3/1/2008

Went to downtown Anchorage to see the ceremonial start of the Iditarod.  It was really crowded and it was tough to get a good view of the starting line.  Rhonda stayed home to get ready for our neighbors who were coming for dinner.  The kids and I went up the fourth floor of a parking garage to get a better view.  It was a better view, but still not great.  It was really cold ... 16 with about a 20 mph wind.  We stayed for about 45 minutes and then went back to the truck.

The neighbors across the street came over for dinner.  Very nice family.  They have an 8 year old daughter (Zana) and a 5 year old son (Nick).  Our kids and their kids have been getting along great playing outside.  They got along great at dinner too.  Their parents, Greg and Priscilla Martin are very nice.  I look forward to getting to know them better.

Greg explained to us about how the bears come down from the mountain above us in the spring right through our property on the way down to the creek to eat salmon.  He said that he saw them poking around our house last year ... even up on the porch sniffing around the front door!

3/2/2008

The whole family went to the official start of the Iditarod in Willow, Alaska.  Willow is about 90 miles northwest of Anchorage.  Seeing the official start of the race was probably the coolest experience that I have had so far in Alaska.  It was crowded, but not too crowded.  We were able to get right up to the side of the trail with an unobstructed view of the dogs and the mushers.  We watched them get ready behind the starting line and then we moved further down past the starting line and watched them run by us.  Really cool!  We had a great time and got some great pictures.

3/4/2008

Spent the whole day in a special training class for traveling up to the Arctic circle where the oil fields are.   Learned all about safety up there.  They refer to that part of Alaska as the "North Slope".  They call it that because it is on the "North Slope" of the Brooks mountain range.

3/5/2008

Spent the morning in a training class to learn safe driving skills for the North Slope.  Now I am qualified to visit the North Slope unescorted and I am qualified to drive up there.

3/6/2008

Received my flight confirmation and room confirmation for the North Slope.  I leave on Thursday the 13th and return on Saturday the 15th.

3/8/2008

Took the family to the Bear Tooth theater and restaurant (http://www.beartooththeatre.net/about.html).  The Bear Tooth and the Moose's Tooth restaurant are owned by the same people.  The Moose's Tooth and the Bear's Tooth are mountain peaks next to each other in the Alaska Range.  Anyway, it was a really cool experience because the Bear's Tooth is setup so that you can take your meal into the movie theater.  They have booths inside the theater and every row of theater seats has tables in front of them for your food.  We saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks" while we chowed down on our dinners.

3/10/2008

I know this little story has nothing to do with being in Alaska other than it happened while we are in Alaska, but it is one of those little stories that I really want to remember.  Today Danny and Andrew were playing downstairs.  They both setup "bedrooms" for themselves and then they setup an "office" for themselves.  The office had office chairs and a meeting space for them to "work".  They both showed me what they had setup and then I went upstairs to do something.

Andrew came up a few minutes later and said, "Dad, do you think we are playing games downstairs?"  I said that I did not know if they were playing "games" but that it was nice to see them playing with each other so nicely.  Andrew then looked at me as seriously as you can imagine and said, "We are not playing.  We are really working."

3/12/2008

Forecast for my trip to the North Slope tomorrow, Friday and Saturday:

Thursday:

Mostly cloudy with patchy fog and flurries. Highs around 15 below. Light winds.

Thursday Night:

Cloudy with patchy fog and flurries. Lows 25 to 30 below. Light winds.

Friday:

Mostly cloudy with patchy fog and flurries. Highs around 15 below. Light winds.

Friday Night:

Partly cloudy. Lows 25 to 30 below. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday:

Partly cloudy. Highs near 20 below.

3/15/2008

Returned from the Slope today.  What a great experience!  I had the opportunity to learn a ton about how oil gets pumped out of the ground, how it gets processed, and how it gets pushed down the pipeline to Valdez.

In addition, I learned a ton about the challenges that the operators and maintainers face on a daily basis and how Bentley's software can provide real value to them.

Beyond all of that "professional" stuff, it was really interesting to experience the arctic tundra in winter! You fly into the town of Deadhorse, AK.  A shuttle bus meets you at the bottom of the steps coming from the airplane and takes you to the oil fields.  The oil fields are operated by either ConocoPhillips, or BP.

Once inside the secured oil field compound, you see nothing but operating facilities where people work and camps where people sleep and eat.  The camps remind me of being on a Navy ship.  The sleeping quarters are very small and you typically share a bed with someone who is working a different shift.  The food service is all cafeteria style and you do not pay for anything.  Just belly up to the food line and pile it as high as you like.

There are no permanent residents in the town of Deadhorse.  The town consists of metal structures that were transported up there and bolted together to form "buildings".  The only buildings are a couple of really primitive looking hotels (formed from metal boxes bolted together), and support facilities for the oil field work.  Everyone in the town and inside the secured oil field area is on a rotation in and out of the area.  They go up there for 2 weeks and work non-stop and then come home for 2 weeks of down time.  There are different schedules like 1 on/1 off; 2 on/2 off, 3 on/3 off, etc ...

And ... I spent the entire three days thinking about my Dad.  This was his element.  He would have felt right at home with these guys who are there on the front lines making these facilities perform.  I imagined him in the nuclear power plants where he worked, the gas processing plants, the food processing plants and the countless other areas where my Dad provided value as a Marshall Maintenance welder, foreman, and finally, office manager.

3/23/2008

I know that Rhonda and I are the exception, but neither of us have ever lived more than 45 minutes from where we grew up.  That means that we have never spent a major holiday away from our families.  This Easter is the first holiday away for both of us.  Big adjustment.

Fortunately friends that we have come to know since we got here have invited us to celebrate Easter with them.  We actually had two invitations.  One came from the Isaacs family who we know from school and the other came from the Beveridge family that we know from church.

On another note.  The kids and I have officially adjusted to Alaska as of today.  The three of us walked out of the house to go to church without our coats.  We did not even think about it and did not regret not having them with us.  After all .... it is spring now.  The temperatures now are in the low 30s almost every day.  Balmy!

3/30/2008

It seems that the "harsh Alaskan climate" may not be so harsh after all.  It is definitely colder than back in Philly, but it is not so different that our lifestyle really has to change that much.  Right about now back in Philly, the temperatures would be steadily climbing and more and more people would be outside enjoying the warmth.  No different here.  The end of March seems to mark the end of winter here just like it does back home.  Sure, there is a higher chance of getting some snow in April here than back home, but it would be considered abnormal just like back home.

The average temps for April are in the mid-forties, but it feels warmer than that.  This is just like the winter temps that were down in the single digits and even below zero that also felt a lot warmer than that.

The other thing that really makes it seem like spring is the fact that we are gaining 5 to 6 minutes of sunlight per day.  Do the math ... that means 40 minutes per week.  Right now dawn (not sunrise) is around 6:30.  Dusk goes until about 9:30.  Yes, we have already been caught in the trap of finally sitting down to dinner at 8:00 at night, because it does not seem like night.

We took a drive out to the town of Girdwood last night.   Girdwood is about 30 minutes south of our house.  Alyeska ski resort (http://www.alyeskaresort.com/) is in Girdwood.  I have heard that Alyeska is one of the top 20 ski resorts in the world.  It is pretty impressive.  It is also amazing that on the ride out to Girdwood there was a significant change in climate.  It was amazing because we follow the highway that goes along the coast out to Girdwood so ... no change in elevation.  But it got significantly colder as we got closer to Girdwood.  Also, the light snow showers here in Anchorage turned into just about blizzard conditions in Girdwood.