Brooklyn Chic

 Going back as far as college, I had heard of this mythical place called "Brooklyn," where young folk with tight pants and handlebar mustaches went to the farmers market to buy hand-made candles and soap on their way to the Whole Foods. And yet, despite its reputation as being the ultimate in hip and chic, I had never felt the need to enter its warm thrift store jacket embrace.

That all changed when I had almost ten days off in a row and Nicole thought we should try something different if we went to New York, and perhaps not go to Manhattan for once. I also had a friend from college who now lived in Williamsburg, so it was a fine excuse to cross over into this strange new world.

After some lunch and stimulating conversation, we embarked on a walk searching for filming locations from a TV show called "Younger," that Nicole and I enjoy watching. Brooklyn is basically a character in the show about a woman in her 40s who pretends to be in her 20s to get a job in the publishing industry. The temperature was tricky -- cold and then warm from one block to the next. We felt that people were also on top of us while we tried to walk. I guess we are just two slow California kids out of their element. That being said, it was a lot calmer than Manhattan.

Eventually we hopped on a ferry and took it to Dumbo, or essentially where the Brooklyn Bridge is. I wanted to get some pictures of Manhattan considering I've previously been too close to it, and having that bit of separation across the river might afford some good photography. We walked along the river a bit trying to find a good vantage point when the clouds started rolling in.

Later on it started to rain and this cleared out all the obnoxious kids trying to do obnoxious selfies doing obnoxious things, so I could do some photos without getting someone's crotch in my picture. It was greatly appreciated.









And all the pictures in this blog are just the ones from my cellphone. How about them apples? Apples that are farm-fresh, organic, and grown on a co-op no doubt.

Leaving Monument Valley

As previously mentioned, we settled in to take photos from our balcony. It took a while to get all my settings right. A lot of it was guess work since it was too dark for my camera to focus on anything. I had to adjust it manually. Some turned out ok, and the moon was at a quarter, so it could have been a bit darker to better show the stars. Even as is, you can make out the milky way in a few of them.

The following morning, I woke up early because the window curtains didn't really do much to block the sun. I hadn't planned on doing any sunrise photos since we got to bed a bit late and I fully planned on sleeping in. But since I was now up, I poked my head out to see what it looked like outside.

Not too shabby. I snapped a few pictures and attempted (unsuccessfully) to fall back asleep. We had to do a relatively early start anyway since we had almost four hours of driving to catch a flight back to LA early in the afternoon. We were going to get breakfast at the hotel restaurant, but we got mixed messages. They were full, but one lady said we could just get it to-go since it was a buffet. We were then promptly told by a different lady that it was dine-in only.

It's just as well. This place doesn't need any more of my money for very little payoff. Road - closed. Trails - closed. Dinner - bad service. Breakfast - unavailable. As you may know, Nicole and I like to collect ornaments at each of our travel stops. We went to the shop attached to the hotel. As hotel guests, we were given a $20 discount on any Navajo handicrafts. I jokingly said to Nicole, "You know an ornament is going to be like $40 since everyone is getting a coupon." I was wrong. They were $48. Luckily they were 50% off, so we ended up paying the more normal price of $4. Everything in the store was absurdly expensive. I don't think I can do summer traveling for a while. It's like constant price gouging and overcrowding. While the view from The View Hotel was amazing, the rest was kind of meh. For being a new hotel, the rooms managed to feel dated and minimalist. When you're virtually the only thing in town, none of that really matters. People will pay $300 to stay there for lack of other options. It is unfortunate, but I don't foresee any of that changing.

It may all seem like sour grapes, but I like to be a savvy traveler and hate feeling like I've been had. We drove toward Durango, Colorado by way of Four Corners, which (Surprise!) charged us $10 to see a geographically inaccurate monument of the border of the four southwestern states. Yeah, I'm no fun. The family behind us said they had planned on two hours at four corners. How? What could you possibly do? How many cheaply-made arrowheads can you buy? How many Instagram selfies can you take? Hey, at least people are traveling. I am a strong proponent of leaving one's house if you've read my prior entries. But I did notice one thing about the bulk of tourists -- they weren't American. I would say foreign visitors outnumbered Americans by a margin of at least 6 to 1. Primarily Europeans from places like Germany or France, but even a strong contingent of Japanese and sun-fearing Chinese going for hikes through the desert with their umbrellas deployed. I'm not sure what to make of it.

