The Silent "I"

Disney Wonder Comes to San Francisco

For the first time ever, the Disney Cruise Lines fabulous Disney Wonder arrived in San Francisco, en route to Vancouver.  The ship was on a repositioning cruise, moving from it's southern base in Los Angeles up to Vancouver for its maiden Alaska voyage in May.  Several of my favorite fellow mombloggers and I got to spend some time aboard the Disney Wonder on Friday afternoon, while most of the passengers were off exploring San Francisco.  Kimberley from Tippy Toes & Tantrums, Ana from Finding Bonggamom, and Whitney from Rookie Moms were all along for a special press tour and luncheon.

Each Disney ship features a character statue at the main floor landing, and Arielle is the star of the show on the Disney Wonder.  Ana was nice enough to pose with her. The ship, like Disneyland and Disneyworld, featured themes in every restaurant, hallway, and common area.

I really loved the giant Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture hanging over the main atrium in the ship.  It was like hundreds of giant technicolor blue and gold poppies hanging from the ceiling.

5 Fun Things to Do with Kids In & Around Anchorage

Planning a family vacation to Alaska? Be sure to stop in Anchorage, where fun activities for the whole family abound.  We spent a week in Anchorage in June, and these were some of the highlights of our trip.

1. Tour the Solar System. Downtown Anchorage offers you a unique opportunity to tour our entire solar system through the Lightspeed Planet Walking Tour.  Find the sun at the corner of 5th and G streets, where a map guides you through town to the various planets in the solar system.  The walking tour is designed to take you from the sun to each planet at a leisurely pace, approximating the speed of light. If you make it to Pluto, the entire trip would take over five hours.  Good thing Pluto is no longer a planet.

2. Visit the Native Heritage Center. The Native Heritage Center is a great place to learn about the history and culture of Alaska's indigenous people.  It boasts a well-curated museum of artifacts and a living-history tour of different styles of dwellings and lodges used by the five cultural groups represented in Alaska.  Kids can roam around and touch whale bones, totems, and tools used by Alaska natives in daily life.  Knowledgeable guides are on-hand to give you a feel for the story-telling traditions and village life.  Open in summer months only.

3. Explore the Anchorage Museum Imaginarium. We loved visiting the Anchorage Museum, particularly the Imaginarium's hands-on exhibits science and technology.  The Imaginarium contains several rooms of hands-on science exhibits for tots to teens to explore and learn.

4. Take a goofy photo at the Captain Cook Statue. Located at the end of 3rd Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Resolution Park boasts a statue of famed explorer Captain James Cook, whose travels took him from England to Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, and points around the globe. Captain Cook met with a tragic end in Hawaii, where he ended up on the wrong end of a pointy spear.  He may or may not have ended up the main course at a luau, along with the poi and poke salad.  At any rate, his voyage to Cook Inslet, near Anchorage, was a much less eventful journey.

5. Take a Glacier Cruise.  Drive about an hour outside Anchorage, and hop on a day cruise of the famous glaciers of Chugach National Park.  We liked the 26 Glaciers Cruise, which included a comfortable, roomy catamaran, lunch, and prime viewing spots for wildlife, glaciers, and gorgeous scenery.  It was an unforgettable tour for the entire family.

If you happen to be in Alaska from August 26-September 6, 2010, be sure to drive to Palmer to check out the Alaska State Fair.  We visited the State Fair in 1996, before our son was born, but it still holds a special place in my heart.  There, you can feast on fair food, hear live concerts, and check out some of the worlds largest vegetables.  Alaska's growing season may be short, but with nearly 24-hour daylight in mid-summer, cabbages can grow to the size of a Volkswagen.  Who among us can resist a ginormous squash?

Edgar Mitchell: To the Moon and Back

During our trip to Alaska, we spent some time with Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell.  Dr. Mitchell was invited to speak at the dinner banquet as part of the EIPBN conference, at my husband Frank's request. He is a fascinating person, and it's not every day you get to meet someone who actually walked on the moon.

