Orlando, FL

This morning we had leftover steak, chopped up with our cheesy omelets.  Yum!  After getting Buddy walked it was time for me to shower and get out the door.

There were only two orders today - very poor week for sales, but the phones were busier than they've been in weeks.

Craig had his check-up with Dr. Tabbas today.  No melanoma!  Yay!  But he has two spots on his legs that he has to go back and have biopsied.

Today was mostly clear and sunny, but it was cooler and drier as the winds are coming out of the north now.

This evening we took Buddy for his walk and stopped at Panera Bread for our dinner.  On the way back upstairs we stopped to get our mail.  There were two packages at the front desk for Bobby.  In the mail was my payroll stubs - there was a bonus paid this month!

I am glad that we have a bonus this month because, my goodness, the expenses I have this month - besides groceries, the dog is out of Comfortis and heartworm medicine, plus he needs more steroid for his feet.  I need to change the oil in the truck, change the brake pads and discs, and I need to take it to Midas and have the exhaust pipe welded up.  Drivers License needs to be renewed and vehicle registration needs to be renewed. 

Oh yes, october is going to be an expensive month!

Orlando, FL

Up at 5:28 AM to take my vitamins, feed the dog, count out Bob's pills, and make breakfast.  I made oatmeal pancakes with whole wheat flour, almond flour, and rolled oats.  I browned some sausage in a fry pan while making the pancakes on the griddle.
Work today was very easy.  There were four new orders and I handily took care of them.  Even the phones were earily quiet.  I sure hope we get some orders soon, but it isn't looking very promising.  Confusing thing is, William and Craig haven't been calling on dealers either.

Craig has his semi-annual head-to-toe inspection with Dr. Tabbas tomorrow morning.  He is very worried about it too.  He got a clean bill of health back in May, but melanoma can pop up again any time.

This evening we grilled steaks on our little tiny charcoal grill out on our balcony.  We had canned carrots with these steaks.  Later we took Buddy for his evening walk and picked up a copy of the Orlando Weekly on our way home.



On the way upstairs we stopped to check the mail and found birthday cards for Bob and me in the mail!  These were from Becky and Bill.  Bob's birthday is Friday and my birthday is Saturday.

This evening's photo is a sneak preview of the cover of our annual trip book.  We have our proof copy and all of the editing is finished.  I just have to place an order for multiple copies now.

Orlando, FL

Breakfast this morning consisted of cheese omelets and broiled ham steaks.  We are out of Canadian bacon, but I found ham steaks in the freezer yesterday and let them defrost in the fridge.  Tomorrow we are going to have link sausages with our eggs.

I could see that it was cloudy outside when I got up, but when I took Buddy down to the street we found it pouring outside.  We took his walk in the garage.

Work was kind of slow today.  There were only three orders and the phones weren't even especially busy.  It rained off and on all day.  It rained hard enough to get the goose shit off that has been on my rear cab window cleaned off. 

This evening we had baked turkey burgers and canned asparagus for dinner.  Then we harnessed Buddy and took him for a walk in a two-block radius around the apartment building.  We wore raincoats, but Buddy got very wet.  When we got home I made Bob hold him outside in the hallway while I went to the bathroom and got his towel.  We dried him off outside because the first thing he would do when he got inside is shake off.

I will get paid on Thursday night.  Boy, do I have a long list of things to spend that money on!  It's pretty much spent already!

Orlando, FL

I went ahead and got up when the 5:00 AM alarm went off.  I was sore from everything we did this weekend!  After counting out my vitamins, I went to the kitchen to count Bob's vitamins and pills, pack a sandwich and lunch for Bob, and then start our breakfast of cheese omelets and Canadian bacon.

Bob headed out to work at 6:30, and I took Buddy for his morning walk then.  When I got back I got into the shower and got myself ready for work.

I left for work early to try to avoid some of the morning rush.  My truck sounds like a jet taking off since the exhaust pipe cracked and broke open.  I need to take it to the muffler shop and have it welded closed again.  In fact, it was so loud today I set off the car alarm on a parked car!

At work I got a shock around 8:30 - Bob Schafer at Cleveland Range called to say that Laurie Zak died yesterday.  Laurie was 46-years-old, and I talked with her almost daily because she handled key accounts and chain accounts.  It's just so shocking because it is so unexpected.

Later I spoke with Joe Nicholson who said that she was sick with a cough on Wednesday and went home early.  She came in Thursday, but left early saying she would go to the doctor.  I guess she went to the emergency room and got a shot of something, but phoned in to let her supervisor know she had a reaction to the medicine. 

She lived alone, and her neighbor noticed that her car was parked outside for two days with the windows down and the garage door open.  So, she came over to check on her,  but she was gone.

Nobody in this world knows the day or hour they will be called home.

Otherwise, it was fairly quiet at FER today.  Too quiet.  We only had two purchase orders totaling $3,500.  I hope business picks up soon!

This evening Bob fried up tilapia and had a bernaise sauce made for it.  We ate this with microwaved veggies.  Then we layed down to watch another exciting episode of The Deadliest Catch - Bob downloaded an entire season and copied them to DVD.

Now the dog has been walked and we are catching up our email and stuff.  It will be time for bed soon and then we start all over.

Weekend

Bob holding the note board.

We went to IHOP for breakfast and then came back to get dressed for the memorial service.  I put on my light gray suit with a light blue shirt and a black and while check tie, and my newest square-toe leather dress shoes.

Bob wore a dark blue suit appropriate for a funeral.  We drove up to Daytona to meet his brother for lunch.  We all went to Woody's Barbecue for lunch, and then headed over to the funeral home to get the memorial service set up.

There was some confusion because the disk that we put the slideshow on would not play in the DVD player at the funeral home.  We ended up sending John and Cheryl back to their house to get her son's laptop computer and we set the computer up on a pedestle in the back.  The slide show was very popular!

I let out a surprised cry, "Oh Bob!  Look who's here!"  when I saw Cheryl Gainey, one of the nurses from Oaktree that took care of Tom and Louise all these years, come in.  She said that the home posted the funeral notice in the dining room just today.  She left work to come to the memorial service.

Chief Walker from the fire department came, Bob's friend from fire and rescue, Smiley, was there.  His friend from work, Kim, and her partner showed up, Bob's second cousin, Amy and her husband Mark, Paster Burns and his wife, John, Cheryl, Bob, and me.  Not a big crowd.  The service lasted about 15 minutes and then we all went to the back to tell more stories about Tom and Louise.

After this we carried flowers, pictures, and stuff back out the car, and after everyone left, the funeral director gave us the cremains for interment in the cemetary.  Also, a small container with mixed ashes from both Tom and Louise was given to us.  We are going to take a cruise someday and scatter the ashes in the ocean.

We drove home and were surprised to see that it was after 4 PM when we got home.  It was almost time to take Buddy for his walk!

During the evening I edited all 572 pictures we took on our vacation so that they would be lighter.  The proof copy of our book came on Friday, and in print some of the photos were a tad too dark.  I have the book right where I want it now.  I saved it and uploaded it to Blurb.com again.  I will be placing my order for multiple copies next.

