Wow... July is going to fly by, just when I need time to slow down a little lol.
My last day in Indiana will be August 3rd, I will leave that day and begin the drive to Bellingham, WA where I hope to catch the Alaskan State marine Highway ferry to AK! I have decided to go along with the idea of hopping the ferry despite the extra costs involved (around $1100 for the truck, me, and Schmoopee to board) for two reasons, this will mean 1000 less miles that I actually have to drive, and once you get north of British Columbia I really could not find a good route to Juneau. The Ferry also has some ships that stop directly in Hoonah's ports...
The route that I am possibly going to drive (still awaiting word on if I will be stopping in KS) will take me from Indianapolis to Leavensworth, KS (I have a friend that lives there and it would save me money by not having to get a hotel that night, any way to save money will have to be taken!) and then from Leavensworth to Bellingham, WA via 90W.
From IN-KS::
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Plainfield,+IN&daddr=Leavenworth,+KS&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.555061,76.640625&ie=UTF8&z=7&pw=2
From KS to WA::
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Leavenworth,+KS&daddr=bellingham,+wa&sll=40.605612,-97.789307&sspn=5.862609,9.580078&ie=UTF8&ll=43.245203,-95.515137&spn=11.248228,19.160156&z=6&pw=2
I will be putting my two weeks' notice in with work on the 11th of July, making my last day of work the 25th of July... This will allow me to make it to one last Brickyard 400 with the guys from the Police department and have a full week to see everyone and finish things up before I actually leave. I will also have Schmoopee into the vet's office so that they can do one last check-up on her before the trip, give me copies of all her shot records (I have one copy but I'd like to carry backups with me!), and also get her all cleaned up before the trip.
I am worried about finding affordable, clean, hotels that are also dog friendly along my route... So wish me luck... Anyone willing to take on a weary traveler and her canine companion for a night would be greatly appreciated! HAHAHAHA!
As I understand it, I'll need to average around 500 miles a day to make it into Bellingham, WA on the 8th - When my Ferry ticket will be booked.
-- Tiffany D. Compton
TDC Digital
http://tdcompton.smugmug.com
(317) 281-6090
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Northern Bound...
I wanted to let everyone know that it is official... I will be leaving Indiana for Alaska on August 3rd, and I am hoping to arrive in Juneau on the 10th of August.
The next month will surely be in fast forward as I try to get everything ready for this cross-country drive, it is aprox. 3,200 miles through Google Maps, but so far I'm having a bit of a problem trying to decide on exactly which route I want to take... I may end up having no choice but to take a ferry from Washington to Alaska (if possible) because I am having a hard time finding a good route once I get north of British Columbia. I will fly out to Rochester, NY on July 18th in order to pick up the truck that I will be driving... So in the end I will have driven from New York to Indiana, and then Indiana to Alaska!
Schmoopee will of course be joining me on this drive, lucky for me she loves her time in the car and settles in easily wherever I have taken her in the past. She will be a well traveled Bulldog, that is for sure!
The next month will surely be in fast forward as I try to get everything ready for this cross-country drive, it is aprox. 3,200 miles through Google Maps, but so far I'm having a bit of a problem trying to decide on exactly which route I want to take... I may end up having no choice but to take a ferry from Washington to Alaska (if possible) because I am having a hard time finding a good route once I get north of British Columbia. I will fly out to Rochester, NY on July 18th in order to pick up the truck that I will be driving... So in the end I will have driven from New York to Indiana, and then Indiana to Alaska!
Schmoopee will of course be joining me on this drive, lucky for me she loves her time in the car and settles in easily wherever I have taken her in the past. She will be a well traveled Bulldog, that is for sure!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Alaska Wrap-Up & Photo Preview....
Well I am sorry that it has taken so long, but I am finally able to sit down and give you a bit of a wrap-up to the series of blog posts about Alaska...
The experience of visiting Alaska was far beyond anything that I had ever imagined it would be, I always knew it would be beautiful, but actually being there is almost life changing. For me, the trip actually was life changing... As I sit here right now my thoughts are of just how soon I could get back up there, and what life will be like when I get there.
I do have my conditional offer of employment with the Hoonah Police Department, right now I am just waiting for an official letter saying if I can come back in August, or wait until April of 2009. Anyone who knows me can tell you that this is the realization of a life-long dream, and having it within my grasp is almost unbelievable.
The long process of editing the images taken in Alaska has begun, I hope to have them finished within the next two weeks... If I had a laptop I could get them done much more quickly, I could work on them during my down time at work, but since I don't have one - You guys just have to wait! ;)
I do have a small taste of what you can expect though, just a few images I finished up last night, sized down for you guys to see... Again, sorry about the © mark, but people love to steal images even if they are this tiny.
Please bookmark and continue to visit this blog, as long as I know people are willing to read it, I'll keep it updated!!
The experience of visiting Alaska was far beyond anything that I had ever imagined it would be, I always knew it would be beautiful, but actually being there is almost life changing. For me, the trip actually was life changing... As I sit here right now my thoughts are of just how soon I could get back up there, and what life will be like when I get there.
