The Joys and Pains of Life

Do you or someone you know suffer from chronic pain? Have they tried everything they know of to relieve that pain? Since there is more than $100 billion dollars spent on pain relief every year, one would think that there would be some lasting relief from constant physical pain! The kind of relief that doesn’t include the unfavorable side effects of many of today’s drugs. What if you had the chance to manage your pain better or help someone else do the same, without drugs and the side effects, would you take the next step and check it out? This just might be the chance for you or someone you care about to experience the ongoing joy of Pure Relief from their physical pain. Go ahead, bring joy to your life again, make pain management a priority, check out the Pure Relief product and the science behind it - you’ll be glad you did!

Do you remember the joy you felt the last time you had a great night of restful sleep? You were refreshed and ready to take on the world! Did you know that many people today are unable to enjoy a completely restful night of sleep? With $20 billion dollars spent each year on sleep aids, you would think that there would be a lot less irritable people in the world. Restful sleep is so vital to our well being, that many people are unaware of the negative impact on their bodies such as decreased immune system response or increased risk of chronic disease. Again, the long term side effects of sleeping pills are too great for most people’s comfort, but they must do something to get a consistent, restful sleep each night. What if those nights of restful sleep were within your grasp, would you investigate it further? There is the opportunity for you or someone you know to have many nights of restful sleep provided by Rest Quiet. Check it out and give it a try - you’ll sleep better for it!

Did you know that some people are desperate to find a way to get more energy so that they can get through the day?  Did you know that $9 billion dollars is spent in the energy drink market each year? Did you know that some of these energy drinks have deaths associated with them? Did you know that there are more natural ways to increase your energy than to fill your body with excess sugar and caffeine? If you are interested in having consistently higher levels of energy, without the highs and lows of energy drinks, you should take a look at another approach to this concern. Pure Energy plus is designed to provide you with a natural, more consistent level of higher energy without the harmful side effects, so check out Pure Energy plus and the science behind it, too. You’ll be energetically glad you did!

The company that is bringing you these solutions is CieAura - remember that name!

“Life has too many great flavors, to only taste the bitter ones!” Let’s bring a Song of Joy back into our lives by managing and eliminating the pains of life!

2010 Lexus LS Sport

2010 Lexus LS 460

Lexus has done it again! They have taken their flagship LS Sedan and made it even better for 2010. You have got to go to the Lexus website to checkout the new features on the 2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport. The lines have been refined on the front end and there are many other fine features.

By the way, if you’re ready to trade in your 2007 Lexus 460 for the 2010 model, I would like a shot at offering you a better price than the dealer - especially if it is the Noble Spinel Mica color!!!!

The Solution

Someone forwarded this to me in an e-mail. I had to share it because there isn’t enough critical thinking going on these days by the average American.

ps. If you know the author, send me their name in the comments, I would love to give them their due credit for these fine thoughts.

Here it is:

Everyone’s concentrating on the problems we’re having in this country lately — illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida …

……… not me — I concentrate on solutions for the problems — it’s a win-win situation.

* Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

* Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levees.

* Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today? Yes !

Think about this:

1. Cows

2. The Constitution

3. The Ten Commandments

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow..

THE CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq …. why don’t we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we’re not using it anymore.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this — you cannot post ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ ‘Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery’ and ‘Thou Shall Not Lie’ in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians … it creates a hostile work environment.

Also, think about this …. if you don’t want to forward this for fear of offending someone — YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

It is time for America to speak up!

Yep, I passed it on!

Two Days in Anchorage

Monday, July 6, 2009

View of Portage Glacier

Someone might say that we’ve arrived back into civilization! Anchorage has 270,000 people and is about the size of the state of Delaware. Officially, we started this day with a breakfast and a presentation with the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau. Unofficially, we started it just before midnight at Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House. We were there to send off our Tour Director who was spending her last time with us before being off to host another tour. Now back to the Convention & Visitors Bureau. One of the most interesting things that we learned is that moose wander about the city regularly and we needed to understand moose etiquette. I think I remember it went like this: If the Moose’s head is up, you’re safe ; If it’s head down, you’re about to encounter an aggressive moose - turn and run, because, unlike a bear, they won’t chase you!

After the presentation, we walked around downtown and checked out a couple of museums and other sights. Later, we rented a car so that we could drive along the water to Girdwood to see Portage Glacier and to visit the Alyeska Hotel and Resort. They say there are no luxury hotels in Alaska, but the Alyeska Hotel and Resort sure comes as close as it gets to luxury. You must stay there, if you have the time, when you visit the Anchorage area.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Downtown Deli & Café. We had Grandma Elsie’s sourdough pancakes with real maple syrup and reindeer sausage. It is a nice quaint café where the locals hang out, but plenty of travelers come in, too. If you’re staying downtown, check it out, its at 4th Ave. & F Street, across from the Historic City Hall. After breakfast, we browsed the shops and bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home.

