The edge and back

Billings, MT

Sunny 91

I would first like to congratulate Lafayette, Indy, and Decatur for making the 100 degree mark. I actually still remember back in 1988, perhaps my first weather memory, when Ft. Wayne broke the all time record of 106. I can remember sleeping in my parents room because that was the only air conditioning in the house and then filling up a kiddie pool with the entire family inside of it. I wasn't even 4 years old but I remember my historical weather events!

So today I literally feel like I've been to the edge of civilization and back. We started out the day in Broadus, MT, which i thought was in the middle of no where (see picture to the right). Our site is is located on an open range where the cattle can roam free across the roads and even the highway. There are signs all over warning about cattle on the roads. I found out from the guy I was working with that if you hit a cow, you have to pay for the cow...I'll drive slowly. We then headed to our next site, which is what I consider the edge of civilization. I almost felt like I was in the Nevada desert, just more trees and grass. The "village" was called Birney. Population 12....yes 12. If these people wanted to go to the grocery store they had to travel at least an hour, its one of the most remote places in Montana, I'm so glad I could visit! Can't wait to get home to see Lacey and go to Glacier tomorrow!

Stay cool Indiana!

Home, home on the range

7/17/2011

Sunny 93

Well, as most of you know Lacey and I are now living in Montana, and we are making the most out of our big move. We live about 1/2 of a mile from the base of Mt. Helena and we have already conquered it twice. Our latest hike was about 7 miles, as we took the more scenic route to the top. On our way up we encountered a mama deer with her two fawns. We made sure to keep some distance, as she didn't seem to like us moving around her. We both felt like we were watching the end of the Sunday Morning Show with those nature scenes. Making it to the top of the mountain is such a thrill and I don't think it will ever get old because there is always something new to see. As for my job, I'm really loving what I do. I've already been to a few Western cities and learned about their histories. One of the most unique places would have to be Butte, MT. It is situated just west of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 5,300 feet. Up until the 1960s it was the biggest city in Montana but since many of the mines have shut down the population has dropped from over 150,000 to just around 40,000 people. It still has the feeling of a Western mining town with saloons at every corner and even some historic brothel houses still around. On Thursday I went to Yellowstone to work on an air shelter. I felt like Moses, only being able to see the promised land but not being able to enter. I will say however that the drive was amazing and I can't wait to go back! Lacey and I will be going to Glacier National Park this weekend....more to come soon!

The Last Frontier part IV

Day 6

Ketchikan, AK

Cloudy 59

We arrived in Alaska's 4th largest city, Ketchikan around 7am. I say 4th largest lightly because there are only 15,000 people that live there. Lacey and I were very happy to see that they are considered the salmon capital of the world. We started out the day looking at all the shops, and there were definitely plenty to go around. This city had many totem poles dotted all around, and we went to the totem pole museum to learn about the history and traditions of the Tlingit Indians (pronounced KLING-kit). Tlingit translates in English to "people". The totem poles were really cool to see, and all of them in the museum were original. Most were used as mortuary poles, but some were for what we would consider as a large festival/party pole. They also had a few story poles with the most famous being about a raven that gave birth to the Tlingits (see picture). We then made our way back to the ship and we saw a sign telling about how Ketchikan has liquid sunshine, aka rain most of the year. As of June 16th they had nearly 100 inches of rainfall for the year, with October being their wettest month. In case you were wondering their wettest year on record was 202.55 inches in 1949. We then got on the ship took a nap, played some pub trivia, had dinner, and then played some name that tune in one of the many lounges....another wonderful day!

The Last Frontier part III

Day 5

Sitka, AK

Mostly Cloudy 63

This morning we sailed into the largest city in the United States (by land area) The first thing we noticed was the amount of bald eagles. It was almost like they were pigeons in New York, everywhere you turned you could see an eagle. Lacey and I walked around downtown Sitka, which is known as Alaska's "little Russia". There were many Russian themed shops along with a small Russian orthodox church at the city center. We then went on our second excursion of the cruise to a place called Magic Island to do some snorkeling Alaska style! We dressed up in these ridiculously tight dry suits that almost made our faces purple. They were very uncomfortable, but they kept us warm in the 48 degree water and it was worth the discomfort. We got to see giant sunflower star fish that weigh up to 60lbs along with other small star fish, rock fish, jellyfish, and some electric green seaweed. We then drove back to town and walked around more because it was so beautiful.

