Kenai Fjords Fjor the Win!

From 2014 07 06 Kenai Fjords

There's a tradition in our family where every family member picks their favorite thing about each vacation - a place, an activity, whatever. For our recent vacation in Alaska, Kenai Fjords National Park gets the nod. I knew nothing about the park before the trip, now it's my favorite place in Alaska. It has mountains, glaciers, the sea, and wildlife. We saw harbor seals, Steller sea lions, sea otters, Dall's porpoises, humpback whales, tufted puffins, horned puffins, black oystercatchers, mew gulls, common murres, bald eagles, starfish, even a smack of jellyfish.

More photos after the jump.

Philomena (2013)

IMDB

Philomena (2013): Woman seeks child she gave up for adoption 50 years ago. No one changes. I didn't see that coming in a million years. C+

A Moody Day in Glacier Bay

From 2014 07 04 Glacier Bay

We had the worst weather of our vacation on the day we cruised Alaska's Glacier Bay. Cold, rain, clouds and fog. Big disappointment, right? I'd be lying if I didn't say yes, but it turned out OK. Being on a cruise ship all day, we were largely protected from the rain. We took a lot of moody photos. And our views of the glaciers weren't spoiled at all. In fact, our National Park tour guide said that rain actually increases calving activity of glaciers. The rain water seeps into cracks in the glaciers, then freezes, expanding and cracking the glacier. We floated in front of Margerie Glacier for over a half hour. It must have calved six or eight times. All in all, a very satisfying day.

More photos after the jump.

Skagway, Gateway to the Gold Rush

From 2014 07 03 Skagway

It was a hard day's run, up the Canon, through Sheep Camp, past the Scales and the timber line, across glaciers and snowdrifts hundreds of feet deep, and over the great Chilcoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. They made good time down the chain of lakes which fills the craters of extinct volcanoes, and late that night pulled into the huge camp at the head of Lake Bennett, where thousands of goldseekers were building boats against the break-up of the ice in the spring. Buck made his hole in the snow and slept the sleep of the exhausted just, but all too early was routed out in the cold darkness and harnessed with his mates to the sled.

Source: Call of the Wild, by Jack London.

After the jump, more about Skagway and the White Pass and Yukon Route. And photos. Lots of photos.

We're Number 37!

D Magazine published its ranking of 63 Dallas suburbs. Richardson came in 37th. Meh.

Is Richardson really the 37th best suburb? Who knows? I don't. And D Magazine doesn't either. The magazine's methodology looks at safety, education, housing, and something called ambience. After the jump, why I don't ascribe too much importance to D Magazine's scores.