Trey in Alaska

After about 24 hours in LA Trey was back at the airport getting ready to board his next flight to Anchorage, Alaska for a conference. The flight arrived in Alaska around 2am but because Alaska is so far north it was still light out. Technically in Anchorage during this time of year the sun sets around midnight and rises at about 2:30 am. The time in between this the sky is a bright dusk. When I got to the hotel it was still a little early for check-in ~3am so I got on my computer and did a little work. To my surprise the hotel let me check in only a few hours later at 5am. This was nice, but I decided not to go to sleep because I was scared I would not be able to wake up for my 8am bus tour to Portage Glacier. I decided to take a shower and then head back down to the lobby to get some breakfast.

view from my hotel room

After a long breakfast I boarded the bus to start the tour that I had signed up for. I was expecting the tour bus to be full of older people, but boy was I wrong! It was filled with nobody. In total there were only four of us taking the tour and we had a full size couch bus to ourselves. It looked like there was no reason to show up early to make sure I got a window seat. The bus took us outside of the city down US highway 1 along the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. The scenery along the drive was amazing, very reminiscent of New Zealand with the water, greenery, and snow-capped mountains all so close together, yet it was somehow distinctively different.

After about an hour in the bus we arrived to our first destination, the visitor center at portage glacier. We were given about an hour to explore the visitor center; learning about glaciers, Alaskan wildlife, and the Exxon Valdez incident. Although we could not see Portage Glacier from the visitor center we could see some medium size icebergs floating in the adjacent lake. When the visitor center was originally built you could see the glacier from it but it has since receded around a corner in the 1980s.

Next we boarded the bus again and drove a few minutes to a dock where we boarded the mv (marine vehicle) Ptarmigan for a 1 hour boat cruise to the glacier. The boat had a little bit more people on it than the bus, but it was still almost empty. Also, it had started to rain a little which kept almost everyone down on the covered first deck, leaving the entire open-air second deck free for me to enjoy by myself.

The boat took us to within ~300 feet of the glacier where it circled back and forth for about 30 minutes so that we could get our fill of pictures and also in the hopes of seeing a chunk of the glacier fall off into the ocean. Unfortunately, this did not happen but it was sill amazing to see the blue ice of the glacier. When you are looking at the pictures it is good to note that the ice from the glacier extends 200 ft below the surface of the water. Also in some of the zoom-in photos you may notice that it looks like there is a large overhang of ice over the water. This is a result of the ice in the water melting faster than the ice above it in air.

After the boat trip we boarded the bus again and drove to Alyeska ski resort where we stopped for lunch. The ski resort was beautiful, although I do not think I will be traveling up to Alaska anytime soon just to go skiing because it would be too cold. For lunch I had a very good Halibut sandwich with strawberries and goat cheese. After lunch we got back on the highway and began the trip back to Anchorage. At this time the tide was going out which was a site to see since Alaska has a very high tidal shift. When the tide changes the rate at which the water flows out of the Turnagain Arm causes standing waves to form. The waves are a few feet high and look like regular ocean waves except for they stay in the same place instead of moving towards shore. Our tour guide told us that on nice days sometimes there will be people out on these waves surfing, but this is very dangerous because of the high current. I arrived back at the hotel around 4pm just enough time to get ready for the reception banquet at the conference.

The reception banquet was a lot of fun because I got to see many people from MIT that I had not see for almost a year including Hank, my former advisor, and many current and former members of my old lab. Although I was enjoying talking to everyone the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me so by 9pm I went to bed so that I would be well rested for the talks and my poster presentation the next day. I will not go into detail about the conference but I did go to some interesting talks and based on conversation I had with people there I have a few ideas I want to try with my research.

After the first day of talks I went out to dinner with all of the people who had worked in the same lab as me back at MIT as well as Volker, the one guy from my new lab in New Zealand who was also at the conference. Although it was around 10pm by the time we finished dinner it was still very light outside so we all decided to take a little trip to nearby Flattop mountain and climb to the top. It was good to get a little exercise after spending the whole day sitting and listening to research talks. We drove over to the mountain and by 10:30 were starting the 1.5 mile long, 1280 feet elevation gain, hike from the parking lot to the summit. Flattop mountain is the most climbed mountain in the state so at least the first portion of the track is very well-maintained. Towards the top the hike got harder due to some areas still being covered with snow and other areas being quite steep. We reached the top at midnight and enjoyed the views for a little while before heading back down. One thing I found amazing was the number of people that we saw climbing at the same time we were. Even as we were heading down well after midnight there was a group of people just starting, hoping to the get to the top in time to see the sunrise. Your whole sense of time of day is really thrown for a loop when it is daylight all the time.

the start of sunset ~11pm

Looking up towards Flattop mountain

Looking out over Anchorage from the summit at midnight

This is about as dark as it got the whole time I was in Alaska

The next night was the conference main banquet which was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center museum. Before dinner we had a chance of touring the outside of the museum where they had built traditional native houses from 5 of the native tribes of Alaska. What I found most interesting about these houses were to deal with the cold weather the houses were typically shared by a large group of people and their walls were a few feet thick of dirt, almost like living in a man-made cave. During dinner they put on a small show demonstrating the native dancing as well as some of the native games. The original purpose of the games was for hunters to stay fit during the long cold winter months. Most of the games emphasized strength and body control. The hardest one of the games was where they balanced their whole body on one hand and then tried to reach as high as they could with the other hand, it sounds easy but looked very difficult to do. Also at the banquet we had a guest speaker, Edgar Mitchell, who was one of the Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon. His talk was quite good recounting his trip to the moon. The end of his talk got kind of weird when he started talking about finding the meaning of life and us not being alone. He thinks there are aliens. Enough said. It turns out that he is a little bit crazy but that is why his speaker fee is so much less than the other Apollo astronauts. After one more day of talks I grabbed a red eye flight back to LA so that I would get back for Cynthia’s birthday.