We had an uneventful flight home on American out of Durango, where we had lunch at an outdoor café, but had no time for anything else. We enjoyed the sites we saw, but felt the overall service and hospitality received was, well . . . basic.

United sent me an email after my flight to ask my thoughts on basic economy. I gave them. Avis inquired if I enjoyed my rental car that was both expensive and falling apart. And then Holiday Inn Express in Page, Arizona asked for my thoughts. I did an extensive survey on their website and gave them high marks on the cinnamon rolls (obviously). I never received anything from The View. I guess you don't need feedback when there's no competition. And perhaps that is the biggest lesson on this trip. People are more apt to like you if you can at least act like you care.

In the land of the Navajo

We made our second trip to Horseshoe Bend this morning after getting some breakfast. The lighting was better this time, though the crowds were not. As odd as it may sound, I'm beginning to hate summer trips. Everything is overcrowded, and I feel like we are being taken advantage of because there are such crowds at everything. Priced are high. Service is low. It's all pretty basic if you ask me. Anyway, it was a relatively short drive to Monument Valley albeit confusing in terms of states, time zones, and radio stations.

We crossed in and out of Utah multiple times. We also struggled to find a good radio station. For being in the middle of nowhere, we had no difficulty picking up 100 stations. They were all scratchy at best, but at one point we were somehow picking up a radio station from Bend, Oregon. That is over 900 miles away. I don't understand. When we got to Monument Valley, we checked in to the View Hotel. Unsurprisingly, it has a good view from the balcony.

It was grossly overpriced, but worth it I suppose. When one is a captive audience, and there's really only one hotel by the park, one doesn't really have a choice. We were going to drive the valley view road, which is an unpaved road encircling the main formations, we were informed that the road was closed . . . unless you were on a tour. So it wasn't really closed, just closed for people who wanted to do it for less than $75 per person. The Navajo ranger told us that she would be gone at 630pm and therefore wouldn't be able to turn people away, so we could come back at that time.

That gave us about four hours to kill, so we drove to Mexican Hat across the border in Utah. It wasn't anything to write home about, but something to do. I don't think it looked very Mexican hat-like if you ask me. This is presumably why you can no longer buy alcohol on Navajo land. After getting dinner at the one restaurant at the one hotel, we drove our Nissan Sentra to the unpaved road.

Despite the original lady going home, she was replaced by a far more annoying guy in a truck telling us the road was closed. Five minutes later, he left, so we thought about his instructions for a second and started driving down the road. We went about 1/2 a mile down. It wasn't any worse than other unpaved roads I've been on, but when there's money to be made . . . While we would have liked to continue, it was clear that regular folks weren't being welcomed. The tour trucks were giving us the stink eye even though other cars were driving the road as well.

We were able to at least get a little bit closer to the mittens. With the road closed, and the hiking trails closed, there is really just one view we could get. After we returned to the hotel, we settled in by the balcony, watched the colors change over the mittens as the sun went down and hope to get some good pictures of the stars when they come out.

The Perils of Being Basic

There are somewhere in the vicinity of 30 daily nonstop flights between LAX and Las Vegas. And as someone who attempts to go standby, one would think the odds were good. They were not, despite it being a Wednesday. There were an average of 15-20 standbys for any given flight. I didn't really want to chance it, so I used my discount to get a confirmed seat for Nicole and myself on a United flight. It was $36, which seemed like a good deal until we realized we had purchased a basic economy ticket, a new class of service that United is testing out. Nobody really seems to be on the same page as to what it entails. The TSA agent stopped me and wouldn't let me go to the TSA pre-check line with Nicole because mine said "Basic" at the top (and also TSA Pre-check, but apparently that didn't matter). The TSA employee told me I had to talk to a check-in agent to pay for my bag or some nonsense. I wasn't really in a calm mood after the TSA lady yelled out, "You basic!" Nicole was just as confused as me since she was allowed to go through with essentially the exact same ticket. So, why is TSA now getting involved with United check-in policies?

Clearly something is being lost in communicating the proper procedures, and that's what I said to the TSA lady after I eventually convinced her that I did not have to check in with someone else. Then at the gate, I was given the once over about my camera bag. My camera bag! It's like the size of a lunch box. She also made Nicole check her bag, which was about half the size of most of the other bags that were allowed in the overhead bins. Now I would normally stay out of an airline's business since I myself am an employee, but not today. I paid for those shitty tickets, so if United has any sense after all of their PR problems of this year, they will not try and emulate Spirit, the worst-rated airline in the country. The ticket may be cheap, but it comes at great cost.