I do have my conditional offer of employment with the Hoonah Police Department, right now I am just waiting for an official letter saying if I can come back in August, or wait until April of 2009. Anyone who knows me can tell you that this is the realization of a life-long dream, and having it within my grasp is almost unbelievable.
The long process of editing the images taken in Alaska has begun, I hope to have them finished within the next two weeks... If I had a laptop I could get them done much more quickly, I could work on them during my down time at work, but since I don't have one - You guys just have to wait! ;)
I do have a small taste of what you can expect though, just a few images I finished up last night, sized down for you guys to see... Again, sorry about the © mark, but people love to steal images even if they are this tiny.
Please bookmark and continue to visit this blog, as long as I know people are willing to read it, I'll keep it updated!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Alaska Day 5...
I went up to the range and shot today, it felt good to have a gun in my hands again after a year!!! We did a good variety of shooting, and on my scored round I shot an 88%, a 213.... 2 points under expert. I really wanted to get expert lol!!
The photos below are from my first set of rounds, only 2 yards, but I managed to get 4 (almost 5, it was on the line) shots in the A group at 25 yards.
The photos below are from my first set of rounds, only 2 yards, but I managed to get 4 (almost 5, it was on the line) shots in the A group at 25 yards.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Alaska Days 3 & 4....
Hello everyone, before I begin I just want to say thank you to everyone who has sent a text or email saying Happy Birthday!! I'm sorry that I may not have gotten back to everyone, but all of your messages were incredibly kind, I greatly appreciate them!! My 23rd Birthday has been truly incredible to say the least...
Day 3 was spent driving through another area of the National Park, simply taking in all of the sights. I swear that I could go for ages and never get tired of the sights Alaska has to behold! Unfortunately it was kinda rainy yesterday, so the fishing I mentioned didn't happen. I did get to take some (hopefully) great photos with the Nikon, we were able to get incredibly close to the Eagles while out on the skiff!! Speaking of the skiff, we were able to go pull crab pots last evening before dinner... It was really a lot of fun to do that, maybe I watch too much 'Deadliest Catch', but I was having a blast! We ended up with about a 1/3 of a tub of crab, and I must say that they were even tastier than I had imagined!!!!!!!!! The funniest part of the evening came while after we pulled the first pot out of the water and I tried to hold my first crab... That son of a bitch grabbed hold of my finger and wow, I'm lucky it only got onto the side of my finger and not the whole thing! It's all good though, I got to eat him ;)
Day 4 was another laid back day... I started my day by meeting with the Chief of Police and that was interesting - more news on that to come at a later date. After that I joined Officer Wallace (my incredible friend and tour guide!) on duty and went over their statutes and ten codes for a little while. Dinner tonight was Halibut Pizza (which was delicious!), Halibut Poppers, and Ice Cream.... YUM. We also have a homemade wild blueberry pie awaiting us at the end of our shift!
Tomorrow we head out to the range for a lot of shooting, I simply cannot wait, and then I have another meeting with the Chief of Police... I can't believe my week is half over already, I still have the postcards that I meant to send out in my planner :/ I'll get those out tomorrow, they will be to most people around the time I get home - I apologize!
I really cannot wait to show everyone the images off the Nikon, I have been shooting with it so much that I only have a few snapshots to show you guys off of my point and shoot...
Day 3 was spent driving through another area of the National Park, simply taking in all of the sights. I swear that I could go for ages and never get tired of the sights Alaska has to behold! Unfortunately it was kinda rainy yesterday, so the fishing I mentioned didn't happen. I did get to take some (hopefully) great photos with the Nikon, we were able to get incredibly close to the Eagles while out on the skiff!! Speaking of the skiff, we were able to go pull crab pots last evening before dinner... It was really a lot of fun to do that, maybe I watch too much 'Deadliest Catch', but I was having a blast! We ended up with about a 1/3 of a tub of crab, and I must say that they were even tastier than I had imagined!!!!!!!!! The funniest part of the evening came while after we pulled the first pot out of the water and I tried to hold my first crab... That son of a bitch grabbed hold of my finger and wow, I'm lucky it only got onto the side of my finger and not the whole thing! It's all good though, I got to eat him ;)
Day 4 was another laid back day... I started my day by meeting with the Chief of Police and that was interesting - more news on that to come at a later date. After that I joined Officer Wallace (my incredible friend and tour guide!) on duty and went over their statutes and ten codes for a little while. Dinner tonight was Halibut Pizza (which was delicious!), Halibut Poppers, and Ice Cream.... YUM. We also have a homemade wild blueberry pie awaiting us at the end of our shift!
Tomorrow we head out to the range for a lot of shooting, I simply cannot wait, and then I have another meeting with the Chief of Police... I can't believe my week is half over already, I still have the postcards that I meant to send out in my planner :/ I'll get those out tomorrow, they will be to most people around the time I get home - I apologize!
I really cannot wait to show everyone the images off the Nikon, I have been shooting with it so much that I only have a few snapshots to show you guys off of my point and shoot...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Alaska Day 2...
