Back in Alaska…

Well we are currently sitting in the Alaska Airlines Boardroom here at the Anchorage airport. It seems like we have been living in the boardrooms forever. In the last 24 hours we have been in the San Fran, Seattle, and now the Anchorage boardrooms. We his the LAX board room on the way down. I’m ready to be done traveling. It was nice while we were in Mexico, but having spent more time in airplanes in the last 24 hours than doing anything else is getting a little old.
Our flight out of San Fran was delayed last night for a couple hours. The plane that was scheduled to take us from San Fran to Seattle was stuck in Vancouver due to weather. They finally made it in around 10:00, so we didn’t get off the ground till after 10:30. We had a nice tail wind, so we flew really quickly up to Seattle. We didn’t get into our hotel until close to 1:00 AM. We were pretty wiped out. We also had to be back to the airport at 6:30 the next morning, so sleep was way too short. Our flight to Anchorage what leaving at 8:00 AM.
So we drug ourselves out of bed this morning at 5:30 AM, and got to the airport. The line for security was really really long. Once we finally made it through that joyous experience, we went and hung out in the boardroom there (Seattle) for a while. It came time for our plane to board, so we headed down there, got on the plane, and got all settled in. Looking around the plane was only a third full, we were sitting there for a while, and then over the PA we are informed that they are going to delay our flight for two hours, canceling a later fight to Alaska, and combining the two flights. So back to the board room we went, where we killed the next couple hours reading, and surfing the web. The second time we boarded the plane it was full to the brim. The flight went well, and delivered us safely in Anchorage. We are now waiting for our last flight of the trip back up to Unalakleet. We have to head down to that gate in about an hour.
Erin and I were thinking about heading to Valdez for the rest of the weekend, but it turns out the flight to Valdez was already booked up. So that was a bummer. We are going to try to find a weekend to head down there before the year is out.
I talked to Katie on the phone today. She spent her spring break working in soup kitchen down in I think LA, some where in California for sure. So she had a good experience doing that. She just found out she is going to have to drop out of her sailing class this spring because she found out it conflicts with all of her ultimate frisbee practices and competitions. So that’s a bummer. She is planning on taking it in the fall when frisbee isn’t an issue. She also is for sure working for Stan Stavens this summer. That is going to be a lot of fun for her. She is going to get some amazing pictures and video. I’m jealous…..
Well, not a lot else to talk about. I try to keep the blog going this time. See if I can get my list of readers back up to a number above zero. 🙂

Last Day. :(

Today was our last full day in Mazatlan. The week has flown by. We started the day just like normal heading down to the pool around 9:30 AM. The sun was out and everything was very relaxing. the fog started to roll in a bit, so I decided to go out para-sailing before it really clouded up. The flight was really fun. The takeoff was extremely smooth. I thought I would jerk up into the air, but it was like going up in an elevator. I went up a couple hundred feet in the air. The boat took me down the beach about a a half a mile, and then we turned around and headed back. There were about 5 other people up with different companies at the same time I was, at one point the boat that was pulling me when it turned around crossed the path of another para-sailing boat. Our lines crossed, but I was considerably higher than the other person, and I was well clear of the other persons flight path when he came by. When I came back in for my landing, there is a guy on the beach with a flag. When he raises the flag I pul down on the inland side of the parachute cord. This makes the parachute fly inland. The point is to get quite a bit inland, so the boat can pull me back toward the beach for the landing. This way I won’t land in the water. The landing was pretty smooth just like the take-off. You can see a video of it on the gallery.
After the parasaling adventure we spent the rest of the day reading by the pool. I finally finished the Da Vinci Code. It was a pretty good book. I wasn’t as hooked on it as I have heard other people have been, where they aren’t able to put it down till they finish it. I must have started it a couple weeks ago, and I didn’t get through it till today. It was a good book, and I’m glad I read it. I think its back to some Sandford books before I tackle Angels and Demons.
We are going to get packed up tonight, so we can spend a couple hours by the pool before we have to head to the airport.

Hopefully our last few hours in Mexico will bring us nice weather before sending us back to the frigid north.

