Fairbanks: Mush Puppies

They had dogsled rides at Chena, but I had already tried it last time I was in Alaska with my mom. Plus, I was running low on funds and had read that sometimes the dogs poop while they run, and you get hit.

But we did want to see puppers! There was a 30-minute talk on dogsledding. You can even adopt the puppies that aren’t into pulling. Sadly, they wouldn’t fit in my luggage. Then we saw the grown mushers.

Do not wear a scarf around dogs unless you want to go the way of Isadora Duncan.

PUPPIES!!!!

They did not want us to leave

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Fairbanks: Aurora Take Two

Chena Hot Springs is known for aurora viewing. We knew it looked good for that night, so I had my shoes and coat on, ready to go. I heard people running past our cabin squealing, so I went outside, and it was unreal. I almost didn’t want to go back and get Anne, but when I got back to our cabin, she was ready to go.

We ran up and down the lanes as the aurora moved from one side to the other. The arcs and bars were strong, an intense green and well-defined. It was the most fun aurora viewing of the whole trip.

Later our stoner friend said he had taken the military van up to the mountains to see them but it wasn’t much better, and the van was very, very bumpy.

I was a little disappointed that everything was green because one inspiration for this trip was “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” by Robert Service

While high overhead

Green, yellow and red

The Northern Lights swept in bars

In this photo you can see a little yellow and red along the bottom,

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Fairbanks: Chena Hot Springs Restaurant

They had a nice restaurant and bar. The clam chowder was recommended, and it was awesome, so rich with cream and butter.

It was also suggested we order from the appetizers only. The buffalo wings were good and I ordered them twice.

Anne liked her burger and ordered burgers almost every day of the trip.

One night I ordered Pho and it was surprisingly good for the boonies of Alaska.

One night I overheard the waiters talking about tamales. I asked in Spanish, “You have tamales???” A woman came out of the kitchen and said she can’t get masa up there, but she had champurrado for the workers and offered me some. It was so warm and comforting. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers.

Meanwhile, there were so many taxidermized heads in there I couldn’t help but think of Country Bear Jamboree.

BUFF
(Whistles.) Hey, Henry, what’s holdin’ ya up? Let’s get on with the show!

MAX
Now, Buff, be patient.

MELVYN
Yeah, we ain’t goin’ anywhere anyhow. We’re kind of hung up here! (Laughs.)

 

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Fairbanks: Chena Hot Springs

Chena Hot Springs was discovered on August 5, 1905 by brothers Robert and Thomas Swan, gold miners who had heard that a U.S. Geological Survey had seen steam rising from a valley somewhere on the upper Chena River the year before.

It’s like a big campground resort, with the hot springs, a pool house with Jacuzzis, a pool, showers and lockers. There is a massage cabin, an ice bar, dogsledding, snowmobiles, and a weird military vehicle that takes you a mile up into the mountains for better aurora viewing. So many taxidermized animals all over Alaska.

We stayed in one of the Fox Cabins, which has three 2-bed, 3/4 bath private rooms and a housekeeping closet. I didn’t take a picture before we unpacked and Anne crashed. The only unpleasant thing is the spring water in our plumbing. The sink is like melted pennies. After washing your hands they smell like you were on the monkey bars. I keep water next to the sink and after washing with the sink I rinse with the bottled water. The shower also smells like liquified metal.

I had reserved a room with a fridge, and called two days before to make sure we had one. There wasn’t one and even though I called several times, we never did get one. Anne improvised and opened a window, then pulled the shade down for an improvised icebox. It must have looked funny from outside. Is a rotisserie chicken a distress signal?

The water in the hot springs was about 4 1/2 feet deep with a sandy bottom. The heat varied. Which was nice because you weren’t stuck in scalding water like at some hot springs. You could just slowly wander in the springs, finding hotter and cooler spots. There was a kind of rain shower and one hard jet of water coming down off of some high rocks that felt sooo good on your back.

We had met a few friends. This is our stoner buddy.

So, my wife and I saw you across the room, and we really dig your vibe…no, this was a very nice couple. I wanted to photograph him with his frozen facial hair.

Beware Anne when she has a stalactite.

Our hair was freezing, and we had fun making ice hairdos. One guy had an awesome mohawk, but he was getting out of the water, and the 20 feet from the hot springs to the pool house is freezing and that is no time to ask someone to pose.

I was going for Cindy Lou Who

It was sometimes so steamy you couldn’t see anything in front of you.

