Wildlife Preview

I caught a couple of wildlife encounters on video.

   Here's a porcupine that I followed off the side of the road, south of Denali National Park. He was hard to follow in that long grass, and I lost him for a few seconds at the beginning, and was very glad that he didn't double-back and nail me with that spiky tail. Thankfully, he was shy and just wanted to be left alone.

    And a Moose on the Glenn Highway (Route 3), on the way up to Denali. (That's Mom cracking up at the site of those 4 gangly legs flying.) Note that he crosses in front of a moose crossing sign at the end.

T-minus Three Days to Alaska!

   My friend Linda C just got back from Alaska & brought back a ton of brochures, magazines and information for me! I can't wait to start studying up on the plane... whales and mooses and bearses and whaleses and seaplanes and kayaking and salmon and halibut fishing and hiking and mountains and glaciers and dall's sheep and orcas and... (((head explodes)))

THIS JUST IN!

Found this pamphlet on my doorstep. I am so excited that all suffering is soon to end!!! I just didn't realize it was going to end by a river of yellow bringing herds of moose and African Americans bestowing gifts of pumpkins, apples & tulips. Huh. Yeah, I totally wouldn't have guessed that one. But bring on the holy moose!

More fun on Mount Desert Island

After we left Acadia we grabbed lobster rolls & lobster bisque for lunch, thereby extending our lobsterfest to four days.

"But you yadda-yadda'd over the best part."

"No, I mentioned the bisque."

We shopped in the adorable town of Bar Harbor & I found an incredible deal on a tourmaline bracelet & earrings. Tourmaline was mined in Maine until 1972, when the mine ran out. (It is still mined in handful of countries, but the Maine variety is valuable. The blue color is especially rare.)

Next we discovered a shop full of handmade wooden crafts, birdhouses, kitchen utensils & toys called "In the Woods." The aroma was incredible: fresh-cut cedar! I bought a few animal ornaments:

After that, we followed Stella's recommendation & ventured to the west side of the island, & enjoyed the views at Northeast Harbor & Southwest Harbor. We stopped for a snack in the tiny town at Southwest; the bakery had INCREDIBLE pastries. We considered the beautiful apple tart, but in the end, the blueberry danish won out for me. It was the right choice. It happened to be shaped like a throwing-star, and thus, I became "The Blueberry Ninja." (By that system, I believe that would make Kelley "The Oatmeal Ninja." Not as cool. Better luck next time, Kelley!

Across from the bakery was a flamingo festival. Kelley wanted to take them all home. I kept her from stealing them. Love the illustrations!

On the way to Stella's, we stopped at a preserve for wild animals rescued from irresponsible owners. Their collection included Siberian tigers, gray & arctic wolves (face markings looked like Aki's urajiro), Canadian lynx, coyote, moose, vulture, llama, sheep, razorback hog, caiman, tarantula, South American porcupine (coendou), deer, black bear, cougar, lesser ape, barred owl, shovelnose catfish, sulcatta tortoise, boa constrictor & burmese python, etc. It was sad to hear their backgrounds, but they were in good hands now. One wolf cub was being raised by a rottweiler, & they howled together when the tigers started roaring. What an odd collection of animals!

Kelley & I were in rare form, playing off the guide's informative talk with some really great one-liners. At least...we thought they were great. The guide chuckled nervously. When he mentioned that lady moose choose the moose with the biggest antlers I replied, "Yeah, imagine the spam that male moose get in their inbox." I crack me up.

Finally, we picked Stella up for dinner at "The Last Unicorn." (don't know WHAT is up with that name, but they have first-rate eggplant parmesan, IMHO. And apparently Kelley is a unicorn now.)

On the way home, a fox crossed the road in front of us, & I remarked on how little Aki looks like a fox, despite the public consensus. Illustration coming...

Kelley and I fly home tomorrow. Already. BOO!!!