All-in-all, this was a truly great trip and I look forward to returning to catch the sights I missed on this trip.

The Train to Anchorage

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The train trip to Anchorage on the Eklutna car is one that I will not soon forget. This trip was one of those defining moments in peoples’ lives that tends to reveal our true character. We were to be on this train for eight hours and it was said to be the most scenic route, so anticipation was high. The Eklutna is a climate-controlled, domed train car with no operable windows, so when the air conditioning went out for part of the trip, you might imagine how quickly the near eighty degree temperature impacted our comfort. The personnel on the Eklutna car were wonderful in attending to our needs in view of the situation, but as I said true character comes out when one is taken out of their comfort zone. After securing the help of an engineer who happened to be onboard and worked for the train, they were able to get the air working again. The problem required them to shut down systems to keep the train on schedule, so the air was only on intermittently. After finally getting the air back to normal, you won’t believe what happened! The emergency brakes are engaged and the train comes to a full stop. It turns out that a trio of teenage boys decided that they would cross the tracks where there was no crossing and they got stuck on the tracks. As I understand the circumstances, the last boy got out of the truck just before the train hit it - no one was hurt, but it sure changed our schedule a bit. After getting a new train crew - did you know that they have to replace the crew when an accident occurs? - we were on our way again. It is a good thing that we were only 45 minutes from Anchorage when the accident happened, so exchanging the crew didn’t take as long as it could have. We finally arrived in Anchorage after about 10 hours on the train. We checked into our Westmark hotel, changed clothes and freshened up a bit and headed for Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House for some food and fellowship.

When you come to this beautiful Alaskan region, it is an adventure, so being flexible, adaptable and patient are good traits to have or to quickly acquire when it comes to weather, scheduling of events, planes, trains, motor coaches, buses and hotels.

The Train to Denali

Friday, July 3, 2009

Today we departed from Fairbanks on the McKinley Explorer train headed for Denali National Park. This will be a 123 mile train trip in a climate controlled, glass domed rail car. The ride is nice and the sights are wonderful. I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife on this leg of the journey, but it was a nice trip to mingle with fellow travelers and to enjoy lunch in the dining car.

The most interesting and exciting part of the day, was when we arrived in the lobby of the McKinley Chalet Resort to the news that Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska. I have to say that she has been a wonderful breath of fresh air for conservative causes. I will sorely miss her in the political arena in an official/elected role, but I know she’ll still be heavily involved. I wish only the best for Sarah and her family.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

What can one say to describe this. Mt. Denali is 20,320 feet in elevation. If one were to climb it from its base to its peak, it would be the highest mountain climb in the world. Denali National Park covers an area of approximately 100 square miles and millions of acres - it is huge!

With great anticipation, we entered the park at 2:05 PM. What a way to celebrate Independence Day. We entered on the only road going into the park. The road is 90 miles long, with the first fourteen miles paved and it dead ends. To go all the way to Wonder Lake is an eleven hour day. We will spend six-to-eight hours out here today as we travel at least fifty-four miles into the park. Our tour is called the Tundra Wilderness Tour and we have a delightful tour bus driver by the name of River White. According to River, every trip into the park is a different adventure. Twenty-nine years ago, Denali National Park was renamed and expanded beyond the Sanctuary River, which was the original boundary of McKinley National Park (the predecessor).

At 2:30 PM, we saw our first bear. At 3:32 PM, we saw our first Dall (mountain) Sheep grazing on the mountainside. We’re headed up Sable Pass, which will take us up to an elevation of 3900 feet (we started at the 1000 foot elevation level.) At 3:40 PM, we saw a mother bear with two cubs. Having left Sable Pass, we now are entering Polychrome Pass at mile marker 44. At 4:25 PM, we came upon four Dall Sheep by the river. At 5:05 PM, we saw another mother bear with three cubs.

It’s now 5:20 PM, and we are at mile marker 62 - which is as far as will go into the park. It is a hazy day up here in the mountains, but we can see the sun reflecting off of the snow on Mt. Denali. It is only visible as a silhouette, but those with polarized sunglasses were able to see a bit more detail. We’re headed back out of the park now and it’s 6:10 PM and we spot our first Caribou. We make a stop so that everyone can get a good look. As were getting back onto the bus, two red foxes cross the road in front of us. As we passed by where they crossed, we could still see them playing in the underbrush as they headed down the mountainside.