The reason Dr. Mitchell was asked to speak is that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser.  The conference keynote speaker, Dr. Tony Siegman of Stanford, gave a retrospective on the history of the laser in the conference's opening session.  Dr. Siegman mentioned that one of the most unique scientific uses of the laser came in the early 1970's, when the Apollo astronauts placed laser retro-reflector arrays on the moon.  Because of this, scientists on earth can bounce a laser signal off the reflectors and measure the distance from the Earth to the moon, within a few centimeters of accuracy.  As Dr. Siegman got to this dramatic point, he invited Ed Mitchell up on stage with him, as a surprise to the audience. 

Dr. Mitchell related to the rapt audience that he actually didn't know much about the experiments that were planned with the lasers, but was under strict orders from NASA not to kick any dirt on the reflectors or he would be in trouble.  He showed a picture of one of the reflectors, with his footprints around it, and it looked like he accomplished his mission of keeping it clean.  He was told at the time that they would be in use for twenty years or so, so they needed to last.  That was in 1971, and the same retro-reflectors are still being used by NASA today, nearly forty years later.

It was Frank's idea to invite Ed Mitchell to speak at the conference.  As Conference Chair, Frank wanted to make it a memorable experience for the attendees.  As a boy, he admired the Apollo astronauts, and remembered the laser experiments as he grew up and became a laser scientist himself. He diligently researched which of the Apollo Astronauts were available for speaking engagements.  Sadly, many of them have passed away.  He was overjoyed when Dr. Mitchell agreed to speak. He was thrilled that our son would have the opportunity to meet someone who had actually traveled to the moon.

Our family had the pleasure of spending a little time with Ed Mitchell during our stay in Anchorage, at the official conference functions and by being his unofficial chauffeurs and guides.  He is a delightful, charming man, and was gracious in giving autographs and posing for pictures.  Alex got to meet him at the airport, and he signed one of Alex's stuffed animals for him, a little bear wearing a space suit that Frank bought at the National Air & Space Museum.  He even brought a photo of himself on the moon with him, and signed it "To Alex."

At the banquet, he spoke about the Apollo 14 mission, most of which is well documented in history and science books, in movies, and TV documentaries.  The part that interested me most was hearing about the profound personal and spiritual impact going into space had on him, the beauty of the earth from so far above, and the feeling of connection with the vastness of the universe.  Dr. Mitchell has written about his mystical experiences in his book, The Way of the Explorer.

Chugach National Forest: Ice, Ice, Baby

 On our final day in Alaska, we had the opportunity to take the 26 Glaciers Cruise out of Whittier.  This was a special excursion for the people attending Frank's EIPBN Conference, and there were some special buses chartered for the attendees to drive them down to Whittier.  We opted for the van, so for the second day in a row, we headed down to Whittier from Anchorage.  This time, there was a line of traffic waiting to go through the Whittier Tunnel, so the experience was quite different than being the sole car through the day, as we were on our fishing trip.

It was pouring rain in Whittier, and it didn't look good for our glacier viewing extravaganza. Nonetheless, we boarded the double-decker catamaran Klondike Express with high hopes of seeing some cool glaciers in action on our trip.  Since Frank was in charge of booking the tour, he scored the best seats in the house on the top floor in the front of the boat for our various family members. 

Whittier, Alaska: Fishing with Grandpa, Just for the Halibut

 
One of the highlights of our recent trip to Alaska was going fishing with my dad and son in Prince William Sound.  We chartered a boat through Bread n Butter Charters in Whittier, Alaska, based on a recommendation from an avid fisherman who lives next door to my friend, Susanne, in Anchorage.  He told Susanne that Bread n Butter would not disappoint us, and he was right. 

We got up at 3:45 am to drive down to Whittier so we wouldn't miss our 7 am launch.  Fortunately, it was light outside, so it didn't seem as early as it actually was.  When my dad says we're leaving at 4:15, by golly, we are leaving at 4:15.  We ended up driving Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell to the airport on our way out.  Dr. Mitchell was a featured speaker at the conference, and asked if he could hitch a ride, so we obliged.  He is a lovely man, and it's not every day you get to hang out with a true American hero. Dr. Mitchell, my dad, Alex, Ralph, and I all bundled into the car at exactly 4:15 am and set out.

