Do penguins eat kudzu?

So, on the last day of school, one of my students was telling me about a song called "There's No Penguins in Alaska." The song isn't actually about Alaska, but it does bring up a good point.

The point, of course, being that there are no penguins in Alaska. The Alaska zoo doesn't even have penguins, which is particularly interesting because the even the GEORGIA aquarium has about a dozen penguins, and I think it's pretty interesting that Georgia has more penguins than Alaska.

So why no penguins? I mean, I understand that penguins don't live in Alaska, but I just don't understand why they can't put a few in the zoo. It's a very nice zoo, with lots of cool animals and some polar bears that you can see fantastically close up. As far as I see it, there's only one reason no one would put penguins in the Alaska zoo:

kudzu.

That's right, I said kudzu. You might be asking "what on earth do penguins have in common with kudzu?" I will tell you.

(This section for non-southerners)
Kudzu is this crazy vine that covers everything in its path. It stops erosion, but can kill trees by blocking out sunlight and can cover entire homes if it isn't kept at bay. Someone once told me that it's high in vitamins and horses like to eat it. See below.

According to the great wikipedia, the history of kudzu in the United States goes like this:

"Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876. From 1935 to the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion . [and they did] It was subsequently discovered that the southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control. 

Kudzu is now common throughout most of the southeastern United States, Kudzu has naturalized into about 7,700–12,000 sq mi of land in the United States and costs around $500 million annually in lost cropland and control costs."



So why not bring some cute little penguins into the Alaska zoo? Fear of infestation. Cutest infestation ever (sorry Mitch, but penguins win over koalas), but devastating nonetheless. What if Alaska has the perfect climate for penguins and a couple of them get loose from the zoo one day? It could mean the end of life as we know it.

So that (in my admittedly ridiculous reasoning) is why there are no penguins in Alaska... even in the zoo.

She made it!

Here's the "after" picture taken upon Soph's arrival in Anchorage.

Baby's first plane trip

Soph is on her way to Alaska today. Her flight leaves Savannah at 8:30am and arrives in Anchorage at 8pm. With the time difference it is almost 16 hours of travel. I'll miss my sweet girl for the next few weeks.

Why Canada is lame

So... Here is a map of Canadian mobile phone coverage. It never really occurred to me until recently that Canada is actually a different country. I mean, I know I need a passport to go there, but I wasn't thinking too much about Canada as an international destination. In my research on mobile phone usage, I discovered that not only will I be paying something like 70 cents a minute in roaming charges, but I might not have service at all. Of course this information got me to thinking-what are some of the other international things about Canada? Why do I never remember that they aren't just USA's hat?

International                                              Not International

You need a passport to go there                No illegal border crossings
They have different money                       No illegal drug trade
                                                              They speak English
                                                              I can drive there without
                                                                  an ocean in the way

Another thing I didn't realize until I started planning this trip? I know almost nothing of Canadian geography. I could probably correctly identify more Western European cities on a map that Canadian cities. Of course, Europe is where history comes from, and I can't think of too many important things that happened in Canada other than... I'm thinking... Ok, I can't think of anything important that happened in Canada. How many Canadian provinces could you name before checking out a map? I think there are 13 of them. (Way to go with the lucky numbers Canadia)

Rewind!

This morning I dropped John off at the airport for his last Savannah to Anchorage flight. (or at least the last one in the foreseeable future) The next time I see him, it will be in Alaska! With only one more week left of school, and "The Drive" getting closer and closer, I am getting excited. (OK, nervous too, but mostly excited) In my excitement, I was going through some of my old Alaska pictures and thought I'd share them with you. (These pics are from July 2009)

John's apartment is on the edge of Lake Hood, which is the world's busiest seaplane base (according to wikipedia). During the winter, some of the seaplanes hibernate, but other change out their floats for skis and continue to land on the frozen lake.

Someone asked me if it snowed year-round in Anchorage, and the answer is no. During the summer everything is very pretty and green. John certainly seems excited about the beautiful greenery.

I guess the snow on top of the mountains doesn't completely thaw in the summer.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this picture.  The water was so beautifully clean and clear, it reminded me of something you'd see in Disney world. Of all the beautiful things I've seen in Alaska, I think the water is my favorite.