A Walk Around the “Golden Zone”

Today was another relaxing day.  We went for a walk around the “Golden Zone” this morning.  It was really foggy out when we got up, so we decided that would be a better use of our time.  When we got back it had cleared up quite a bit, so we donned our swim suits and headed pool side.  Erin’s heat rash or sun rash whatever it is had gone away over night, but came back quite quickly after we had been outside for a while.  I went and tracked down some Benadryl for her, but I don’t think it helped too much.  The fog came back in, and since Erin’s arms weren’t getting any better we decided it would be best to go relax in the room.  I got in a nice long nap, which may end up to be troublesome for getting to sleep this evening, but it was awfully nice.  After I awoke from my slumber we watched a little TV, and then headed down to watch the sun set.  There are some more beautiful pictures at the gallery if you are interested.
After the sunset we took off for some dinner.  We went to the Guadalajara Grill where we had a coupon for a free drink with dinner.  So erin got the enchiladas and I stuck with the ever trusty chicken fajitas.  It was a nice place to eat, and the prices were pretty good too.
After dinner we walked over to Dairy Queen so Erin could get some ice cream.  By the shop, there was a guy doing paintings with spray paint.  It was pretty impressive.  I will post some pictures on the gallery, and a movie of him at work.  The movie is about 5 MB, so it will take some time to download on slower connections.  Still worth the time though I think.  So we watched him do a couple of paintings which is really amazing.  Then walked back to the hotel to pick up the computer before going to the coffee shop to get this stuff up on the web.  That was today in a nutshell.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Mazatlan, so I hope the weather is nice, but Im sure we’ll have fun either way.

Vaccation Almost Over :(

Well, we only have two full days left down here in sunny Mazatlan. Erin and I have been having a blast. We decided to hop the stone island cruise yesterday. They took us out in a tripple decker catamaran. Erin and I sat on the top deck to catch some rays on the boat ride over. We had an awesome view looking out the front until a couple of girls came an stood right in front of us blocking out the horizon. The boat took us over by the worlds highest natural light house. It is up on a clif face over looking the ocean. By a couple of caves. One of which is actually a tunnel through to the other side. We went by bird shit island. It looks like it has been white washed…. Completly whight. They then took us over to some rocks protruding just above the water by a few feet. On it were some really lazy sea lions. They didn’t move much even with our huge boat right next to them. After our little tour around the area went over to the much sought after stone island. Erin has been building up this place for the last few years. Durring our stay at stone island I got a coconut loped open for a little drink. Check out the gallery for some pictrues of the afternoon.

I’ll get back to the story in a sec. We are at a coffee shop down the street from our hotel that has free WIFI. This is where we came the last time we posted. I just had my computer taken over by a seven year old girl selling roses, while she played flash games and ate Erin’s chocolate cake. I have some pictures of her and her friend that I will post later this week. They were pretty cute.

So back at stone island we had a steller bannana boat ride, that took us over to bannana boat turnaround (see picture in gallery) and back. It was kind of lame. We did get to lay out on the beach where I burnt my head to a crisp, and Erin bought a shirt thing from some lady.

Today we were back to the normal ritual of sitting by the pool drinking cold drinks and eating chips and salsa. I did buy a hat today that I may never wear outside of Mazatlan, but it kept my poor head from burning any more. I also bought a shirt, that I may never wear outside of Mazatlan either, but it may be decent for climbing.

Tonight we went out to a little classier resturaunt for dinner. Erin stuck the good old chicken fajitas, whereas I had the special, a sea food platter with lobster, clams, fish, crab, and shrimp. The coolest part of dinner was the cesar salad prior to the main course which was prepared right at our table. They used real anchovies and the whole nine yards. It was very tasty.

Im looking forward to relaxing by the pool with erin for the next couple of days, and possibly even doing a little parasailing. There is a video of someone taking off right in front of us from this after noon if you want to see what it will be like for me. You can find it at the gallery.
Im enjoying Mazatlan….

Mazatlan :)