Cool random weather fact: Sitka, AK averages less snow per year than Indianapolis, IN.

The Last Frontier part II

Day 4

Hubbard Glacier, AK

Mostly cloudy 50

Today I woke up at 3:45am to watch the sunrise. I know it might sound crazy, but there is just something about seemingly being the only one awake on the ship. Then the sun breaks over the mountains and shines upon the water so calm it looks like glass. I don't think I've ever been that happy so early in the morning. At breakfast Lacey and I saw our first whales spouting. We then made our way to Hubbard Glacier. This was one of the most amazing thing in nature that I've seen. This glacier is so massive that it creates it's own climate! The weather was partly cloudy as we approached, and about 10 miles from the glacier it became cloudy, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and then it began to rain. As a weather nerd this really had my mind turning on how massive this ice sheet had to be to make its own weather. The cool air came down from the mountains and all that ice, where it met the relatively warmer air, made clouds, and eventually its own perpetual rainfall. This was just the tip of the iceberg on why I loved this glacier, no pun intended....While we were standing on the deck still about two miles away the guide on board told us that this glacier was 350 feet tall and about 7 1/2 miles across! It is also one of only 14 glaciers that is still growing in North America. The boat then turned around, as that was our northern most point on the cruise at about 60 degrees N. On our way back about 20 miles away the rain stopped and the clouds began to break up. What a wonderful day indeed.

The Last Frontier

Over the next few days I will be writing about our trip to Alaska. I hope anyone that reads this will come away more informed, or just have a little fun.

Day 1: Seattle, WA
Weather: Sunny, 70 degrees

We started our morning in the Seattle hotel near the airport, and we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of coffee and cookies...YUM. The Seattle Express picked us up and took us up I5 for about 25 minutes. We went past the space needle before coming up on the massive ships. You really don't realize how big they are until you are upon them. Checking in was a breeze and my anticipation was building mainly because I knew a welcome buffet was waiting for me. Once we boarded we went to our rooms to set aside our bags and then up to that buffet! Lacey and I then went out to the deck to explore the ship. To our surprise it was sunny in Seattle! We laid out on the deck and waited for the ship to set sail. We left around 4:00 pm as we watched the skyline fade in the distance. Our dinner time was set at 8:00pm which I think made it slightly difficult for us considering it was midnight at home, but we adjusted. After dinner we checked out other parts of the ship, and then went to bed.

Day 3 Juneau, AK

Weather Partly Sunny 60

We woke up at 6:30am, and its a little crazy knowing that it starts getting light at 3:30 am after watching the sunset at 11:00pm. We landed in Juneau, and what a beautiful city! The sea meets the land and almost instantly goes straight up into mountains. We got off the ship and boarded a van for a 10 mile trip to the Mendenhall glacier. On our way we saw our first bald eagles, but it certainly wasn't our last of the week. We got to the glacier and hopped into the canoe. It was about a 3 mile canoe trip and the view was just breathtaking. Our guide said it was the closest he has been all season because it was clear of icebergs. We then made our way over to nugget falls before heading back. Lacey and I were exhausted and after a wonderful dinner we came back for some well deserved rest!

Lobstah!!

Location: Old Orchard Beach, ME

After our wonderful two days in Boston, we headed up the coast into New Hampshire where we stopped to eat in Portsmouth. This was a very nice little town with some great shops right along the Atlantic. We stopped and had lunch and we could see across the border into Maine, where it was of course foggy. The fog was the story of our Maine portion of the trip, it seemed the moment we crossed the bridge it was fog everywhere the entire day! We set up camp and decided to head out to see the beach. It was really nice and there was really no one there...I guess the tourist season doesn't start until late June up there. I also got the hint when we were the only ones pretty much in the campground. It was however really nice to have the entire beach just to yourselves. If you are wondering how cold the water was I can tell you from experience....very cold!!! I decided on the second day that I wasn't going to go all the way to the Atlantic without at least jumping in. COLD COLD COLD! The highlight of our Maine trip has to be our lovely lobsters that we cooked at the campground. We named them pinchy and pinchy...very original i know. The next day it was still very foggy, but we decided to check out some of the lighthouses nearby. We couldn't really see much, but it was still a pleasant drive up the coast. I would love to visit Maine again soon, it was such a wonderful place and we had so much fun. On Friday we broke down camp and of course the sun came out....go figure.

Tomorrow.....New York