I was in a fighting mood when we got to Vegas and I basically got ripped off on the one-way car rental. There was a hidden mileage fee. I mistakenly assumed all rentals had unlimited mileage. I guess that's my fault for being basic. The reason we were in Vegas is because I had promised I would take Nicole to see the Backstreet Boys perform. In retrospect, I probably sounded shady to my parents et al when I simply said, "Nicole and I have an event in Las Vegas." We did not get married at a drive-thru wedding chapel.

You see, it's very uncool to admit that I was going to see the Backstreet Boys. I do have to admit that some of their music is catchy, however. On nights when BSB aren't performing, Britney Spears has a residency. What year is it? When we woke up the following morning (completely sober) we made it a point to get out of Vegas as soon as possible. We got on the road and drove for over four hours until we got to Page, Arizona.

We made a brief pit stop in St George, Utah for lunch and didn't stop again until reaching Glen Canyon Dam just outside Page. There's nothing really in Page; it's just a jumping off point for other excursions. Antelope Canyon, the famous slot canyon with shafts of light coming through from above is booked solid, as is the "wave." It doesn't help that we are here at peak season. We went to see horseshoe bend, but we arrived late afternoon when the sun was directly in front of us. And while the dozens of tourists around us didn't seem to care, I told Nicole that we would have to come back tomorrow morning.

You see, this may look fine to most, but not to me. The detail in the rocks is completely lost and the sky is blown out. Unacceptable, obviously. Hopefully tomorrow involves less driving and more adventures.

Chillin Like a Nashvillain

We didn't have any movie commitments until the evening, so we spent the day exploring Nashville. Stemming from my desire to go for a walk (and also avoid paying for parking), we went to Cumberland Park, across the river from downtown Nashville, and walked in via a pedestrian bridge. Despite being just 10am or so, it was a very vibrant downtown scene. People were already in the process of getting drunk or getting a new pair of boots -- perhaps both. We walked by the Johnny Cash museum and some others, but didn't feel like spending money, so just strolled around the area.

We couldn't quit figure out what the big occasion was, but there were large gaggles of girls, often wearing matching shirts or outfits. How many bachelorette parties can one town tolerate? Anyway, the whole experience was making Nicole and I feel very, very sober. Everyone knows a respectable person would wait until at least 11am to start drinking. Amateurs...  After zig-zagging our way around downtown Nashville, we decided to head back across the river and continue our drive. Our next stop was the Parthenon.

It was not far distance-wise from downtown, but took us probably 20 minutes because Nashville roads make no sense. Our directions would be like merge onto X-highway and then exit left .3 miles after merging and then exit right after .4 miles on the next highway. After five or so highways, and having made what seemed like a circle, we arrived at the Parthenon, an exact replica of the one in Athens. I guess it was built for the state's centennial expo, but the rest of the rationale is lost on me.

We didn't need to spend a lot of time there because there isn't much more there than a fake Parthenon, so we took about seven highways and made our way 9 miles back to our hotel. Tonight Nicole has the big reveal at the award's ceremony at the Nashville film festival. At press time, she had not prepared her speech, nor her passive smile and clapping, so we will all have to wait and see how this all plays out. However it goes, she seems to be happy to have at least been one of three finalists. We will take advantage of the free happy hour either way.



Made it to Nashville

Like most people who do Balkans road trips, ours began in Nashville, Tennessee.  After a delay getting out of LAX due to crew availability, maintenance, and a runway closure, we arrived in Nashville just under two hours behind schedule. Our seats were in the last row, but as a wise American captain in the jumpseat once told me, "The worst seat on the plane still beats the best one in the terminal." As the recent news can remind you, getting a seat (and staying there) is half the battle. After getting our rental car and checking in to the hotel, we set off to the Nashville Film Festival to get our packets. We displayed our lanyards to let people know that we are totes important. Nicole's says "Screenplay Finalist." Mine just has my name, though it should say, "Loyal Assistant." Thanks to our elite status, we enjoyed a free happy hour sponsored by Goose Island Beer. Honestly I was expecting Bud Light, so this was an upgrade.

