My Alaska trip in video!

[jimnyc]

The best part of Alaska was spending time with Rick and Sharon. I was made to feel like family. They are 2 of the nicest people you can ever meet. I had so much fun, such a blast, and the majority was because of the company I was with. You can't end up in the middle of Alaska, and have the absolute best time of your life, unless you are with some truly great friends. It was so obvious that they extended themselves to ensure I had the trip of a lifetime. And I did!! And I won't soon forget. And I have the photos and videos to prove it!! But yeah, while the wildlife was just awesome, and the scenery simply incomparable - the company and the fun we had just left me grinning from ear to ear for every last second I was there!

I had a very good conversation with one of Rick's closest friends while I was there. He told me how Rick and the family met, and how he knew Rick from when he was a little one growing up off the river we were at. Just listening to the conversation was a treat in itself! Alaska is just simply amazing. But he spoke of the cabin, and how isolated it is, and how it's unique in what no one else can ever experience. I had a tour guide like none other. Folks who spent the entire time showing me the best of the best - while those who spend many thousands to go via Princess or Norwegian Cruises or similar, all get horded around like cattle, have little time and all see the same crap for limited amounts of time. What I got to see and experience was what one would likely take 10 trips to Alaska to see and experience, and then even then, they still wouldn't get to see and experience all that I did. Hell, I got to meet Sharon's Mom and brother, and they were so friendly and awesome as well!!

Now let me tell you about Rick, and roughing it, and growing up with this. This is NO JOKE!! Rick is a beast. Calves the size of a bear, and forearms and biceps to match! Staying at the cabin is heaven on earth, but is also a lot of hard work you have to put in to make it all come together. It kinda shows that Rick and Sharon and the others have all done this before - while the New Yorker was getting his ass kicked daily!! I survived it all, and I think I carried my own weight at least - and mind you, I lost 14lbs while on vacation! LOL Oh, and Rick tried to off me a few times too!! The best time? Putting a 30 gallon container of gas on the back of a 4 wheeler. That 4 wheeler was backed out in the water about 10 feet or so in 1/2 a foot of water, in order to unload this 240lb beast of a container. My ONLY job was to kneel with the gas to hold it steady. That lasted literally about 3 seconds until Rick hit the first big rock. First Jim did a back flop on his head and landed squarely on his back in that water - followed very closely by that slightly heavy container landing on my left leg and kinda pinning me in that shallow water! Rick thought I was dead. LOL I had the adrenaline going and only cared about the gas!! I sure as hell didn't want to go spend the next 3 hours to repeat the process. We all survived though and got a good laugh at the dumb NY'er! Mind you, that was only one time out of 3 I fell in, if I recall correctly. :)

Btw, the tough New Yorker lost 14lbs over the duration of Rick trying to beat me to death!! :)

I'll post the videos today, but the pictures will likely be spread out for awhile as there are like 700 of them or so.

It all started as I got to watch NY get smaller and smaller through my little airplane window:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLC6lvLa2cM

[jimnyc]

I was dead to the world upon arrival, anxiety through the roof. Rick and Sharon were VERY understanding of me, and I hit the hay gearing up for the next day and our trip to L5!!

So we slowly loaded up the "ducky". This is Rick's sweet as Duckworth Jet boat, which was just a beast. It was raining for our trip there. This is my first shots of the Talkeetna River, and Rick's mastery of the river. Even for free I wouldn't want to navigate this river on someone else's boat. 17mph moving water, extremely shallow at points, and one must REALLY know what they're doing. The videos are deceiving, as Rick's boat is fast as hell, but you're fighting the river going upstream. And this is where our 25 mile journey to the cabin begins!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxixgC48ZSQ

[jimnyc]

This is Rick's friend, Patrick. He was fun and cool as hell. He's a forestry guy, and climbed the tree like a monkey with his belts and spiked shoes, and started cutting away at a tree that was getting to "lean friendly" towards the cabin. You couldn't pay me to do this job!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVPqhIbVY3s

[jimnyc]

The upper half comes down! More intimidating than you think as the earth shakes when she hit the ground!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lcj0F261tk

[jimnyc]

