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This really cool display shows the representative scale of many small things, from the visible to the atomic.
It should be pronouced puh-fleg-um
All about life and beer in the great white north...
Sarah now wants a shirt that says "Elephants are made of Elements".
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Via The Agitator comes this rather amusing op-ed about a new book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.
Some highlights:
Now, you will note that I said "amusing" but not necessarily "informative". It is amusing because while I agree with the sentiment of the op-ed, it covered damn near nothing of the book. Instead the writer focused the overwhelming majority of her nearly 1300 words on other "food intellectuals".
It is this kind of sloppy, yet vitrolic writing that irritates the hell out of me. Seriously, if you are going to make a book the foundation of your op-ed, perhaps you ought to spend more than two paragraphs touching on it.
That's it. Read it if you wish, and for sure bookmark TheAgitator.com and read it often if not daily. On second thought, do what you will for I am not one to tell you how to live your life so long as you don't tell me how to live mine.
Some highlights:
Just in time for the worst economic downturn since the Depression, here comes a new crop of social critics to inform us that we're actually spending too little for the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the furniture we sit on and the gasoline that runs our automobiles.
Never mind that U.S. job losses these days range from 200,000 to 500,000 a month, that foreclosures are up 32% over this time last year and that people are re-learning how to clip newspaper coupons so as to save at the supermarket. Dire economic circumstances don't seem to faze these spending enthusiasts, who scold us for shopping at supermarkets instead of at farmer's markets, where a loaf of "artisanal" (and also "sustainable") rye bread sells for $8, ice cream for $6 a cup and organic tomatoes go for $4 a pound.
...
Shell's argument goes like this: Shopping at discount stores, factory outlets and, of course, Wal-Mart (no work of social criticism is complete without a drive-by shooting aimed at that chain) exploits Chinese factory workers (who would much rather be back on the collective farm wearing their Mao suits) and degrades the environment because much of the low-price junk wears out and ends up in landfills.
Now, you will note that I said "amusing" but not necessarily "informative". It is amusing because while I agree with the sentiment of the op-ed, it covered damn near nothing of the book. Instead the writer focused the overwhelming majority of her nearly 1300 words on other "food intellectuals".
It is this kind of sloppy, yet vitrolic writing that irritates the hell out of me. Seriously, if you are going to make a book the foundation of your op-ed, perhaps you ought to spend more than two paragraphs touching on it.
That's it. Read it if you wish, and for sure bookmark TheAgitator.com and read it often if not daily. On second thought, do what you will for I am not one to tell you how to live your life so long as you don't tell me how to live mine.
For 'shrooms that is. As my love posted over at her LJ, we went berry picking with epic fail last weekend. What we didn't get in berries we made up for with fungus. She has the details so I won't rehash but here are the pics:
So last night we watched a special on Animal Planet called "Moose on the Loose". It dealt with the trials and tribulations of being an animal biologist in Anchorage. I highly recommend it for, if no other reason, seeing our (former) hometown and how a city of 300,000 people coexist with wildlife on a daily basis. Not to mention you get to see a couple of my coworkers. Looks like the next showing is August 16 so set your DVRs!
Anyway, one of the pieces of footage they showed was a moose captured on a security camera checking out a local hospital... from the inside:
Anyway, one of the pieces of footage they showed was a moose captured on a security camera checking out a local hospital... from the inside:
Well, as my previous post stated I ended up with a bunch of salmon. I also opted to take the salmon roe (egg sacks) with me. I figured that I would attempt to convert some of it into salted caviar, known as Ikura in Japanese. So, after looking up general information on traditional sturgeon caviar production and methods of preparing salmon roe I stumbled upon a few really good sources.
First up is this wonderful blog post on a first attempt at salted caviar. She also has a related post on traditional soy cured roe.
Next I found this post on homemade caviar by a fellow homebrewer with passion for DIY food.
The final, and probably best find, was an article posted on the SFGate.com about the resurgence in eating roe (in particular steelhead trout) and the methods some chefs are using to prepare it.
