used the round island list as a guide and then added a few necessities. each trip you take in alaska has it's own set of packing issues. in general, packing is packing, lots of the same stuff, but how you pack changes alot. for round island we'll need to pack stuff to please alaska air. as an alaskan they are now allowing you two carry on bags free, under 50 pounds i think. i'm pretty dang close, we'll see if thier scales match mine. we won't need stoves or fuel on this trip as they keep it on the island now. that is changed, but is becoming more common. from the alaska air flight our next stage is going to be smaller float planes. we'll have tighter weight restrictions and space restrictions. from there boat and then up the hill to the camping area away from the walrus. this is easier accomplished with smaller bags, dry bags preferrably. so i packed dry bags into duffles and added a few extra big dry bags for the pack with the camera maybe...we'll see what works best once we are there.
so not as simple as just tossing stuff into a bag and going camping. worked the last 3 nights. attempted to get an rx for some broad spectrum antibiotics, got it, but the intensivist forgot to date it and they wouldn't accept it at the walgrens...so skip that. work wasn't bad so i could try and get some stuff done between shifts. sometimes if you just go with the flow it works to your advantage. they floated a nurse down to our unit and she feared she'd get two admits and kinda insisted she take another patient that was already established. i said ok i'd give her one of mine and take the admit. her admit kept her busy and then she had my other patient to deal with, i ended up helping her with her new admit and did most of the basics for the other guy who had been my patient. i never got another admit. haha...lucky me!! next night same girl, same thing. after i transferred my second patient out i told them to let her choose whether she wanted the admit or to take another patient they were moving within the unit. she chose the established and i got the admit bed...never got the admit again. haha...lucky me again. lesson...be nice and easy going and the gods will be nice back at ya!
set up the tent partway in the living room just to make sure it had all it's bits and all looked okay. the dogs were accomadating. of course, i did worry a bit that there was some rule about setting up tents indoors, like the whole umbrella thing, but i think as kids we did this sort of thing and nothing bad ever came of it. slept until about one pm and then the phone woke me up. it was our boat captain on a sattelite phone. i jumped at that one. we chatted, lost contact several times and chatted again. in between i called tikchik air and confirmed that they were taking us out to the little lake in the afternoon on monday. so we'll probably be setting up our tents on the island between 6-8pm monday. we'll get first plane out with 3 of the girls probably and then we'll catch the first boat over. then two more trips with the smaller 185 plane to get the last 4 out. the first 2 of those will have to wait til the next two arrive and then the boat should be about ready to pick them all up and bring them over. we'll know how the little lake is when we get there.
so that got my day started up. chatted with val as she was in some sort of packing frenzy, all worried...i talked her down and soon we were both laughing. was telling her this co-worker last night had asked me if i was planning to do this trip again in a year or two. this trip both times has been the most time consuming and crazy trip to plan. there are just so many pieces that have to come together and then the weather. i kinda just laughed at her, no way will i be planning this trip in a year or two....maybe another 10! it's totally worth it. i told val that i felt it was like that whole baby delivery thing. after all is said and done you tend to forget the pain of it all. the people i have dealt with, b&b, boat, planes, fish and game have all been super nice though. there are some great people out there and in the end you put all the plans out there and then trust that what will happen will happen. round island (or circle island as alicia calls it) is one of those amazing places to visit. not too many people get the opportunity or take the time and effort to plan such a crazy trip. it's worth all the stress and worry in the end.
terry, our captain, did mention that the walrus are making a good showing this year so that is great to hear. i ran errands and then focused on getting the packing done, the dogs and cats set up. hope the kid next door does an okay job with the cats. the cottonwoods are cottoning up the city. you can see it on the water above. it looks like it's snowing all over town.
was able to come home and say my goodbyes to claire and emily. they were great houseguests, enjoyed having them out and i do hope they return and enjoy more adventures in alaska one day!
took the dogs to the dog park, otherwise we mostly just did neighborhood leash walks. haven't seen any bears at the dog park. some kid fell into a crevasse on the worthington glacier out of valdez. sounds like he was in there for quite awhile according to the paper report. must have been cold. not sure how he's doing no further report. i heard it took 5 hours to get him out. not sure what injuries he had. on the 4th of july they have a big mountain race in seward on mount marathon. guess one of the runners never returned. a 66 year old. no signs of him yet that i've heard of. first and last run up the mountain. very sad.
finished the book on don sheldon. really good and interesting book. that guy crashed quite a few times, no real injuries though the planes didn't always fare so well. tough guy. fun to read some of the tales of flight around denali.
cool dragonfly.
these last ones were taken from patient rooms at providence. an amazing 4 am sunrise.
must say i'm lacking sleep at this point. have to wake up and feed the dogs, then take them to thier various destinations. haven't heard from michelle so i hope the morning works for her from dropping rio. always hate leaving the dogs, but it has been nice this summer knowing how good these guys take care of them and how happy they are in these homes. will have to do something special to thank them for taking in my dogs so often this summer. life should calm a bit after this trek. hoping to just do some normal long walks in the woods. for now..my bed is calling and i am happy to crawl in for a few hours.