Today we loaded the wooden lathe stand into the car along with the polyurethane, sandpaper, and the lathe box, and headed to our storage unit.  On the way we stopped and got breakfast.  At the storage unit I got out my circular saw to trim 2-inches off of each leg.  The lathe is supposed to sit so that the spindle is elbow-high, and we had to take the stand down a couple of inches.  Next we drilled holes to mount the lathe to the top with bolts.

After putting the picture of Louise and the big lathe box into Bob's storage unit, we headed over to Ace Hardware to get some 1/4-20 bolts, washers, and locknuts, then we came home and mounted the lathe to the top of the stand.

Bob tries out his new lathe.

During the afternoon we went back out.  We took the car to the car wash and then we got lunch/dinner from Wendy's.  After this we drove up to Fern Park to look around in the Woodcraft store.  Here Bob picked our a turning blank of mesquite that he intends to make a pepper mill out of, he got a 3/4" roughing gouge, and he got a diamond-studded honing cone for sharpening the gouge.

We put the blank spindle into the lathe and held it steady with a center mounted in the tailstock.  We turned the lathe on and let it spin.  Bob started making this square piece of wood into round stock.  He made a bunch of chips too!

Now the house has been cleaned up, the dog has been walked and fed, and we are almost ready for another week of work.  Ugghhh!

Turning Wood

After getting the lathe mounted to the equipment stand we built just for it, we moved it outside onto the balcony.  Bob purchased a 3x3x12 turning blank of mesquite, and a roughing gouge, and we had a little bit of fun with his early birthday present. 

He made ALOT of chips, but in the end he got the wood completely round and smooth.  He intends to shape a pepper mill out of this spindle.

Louise Mihaley Memorial

This is the slide show Bobby put together for his mother's memorial service today.  The service was in Daytona Beach and although there weren't a large number of people there, we did have some surprise visitors!

Here is the show he put together for his father's service in January.

Welcome Autumn

Up at 5:30, just like the day before.  But because Bob was not going to work today (bereavement leave), I did not have to pack a lunch for him.  We had cheese omelets and Canadian bacon with sugar-free apricot jam mixed with mustard for breakfast. 

Then we both went out to take the dog for his walk.  Traffic was bad at 6:30 AM and a lot of it was cutting through our neighborhood due to a traffic accident at Rosslyn Avenue and South Street.  Police had the all of the streets blocked off and EMS crews were working.

As soon as we got back, I headed for the shower and got ready for work.

Bob planned to get a bunch of online EMS courses done today on his day off.  

When I started the truck up I heard the louder exhaust note again.  It sounds like it has a Puerto Rican muffler. 

Work was very light today - too light.  There were only 4 orders, and I only sent out 6 email messages!  I had the luxury of being able to banter on Facebook and browse other websites. 

Lunch today was a salad from Chik-Fil-A. 

The afternoon was quiet - too quiet.  If anything was said to Joan, we never heard about it.  Craig said that I probably hit the nail on the head - I predicted that nothing would happen to Joan over all of this. 

Finally 5:00 PM came.  I was out of there around 10 minutes after.  Fay wasn't ready for it and she forgot that today is the day we back up the hard drive, so she was running around trying to get everything closed up.  I left her there and came home.

When I parked the truck, I left it running and got down on my knees to look underneath to see if I could determine where the hole was in the exhaust system.  I didn't see a hole, but I saw that the entire exhaust pipe is cracked just behind the catalytic converter.  Great.  Now I have to take it somewhere and get it welded up.

For dinner we had fried tilapia with a butter-garlic sauce, and we had some green beans. 

After watching an episode of The Deadliest Catch (Bob downloaded all twelve shows from last season) we took Buddy for his evening walk.

Now I am baking a chocolate cake.  Hopefully I can get it cooled and iced before we have to go to bed.

Orlando, FL

http://www.crispian.net/CrispiansScienceMap.html

We got up at 5:30 AM and got started.  After taking my vitamins, counting out Bob's pills, feeding Buddy, and making Bob's lunch, I decided that we would have Cheerios for breakfast.  I figured we might as well use the milk before it goes bad.

I breezed down to the office this morning on I-4.  I am enjoying the lower humidity and lower temperatures!  The office did not smell as bad of smoke this morning.

Fay came in around 8:10 AM, like her usual. 

Craig was in around 8:45 AM.  I looked at my watch and reminded him that his flight departs at 10:50 AM.  He got nervous hearing that and left with his duffle bag.  He later called from the airport to let me know that almost nobody was there and getting through TSA was easy.

We didn't see William until around 10:00 AM and soon his customer and dealer arrived for a demo.  The dealer, Complete Restaurant Equipment of Vero Beach, has only sent dead ends our way so far.  I don't know how much money we've poured out in demos for his non-buying customers.

After the customer, representatives of Sam Snead's Restaurant, left, William let me have the leftover chicken wings and fries.  There wasn't much.

We did not know it, but Joan was in Hollywood today.  She left around 2:00 PM saying that she had a conference call with Steve Beck and Chris Karsiennes.  She said it was about Darden, and she asked Tom if he knew what it was about.  Tom just shrugged at her.

She was on her way to Orlando because she intends to barge into the Kolpak meeting tomorrow with Steve Otto, Bob Chuhak, and Brian Holdrich.  I think that's going to be a big mistake on her part - they really hate her over there.  But at any rate, the outcome should make tomorrow an interesting day.

I read today that tomorrow evening's full moon will be a Harvest Moon.  After it rises in the east, Jupiter will come up below it and near Jupiture (within 1°) will be Uranus.  It might not be visible to the eye, but will show up in a small telescope or binoculars as a pale blue disc.

Reading Tell Me Where It Hurts and I only have 61 pages to go!  I start a history of the Kantishna area of Denali National Park next.

Orlando, FL

Naro Theatre in Norfolk, VA.

We had cheese omelets this morning with Canadian bacon cooked under the broiler and glazed with sugar-free apricot jam mixed with mustard. 

When I got to the office and walked in I smelled cigarette smoke.  Fay came in characteristically late and said she couldn't smell the smoke because she was stuffed up.  I got a bowl of vinegar and set it before my fan.  The vinegar helps take cigarette odors out of the air.

When Craig came in we asked him about it, but he said nobody had been in with him.  He said that he thinks people were smoking outside our door and the odor must have come under or around the door.  I don't know about that idea.

Without telling me about it, Fay left with William at noon.  She said as she was going out the door, "Well, I guess I got roped into this since Mike Zupo is going...".  They went to lunch at Santa Fe Cattle Company in Lake Buena Vista.  Then they came back and complained about the food!

We we having another terrible week for orders.  Craig is going to San Antonio tomorrow for MAFSI, he will be back Friday morning.

This evening we had baked chicken parmesan for dinner.  Then we took Buddy for his walk.  The evenings have been very nice lately.  Cooler after a hot day with a breeze.  I guess Fall really is here.

Orlando, FL

This morning I made our omelets for breakfast, but this time, instead of doing them one at a time on the griddle, I poured all of the egg mixture on to the griddle and once and let it spread out.  It almost covered the whole thing, but I ended up with an area about the size of the side of your hand that was bare on the left side.  I went to the fridge and got one more egg, cracked it, stirred it up, and poured it into the hole and then continued to make the omelets.