The gravel road in this picture goes through Hatcher's Pass. When I was up there before, we didn't have a chance to drive through the pass, so now it's one of the things on my growing "to do" list. It seems like Anchorage is surrounded by interesting places to see and things to do, and that's before you really start to explore. I can hardly wait for the next adventure!

Breaking in the new car

Little Ella Minnow (yup, that's the car's name) finally got to haul some cargo this week. We were short a truck for one of the recruitment concerts and ended up putting music stands in the element.  Turns out you can get a full rack of stands in one go.

Updated Itenerary

There have been a few slight changes to the itinerary since I posted about it last. Check out the updated version.

Day One- Savannah to Nashville 8.25 hours
Day Two- Nashville to Ann Arbor 8 hours
Day Three- Ann Arbor to Minneapolis Area 11 hours
Day Four- Minneapolis to Winnipeg 7.5 hours
Day Five- Winnipeg to Saskatoon 8.5 hours
Day Six- Saskatoon to Fox Creek 8.5 hours
Day Seven- Fox Creek to Fort Nelson 9.25 hours
Day Eight- Fort Nelson to Whitehorse 11 hours
Day Nine- Whitehorse to Tok 7.75 hours
Day Ten- Tok to Anchorage 7.5 hours

My mom will be joining me for Chicago through Saskatoon. AND I get to see good friends in Ann Arbor. I really do love driving, and this trip is only getting better and better!


View Larger Map

I bought a copy of Milepost 2010. It's a book (magazine maybe?) about RV travel in Canada and Alaska. So far it's the best resource I've found as far as travel guides. Lot's of reviews and lists of restaurants, hotels, campsites.

Frequently Asked Questions, or "Just the faqs Ma'am"

Whenever someone finds out that I'm moving to Alaska, they tend to have a few questions. The queries range anywhere from the polite, to the nosy, but usually fall into a category I will call "genuinely curious." below are some of the more common questions, accompanied by my responses. (Some actual responses may or may not have been replaced with inner monologue.)

Q: Have you ever been there?

A: Yup. I've been for 3 one week visits. I've been once in April, once in July, and once in December. I think I've pretty much seen the different "seasons" Anchorage has to offer. On the other hand, I've only been to Anchorage and the surrounding areas, so I have no idea what it's like in Fairbanks, Juneau, or the Bush.

Q: You know it's dark there all the time, right?

A: Um, no, it's not. Even on the shortest day of the year in Anchorage you'll still have several hours of daylight, and during June, there are almost 24 hours of daylight

Q: So you're gonna live in a cabin... in the woods... in the middle of nowhere?

A: Anchorage is a pretty large city with a population of almost 280,000. That's bigger than Savannah (with a population of 132,400) or Amarillo (187,200). Anchorage is similar in size to Buffalo, NY, Saint Paul Minnesota, or Plano, TX.

A: How are you going to move all your stuff?

A; Whatever fits in the Element gets to go. Plus the USPS will help out a little. Everything else is being sold or given to charity. I got a quote from a moving company for $5000, but realistically, my furniture isn't even worth that much (not to mention, I don't have that kind of cash). Renting a uhaul would cost somewhere in the area of $3000 before the cost of fuel to drive it up there. Tagging things for the yard sale has been slightly emotional. I think this is God's object lesson for me in not being attached to material objects. I will put a luggage container on top of my car for extra storage space.

Speaking of bad ideas...

Right now, the plan to drive to Alaska is almost immediately followed by the plan to fly to California. Just for fun today, I was tossing around the idea of leaving Georgia a few days later, and driving to California (get this) ON MY WAY to Alaska. This is only slightly more preposterous than "Swinging by the Outer Banks" on the way to Atlanta.

Currently the trip is
... 4,566 miles
... 79 hours of driving
... approximately $530 in gasoline

Stopping in California would be
... 5,949 miles
... 102 hours of driving
... approximately $670 in gasoline

The cost of an airplane ticket?
... about $550

For anyone interested, here's the current route!