Preparing to rip her down! Rick is using the big quad 4 wheeler with rope tied to it, me hanging on the back with my phone thinking the tree is going to crush me!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx_JkAHcY_4

And down she comes and scares the crap out of me!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3GQ3OakQs

[jimnyc]

Here we are cruising up the Talkeetna River, going on my first fishing trip.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-spf6MNdHgc

[jimnyc]

Up the Talkeetna, and that's Odin on the floor, Patrick's dog. What an awesome pup!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSlt9ePRcE

[jimnyc]

The scenery was just non-stop damn awesome!! This is the sheer canyon walls heading up towards the rapids.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mquOpmjOK1U

[jimnyc]

Flying up the Talkeetna, just beautiful


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp3yvB8U4pk

[jimnyc]

Hittin the rapids!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgbE81sEU98

[jimnyc]

Calmer waters somewhere on the river


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m-TZQoM8Q0

[jimnyc]

Rick fighting her hard and kicking the river's ass going upstream


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSo_c9o3qow

[jimnyc]

Look dead center towards top of video, you'll see a beaver swimming into the bushes. At first, he swam into the clear part of the stream. Hell, I never saw one up close before. He was under the water and I literally kinda yelled out "WTF is that!!". I thought it was like a 100lb Salmon at first!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzu80IlMptA

[jimnyc]

This is in the bedroom at Rick's cabin. Don't tell anyone, but I found me a little hottie chickadee up there and she was under the sheets with me!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVwRZzI0o8s

[jimnyc]

We went back downstream a few times, this was to go pickup Sharon as she had to work one more time. We came down on the Alaska Railroad tracks. Again deceiving, as we were flying!! Did a quick 180 and into the launch area!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2o1FNzIf_8

[jimnyc]

Gotta pop out, post more later!

[jimnyc]

More scenery on the Talkeetna


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SS_KJN0tq8

[jimnyc]

Canyon walls near the rapids on our way to go fishing


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV9N9eK-Z5w

[jimnyc]

Heading up river to "Disappointment Creek". Apparently back in the day, where these 2 rivers intersect, it looked like a great place to pan for gold. Apparently it wasn't so, hence the name. It also disappointed me, as I soon screwed up and lost a massive trout that I hooked into! "The one that got away". It was cool though, as 10 minutes later I got my King!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIr3SlbL3Eo

[jimnyc]

Another fun 180 around the tracks to the boat launch.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjix0l7YbCM

[jimnyc]

The fast moving waters when at Disappointment Creek, the water moves at 17mph


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEr_NitOKDI

[jimnyc]

To give a better perspective, this is a big 'ol log, moving on by like it was a twig!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvghuHo2nE

[jimnyc]

This is Frost, a HUGE Shepherd, Milo, a Jack Russell & Riley, a Karelian Bear, all of my buddies!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxg1BsqLTTA

[jimnyc]

Me spoiling and petting Riley


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVgZgs51060

[jimnyc]

Sitting on the back of the 4 wheeler, driving along the river from Rick's boat up to the cabin


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkDBK4qEegs

[jimnyc]

All the dogs on the boat. Psycho aka Riley likes to hang off the back and bite the mean mean water!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yWJmqlzL6s

[jimnyc]

Here is Frost playing with his tiny little ball :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lftZy_rEnEo

[jimnyc]

Nice little view alongside the river


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRq4Fr49FY

[jimnyc]

Rick and Sharon took me for a long drive through "Hatcher's Pass", which is an old mining territory through the endless beautiful mountains. This was a paraglider who was gliding through the air and then back onto the same mountain top, looking for the right time to let her rip.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqE1L5kxlGo

[jimnyc]

We were up in the clouds!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op30IRP0YmU

[jimnyc]

Just a little mountain


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FG2IdcChE4

[jimnyc]

Another beautiful view in the mountains at Hatcher's Pass


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFC-ajbl1qw

[Kathianne]

Just awesome, Jim! I was jealous, now I'm green with envy. The raw beauty is just breathtaking.

