Crazy traffic and stormy weather

The week started off quietly as I've about finished with the projects I had planned here at my son's house. I packed some clothing to take home with me and packed some gardening items (tomato cages and a hoe) into the car. D asked me to make a Costco run for dry cat food and a jar of peanut butter. Both Eli and I like peanut butter, and the jar we had will be empty soon. There are no plans to return to the city for a couple of months.

As always Costco was a mad house; it doesn't seem to matter what time of day or day of the week one goes to the store, the parking lot is always full and the aisles are busy. The latter more so this week as the workers were clearly re-stocking shelves. With only two items, and having a good idea where they are located, I was distracted only once, by Deep Woods Off on sale. I picked up the third item and was through the self check-out in a just a few minutes and headed to the car.

One of my other pet peeves is the traffic in East Regina. My brother and I were chatting that morning, and he mentioned, I could likely take the highway just beyond the upgrader and turn off on Tower Road. Well, I turned the wrong direction on my way there and ended up in the traffic I dislike so much. However, I decided I'd take the route on the way home. It was fine on Tower Road though slower because the road turns from pavement to gravel. When I reached the highway, it became apparent that the traffic was busy there too...but instead of cars/trucks/SUVs, it was semi-truck traffic. Either way, I've got traffic to deal with, it was nice to return to our small town where traffic means three cars in a row. :p

I might have headed home sooner, but decided I wanted one more visit with the women at Stitch and Chat. There were five of us that day, including B. Her husband passed away unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. As she said, she felt the need to be back to a more normal schedule. It was good to see her.

When I returned home, I'd barely been in the house for more than 10 minutes when the sky opened up. I could hear the hail pinging down the furnace chimney. I tried to link a video, but Blogger was having nothing of it.

Thursday morning I was up about 6 a.m., to get a hug from C before he left for work. There were a few chores to be completed before I left, but even so, I was packed up and heading out the door shortly around 7:30 a.m. I was heading east out of the city, and tried to avoid the construction and morning traffic. Ha! By the time I was on the highway, with a stop for an iced coffee, it was nearly 8:10. Normally a 90 minute drive, it was extended by a detour and later a bit of construction. The four seasons in the city are winter, spring, construction, and autumn. Not so in our little town, though they do a bit of road repair every spring and there is an occasional water main break.

At home, I unloaded the SUV and sorted out my room, before D and I went to the school to pick up Eli. He was very excited to see me, as I was him. Later we did a bit of packing for Halifax, determining what needs to be packed in our carry-ons and what will go in our checked bags. So far, I think we won't be overpacked, and will have room to bring home a few items from our trip.

We had a severe thunder storm on Thursday evening, about 9:30 p.m. I could hear the sound of continuous thunder, see the sheet lightning flashing in the windows, and then the rain came down. It continued for just over a half hour before the storm moved on. When I went out to check the rain gauge on Friday morning, it showed just over 2" (about 50 mms.). We did get a bit of water in the basement but it was mostly contained to the laundry room which has a cement floor. 

Friday was mostly spent doing indoor chores. I swept/vacuumed and mopped floors, unloaded the dishwasher and washed a few dishes in the sink. Eli was off school at lunchtime so he and I hung out while his mom got a short nap. We went outside for a little bit; while I did a bit of weeding in the garden, he jumped on the trampoline and attempted to catch bugs in a jar. I was excited to see a few carrots and onions growing...not a lot so I may plant a few things when we get back from our vacation. Only two of my sweet peas came up, so I'll definitely be adding a few more seeds this weekend.

Our peonies and poppies took a beating in the storm. I was glad I'd taken a photo of the poppies the day before. Look at the size of the bloom - it's nearly as big as my hand! 

 

Today, there is little on the agenda. More rain is expected so there won't be much outdoor time. I'll do a bit of knitting or crocheting, perhaps start a book, hang out with Eli, and watch football and baseball. In other words, an easy day. We'll finish our packing on Monday, while Eli is at school.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Visiting Whittier

 Although we visited Glacier National Park and College Fjord prior to Whittier, I'll share those photos in a later post. I'll get the land ports complete and then move on to the sea. I assure you, it will be worth the wait.

We arrived in Whittier, Alaska, on May 14. It was turnaround day. Those who were booked for the one week cruise left the ship for their land tour or to fly home, while others who had done the land tour first, or flown into Anchorage joined us later in the day.

Whittier was home to the US Army during World War II, when the facilities including the port and railroad were built. The base was closed in the 60's and in 1964 the town sustained significant damage from an 9.2 earthquake which sent a 13 meter (42 foot) tsunami into the community.

Later the town became a port of call for cruise ships. The train you see in the photo transports passengers to and from Anchorage, the nearest airport. Something I learned is the tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel) between the two communities can only be used in one direction by the vehicular traffic or train at a time. Vehicle convoys can enter the tunnel in alternating directions every half hour, however trains can cause delays of a half-hour. Thus, one needs to be conscious of the timing. I had thought I might transfer to Anchorage for part of the day but was warned I might not make it back to the ship in time!

Although I've no photo of it, the highway was busy with trucks and SUVs pulling small boats - probably close to 20 in the convoy. The train pulled out from the station at the same time heading for Anchorage.

The marina was a busy place. Later I spent part of the afternoon watching the boats come and go, and be transferred back up the ramp to the waiting trucks. Seems to me, people in this area have to learn patience...there's a lot of waiting one's turn.

The snow on the tops of the surrounding mountains appeared to be deep. 

I found the patterns in the snow interesting. 

A few of the close to 1600 passengers that joined the cruise ship that day, stayed at the hotel next door. The hotel has just 25 rooms so it was definitely just a few.

I wandered off ship around 10 in the morning, planning to go for a walk around the port area, browse a few shops and stop at a local restaurant for lunch. I quickly discovered that very few businesses were open.

I walked along the boardwalk that ran part of the way on the ocean side and spotted this husky. It was a bit camera shy and never barked as people walked by. 

The one shop I found open was a combination gift and fudge store. I avoided the fudge, but did purchase a book to read. "Tip of the Iceberg" was written by Mark Adams and details his journey around Alaska to re-trace the nineteenth-century expedition of Edward H. Harriman. It was a great read, especially as we had visited several of the places that the Harriman expedition visited in 1899. The author provided details and information, both from his own adventures and that of the Harriman expedition that made my own travels more interesting.

There were several restaurants on this point, and I had thought I would stop at the Ocean View cafe but unfortunately it was closed. Apparently there was one restaurant in town that was open but I missed it. 

Back at the ship, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the top decks watching the marine traffic and later, the play of the sun on the mountains. An interesting note, the building you see in this photo, the Begich Towers, is the home of most of the residents of Whittier. It contains, not only the 200 or so residents, but a theatre, laundromat, post office, police department, mayor's office, medical clinic, mini-mart, and in the basement, a church. The building is also connected underground to the Whittier school. The building was constructed in 1953 to house approximately 1000 people, so despite all of the amenities, it's pretty empty. There are units available to rent and currently a three bedroom, one bath is available for sale at a mere $64,500 USD. If one could tolerate the winter weather, it would be a good place to live in a town under one roof.

One thing I missed out on and didn't realize until that evening was the museum. Other passengers mentioned it, and as I've said at almost every port, I have a reason to return. It was a mostly quiet day in Whittier but enjoyable just the same.

Next - Glacier National Park