Alaska

It's that time of the week - injecting a little geographic exploration into an otherwise sedentary life.

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I've been a bit slow to recap on Alaska - it was a great trip and I have hundreds of photos to post so it's tough choosing among them.

Luckily, due in part to SMID's haranguing, I have become much better about actually taking photos. I used to go places and just not bother. Not so much not bother, but rather, not know what to do. So many of the places I go to don't really lend themselves to tourist photos. I specialize in proof-that-I've-been-there photos. Like crime scenes.

So after many years of not taking photos of marketplaces (how do you capture the smells?) and villages (how do you capture the dust?) I have made a concerted effort to take any photos. Digital cameras help too. I love being able to see if I got the right shot and retaking it several (several) times.

I can't post all the postcard pictures here so let me just focus on a few things:

1. Alaska is prehistoric. I don't mean there are dinosaurs roaming the streets. But looking at the HUGE snow-capped mountains and glaciers you definitely get a sense that this place was formed by continents splitting and crashing thousands of years ago.

2. Alaska is isolated. For much of the state, and some of the "bigger" towns there is no way in or out but by plane or boat. Or as one of our biking guides said "I s'pose you could hike".

3. Alaska is warm. 50-60 degree temps and all I needed were a couple of t-shirts and a light jacket. We had our cold days, but nothing worse than a summer in San Francisco (as Mark Twain would say). Oh, and the people are warm too.