The ***OFFICIAL*** Weekend Singles' Thread -- "Alaska Singles Thread (January 05 - 07, 2007,)

various | 5th January 2007 | Proud_yank

[snugs]

The 49th State - The Last Frontier
by proud_yank

Having recently moved here, I thought an Alaskan Singles Thread would be pretty fun.

Alaska is the largest state in America, roughly twice the size of Texas (sorry Texas!).

Putting Alaska into perspective. The Aleutian Islands over California, and South-eastern Alaska over Georgia.

An interesting fact I learned the other day is that in addition to being the Western and Northern-most state, Alaska is also the Eastern-most state too. The Western tip of the Aleutian Islands is just West of the International Dateline.

Alaska can be separated into five regions. The Far North (Also known as the 'North Slope') extends from the Brooks Range (the Northern-most extension of the Rocky Mountains) to the Arctic Ocean. Here are some photos of the Brooks Range, and the North Slope region. Barrow is the most Northern city in America. For fun, here is Barrow's weather.

Most people in Alaska live in Southcentral Alaska (Anchorage), and then the Interior (Fairbanks). Temperatures in the interior are sometimes colder than in the Arctic. Western Alaska is famous for the finish of the Iditarod dog-sled race in Nome. Southeastern, and the Interior, are famous for the Klondike gold rush.

Juneau, the state capitol is located in Southeastern Alaska. As a staunch conservative, it makes me smile that the govt. is located somewhere that can only be reached by boat or plane :-).

The Regions of Alaska

There are lots of moose here, and you really have to be careful driving. In the winter moose will come down from the mountains, and casually stroll through downtown Anchorage. We had one right outside the front door of our main office today! Other animals here include caribou, grizzly, polar, and black bears, muskoxen, beaver, otters, wolves, wolverines, tons of birds, and lots of delicious fish!

Some other interesting info about Alaska....

At 20,320 ft., Alaska has North America's highest peak, Denali.
State bird - Willow Ptarmigan.
State fish - King Salmon.
State tree - Sitka Spruce.
State spore - Dog mushing.
State animal - Moose.
State flower - Wild Native Forget-me-Not.
State song - 'Alaska's Flag'.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue -
Alaska's flag. May it mean to you
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams;
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear" - the "Dipper" - and, shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
Over land and sea a beacon bright.
Alaska's flag - to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.

Here are some of my photos that I've put online so far

[proud_yank]

Nice photos, when were you up here?

[Mama_Bear]

We were there the middle of July - we took the Princess roundtrip San Francisco cruise through the inside passage. Can't say that I "saw" Alaska, but I did see a very pretty part of it, along with those awesome whales. We went into Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. I enjoyed getting to visit the places that I had read about in Michener's "Alaska", especially Skagway.

Someday I'd like to take a trip through Denali National Park...then I will feel like I can actually say that I've "seen" Alaska.

[pcottraux]

Yeah, I got all slept up. Fortunately, my parents don't prevent me from sleeping as late as I want...at least for now.

[pcottraux]

Yes, hey.

[thackney]

Is this regular dress or one of those photo ops where they dress you for shoot?

We always dress like that when we dog sled to the cabin. Actually a photo shop near Denali with the props.

Gorgeous dog.. what is breed?

Virtual, they put him in electronically after the photos. We had a retired racing greyhound at the time, but didn't take him traveling that far.

[thackney]

I live in Eagle River. The eagle pictures are from my home or within a couple hundred feet. Most days we get between 6 to 20. Once in a great while we will get over 50 at once. From Anchorage, drive past the River and take the next exit (at the top of the hill, Artillery Road). Take a right staying in the right lane and right again at the stop sign. Watch for the Fire Station (1/4 mile) on the right. Just past it is the VFW hall, turn left there on to Fire House Lane. The Eagles hang out starting at the VFW and into the area to the right after you turn on Fire House Lane. Take a right at the stop sign, Old Eagle River Road and keep looking to the right, more eagle are usually over the creek. Best viewing time is in the morning, 10 am to 12 noon. If you have some old fish in the freezer, toss it in the VFW parking lot, step back and get your camera ready. It has become a place for people to get rid of their freezer burned salmon and the eagles know it.

I'll be in the office next week, any day but Wednesday or Thursday is good for lunch.

[ilovew]

Well, that's nice. If it weren't for the silly cats harassing me all night, I might have gotten more sleep. Oh well.

[thackney]

Absolutely great whale photos. And you are right, you need to see Denali. I recommend a zoom lens of at least 10x; you may not to want to be too close to some of those critters.

[RandallFlagg]

Checking in again. Hi, all!

[darkangel82]

Good evening Randall. (or afternoon, whatever)

[RandallFlagg]

Hello.
Just about to get off of work in a couple of hours and pick up my Sons.

[ilovew]

Awww cute little critters! :)

[ilovew]

Hiya!

[RandallFlagg]

Jambo!

[darkangel82]

Good. Work on a Sat. evening, that really bites.

[RandallFlagg]

No biggie for me. I'll be off until Thursday morning.
12-hour shifts every 4 days, off the next four.

[proud_yank]

Having visited SE Alaska, you might enjoy reading 'George Carmack' by James Albert Johnson. link

It was an interesting story, and lots of gold rush history is down in that area.

[proud_yank]

No kidding?!? I'll have to check that out. I don't have any old salmon, heck, I don't have ANY salmon..

[snugs]

Hosts required.

Thank you to the volunteers that we have so far - next weekend pcottraux - thanks Phil

The Valentine's Weekend - The Spirit Of Allegiance - Thanks Lyman - Please confirm that you are still available and exact date - whether the weekend before or after Valentine's.

Please freep me if you would like to be a host or co-host you do not have to do anything fancy and I can help with basic HTML or posting photos or fancy text. Thanks in advance.

[RockinRight]

Good evening.