View Larger Map

Poor butterfly

Great Alaska Adventure CD exchange

Several years ago, I participated in a mixed CD exchange. With something like 80 hours of driving ahead of me, I figured it might be time for another one. here's the deal...

I will make a (hopefully) amazing road trip-themed mixed CD, and I will send it to everyone who makes a mixed CD to send to me. What should you put on a mixed CD? Anything! Music is awesome, but so is comedy. New stuff is cool, but so are old favorites. What keeps you going on long drives?

Need my mailing address? Send me an e-mail.

Elements of the Element

Here are some of my favorite features of the new element.

The "aux" port. I can listen to my ipod, or my phone while driving. There's also a handy power outlet and a little shelf where I can store everything.



The rear seats fold all the way down. Not to mention that they also fold up flat against the outside of the car for more storage space, or come out of the car completely.

The center console has a removable ice chest!!! I'm thrilled. Ice cold diet coke on road trips: check. When I'm not using it as an ice chest it will work fine as a regular center console thingy.

Look how wide those doors open! This makes it super-easy to gets things in and out of the back seat. It also reminds me of the mini van comercial from when minivans first started having backseat doors on both sides of the van. There was this van parked on an outcropping of rocks and an orca (may a dolphin, but I think it was a whale) totally lept out of the water, through the van and back into the water on the other side. If I ever have a chance to do that, I am totally going for it.

The Element

This is how I plan on getting there :-)

Gorgeous views from a Tennessee rest stop

Nick-a-Jack reservoir

Because I found it, and it's too cute to ignore

Champion, gold medal nappers

Photos from the Forest Gump Bench

First, we take the serious, posed photo...

next, we dig into the box of chocolates!

Ollie Otter

Here's a poster from the restroom at a Tennessee rest stop. I'm pretty lucky that there was no one else in there, or it might have gotten a bit awkward. I'm not sure what social ettiqutte rules say about photography in public restrooms.

Mastering the Art of Mobile Blogging

Dear Readers (both of you), please forgive me as I learn the ins and outs of posting directly from my phone. I'm sure over the course of the next couple of days, there will be some unintelligible dribble posted as I figure out what I'm doing. This is, of course, a necessary evil as I'm sure many of the interesting things that happen on the trip will not wait for me to boot up the computer.

I'm finishing up my Spring Break in Nashville now, and hope to make several travel-related posts as I make my way back home.

Attractions- Part Two

Continuing Along...

Illinois

* The world's largest stained glass window

* Puppet Opera, or Miniature golf inside a funeral home

* The volvo auto museum

Disclaimer for Illinois: I'm sure Illinois is not as lame as it looks here.

Wisconsin!

* The national dairy shrine visitor's center

* Ella's Animatronic Deli (lunch!)

* World's largest Flamingo (is it alive?)

* Fiberglass graveyard

* A "Ship shaped" car wash. Think my car will be ready for another wash?


* Paul Bunyan and Babe statues (I've only listed them once, but there appear to be many!)

* "Wisconsin's Finest Taxidermy and Cheese Shop" I couldn't make this stuff up!

Minnesota

* The Mall of America, of course

* A strangely large number of smiley face water towers

* World's Largest 'Booming' Prairie Chicken
How does a chicken boom?

* There's a "shoe fence" of some variety

* Viking ship replica

North Dakota, the farthest North of all the Dakotas

* World's Longest Piece of seamless steel siding

* St. Joseph's Chapel. A TINY little church, but, a tiny little Catholic church. Apparently mass is said there once a year.

Entering CANADA!

umm... I'm having trouble finding things in Manitoba. I could see the world's 2nd largest fire hydrant or maybe I could go see Happy Rock


Saskatchewan

* I could see the world's largest moose, or the world's tallest Ukrainian lady

* The world's largest Lily, the world's largest tomahawk, and the world's largest bunnock
What do you mean you don't know what a bunnock is? It's a horse's ankle bone.

Alberta

* The world's largest softball, which is apparently named Suzie

* Canada's largest Buffalo, no name listed

* World's largest Easter Egg, Sausage, and Mallard duck.