I cut down the middle and folded them over, the left one to the left and the right one, to the right.  They turned out great!  Tomorrow I will use four eggs again, but add a little more milk to make them spread out more.

Work wasn't too bad today, but I felt tired all day.  A sleepy fog I never woke from.  Sales were okay, and if we keep up the pace we will have a good week.

This evening we had baked chicken wings with mixed veggies for dinner.  For dessert we had the rest of the vanilla ice cream in little ramekins.  Then we took Buddy for his evening walk.

As we were coming home down Central Blvd, the sun was directly in our eyes.  There is a good reason for that today.  Tomorrow is 9/21 - the Autumnal Equinox, and the sun will rise directly in the east and set directly to the west.  It will continue rising and setting farther and farther north until 12/21, the first day of winter, the solstice, and then it starts rising and setting farther and farther south.  Because the downtown streets in Orlando are on a north-south and east-west grid, east-west travellers are blinded on this particular day.

Weekend

We slept in until 7:30 on Saturday morning.  When we got up, I harnessed Buddy and took him for a morning walk around Lake Eola while Bobby got a breakfast of coffee, Cheerios, and yogurt ready.

Bob sanding his work bench.

When we came back we all ate, then I went out to the balcony to continue working on the home-built equipment stand for Bob's birthday present lathe.

Bob came out and I set up the palm sander for him with 180-grit paper so that he could knock all of the splinters off of the end grain and sand the top down good.

Next I cut the leg stretchers to length, measured down each leg and marked with my pencil, set each stretcher in place, and clamped the legs up on the stretcher wedged between.

I pre-drilled with a 1/8" drill bit at a 15° angle (helps screw bite better in end grain), and then drove my 3" connecting screws through the legs and into the stretchers.

After this I cut the 1/2" plywood for the shelf, clamped it to the stretchers, pre-drilled the holes, and drove some 1" screws in to hold in in place.  Now it was structurally complete.  We sanded it down more, gathered up the tools, and vacuumed all the saw dust off of the balcony.  We brought the stand inside and lined it with newspapers to get ready to coat the top in polyurethane.

I made a white chicken chili for lunch.  This took about half an hour.  The chili was very good and we finished it up.  We also started our laundry.  Clean clothes are needed for work!

Later we took the scrap pieces of wood, the work table, and all of the tools back to my storage unit.  Buddy went with us for this trip.  We retrieved a good paint brush from storage, and then went to Bob's storage unit to get photo albums.  He had to prepare a slide show for Louise's memorial service.

On the way back we stopped at Office Depot to get ink cartridges for the printer.

Equip stand ready for polyurethane.

Bob started to scan photos from the albums and we air brushed the worst ones as best as we could.  I ran the vacuum inside the house to get the tracked-in sawdust up.

I finished the book about Alaska bush pilot, Don Sheldon called Wager With The Wind.  I really enjoyed it.  Now I am reading the veterinarian story by Nick Trout called Tell Me Where It Hurts.

After wiping the bench top up with a damp cloth, I rolled the first thin later of urethane onto the wood.  I would let this dry overnight.  I went to put at least 5 layers on the top - a nice smooth hard-candied coating on the top to make it easier to sweep chips away and wipe up any spills.

This morning we slept in late this morning.  I decided that we would go to IHOP for breakfast.  We took Buddy with us and after breakfast we went to Cypress Grove Park and walked him around this park.  Then we came home.  We still had a lot of stuff to do!

I lightly sanded the equipment stand top while Bobby worked on the memorial service slide show for Louise.  I put Coat No. 2 on and left it to dry.  Then I went out to the balcony to re-pot a bunch of mangoes.  These little plants were totally root-bound.  I poured it out, broke it up and re-planted them into two separate pots.  I expect they will do better this way for awhile.

During the afternoon I spent some time reading the book.  Bob finished his slide show and it looks very good!  He also contacted the Connecticut Post newpaper to post an obituary for Louise.  His slide show is very good - about as good as the one he wrote for his father in January.

In the afternoon I sanded the top of the bench down good, wiped it clean, and brushed Coat No. 3 on.  Then we went out to get dinner at Subway.  We went to Michaels arts and crafts store to get a picture frame for the 8x10 of Louise for the memorial service.  We found something that really excited our imagination -- a large frame with a mat made out of dry-erase material and a dry-erase pen!  We are going to put this up at the front on a small easel and let people write their notes and comments right on it! 

The memorial service is next Saturday, 9/25, at  2:00 PM in Daytona Beach.

When we got home we took Buddy for his evening walk.  Bob popped into Publix to get some vanilla ice cream, black berries, and toothpaste, and then we came upstairs.  We enjoyed our ice cream, fed Buddy, and started to clean the house. 

I ran the vacuum cleaner and cleaned the glass tables while Bobby cleaned the kitchen and bathroom floors.

This was a very busy weekend!

RIP Louise Mihaley 1926 - 2010

Louise T Mihaley

Bob's phone rang at 11:00 PM last night and it was hospice calling to let us know that Louise had just died.

Bob stayed home from work today - he had a lot to do:  an obit to write, relatives to phone and tell, a meeting with the mortician, flowers to pick out, and a memorial slide show to create.

I went to work, but I in a fog all day.  I haven't recovered from being up all night on Wednesday with Louise.  Work wasn't too bad today because the phones weren't extremely busy, and we certainly didn't have too many orders this week.  This was a weak week for orders.

This evening I came home and found Bob gone - he went to Daytona to meet the funeral home.  I cut out the end braces for his bench/lathe horse, pre-drilled the holes, clamped the braces to the legs, and screwed them on.  Tomorrow I am chopping and installing the leg stretchers and installing a shelf.  With all of that done I will take the scraps to the storage unit and put my tools back in storage.

Bob is going to sand it all down, and put several coats of polyurethane on the top before we bolt the lathe down to the top.

I put a chicken parmesan spaghetti into the oven and let it bake for an hour.  Then I put sliced carrots and French cut green beans onto plates, heated them up, and had dinner ready when Bob got home.

We are having a memorial service for Louise next Saturday, at 2:00 PM.  Bob said that the funeral home cleaned Louise up and he said that she looked real good - really at peace.

Orlando, FL

FER-Orlando isn't having a great week for sales.  I hope Hollywood sold something for a change!

I put Cheerios on the table for breakfast yesterday morning, and I poured milk on mine.  When started to dig in I found that the milk had already gone sour!  It is stamped with Sept. 19 as the expiration date.  I poured Bob's cereal back into the box and told him to get something from 7-Eleven.

Buddy likes to eat his Cheerios without milk.  So I sprinkled some on top of his dry food.

Work wasn't too bad, but it was as warm as an Easy Bake Oven up front where I sit.  I had my fan running all day, but I was still very warm. 

In the afternoon we hosted a group of Orange County School Food Service ladies in our test kitchen.  Their meeting was supposed to start at 3:00 PM, but the big movers and shakers (and trust me on this - almost all of them were BIG!), arrived twenty minutes early.

The rest of the attendees straggled in slowly.  Several were very late.  One didn't even get there until 4:30 PM, but she had gotten very lost on her way to our office.