Then we got some dinner from a nearby food truck. We both had bbq sandwiches, served with tots, pickles, and as you can see in the picture. . . His grace. We ate rather hastily because we went to a showing of a movie called, The

Exception, starring Christopher Plummer. He plays the exiled Kaiser during the early stages of World War Two, not to be confused with The Sound of Music. Anyway, a Nazi is assigned to be his body guard, a British spy is operating in the area, and hijinks obviously ensue. But guess who's coming to dinner? It's Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler! Again, not to be confused with The Sound of Music.

After the film, we took a short break and then saw some film shorts. Nicole and I both agreed that most of them were missing something, like perhaps a coherent story. This was something that was a problem in film school since people wanted to make something "deep" and ended up not making any sense. "I wanted to leave the ending up to audience interpretation," can only get you so far. We walked in a little late, so we missed an Italian short film called The Penalty. One of the filmmakers was there to do a Q&A and at one point said, "The final image of the soccer ball was seen as too strong by my filmmaking partners and led to a lot of disagreement." Nicole and I looked at each other wondering how that soccer ball could ever possibly be such a strong ending. We will never know. After engaging in snarky commentary about the other shorts, we drove back to the hotel and called it a night.

Last Day in the Great Plains

It was drizzly today. It was in the 30s pretty much all day, so time outside was limited. As we drove back into South Dakota, we made a stop in Deadwood, the town known for its lawlessness -- now home to tacky tourist shops selling confederate flags and t-shirts with Donald Trump riding a motorcycle. We plugged a meter for 45 minutes, and this was ample to explore the town. As previously mentioned, it was also rather cold, so we didn't feel like lingering too long outside in the elements.

After arriving back in Rapid City and checking in to our hotel, we made a brief stop near Ellsworth AFB to visit the free air & space museum. As it was free, there wasn't a lot to it, but they did have some aircraft parked outside. By now, it felt like the temperature was in the 20s since the wind had really picked up. We went to the movies to get out of the elements for a couple hours. After that we had some fine Italian dining at some place called the Olive Garden. After stepping back outside into the cold, we debated whether we should go check out Mt. Rushmore at night.

This was, after all, an outdoor activity. After a brief discussion, we decided to do it. We were the only ones there and it was almost a little eerie. Snow had started to fall. I attempted to catch some of it in the spotlights as it fell onto the monument when all of a sudden the lights went out. Now we were looking out into a black void. I fiddled with my camera settings to work some magic. Unfortunately the sky was a thick overcast, so the prospect of getting the monument with stars was not in the cards, but I did get this bizarre shot of the monument.

Yes, this was taken at night despite appearing to have been taken during the day. The weird scratchy texture is from the snow streaking over the image during my long exposure. It's lucky we showed up when we did, so we saw it illuminated for a few minutes. And that was that. As we returned to the car and headed back into town, our random trip to South Dakota had drawn to a close.

Off to Wyoming!

We woke up this morning in our cabin in the middle of the Badlands. I did a little research on visiting an old ICBM launch facility and found out tickets were first come first serve, so we drove just outside of the park to get our tickets for the afternoon, and then headed back into the park to do some exploring. We drove west a few miles and stopped of at a few viewpoints and did a couple hikes. It was very nice weather. Clear skies, 70 degrees, light breeze. This would all change drastically later in the day.

After feeling we had adequately explored the Badlands, we drove down a dirt road toward Delta-01, the missile launch facility. We weren't entirely sure if we had reached the facility when Google maps said we had arrived at our destination. It was very unassuming from the outside, which I guess is the point. It looked like an average ranch house, other than the chain link fence going around the area. The ranger showed us around the facility, which they tried to showcase as it would have looked when it closed in 1993 -- a People magazine sitting on an old coffee table with Princess Diana on the cover.

Once we passed the crew facilities, we reached an elevator that descended thirty feet underground to a massive concrete and steel door that separated the control room from the outside world. The crew room was actually suspended in a way so that it could move several feet in either direction if it took a hit from a Soviet missile. The two-man crew who would be stationed inside did not have much in the form of entertainment. They would typically be in here for 24 hours straight. After exiting the facility we drove to an old missile silo, which was several miles down the road. We could just look down some plexiglass into the ground to see the missile (now a dud obviously). Despite more than half of America's nuclear missile arsenal being decommissioned, there are still over 450 missile launch sites in existence around the U.S. -- primarily in states with low populations like North Dakota, Wyoming, etc... On our way out of the visitor's center, there was a guestbook where people were supposed to share their thoughts about the prospects of nuclear war and multiple people had trolled the guestbook with things like, "Build a wall!" "Trump!" Disconcerting stuff if you consider that the order to launch comes directly from the President of the United States.

