Earthquake Park

Saturday was a beautiful day here in Anchorage. I drove to Earthquake Park where there is a 12 mile path that winds along the coast - Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. I needed a little exercise and was happy to be out in the fresh air after being so sick all week. Earthquake Park commemorates the 1964 earthquake in Anchorage where 130 acres slid down towards the water, destroying 75 houses and killing 3. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the US, completely destroying the town of Valdez and causing a tsunami covering Seward and many other cities. Alaska has frequent earthquakes, so I'm told, but most are inconsequential.

From there, I visited two crack houses (otherwise known as yarn shops), and then went to see downtown Anchorage. Downtown Anchorage is a lot like downtown Gatilinburg - it's filled with souvenir shops, trading posts, bars, fur shops, native Alaskan art galleries...everything screams TOURIST! I'm sure Kelly and I can kill a few hours here next weekend.

I woke up Sunday morning, and checked my phone to find a photo from my girls!  My first thought was - how much fun they must be having with Mom gone!!! Aren't they absolutely gorgeous? 

Week Two in the Books

Week two has been very different than week one, some better some worse. I'll start with my sightseeing adventures last Saturday. My colleague, Patty Orazietti and her husband Tony, graciously offered to drive me down Turnagain Arm to the town of Girdwood for a sightseeing tour. Turnagain Arm is a finger that Captain Cook went down and realized he couldn't get out to sea and had to turnaround. We drove south of Anchorage and made several stops to view the scenery. The mountains on either side of the water create a wind tunnel and it was much windier than in Anchorage.

We stopped at Bird Creek to watch the fisherman fishing for Salmon as they swim upstream to spawn; and stopped at McHugh Creek to visit the picnic area and the waterfalls. Tony was sure he carried his bear spray with him!

Girdwood is a small town who's real claim to fame is the Alyeska Sky Lodge and Resort. We took the tram up the side of the mountain and the view was great from the top. There was a big sign telling people not to touch any live unexploded ammunition they might find from avalanche mitigation. WHAT? Yep, there are surprises around every corner.

On the way home, we stopped at a wine warehouse...I wanted to buy a few bottles of wine and Patty and Tony picked up a bottle of gin. When I got to the checkout, I was asked for my ID and realized I didn't have it, so I asked Patty to buy the wine for me. What a BIG mistake. The store wouldn't sell the wine to them, and because they were with me, the store wouldn't sell them the bottle of gin either. The liquor laws in Alaska are very strict. There is an alcohol problem with the Native Alaskans and if you get too many DUIs, you have a red line stamped on your driver's license showing that you can not buy alcohol. The stores are held accountable - if they sell to someone underage or with this red stamp, there are fines and penalties...so they just don't take any chances. I walked away thinking, "this would never happen in the south!"

The week was good in that I am really starting to feel like a member of the team and they are starting to realize that I bring both BP knowledge and training expertise to the role. I've made good headway on documenting processes, developing material to be used in stakeholder awareness sessions and updating the Training Approach. The down side of the week is that I started the week with a crappy cold and I haven't gotten much better. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that he didn't want me to fill until tomorrow if I wasn't any better. I'm filling it tonight!