Hodgepodge - Over the Fiscal Cliff

I love how Joyce brings us these questions weekly even when she goes out of town. How thoughtful. Come play along.

1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English...here's the list for 2013-

fiscal cliff, kick the can down the road, double down, job creators/creation, passion/passionate, yolo (an acronym for you only live once), spoiler alert, bucket list, trending, superfood, boneless wings, and guru

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen.

I've said it before but "fiscal cliff" has just got to go. Reinsert the image of the mountain climber from the Price is Right going over the cliff instead. Much more hilarity and also you get yodeling.

2. When was the last time you rode a train? Where did you go?

By train I'm not counting the ones in the airports taking you from one terminal to another nor am I counting the DC metro line. So the only time I can remember taking a train was last summer in Alaska. This affords me an opportunity to post yet another picture from that trip. :)

3. Bagels-yay or nay? Favorite 'flavor'? Favorite topping?

I like bagels but don't eat them very often because I don't find them as filling as a bowl of cereal and they have so many more calories. But Panera has a cinnamon crunch one that is to die for. And then when you put some whipped cream cheese on it...wow.

4. 'Tis the season of awards shows...if you could star in a movie already made which one would you choose?

Gone With the Wind - I would be Scarlet O'Hara. Really the costumes make me want it more than anything. Men begging for your love and attention. Clark Gable. Need I say more.

5. The move towards single gender classrooms has been making the news in recent months....what say you? Do you think kids perform better if seperated by gender and are taught differently or is that discrimination? If you're a parent, is this something you'd support in regard to your own children?

I don't think this is a good start for children. If they learn early on that they should be learning separately, how will they learn to be nice to each other?

6. What's your favorite thing about staying in a hotel?

Most of the time I'm by myself in a hotel for work and that's what I like best. The solitude of having the whole room to myself.

7. Do you have a 'word' for 2013? What's the story behind your choice?

I have read a lot of blogs doing this but I have not participated in the one word thing.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I'm going to do my big push to get twitter followers (@TracyReinke) and Words With Friends players (treinke65) this week. Feel free to follow (I'll follow back) and play against me.

Hodgepodge - The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

Joyce provided her 99th version of questions this week. Can't wait for next week.

1. So, do you like beer?
I like light colored beer like Corona. I don't drink it very often. Sometimes at wine tastings they have beer and it is always dark. Yuck.

2. What's your least favorite repetitive task?
Dusting. Round and round my arm goes and yet the dust keeps coming back.

3. When was the last time you rode a bus? Where was it headed?
Last bus ride I took was this summer into Denali National Park. It was nine hours long but it had great scenery.

Denali is way back there

4. What song from your childhood or from your own children's childhood could make a parent's nerves stand on end?
The Barney song. That big purple dinosaur was a close part of our family for a few years and really I've heard that song way too many times.

5. The US Presidential election cycle is drawing to a close (can I get an AMEN??), and the third and final debate was held last night...what was the last thing you 'debated about'?
Maybe where to stay on vacation? I can't say I really call anything debating.

6. Can a person make too much money? How much is too much?
Is the question are some people overpaid? Yes some are. But can you make too much money? No. It all depends on what you do with the money.

7. Pop-soda-coke-something else...what's it called where you live?
Soda.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I mailed my absentee ballot in on Tuesday. So now I have voted. Can the ads please stop? (Although in Oklahoma we don't seem to have too many since there aren't too many contested races here).

Hodgepodge

Joining up with this week's hodgepodge questions.

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams. Are you a fan? Who do you root for? If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?
I don't watch any NFL games. In fact they usually annoy me because it screws up Sunday night tv on CBS. Amazing Race never tapes right so we end up taping lots of extras to make sure we get the whole show. College football is a different story. You can usually find a game on at some point on Saturday. We of course watch OU but I've been known to go shopping when that game is on simply because the stores have less people in them.

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?
Jeans. My wardrobe staple. What you won't find is a lot of shoes, jewelry or clothes. I just don't own a lot of them. In fact my closet has lots of extra space to hang clothes if I ever bought them.

3. Share one of your earliest memories.
I remember failing year one of swimming lessons and having to repeat the beginner class the second year. I hated to put my face in the water which is sort of necessary to progress in swimming.

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?
Tightrope walker.

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?
Sushi. Although we never had it as a kid I can guarantee you I would have disliked it. One thing that I disliked as a child and still can't stand...peas. Go read about my harrowing experience.

6. Describe your summer in three words.
Majestic Dogsled Alaska

7. Where were you on September 11, 2001? Will you do anything special to mark the day this year?
I was at work. I remember driving to work and hearing a short news blurb about a plane flying into the building. I had recently rewatched a documentary about a small plane that had flown into the Empire State Building in the 50's and I thought it was like that. Then the reports came out worse. We had a tv in our office that could barely get any reception (it was used more for videos) and I had Dan dig out rabbit ears to bring to me. I had the tv in my office on a stand for two straight days and let any student who wanted to sit in there and watch the news. It brought back a lot of memories from when the Murrah bombing happened here but it was also so different.

I'm not doing anything special to mark the day.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I pinned the cutest marshmallow/candy cane idea on Pinterest this week. If only I had a classroom of kids to make them for. If you want to make them, check out this website. 

Video Time - Animals

Going along with yesterday's post, have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride on a dogsled? First of all...AWESOME! I got to be the brakeman for most of the two miles (thanks to my wonderful husband and the older couple who didn't want to do it) but I did take a little video while Dan was the brakeman and I sat down.

Just a short few seconds but you get the idea from it.

We got to see some of the cutest puffins at the Sealife Center. There was one who was trying to climb up a log and slid down after making it halfway. Here's his second attempt.