There were about forty ladies back there and two of them even brought their kids!  The children were assigned to the file room and they played with their video games in there while a buzzing beehive of activity went on in the kitchen.

At 4:55 the meeting was over and most of the ladies ran for the front door.  However, five people remained behind and continued chit chatting until 5:30 PM.

While we were waiting for them to leave Craig discussed a recent customer complaint to Manitowoc Corporate with us in the office.  I am sure there will be repercussions from that one soon!

Finally we were able to leave.  I went home and continued to work on the modified sawhorse/equipment stand for Bob's birthday present while he baked some fish and microwaved some veggies for dinner.

While we were eating dinner his phone rang and it was Hospice.  They said that Louise's condition had really worsened and she was not expected to make it through the night.  As we were walking Buddy we decided that we would go up to Ormond Beach and spend some time with Louise.

I took a quick shower, called Fay and left her a message saying I would be in late in the morning, grabbed the keys, and we headed out.  It was almost 9:00 PM when we got there.

Louise's appearance kind of shocked me.  She looked so gaunt and sunken.  She looked a little rough on Sunday when we saw her, but now she looked very bad.  She was on the bed, in a semi-sitting position with her head tilted back to help keep her airway open.  Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was very sharp and labored.  You could hear the tell-tale "rattle" as she breathed in and out.

I do not know if she could hear us at all.  She wasn't communicative like she was on Sunday.  The Hospice nurse said she hadn't said anything since day before yesterday. 

We ended up spending the night there with her.  Around 4:00 AM her breathing slowed down to around 4 or 5 breaths per minute and we thought she was about to go.  Bob went up to her and talked to her, and her breathing resumed at 10 to 12 breaths per minute.

So that it doesn't "get lost" when she is taken to the funeral home, we removed her wedding band and took it with us.  We told her we had to go because Buddy needed to be walked, and I had to go to work, but we would be back.  I don't know how much longer she will last - she isn't eating or drinking now.

We went home, I fed Buddy, took him out for his morning walk, then came home, showered, and dressed for work.  I got some food for lunch at Publix and went in.  Bob layed down to take a nap.  I think he might return to the hospital this afternoon.

It took me a couple of hours to get my work caught up, but the phones were very light and I had it under control around noon.

Orlando, FL

Today was a rough day.  It just seemed like I was easily frustrated all day.

I wore long sleeves to work, and of course it's blazing hot up front where I sit.  I got a splitting headache by middle of the day from my sinuses being congested.  Around 11:30 the UPS truck pulled up and I stepped outside to help the delivery man with the 106 pound package he had for me.  It was a warm day, but the humidity was much lower.

Bob with his early present.

The UPS delivery was Bob's birthday present being delivered - a Delta 12-1/2 inch wood lathe.  We are in the process of building a stand for it right now out of 2x4's and a 2x8. 

I decided to take the lathe home and hide it in the house.  Doing that I could also change into a lighter, short-sleeved shirt to feel cooler. 

During lunch I drove home and parked in the garage.  I went up to the house, changed into a thinner short-sleeve shirt, and got our hand truck to carry the big box upstairs.  I rolled the box into the guest bathroom and lifted the box into the bath tub and pulled the shower curtain to conceal it.

Then I went back out.  I stopped at Publix to get a few things for lunch.  I went to the express lane, but this morbidly obese bitch on the mart cart was having a hard time with her EBT (food stamps) card, and to top it off she was giving the cashier a hard time.  I felt like I had a fuse burning.

I got back to the office and continued to deal with problems from past orders and writing quotes for (hopefully) future orders. 

During the day I got a phone message saying that a package was waiting for me at the front desk of the Waverly.  I knew I  had not ordered anything to be delivered to the house, but I figured Mom must have finally gotten our present from last Christmas mailed to us.

Our recently delivered Christmas gift.

When I got home I made Bobby get busy making a salad for our dinner.  After I was in shorts I went to the balcony and continued cutting the 2x4's to make legs for the stand.  After we had our dinner we harnessed Buddy up and took him for his walk.

On the way back up to the house we stopped in the lobby to claim our delivery.  Sure enough, it was the gift from last Christmas - a thermometer that operates based on changing liquid density as temperature changes.  We put this thermometer on the end table next to our digital thermometer and they agree within one degree!

I figured I would only be able to hide the lathe from Bob for a couple of days at best, so I went ahead and pulled the box out and surprised him.  He was tickled to get this!  After we get the stand finished we will mount the lathe and temporarily set it up outside on the balcony to get Bob take it for a "test drive".  Then it will probably go into storage until we can set all of our equipment up in a garage or shop space somewhere.

Turbulent Arrival

This was our arrival in Orlando last Monday evening.  The weather made the approach very dicey and there were a lot of nervous passengers on board!

Weekend

This morning we got up around 7:00 AM.  I started a pot of coffee, a pan of Canadian bacon for the broiler, and heating the griddle for omelets.  I made the omelets while Bobby took Buddy outside for his morning walk.

By the time they got back I had the breakfast ready and on the table.  I had food poured into Buddy's bowl too.

Around 10:00 I got a shower and pulled on my yellow FER button-down shirt.  Bobby put on a sports shirt and slacks and we drove out to the Orange County Convention Center to visit the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Show.

Parking was terrible.  It was way out in the back next to the interstate and we had to pay $11 for it!  Then there was a long walk to the building in Bataan Death March heat.  Once you are inside the building you still face a long walk, but at least it's air conditioned.

The show was not large this year - only 11 aisles.  Used to be twice as big, but it seemed to be well-attended this morning.  We started at the beginning and worked our way through the show to Aisle 11 where we found the FER booth.

Dan Wood, William Trabazo, Mike Hovey, Gabe Puerto, Neil Gosselin, Nancy Baranet, Craig Hodges and Joan Salah were manning the pitifully small booth.  With the equipment packed into it, there was no room for everyone to stand inside!

We stayed at the show for about two hours and then we headed out.  We went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries for lunch, and then we went to my storage unit to get some scrap lumber out, my folding work table, my circular saw, my router, a palm sander, some sand paper, some carpenter's glue, and my drill index out. 

Back home I cleared out a work area on the balcony and set up the table.  Here I made a straight edge cutting guide for my circular saw.  Next I glued two 3/4-inch thick pieces of plywood together, and then drilled countersunk pilot holes in the back and drove screws in to hold it tightly together.

Between projects I also cooked down some blueberries and canned them as Blueberry-Maple Spoon Fruit.

Then I had to run the vacuum cleaner out there to suck up all of the saw dust.

After taking Buddy for his evening walk, we started to clean the house.  I vacuumed all of the carpet, and then cleaned the glass tables.  I had to clean Buddy's window too - nose prints on it.  Bobby folded laundry up and then cleaned the kitchen floor.

Now I am uploading trip photos to Flickr.com, and getting this blog updated.  There is an impressive thunderstorm going on outside, and we are both ready for bed.

Orlando, FL

The phone rang at 5:30 AM this morning.  I reached over to the nightstand, unplugged it, and handed it to Bob.  It was Florida Hospital-Ormond Beach phoning to saw that Louise was not responsive and her breathing was really shallow.

