Sunday, October 19, 2008

I'm so Behind...

A quickie three day trip to college visit will do that do a person. I can report that Fairbanks is getting very cold these days. Still balmy for them, but chilly for us who live on the coast.

On the way there, we saw this glorious sight, and I can tell you, in no way does my dinky little camera do justice to this landscape. The grandeur must be experienced to be believed. Still, the mountain should be recognizable. Tell me both names it is known by and get your name into the drawing for the grand prize to be awarded on Oct 29.


This gorgeous mountain wasn't the only sight of great beauty we saw. As we drove North into ever increasing chill and darkness, sunset comes earlier and earlier each day, on top of the perfectly clear skies, we saw the moonrise. One night past full, it was huge and bright. It kept us company, helping light the highway the rest of the way into Fairbanks.


Send in those blond haired hunks! And find me some unusualy trivia about Alaska... there's lots to know!


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Morgan you make me want to head back North. I miss the Aurora Borealis or commonly know as Northern Lights. You're right a camera can't do anything in that state justice. My daughter wants to go home now. We left when she was three and she wants to get back there. Glad you had a safe trip.:)

Anonymous said...

Oh I forgot the trivia: Alaska has 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the US. It's the largest state and has the lowest population and twenty-two different native languages spoken there. The oil in the pipeline (800-mi) is heated at 120 degrees to prevent ice buildup. It's been flowing since around 1977, most is underground but it does surface at points. I found one such points traveling down the ALCAN. It takes about a week for the oil to travel the pipeline. If you ever get the chance you have to take the drive.

Asylumgirl said...

Ooh, pretty! At least you got to see some gorgeous sights on that trip and everything went well.

Deidre

Unknown said...

Hi Morgan! Oh, it sounds and looks so beautiful. *G* I really need to go and visit you. *L*

Is that Mount McKinley?

Hugs,

Maithe

Unknown said...

Oops, I forgot the strange trivia. *L*

Hmmm...how about:

In June 1912, Novarupta one of a chain of volcanoes on the Alaska Peninsula erupted in what turned out to be the largest blast of the twentieth century.
It was so powerful that it drained magma from under another volcano, Mount Katmai, six miles east, causing the summit of Katmai to collapse to form a caldera
half a mile deep. The ash was a foot deep for over 3,000 square miles.

Yes, I am a geek. *L*

Hugs,

Maithe

Morgan O'Reilly said...

Kensana, We didn't see the aurora this trip, the moon was too bright, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of oppotunities to see them in the future.

Great trivia you dug up! The pipeline is an amazing bit of engineering. I've written my name on it a couple times, grafitti artist that I am! LOL.

Morgan O'Reilly said...

Yes, that is Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali. I love things that have two names *wink*

Cool trivia, Maithe! I didn't know that about the 1912 eruption. I was here for the 1987 eruption and remember watching the big black cloud drift over us. We still have ash blowing around from that one.