 

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Fairbanks: Aurora Take One

The aurora was predicted to be awesome on our second night there, so I booked us an aurora watching in a lodge in the mountains. one trick they pull is that the price does not include the van up there, so it’s $100 more a person than advertised. but that’s what I was there for. Bob says, “You’re in the place – do the thing.

The lodge had a lot of board games, hot dogs, pizza and snacks.

There was a weird skull I photographed to show my brother who does that kind of thing.

We waited for the aurora sightings. And waited and waited. After a few hours we got called outside. They weren’t as amazing as the pics, as the camera stacks pixels and most people do a long exposure to get the bright greens. they often looked like wispy white clouds.

It was cool to see the green bars in the sky for the first time.

They took pictures of us, which was nice.

Then there was nothing for hours and hours. I asked the guide when we would be going back, and she kept saying, “Just a few more minutes, a few more minutes.” It was like 3am and I started to feel like I had been kidnapped.

On the drive home a few people noticed the aurora, so the driver kindly pulled over and about half of us braved the ice and cold. One woman was having that religious experience you can get in nature, repeating, “She’s dancing! Ohhhh, she’s dancing!”

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Fairbanks The Treehouse

I have always dreamed of seeing the aurora. I did some research and Fairbanks in March is the best time. I planned 2 weeks so that regardless of the moon phase, weather, or a low aurora index, I would definitely see it. I invited Anne, my best friend of almost 40 years to join me. Two weeks is a long time in a little town like Fairbanks, so I mixed it up with a few different kinds of stays.

As I picked up my luggage at the Fairbanks airport, a girl told me, “You’re lucky. It’s not so cold tonight.” Then the doors opened, and an Arctic blast took a layer of skin off my face. So. Damn. Cold! 20 people were waiting for a taxi. There was only one taxi that goes to the airport. One. He would pick someone up and shout as he drove off, “I’ll be right back!”

I had not dressed for the weather, assuming I would have time after grabbing my luggage. Another lady and I talked the La Quinta shuttle driver into taking us and each gave him $20.

Anne met us outside of the tree house. It was more amongst trees than in the trees, but once I saw all of the adjustments that had to be made for such a small place, I was grateful it wasn’t smaller. There were LOTS of stairs. Lots of stairs.  I had to pack a third bag because I need four layers of clothes in the snow, and we also needed swim stuff for the hot springs. So, I had 3 suitcases. Anne was a true friend and carried my luggage up all of them. She is so strong. I’ve really missed her.

The two-story place was cool, with a kitchen, bathroom and sitting area on the first floor and a bed and rope hammock on the second floor. The bed had about five inches of foam on it, making getting in and out of bed comical. If you were too close to the edge you slipped right off. In general, it was a cute and comfy space. But it had a weird smoked salmon smell.

The spiral staircase to the second floor was a death trap. the stairs are so scary, Anne said it’s a slow vacation. Lots of caution. I think this place would be best for a very active couple in their 20s.

The snow was also a challenge for me. Just getting dressed is like an Olympic sport. I would not have the patience to live here. There was a bath house with outdoor Jacuzzis that it was too cold for, and really nice showers and bathrooms.

We were there during a full lunar eclipse. We had a really good view.

It was hard to get good pictures once the eclipse started.

The description said it had a “dry toilet.” I had no idea what that meant. It was less gross than expected but very weird. The “bowl” has tin foil, and when you flush it makes a terrifying noise and apparently ties off the tin foil leaving a fresh bowl. After the first flush the salmon smell went away. It was like peeing on a Jiffy Pop.

I told Anne not to wake me up unless she saw the aurora. It was dark and there were big windows, perfect for viewing. She woke me up twice and I saw nothing. She was like, “It was just there!” It was definitely an adventure, and Anne was the perfect person for it.

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Just a Quickie to Seattle: The Gits Concert

It was The Gits Day (!), according to a King County proclamation issued by executive Dow Constantine.

The second event Saturday to celebrate the re-release of The Gits’ 1992 debut album “Frenching the Bully” took place at KEXP gathering space, a nice, big room with a photo gallery, record store pop-up and little radio station. It was a good place for a concert, not too crammed, some lounges for uhh lounging, and I could push my way to the front of the stage without too much trouble. They also screened the short concert, “The Gits Live at RKCNDY” with Mia belting them out.

Then the Gits — drummer Steve Moriarty, guitarist Andy Kessler and bassist Matt Dresdner along with singers Maria Mabra and Karen Marie Hernandez, played a longer set. Ben London joined in on second guitar.

Bob channeling Henry Rollins by Cat Rose

Bob had originally gotten a scholarship to sing at Antioch but at some point switched over to drums. Someone in the band saw him unloading his gear and invited him to the practice pad. They didn’t know any of the same songs at the time, and Bob is forever grateful to Mia for turning him on to The Stooges. He ended the set on Saturday night with “Loose,” The first and maybe last song the band has performed together.