After taking Buddy for his morning walk, I got a shave, and then we dressed and headed up to Daytona to visit Louise.

She was moved to the hospital hospice service this week because her condition had gone downhill.  The hospital is on the beach, right on the A1A.  From the windows in the front you can look out at the Atlantic.

When we got there she was awake.  She looked pretty rough.  She was vocalizing, but we did not understand everything she said.  She did ask what time it was.  They had her doped up on a lot of pain medicine.  Soon she was asleep again.

We went out to shop for some work shirts for Bobby, and we stopped at Lowe's to get three 2 x 4's and one 2 x 6 for a project.  We had lunch at KFC.  Then we went back to the hospital.

Louise is in Room 207.  The entire second floor of this hospital is empty.  There are bunches of rooms up there, but Louise is the only patient, and there are two nurses on duty watching her and administering medicine.

The nurse, Iris, said that because she was still very strong, they were going to be sending her back to Oaktree Nursing Home, but they had to get her medications sorted out because if she is on Thorazine, the home can't take her, but we weren't sure if Medicare/Medicaid would cover the alternate drug.  It turns out that they did, and in a couple of days Louise will probably be moved back to Oaktree.

We came home, walked Buddy around Lake Eola, put turkey hamburgers into the oven, and pulled up the tomatoes (they died while we were on vacation).

I am half way through Wager With The Wind:  The Don Sheldon Story.  This is one of the books we picked up in Alaska, and it's about a bush pilot who flew out of Talkeetna.

Tomorrow we are going to walk the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Show and then go to the storage unit to get some tools and my work table out.

Orlando, FL

States I have visited as of 9/7/10.

Today was an almost-easy day at work.  The work itself wasn't too hard - there weren't that many orders!  The worst thing that happened was a mis-consigned walk-in cooler was sent to our office instead of the Hollywood office, and when it arrived the truck driver wanted me to take it off of his trailer.  Fine.  We had some space in the Test Kitchen for it, but it weighed over 1,500 pounds!

Fay, ever optimistic, came out and said, "Well, can't we tip it off of the trailer and put the little casters under it?"  I told her that was a good idea, if we could get it off of the trailer.

Craig called Hollywood and called Kolpak and arranged to have the cooler re-consigned to the Orange County Convention Center.  There someone could unload it with a fork lift, take it to our booth, and charge it to our American Express account.

Lunch today was a salad from Chik-Fil-A.  It was very warm outside and I did not want to spend any more time out there than I had to.

On my way home this evening I stopped at Publix and got a small devils food cake with buttercream icing on it for Bob to celebrate getting his bachelor's degree.  He actually got the sheepskin yesterday evening!

Tomorrow we are going to Ormond Beach to see Louise.  I guess she's taken a turn for the worse and they moved her to the Florida Hospital Hospice Unit up there were a nurse and sit with her 24 hours and they can do more for her pain.  They said she couldn't eat solid food, but I bet if we take her some ravioli, she will at least try to eat it.

On Sunday we will be going to the Florida Restaurant Association Show.  We will do this for a couple of hours.  Craig said the show won't be very large this year, so it won't take long to walk it down.

Orlando, FL

Young man with a lot of growing up to do.

The past couple of days have been fairly busy for me at the office.  Fay sent me an email message on Tuesday evening warning me that she left a big pile of orders on my desk, that the PO report had not been made, and that two orders needed special allowance forms but she was unable to write them.  That kinda pissed me off.

Fortunately the phones have been very quiet and I was able to start getting everything caught back up fairly quickly. 

Aunt Rosie died yesterday, she was 79, and recently had a stroke the disrupted her speech and forced her into the hospital.

Here is her obit from the Record-Courier newspaper:

Marion Rose Marie Kline, 79, of Kent, died Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at Robinson Memorial Hospital. She was born February 3, 1931 in Stow, to George E. and Erma Mae (Burdick) Crocker. She was a member of St. Patrick's Church and the Campfire. She is survived by sons, Howard J. (Jane) Kline of Naples, FL, Ronald J. (Jean) Kline of Kent, Robert L. (Kathy) Kline of Streetsboro and John R. Kline; daughters, Rebecca S. Tomlinson of Kent, Mari S. Sutton of Brimfield and Virginia Pacheco of Kent; eighteen grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; brothers, Robert S. Crocker of Kent. She was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Kline brothers, Elmer and Carl Crocker; sisters, Mary Cook, Betty Frase, Jeanette Haughn, Ruth Hallock, Florence Heaton and Virginia Allen. Funeral services will be held 8:30 PM Friday, September 10th at Bissler & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, where calling hours will be held 6-8:30 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to Visiting Nurse & Hospice, 234 S. Water Street, Kent, OH 44240. (RC 09-09-2010)

I have been diligently working on my 2010 trip book, and I think it is going to turn out particularly nice this year.  We took over 500 photos and even though I only used a fraction of them, they are going to make a very interesting and colorful book!

I considered offering a sneak-preview of the cover here, but Bob and I both decided that it will be better to surprise everyone with it when the book is delivered.

Tomorrow is Friday and this has been a good short work week for me!

Orlando, FL

Over the Mississippi River.

Yesterday was a long day, but we got home safely.  The last 30 minutes of the flight were the most exciting part.  There were thunderstorms over Florida and the captain was flying the plane around each of the thunderheads.  In the end he still had to bring the plane down in the rain with some buffeting winds.

Many of the passengers were tense and the stewardess said, "Sometimes it helps if you turn up the ventilation."  We saw more than a dozen hands go up to turn their air valve open!! 

We came down with a thud, but everything was okay.  It was good to be home.

The plane taxied up to Gate 1 and soon we were disembarking.

Bob and I walked through the terminal to the B-side and went down to Arrivals to get a cab ride home.  It was shortly after 6:00 PM when we got home.

Once we were home we immediately began to unpack and start the laundry.  The house was very warm because we had left the AC off all week, so we had to get that working too.  With most of our stuff put away and laundry started, we went out to get something to eat for dinner.  We went through the drive-thru at Boston Market and got meals to bring home.

It was good to sleep in our own bed.  It was also good knowing that I would not have to go to work today.

Today I got up and went to get Buddy first thing.  It cost $140 to have him boarded for the past week.  He was actually happy to see me when I got him!

We drove home and I took him to the shower to give him a bath.  A bunch of filth came running off of that dog, but now he smells like baby shampoo!

After the dog was dried, I was dressed, and another load of laundry was started, Bob and I went out to get some groceries for the month.  We went to BJ's Warehouse and spent $246 on food, then we went to Super Target and spent another $140.  Hopefully this will last until the end of the month.

We brought all of our loot home and put it away.  The freezer is stuffed right now.

I made a roasted whole chicken for dinner.  Buddy got the giblets, neck, and tail.  I think he really liked them because they did not stay in his bowl for very long.

This afternoon I started working on my 2010 Alaska Vacation Book.  We took over 500 pictures, so we have enough material to make a really good book this year.

I sort of dread going to back to work.  I know there will be a big pile of papers on my chair because somehow they just aren't able to get everything that I have to do done when I am gone.

Alaska Airlines Flight 18

Flight Status

By Flight or Route

examples: AS 9 or MCO to SEA
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Last leg of the trip home.

