We're doing a bit of travelling this week.
Yes, we flew on
Alaska Airlines, my
favorite airliner... scheduled to leave Anchorage within 8 hours of that
SF flight, tragic #261. An upset Sheila e-mailed me about it just after it
happened - just a few miles from her home in Ventura.
And we were on an MD-80; I've flown them a lot and my favorite seat is right
there in front - 6D.
Of course it was blowing and snowing here in Anchorage, precursor to a major
avalanche which closed the Seward Highway for at least four days.
Gail dropped us off for the "red-eye" midnight AS flight #110 for a few
days in Seattle, during which time we visited the
flower show.
Every year this Seattle Northwest Flower Show seems to have a theme - this
year we noticed many of the constructed gardens in the Coliseum had water themes -
ponds, fountains, little bubblers - It was very attractive.
Model railroad enthusiasts have their dreams indulged a bit every year... this
year's trains were running through a wonderfully landscaped setting - bridges,
tunnels, and mountains all figured in the display.
Seattle weather forecast
From there we went on to Ventura to see our daughter and son-in-law, and my mother, in Ojai, in occasionally cloudy, but mostly sunny, California.
Back to telling everyone about the Anchorage Rondy:
This year it begins on the 11th and runs through the 20th. We'll be back home in time for the final weekend, which is the culmination of all the activities: the sled dog races through town, the carnival, the exhibits and shows - modelling shows, crafter shows, dramas, playlets, concerts and all the events -. The snowblock carving and ice sculptures will have been judged and we can see them then - weather permitting.
a Post script...
The avalanche area that was closed along the Seward Highway for four days is a natural slide area - every year as the wet snow accumulates along the slopes there, the southeast warm winds that blow when weather systems collide in the Gulf precipitate avalanches. Most years they are not as severe as this year. There simply was no place else to put the highway but at the base of the slope. A twenty foot snow berm is tough to break through, especially when it is a mile- long 20 foot berm and the weather threatens the operators of the heavy equipment with more avalanches even as they clear. It is spooky...
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