ANDY AND CAT’S POST from THERE’S SOMETHING HARD IN THERE

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Just a Quickie with Andy and Cat

Bob wasn’t the only one experiencing a homecoming this weekend. I went through 9 years of Catholic school with Journalist Andy Nystrom, and we were even on the school paper together until the teacher told me to stop wasting my time with punk rock losers. I’m proud of Andy for keeping his career going, and I’ve been admiring his blog and his wife Cat’s photography for years.

We went for Thai food between events, but after my gnarly oral surgery there was no way could I handle spicy food. So I dragged than over to a seafood place before discovering they don’t eat seafood. Oops.

 

It turned out Cat had gone to Bishop Montgomery with me and Andy too, and as we caught up, we discovered we hated the exact same new wave girls, so we were like instant best friends! They shared a salad, which was gorgeous.

Bob made the best selection with, ironically, Thai seafood

I had a nice bland seafood chowder and I swear to god, the most bland crab risotto EVER.

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Just a Quickie to Seattle: The Gits

The reunited Gits and guests. Photo by Elise Thompson.

There were two events happening Saturday to celebrate the re-release of The Gits’ 1992 debut album “Frenching the Bully” album on Sub Pop Records. There were speeches and proclamations and a mini gallery of Mia’s art. The band signing the reissued vinyl, silk-screening shirts, selling coffee and only coffee- Seattle! They also screened a short concert, “The Gits Live at RKCNDY” with Mia belting them out in front of the super-tight band. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Drummer Steve Moriarty, guitarist Andy Kessler and bassist Matt Dresdner invited several guest performers to perform a short all-ages afternoon set at Vera Project and again in the evening, a longer set around the corner at KEXP gathering space, where Bob joined in. They were all wondering how they could ever follow that film.

Two women traded off the rest of the singing duties. Maria Mabra, who also attended Antioch with the band and often sang and collaborated with Mia, and Karen Marie Hernandez, singer of a local Pedro band (and yes, Steve pronounced Peeedro “right,”) called Cosmic Kitten. Maria’s band covers a few Gits songs, and she has been performing with Steve. Another Antioch alum, Ben London joined in on second guitar.

Sub Pop CEO Megan Jasper, band manager and friend Rachel Flotard and KEXP DJ Morgan sung the praises of The Gits before each gig, both of which were packed to the hilt. Attendees were also treated the premiere of “Live at the Rocky Candy,” and excerpt from the Grunge concert movie Hype! 

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Just a Quickie to Seattle: Hotel Sorrento

Bob’s first band was called the Sniveling Little Rat Faced Gits, further cementing our bond with our Monty Python geekiness. They formed when he was at Antioch College in 1986. Bob went back to the East coast and eventually LA, and the now-shortened band, the Gits, went on to find their place in the Seattle grunge scene. In 1993, the lead singer, Mia, was tragically and horrifically murdered in the streets of her adopted home town. I will follow the mood of this weekend’s event by saying, it is about celebrating the music, and Mia’s talent, not her death. Look it up if you must. We arrived on Thursday with two days of hanging out with the Gits to look forward to.

We were lucky enough to get one of the baths with the big round window.

I had gone for oral surgery the Friday before our trip and was promised I’d be fine within two days. Not so. I was pretty much holed up in our room for most of the time eating soft and bland food, but at least during the follow-up they had given me a prescription for codeine.

It was cold and raining when we arrived, as tends to happen in Seattle. The hotel that Sub Pop had picked out had seen better days, it made up for it in cleanliness and coolness. Their symbol is the peacock. We ordered room service. I had a soft and bland pasta of some kind.

The first night the street was noisy and we were freezing. but the next day I discovered the window had been stuck open six inches, and I had been too sleepy to notice. They immediately sent someone up to fix it. The wood interior of the shared space was gorgeous. They were holding a Robbie Burns dinner while we were there. Look, such a perfect place for the pipes and the haggis!

Thursday Bob had practice with the band. He grabbed perfectly soft and bland egg sandwiches at a place across the street at 206 Burger Hill for our breakfast and while he was gone, I grabbed a light lunch downstairs. The artichoke dip was fantastic, as was the little Caprese salad. They were properly soft but not bland. The meatballs were so bad I am not even going to scar your eyes with them.

That night we had a nice little get-together, but my jaw hurt and it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a room where I didn’t know anybody but Bob, so I didn’t take any pictures or stay long.