Buddy will be happy to see us! It's fun to travel and see new things, but it's always nice to go back home too!

Seattle, WA

We left Fairbanks on time at 1:10 AM.  It was dark outside and an ungodly early hour.  At takeoff the flight attendant dimmed the cabin lights and I think she left them out for the entire flight.  She said that it appeared that everyone was sleeping for most of the flight.

I know I tried to sleep, but it was very uncomfortable.  Sitting back with my head wedged between the seat back and the side wall, then leaning forward with my forehead on the seat back in front of me.  Ugghhh.  Soon we started to slow down and descend.  You could make out the thousands of lights of the Seattle suburbs down below some cloud layer.  We could make out the white circle of lights on top of Space Needle.

A couple more minutes and the flaps were fully extended, the engine throttle was opened a little more, and we were down over the fence at SeaTac Airport.  When we came down we hit the runway, bounced up, tilted to the right, and then came down for good.

We both went to the restroom and then enjoyed hot chocolate and yogurt from Starbucks.

The final segment of our flight home boards in about an hour.  This day will be pretty much shot, but we can still get our laundry started and unpack.  I bet Buddy will be happy to see us tomorrow!

Alaska Airlines Flight 128

Flight Status

By Flight or Route

examples: AS 18 or SEA to MCO
Don't Know the Code?

Starting our trip home.

Click on the yellow circle with the white triangle inside it to track our progress in real time.

Fairbanks, AK

We were up at 5:30 to get dressed and get our breakfast.  The hotel dining room had a big buffet breakfast like the last hotel, but they only charged $11.95 per person instead of $12.00.  We really loaded up to make sure we got our money's worth.

At 8:20 AM the tan bus from El Dorado Gold Mine came to pick us up.  The driver was an ancient man named Jack.  Jack was very friendly and explained everything he knew about the Fairbanks area as he drove us through town.  We stopped downtown at Golden Heart Plaza and picked up a couple from Sweden, and then we headed out of the city and up the Steese Highway toward Fox, AK where the El Dorado Gold Mine was located.

On the way to the mine we passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the road to Gold Dredge No. 8, and the road to Chena Hot Springs.  These are places I would have liked to have returned to if we had more time here.

As we descended into the valley, Jack said that the entire valley had been turned upside-down by miners searching for gold.  At first I thought he was exaggerating or being facetious, but later, when I learned the extent of excavations, I understood that he was very serious - the miners really did turn the entire valley upside-down looking for gold!

We turned in to the mine lot and saw cruise ship motor coaches in the lot parked.  As soon as we boarded the small gauge train, another thousand tourists poured out of the buses and filled the little train to capacity.

The mine is located in a valley filled with permafrost and boasts of a permafrost tunnel that the small guage railroad they operate takes you into so that you can inspect the bedrock where the miners excavated ore looking for the placer gold.  Back outside they had some exhibits with very old and rusted equipment demonstrating how the mining operations worked in winter and summer.

Finally the train stopped at the gold panning demonstration and everyone was greeted by the hostess, Yukon Yonda, a long-time gold miner who escorted us to the sluice where we were seated to watch the demonstration of sluicing and panning the ore to find the heavy gold nuggets and dust.  They made this look so easy!

We were directed to a large covered area with troughs of warm water and benches down each side.  Each person was given a "poke" of gravel and dirt with some pay dirt in it and we sat down, poured the little bag into our pan and started panning.  Neither Bob nor I got any gold out of this, but we enjoyed ourselves.  The lady sitting two seats down from Bob squealed when she saw the nugget in her pan.  Later it was weighed and assayed, and valued at $85!

Everyone mills around in the very large gift shop while their gold is assayed.  There are freshly baked cookies and coffee for everyone one.  I told Bob, "This is the real gold mine for the owners!"  They had a nugget in there that was so big it was valued at $60,000!

Eventually it was time to go and everyone got back into the little train and it took us back to the parking lot.  Jack asked us how much we got and we told him that we didn't find anything.  He said, "Well, I wish you had said something!  I would have made sure you found some gold!"  I told him that we didn't come up there to make money, and that we only did this for entertainment and education.

Jack took us back to the hotel and we signed up for a shuttle bus ride to our next outing - a ride on the Riverboat Discovery III on the Chena River.

The driver took us to the riverboat dock and told us he would return for us at 5:20 to 5:30 PM.  Bob and I browsed the extensive gift shop here and got some sandwiches, chips, drinks, and ice cream for lunch.  By the time we finished it was time to board the stern wheeler river boat.

This paddle boat was all-steel construction with bow and stern thrusters and a diesel-hydraulic propulsion system.  It has a capacity of over 900 people and a draft of only 39 inches.  Again the cruise ship buses showed up with plenty of butts for the seats.

The boat took us all downstream to watch a bush pilot demonstrate taking off and landing on the surface of the water, then we passed a sled dog training facility and we saw the dogs harnessed up and taken out for a run.  Later we made our way down to the point where the Chena River enters the Tanana River.  Here we backed up and went a short distance up stream to a recreation Athabascan hunting/fishing village where demos and explanations were given by two Athabascan young ladies.  The static displays were fascinating and you could walk through them.

Once everyone was back aboard the Discovery III we paddled back up to Fairbanks and tied her off at her dock.  The dock was constructed from surplus Alaska Pipeline pipe sections and these can be flooded to submerge the dock.  With the riverboat on top, the pipe sections can be blown out and the dock floats back up with the boat on top of it!

The driver took us back to Rivers Edge Resort.  We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut to be delivered and we were going to rent a car for tomorrow, but then I checked our travel schedule again and realized that our flight back home leaves at 1:00 AM, Monday, September 6.  We would have missed our flight if we had stayed an extra day.  So, we are in the process of returning to Orlando.  The first segment boards at 12:30 AM. 

It's going to be a long day.  It will be almost 6:00 PM when we get to Orlando.

Fairbanks, AK

Bob with Michael Peacock after rafting.

We got up this morning not really knowing how our whitewater rafting adventure on the Nenana River would work out.  In the other places we've rafted the operator has a changing room and showers, but we weren't really given any directions for what to wear or bring with us.  To be prepared, we wore our shorts and t-shirts under our street clothes.

After our breakfast in the Mountaineer, we brought our luggage up to the lobby and checked out of the Denali Bluffs.  I asked the front desk to store our bags as a courtesy during our rafting trip.

Denali Rafting Adventures came to pick us up at 9:50 AM.  We piled into a van with another couple from our hotel.  Those nice people were from Australia!  We drove down into the Gulch and picked up some Alaskans from Anchorage, and then we headed over to the headquarters.  At the headquarters they had a release form for us to sign.  After this the questions about what to wear started to become clear.

We were all taken outside to the back deck and issued neoprene booties, water-proof Gortex suits, rubber gloves, and life preservers.  It was a tedious process getting into the suits the way that they instructed us to so that we could avoid damaging the expensive suits.

Once everyone was suited up we climbed into the van and drove down to the put-in site which happened to be right in the center of Glitter Gulch!  We got the safety instructions from Shannon while Michael, the other guide and the driver lowered the rafts from the trailer down to the river.