So, armed with this reading and some off the cuff cookery here is what I did.
First, this roe is fresh. I harvested the fish two days earlier. I had 5 gravid salmon and that translates to 10 skeins or sacs of roe. Rather than trying to do all of them at once, I thought it best that I prepare just a couple of skeins, one in a traditional salt cure and the other following, as best I could manage, the second recipe listed in the SFGate article.
Caviar Steps for both recipes
Step 1: I heated the water to about 180 in the microwave and covered two skeins of roe with the hot water in a stainless steel bowl. Make sure you don't use any reactive metal as the metallic flavor will work it's way into the eggs.
Step 2: I initially let the eggs sit for just 3 minutes before trying to tease the eggs out of the surrounding membrane. The membrane seemed too thin and the eggs were still too soft. I would say to let this sit for at least 5-10 minutes before trying to do anything to it.
Step 3: Peeling the membrane from around the egg mass. This was fairly easy. The harder part was removing the tissue holding each of the eggs together. All told it took probably 30 minutes to do this step and it was by far the most labor intensive part of the job.
Step 4: After removing the majority of the membrane I rinsed the eggs in a colander and then put them back in the bowl and covered with more warm, not hot, water. I continued to work the eggs apart using the nifty fact that the membrane is lighter than the eggs to my advantage. 3 changes of water and another 10 minutes later the eggs were squeaky clean though opaque. I had read this was normal so I wasn't worried. I let them drain in the colander for 5 minutes to get as much residual water off as possible.
Step 5: At this point I weighed them. The total weight of both cleaned skeins was 270g. So I split them into two batches, each 135g. One to prepare as salted caviar, the other with the soy cure.
Traditional Salted Caviar (ikura no shio-zuke)
Step 6: I placed the eggs into a non-reactive (glass) bowl and sprinkled .5tsp of Morton Kosher salt on them. Next time I will weigh it for precision. I mixed it in very gently and stashed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7: As the photos below show, after 30 minutes most of the eggs were translucent. I sprinkled and mixed in another .5tsp of salt and placed it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
Step 8: Every recipe I read said to drain the caviar one last time for an hour in the fridge. I drained them for 15 minutes and had no liquid what so ever so I bypassed the remaining 45.
Soy-Sake Cured Roe (ikura no shouyu-zuke)
Step 6: I placed the eggs into a non-reactive (glass) bowl and sprinkled .5tsp of Morton Kosher salt on them. Next time I will weigh it for precision. I mixed it in very gently and stashed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7: While the eggs were brining in the fridge I mixed up the shoyu brine. The recipe from SFGate called for 2T sake, 2T Mirin, 1T Kikkoman Soy and 1T Tamari Soy. I don't have either Mirin (a sweet rice wine used like sugar in Japanese cooking) or Tamari Soy (an all soy bean sauce with a lighter flavor than soy-wheat darker sauces). In addition the only sake I have on hand is the Genshu (Cask strength) sake I made last winter. Due to these limitations here is the recipe I settled on:
Step 8: I transfered the eggs to a plastic container with lid. I poured the shoyu brine over the eggs and sealed it. The recipes I have seen say to brine anywhere from 4 hours to two weeks. I opted to let it brine overnight (8 hours) and then drained.
done
That's it! Keep them sealed tight in resealable jars or plasticware. Caviar is to be eaten with non-metallic utensils to avoid off flavors. Traditionally Russian sturgeon caviar is eaten with mother of pearl spoons but plastic works very well. I imagine that if you use it as an ingredient, then the off flavors won't be as evident and I don't seem to notice anything with stainless flatware either.
They are both awesome. I really like the simple flavors of the traditional salted version but the shoyu cured has more potential as a culinary ingredient. I did feel that the typical "soy sauce flavor" was a bit overwhelming so I may try to pick up some Tamari soy before my next attempt.