The reason for the early rise was that we had to catch the Whittier Tunnel opening by 6:30 am, or we might miss the boat.  The Whittier tunnel is a one lane tunnel through the mountains that is used by cars and the train.  You have to time your trips to and from Whittier to coincide with the tunnel's schedule, or be off by an hour. We made it to the tunnel at 5:45, and were the last car through before they opened for traffic going back the other way. 

The tunnel was carved out by the Army, to connect their former secret military installation there to the main road for supplies.  We heard that they managed to blast out the two and a half mile tunnel in 6 months, with two crews working on each side, meeting up within 6 inches of each other in the middle.  The crudely carved-out tunnel looked like John Henry himself had just used his pick axe all the way through it.  It was kind of dark and creepy inside, and we were the only cars passing through at 5:30 am.

Bread n Butter Charters is owned and operated by Mary & Jim Norris.  Jim is the captain of the boat, and Mary does the bookings.  We got to the Charter office at the marina before they opened, but there was already another group waiting.  They were going on a different boat.  Mary came to open the office, and sold us our fishing licenses and took our payments for the trip.  The trip was pricey ($280/per person), but we were going out with an expert guide and would be out all day long.  I figured that I probably wouldn't have the chance to fish in Alaska with my dad again, so it was well worth it.

Alaska Native Heritage Center: A Walk in the Woods

We had the opportunity to attend a banquet at the Alaska Native Heritage Center while we were in Alaska, as part of Frank's EIPBN Conference.  It is a very special place, with living exhibits of Native life in each of the five cultural groupings that are indigenous to Alaska.  There are actually eleven distinct groups, but the Native Heritage Center has them grouped into five, based on linguistic similarities and geographic location.  Within the five groups, there are many distinct languages and cultures.

At the Center, the main building housing exhibits is situated on a lovely, small lake.  You take a path around the lake to see examples of different types of dwellings used by the five distinct groups of indigenous people represented in Alaska.  I didn't get to see the exhibits, but I did take a walk around the lake to see the dwellings.

I think I went the wrong direction, because I arrived late and went left to go clockwise around the lake.  The rest of the tour groups were going counter-clockwise.  I'm not sure it mattered that much.  The first building I came to was a gorgeous Eyak Log House with a totem pole next to it.  The Eyak people live in the southern part of Alaska.

The Anchorage Museum: A Great Place for Kids of All Ages

During our trip to Anchorage last week, we spent an afternoon exploring the Anchorage Museum, a modern, glass and chrome structure in the heart of downtown Anchorage. We had the rare treat of having both of Alex's grandmas along to see what the museum had to offer, along with Alex and myself.  It was a wonderful place for kids and adults alike, with a collection of exhibits on history, science, and art.  It was like MoMA, the Smithsonian, and the Tech Museum all rolled into one. This is one place I highly recommend for visitors to Anchorage.

 
The museum opened in 1968, and expanded through the 1990's with an infusion of oil revenues.  The current incarnation is a sleek, modern building with an impressive array of technology exhibits geared at science education, a terrific collection of Native Alaskan artifacts, a planetarium, upscale fine dining at the Muse Restaurant, and some interesting traveling exhibits as well.  The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center just opened recently, and is something that should be required viewing for anyone interested in Native Alaskan culture.

Alex particularly enjoyed the Imaginarium Discovery Center, a hands-on science exhibit on the first floor that introduces kids to physics, biology, and technology.  While mostly geared toward school-age children, there is a special section for kids ranging from infants to age 5. It's often hard to find things in museums for very young children, so I thought this was a terrific way to introduce kids to science at the earliest ages.

We started out looking at a Rube Goldberg-like contraption of balls, chutes, and wheels that was mesmerizing. The walls are adorned with inspirational words and quotes from scientists, like Albert Einstein's quote: "Nothing happens until something moves."

