Far and Away Places

From Anchorage to Akutan and Kotzebue to Ketchikan it has been a busy spring for field work.  Since Molly and I returned from our Utah vacation in mid-April I can count the number of days we spent together on one hand.  This week I was in Ketchikan while Molly continues to work in Kotzebue.  It occurred to me that this is just about as far apart as we could be and still be working in the same state.  It’s about 1200 miles from Ketchikan to Kotzebue and would take anywhere from three to five flights to get between the two places.

Ketchikan is so far from Palmer that we mobilized a survey boat out of Seattle for this job.  I headed down to Seattle last week to install the computers and sonar systems and perform sea trials.  When the boat was ready we had is shipped on a barge to Ketchikan.  A  few days later we flew to Ketchikan to meet up with the boat.  It has been nice to get to know my fellow employees from the TerraSond Seattle office.  The other nice thing was spending a weekend in Seattle catching up with friends and going out kayaking on Lake Union.  It was a bit strange to be back in Seattle.  I moved away about a year and a half ago and it is already weird to think that Seattle was home.  While it was in Seattle I experienced a mix of familiar and unfamiliar feelings around the city.  There are things I miss and things that I don't.  It was a big decision for us to leave Seattle but I am sure that we made the right choice at this point in our lives.

Here are some photos from my most recent travels.

Railroad bride over Salmon Bay in Seattle.  I was staying nearby and watched a lot of trains and boats go by.

A TerraSond survey vessel from the Seattle office

One of my favorite Totem poles in Ketchikan

Creek Street in Ketchikan

Ketchikan selfie

Waiting for a cruise ship to pass while riding the ferry to the Ketchikan airport.