Aerie Report, March 22, 2010

Back to more seasonal temperatures here at the Aerie. That's 40s and 50s during the day and near or just below freezing at night. That's after a 70 degree day yesterday (Sunday). Of course, yesterday was a sunny day, unlike today. Foggy, cloudy, unpredictable rain showers during much of the day with heavier, steadier rain heading into the night. It's supposed to rain much of tomorrow as well. So much for going out to photograph more birds and plants.

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I did have a new lens for the Sony Alpha 350 delivered today. It's an 18-55mm zoom that, coupled with a 10x macro, should allow me to get great photos of flowers and bugs about the size of a rice grain. By itself, it gives me a nice overlapping set of lenses when combined with the Tamron 28-80mm and the Tamron 75-300mm lenses. All three are auto focus lenses which cuts time between shots of moving objects considerable. A relatively inexpensive manual focus Opteka 500mm reflecting mirror lens I also purchased works fine in bright light but is a little iffy in the twilight. Now I'll need to get a bigger, padded bag to carry them in when I'm out in the field.

(HA! That will teach Terry to go gallivanting around with her stitching groups! I can't wait until the conventions start again in September! I've been eying a new hunting bow, or maybe its time for a new handgun...or two.)

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Now that the Iditarod is officially over, I've been spending some time planning our own trip to Alaska. Terry and I will be going with the Good Sam Club on a guided 43-day Caraventure that starts in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, loops through interior Alaska as far a Denali, Anchorage, Homer, Seward and Fairbanks before ending at Prince George, BC. There are lots of activities planned for participants and several interesting optional trips that we will look into. And they've built in free days in the largest of the tourist towns along the way.

I figure the distance to be around 4800 miles. We'll be towing our 27-foot Fleetwood Wilderness behind the Tundra. Of course, we have to get to Dawson Creek on our own and will be on our own again once the party breaks up in Prince George. So I look at this as a three stage trip: 1) To Dawson Creek, BC; 2) On the Caraventure up the Alcan around Alaska and back to Prince George, BC; Getting there will be a 2800 mile task in itself even taking a pretty direct route. Coming home will be even longer because we'll head down to Portland, Oregon first so as to visit with our son and his wife. (Rough estimate of 3500 miles for that.) So--a little traveling music if you will--about 11,100 miles or more over a ten week period. By far the most ambitious trip we will have undertaken.

I've got a thousand-and-one things that have to be done before we set out. Everything from having the truck and trailer serviced, getting a cap for the back of the truck and a spare tire for the trailer, and so on. All the food planning I'll leave up to Terry. Since I'll be doing all the driving, it's only fair she do the cooking when it's needed. Anyway, like in war, the best laid plans often go to the wayside as soon as the first shot is fired. Still, it's comforting to have a plan of attack before you start out.