The cured eggs can be preserved in the fridge for up to two weeks, though they do loose freshness and flavor quite rapidly. They can be frozen, though at the expense of flavor. I am sure that the shoyu cured ones won't suffer as badly as the traditional version but I don't have any empirical testing to prove it just yet.
So far I have just eaten them straight though I may try a simple donburi bowl with white rice and the ikura either tonight or tomorrow for lunch.
Anyhoo, enjoy the pics!
First up is this wonderful blog post on a first attempt at salted caviar. She also has a related post on traditional soy cured roe.
Next I found this post on homemade caviar by a fellow homebrewer with passion for DIY food.
The final, and probably best find, was an article posted on the SFGate.com about the resurgence in eating roe (in particular steelhead trout) and the methods some chefs are using to prepare it.
So, armed with this reading and some off the cuff cookery here is what I did.
First, this roe is fresh. I harvested the fish two days earlier. I had 5 gravid salmon and that translates to 10 skeins or sacs of roe. Rather than trying to do all of them at once, I thought it best that I prepare just a couple of skeins, one in a traditional salt cure and the other following, as best I could manage, the second recipe listed in the SFGate article.
Caviar Steps for both recipes
Step 1: I heated the water to about 180 in the microwave and covered two skeins of roe with the hot water in a stainless steel bowl. Make sure you don't use any reactive metal as the metallic flavor will work it's way into the eggs.
Step 2: I initially let the eggs sit for just 3 minutes before trying to tease the eggs out of the surrounding membrane. The membrane seemed too thin and the eggs were still too soft. I would say to let this sit for at least 5-10 minutes before trying to do anything to it.
Step 3: Peeling the membrane from around the egg mass. This was fairly easy. The harder part was removing the tissue holding each of the eggs together. All told it took probably 30 minutes to do this step and it was by far the most labor intensive part of the job.
Step 4: After removing the majority of the membrane I rinsed the eggs in a colander and then put them back in the bowl and covered with more warm, not hot, water. I continued to work the eggs apart using the nifty fact that the membrane is lighter than the eggs to my advantage. 3 changes of water and another 10 minutes later the eggs were squeaky clean though opaque. I had read this was normal so I wasn't worried. I let them drain in the colander for 5 minutes to get as much residual water off as possible.
Step 5: At this point I weighed them. The total weight of both cleaned skeins was 270g. So I split them into two batches, each 135g. One to prepare as salted caviar, the other with the soy cure.
Traditional Salted Caviar (ikura no shio-zuke)
Step 6: I placed the eggs into a non-reactive (glass) bowl and sprinkled .5tsp of Morton Kosher salt on them. Next time I will weigh it for precision. I mixed it in very gently and stashed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7: As the photos below show, after 30 minutes most of the eggs were translucent. I sprinkled and mixed in another .5tsp of salt and placed it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
Step 8: Every recipe I read said to drain the caviar one last time for an hour in the fridge. I drained them for 15 minutes and had no liquid what so ever so I bypassed the remaining 45.
Soy-Sake Cured Roe (ikura no shouyu-zuke)
Step 6: I placed the eggs into a non-reactive (glass) bowl and sprinkled .5tsp of Morton Kosher salt on them. Next time I will weigh it for precision. I mixed it in very gently and stashed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7: While the eggs were brining in the fridge I mixed up the shoyu brine. The recipe from SFGate called for 2T sake, 2T Mirin, 1T Kikkoman Soy and 1T Tamari Soy. I don't have either Mirin (a sweet rice wine used like sugar in Japanese cooking) or Tamari Soy (an all soy bean sauce with a lighter flavor than soy-wheat darker sauces). In addition the only sake I have on hand is the Genshu (Cask strength) sake I made last winter. Due to these limitations here is the recipe I settled on:
3T Genshu Sake
1T Water
1tsp Sugar
2T Kikkoman Soy Sauce
Step 8: I transfered the eggs to a plastic container with lid. I poured the shoyu brine over the eggs and sealed it. The recipes I have seen say to brine anywhere from 4 hours to two weeks. I opted to let it brine overnight (8 hours) and then drained.
done
That's it! Keep them sealed tight in resealable jars or plasticware. Caviar is to be eaten with non-metallic utensils to avoid off flavors. Traditionally Russian sturgeon caviar is eaten with mother of pearl spoons but plastic works very well. I imagine that if you use it as an ingredient, then the off flavors won't be as evident and I don't seem to notice anything with stainless flatware either.
