After many efforts to share my thoughts, feelings, and pictures with my friends and family from so far away, I've decided to combine it all and start a blog. I hope that this will suit my need to give info and updates to everyone, all in one spot. Right now, Kyle and I are house-sitting for Kyle's boss, so we are enjoying all of the luxuries that come along with living in a real house. We have internet (!), a couch, a kitchen, and cats. Just to name a few of the exciting perks. We had a beautiful day off yesterday. Our goal was to go snowshoe-ing with the bright orange, plastic kiddie snowshoes that were discarded in the luggage room of the Grande Aleutian Hotel (where I work.) First our plan was thwarted by car troubles from our trusty steed of a vehicle: The Becky Lynn. 
Now, I know that she looks like a sturdy Ford Bronco, and in great condition, but The Becky Lynn has some issues with one annoying little challenge: driving without breaking down. We paid $250 each for the car, so it's not like we shouldn't have seen it coming. The thing about driving in Dutch Harbor is: you don't want a nice car, because it won't be nice by the time you leave. The road from the Grande Aleutian to the Unisea (basically THE main drag in Dutch Harbor) alone has at least 3500 potholes. And I'm talking about 3 ft deep and 2ft wide potholes. I'm pretty sure that pregnant women are warned by their doctors not to drive on it, as it would surel
y cause miscarriages.
So we traded in Becky Lynn for Kyle's boss' car (another fantastic perk of house-sitting) and got on the road. Our next obstacle came from the poor road conditions, instead of from the car. You see, most of Dutch Harbor and Unalaska is covered in a gentle blanket of about 5-12 feet of snow. We tried to go up Overland Drive to Overland Pass, which consisted of a narrow strip of road buffered on each side by gigantic mountains of freshly plowed snow. Unfortunately, we didn't know just how freshly plowed it was until we reached the plow about a 1/2 mile in. Kyle did an amazing job driving backward down the narrow, winding tunnel of road that we had just traversed.
Now, I know that she looks like a sturdy Ford Bronco, and in great condition, but The Becky Lynn has some issues with one annoying little challenge: driving without breaking down. We paid $250 each for the car, so it's not like we shouldn't have seen it coming. The thing about driving in Dutch Harbor is: you don't want a nice car, because it won't be nice by the time you leave. The road from the Grande Aleutian to the Unisea (basically THE main drag in Dutch Harbor) alone has at least 3500 potholes. And I'm talking about 3 ft deep and 2ft wide potholes. I'm pretty sure that pregnant women are warned by their doctors not to drive on it, as it would surel
y cause miscarriages.So we traded in Becky Lynn for Kyle's boss' car (another fantastic perk of house-sitting) and got on the road. Our next obstacle came from the poor road conditions, instead of from the car. You see, most of Dutch Harbor and Unalaska is covered in a gentle blanket of about 5-12 feet of snow. We tried to go up Overland Drive to Overland Pass, which consisted of a narrow strip of road buffered on each side by gigantic mountains of freshly plowed snow. Unfortunately, we didn't know just how freshly plowed it was until we reached the plow about a 1/2 mile in. Kyle did an amazing job driving backward down the narrow, winding tunnel of road that we had just traversed.
We tried yet another road out of town and got stuck in the snow 
and had to force the car back the way it came. It looked like all was lost. I got some shots of eagles patrolling the road, though. These birds are so amazing and they're EVERYWHERE.
and had to force the car back the way it came. It looked like all was lost. I got some shots of eagles patrolling the road, though. These birds are so amazing and they're EVERYWHERE. So, we finally did make it to Westward Valley, where we hiked for a few miles. My bright orange, plastic snowshoes worked great, but Kyle had a few problems with his. They wouldn't stick to his feet so he just threw them aside and hiked with snow up to his knees. It's weird that snowshoes actually keep you afloat above the snow, it's much easier than kicking holes through on every step.
The view was spectacular and we found a really cool World War II bunker hidden in the snow. It 
was built into a hill so we didn't know how big it was until we jumped down into it. The bunker was large, with several rooms, all dangerously in ill repair. It's so amazing to see American ruins abandoned in a completely natural environment. In most places in the country these artifacts are preserved, placed in or made into museums, and otherwise altered and displayed (and, for the most part, it's good! Without this we'd probably destroy everything of historical value that we have.) But one thing that makes this place so amazing is that, outside of the processing plants and fishing vessels, 90% of the island is basically untouched. People find guns, old bathtubs, shipwrecked boats, native artifacts and bunkers on hiking trips. On a nice day, the island truly is a paradise. It's too bad that those days equate to approximately .013% of days per year (I made that percentage up- but the weather is bad.)
was built into a hill so we didn't know how big it was until we jumped down into it. The bunker was large, with several rooms, all dangerously in ill repair. It's so amazing to see American ruins abandoned in a completely natural environment. In most places in the country these artifacts are preserved, placed in or made into museums, and otherwise altered and displayed (and, for the most part, it's good! Without this we'd probably destroy everything of historical value that we have.) But one thing that makes this place so amazing is that, outside of the processing plants and fishing vessels, 90% of the island is basically untouched. People find guns, old bathtubs, shipwrecked boats, native artifacts and bunkers on hiking trips. On a nice day, the island truly is a paradise. It's too bad that those days equate to approximately .013% of days per year (I made that percentage up- but the weather is bad.)So this is my first attempt to blog Alaska. That's sort of a day in the life- if I had off from work and it was sunny everyday. I'll probably be posting sporadically (maybe a few more times today to make up for lost time, and then whenever I feel like it or do something cool.) I'll put a link to my photobucket page on the site so you can view all of my pictures.
1 comment:
I love your narrative and funny comments. Exactly where did you get that sense of humor from?
Dad
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