Almost Time to Come Home
Today is my last day in Alaska – and I’ve just finally adjusted to the time change.
It’s been a very productive trip, but I’m ready to come home. There is a real lack of estrogen up here – the ratio of men to women must be about 5 to 1. Now…if I were a single woman, this would be a good thing. And I have seen many “Men in Trees” up here. But after spending a week with the same seven men in the same conference room…let’s just say I’ve heard enough hunting and fishing stories to last a lifetime. I am a real animal lover, but kept quiet (a difficult thing for me)until I heard the statement, “I’m such a good hunter, I can actually get the deer to come up to me and let me pet them…” – then I had to chime in, “…before you KILL them??!!”. Like I said, I think it’s time to come home.
I had a chance to drive around last night and see some of the local sites yesterday afternoon. The mountain views are spectacular – I even got to see a moose by the side of the road. I am also very impressed with the local food – two nights in a row, we went to the Glacier Brewhouse and had fresh halibut and king crab legs – yum! I also had a creme brulee in a bowl the size of a small casserole dish – so much for watching my weight!
I also had a chance to do a little bit of shopping – I picked up some souvenirs for the kids. But while I was at the local mall, I walked right in on an actual fist-fight between two young girls – very ‘Jerry Springer’. I had to go to the mall to pick up some boots because Anchorage had an ‘unusual weather phenomenon’ for April – 6-12 inches of snow! They even allowed the federal employees to go home early – they even close for snow in Alaska, apparently. But the snow totally threw off my pre-packed wardrobe and I had to improvise. Can I put those boots on my expense report?
I also stopped by the Qiviut Knitting Store right around the corner – I was hoping to pick up some of their unique yarn made from the undercoat of the arctic musk ox – but for a small skein, it was $80! A little too much for me…
Well…it’s back to the office this morning, then back to the East Coast on the red-eye…