With all the blog titles celebrating the arrival of Spring, I thought I should do a quick update from the interior of Alaska.
This is a shot from Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks of Mt. Mckinley. If you look carefully, you can see the highway and the railroad track. Much of the snow along the roads have been pushed way back into the ditches to try and eliminate water running across the highway and freezing. For us in Alaska, DOT actually going out to move the snow all the way off the highway is one of the best indicators of the arrival of Spring. I got in some riding Sunday morning along the Farmers Loop - Goldstream Valley loop and some fresh snow on ice made for a few exciting sections of the road. The bike continues to run wonderfully smooth though the 800 rpm idle seems low compared to what I am used to. It was a dreary, snowy day so I didn't stop to take any pictures.
Since I didn't post too many food pics from my Maryland trip, I thought I should at least add one of my favorite dinner in Annapolis. An assortment of three different kinds of oysters with just a little horseradish and lemons. Fresh seafood like this is just not available in Alaska contrary to what you may be led to believe. During the summer, salmon and halibut are readily available but all of the shellfish would be frozen at the cannery so what we get here isn't any different than you can find anywhere else in the country, I was kind of disappointed in the different crab cakes I tried in Maryland. I guess I must just prefer king and dungeness to blue.
And this one is for bobskoot. They served salmon Eggs Benedict on the flight from Chicago to Anchorage. Pretty decent hollandaise for a pre-prepared dish.
Today, it was -17°F and snowing so I opted not to ride in to work this morning. But it promises to be above 0°F tomorrow. And, I know it's hard to believe but no travel planned for a while except to Barrow later this month. How's that for a change.
Today, it was -17°F and snowing so I opted not to ride in to work this morning. But it promises to be above 0°F tomorrow. And, I know it's hard to believe but no travel planned for a while except to Barrow later this month. How's that for a change.
Richard:
ReplyDeleteI'm salivating over those eggs benedicts. I don't know why but I always order them, everywhere we go. Most are short on sauce as when the sauce is gone, there is still egg left. But when we make them at home we have a tablespoon with each bite.
The last couple of flights I have been on didn't serve any meals, just a package of cookies and a small beverage.
Your bike seems to be fixed
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
This one was also a little light on hollandaise but for airplane food, I can't complain. Plus, less sauce, less butter. For me, that's good...
DeleteEven in Alaska there are signs of spring (though somewhat mechanical) a sign is a sign; one man's robin is another man's snowplow (isn't that how the saying goes?)
ReplyDeleteHere the snow is cut back all winter long - they plow when they have to and cut the banks back when there isn't snow falling. Welcome home.
They don't bother cutting the snow back all the way since melting into the road isn't a problem until Spring arrives. But now that they did all the plowing, we are getting dumped on again.
DeleteStunning view on the Denali! You must be looking forward to Spring by now, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of rare for it to be completely cloud free. The glacier on the right is the main access to the mountain. I heard that flying up to the base camp is a great way to spend a day (and a pile of money). And, yes, looking forward to Spring.
DeleteMore snow? I hear it is snowing in Denver this morning too. But i am thinking you are a fair bit colder than they are.
ReplyDeleteGreat view from the plane. I am glad you had a sunny flight to catch that view.
More snow and more snow again! Today, it felt on the warm side. I think it was 9°F so I plugged in all my gear and was really getting hot while riding down the road. So the liner was turned off and was still almost too warm by the time I arrived at my office.
DeleteBTW, have I mentioned that driving the sidecar rig takes a little more physical effort than as a bike? At least I'm getting in a little exercise. The sunny views like that are more common in Spring than any other time of the year.