They are both awesome. I really like the simple flavors of the traditional salted version but the shoyu cured has more potential as a culinary ingredient. I did feel that the typical "soy sauce flavor" was a bit overwhelming so I may try to pick up some Tamari soy before my next attempt.
The cured eggs can be preserved in the fridge for up to two weeks, though they do loose freshness and flavor quite rapidly. They can be frozen, though at the expense of flavor. I am sure that the shoyu cured ones won't suffer as badly as the traditional version but I don't have any empirical testing to prove it just yet.
So far I have just eaten them straight though I may try a simple donburi bowl with white rice and the ikura either tonight or tomorrow for lunch.
Anyhoo, enjoy the pics!
First off, sorry for the lack of photos. I ended up leaving my camera at the house so these are a fellow participant's.
So, last week I went dipnetting for the first time. First a bit of background. Under the Alaskan Constitution there is a mandate that all residents have a share in the state's resources. That, coupled with a long tradition of subsistence hunting and fishing means that there are many opportunities for foodstuffs that neither qualify as "commercial harvest" nor "sporting harvest". Dipnetting, clam digging and fishwheels are examples of said opportunity. In dipnetting each head of household is allowed 25 fish and 10 additional salmon for every member of the household.
So, onto the practice of dipnetting. The theory is simple, the execution... not so much. The basic premise is that salmon, returning to the rivers after spending a few years in the ocean, congregate at the mouth of the river awaiting the incoming tide. When the tide turns, the salmon push their way upstream. Dipnetters either stand on the shore (okay, really waist deep in the water) or cruise in boats with large nets hoping to intercept the fish. Yup, that's the plan, but like everything in life, nothing is guaranteed.
So, we took the boat method as standing on the shore necessitates specialized, and expensive dip nets with inordinately long poles. On the boat, we can use the shorter and more common landing nets. The day went well though we put in a little late and missed the first hour or so of the tide change. Unfortunately, while we didn't strike out we didn't exactly hit the fishy motherload either. Just as well, no one else really wanted any salmon so I ended up with more than I know what to do with.
Anyway, without ado, here are the few pics I have.
So, last week I went dipnetting for the first time. First a bit of background. Under the Alaskan Constitution there is a mandate that all residents have a share in the state's resources. That, coupled with a long tradition of subsistence hunting and fishing means that there are many opportunities for foodstuffs that neither qualify as "commercial harvest" nor "sporting harvest". Dipnetting, clam digging and fishwheels are examples of said opportunity. In dipnetting each head of household is allowed 25 fish and 10 additional salmon for every member of the household.
So, onto the practice of dipnetting. The theory is simple, the execution... not so much. The basic premise is that salmon, returning to the rivers after spending a few years in the ocean, congregate at the mouth of the river awaiting the incoming tide. When the tide turns, the salmon push their way upstream. Dipnetters either stand on the shore (okay, really waist deep in the water) or cruise in boats with large nets hoping to intercept the fish. Yup, that's the plan, but like everything in life, nothing is guaranteed.
So, we took the boat method as standing on the shore necessitates specialized, and expensive dip nets with inordinately long poles. On the boat, we can use the shorter and more common landing nets. The day went well though we put in a little late and missed the first hour or so of the tide change. Unfortunately, while we didn't strike out we didn't exactly hit the fishy motherload either. Just as well, no one else really wanted any salmon so I ended up with more than I know what to do with.
Anyway, without ado, here are the few pics I have.
To be exact, this "hand made" version is of the Death Star trench run, not the whole movie.