[jimnyc]

Sweet, a lake up in the middle of the mountain


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT90Vm26ays

[jimnyc]

Coming down through the pass and you come upon these rapids


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVBrKDXExHY

[jimnyc]

Another view of the rapids


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3A7wH8_xa8

[jimnyc]

So I come out of the store with a bottle of "Alaska Glacial Water" and Rick got a chuckle out of it, telling me about how so many of these places claim to have gotten this pure water from the glaciers.

So Rick took me up along the Matanuska River (spelling?), which as you get closer and closer to the Matanuska Glacier, the water is rushing harder and harder - looked like what it does when a tsunami rolls in and it's all muddy looking and filled with debris. This is what would be in your bottle:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MDoMH6EBgY

[jimnyc]

Now these 2 videos are for Abbey

Cruising down the highway and Rick stops on a dime and reverses, and here was Momma with her little baby!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D0zT2xKVTc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OuxyUnixs

[jimnyc]

This was a little scary! This is an old one lane bridge going over the Matanuska river towards the glacier


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtD3ywzaW3o

and then back across


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2bGnC_HMnw

[jimnyc]

And now these 2 videos are for hjmick

This is at the Iditarod museum. Folks took a ride through the woods on a summer sled with the Malamutes working/playing hard!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsiFwm-W1TQ

And then it was our turn!! Rick does a little narrating for us!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eA0vrqoILg

[jimnyc]

Ok, more later!!

[Kathianne]

That sled ride, worth the trip on its own! :clap:

[jimnyc]

My bad on the doggies, they are actually the real deal Huskies that run the Iditarod. I always thought "Siberian Huskies" when I think of Alaska, but it's more Malamutes. So naturally, being the dumbass that I am, I just ASSumed that these were Malamutes!

[jimnyc]

At the end of Hatcher's Pass, where the rapids are, that is actually "The Little Susitna River".

[jimnyc]

At Hatcher's Pass, at the peak summit, it was 3,800 feet and felt like we were 3800 miles up!!

The temperature dropped 15 degrees up there, and then back up as we got out of the mountains!

[jimnyc]

Just your everyday run of the mill Musk Ox


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIJnn8G6aeM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFx4df5Cz5Q

[jimnyc]

Rick will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is some of Santa's Reindeer?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fENe7Gx9vo

[jimnyc]

Some regular 'ol deer being lazy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tAI43RjdgU

[jimnyc]

Big Brown Bear


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99vOCgv2qSw

[jimnyc]

A bald Eagle just sitting around looking bad ass!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wpgj6hL0Q4

[jimnyc]

Just an 8 1/2 foot tall Grizzly Bear, deciding on whether or not he wanted to eat me, and then decided he had an itch instead!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG_TaZYfaHo

He decided to move up close for me


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTpZ0CwJezM

Look at the tiny little feet!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gKtrc9Jj7U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsAKDS2Tmgg

And this was about 5 seconds after I changed my shorts, after he scared the bejesus out of me!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixVO2Jfjhi0

[jimnyc]

What a beautiful white wolf, up close and personal!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrMWawtniK0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIDE7vXfur0

[jimnyc]

Apparently, these black bears are the ones you see the most, as they are bold and stupid and are most likely to be out in the open, or come up to "human occupied" areas and eat you for breakfast.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DoAThNmcJo

Here he is up close


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwKv7KoaRs

The black bear with that beautiful snow capped mountain in the background!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_89JfnSh88


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d6VCYzZfXw

I was hoping he was going to bite that guy hanging over with the camera


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_7sIHzcTE0

[hjmick]

Touch the fence! Touch the fence!


Wait...


Pee on the fence! Pee on the fence!

[jimnyc]

Had left Alaska, and was now just leaving the crappy Dallas Fort Worth airport, that I spent about 9 hours at all told!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXMgtWozFAI

[jimnyc]

This is the end of my trip, but just via the videos. I have another 700 pictures or so of a lot more cool stuff to go through and share with everyone.

This was just as the captain went over the loudspeaker with "Flight attendants, please prepare for landing". I rolled up my window and this was my view just prior to landing. Yes, I was sad. :(

I already miss Rick and Sharon. I miss Alaska and all of that beauty, and all of that wildlife. Man, I couldn't thank them enough for what they extended for me. I know home is where home is. But I was in a slice of heaven there for awhile, something all so new to me, literally an adventure. I did a LOT of camping in my life, and a fair amount of travel along the entire east coast mostly. This was different. All those cool things I've seen only on TV my entire life, I got to see and live in a short 10 days. Forever grateful!!!