used the round island list as a guide and then added a few necessities. each trip you take in alaska has it's own set of packing issues. in general, packing is packing, lots of the same stuff, but how you pack changes alot. for round island we'll need to pack stuff to please alaska air. as an alaskan they are now allowing you two carry on bags free, under 50 pounds i think. i'm pretty dang close, we'll see if thier scales match mine. we won't need stoves or fuel on this trip as they keep it on the island now. that is changed, but is becoming more common. from the alaska air flight our next stage is going to be smaller float planes. we'll have tighter weight restrictions and space restrictions. from there boat and then up the hill to the camping area away from the walrus. this is easier accomplished with smaller bags, dry bags preferrably. so i packed dry bags into duffles and added a few extra big dry bags for the pack with the camera maybe...we'll see what works best once we are there. 
so not as simple as just tossing stuff into a bag and going camping. worked the last 3 nights. attempted to get an rx for some broad spectrum antibiotics, got it, but the intensivist forgot to date it and they wouldn't accept it at the walgrens...so skip that. work wasn't bad so i could try and get some stuff done between shifts. sometimes if you just go with the flow it works to your advantage. they floated a nurse down to our unit and she feared she'd get two admits and kinda insisted she take another patient that was already established. i said ok i'd give her one of mine and take the admit. her admit kept her busy and then she had my other patient to deal with, i ended up helping her with her new admit and did most of the basics for the other guy who had been my patient. i never got another admit. haha...lucky me!! next night same girl, same thing. after i transferred my second patient out i told them to let her choose whether she wanted the admit or to take another patient they were moving within the unit. she chose the established and i got the admit bed...never got the admit again. haha...lucky me again. lesson...be nice and easy going and the gods will be nice back at ya! 
set up the tent partway in the living room just to make sure it had all it's bits and all looked okay. the dogs were accomadating. of course, i did worry a bit that there was some rule about setting up tents indoors, like the whole umbrella thing, but i think as kids we did this sort of thing and nothing bad ever came of it. slept until about one pm and then the phone woke me up. it was our boat captain on a sattelite phone. i jumped at that one. we chatted, lost contact several times and chatted again. in between i called tikchik air and confirmed that they were taking us out to the little lake in the afternoon on monday. so we'll probably be setting up our tents on the island between 6-8pm monday. we'll get first plane out with 3 of the girls probably and then we'll catch the first boat over. then two more trips with the smaller 185 plane to get the last 4 out. the first 2 of those will have to wait til the next two arrive and then the boat should be about ready to pick them all up and bring them over. we'll know how the little lake is when we get there. 
so that got my day started up. chatted with val as she was in some sort of packing frenzy, all worried...i talked her down and soon we were both laughing. was telling her this co-worker last night had asked me if i was planning to do this trip again in a year or two. this trip both times has been the most time consuming and crazy trip to plan. there are just so many pieces that have to come together and then the weather. i kinda just laughed at her, no way will i be planning this trip in a year or two....maybe another 10! it's totally worth it. i told val that i felt it was like that whole baby delivery thing. after all is said and done you tend to forget the pain of it all. the people i have dealt with, b&b, boat, planes, fish and game have all been super nice though. there are some great people out there and in the end you put all the plans out there and then trust that what will happen will happen. round island (or circle island as alicia calls it) is one of those amazing places to visit. not too many people get the opportunity or take the time and effort to plan such a crazy trip. it's worth all the stress and worry in the end. 
terry, our captain, did mention that the walrus are making a good showing this year so that is great to hear. i ran errands and then focused on getting the packing done, the dogs and cats set up. hope the kid next door does an okay job with the cats. the cottonwoods are cottoning up the city. you can see it on the water above. it looks like it's snowing all over town. 
was able to come home and say my goodbyes to claire and emily. they were great houseguests, enjoyed having them out and i do hope they return and enjoy more adventures in alaska one day! 
took the dogs to the dog park, otherwise we mostly just did neighborhood leash walks. haven't seen any bears at the dog park. some kid fell into a crevasse on the worthington glacier out of valdez. sounds like he was in there for quite awhile according to the paper report. must have been cold. not sure how he's doing no further report. i heard it took 5 hours to get him out. not sure what injuries he had. on the 4th of july they have a big mountain race in seward on mount marathon. guess one of the runners never returned. a 66 year old. no signs of him yet that i've heard of. first and last run up the mountain. very sad. 
finished the book on don sheldon. really good and interesting book. that guy crashed quite a few times, no real injuries though the planes didn't always fare so well. tough guy. fun to read some of the tales of flight around denali. 
cool dragonfly.
these last ones were taken from patient rooms at providence. an amazing 4 am sunrise.
must say i'm lacking sleep at this point. have to wake up and feed the dogs, then take them to thier various destinations. haven't heard from michelle so i hope the morning works for her from dropping rio. always hate leaving the dogs, but it has been nice this summer knowing how good these guys take care of them and how happy they are in these homes. will have to do something special to thank them for taking in my dogs so often this summer. life should calm a bit after this trek. hoping to just do some normal long walks in the woods. for now..my bed is calling and i am happy to crawl in for a few hours.
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