Turnagain Arm

A few scenery shots as I drove around sight seeing on Sunday. Please notice the complete lack of whales :(

Thar be Monsters

This is where they keep the dinosaurs. The government totally denies it, but I know better. (I've just made myself paranoid. The collections room I am working in has only one exit. If the raptors attack when I am in here, I'm a goner!)

Native Heart

Best hat ever!



One for the ladies....

His pipe is on fire (literally) as he is playing it!

The Alaska Native Heritage Center had a summer intertribal gathering this weekend, and one of the groups was called Native Heart, which was really two groups, one from Mexico and one from Arizona (I think). They were very entertaining.

I'm not sure why the pics I took this weekend didn't turn out as good as I would've liked. It was over cast, but either I had the camera on the wrong setting, or it was from when I bounced it off the gravel :(

Religion

Russian Orthodox.

The Love Church.

and my favorite, the Church of the Arctic Roadrunner.... they put other meats on your burger, like ham and salami.... mmmmmm... heavenly....

Making progress

I am now more or less organized (or at least as much organization that time will allow), and am finally ready to start cateloging.

4th of July

On the 4th, the museum had a Salmon Bake / fly over. Unfortunately, i didn't get too many pics of the planes in the air, I was directing traffic, and so wasn't in a good spot, but they had some cool planes that flew really close to the ground (I think all the planes in the photos flew). it was pretty neat. Captain Phil from World's Deadliest Catch was signing autographs. That's Phil next to the Orange Goose. Unfortunately I had no idea who he was, since i had never seen the show, and so had no reason to engage him in conversation (though i have since seen many episodes, and now have some good questions - next time)

Proof that the case makes all the difference

We populated two cases in the new terminal at the Ted Stevens International Airport across the street last week. Basically the exhibits guy made up a bunch of photos on foam core, and picked some objects. I helped install. It looks pretty good for having absolutely no plan, though I didn't have the heart to tell him that technically, it's only a display and not an exhibit. (and yes... that IS a ten foot tall case that is three feet off the ground)

Exhibits

I use the term loosly, but some cool stuff anyway!

Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum

Here are a couple shots of the exterior of the Museum. The main Exhibit space consists of three connected hangers, which house exhibits, storage, offices, a library and event rental space. The large white structure is basically a large tent, to help protect some of the aircraft from the elements (which they were all sitting outside until a few years ago when it was errected). There is also a small "shack" in the back that is currently serving as a model shop, and then the restoration hanger. There is an impressive group of volunteers that come in and work on the planes. Most of them are retired, ex-military, and they love to talk shop!

The Cadillac of Seaplanes

We took a trip through the mountains, and then came back out on the planes north of Anchorage, and did a few landings and take-offs. It is amazing how smooth take-offs and landings are in this thing. Going into the water from land is just like in the Ducks from Wisconsin Dells. On take off, just like in a boat, once you pick up speed, you hydroplane, and the take off is so smooth, it's hard to determine the exact moment when you leave the water. With the landing, my thought is "Wow, we're going really fast, and the ground / water is getting really close. I was prepared for a huge lurch, but no such thing, it just smoothly transitions from air to water. It's really amazing. So much for putting artifacts behind glass!

I got Goosed

The Museum was test flying their aircraft for the 4th of July Salmon Bake / Fly over, and I got to ride in the Grumman Goose, a sea plane. It was SPECTACULAR! Words and pictures cannot describe how beautiful it was weaving our way through the mountains. There were a few bits of turbulance when at lower altitude, where the plane seemed to be kind of slipping and slidding through the air, which was a bit unnerving, but was still kinda cool at the same time.