And this damn crappy view ended it all, a little different than Alaska!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVPyOlMlYps

[jimnyc]

Touch the fence! Touch the fence!


Wait...


Pee on the fence! Pee on the fence!

Of course I thought of that, at least the touching part. My Dad used to always trick me into touching the wires where they had the cows in Pennsylvania. But those are fairly lame. I would imagine whatever they are using to deter a grizzly bear from wanting to eat a crowd of ooooh and ahhhhhhhers, is a much stronger voltage!

[NightTrain]

We enjoyed your visit, it was a pleasure having you up.

Now you need to plan a trip for next summer!

[Russ]

The upper half comes down! More intimidating than you think as the earth shakes when she hit the ground!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lcj0F261tk

I could swear that the bottom half of that tree was going to fall backward, with Patrick landing underneath it! Very cool job by him to maintain the bored facial expression the whole time! :cool:

[jimnyc]

Rick will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is some of Santa's Reindeer?


Apparently, to my surprise, Santa's little reindeers are actually "Elk".

I used to belong to the Elk's Lodge years back, ya would think I would know that then! I was too busy just joining for the .25 cent beers!! :coffee:

[hjmick]

< under my breath >


Geez, couldn't he have just edited them together and posted one video? Four pages of 24 - 90 second videos, oyvay!


< end >



Looks like you had a great time dude. Ready to take the Mrs? When are you moving?

[jimnyc]

I could swear that the bottom half of that tree was going to fall backward, with Patrick landing underneath it! Very cool job by him to maintain the bored facial expression the whole time! :cool:

Yeah, they said he went about 8 feet swinging each way after the cut! Damn tree monkey!! Like I said, couldn't pay me to climb and do that shit, but he was good!!

[jimnyc]

< under my breath >


Geez, couldn't he have just edited them together and posted one video? Four pages of 24 - 90 second videos, oyvay!


< end >



Looks like you had a great time dude. Ready to take the Mrs? When are you moving?

Edited them together? WTF do I look like? Someone who has a clue how to do that? LOL I suck with any type of video editing. One long movie I thought of - I could take them, or all of my photos, and use a CD creator to make them into a movie with background music and what not, but thought it better to maybe write like a 'tard about some of them. Was just too damn much fun!! Dang, wait till I post a bunch of pictures, and you see that while I was out there I also visited the Democrat National Committee Headquarters!!

I'm gonna try to get her up there!! She's a tough nut to crack, but I think if she were to ever visit, she would like to get a place there! If you owned a place somewhere, and only visited once per year, it would be MORE than worth it!!

[darin]

can't tell you how much I appreciated seeing this stuff. :D Thanks Jim and Rick!

[Abbey Marie]

Now these 2 videos are for @Abbey (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=11)

Cruising down the highway and Rick stops on a dime and reverses, and here was Momma with her little baby!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D0zT2xKVTc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OuxyUnixs


Aww! I do love it. In Maine, we had to go on a ""Moose watching" tour to be sure to see one. And even then, mom was a bit away in a pond.
jimnyc

Was that your voice, Jim?

[NightTrain]

Aww! I do love it. In Maine, we had to go on a ""Moose watching" tour to be sure to see one. And even then, mom was a bit away in a pond.
@jimnyc (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=1)

Was that your voice, Jim?

That was me saying "Abbey will love you for this," and it was Jim that said, "Hi, Abbey!".

[jimnyc]

Aww! I do love it. In Maine, we had to go on a ""Moose watching" tour to be sure to see one. And even then, mom was a bit away in a pond.
jimnyc

Was that your voice, Jim?

Rick narrated and then my voice sounding retarded popped in with the "hey Abbey". :laugh:

[Abbey Marie]

Not gonna lie, I was very tickled to hear you guys talking to me.
:2up:

It's almost like we were all together.

[Kathianne]

Not gonna lie, I was very tickled to hear you guys talking to me.
:2up:

It's almost like we were all together.