On our way out of South Dakota, we made a stop in Wall for some gas and continued our journey into Wyoming. After checking in to tiny Hulett, Wyoming (pop: 384), we witnessed the temperature plummet about 30 degrees in about an hour. We brought our jackets with us when we drove 20 mins over to Devil's Tower.  The wind had really kicked up and the unseasonably warm and pleasant weather we had experienced thusfar abruptly ended once the region realized it was, in fact, October.  We did a perimeter walk around the tower that was about a mile and a half.

The weather was beginning to seem actually quite ominous. We drove back into the booming metropolis of Hulett and had dinner at a place called the Ponderosa Cafe. The town is about two blocks long, so we walked there from our hotel. People we had seen at Devil's Tower were also at Ponderosa. We saw them again back at the hotel. It's crazy for me to think that people actually live here -- all 383 of them. Though to be fair, we passed through a town called Aladdin on the way in. There were mile distance signs for a ways, but when we drove through we discovered it had a population of 15 (yes, one five). Welcome to Wyoming.

Wait . . . You're Going Where?

After an uneventful flight up to gloomy Seattle and back, I was overdue for another quick vacation. South Dakota it is! Most people did not readily understand this decision. The Uber driver taking us to LAX was a bit confused. The fact of the matter is, the area around Rapid City has a surprising amount of things to do. Also, the weather elsewhere is not exactly ideal. In what became one of the easiest nonrev trips to date, Nicole and I easily got on a half empty flight to Denver and the regional jet connection to Rapid City. The only issue was food upon our arrival. Everything was closed, so we ended up buying snacks at a gas station and that became our dinner.

The following morning, we drove about 20 minutes into the Black Hills to Mt Rushmore. I can't really think of anything to say about it because it's pretty self-explanatory. It's stone heads of presidents. The fall colors were just barely starting to show themselves. The temperature in the morning was about 40, but within a few hours it would be over 70. Confusing weather. After about an hour at the site, we continued on to Custer State Park. The ranger at the gate pointed out where we should see some bison since they hadn't been "worked" yet. Neither Nicole or I had any idea what this meant.

The bison were all corralled behind fences, so it wasn't some kind of majestic migration across the plains we were hoping for, but we did see plenty of antelope roaming the hills. It was a long, winding drive around the park. Eventually we stopped to get some lunch, where I ordered a buffalo burger. One would assume it would be fresh, but the place overcooked it until it was dry and void of taste. Following our exit from the park, we drove back through Rapid City making a quick stop at Dinosaur Park with very natural-looking green dinosaur sculptures and then hit the road toward Wall.

Perhaps you have heard of Wall Drug before. It is the stuff of western legend. Whether you want to buy a dreamcatcher, some fudge, a new pair of spurs, or some pepto-bismol, Wall Drug is your stop. It's also virtually the only thing in existence between Rapid City and Sioux Falls unless you count the Corn Palace in Mitchell (and who wouldn't). Nicole and I stocked up on merchandise -- t-shirts, bottles of water, a magnet, a christmas ornament, and a donut. The creature you see here is a jackalope, half-antelope, half-jack rabbit. Yep.

After departing Wall with a few sandwiches for dinner later, we entered the Badlands National Park. The sun was working its way down on the horizon and the temperature was actually above 80. We stopped off at an overlook and did a few short hikes as well. It's a really interesting topography to see sprout up out of nowhere in the middle of the prairie. As the sun set, we ate our sandwiches and went back out to try our hand at some star photography. Despite being a long way from the nearest town, it was still a bit bright from the waxing moon in the sky overhead.

This created an interesting effect with shadows showing up in our long exposure shots. It was fair to say that Nicole and I were the only people out and about within the park at this hour. In fact, the lodge that we are staying at inside the park closes next week until May or something like that. It's the quiet season in South Dakota. While it has been a challenge to acquire food, it's nice to get away from the crowds. We don't really have any plans for tomorrow as of yet, so stay tuned for further adventures.

South to North Pole

Today we flew from Barrow down to Fairbanks and were transformed from a barren, cold, windy tundra into what appeared to be legitimate summer weather. The temps almost reached 80! It only seemed appropriate that our hotel was in a town just east of Fairbanks called North Pole. Everything is Christmas-themed. The streets are named things like Santa Claus Lane or St Nicholas Street. Business marquees are held up by giant candy canes. For further ridiculousness, let me describe our hotel room.