Bob and I went down the river with Michael Peacock, a Chicago native who comes to Alaska to raft as a summer job.  The other two couples went down the river with Shannon in one raft.  These rafts were outfitted with oars on a frame, and we did not have to paddle.  All we had to do was hang on tight and stay in the boat!

The Nenana River is glacial melt water and it is very cold - 33F!  We were very grateful for the heavy water-tight suits to keep us dry.  We still got very cold though!  It was a cloudy day and it started to rain.  As we traveled down into the canyon the winds really began to pick up and it became even chillier! 

The scenery was spectacular, but it is harder to appreciate it when you are shuddering from the cold.  We saw Dall sheep on the mountainside, we saw the railroad train bound for Anchorage come by, and we saw where rail cars were submerged in the rapids.  Our trip down the Nenana River was 11 miles from Glitter Gulch to the Healy power plant.

When we pulled the rafts out we helped get them back up onto the trailer and then we all piled back into the van where the driver had the heater turned up on HIGH.  After the rafts were securely strapped back down we headed out onto the highway and drove back to the headquarters.  This drive only took a few minutes.

You have to be very careful taking the dry suits back off too.  You don't want to damage it because each suit costs about $900 each!  We put our wristwatches and our own shoes back on and then went into the office/gift shop to view the photos that were taken of us.  We decided to purchase both photos taken of us shooting the first big rapid - Bob looked like he was having the time-of-his-life!  We also got a couple of witty t-shirts too.

The driver took us back to Denali Bluffs Hotel.  The driver said that the winter was approaching quickly and that in a couple of weeks The Gulch would be a ghost town.  All of the hotels empty, all of the businesses boarded up, everyone gone.  Even the one traffic signal on the road would be turned off!  Nobody stays up here in the winter.  The business season is only 4 months long!

Back at the hotel we got our luggage out of storage and requested a ride on the courtesy shuttle to the Denali Park Rail Depot.

While waiting for the courtesy shuttle we saw in the newspaper that today was the first day of moose season.  On the front page was a picture of a moose cow with three calves.  Moose only have twins 15% of the time.  What this moose was doing was kidnapping calves from other cows!  Smart moose because it is illegal to shoot a moose cow if she has a calf.

Bob at Denali Park Depot.

Driving down to the rail station only took a few minutes.  We went in, got our train tickets to our next destination, and since we still had a couple of hours before the train would arrive, we went to the park visitors center and found the bookstore where we browsed.  Nothing really interested us there so we went to the grill to get some lunch.  Cheeseburgers, waffle fries, and beer were on our trays for lunch.  We also purchased sandwiches and chips to eat on the train for our dinner.  The little packaged sandwiches, like something you would get at 7-Eleven, were $8 each!

After we stuffed the food into my bag were headed back down to the depot to wait for the train.  Since it was blowing, wet and cold, we went to one of the passenger shelters and waited behind the wall out of the wind.

Our train to Fairbanks came in at 3:45 PM. After dropping off a fresh group of tourists they let us board and take our seats.  It was nice to get into the car where it was warm.

The train headed north out of Denali National Park through boreal forest and over plains of permafrost.  We passed a large radar installation that you could just see from the tracks that is part of the ballistic missile early warning system.  We rode north to the town of Nenana which is famous for two things.  First, the Alaska Railroad was completed near here and President Warren Harding came to Alaska to drive in the golden spike completing the railroad during a ceremony.  Also, the longest clear-span bridge on the railroad is here spanning the Tenana (say it Tee-nah-naw) River.

The other thing that the town is famous for is the Nenana Ice Classic.  This is a betting competition where people guess which day the ice on the river will break up and start flowing.  On the shore you could see the observation tower used for The Classic and the tripod that is fastened to the ice.

The train continued to speed north through a barren plain of permafrost, black spruce, the occasional pond and beaver lodge, and not much else.  I was tired from all of the cold and fell asleep before long.

I woke up to the conductor announcing that we would be pulling into Fairbanks in 10 minutes and giving directions to gather your personal belongings.  It was almost 8:00 PM and still light.  The train came to the station through a rail yard and industrial area and it looked pretty bleak and dismal.

Bob arriving at Fairbanks, AK.

The train stopped, blew the whistle and we all headed to the end of the car to get out.  Bob and I picked our suitcases off of the shelf at the end of the car and then descended to the platform.

Inside the depot we found a bearded, bespectacled man named Bob who was from Oregon.  He was holding a Rivers Edge Resort sign and we walked up to him and said that we were staying there.  He took us out of the depot to the little bus and let us inside to sit down.

After he found the other couple he was transporting he started the bus up and we headed down to Fairbanks to the Rivers Edge Resort right on the banks of the Chena River.  We were impressed with the Rivers Edge - each room is actually a little self-contained cottage and they were very nice!

We got our showers and climbed into bed.  We would need some sleep - we still had some activities planned!

Denali National Park, AK

Bob standing next to the bus.

This was a long day...

I popped up at 1:40 AM and walked outside and up the hill barefoot and in shorts in hopes of seeing the northern lights, you could see a  million stars, but all I saw was a rotating airport beacon.  So, I went back to bed.

We got up at 5:30 AM, dressed, and went to the Mountaineer dining room to get a buffet breakfast.  There was scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, melon, cereals, bread for toast, bagels, and coffee or juices - just a real big spread.  Cost was $12 per person.

The morning was overcast and very cold.  It was trying to rain.  We stood outside with a group of people as twilight came and things started to lighten.  Soon the white bus with the red stripe on it and the words, "Kantishna Roadhouse" came up the hill and into the parking lot.  The driver, a tall graying man named Kevin, came out and explained what we were going to do that day.

We were freezing our asses off and wanted nothing more than to get into that damned bus, but Kevin is kind of anal, and he started by calling for anyone with special needs or disability to come and get on first - he had reserved seating for those people.  Then he began to slowly process the rest of us onto the bed.  Even though the itinerary said, "YOU WILL BE LEFT BEHIND", we found out that with Kevin as the driver, that was not going to happen - he went off to find missing passengers!

At last we got started and headed down the hill and into The Gulch.  We stopped at two other hotels to pick up more riders.  Soon every seat on the bus but four were taken.  I think we had 45 passengers.  We headed down the Parks Highway to the park entrance and drove into the main road across the park.

Denali National Park has over 6 million acres.  The park is about the same size as the State of Massachusetts!  The road we would be following today is 95 miles long, but only the first 15 miles are paved.  It is gravel after that, and we would be going clear to Mile 92 at Kantishna, an old mining settlement in the middle of the park where several hotels and resorts are located.

Bob at Polychrome Mountain.

When I imagined coming to Alaska, I thought of green pine trees and green grasses.  Perhaps some wildflowers.  The scenery we were treated to was very dramatic and colorful as autumn came a couple of weeks early this year.  The hillsides looked as if they were on fire from all of the reds, oranges, and yellows.  The colors looked more like the palette used to paint the American Southwest than anything you would associate with Alaska.


Viewing wildlife would be the order of the day.  I swear, each time someone called out that they had spotted a moose or sheep the bus would have to stop for them!  I think I had seen enough moose after the first hour!  I'd say that we saw more than 30 to 40 moose on this trip.