He raps, he punches moon hoax proponents in the nose, the Buzz does it all!
Shamelessly copied from you know who, you know where.
Raven, this is for you! I guarantee the first time Tarantino sees this, he's gonna say "Copyright, what copyright?"
Well, since I never actually wrote this down the few people I told the last part of my Koyukuk hunting story to are the only witnesses to what I said. Anyway, as I noted after my trip, I saw that within the town of Galena the only vehicle I saw that actually had a current license plate on it was the Safety Officer (cop). I thought that was rather unique and unusual. Apparently I am wrong. According to Alaska Statute 28.10.011 (10)(a) registration and insurance is only required for vehicles in a town with over 499 trips per day on any one road. Galena only has a population of around 600 people so that limit is highly unlikely.
Kotzebue on the other hand does not fare as well. From an ADN article about a month ago:
Anyway, please read the rest as it is most enlightening of our state.
Kotzebue on the other hand does not fare as well. From an ADN article about a month ago:
KOTZEBUE -- Here, 26 miles above the Arctic Circle, the free ride is over.
It's nearly 9 p.m. on a recent Friday -- spring carnival night at the local elementary school, where kids bought hundreds of McDonald's cheeseburgers flown in frozen from Anchorage at $3 a pop. They painted their faces, gobbled their cotton candy and now, finally, parents are here to drive everyone home.
Twenty years ago the frozen parking lot would have been a jumble of four-wheelers and snowmachines. But tonight dozens of cars and trucks are crowded outside the school doors too.
Nearly half the vehicles don't have license plates. Of those that do, only one in 10 have current tags.
These drivers are in for an expensive surprise.
The Department of Motor Vehicles has found them.
Beginning this fall, the DMV plans to require local car owners to register their vehicles, to get insurance and generally join the bureaucracy of fees, fines and paperwork that comes with driving nearly anywhere else in the United States. Indeed, Kotzebue may well be the largest community in the country where such basic car-licensing laws aren't enforced.
Anyway, please read the rest as it is most enlightening of our state.
Over at reason.com is a fantastic post regarding what they consider the 10 "most absurd" covers in the last 40 years of Time Magazine. By absurd, they mean cover stories that either started or bought whole heartedly into the leading Moral Panic of the day. From Satanic D&D to Crack Babies to Pokemon Addiction; Time will print whatever scares you the most!
Real Quick update to show off the new house. I will elaborate and get more/better photos once everything is unpacked.
I somehow feel that Mr. Gadsden is rolling in his grave about now.
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Just a quick update. Surgery went well and Sarah is back home resting. I am sure she will have a full update in a day or two.
From Reason.com today came a very enlightening blog post and graph (courtesy of USA Today) regarding the state of United State's budget deficit and what it means in relation to our recent history.
Keep in mind that the deficit is only how much more the Government spends in a year vs. what it takes in tax revenue from it's citizens (the only way it "makes" the money it spends).
What happens when you have a deficit for more than one year? Well, it gets added into the over all "National Debt".
This site's author says it best:
Educational Graph to reinforce the idea:
You will notice that from the end of WWII until the first Bush Administration our national debt remained relatively constant, if unpaid. It then skyrocketed and this year the Government is "borrowing" $.46 for every dollar it spent. That means that in addition to the 20% or so taxes you paid this year the government is putting you in hock for an additional 20%! Remember that's just for this year, not for any of the back debt owed.
So, when a politician raves that "the deficit is down", they are only addressing this year's debt, not any of the past debt that you, your children and their children will have to pay for.
Again, sorry for the rant.
Keep in mind that the deficit is only how much more the Government spends in a year vs. what it takes in tax revenue from it's citizens (the only way it "makes" the money it spends).
What happens when you have a deficit for more than one year? Well, it gets added into the over all "National Debt".
This site's author says it best:
The National Debt on January 1st 1791 was just $75 million dollars. Today, it rises by that amount every hour or so.
