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Post by ellie on Aug 10, 2017 12:12:31 GMT
I was on a fab train in Alaska. It went from Fairbanks (if I remember right) to Denali National Park and returned to Anchorage. There were two levels with the glass domed seating area upstairs and the dining area with full bar downstairs. That's my kind of train!
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Post by mllemass on Aug 10, 2017 12:46:55 GMT
A friend of mine and her husband had teaching jobs in Nunavut for a few years. I think that's as far north as you can go in Canada! She would email me about her adventures there. Yes, the place was remote, but they were all equipped with the latest in technology. And everyone lived very close to each other and very close to the school. Even so, one day she said they were all snowed in and had to spend the night at the school. There was a store, but they couldn't get fresh fruit or vegetables. She also said she never got used to ordering supplies - like toilet paper - that would have to last a year! She said they once drove several hours south and were so excited to see plants growing! Where they lived, nothing grew in the ground. I can't even imagine what that would be like!
After about 5 years there, they back home because she was pregnant and her mother was going to watch their baby while they worked.
Another friend and her husband once had government jobs that required them to visit very remote "fly-in" northern communities - places that weren't accessible by roads. She told me that before each trip, she would call and ask if there was anything they'd like her to bring. The most requested item was bananas! The send most requested item - Tim Horton donuts!
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Post by ellie on Aug 10, 2017 13:11:30 GMT
In Louise Penny's books she's always mentioning Tim Horton coffee and donuts.
I visited Whitehorse in the Yukon but it was really just a stopover town. It was pretty big but in the middle of vast areas of nothing so I think I would feel very isolated if I lived there. Living in Europe spoils you because you can be in a whole new Country let alone Town in a few hours.
Then we stayed in Dawson City. It is very remote and mainly for tourism I think as the entire town is preserved as it was in the gold rush, complete with raised wooden sidewalks. You feel like you've walked onto the set of a Western. There's lots of boats there though as it's on the Yukon river and we took one up to Fort Eagle Alaska. Now THAT is remote. Anything they can't get delivered via the river they have to either drive hundreds of miles to the nearest town for or fly. There's lots of tiny planes there.
For me it was all fascinating to see but I would freak out if i had to live there.
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Post by mllemass on Aug 10, 2017 19:13:02 GMT
Me too! I didn't realize how I felt in a vast, isolated location until I found myself in that situation. I was once with a group of people walking through a wooded area, and I had to stop for something so they went ahead without me. It was fine at first, because I could still hear them even when the path turned and I lost sight of them. But then there was silence and it was as if they had vanished. Suddenly my heart started pounding and I realized I was having a panic attack. It was so quiet that I became aware of every little sound - my breathing, a bird, the trickling water of the stream, the leaves rustling on the trees. I kept telling myself that everything was fine, but my head kept telling me that this is what happens in those horror movies just before everyone gets chopped into pieces! A few minutes later, I met up with the others and all was right with the world again. They had gone off the path to take a more scenic route, which is why they had seemed to disappear.
It seems crazy that I feel much more comfortable in a very busy, crowded city!
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Post by roverpup on Aug 10, 2017 22:05:08 GMT
Not me! Both Dan and I love solitude. That's one thing I really loved about the Isle of Wight. It was so uncrowded. There just were not very many people around. We walked for miles along the footpaths and never saw anyone else. And you could really hear nature all around you. Love that feeling.
But I don't like noise at all really. Even when I am using my computer I have it on mute 99% of the time (unless I am actually listening to something like BC talking).
And I loved that about wilderness camping too. Sometimes the silence was deafening. The only time it got a bit creepy was one night we were camped out on an incline in the woods and it started to rain rather hard and then in the darkness we heard this strange sound of rustling down the side of the hill. We looked out and in the darkness we saw a number of frogs jumping down the side of the hill and heading towards the pond! It was like something out of a horror movie! Really spooky! To this day I have no idea what was going on. We just stayed in the tent naturally and in the morning everything looked OK (like there were no dead frog bodies strewn about or anything) so we just packed up and headed to another (flatter) location.
Strange encounter and both of us were kind of creeped out.
But being alone or isolated really doesn't bother me at all... usually.
:-))
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Post by queenzod on Aug 21, 2017 9:40:42 GMT
Off to see the total eclipse! It's nearly 4 am and my bestie, her hubby and I are driving up to Wyoming to see the universe do something cool. We have no idea how many hundreds of thousands of people will be on the roads, so wish us luck, lol.
Hopefully I will be an enlightened being when I return. 😁
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Post by roverpup on Aug 17, 2018 20:46:40 GMT
Well, I am putting the finishing touches on our trip to Iceland finally. Today I purchased some tickets to hear/see the youth orchestra in action at Harpa on the day we arrive. It's in the large concert hall (Eldborg). Having the tickets actually in hand makes the trip seem all the more real! We have lots planned in the two weeks we'll be there. I'll write up a travel journal again (like I did for our England trip) if anyone is interested.
Can't wait! But first we are off to Niagara On the Lake for a little vineyard fun with my sis HAR and her husband. Staying at a historic inn and going to drink LOTS of wine!!!
:-))
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Post by onebluestocking on Aug 18, 2018 4:40:51 GMT
Everyone seems to be going to Iceland lately!
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Post by ellie on Aug 18, 2018 7:29:29 GMT
I was in Iceland a few years ago and really liked it. Very unusual landscape. Quite bleak and eerie in places but stunning.
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Post by ellie on Aug 18, 2018 7:32:27 GMT
Well, I am putting the finishing touches on our trip to Iceland finally. Today I purchased some tickets to hear/see the youth orchestra in action at Harpa on the day we arrive. It's in the large concert hall (Eldborg). Having the tickets actually in hand makes the trip seem all the more real! We have lots planned in the two weeks we'll be there. I'll write up a travel journal again (like I did for our England trip) if anyone is interested. Can't wait! But first we are off to Niagara On the Lake for a little vineyard fun with my sis HAR and her husband. Staying at a historic inn and going to drink LOTS of wine!!! :-)) I’m sure you will enjoy it RP. Your trip to Niagara on the Lake sounds fun. I’ve been there. I thought it was gorgeous. Planned to go back for the Shaw festival one day but haven’t made it ...... yet!
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