Friday, August 22, 2008

north to alaska


My friend in Germany, Elke, when she heard that we were going to Alaska for a few days, said, "You can visit our friend Basti the musher!..." ("Basti the musher" -- doesn't that sound like a name right out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel?). Basti the musher is a guy from their home town in northern Germany who moved to Alaska to breed and race sled dogs -- and mostly, apparently, to get far away from his father, Friedhelm.

Nothing quite that romantic is taking Jerry and me to Alaska (-- although I did own a Siberian husky for a brief time once, but that isn't a story worth telling! --). We just happened to have cheap airline tickets. We leave tomorrow for four days.

My impression is that there isn't a whole lot to do in Alaska except ooh and ahh at the scenery, unless you happen to be a sled-dog racer or an alcoholic, neither of which we are -- yet. The itinerary: We fly from MSP to Anchorage, where we will stay for a couple nights. Then we are taking the train (12 hours!) to Fairbanks, past breath-taking scenery (Mt. McKinley and glaciers and all that), then a day or so in Fairbanks, flying home from there.

I'm taking my laptop, so I'll keep you posted, if I can find an igloo with wireless internet!

no, not Kurt Vonnegut.. it's somebody else.....

1 comment:

muse said...

I would love to travel to Alaska! The scenery is an allure for me, but I also love to hike and fish. The wilderness calls my friend...take a camera and post some pics so I can ooh and aww in one breath and then curse my misfortune as to miss my opportunity to go when my girlfriend was stationed there.