Educational Graph to reinforce the idea:
You will notice that from the end of WWII until the first Bush Administration our national debt remained relatively constant, if unpaid. It then skyrocketed and this year the Government is "borrowing" $.46 for every dollar it spent. That means that in addition to the 20% or so taxes you paid this year the government is putting you in hock for an additional 20%! Remember that's just for this year, not for any of the back debt owed.
So, when a politician raves that "the deficit is down", they are only addressing this year's debt, not any of the past debt that you, your children and their children will have to pay for.
Again, sorry for the rant.
This is just a quick update in geekiness. What you see below is my Linux Desktop. On the right is Firefox and the System Monitor in the classic Ubuntu theme. On the left is Internet Explorer and the Windows Task Manager in XP theme. What this means is that I am running both Linux and Windows XP on the same machine at the same time. Click the cut to read more.
( Now for the rest of the story )
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( Now for the rest of the story )
So, the other night on BBT the guys are gearing up for "Friday Night 'Classic Game Night'", playing a buggy beta version of that venerable adventure classic Zork. For those who are unaware, Zork was one of the first computer based adventure games. In contrast to the year given in the show, it was released in 1980. It was strictly text based and had no graphics whatsoever.
Classic Zork Interface:
So, why do I bring this all up? Well, other than the fact that it is hella cool to get an old skool nod it brings a nice segue into a bit of trivia about one of our friends that some may not be aware of. From this somewhat dated article in Wired Magazine about playing old school text based games over IM networks comes this choice quote:
That's right my friends, our boy Timmy was referenced in a Wired article!
This whole post was just because the word Zork makes me think of Timmy and I kind of miss that bugger.
Classic Zork Interface:
So, why do I bring this all up? Well, other than the fact that it is hella cool to get an old skool nod it brings a nice segue into a bit of trivia about one of our friends that some may not be aware of. From this somewhat dated article in Wired Magazine about playing old school text based games over IM networks comes this choice quote:
But it's taken people like Baio, and Timethy Toner, whose original Perl script Baio modified, to take the games from their traditional platform -- resident on players' PCs -- to what some consider a very logical next step.
"Playing a command-line text adventure and reading a chat window are really similar," says Matt Haughey, editor of the popular blog MetaFilter. "Plus the way stuff like Zork works, works well in AIM: You send a command, you get a response. AIM works that way naturally, so it's a good fit."
That's right my friends, our boy Timmy was referenced in a Wired article!
This whole post was just because the word Zork makes me think of Timmy and I kind of miss that bugger.
In this day and age of government bailouts and "relief programs" you see the words "Billions" and "Trillions" tossed around quite a bit; but just how large is a Trillion? It is a Thousand Billions, or a Million Millions. It is a 1 followed by 12 zeros. But what does a Trillion dollars look like? It has been estimated (depending on orbit eccentricity) that if stacked end to end a Trillion dollar bills would stretch past the sun. But who of us has actually been to the sun and can we really fathom that distance? What we need is a visual representation that we can all relate to. So, via Reason.com comes a visual representation of a trillion dollars that puts it in perspective.
Now, keep in mind that Bush Bailout plan allocated $8.5 Trillion and the Obama Bailouts (not counting GM and Chrysler) so far will push it up at least another $2 Trillion and you start to see the amount of money we are talking about. Remember of course that the government doesn't "own" any money of its own, it has to take it from citizens (that's you and me) in the form of taxes and when they can't do that they "borrow" it against future (that's your children and grand children) tax revenues.
So, next time you hear a politician yap about "another Billion" for this or "a Hundred Million" for that, I want you to remember the visual representation linked above and imagine all the people the Government had to extract that money from to give it away to someone else. After that, I want you to ask yourself, what makes the Government better equipped to decide what happens to your money (welfare for the poor, bailouts for the rich) than you are.
Sorry for the rant, it is my way. Update on the house tomorrow.