Yep. I don't know what else to say about this room that isn't said in this picture. Nicole was very excited about it, but I was slightly uncomfortable. She had to reassure me that a fat man dressed like Santa wouldn't visit us during the middle of the night. Just a few blocks away was the Santa Shop, a christmas store open year round where there was an actual Santa talking to children, christmas music was playing, and one could buy anything christmas they might ever want. Retired Dickens Village buildings? Check. Santa statue dressed as camouflaged hunter with a rifle? Check.

We went back into Fairbanks to experience nature. We found a small walking trail area next to a car museum of all places. We took about 10 paces and were swarmed by mosquitoes. We made a hasty retreat to a Walgreens to get some bug spray, put on long sleeved shirts, and gave it another go. It was a basic trail that went to a small lake and through some woods, but it was peaceful. Shortly after we parked our car in the lot, a man walked by giving us the hairy eye. Not sure why. I noticed a pistol tucked in the back of his pants. And I get that it's Alaska, but does one really need a firearm in a car museum?

Again. It's a culture I simply do not understand. I do not intend to get political, but the "good guy with a gun can prevent bad guy with gun from doing bad things" argument is a bit weak to me. I for one, would not feel safe going into the car museum with the man with the pistol in his trousers who gave us the hairy eye. I know nothing about this man. Is he angry about something? Does he often encounter bears? Is he in the witness protection program? While trouser pistol man may feel safe, the people around him do not. And that is my two cents.

Whilst driving around Fairbanks, we discovered some ancient relics. For one, we saw two different Blockbuster video stores. Did they not go out of business years ago? People on the bike trail were dressed in workout attire like it was 1988. There is only one explanation for all this. The 737 we flew from Barrow to Fairbanks was actually a tardis-like time machine that transported us to a world that is pre-2016. It is the only explanation. For dinner we ate by the Chena River. I had tacos because nothing says Alaska like tacos. We returned to North Pole where I was relieved that a fat man was not hiding in the closet of our room and called it a night.

The Midnight Sun Could Drive Someone to Drink . . . but They Can't

 I am writing this at almost 1am and the sun outside the window is blinding. I need to emphasize that it is not even close to the horizon. Nicole actually thinks it's getting brighter. It's as if it has reached it's low point and is already beginning to rise. It makes the body clock extremely confused. We went for another walk in the afternoon to a different section of Barrow beach that was located near a cliff. Then we continued down the beach to the random whale bones section once more. With the sun still high in the sky, we didn't realize it was almost 9 pm when we were finally eating dinner.

As Barrow is not particularly large, we pretty adequately covered the town in the brief amount of time we've been here, so this blog post is primarily about some of the unusual things I've learned about this far north region that you don't really think about when you live in a warmer locale. And in the case of Barrow, "warmer locale" could include places like Wisconsin, so keep that in mind. All the streets in Barrow are dirt and unpaved. Why? All the land is thick permafrost.

Basically the maintenance costs for fixing constant cracks would be a major problem. Not to mention that any road construction and repairs would have a 60 day window once a year. Between our walks we turned the TV on in our room and something dawned on us. After an advertisement for a new movie and another for Budweiser aired, we realized that neither of these is possible in Barrow. There is no movie theater. And regarding the Budweiser, the sale of alcohol is banned.

I did some research to try and determine why and (not surprisingly) alcoholism is a big problem in
the far north villages of Alaska. Keep in mind there are months that go by without any sun. Apparently you can consume booze if you have a permit, but since the sale of it is illegal, it complicates things a bit. Basically, you would order it from a distributor in Fairbanks (500 miles away) and have an airplane bring it in. This is probably not very cost effective. Services like wifi and 3g are not very functional. The internet in the hotel is slower than dialup which required me to manually compress all these pictures, otherwise it would be uploading all night.

Things you would assume exist everywhere like car dealerships, fitness centers, McDonalds, or bookstores just simply do not exist. If you want something bad enough, it either comes in by plane (or if it doesn't fit on a plane and you're patient, it can come in by boat about two months out of the year). It is an entire way of life that is foreign to me. I just have so many questions, but I'm glad I came to this isolated outpost 3,000 miles away from LA. Tomorrow we are off to Fairbanks.