At 8:35 PM, as we get within a mile of exiting Denali, we spotted our first Linx a few feet off of the road in the trees. There was a crowd of people around the area taking photos of the Linx, and he just stayed where he was seemingly unconcerned by the commotion being made over him. That was a pleasant end to a long, but very nice tour into Denali National Park.

I’ll have to come back some day and go all the way to Wonder Lake.

Fairbanks, by way of the North Pole

Thursday, July 2, 2009

We’re headed for Fairbanks, Alaska today, a 205 mile trip by motor coach. As we are riding along, viewing the beautiful Mentasta mountain range, the first thing that was pointed out was the Robertson river. The Robertson river is one of many braided rivers across Alaska. It is called a braided river because it is very shallow and the water freezes easily in winter. In fact it is iced over about 8.5 months out of the year. The water that is still running will find or create another path down the river which results in braided paths all along the river as you look upon it.

Our first stop is at Rika’s Roadhouse, Delta Junction, Alaska, where we had the opportunity to purchase food like bearclaws, cinnamon rolls, pies, soups and sandwiches - what I had tasted like it was homemade! They also had a great selection of furs and gifts.

We saw the Tanana Suspension bridge that was built the take the Trans Alaskan Pipeline across the Tanana River. On this bridge, the pipeline sits on pads and is free to move left to right and expand and contract as it needs to.

We had the opportunity to see three moose along this trip.

We saw a F16 land on one of the two parallel landing strips at Eielson Air Force Base. Eielson Air Force Base is home of the 354th Fighter Wing. It is also an alternate landing site for the space shuttle.

We also stopped in North Pole, Alaska and visited Santa Claus House, where you could contract to have a letter from Santa sent out around Christmas time. There was also a ‘live’ Santa and plenty of Christmas oriented gifts for purchase.

Upon our arrival in Fairbanks, we had an old fashion lunch like the miners had at the site of Gold Dredge #8. It was an excellent meal. After a tour of Dredge #8, we went to the Eldorado Gold Mine where we took a short train ride through the mine and had the chance to pan for gold. Our panning resulted in $18.00 worth of gold dust. We also had the chance to see a 19 ounce gold nugget worth about $40,000.00.

One of the most interesting things I learned about Fairbanks weather was that they had 22 straight days of -20 to -40 degrees this past winter, but it was 81 degrees while we were there. This range of temperature is common for Fairbanks. I bet you thought it was cold all the time!

Eagle, Alaska & Beyond

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Today is Canada Day and we celebrated with the Canadians who were in our group.

We are on the Yukon Queen II Catamaran for a leisurely four hour trip down the Yukon River to Eagle, Alaska. We will ultimately end up in Tok, Alaska, for the night, by Motor Coach. Eagle was Alaska’s first incorporated city and it now has a population of 235 . The spring floods pretty much devastated Eagle two months ago. The unusually warm spring caused the river to thaw with the ice still in huge chunks - this is what caused the damage. This trip is the first for the season due to the damage. The people of Eagle were anxious and happy to have us visit their city. They have a mall of locally made jewelry and crafts. There was a Mock Court Trial taking place. And there was a nice Visitor’s Center that was maintained by the Park Service.

As we travel by Motor Coach beyond Eagle, we are taking the 160 mile Taylor Highway. It is a twisting, curving, mountainous, mostly one-lane gravel road with switchback upon switchback. We have to have a Pilot Vehicle ahead of us for the first 94 miles to the town of Chicken, Alaska.

3,650 feet is the highest elevation we’ll reach on this trip. This will happen twice. Our first ascent is to American Summit, 3420 feet. Fireweed, is the featured plant on this part of the journey.

Polly Summit, 3500 feet, is where we stopped for a stretch break. Unfortunately, the camera battery used up it’s charge, so I couldn’t take any pictures. Once we departed, we climbed another 1000 feet before our descent into Chicken. On one side of the Motor Coach, we had miles and miles of rolling mountains dotted with shadows from the clouds. On the other side, pine trees and blue sky with puffy of white clouds.

Upon arrival in Chicken, Alaska, the group set off to acquire blueberry, apple & cherry pies, chocolate chip cookies, chicken noodle soup and chili. All 15 residents seemed to be employed at the four businesses owned by a lady called Chicken Sue.

On the way out of Chicken, we encountered our first moose grazing on the vegetation at the bottom of a lake. After a quick stop of the motor coach, pictures were taken and we were on our way. We had a second moose sighting that was a drive by and was seen only by a few of us.