Now, keep in mind that Bush Bailout plan allocated $8.5 Trillion and the Obama Bailouts (not counting GM and Chrysler) so far will push it up at least another $2 Trillion and you start to see the amount of money we are talking about. Remember of course that the government doesn't "own" any money of its own, it has to take it from citizens (that's you and me) in the form of taxes and when they can't do that they "borrow" it against future (that's your children and grand children) tax revenues.
So, next time you hear a politician yap about "another Billion" for this or "a Hundred Million" for that, I want you to remember the visual representation linked above and imagine all the people the Government had to extract that money from to give it away to someone else. After that, I want you to ask yourself, what makes the Government better equipped to decide what happens to your money (welfare for the poor, bailouts for the rich) than you are.
Sorry for the rant, it is my way. Update on the house tomorrow.
Well, we are back in Anchorage!
So, we left off on Saturday night. We woke up a bit late Sunday and decided we were going to do breakfast at the Silver Gulch Brewery because they have a Sunday Brunch, or so we thought. Turns out that after driving the 15 minutes to Fox, they were closed until 4pm. So, we headed back to town and ended up at Denny's. Yes, Denny's, but it is the "Northernmost Denny's in the World", so at least it is somewhat unique. The food was, well, Denny's. Though I will note that if you advertising slogan runs "Isn't it time for a real breakfast?", then perhaps you shouldn't have mini pancakes, battered, deep-fried and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on anything other than the kid's menu.
After that we had planned on going to Chena Hot Springs and since neither one of us has had need of swim wear since moving here, it was off to WalMart. After procuring swimwear and a sidetrip back to the hotel for towels we embarked on our way to the Hot Springs. Since I didn't want to take my camera poolside and afterwards I was too hot and tired to take photos, you get none. Well, that's a lie since Google did a bit of work for me. The hot springs are about a 45 miunute drive from town. The setup was kind of interesting. After paying for the entrance (10bux each) you go down a hallway and into separate sex locker rooms. Afterwards you take the prerequisite shower. Should I mention now that since this is a hot spring, there is no need for a hot water heater? Perhaps I should mention that since it is a natural hot spring, it is very sulfur rich water and that in an enclosed space like a shower the smell of sulfur dioxide gets a bit overpowering? Nah... Anyway, after the shower you continue on through the locker room and it dumps out at an indoor pool. So, pass the pool and out the door and boom! back into 35F temps. Not as brisk as our first Hot Spring in winter experience but not warm for sure. Then further on, down a ramp and into the 110F water. Aaaahhh, luxury. So, after an hour or so of luxuriating we got out, got changed (no need for a post shower, not like it washes off the sulfur smell) and headed to dinner.
Since we weren't able to eat brunch at Silver Gulch, we opted to do dinner. I have to admit that for a brewpub, in Fox, Alaska no less, they are very upscale. Not in dress or snottiness, but the food was top notch and while a bit more spendy than what we are used to, worth every penny. Sarah had the Four Cheese pizza, I think she actually pointed to the wrong item and just rolled with it. She said that unlike every other plain cheese pizza she has had this one was packed with flavor. I had the Grilled Pork Chops with Brie and Moosetard. They were perfectly cooked to a medium temp, juicy and very tasty. We also sampled the Scotch Egg, Parmesan-Herb Fries, Peanut Butter Brownie as well as the Baltic Porter and the Angry Monkey Barleywine. All of it was top notch. One cute, and very Alaskan story goes along with this. While walking into the restaurant we spotted a couple that had pulled up in a snowmobile and a four wheeler were setting up a bedding spot for their English Bulldog. Picture it, you're cruising along at 45 miles per hour on a snowmobile with your English Bulldog sitting right behind you. Fun stuff!
So, after stuffing ourselves to the gills we made our way back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. It may not seem like a long day, or a lot of things but it sure felt like it.
