UNTETHERED

A trip to Santa's house

This morning the temperature was 10 degrees above zero and it almost felt warm. We had a snow storm last night that left us with 10 inches of snow on the ground this morning.

We had to shovel out which wasn't so bad because the snow is so light and dry up here. While 10 inches of snow overnight might close schools in Wisconsin, in Alaska schools stay open and the streets were all plowed by 8:00 . They don't use salt on the streets because if the snow melted, it would turn straight to ice and the road would be very dangerous. They put pea gravel on the roads which provides some grip. Overall the streets are very snow covered all the time but in good condition for driving.

Today we went to The North Pole to visit Santa and thank him for all the gifts. Unfortunately he wasn't home, I heard he was still in Florida on vacation. We did look around the house and took some pictures. We were very lucky to find Dasher and Prancer in the back yard. I am sure they were resting up from Christmas.

This morning I saw some of the Alaska range from the top of the hill that Pete's school is on.

After the North Pole I went to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center and took a tour of a building that they are using to test different features of construction to maximize energy and keeping the environment clean in the process.

Pete, Dolores and I went to Geraldo's pizza place for dinner. Pete and I discovered Geraldo's when I drove him up to Alaska a few years ago. While we were in Geraldo's we noticed a picture on the wall which is the same picture that I took of Venice and currentl

y have on my family room wall. We took a picture though it is not that clear.

My trip to Nordale Elementary School

I went to Nordale Elementary School and met with the teacher, the principal, and also some children.

The experience was very interesting and the people were very nice. The school has been open for three years. It is state of the art.

Interestingly, the support materials and technology are similar to Racine. Both the teachers and the principal gave me books about Alaska and Fairbanks. They would like me to share them with the teachers and students at West Ridge.

This is the main entrance to the building . In the background is the main secretaries desk

These are wall hangings in the main entrance to the school.

This is the main hallway of the school with classrooms on either side. They have a bunch of tutoring classrooms for the tutoring program and staff that they have. The classrooms have 4-5 computers and they have 3 wireless ibook labs just like the two that we have.

I did recess duty and I have some pictures to prove it. The temperature was 0. Everyone was happy to get outside because they hadn't had recess for the last 5 days.

These are a bunch of 4th graders.

Look at the red cheeks : )

The district hires reading tutors to come to schools and tutor students in reading. The position is paid at $12.00 per hour and no benefits. They can only work 15 hours per week.

This is the lunchroom. It is actually one of the smallest lunchrooms that I have seen.

After meeting people in the school, I headed for lunch at a little restaurant called Wolf Run. After lunch I returned to the cottage for a little nap and to wait for Pete and Dolores to have dinner.

I am writing this on 1/17/08. The temperature when I got up this morning was 10 above and we got 10 inches of snow on the ground last night. This is the most snow they have seen in years. The snow is very powdery and light. It is much easier to shovel here than in Racine... Even when we have light snow, it is never this powdery... Today we are going to go to the North Pole and Visit Santa's Workshop. I am going to leave Santa a note thanking him for all the gifts that West Ridge students received. Hopefully he is back from Florida...

Talk to you tomorrow

The weather is breaking !!!!!!

Well the weather broke today and I saw a few -6 degree temperatures. It really makes a difference. Things work and it is nicer to be outside. Things still freeze like you wouldn't expect because the weather feels so nice. Right now it is 10 below which actually feels pretty good. No hat or gloves needed going in and out of the car. I just looked at the weather report and it said that the high on Saturday will be 21 degrees above zero. I bet we have nicer weather up here than you do in Racine. Here is a picture of 48 below from the other day

Here is the famous outhouse. It has a light in it that helps with keeping it a little warmer when it is 48 below....

I think I have shaken my cold/flu. I keep feeling a little better each day. I went into Fairbanks today to see the Ice Museum. unfortunately it is closed in the winter.

This a statue commemorating the Eskimo/Inuit people who are the native people of this land.

This is downtown Fairbanks.

I went to the Fairbanks historical museum and the dog musher museum which are both in the same building. Both museums are connected and very rustic. The museums told the story of a great flood in Fairbanks in 1968, and the history of dog mushing. Mostly pictures but some small exhibits as well.

The Dog Mushing Museum.

I also took a picture of the daily news miner building where the web cam is. I took the picture from the opposite direction, facing the web cam.

I went to the Water Wagon where a lot of people get water for their houses. Some people put the water in big tanks that they keep in the back of their trucks.

We fill five gallon jugs and keep them on the sink. Under the sink is a five gallon bucket to catch the waste water. I just did the dishes and I had to heat the water on the stove to make the soapy wash water. I noticed that the waste water bucket was close to full so I had to take it out to the woods and empty it.

