Already Noticing Some Differences

We've been here about 72 hours, and here are some things we've noticed:

* The sun is still up at 11:10, and is light enough to walk around until almost midnight. The sun comes up at about 5:00. That is changing every day, but it's light a long time. (It will be even worse when we go up to Nuiqsut; they are experiencing 24 hours of daylight right now, and will be for another couple of weeks.)

* People here tend to stay up late (at least during the summer) because it's so light out.

* "Outside" doesn't mean the outside of the house; it means somewhere else besides Alaska. For example, "We'll be going outside for Christmas."

* * * There are others we've seen, but I can't think of them right now (it's 12:15 AM; see #2 above). Check back here for more culture differences. * * *

Made it to Alaska!

Hi from gorgeous Anchorage, Alaska!

(It's been a long time since we've written, so the next one or two posts might be kind of long.)

We got all of our possessions that we aren't taking to Alaska packed into the srotage building (with a little overflow), got everything packed into our suitcases, actually got a few hours sleep last Monday night, got to the airport on time, and made it to Alaska.

It is *really* pretty here. There are mountains to the east of Anchorage; and if you are on the north side of the city, and if the weather cooperates, you can see Mt. McKinley.

Wednesday Janet's cousin and her husband took us to see some sights south of the city. We saw a train engine with a nine foot rotary snowplow on the front; a wildlife conservation park (similar to Exotic Animal Paradise in southern Missouri, or Fossil Rim in Texas, except all the animals are native to Alaska); Portage Lake and Portage Glacier and some other glaciers (but we didn't see the glaciers up close this trip); and several other very interesting sights, as well as several animals and tons of gorgeous scenery.

Thursday and Friday we spent shopping and making arrangements to have things transported to the village.

Over the next day or two, I think we'll be going to Seward, and also I hope to see something called "bore tide" or "tidal bore." There are only a few places in the world where you can see them, and this is one of them. I'll take pictures, but until then you can take a look at this site: www.alaska.org/bore-tides.jsp

All for now.