They didn't mention me, wah! ;) No worries, I can't hear sound anyways on video.

[jimnyc]

They didn't mention me, wah! ;) No worries, I can't hear sound anyways on video.

I did tell Rick a few times how much you would appreciate all the photos. You were on our minds as well. :)

What if you used headphones, does that help, can you hear them that way?

[Kathianne]

I did tell Rick a few times how much you would appreciate all the photos. You were on our minds as well. :)

What if you used headphones, does that help, can you hear them that way?

I do use headphones, no way could I hear anything without them. But with motors and such, I just go visual-I know I'll only hear the motors. My hearing loss is all in the middle, where speaking occurs. If men and women are talking, I'll only hear the men. If there's extraneous noise, which is nearly always, I'll hear that instead of words.

[Russ]

Heading up river to "Disappointment Creek". Apparently back in the day, where these 2 rivers intersect, it looked like a great place to pan for gold. Apparently it wasn't so, hence the name. It also disappointed me, as I soon screwed up and lost a massive trout that I hooked into! "The one that got away". It was cool though, as 10 minutes later I got my King!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIr3SlbL3Eo

I'm way behind, but these video are a blast. Looks like a lot of fun, and Alaska is beautiful. Thanks for posting these, Jim.

[NightTrain]

Hittin the rapids!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgbE81sEU98


This is a great example of cavitation that happens with Jet Boats in very rough water.

A jet is simply a very big water pump; it sucks in water from beneath the boat and shoots it out the back at high velocity. When the boat travels over a deep trough in the water between standing waves, the jet encounters that large air pocket and the engine RPM spikes with no load on it, until the boat travels past that air underneath and once again is able to suck water into the jet. In that momentary cavitation, you have no thrust or steering which can be a big deal if you didn't anticipate it and set the boat up correctly in speed and direction, especially in rapids.

The boat manufacturers are well aware of cavitation and spend a great deal of time and money to minimize that event, but R&D only goes so far and it'll always happen to some extent when running white water. The engine and jet are beefed up to handle this kind of abuse - but still, I don't like my engine doing it.

So in this vid, you can hear me back off the throttle right before it cavitates, then I pour the coals to her as soon as it's done cavitating to regain lost speed with a course correction, then the 2nd time I back off and repeat it.

It probably spiked to about 4,800 RPM in this vid, but if I hadn't backed off the throttle prior to cavitating the engine would have screamed at 6,000 RPMs or so and then slammed back down to 3800 when the jet bit again - that's too much abuse in my book. A comparison would be to drive a stick shift pickup down the highway at 55 MPH, holding the throttle to the floor while pushing the clutch in for 2 or 3 seconds and then dumping the clutch - that's a tremendous strain on everything.

[jimnyc]

I'm way behind, but these video are a blast. Looks like a lot of fun, and Alaska is beautiful. Thanks for posting these, Jim.

It was just too much fun, Russ!

We have all talked many times about getting the board together, whomever was willing. THIS is the place to meet and have a blast. Meeting at a bar for a few hours? WTF?? -- L5 is the place to be, but you'll never find her. :) :)

I had a blast, I had a blast taking all the photos at the same time, and it's fun sharing my experience and seeing all of the photos and videos.

[jimnyc]

This is a great example of cavitation that happens with Jet Boats in very rough water.

A jet is simply a very big water pump; it sucks in water from beneath the boat and shoots it out the back at high velocity. When the boat travels over a deep trough in the water between standing waves, the jet encounters that large air pocket and the engine RPM spikes with no load on it, until the boat travels past that air underneath and once again is able to suck water into the jet. In that momentary cavitation, you have no thrust or steering which can be a big deal if you didn't anticipate it and set the boat up correctly in speed and direction, especially in rapids.

The boat manufacturers are well aware of cavitation and spend a great deal of time and money to minimize that event, but R&D only goes so far and it'll always happen to some extent when running white water. The engine and jet are beefed up to handle this kind of abuse - but still, I don't like my engine doing it.

So in this vid, you can hear me back off the throttle right before it cavitates, then I pour the coals to her as soon as it's done cavitating to regain lost speed with a course correction, then the 2nd time I back off and repeat it.