This morning we woke up a bit early and hit the road. On the way down we came across a couple of caribou standing by the side of the road. When I slowed, they took off into the woods. In the photos below you will see a "town" referred to as "Glitter Gulch". This is a collection of tourist oriented establishments (lodging, shopping, dining) right outside of the entrance to Denali National Park. During the summer it is packed full of tourists in rental cars and tour buses, walking around like it's Disneyland. During the winter, it's a ghost town and the only thing that happens is construction on new "attractions". Anyhoo, that's it for now. I'm sure I will come up with miscellaneous junk but until then enjoy the pics.
So, we left off on Saturday night. We woke up a bit late Sunday and decided we were going to do breakfast at the Silver Gulch Brewery because they have a Sunday Brunch, or so we thought. Turns out that after driving the 15 minutes to Fox, they were closed until 4pm. So, we headed back to town and ended up at Denny's. Yes, Denny's, but it is the "Northernmost Denny's in the World", so at least it is somewhat unique. The food was, well, Denny's. Though I will note that if you advertising slogan runs "Isn't it time for a real breakfast?", then perhaps you shouldn't have mini pancakes, battered, deep-fried and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on anything other than the kid's menu.
After that we had planned on going to Chena Hot Springs and since neither one of us has had need of swim wear since moving here, it was off to WalMart. After procuring swimwear and a sidetrip back to the hotel for towels we embarked on our way to the Hot Springs. Since I didn't want to take my camera poolside and afterwards I was too hot and tired to take photos, you get none. Well, that's a lie since Google did a bit of work for me. The hot springs are about a 45 miunute drive from town. The setup was kind of interesting. After paying for the entrance (10bux each) you go down a hallway and into separate sex locker rooms. Afterwards you take the prerequisite shower. Should I mention now that since this is a hot spring, there is no need for a hot water heater? Perhaps I should mention that since it is a natural hot spring, it is very sulfur rich water and that in an enclosed space like a shower the smell of sulfur dioxide gets a bit overpowering? Nah... Anyway, after the shower you continue on through the locker room and it dumps out at an indoor pool. So, pass the pool and out the door and boom! back into 35F temps. Not as brisk as our first Hot Spring in winter experience but not warm for sure. Then further on, down a ramp and into the 110F water. Aaaahhh, luxury. So, after an hour or so of luxuriating we got out, got changed (no need for a post shower, not like it washes off the sulfur smell) and headed to dinner.
Since we weren't able to eat brunch at Silver Gulch, we opted to do dinner. I have to admit that for a brewpub, in Fox, Alaska no less, they are very upscale. Not in dress or snottiness, but the food was top notch and while a bit more spendy than what we are used to, worth every penny. Sarah had the Four Cheese pizza, I think she actually pointed to the wrong item and just rolled with it. She said that unlike every other plain cheese pizza she has had this one was packed with flavor. I had the Grilled Pork Chops with Brie and Moosetard. They were perfectly cooked to a medium temp, juicy and very tasty. We also sampled the Scotch Egg, Parmesan-Herb Fries, Peanut Butter Brownie as well as the Baltic Porter and the Angry Monkey Barleywine. All of it was top notch. One cute, and very Alaskan story goes along with this. While walking into the restaurant we spotted a couple that had pulled up in a snowmobile and a four wheeler were setting up a bedding spot for their English Bulldog. Picture it, you're cruising along at 45 miles per hour on a snowmobile with your English Bulldog sitting right behind you. Fun stuff!
So, after stuffing ourselves to the gills we made our way back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. It may not seem like a long day, or a lot of things but it sure felt like it.
This morning we woke up a bit early and hit the road. On the way down we came across a couple of caribou standing by the side of the road. When I slowed, they took off into the woods. In the photos below you will see a "town" referred to as "Glitter Gulch". This is a collection of tourist oriented establishments (lodging, shopping, dining) right outside of the entrance to Denali National Park. During the summer it is packed full of tourists in rental cars and tour buses, walking around like it's Disneyland. During the winter, it's a ghost town and the only thing that happens is construction on new "attractions". Anyhoo, that's it for now. I'm sure I will come up with miscellaneous junk but until then enjoy the pics.