We finely made it into Mazatlan after an extremely long day and a half of flying.  When we arrived we came in just behind another Alaska Airline plane, so there was already a considerably long line for immigration.  I unfortunately led us to the line that decided to move the slowest.  We finally made it through immigration without any troubles except the loss of time.  From there we went on to pick up our luggage and head over to customs.  In Mazatlan they utilize the “red light, green light” method for screening passengers.  You had the customs person your card, and then push a button on a big street light.  If it turns green you go on about your way.  If it turns red, you move over to a table where they search through all of your belongings.  We were lucky enough to catch the green light.
Once outside there are a bunch of people trying to get you to use their taxi service, and it is a bit overwhelming.  Erin had set us up with a shuttle from the travel agency.  They crammed a bunch of us into a van, and we were on our way.  It is about a 30 minute drive from the airport to the hotels along the beach.  Erin was stuck sitting next to a couple that had been there 10 years prior and felt it was their duty to tell Erin all about Mazatlan.  We were the last ones to be dropped off at our hotel.  We got checked in and were provided two keys, two towel cards, a remote for our tv, and a bell hop to take us to our room.  So as we follow the bell hop to our room instead of going deeper into the hotel he takes us back out the front door across the street to where our room was.  we were on the first floor of the building, where our key that didn’t quite work well let us into this dark room with bars over the windows.  It felt very dungeon-like.  We went out to check out the beach which was back across the street, and through the hotel.  We took a look around, things looked nice, but we weren’t too excited about our sketchy room.  So on the way back through the hotel we stopped by the desk and inquired about an upgrade.  They said they could accommodate us, but not until the next day.  That was fine by us.
We then went out to dinner ordering some very tasty fajitas, and margaritas.  After which we were exhausted heading back to our room and were asleep by 7:30.
The next morning (yesterday) we got up around 8:00 and went to the desk to change rooms.  After getting our things moved over to our much nicer room in the main building on the third floor with a balcony, we headed down the the pool to lounge in the sun.  During the day we ordered some chips and salsa and a few Coronas that were delivered to us in a bucket of ice and a cup of limes.  The salsa and chips are very tasty here, and you can’t beat laying out in the sun with a bucket of Coronas chilling in a bucket of ice.
After laying out in the sun we went out for dinner once again having fajitas and margaritas in a restaurant overlooking the ocean.  After dinner we went out walking around town last night picking up some ice cream along the way.
Today held much of the same for us with the addition to some guacamole to go with our chips and salsa and corona.  The guac was a good idea.  We are about to head out for dinner, and sign up for a tour of “Stone Island” which is a glorified booze cruise out to an island where you can play in the sun for the day.  Lunch is included in the package.

Be sure to check out the pictures at the gallery.

Well thats all for now.  Hope to blog more later

The Epic Journy

We left Unalakleet Wednesday at 5:00. The little metro, which is the smaller of the two types of planes that fly into Unalakleet was completely full. The Unalakleet basketball teams are competing in the state tournament in Anchorage this weekend.

Once we arrived in Anchorage we grabbed a rental car and ran over to Walmart. I ran out of contacts about a month ago, and have been seeing the world through glasses. Having enough of that fun, and wanting to lose the frames while in Mexico, I ordered up some new ones at the Walmart vision center. We also picked up a couple beach towels and some weird headphones for Erin to use while she runs.

After our little shopping spree, 😉 we drove over to Sulivans in hopes of some tasty lobster bisc. Unfortunately they were all out. We should have called ahead to make sure they had it before going over. We stayed anyway, and had dinner.

After dinner we went back out to the Anchorage airport to join the rest of the anxious travelers through one of TSA’s finest security checkpoints. 🙂 We tried taking a little nap before our flight, and were airborne a little after midnight.

We flew all night, and landed here in LA around 6:45 in the morning (Cali time). We grabbed a little snack in the Alaska Airlines Boardroom, and I took a little bit of a nap. I tried to sleep on the plane, but it was very restful. Its nice that we got upgraded to first class for the next leg of our trip into Mazatlan. Hopefully it will make the trip a little more comfortable.

I’ll blog again later tonight with pictures from my first time in Mexico. Erin and I are going to have a blast relaxing on the warm sandy beaches.

Iditarod Hits Unalakleet

John Baker the first musher into Unalakleet for the 2006 Iditarod arrived around noon. He was graciouse enough to take 5 minutes of his time allowing the student news broadcasting team to get an exclusive interview. The Channel 2 news team was actually stuck behind our kids while they were getting the first interview from him in Unalakleet.

We are posting a lot of video, and soon pictures to BSSD’s Iditarod coverage website http://mushing.bssd.org/.

ASTE

Well the week of ASTE has come and gone.  For those of you who don’t know what ASTE is, it stands for Alaska Society for Technolgy in Education.  Saturday and Sunday were the preconference days, with half and full day sessions.  Mia Concilus and I taught a full day session on student broadcasting on saturday, and a half day on sunday about podcasting and video podcasting.

Erin and I met up with my mom on Sunday who was in Anchorage for a library conference.  We went to the Brewhouse for lunch, and then did a little shopping before taking her to the airport to fly back to Valdez.

Erin and I went out to dinner a couple nights which was nice, and were also able to catch a movie.  We went to Firewall with Harrison Ford, which wasn’t as good as I had hoped it to be, but it did give us the excuse for extra buttery popcorn and buckets of coke.

Erin had to leave on tuesday which was a bummer.  I ended up getting stuck in Anchorage because there was a blizzard in Unalakleet.  It would have been nice if we had both been stuck in the big city together.