24 days until Alaska...

I woke up this morning, and the first thought I had in my head was, "what's the weather like in Alaska today?" I wonder how many other non-Alaskans had that thought when they awoke this morning?

So I am all excited about this trip. Do you know that the male to female ratio in Alaska is 2:1? That could be interesting, though I suppose the ratio of non-eccentric males to females would be drastically less. I cannot wait to meet the kind of people who would live there. Truly I think they must be a different breed of human being to inhabit the -70 degree F weather and not pack up and head south. I was reading online the other day, and was amused (and somewhat alarmed) to discover that many of the inhabitants of even the "large" city of Anchorage have bear stories. In fact, I was half-laughing with Tiffany just thinking about the fact that you actually have to worry about a moose attacking you. Moose, as I understand it, are very temperamental and dangerous creatures. Many an Alaskan have been killed by them, and not just in cars, either. They charge and then stomp and butt and kick you to death. How would you explain that to someone from the mainland?:

Alaskan: "You 'member old Percy Ipalook from Juneau?"
Floridian: "You mean the one who saved you from that polar bear that was chasing your dogsled that time?"
Alaskan: "He got himself killed last week."
Floridian: "Really? He was such a tough old guy. It wasn't the bear, was it?"
Alaskan: "Nah...moose got him. Family says he ain't even recognizable no more. They're gonna have a memorial 'cause the funeral home cain't make him presentable. Crying shame, it is. Second one this month, too."

Fear of moose and polar bear attacks would surely add a bit more flavor to life. The frigid, blood freezing cold would just be the icing on the cake, then. But you know what you'd never have to worry about in Alaska? Snakes. So I guess the one things Alaskans have in common in choosing to live/remain there is complete ignorance of snakes. Maybe we should take a rubber snake and randomly throw it down to see what the reaction is. Would they even know what it is? This could be an interesting trip...

Anyway, we leave March 31st, and will be returning on April 8th. We made reservations today at the Caribou Inn (a very inexpensive B&B)- I think the girl who answered the phone must have been an Eskimo...