Me and the Alaska pipeline

The Alaska Pipeline

Hmm. Teeth look like bucky beaver here. Gimme a tree for lunch. But I'm happy. And anyways, my mom says looks don't matter.

They sell a lot of coffee up here. There are espresso kiosks all over the place. If there's even a ramshackle old run down hut along side the road it'll have a sign nailed to the front says 'Rose's Hot Espresso' and it'll have a drive-up window. I guess all the coffee is on account of the cold. It's June and it's cold in Valdez. In Fairbanks though, the weather was warmer. The temperatures in Fairbanks are more severe, higher in summer and lower in winter, than Anchorage because it's in interior Alaska.

My hair. I brought my frayed yellow tape measure, lent it to my son at the beginning of our trip and I haven't seen it since. This means I can't measure my length. Surely it must be at 31.5 by now but I have no idea. I have a couple inches to go until the ends touch the top of my jeans. One inch if I tip my chin up and gaze at the heavens at a 30 degree angle all day. Okay, I just decided that's my new goal - top of the pants.

I wash every second or third day. When I was home, in one place all the time, in our big old house, it was a challenge to go as long as possible between washes. Man, now I just look forward to a real shower in a real bathroom. Even if it's in a bun all the time, which it usually is, it gets dirty fast outside. We have our little shower in the trailer, and I DO mean little, but I get tired of taking a Navy shower. Six gallons of hot water doesn't last long.

My bag is utterly overflowing when I go to the shower room. It must weigh 20 pounds and this is me roughing it. My husband watches people walk by with literally nothing more than a towel and a bar of soap. "Look at that!" he says. "Now why don't you do that?" Frankly, I have no idea how they manage it. I have to have vinegar rinse. I have to have Cetaphil for my face, soap for my body, and shampoo for my hair. Creme rinse for my hair. Jojoba for my hair. Hair dryer for my hair. Alpha Hydroxy for my face and olive oil for my body. My pumice stone for my feet. I have very smooth feet you know. I promised myself, on this trip I would not let my feet get all rough. HATE rough feet. HATE when they sound like velcro on the sheets. Well I'm doin' good and kept my promise to myself. My feet are soft. See, it's a trade off. There's not much point to painting my nails. It doesn't match the lifestyle. So I baby my dogs. Well, it all makes sense in my world.