about my trip and told me I looked nice. I occasionally feel like they're all better people than I am. I mean, I think I'm a pretty good person (peanut gallery– hush!), but I'm sure not putting effort into remembering every other teacher's summer plans and complimenting each of them on their appearence. I should work on that. I do feel like I'm the staff baby. I don't usually mind because it means that I have a little more margin for error, but I do occasionally feel like I'm too young to be taken seriously. But I've never felt like I was the right age. I've always felt too old or too young for my circumstances. Teaching is no exception.

I really just came home to cool off a little before running some more errands. It's really icky out today. It's hot and sticky, and the fires in Arizona have blown a nice thick haze all over the Rio Grande valley. I'd guess the visibility on the freeway was maybe 5 miles. It's usually closer to 50, depending on your vantage point. Today it's a little like LA, without the beach and the traffic and the movie stars. OK, it's nothing like LA.