I've been singing that one line to that old song for something like three weeks. Also, I've been singing it wrong my entire life. I always thought the line was "Go north to Alaska, go north, the west is won" because the Gold Rush in Alaska followed the ones out west and because so many westerners continued north, like Wyatt Earp. Anyway, the lyric is actually "...the rush is on." No reference at all to the winning of the American West. Not that there is any point to this other than that my ear worms tend to be very specific to the circumstances, I don't know any other songs about Alaska and I can't get the darn thing out of my head.
This, on the other hand, is the pointy end of my ship headed into Kachemak Bay. This is June, but my guys were dressed for December.
It was pretty apparent walking and driving around town which were my Sailors and which people were locals - my guys were not the ones in shorts and flip flops! It wasn't so bad when the sun was out, or at least when the sun wasn't obscured by the clouds.
I have lots to say about Alaska...the views, the people I met and played with, the food I ate, the animals I saw (Clint's comment in the last blog post will give you an idea, but one incident involves a charging bear) and lots of other stuff. So, as usual, I will cut it up into small bits and then add a BIG folder of photos to the sidebar. And yes, I am indeed a poster child for the old "Join the Navy, See the World" slogan - and I love every second!
Go to a college campus in the part of the country with snow (but not all the way north) and see the students in parkas and flip-flops!
Posted by: Iris | June 15, 2011 at 07:19 AM
I could suggest other songs to get stuck in your head instead...
Posted by: BJ | June 15, 2011 at 03:07 PM
I am not officially dying to go to Alaska. Someday I will get there!
Posted by: Shanti's Mommy | June 15, 2011 at 09:25 PM
Oops ... I meant I AM officially dying to go to Alaska. My brain must have been trying to remind me that there is both cold and snow there ... both four letter words.
Posted by: Shanti's Mommy | June 15, 2011 at 09:26 PM
Further regarding 'warm' weather -
When we were on a cruise in Alaska, we were in Skagway (I think) when they had a 'heat wave'. It was 80 degrees, and they don't have AC. All the stores had their doors wide open, and no one could remember when it had last been that hot. Just our luck to be there that day. It was certainly the warmest weather we saw the whole trip.
Posted by: Iris | June 16, 2011 at 08:09 AM
Love the photos, of course!
I was fortunate to have a week long business trip to Alaska, back when my sailor son was in kindergarten. Carl came with me to Anchorage, we stayed in a cabin in Girdwood, he went to a private school while and I worked and we played late into the night as the sun is out almost all night while we were there in late May. And it was salmon season, so we saw leaping, running salmon.
Wonderful memories of a beautiful land.
Thanks for sharing yours, Shanti!
Posted by: Helle K. Berry | June 20, 2011 at 10:33 AM