My Travel Log.

[maxie]

When Sierra was in one of the lower grades they were given an Iditarod sledder and had to follow them through the race. The kids really got into it. She was with me then and we would look up the route every morning and mark the progress. I still sorta, kinda, follow it annually. At least I understand what it is and how it is run. So interesting that you were actually around it. I have really enjoyed your trip through your eyes and experiences. Where are we going next?

[JoGee]

Thanks so much, Maxie.
I can see how they get caught up in these races now. The people really get to know the trainers/owners and dogs. Last night I hate to tell you how much steak I didn't touch, and found myself asking one of our guides how to donate it to the race dogs!

Next trip, hopefully, a Mediterranean cruise to include Greece.
Will be saving our pennies.

Oh, my big memento this trip is a pair of earrings made of mammoth tooth. E says not to expect such gifts everywhere I go --- very costly. However I know if I find "mementos" I find meaningful, he will do his best to see if he can get it for me. He is without doubt my greatest treasure.

[Paula A]

Oh, my gosh! I have loved this trip! Thanks for writing so much of it.
I can only imagine what is in store ( did I just mention shopping?!) for the next trip!

[JoGee]

Thanks, Paula. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I will be posting pictures as soon as I can after we are home.

[determined]

Jo have enjoyed the trip, waiting on pics to go with it.

[jostoy]

Being a dog lover, I enjoyed your description of the sled race... not that I didn't enjoy everything you saw and described. Just hope that you got some shots of the Auroras. Just too bad that the clouds had to spoil your main reason for the trip.

[JoGee]

Jostoy, I'm sorry to say there were no Aurora pictures. Things you learn too late: tourist cameras won't do the trick. You need a larger, more complicated camera. It requires a longer shutter opening, or time-lapse photography to capture the auroras. You also need a means of keeping your camera batteries from freezing. Imagine, it took my glasses a couple of minutes to frost-up; removing the glasses meant feeling the freezing discomfort on your eyeballs!

Someone did go to another area and got a few good shots, but this Aurora was a smaller one, just green and white. I'd asked for a copy from someone he had shared it with, but she wouldn't share it. I'm hoping yet to see other Aurora pictures posted at the leader's website, but nobody is posting any yet. Only 3 people in the group, other than the leaders, had the proper type of camera. The leaders didn't snap pictures, because they were helping the others with their camera.

As it is, our Aurora was a muted gray-green to the eye. The only other one was the last night, when we didn't go out. There was a bright green line on the horizon. The rest of the sky was heavily clouded.

[JoGee]

Sorry I haven't posted the pics yet. I can't figure out how the setting for it works.
So E said he'd creat a personal website for me, then I can post and you can view. I'm glad a lot of the members of our group are staying in touch and sharing pictures. Even got a picture of our entire group except for the Aussie couple who refused to be photographed.
In the meantime, I have collected a picture of the minor Aurora that we did see, and another once that occurred there two hours after we left.
I've taken well over 200 pictures, most of which were taken from a moving bus and moving train. Surprisingly, most came out very well, and a small amount have been discarded. Now to sort once more for redundancy.

[determined]

Ahh the mystery of the Aussie couple. Like your trip mate said they could be wanted somewhere, maybe they are hiding from someone (X spouse). Could be witness protection??????????

[JoGee]

Whatever! My observation is that they travelled light. Maybe 2 outfits each. In their 50's-60's. They were good clothes, but looked old or well worn. He was always with black pants and gray sweater; she wore a dull burnt orange color most of the time; practical clothes - but they blended in, almost unnoticed. He had gray hair and beard; her hair dark and pinned into a knot. Quiet, and off by themselves mostly. Only spoke when spoken to, but spoke with a small smile and very short answers. (E tried talking to him.) At a glance, you wouldn't think they could afford the trip itself; but joining the Excursion group, it costs. E found he could save a good sum by making our travel and hotel reservations separately. Except for the Fairbanks hotel where the group were staying. I don't know if the couple cut corners as we did, but if they let the Excursion company handle it, they have far more moolah than we do.

[determined]

Maybe they crashed the trip and were hoping no one really noticed them

[JoGee]

That's funny. They had rosters for everything. We couldn't ride the first leg of the train trip as we were last to sign up and they already had a set number of tickets. So we rode the bus to the next depot and had train tickets from there. Your seats are numbered, and some other lady was ticked that we "had her seat", but she wasn't supposed to be in our car anyway. But the group leaders located her stuff (scattered on that train car --- did we miss an orgy???). I wished we'd stayed on the bus, before long. The kitchen didn't have enough food. We missed lunch and we weren't assigned to the dining car by the train's "matre de" til the very last to get to the dining car. E & I split a plate.....dry stringy chicken, mashed potatoes, a vegetable -- all room temp -- and an ice cold dinner roll with cold butter (which I couldn't eat). The girl who wanted chili had to order something else because they ran out.
By the time we got back to our seats, we were almost at our destination. The bus driver arrived a full 3 hours earlier. He and the maids got all the luggage into the assigned rooms (another roster).
Oh yes, that odd couple also didn't ever wear their name tags, either. But everyone had to meet in Anchorage, so they were on the leaders' rosters. I don't remember seeing that couple that very last morning, so they probably left very early. I preferred the breakfast buffet before we left. They sure had excellent quality food, wonderfully prepared.

Guess we will never know about that mysterious couple. But they are ones we will remember, for the silliness of it, if nothing else. The good news is there were no murders, explosions, or major thefts on the trip.

[Paula A]

The whole trip has been so interesting, but, like you, what has intrigued me the mist, is the Aussie couple! Corporate spies in the travel industry scoping out their competition?
I always wonder about the witness protection people when we are driving through some horrible, barren stretch and see some house...back roads of Nevada, Idaho, outskirts of Red Bluff! Like, Why would anyone want to live there?! (Not meaning to offend. It just passes the time.)
You are right: we will never know, but that won't stop me from creating my own scenario!

[JoGee]

And this is where good mystery books come from, for anyone who aspires to writing.

One of J.A.Jance's early books, the story set in the desert area somewhere east and south of Sierra Vista, somewhere where gas lines were referred to "a pig in a poke".

Well, don't you know that "a pig in a poke" was referred to at the Alaska pipe line above ground site. It is a device that fits snugly inside an oil or gas pipeline and is sent through it to clean or test the inside, or to act as a barrier.

But in Jance's book, it was bags of money or stolen goods that was hidden in the pipeline for safekeeping, or to push through to an outlet at another crook's property.

[determined]

Jo, you may be watching some mystery show some night and see the Aussie couple on it. I don't know if they even have those shows on any more. America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mystery's and such like.