We arrived in Tok, Alaska, just in time to have dinner. I haven’t said much about our accommodations, but let me tell you a little about this Westmark property. First of all, we were greeted by the General Manager and his family. His son and the daughter of the chef welcomed us to town with a little talk. They were celebrating Independence Week and passed out tokens of appreciation to the veterans, the wives, husbands and parents of veterans and to servicemen & women. They also did something special for the guests who had birthdays. This was a different, but pleasant, welcome to the town. The property is well kept and reminded me of cabins. The buildings are no more than two stories high and are spread out across the grounds. It has a Watering Hole (bar) and a Grub House (restaurant). They also had a gift shop where you didn’t have to shell out Cadillac prices for your souvenirs. Not much else in town, but it was an enjoyable stop.

The Dawson City

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

We’re spending two nights in Dawson City, Yukon Territory Canada. What can I tell you about Dawson? It is the home of the Klondike Gold Rush and gold is still being mined today. The charm is that it looks the same , in most respects, as it did 1898. There is one paved road that goes through town, the rest are still dirt and gravel. In the winter, -40 to -65 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Even though there are sunset and sunrise times designated, there’s 24 hours of sunshine today and 75 degree temperature.

There’s Diamond Tooth Gertie’s, an original casino and saloon with a Can-Can Show that runs three times per day, seven days per week. Our group was set-up by our Tour Director and ended up in the front row not even thinking about what might happen. Well, I, and one other guy from Texas, ended up on stage attempting to dance the can-can with ladies in the show. For my fun and embarrassment, I got to remove the garter from the lady who was training me to dance - I still haven’t figured out if that was worth it, but I kept the garter!

Next, most of the group went to the Sourtoe Saloon where the brave or crazy down a shot of liquor, with a human toe in it (ugh!), just to get signed certificate. A little over 26,000 people have done this over the years.

Sourdough Joe’s restaurant quickly became a favorite of many in the group. They had excellent Halibut & Chips, Split Pea and Fish Chowder Soups and an Apple Crisp Dessert with whipped cream.

There is an Information Center that you should visit as soon as you get to town. You can find out about Walking Tours given by folks dressed in the attire of that time period.

The Grand Palace is worth a visit. It has been beautifully refurbished by Parks Canada and is still utilized today for special occasions.

There is an opportunity to see a working gold mine and to visit Dredge #4, which was used to separate gold from rocks, sand and dirt.

Dawson City was a nice, peaceful place to spend two nights.

On the Road to Dawson City

Monday, June 29, 2009

Today we will be traveling 340 miles, paralleling the Yukon River, up to Dawson City on the Klondike Highway. We will go from 2305 feet of elevation down to 1050 feet. Just outside of Whitehorse, we saw a Bald Eagle perched on the mountain on one side of the motor coach and an Eagle nest in a tree on the other side.

Our first stop was Breaburn Lodge where six of us enjoyed one of their world famous cinnamon buns - the one we shared was ten inches across and three inches high. It had really, really good flavor - not too sweet. Raisins, cinnamon, lightly iced and dough that was thoroughly baked. The lodge actually has an airstrip called ‘Cinnamon Bun Airstrip.’ It is an official checkpoint on the 1000 Mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race [Mush!]

The second stop was a picture spot called Five Fingers Rapids. This was a tragic point on the Yukon River where many travelers and their vessels were lost crashing into the rocks. Civil Engineering efforts have made it less treacherous over time.

The third stop was Minto Landing, where we had lunch and took a group photo with the Yukon River as a backdrop. On the way back out to the highway, we stopped for a black bear that was crossing the road.

Our fourth stop was Moose Creek Lodge. It was a little different: Strawberry-Rhubarb tarts, among other flavors; hot chocolate; coffee & tea; oatmeal raisin cookies, apple raisin cake; date bread; brownies; and a horseshoe pit. There was enough time to play a couple of games, which some in the group did. Of course, the natural beauty surrounding the lodge, included tree covered mountains for as far as you could see.

Our last stop before reaching Dawson City, Tintina Trench, is a horizontal fault line that is said to run through the Yukon Territory as far down into the United States as Montana. The fault activity is said to be caused a new fault horizontally rubbing against an old fault. One fault goes southeast and the other goes northwest.

As we head on into Dawson City, we come past mile zero of the Dempster Highway. Dempster Highway is the only road that goes to the Western Artic Circle, four hundred fifty miles . The building of this road was thought to be a waste by many people, but many natural resources have since been discovered and are accessible because of this road - which was one man’s vision. I actually had the pleasure to talk to a couple from eastern Canada, who had just returned from driving the highway. The first five to six miles is paved and the rest is gravel! Imagine what that trip is like.