Herd of Dall sheep on a mountainside.

Soon the paved road came to an end and we passed a ranger station that keeps private cars off of the park road.  As we passed this point the scenery became more mountainous and if you were careful to watch for them high up on the mountains you could spot Dall Sheep.  They were so small we called them "Dall Dots".  We spotted them in twos and threes, but finally we came to a mountainside that had a whole herd of them including a large number of lambs!

After about an hour we came to our first rest stop at Teklanika (say Teck-la-neeka) River.  There were standard park service outhouses here and a nice deck built to overlook the river valley.  The Teklanika originates at the base of a glacier in the Alaska Range and it carries a load of sediment, crushed rock, and rock "flour" down into the valley.  This glacial till was spread over the valley and the river ran through this in many twisting braids. 

Kevin served hot beverages out of the back door of the bus.  There was hot chocolate, cider, and teas available.  After about 15 minutes we got everyone back into the bus and we continued up the road, passing over the river bridge and up into the mountains. 

We were looking for caribou, foxes, wolves, coyotes, bears, golden eagles, etc.  We saw lots of moose and sheep. 

Before long the seats on this bus became hard.  All of the bouncing up and down was tiring.  Our next stop was at Polychrome Mountain.  There were no restrooms here, but there were hiking trails that Kevin let us explore.  The colors were amazing here.  There might have been a nice view of the snow capped Alaska Range from here, but it was so over cast that all you could see were the bases of mountains in the distance.

Bob holds a moose antler at Toklat River.

After a 30 minute rest at Polychrome, we drove down into the pass looking really hard for some bear.  Our next stop was at the Toklat River.  Here there were more restrooms.  While everyone else went to pee, I spotted some caribou and moose antlers the park service left near the parking lot for tourists to photograph.  I told Bob to get up and we went out there to take pictures of these.

Other tourists began to come up and pick the antlers up to take pictures after watch Bob and me do this.

Everyone climbed back into the bus and we headed west again, deeper into the park.  We passed very mountainous areas.  The land was colored with the fall colors of resin birch, aspen, yellow birch, white spruce, and black spruce.

When we pulled into the Eielson Visitors Center, a new building constructed in the hillside with local materials and energy/water saving techniques to minimize its footprint, we discovered that the lower trails were closed due to a bear siting.  We really thought we were going to get to see a bear! 

Everyone tumbled out of the bus and headed over to an overlook where a park ranger was pointing out where the bear had been seen.  I was very patient, but I never saw this bear.  Neither did Bob.  We went inside and looked at the displays of the geology, ecology, and local cultures.  From this visitor center, on a clear day, there is a wonderful view of Mt McKinley and the Alaska Range, but today it was all socked in cloud cover.  Bob went to the restroom, and then it was time us to go again.  Several passengers exclaimed that they saw the bear, but I did not believe it.

After another hour of riding we passed Wonder Lake which is 6 miles long, a quarter mile wide, and over 200 feet deep, and the road turned to the north a little as we crossed Moose Creek and drove into Kantishna.

Vince at Kantishna Roadhouse.

The Kantishna Roadhouse is a lodge operated by Doyon, a native Alaskan corporation.  A representative came onto the bus and explained the lunch they prepared for us, pointed out where the restrooms were, and told us that after lunch they had two activities planned for us - one group would get to watch a dog mushing demonstration while another group would get to go panning for gold!

Inside we sat down to tables with wrap sandwiches, hot vegetable soup, macaroni salad, and cookies.  There were pitchers of tea and lemonade on the table too.

After lunch Bob and I wandered outside to explore the property.  We saw the cabins that visitors may stay overnight in, we saw lots of old abandoned equipment on the land like tractors and bulldozers that had moss growing in the engine and trees coming up between the track treads.  We made our way to the south end of the property where we saw the dog kennels.  Then we headed back to the main lodge building to see the dog mushing demo.

Upstairs in an auditorium, Emmett Peters, Jr, son of an Iditarod winner, demonstrated the dog sledding techniques, how the dogs are bred, how they are harnessed and used.  He explained racing strategy, and how he hopes to race in the Iditarod soon.  After a 45 minute talk we were taken outside and to the back of the compound where the barking dogs were harnessed up and attached to a Polaris four-wheeler.  Emmett started the four-wheeler up and let the dogs run around the lodge and run back to the kennel for us!  He said that this is how they do summer training with the dogs!

Bob and Vince at Eielson Visitors Center.

Now it was time to climb back into the bus and head back east across the park.  The weather was warmer now and the sun had come out!  Maybe we would get to see Mt McKinley at Wonder Lake?  Sure enough, the top of the old mountain was out as we climbed the hill at Wonder Lake, but due to regulations, Kevin could not let anyone out of the bus along this stretch of roadway.  McKinley really is a massive and high mountain.  The closest we came to it was 25 miles and it towered up into the sky from that point.

Back at Eielson Visitor Center we had better views of the Alaska Range.  The warning signs were still out for the bear, but it was believed that the bear had crossed the road and was heading north.  Kevin pointed out a huge steaming bear scat at the edge of the road.  It still had bunches of undigested soap berries in it!  So, I didn't see the bear here, but now I believed that it was around.

We headed up a switch-backed road up a hill and soon a bear was spotted on the hill opposite us across a creek.  The bear was climbing and looking for food.  Before long the bear and a golden eagle were competing for a rabbit or a ground squirrel!  It was very interesting to watch how quickly the bear could climb or move across the side of the hill!

Down in the valley I saw a lone moose walking up the riverbed.  We saw more sheep.  We saw a small flock of Ptarmigan birds crossing the roadway.  Later someone called out that they saw a wolf in the distance.  I peered down to the lake which was a couple of miles away and could not see anything.  Then I saw something moving.  Yes, there was something down there, but I could not believe that someone saw this and then could make it out as a wolf.  Kevin put this binoculars on and looked sand told everyone that it was in fact a bear playing with her two cubs!  I tried to photograph this, but with the highest magnification, the bears still come out as little specs. 

On the way out of the park we came to more moose.  This time it was two males in the back of a drainage.  They were butting heads and locking horns, but not seriously fighting.  This spectacle had caused a "moose-jam" of trucks and cars on the park road!

Out on the plain we spotted one lone caribou, a young one by itself.

A large moose in Denali National Park.

Finally, we saw a very large, older moose by the roadside.  He was maybe 50 to 60 feet off of the road and completely unconcerned about all of the cars, trucks, and buses full of people watching him.  He was scraping the velvet off of his antlers and munching on birch branches.

We drove out of the park and Kevin took each group back to their hotel.  We had been in the bus for over 13 hours!  We saw the older lady and gentleman sitting in the seat in front of us count out a $45 tip for the driver!  I think we left him a $20 tip.

I handed my bag and camera to Bob and told him to set the computer up and get his shower started while I went to get dinner for us.  I walked down the hill to the Salmon Bake in Glitter Gulch.  I ordered two Halibut Taco dinners to go.  I carried this back up the hill and we enjoyed this with bottled colas.  After showering and downloading pictures, it was time to sleep because had more activities planned.

This was a long day!