Denali National Park: Where the Wild Things Are

It seemed as though it took days for us to finally arrive at Denali National Park from Anchorage, even though our excursions through Wasilla and Talkeetna only lasted a couple of hours.  It's about a 6 hour drive from Anchorage to Denali, but if you stop to stare at scenic beauty and have snacks in cute towns every few miles, it takes quite a bit longer. 

At any rate, we made it to the Denali Bluffs Hotel by 10:00 pm. Due to the far north setting, the sun was nowhere near setting, so we felt like we were right on time. Or maybe it was 8:00 pm. Or 1:00 am. Who the heck knows in this part of the world.  We met up with Grandma Chris when we arrived, and she instructed us that the bus through the park was leaving at 6 am, so we'd better get to bed.  Her traveling companions, her sister Ruth and brother-in-law Ralph, had already retired for the night.

The next morning or later that night, or whatever, we got up and boarded a converted school bus run by Tundra Wilderness Tours, to take a ride through Denali National Park. We were on the hunt for the Big Five in wildlife in the park:  Moose, Bears, Wolves, Dall Sheep, and Caribou.  By "hunt", I don't mean actually hunting them to kill them, just to take their photos and try not to bother them as much as is humanly possible for a busload of tourists armed with cameras. 

Our bus was half-filled with people staying in our hotel, who were all instructed to sit on the left side of the bus.  We picked up the right half at another hotel down the road.  I think about 75% of the bus were very chipper Australians. We were a little bleary-eyed, but the Australians seemed very excited. It seems like everywhere we have traveled in the world, we've met groups of Australians who are raring to go at any time, any place.

Now We're Talking: Talkeetna

We ventured off the main Parks Highway to check out Talkeetna, Alaska, population 1,064, plus a busload or two of tourists.  If you were charmed by the 1990's television show Northern Exposure, Talkeetna would be right up your alley.  In fact, the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska was supposedly based on Talkeetna, although the show was actually filmed in Washington State.  The resemblance between the two was unmistakeable.

Frank insisted on having lunch at the historic Talkeetna Roadhouse, built in 1914.  Frank later explained that he wanted to eat there because it was the only restaurant listed in the AAA Guide.  We saw several other eateries on the main street, so either the guide was out of date or the other places were not worth mentioning.  Not wanting to risk it, we stuck with the AAA Guide recommendation.

You Say McKinley, I say Denali

We left Wasilla after a brief stop for provisions and headed down the Parks Highway toward Denali National Park.  I was impressed by the mountains that seemed to surround us on all sides, stretching out as far as the eye could see.  We decided to take a short detour to Talkeetna, about 15 miles off the main highway.  Alex and I were happily snoozing while Frank drove on toward our destination.

All of a sudden, Frank yelled, "McKinley!" and veered off the road to a scenic overlook.  I woke up with a start, thinking he was avoiding a moose or a bear or a Hell's Angel. I looked around and didn't see any wildlife, so I quickly figured out that the elusive Mt. McKinley was making a rare appearance through the clouds.

The Mountain Formerly Currently Known as McKinley is that tallest peak in North America at 20,320 feet.  It was named for President William McKinley in 1897, but Native Alaskans have petitioned the National Board of Geographic Names to change the name to the Alaskan name, Denali, meaning "The Great One" in Athabaskan.  The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name in 1975. They requested that the name be changed by the US Board, but based on some political shenanigans by the Congressman from William McKinley's home district in Ohio, the name has not yet been officially changed.  Alaskans call the mountain Denali; visitors call it McKinley.  I call it "Gorgeous".

It's hard to describe seeing the mountain emerge in the distance, since most of the time it is shrouded by cloud cover.  We were told by numerous people that we had a 20% chance of seeing it during our visit, so I could understand Frank's excitement when he realized that the snow-covered peak emerging from the mist was the fabled mountain itself.  The only thing I can compare it to is riding down the highway from Alexandria to Cairo and seeing the Pyramids emerge from the haze in the distance, like a mirage or a waking dream.