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Norway: Fish Market

Bergen’s main attraction is the fish market. There is a large indoor market, then purveyors lining the bridge. there is a sit-down restaurant, and I was craving the crabs legs I had seen, but honestly they were disappointingly small and few. Then when I got the bill in USD it was $170!!!! I guess having traveled to Alaska I was spoiled. Nice view though.

There were a lot of trippy things to look at.

Yes, whale is legal here. It does not look appetizing at all. There was a steak on the menu, which seems like a lot. Some things are meant to be tasted in little bites. The menu strangely offers a lobster to make your plate of fish “surf and turf.” I guess that’s what it seems like Americans are doing.

 

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Bergen: The Never-Ending Bowl of Soup

The Olive Garden’s “Endless soup and salad” has nothing on these people. I was wandering around looking for a place for lunch and saw a Mexican restaurant. Whaaat? But I saw camarones al mojo de ajo and that sounded so good. So did a margarita, but what was I thinking, of course I can’t have a margarita on antibiotics.

The decor would interest my friend Linda.

Teaching them to make iced tea. One. restaurant. at. a. time. Someday they will write songs about me.

The mojo de ajo was an appetizer, Look at that. Alfalfa sprouts! It was OK, the shrimp here are awesome, but it was not al mojo de ajo.

So, I gave in to my surroundings and ordered the famous local fish soup (fiskesuppe). In a Mexican restaurant. It was HUGE. I gestured to the server that she had to help me eat it and she laughed. The broth was thinner than clam chowder, seasoned with dill. It was crammed full of both bay shrimp and jumbo shrimp, plus a little salmon and probably cod. I started eating it.

I kept eating and eating but there was never less soup. I asked if it was supposed to be split between four people, again making her laugh. It became like a curse. Would this bowl ever end?

Could I ever stop eating it??? Would I be eating this fish soup for the rest of my life???

After a half an hour I gave up and the bowl was at the same exact level of fullness.

Somewhere in a parallel universe I am still eating that soup.

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Norway: Bergen’s Magic Hotel is Craaazy

OK, so I had to move hotels due to the complicated juggling we had to do in the wake of my hospitalization. I came to the Magic Hotel (K something…Magic Hotel Kierkegaard? Kunterhurst?) Ahhh, here it is.

I came in just to drop my bags and they said they had my room ready. Already. At 12:30 they had my room ready! So, I went up the elevator and walked into a maze. The hallways are zig zags and some doors are actual MIRRORS so it looks like a hall…but it’s no-o-o-ot!

One elevator is busted, so you have to search for the other one. When I came out of the elevator once, a man ran into it with a mad, crazed look in his eyes like he had been lost for hours.

The secret is that the guest floors are each a circle made of zig zags. So, if you just keep walking eventually you will end up where you want to be. That last sentence sounded very Alice in Wonderland. I’m picking up the vibes.

My room’s vibes are Cafe Flesh and the Red Room from Twin Peaks. Maybe a little New Wave. The carpet’s optical illusion works really well in this first shot. I’m glad I didn’t bring Space Bars.

My windows open into the interior courtyard, so not a lot of privacy, and I never know if it’s raining (although the answer here is usually YES. They are so used to rain, they don’t even mention it. Like if it rained like this in LA it’s all we would talk about). BUT I can watch the kitchen!!!

I could wash a baby in this sink. Yeah, sink, not tub.

So far it is quiet, good wifi signal and the bed is comfy. That is all.

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Bergen Norway: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like but You Can Never Leave

View from hospital window, watching the rain

The whole time we were in Oslo I had a bit of a sinus thing I attributed to the new plants and spores of a new country. But I was also unusually tired, having weird nightmares, falling out of bed and being even more confused than usual, like leaving my purse in a taxi and spending all day retracing my steps to find my lost pills that were in my backpack all along.

Bob and his mom went to Latvia and I planned to do Bergen and Kristiansand, with awesome activities and trippy restaurants. This is where I was going to go.

Under

and stay here

Lindesnes Havhotell

But it was not to be. After my first day doing art museums in Bergen, I noticed I get tired so fast “these days” I thought maybe I’m getting too old to travel.

Well, I woke up in the night sick as a dog. It’s a good thing I missed that ferry to an isolated island. I managed to get the hospital on the phone in the morning and the advice nurse said, “Take a paracetemol” and left me on my own. So I went to their version of Urgent Care.

The doctor walked in and confirmed, “You’re Elise, and you’re a Taurus?” I thought, what, we are doing astrology now? Then I realized she had said tourist.

