It is day 60 of my summer sailing extravaganza. When the sun rises tomorrow, I will be on land and I will be smiling.
Both the Aleutian Island dive trip and our part of the Bering Ecosystem Study are over. The summer was a huge success and that had a lot to do with incredible weather and good people to work with. Thank you again to all involved who made this a summer of a lifetime.
I learned quite a bit along the way. Here are my top, personal discoveries, in no particular order of importance:
1 – SeaWorld vs. the Wild. The wild so wins. I was fortunate to see killer whales, otters, humpback whales, puffins (my
favorite bird), foxes, harbor seals, sea lions, porpoise, gulls galore, odd crustaceans, eagles and more eagles, men on
ships for 60 days.
2 – 4,000 songs on an iPod is not enough for 60 days at sea
3 – As I walked on islands that had WWII wreckage on them, both U.S. and Japanese, I became mindful that a critical piece of American history occurred throughout the Aleutians, but it is a faded scar on our memories as a nation. Stepping on once-”occupied” land is a little humbling.
4 – Scratch cooking is wonderful, but a good frozen pizza, all-beef kosher hot dogs and tasty frozen egg rolls are beautiful things in their own right.
5 – Hollywood is making movies TOO long. Cut the budgets, trim the fat….let me finish a movie in under 120 minutes, please.
6 – On a positive media note, the series Mad Men is truly wonderful. Thank you.
7 – Our planet is one giant food chain. I know, not a huge epiphany, but zooming out my lens this summer was beneficial to me in many ways.
8 – The new Dove Ultimate, visibly smooth, anti-perspirant deodorant that touts itself as a product which “minimizes the
visual appearance of hair over time” and “makes your hair feel soft and fine” REALLY works. For that, I am grateful.
9 – Here is a list within my list of things I hope to never sail without: Chocolate Cheerios, May Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce,
Kinder’s BBQ Sauce, frozen edamame, Country Pasta homemade egg noodles, Carotino red palm and canola oil blend, one-half of a grass-fed cow and Haagen Daaz coffee almond crunch bars.
10 – The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue provides a little, or a lot, of provocative distraction for some, but nothing
beats a really good and steamy vampire novel. Thanks, Laurell K. Hamilton.
Well….thanks for following along. I am stepping off the boat in Seward, AK and going on walkabout for a bit in Alaska heading out to the East coast to say hi to everyone on the right side of the country. I will post a bit as I travel as long as I stop walking long enough to type.
Cheers!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Chef T:
Whish I could express myself in writing half as well as you, I truly enjoyed your web site.
It was Very Informative, loved reading the articles, and learning about history you forget with age. Ken has always been a man of few words in his E-Mails, so it was great to understand some of the things that go on when he takes his trips on the R/V, and what he did before he retired.
“About The Food”, Recipes were great, and enjoyed the web sites for shopping as well, hope to be using some of them.
Enjoy your land time, looking forward to following along in the future.
Thank You
Elaine
Elaine, thank you for the kind words! I think those that work at sea are so immersed in life on the boat that when we are off the boat, we really need to be “off the boat”. Or, maybe Ken really is a man of few words.
I am glad you enjoyed the blog and got to peak into our lives out here!
Hi!!! I’m glad that you guys make it safe and sound… I’m still here in Alaska, let me know when are you comming to Homer (if you are) and I’m going to Seward at the end of the month but I don’t know if you are gonna be there.. let me know too! cause I have some plans for those short two days… take care!!! and out of your ten, I’ll keep the one and two for myself too…hehe
Renato
Tara, I have really enjoyed your traveling blog. We have a soft spot in our hearts for “ChEng” (aka Barrett), so it has been especially nice to know what has been happening in his life this summer. OBVIOUSLY, he is eating well !!