* Canada's largest aluminum bat

* Alberta is also home to the world's largest tractor weather vane, pick axe, and wagon wheel

Alberta is really trying here to have some of the biggest stuff in the world. You can tell how much they want your attention. They're probably still hurt that no one knows who they are. Did I mention that they also have the world's largest beaver?

Attractions- Part One

My current goal for The Drive is to take my time and to smell the roses, so to speak. With little or no regard for level of interest or cheesy-ness, here is a list of potential "roses."

Before I leave Savannah...

*Giant Cow Mailbox
I drive by this thing every time I go to Kroger. I have no idea why it was built or who built it.

*Park bench where Forrest Gump Sat
The actual bench isn't there any more, but my family did take photos in that square last Thanksgiving.

*The first headquarters of Girl Scouting

Other Georgia Attractions...

*The town of Catlin, Georgia.

*The World's Largest Metal Elephant in Ringgold, Georgia.

* And, just barely making it within the Georgia State Line. I could (bum bum bum) See Rock City!
After decades of driving past barns and billboards, I could finally see what all the fuss is about.

Tennessee

*Ruby Falls sounds like fun

* The international Towing and recovery museum does not

* The world's largest cedar bucket
I wonder if there's a record for number of "World's Largest/longest/heaviest..." things seen in one trip.

* There's a bunch of stuff in and around Nashville. I've been to the Parthenon several times and I've been to the Charlie Daniels Museum. Maybe this trip I could see the pair of Polar bear statues and/or the controversial 'musica' Statue.

Entering Kentucky

* Big Indian Statue in Franklin, Ky

* Mammoth Cave National Park, and assorted attractions

* There's a Stonehenge replica in Munforville, KY.
I won't lie. This sounds cool. I want to go.

* I could see the Jim Beam distillery or the world's longest go-kart track.

* Kentucky is also home to the world's largest bottle of booze, the world's largest bat (baseball or flying? I'm not sure), and a "very large coffee pot".
Dear Kentucky, I can see that last one at bed Bath and Beyond. Love, Me

Indiana

* The Second Largest Timepiece in the world.

* The World's Largest Rocking Chair, and a grave in the middle of the road in Franklin, IN

* Indianapolis has a muffler man, a medical museum, and the sight of Elvis's last concert, but I'm more intrigued by "Three Dinosaurs breaking out of a Children's Museum"

* There's some kind of Rain forest car wash that I'm sure I will need by the time I get to West Lafayette (pictured above), after which my clean car can take me to the World's largest boilermaker statue.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea what a boilermaker is.



* Continuing through Indiana, the fun only increases. There's a giant sundial in the shape of a lady's leg, and a Great Dairy Adventure where one can (gasp) ride a bus through a barn.

* I can see the Michael Jackson birthplace. (Not exactly the type of "music man" attraction I expected to see near Gary Indiana.)

organization...

In no particular order, here are some of the things I need to do in the next 8 weeks

-Buy a new car :-)
-Find a job in or near Anchorage
- Find a place to live
- make sure my passport hasn't expired [done!, is doesn't expire until 2015]
- Find a renter for my place in Pooler
- Give away, sell, or return to rightful owner most of the furniture in my house

That's all I can think of for now. What am I forgetting?

Itinerary

Here's my current thinking, which is wide open for amendments.

Day One- Savannah to Nashville 8.25 hours
Day Two- Nashville to Chicago Area 7.5 hours
Substitute Ann Arbor for Chicago?
Day Three- Chicago Area to Minneapolis Area 7.75 hours
Day Four- Minneapolis to Winnipeg 7.5 hours
Day Five- Winnipeg to Saskatoon 8.5 hours
Day Six- Saskatoon to Fox Creek 8.5 hours
Day Seven- Fox Creek to Fort Nelson 9.25 hours
Day Eight- Fort Nelson to Whitehorse 11 hours
Day Nine- Whitehorse to Tok 7.75 hours
Day Ten- Tok to Anchorage 7.5 hours

Does anyone have experience driving through Canada? Can you think of any good places to stay, or things to see along the way?

The Adventure Begins

It's a story as old as time. Girl meets boy... Girl falls in love... Girl moves to Alaska...



I plan to use this blog to share all my of adventures as I move 4500 miles away from my current home and start life in the USA's largest state.