They didn’t like my “vitals” so they sent me to the hospital ER and I was delirious from fever. It’s all a haze of people sticking me with so many needles, trying to get blood from my impossible veins and asking me confusing questions. They could never hit a vein. The nurse who finally succeeded in getting blood from me softly sang to herself, “Ok, I got it, here comes the blood…” I loved that she had a blood song.

At the ER I was in a daze, hallucinating. I thought my brother Greg was in the room, and since he had died of pneumonia, I thought I was taking his place in a Twilight Zone kind of way. I also thought I was cursed for having tried whale.

This was on the wall, and I knew it wasn’t the phases of the moon. I asked, “Are those the phases of the winter sun or something?”

The nurse replied, “That is the air vent.” So yeah, phases of the sun? I was delirious.

I also threw up and needed clean clothes. But their hospital clothes are soft pajamas, none of these robes with your ass hanging out. They were very cozy.

They admitted me for pneumonia. I had lung x-rays and they were clear, so they downgraded it to bronchitis. They were obsessed with my high heart rate, low blood pressure and something about my oxygen. My blood tests showed an infection. The health care here in Norway is better, in that they see you immediately in the waiting room, and none of the nurses or doctors are harried or overworked. They have time to chat with you.

The food is very simple but delicious, like this butternut squash/carrot soup with little pieces of fresh ginger. Most meals were two slices of bread, a slice of cheese and a slice of an unfamiliar lunchmeat. They were pleased when I asked for brown cheese. I was in the hospital overnight, and they wanted to keep me one more night to be sure I was OK, but I really wanted out of there. I had already paid for a nonrefundable hotel room for the night. And they kept checking my blood with fingersticks and sticking me with needles and could never hit a vein, so I wanted out.

I sometimes wished I had stayed in the hospital so someone would be bringing me cold water all night. Then I realized, I am in Norway. I could drink the tap water from the bathroom sink. I am slowly getting better. My voice is still a croak, but I’m coughing less. I feel like I just need 24 hours of sleep and I’ll be OK. There was a nice green area outside my window as I was leaving the hospital.

So, I lost out on a lot of prepaid hotels and things in Kristiansand, since we all decided it was best if I just stay in Bergen for the last 3 days of the trip and recuperate. So, with Bergen hotels, I am basically paying for that week of vacation twice. “I will never recover from this financially” from Tiger King comes into my head. [Bridin paid for my hotels in Bergen, which was very generous and kind]

Bergen is beautiful and although I am stuck in a hotel room there are way worse places to be. Zander K is an amazing hotel, seriously the quietest place I’ve ever been, and the staff is bending over backwards to cater to me. They even moved my nonrefundable/nonchangeable reservation after they heard my situation. I can’t recommend it enough. It is a bit pricier than others, but if you can afford it, stay here. I also discovered room service is not a thing in Norway. I might not have left the hospital if I knew that. But Zander K made exceptions for me.

I had this nice tagliatelle and a confusing deconstructed dessert. Deconstructed desserts are HUGE here right now.

I guess this beam got in the way of the curtains. They cut the curtains around it.

TL/DR: I’m slowly getting better and will never make nonrefundable reservations again.

And the good news is I am not getting old and tired. I was just sick, and I will get my energy back again eventually.

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Norway: Welcome to Bergen Hotel Oleana

OK so I arrived in Bergen and checked in at Hotel Oleana. Like many buildings that have added bathrooms, this one was weird.

I had an amazing, tender steak from room service, but they had really heavy clay plates so when I tried to lift the salad, it flipped and broke on the floor.

They made me clean it up myself and charged me for the broken plate, so I’m kind of salty, but otherwise it’s an excellent hotel and the breakfast buffet was astounding. Seriously, Europe.

And they had amaaazing chandeliers

I had a boat scheduled to take me to Rosendal where I would have dinner at the weird and exotic IRIS is the middle of a fjord then spend the night in a little local hotel. Iris is one of the restaurants the movie The Menu was referencing. they pick you up in a boat and show you where they catch and grow the food, then they take you to this big floating eye in the middle of a fjord. It’s like an 8-hour experience.

Iris – Expedition Dining

I arrived at the ramp on time, but the boat had left maybe 7 minutes early. Bye, boat!

So my hotel room was in Rosendal and Bergen hotels were booked up. So I had nowhere to sleep. I called Bob and they were able to find me a place. So I spent the day wandering, checking out the cool buildings. I was kind of relieved I missed the restaurant when I found out it is owned by a salmon farming company and there are a lot of problems with the farms, both with the health of the fish and pollution. Also, this interesting-looking dish was made with insect powder.

LOTS of insect powder

THE MENU | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures

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