Friday, May 11th - Vacation Planning

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do
than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain -

I like to create travel brochures and mail them out to my friends & family before they come to visit me. I used to do the same thing when I lived in FL, and they were always a big hit (and saved in photo albums, scrapbooks, etc.) I spent a couple of hours making my friend Donna's brochure.

Here are thumbnails of the tri-fold brochure I made for her. They are very large images (so you can read them); when you click on them, they will open up in another page. The first image is the cover. The second image is how it looks when she opens the cover. The third image is how it looks when it's fully open. I just mailed it out yesterday, and I hope she doesn't read this journal entry before it gets to her! I want her to be surprised when she finds it in her mailbox.

I'm really looking forward to her visit, because that means I'll be doing my favorite things too! I hope the weather cooperates for us and everything is just perfect. I want her to always remember her trip to Alaska.

On Wednesday, I had a dentist appointment to have a filling put into a back tooth. This is the tooth I had so many problems with while I was in Philadelphia back in August/September. It needed another root canal (done in Philly), and a temporary filling was put in. I had to wait for a new claim year to get the new filling. While the dentist didn't hurt me physically when she put in the filling, she sure hurt my pocketbook. One filling - a 20 minute procedure - cost $360. My portion of the bill was $103. I later looked at the paperwork and saw that she called the filling a 'crown buildup', when it was nothing of the sort. So, not only are the dentists up here way overpriced, they're also embellishers of the truth. Looks like I'll be contacting United Concordia (army dental insurance) about this issue. I'm glad to at least have the filling done.

After the appointment, I had my entire day ahead of me. I took a drive to Creamers Field to see if there were any more cranes in town. I saw four. I did take a few photos, but I'll be happier when the field is full of sandhill cranes. I didn't have my extra long zoom lens, so the quality of the photo isn't the best. It was nice seeing these impressive birds again. As you can see in the photo, their legs are banded. This means that they've passed through Fairbanks before.

After my short visit at Creamers Field, I stopped at Sam's Club to fill up my gas tank. Sam's has the cheapest gas in town at $2.66. Even the station on post is 3 cents higher. I know many of you reading me are paying much more for gas in your area, but it's still ridiculous. I figured out that I'm getting 27 miles to the gallon. I really need to talk Steve into taking my car out more often, rather than his gas guzzling truck. Of course, we have to take his truck when we're traveling and towing the camper, but it's much more cost effective to use only my car around town.

I ran a few more errands, and started on my way home. At the spur of the moment, I decided to drive up to Birch Hill Cemetery. The grounds are still a mess. Volunteers will spruce everything up next week. It was a sad place to be today, surrounded by dead flowers and unkempt gravesites. The saddest portion of all is the baby and children section of the cemetery. Some of the graves are adorned with toys and encircled by wooden 'cribs'. I've written about this cemetery before in this journal, and I've posted photos in the past, too. Still, every time I visit, I feel my eyes get wet with tears. So sad...

This is the newer section of the cemetery. There are fresh graves there now; for those who passed during the winter months and couldn't be buried due to the frozen ground.

I decided to do the next three photos in black and white with selective coloring to add some interest. The photo above is of a family plot, nicely situated beneath the trees.

In this photo you can see the 'cribs' encircling the babies' graves. In the foreground is a plastic angel, standing watch over another little one's final resting place.

This grave is off by itself, and next to some other family members' graves. A tiny toy train indicates that a child has been laid to rest here.

After I downloaded the above photos from my camera, I went in search of some info about Birch Hill Cemetery. While surfing the net, I again came across the website FIND A GRAVE. I explored that site a while back - even adding my father's burial information and a short bio about him. It's a wonderful tool for anyone researching genealogy, and I think it's great that anyone can contribute to the database.

In addition to information, you can submit photos (of the deceased, the entrance to the cemetery, and the headstone of the deceased). You can also leave virtual flowers and sentiments for the deceased. I left my father a bouquet of "forget-me-not's" (AK's flower). You can sign up to be a volunteer to photograph headstones in your area for family members who live elsewhere. When I signed up to be a volunteer for the Fairbanks area, I saw three requests for headstone photographs. I'm going to see if I can find them, and fulfill those requests. Even if you're not looking for genealogical information, you can find out where famous people are buried, and if there are any famous people buried in your local cemetery. There's a lot of information there; check it out.

Yesterday I went walking with Karen. We did the three mile lap around my neighborhood. It was nice to get out walking again. Since Steve and I did our hikes this past weekend, I had been in 'lazy' mode. We talked so much that the time went by quickly. It's so much more fun to walk with a buddy!

Later, Steve and I decided to work outside. He did a lot of brush and deadfall clearing and now has three burn piles ready to torch at some point this week/weekend. I put together our second adirondack chair and ottoman, and got to work staining them a red cedar color. I finished both ottomans and 90% of one chair before pooping out in favor of lunch. I'll finish them sometime this weekend.

We decided that we're going to paint our front door. I love when an entry door is painted an accent color. Steve and I chose the color "Cranberry". I think that color choice will look great with our blue-gray siding and white trim.

I didn't get to my re-potting chores, but hope to this weekend. I have five big terra cotta pots ready for flowers, three hanging baskets, and at least 20 smaller pots I can work with. We decided that starting an actual 'in the ground' garden probably won't happen this year. Clearing the deadfall and preparing the dirt for grass is our first priority. I'll just have to be happy with container gardening for now. I'll be making a trip back to Plant Kingdom next week to pick up some more flowers.

We still haven't made definite plans for next week - and the official start of terminal leave for Steve. He's still waiting to hear back from a guide on the Kenai Peninsula about going out king salmon fishing. It's early in the season, but the kings should be straggling in little by little. The biggest king ever recorded was actually caught in the early shoulder season, before the run and Steve would like for that to happen for him too. Regardless of whether he catches anything or not, he enjoys spending time on the water.

While he's fishing, I plan to do some exploring in Kenai, Soldotna and Sterling. I might drive down to Ninilchik or even as far as Homer. It all depends on how long Steve will be out and whether or not we plan to drive down to Homer ourselves, or just go to Kenai and then come home. I do like planning though, so I'll keep you posted.