We went to see a show called African Footprints. The group is an African Dance show that is starting their US tour here in Alaska. They flew up on the same plane as I did. I sat next to one of the guys and spoke with him on the way up to Fairbanks. He told me that they had to travel three days to get there. I can't imagine what it would be like to come from a place like Africa to Alaska where it is 40 below zero... They are on their way to New Jersey now...

48 below and the outhouse

Well I have had two big experiences here. I have felt what 48 below feels like and also what it is like to use an outhouse in 48 below. Forty-eight below is so cold that it is beyond words.... The difference between 20 below and 48 below is significant enough that 20 below feels better than 48 below. Not great, but better.

So while I don't have any good pictures of the outhouse yet I can tell you a couple rules about using an outhouse in really cold weather.

Make sure that you bring toilet paper from inside. This may sound funny but while there is toilet paper in the outhouse, it is 48 below zero. The paper that you bring from the house is a little warmer.
Make sure the outhouse you are using has a Styrofoam seat... They are much warmer than wood slabs or porcelain. I can't even imaging what porcelain would feel like. Brrrr...
Make sure you only use the outhouse if you really have to otherwise find a store to use the public toilet.
Use it fast.

I will stop talking about the gross stuff now...

It is not easy getting daylight outdoor pictures because there is not much daylight to work with.

This is a picture of were Pete and his girlfriend park their cars. To the right of the black truck is a path that goes through the woods to their cabin.

This is the Ice Bridge that runs on the Chena river. The Sun you see is at 12:00p.m. which is as high as the sun gets in the sky.

This is the road around Pete's house. See how the snow is hanging on the trees? The snow will stay there until a wind blows. Most of the time there is no wind in Fairbanks so the trees always have this snow on them. Thanks goodness there isn't any wind. The wind chill would be very dangerous...

This is the Sunset over Fairbanks

Today, I hope to call the person that invited me to visit their school. Tonight we will be going to see African Footprints at the Colosseum.. I am also going to go into downtown Fairbanks to an ice museum and see the rest of the sites..

Oh by the way, the weather is getting better and I might actually see above zero today or tomorrow. The forecast changes everyday so I never know what it will exactly be like... I suppose that is not much different than the "lower forty-eight.

Stay Warm.....

Hello from Fairbanks

Hello from Fairbanks,

I am finally getting on a network and am able to update you all about my travels to Fairbanks.

I arrived in Fairbanks on Saturday at 6:00p.m. which is 9:00p.m. your time(just after the Packers beat the Seahawks... Go Pack!!. The temp was about 22 below zero which Pete explained wasn't too bad. (I explained to him that, yes, it is very cold).

We went to the cottage(shack)

after the airport, and then to dinner at Pikes Landing.

This is a picture of a bridge that runs across the Chena River which creates a shortcut from the restaurant.
That night the temperature reached the high 20s below zero. When we returned from dinner we decided to take a short hike to Pete's other cabin. This was a very cold walk that helped me understand what 20 below felt like. We hiked no more than 5 minutes and when we arrived at the cabin I was done being outside. The cold is alright as long as you are not moving. Once you start moving you create wind chill against your skin. My forehead was exposed and by the time I got to the cabin it felt like I had an ice cream headache.

The next day Pete and I went and got coffee and donuts and went back to his place to eat them. It was still 25 below zero and we were expecting the clouds to clear out and the temperature to drop to near 40 below. Here is what it looked like at about 10 in the morning.....This is a picture looking out of Pete's Window.....

Pete, Dolores and I went shopping and then back to the cottage to watch the Giants beat the Cowboys... After the game we went to Dolores's house for mostacolli. We had some mostacolli and noticed that the temperature had gotten to 30 below.

We went to a bank clock to take a picture.

Pete told me that he thought that the temperature would get colder over night so at 4:00 in the morning I woke up and checked the weather and it was 44 below zero.

Pete came over and we got another Picture taken in front of the bank clock.

The clock shows 38 below zero but by the cottage it was 44 below. The cottage is in the valley so it is cooler because the cold air sinks and the warm air rises.

I tried an experiment in the morning. People told me that if you throw water into the air it will evaporate into the air before it hits the ground. Can you guess what happened?

We took some pictures of Fairbanks in the morning when it was 40 below.......

Next on the agenda...

On the plane I sat next to a lady who is a teacher in Fairbanks and she invited me to have a tour of her school.

I also sat next to a guy who was in a show called African Footprints. Hopefully we will see that. I will be doing these two things sometime during the next few days.

I have actually been feeling a bit ill the last two days so tonight we are going to go out to dinner and call it an early night. Plus, it is too cold to go outside much...

I will send an update again tomorrow....