Sled dogs

One of my favorite things about our trip was the sled dogs. We saw them in several places.
These dogs are workers. While they accept people petting, it really isn't their thing like for most dogs. But boy they love to run. They are extremely intelligent too.















They prefer much colder than what we had. So the dogs were cooling off by laying in the snow. One of the mushers was in a tank top and shorts.





These dogs are federal employees at Denali National Park. They were a little calmer than the ones on the glacier.





The park ranger drove them in a circle. Not nearly as exciting as riding on the snow like we did on the glacier.





And of course this is what most people think of when they think sled dogs. The Iditarod. They have a little museum which was very nice.

Reflections on our Vacation

As I sit in the airport waiting for our flight (11:50pm), I'm reflecting on what I will remember from this trip.




Views of mountains like this. I'll try and remember this as we swelter in 100 degrees.




Flying in a helicopter and riding with a dogsled team. The ultimate in winter travel.




Being waited on all the time. I didn't have to do dishes, cook meals or clean up after anyone.




Watching glaciers calve right outside my window.




Wildlife everywhere you look.




A glimpse of what life is like in a place with few roads.

But what I am looking forward to most when I get home is seeing this




My lovely daughter Whitney. I didnt have a more recent photo on the iPad except for last years graduation.

Kooky signs

Do you ever go on vacation and see stuff that you would never see at home? This is one of the great parts about traveling around the country. I love taking pictures of them.




I'm not quite sure what sealing bears is. I imagine it has to do with the hide but not positive. I don't think we even have bears back home other than the zoo.




This was for lodging in Seward. We didn't stay here but love the name.




This was in a IGA grocery store. I've never seen an aisle labeled like this. And this wasn't the only strange combination.




This is actually a book you can buy and there is a poster that shows pictures of them all. I resisted the urge to buy it for my office.

Wildflowers of Alaska

It turned out that we were in Alaska at the height of wildflower season. Very different flowers than at home. Very pretty but most of the flowers were very tiny. Probably a result of a short growing season and the cold winters.





















I have no idea what any of these are called. I'm terrible about remembering that stuff. So I'll just enjoy the beauty.

Camping Alaska Style

Before anyone thinks I'm camping, don't worry. I haven't gone crazy. I'm talking about other people in Alaska. There are more rental rv's here than I've ever seen. Many of the workers are seasonal and while we were in Skagway we talked to our tour bus driver about it. He said that their is such limited housing and the apartment owners won't let you sign a short term list. So there were three campsites in town for the workers to stay in. My immediate thought was shanty town. And it sort of looked like it. The site nearest to the cruise ships was cheaper but you had to pay utilities. There were people staying in tents for the whole summer. I think that would get pretty cold there and after awhile not fun. A few people had trailers on the back of pickup trucks. But the really neat one I saw was called an ALiner.




Come to find out it pops up in 20 seconds and it can be towed by small cars. This lifestyle certainly does not work for me. A lot of the people looked to be college aged and more adventurous than me.

The Moose is Loose

We walked around the tiny town of Talkeetna today and saw lots of moose. Not the real ones, but the wooden kind. The town is having an auction on the fourth of July for these moose designed by local artists, schoolchildren and businesses. They are yard art. Some of them are quite cute.




This one was outside of the flight place.




This was a restaurant, wildflower cafe.







The northern lights.




Elementary kids did this one.



It's too bad these are so big or else I would have found a souvenir to take home.

Baby Animals

Who can resist baby animals? Especially when they were rescued from the wild. We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center today. They had several animals (I'll write more later) but I just had to show the babies. We got there in time for a moose feeding.









They went through a bottle in about 20 seconds so if you weren't there you missed it. There were also baby muskox in the pen but they didn't get fed for a few hours and they knew it so they just kept laying down. The moose got up as soon as they heard the gate.









They were super cute.

Cruising through Alaska

What a trip! After the rough start, things got so much better.

This was the first time we had gotten a balcony. It was nice to be able to see some things without having to fight people for space.

The seas were calm. If anyone had problem with motion sickness, they must get sick just walking. The only movement I could feel was the engines. We were on the second highest deck so I was a little worried about that.

The weather was great. In fact they were having record heat and I got sunburned after one hour in Juneau. I don't even do that at home.

We zip lined in Ketchikan. What a neat experience. The guides were super nice and helpful. They knew how to work with people. We were with another family and the mom was nervous. We also saw a bear on the drive up to the zip line.





I bought the photo they took of me so I'll have to scan it when I get home to post. You end this particular adventure with a 250 foot slide. Dan picked up a lot of speed and almost went to the end.

In Juneau we went on a helicopter ride to a glacier to dogsled. I had never been in one and I can't wait to do it again. I got to sit up front with the pilot on the flight there. WOW!





At the dogsled our guide had raced in the Yukon Quest and had 40 of his dogs there. When the dogs hear the helicopters they get excited because they know they get to run.





In Skagway we had a small bus with two other couples and drove up to Canada to catch the train back. Our train car only had eight people so we got to sit anywhere and saw so much.






Did you notice how sunny all those pictures are? That's the first real sun all those places have had since last summer. They were thrilled. I just wanted a little relief. It was 87 in Juneau for goodness sake.

When we got to Glacier Bay I got my wish. It was in the 40's and foggy and we were worried we wouldn't see anything. But the fog lifted and there were lots of icebergs. It took us longer to get to the Marjorie Glacier but it was worth it. In the hour we were there, we probably saw 15 calving events. That's when the glacier breaks off and falls into the water.





When we left the bay we saw about 15 humpback whales and a few otters. Add that to the bear, mountain goats and eagles I had already seen and we were doing really good in the wildlife department.

I have lots more pictures but figured I could right more details about each day later. Who wants to write a big blog while on vacation! We still have another week to go!