Well, day two in Alaska was an incredible day to say the least...
We started out the day by taking a quick trip down a zip line ride they have here at the cannery. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not great with heights, when they opened the chute doors I took a huge gasp in and had to actually remind myself to breathe.. but the scenery from up there was amazing. lol. After that we took a walk around the Hoonah Cannery and saw the huge cruise ship that was in port that day.
The rest of the day was spent on an ATV going through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen... I knew it would be goregous up here, but this place is just beyond anything I had imagined! The National Park housed so many great places to stop, listen, and just soak in the surroundings.
The two highlights of the day are events that I will never forget... We were able to get extremely close to a mother Brown Bear and her two cubs, we snuck across a small clearing and hid in a cluster of large rocks while these three wandered around and played right before our eyes. The two cubs put on quite a show, play fighting right in the open. The only nerve wracking part was when the cubs began to actually walk right toward the rocks we were hiding among, possibly placing us between them and their Mother... When momma began huffing and slapping her jaws at us it was time to retreat, but I'll never forget that experience.
On our way back to home we spotted Whales bubble feeding off the beach of False Bay... Amazing is the only word to describe that!
We're now off to do some fishing and spend another day out in the bush, wish us luck... and by the way, the Brown Bear sighting total is up to 12 after yesterday!!
We started out the day by taking a quick trip down a zip line ride they have here at the cannery. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not great with heights, when they opened the chute doors I took a huge gasp in and had to actually remind myself to breathe.. but the scenery from up there was amazing. lol. After that we took a walk around the Hoonah Cannery and saw the huge cruise ship that was in port that day.
The rest of the day was spent on an ATV going through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen... I knew it would be goregous up here, but this place is just beyond anything I had imagined! The National Park housed so many great places to stop, listen, and just soak in the surroundings.
The two highlights of the day are events that I will never forget... We were able to get extremely close to a mother Brown Bear and her two cubs, we snuck across a small clearing and hid in a cluster of large rocks while these three wandered around and played right before our eyes. The two cubs put on quite a show, play fighting right in the open. The only nerve wracking part was when the cubs began to actually walk right toward the rocks we were hiding among, possibly placing us between them and their Mother... When momma began huffing and slapping her jaws at us it was time to retreat, but I'll never forget that experience.
On our way back to home we spotted Whales bubble feeding off the beach of False Bay... Amazing is the only word to describe that!
We're now off to do some fishing and spend another day out in the bush, wish us luck... and by the way, the Brown Bear sighting total is up to 12 after yesterday!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Alaska - Day One
Well I want to let everyone know that I have arrived safely in Hoonah, and that day one was pretty incredible. The flights all went relatively smooth, my luggage made it, and although its pretty chilly right now, I'm so very happy to be here!
Tony met me in Juneau and we had lunch before hopping a flight over to Hoonah... Despite being up 30 hours I wanted to see a bit of the island today, turns out that was a good decision, we saw 5 bears today! The first siting was a mother and her young cub at about 40 yards off, then a juvenile fishing a good ways away, and then two bears suprised is in the roadway.... One ran, but the other meandered around for a bit at approximately 10 yards from the patrol vehicle!!! I wish that I could share those photos with you right away but I simply don't have the software I need up here.... Those will be up after I get home, I promise!
This is a gorgeous land, nobody should go their whole life and not see Alaska.....
I am trying to upload images from my BlackBerry but its not playing nice, I promise pics tomorrow!
Tony met me in Juneau and we had lunch before hopping a flight over to Hoonah... Despite being up 30 hours I wanted to see a bit of the island today, turns out that was a good decision, we saw 5 bears today! The first siting was a mother and her young cub at about 40 yards off, then a juvenile fishing a good ways away, and then two bears suprised is in the roadway.... One ran, but the other meandered around for a bit at approximately 10 yards from the patrol vehicle!!! I wish that I could share those photos with you right away but I simply don't have the software I need up here.... Those will be up after I get home, I promise!
This is a gorgeous land, nobody should go their whole life and not see Alaska.....
I am trying to upload images from my BlackBerry but its not playing nice, I promise pics tomorrow!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
I depart for Alaska in a mere 32 hours, arriving in Juneau at 1:00pm AKDT on June 10th... But before I go I wanted to let you guys in on a few snapshots taken over the weekend, it appears that Summer has finally arrived in Indiana!
(Click on images for a larger view..)
(Click on images for a larger view..)
Monday, June 2, 2008
First Off...
Good Morning,
I've created this blog in order to let everyone close to me, and anyone else who happens to stumble across this humble blog, follow along while I am in the great state of Alaska... After that trip has come to a close I plan to continue updating this page with various photos of the day or tales of what is going on in the world of this one simple photographer.
Enjoy your stay & feel free to leave comments!
Tiffany C.
I've created this blog in order to let everyone close to me, and anyone else who happens to stumble across this humble blog, follow along while I am in the great state of Alaska... After that trip has come to a close I plan to continue updating this page with various photos of the day or tales of what is going on in the world of this one simple photographer.
Enjoy your stay & feel free to leave comments!
Tiffany C.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
