A few panorama shots to tie us over until time to talk in more detail…

Posted on 2012/07/30 by treetrunkrick • Tagged chapter excerpt, climate, dawson city yukon, gold bottom creek, happiness, humour, nature, satire, science, story, transportation, travel, vacation • Leave a comment

Click on image for larger view:

Above: view from ATV trail in Dry Creek River Bed near Denali

Above: view of Gold Bottom Creek near Dawson City, Yukon

Above: view of road in Denali National Park

Above: braided river in Denali National Park (note the hikers)

Above: Lake Bennett, launching point for gold prospectors in late 1800s

Above: Meade Glacier as seen from helicopter

Above: Meade Glacier as seen from surface (approx. 1 mile wide)

Above: Cruise ship docked in Skaguay, Alaska

Above: scenic view in Glacier Bay

Above: ghost image of my wife created with panoramic software

Above: dockside in Vancouver

Above: funny merged image created by panorama function in software.
Thanks to Trisha the “Techspert” aboard the ms Zuiderdam for pointing out the new functions of Windows Live Photo Gallery, including panorama and crop.

What did this Alaska/Yukon/Canada trip teach me? If the Canadian dollar continues to remain stronger than the U.S. dollar, I’m writing in Stephen Harper, the Canadian PM, for U.S. president, with Tlingit the official language!!!
Is it just me or has the evil, one-eyed zombie version of Bob Costas taken over hosting the Olympics coverage on the NBC network?

Images of a sea passage to see passages

Posted on 2012/07/26 by treetrunkrick • Tagged chapter excerpt, happiness, humour, satire, story, travel, vacation • Leave a comment

Photos speak for themselves…

Catch the beach at Ketchikan

Posted on 2012/07/26 by treetrunkrick • Tagged happiness, travel • Leave a comment

A moment on the street of Alaska’s first city, a/k/a Gatlinburg North. More later. Thanks to AT&T for service that my iPad uses to type words to remind myself where I once was. Thanks to others later, when time to sit and type presents itself more than momentarily.

Brennschluss

Posted on 2012/07/25 by treetrunkrick • Tagged chapter excerpt, happiness, holiday, humour, satire, story, travel, vacation • Leave a comment

The speed of satellite-based Internet — in opposition to gravity’s rainbow — means losing a game of chess to Charlie in the Explorations Cafe, not far from Emily and Philip, Tarigan and Ganda…

…or dancing to the sounds of the HALCats.

Thanks to many, including Tika, Hendra, Evelyn, Ann-Marie, Jasmin the barista, Pratansh, Diana F., Andry, Ami, Ruther, I GDE Ryan, Rhia, Siva, Joshua, Tresna, and more when time permits.

Seeing ice calve from a glacier is entertaining, if not enlightening, in the bright light of a late July sun amidst Aussie accents, Indian smiles, Filipino food lovers and sounds of a cruise ship at sea.

Thanks to a few more, such as Red Onion Saloon, Liz and Mark during the Golden Glassblowing glass at Jewell Gardens; Courtney of Temsco.

The writing slips through cold, icy fjords of the Inner Passage not far from Glacier National Park, landslides smearing black streaks on snow fields, bird droppings on railings, bananas and apples in metal baskets accenting staterooms where one relaxes, eating breakfast while history writes itself around you.

Time for a full body massage.

Au revoir, Mt. Cooper, Lamplugh and Margarie glaciers.

Adios.

Auf wiedersehen.

Unsung heroes for the day

Posted on 2012/07/24 by treetrunkrick • Tagged happiness, travel, vacation • Leave a comment

A gracious “thank you” to the unsung heroes of the day:

==> The Housekeeping Staff of the Westmark Inns/Hotels of Alaska/Yukon.

Getting us there – image of the day

Posted on 2012/07/22 by treetrunkrick • Tagged happiness, travel • Leave a comment

Our tour director and bus driver/guide pulling double duty for lunch:

Engine room of paddle boat:

Denali Diversion

Posted on 2012/07/17 by treetrunkrick • Tagged chapter excerpt, happiness, humour, nature, satire, story, travel, vacation • 4 Comments

So many to thank, too tired to think, too much fun in inclement weather:

Territory is a unique experience

Posted on 2012/07/15 by treetrunkrick • Tagged chapter excerpt, happiness, humour, satire, story, travel, vacation • Leave a comment

Seems odd, definitely surreal, sitting in a wooden chair in a guest room of the McKinley Chalet Resort, writing this blog entry at 20:56 local (Alaska) time, strong WiFi signal connecting me to the world not far from the tallest mountain peak in North America, Denali, also known as Mount McKinley.

A land/sea tour for the comfortable middle class, sharing the wealth with hearty bodies, providing this moment.

The surreal continues…

Yesterday, my niece stood next to and shook the hand of the President of the United States of America, a photo of the two of them together appearing on MSNBC and Reuters International.

Today, my wife and I rode on a train that stopped in Wasilla, Alaska, USA, home to a former U.S. state governor and U.S. Vice President candidate, Sarah Palin.

But this is more than a journal entry in a travelogue.

This philosophical dissertation in miniature asks, “I know my destination but do I know where I’m going?”

What are we doing here together, you and I, observing a minute spot in the universe?

What are we trying to accomplish by interacting with the tour director/concierge, driver guide, train staff and hotel gift shop clerks?

In a moment like this, we live.

We allocate resources not only for larger missions outside of this spacetime but also nail down this spacetime in words and images.

All Ready To Go

Posted on 2012/07/15 by treetrunkrick • Tagged black letters, chapter excerpt, fuzzy vision, gold background, happiness, humour, night snack, satire, social pace, story, travel, vacation, westmark hotel • Leave a comment

Ever tried to keep up with all the people, places and names you encounter in the outer space of an inner social pace?

Well, it turns out that nametags are a key part of keeping up with the fellow travelers wandering the planet.

For instance, the nametags a company gives its employees.

I have fuzzy vision, especially in the morning when I’m not quite awake or the evening after ~~partying~~ ~~drinking~~ having a late-night snack.

Visit a hotel or tourist area in that condition and visualising the labels attached to a person’s lapel or chest can be daunting.

Especially the way the label/nametag is made.

For me, black letters on a white background are the easiest to read.

The most difficult are black letters on a shiny, gold background at the Westmark Hotel, where the staff is some of the most friendly you’ll meet but reading their names in order to memorise and later recall them here frustrates me on this rainy day in the paradise of the Pacific Northwest.

A few to thank today: Elizabeth, Doreen, Brendan; Tom; more to follow. To those whose names I have not written here, I apologise for the fuzziness of middle-aged eyes and having too much of a good time! 😉