Unplanned Road Trip

As I mentioned in my last post, this past Sunday I flew down to Anchorage for the 2007 Alaska Marine Science Symposium. The meeting went well, but before I knew it, my time in Anchorage was almost over, and all I had done was take this picture out of my hotel room window.



Wanting to alleviate the no picture problem, I took a picture of a sign from a shop that I went to that obviously ran the gammut of seasonal gear.



I guess I just didn't have enough time during the conference to be a tourist and take a few pictures, but I had a friend who was driving to Fairbanks from Anchorage by herself, so I decided to postpone my plane ticket and keep her company during the eight hour drive. It was a great day for the trip, and it went rather quickly.



In true Alaskan form, we even saw an igloo along the way. (I think that it was originally supposed to be a hotel, but now it is just a roadside attraction.)



Yup, it was a rather good week!

Work, Work, Work!

Well, it's been a rather dull week as far as coming up with a blog entry is concerned. It's just been work, work, work for me. I'm flying down to Anchorage tomorrow for a conference, so I've been working on my presentation all week. I did manage to go to a concert tonight, this time a band from Cordova, Alaska, called Barefoot Bluegrass. Again, I failed to take a picture, although this time I tried but none of them turned out. I'll post again with some Anchorage pictures when I get back!

Road Trip to Delta J

Today I went on a road trip to Delta Junction, Alaska, with Mette and Max to see some friends of ours who had a baby last weekend. It was snowing along the way, but we were still able to make out some ice fishing huts on Birch lake...



...and admire the engineering marvel built for the oil pipeline to span the Tanana River....



...but everyone's favorite part was seeing Jeff, Ellie, and little Wyatt James!

The Duhks!

Tonight I went to a live concert. It is a rare occasion in Fairbanks to have people come from Outside to entertain us, but The Duhks did a fabulous job. They are up for a Grammy this year and had everybody up out of their seats dancing! I saw them here last year as well, and I have to say that if you ever get the chance to see them in concert, I would highly recommend going, no matter what your musical taste. Everyone had such a great time that I forgot to take a picture!

Wanna Move Here?

It takes a special place to warm up 35 degrees in one day and still only reach -5. On the 'bright' side, our days are now 4 hours and 40 minutes long!

On a cold day...

What do you do on a day when the high temperature is -23 degrees Fahrenheit? You have a couple of girlfriends over to work on unfinished projects! Georgina made cards; Mette worked on organizing her wedding pictures; and I repotted plants while keeping everyone fed and hydrated. It was a wonderful Sunday!

Hot Water Into Cold Air

It is -30 degrees F today, so once again, we sacrificed a little work time to throw hot water into the cold air. You can see the video by clicking on the funwithphysics.mpg link at http://www.salmonproject.org/data/rachel.

New Year's Party

Well, my 2007 started off with a party, but it wasn't your typical New Year's party. It was a birthday party for one of my grandmothers! She's an expert at blowing out candles, as you can see in the picture.