It probably spiked to about 4,800 RPM in this vid, but if I hadn't backed off the throttle prior to cavitating the engine would have screamed at 6,000 RPMs or so and then slammed back down to 3800 when the jet bit again - that's too much abuse in my book. A comparison would be to drive a stick shift pickup down the highway at 55 MPH, holding the throttle to the floor while pushing the clutch in for 2 or 3 seconds and then dumping the clutch - that's a tremendous strain on everything.

I told ya'll he was Captain Riverboat Rick, and that's for good reason! Probably only a handful would ever successfully get up river to Rick's cabin. He's going left and then right and then the middle. I'm watching his eyes and the water intently, just trying to see what he sees. He's like, "just watch the water, watch the rapids, it tells you which ways to go". Sure thing there, and now you know why Jim looked scared shitless behind the wheel of the Duckworth!! I sure as F didn't go within reach of the wheel if I saw any white water! And then the canyons, and you start seeing and hitting those rapids that toss you out of the water! The first time I was a tad nervous, didn't feel like swimming, nor dying. But once I got past the trust factor and realized who was at the helm, it was all smiles and an amusement park after that!!

The videos don't do the river justice. When I say 17mph, that's no joke. You fall off the back in some areas, your ass is doing some serious downstream swimming and you better slowly angle for a side before you die! LOL And I would imagine that if you fall in just leaving Disappointment Creek, you will bang off rocks and canyon walls and come out the other side looking like a battered and beaten hamburger!

[hjmick]

It was just too much fun, Russ!

We have all talked many times about getting the board together, whomever was willing. THIS is the place to meet and have a blast. Meeting at a bar for a few hours? WTF?? -- L5 is the place to be, but you'll never find her. :) :)

I had a blast, I had a blast taking all the photos at the same time, and it's fun sharing my experience and seeing all of the photos and videos.



I see...


If I had feelings they'd be hurt...

[jimnyc]

I see...


If I had feelings they'd be hurt...

If it makes you feel any better, L5 had as much beer and liquor as your local bar. :) It may have disappeared quicker though, those folks were awfully thirsty on day one! LOL

[Abbey Marie]

L5???

[NightTrain]

L5???

Oh, I forgot to explain the name.

So, initially we had 12 telephone poles to support the main structure. We built it off the ground almost 6' to keep things above flood level and they're good for a hundred years or more due to being Cedar and treated with Creosote.

If you look at a telephone pole in your area, you'll see an alphanumeric code on it. This is to identify which pole someone is talking about if a problem develops down the road, like a tree leaning into it or a car hits it or something. The telephone company can plug that number in to the computer system and quickly dispatch a Line Crew out to it without wasting precious time looking for it. Something along the lines of : "Pole AHV834, between A & B Streets, 4th pole down."

So we built the first structure, the main part of the cabin, and just by random coincidence, most of the letters & numbers were gone on the near left corner and all that was left was 'L5', and it was facing out toward the river like we'd done it intentionally. Someone said that must be the address to the cabin, because it was in the same metal numbers you see on regular residential houses in town, and it stuck.

Now when anyone says L5, everyone knows exactly what cabin is being referred to.

[Russ]

This is the end of my trip, but just via the videos. I have another 700 pictures or so of a lot more cool stuff to go through and share with everyone.

This was just as the captain went over the loudspeaker with "Flight attendants, please prepare for landing". I rolled up my window and this was my view just prior to landing. Yes, I was sad. :(

I already miss Rick and Sharon. I miss Alaska and all of that beauty, and all of that wildlife. Man, I couldn't thank them enough for what they extended for me. I know home is where home is. But I was in a slice of heaven there for awhile, something all so new to me, literally an adventure. I did a LOT of camping in my life, and a fair amount of travel along the entire east coast mostly. This was different. All those cool things I've seen only on TV my entire life, I got to see and live in a short 10 days. Forever grateful!!!

And this damn crappy view ended it all, a little different than Alaska!!




Man, I'm bummed that the vacation is over, and it wasn't even my vacation!

Thanks for posting all the videos! jimnyc