Just a quick confirmation

For all those who were wondering about Kwildar running off, and me getting a little quieter on the boards. I'm about 7 hours from heading toward the airport for a three week vacation, so I will actually be missing the August event.  I'll be back for the September event.  Until then, I'll generally be missing you all.  Have fun, everyone!

I'm about 7 hours from heading toward the airport for a three week vacation, so I will actually be missing the August event. 

lucky bastard...

Oh-kay, here's the situation
Kwildar went away on three weeks' vacation
and left the key to his brand new horse
Would he mind?
Ummm, well, of course not.

(sorry sometimes D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince jumps into my head)

Have a great time!

Michael

Dear Malcolm,

      Have fun.  You will be missed too.

have fun man you will be missed

Enjoy, my friend!  But if the polar ice cap melts in the next three weeks, I'll know who to blame!

You should try out that king crab fishing that's shown on tv so much...

Oh, and enjoy the great scenery, I heard it's beautiful this time of year!

Have lots of fun! 

Malcolm who?

your going on vacation ??? what is this event you speak of and are their anymore available ???

Hey Malcolm..Hope you have a great time.  I'm so jealous, so that means you have to have enough fun for all of us.  Can't wait to see you in September. 

You should try out that king crab fishing that's shown on tv so much...

Oh, and enjoy the great scenery, I heard it's beautiful this time of year!

Have lots of fun! 

It was gorgeous.  A little rainy at times, but gorgeous.  As for the crabbing, three things kept me from doing it.  One, the king crab season is usually in the winter time.  Two, my route didn't take me out toward the Aleutians (and Dutch Harbor, which is the main port of call for the crabbing fleet while in Alaska) and three, the crabbing vessels featured on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" are all in their home port of Seattle.  That's okay though, I hit Seattle too, and got a picture of the "Sea Star", one of the five boats featured on the show. 

According to my guide, a couple of the other boats, "Time Bandit" and "Northwestern" (which shares its name with a World War I troop transport that at one point provided power and other necessities to the naval installation at Dutch Harbor even after being bombed by the Japanese in June of 1942) were up in Lake Union in Seattle for repairs, and weren't part of my tour.

I would've liked to have gotten to Dutch Harbor, but the cruise ships don't go out that way.  I did have a lengthly chat with my first tour guide in Fairbanks, who grew up there, and has worked with the crabbing fleet.

Enjoy, my friend!  But if the polar ice cap melts in the next three weeks, I'll know who to blame!

Ahh, darn it... The fact that everything is my fault strikes again!  On a related note, many of Alaska's glaciers have been receding at an alarming rate, pushed along by whatever nonsense name people are calling "Global Warming" these days.  Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau used to recede at a rate of about 60 feet per year, as little as a decade ago.  This last year, they measured the recession at 720 feet.  Projections for this year are suggesting 780 feet.

That's fairly typical now for many of the glaciers, to be receding at a rate of 10 times normal.  However, there are in fact still some advancing glaciers, so people are a little puzzled about it all. I got to see one of them, the Marjorie Glacier, in Glacier Bay National Park, and it 'calved' (That is, dropped off a big chunk into the water, forming an iceberg) right in front of me.  I got to see the creation of one of those things that downed the Titanic, from a vessel about the same size.  Thinking back on it, that was not the smartest move.

Oh, and whales rock.  Furthermore, a pod of 25 Orcas (with dorsal fins straight, not drooped over indicating disease, advancing of terminal illness or depression, as you will note Shamu's and Keiko's fins are) and 15 humpbacks doing aquabatics in feeding was very cool to see.

However, all that being said, I still very much missed not being at the event last weekend, and I just can't wait for the September event.

Have someone make sure to save you a cookie.

Hehehe.  Sounds scrumptious.

the glaciers are receding faster? we all know whose fault this is! on the count of three assign blame... 1....2.....3.... *points at Malcom*