It was good to see old friends and explore a new state.

Cyn's birthday and more California fun!!

Well, how perfect that one of the popular songs on the radio was California Gurls by Katy Perry this trip!!??!! "I know a place where the grass is really greener...you can travel the world but nothing comes close to the Golden Coast!"

The next day Jocelyn and Cynthia attacked Robertson Blvd. to stock on more fabulous fashions. Later in the day Jocelyn tried out Minx nails at a salon which is basically design stickers that they affix to your nails instead of polish. Obviously Jocelyn got cheetah print and later found some to bring home and do herself at Sephora!! God Love Sephora! She got told a few times in LA that she was "super fly" when people noticed them. Cynthia enjoyed the massage chairs in the salon while Jocelyn was getting her nails done. After that it was some 2 for 1 margaritas in Boys Town (obviously the gay part of town). The waiters were walking around with no shirts on. Nice. Nothing better than afternoon margaritas, chips and salsa, sunny weather and hot waiters with no shirts!!

Later the girls had to pick up the parents from the airport so they went for a quick meal at Sushi Roku. The food was sooo good that we went back later in the week. There was a even a cocktail with strawberries at Sushi Roku that used 42 Below NZ vodka as well! YUM! The girls passed on dessert but made their way back to Boys Town to visit a place called Millions of Milkshakes. They have tons of milkshakes "designed" by various celebs. Cynthia had the Miley Cyrus shake and Jocelyn had the Oreo milkshake apparently inspired by President Obama. YES WE CAN!! LOL Soooo good. Jocelyn was between that one and the Kardashian milkshake with Snickers bars in it. Pretty sure those girls do not eat snickers though. ha!



Next it was off to LAX to pick up the parents from their flight from Newark. It was amazing to see them and even though we see them on Skype seeing them in person made us realise how much we missed them. At baggage claim we saw Crystal Bowersox of American Idol who was apparently on Bruce and Enid's plane! Jocelyn's dad yelled out to her, "You should have won!" LOL Love it. She seemed real nice and not like she is getting a big ego. REAL plain in person. You can tell how much they made her up on that show - probably against her will. It was late so we dropped them off at their hotel and headed back to Cyn's place since Cynthia had work the next day.

The next day Jocelyn spent time with her parents one on one which was nice. They are breakfast at The Farm of Beverly Hills at The Grove which is a mall within walking distance from Cyn's place where Jocelyn was staying. They walked around for a bit and then hung out at the hotel since it was a nice day and there was a beautiful courtyard. Cyn met them after work and they all enjoyed Chinese food at Cyn's local Chinese take out spot.


Dad and Jocelyn posing in front of the fountain at The Grove

The next day was Cynthia's birthday and we had to wake up VERY early to pick Trey up at the airport. After we met up with him we went out for bagels and donuts and then all crashed since we had big plans that night for Cyn's birthday!! We all readjusted after lunch and met Jocelyn's parents at The Farmer's Market across from the hotel they were staying at. There are tons of different food stands there so everyone could have exactly what they were craving (Mexican, Crepes, Deli, Pizza, Greek, etc.) There was also a car show going on there which we all really enjoyed as well. Jocelyn and Trey also tried on animal hats at the Farmer's Market. Trey, a moose and Jocelyn, a dog. For those who know us, you will get the significance.



That evening we all got dressed up in our very best to celebrate Cynthia's birthday at Madeo in Beverly Hills. It was funny to see paparazzi sitting outside the restaurant we were going into. The service and food was awesome and the waiter was great. When he found out Trey and Jocelyn were visiting from New Zealand he gave them a sampling of his favorite NZ sav (Craggy Range) even though we had ordered a different bottle of wine for the table. It was a nice extra. We dropped the parents off at the hotel and then headed out to the bar Angels and Kings to meet up with all of Cynthia's friends. When we walked in we noticed a big Spongebob pinata. We deduced that it was someone else's birthday too and soon we found out it was one of the owner's birthdays....Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy with wife Ashlee Simpson!!!! How awesome is that?

Article about Pete Wentz celebrating birthday at Angels and Kings


Pete Wentz in gray jacket and hat


Pete Wentz on right at his birthday party at Angels and Kings June 5. (or should we say he was at Cynthia's birthday party??) LOL





There was a big cymbal behind the bar that he hit to signal a round of free drinks for everyone!!
The bar was awesome - rock and roll feel to it and a montage of various celebrity mug shots on the wall. Quirky. In the bathroom the entire wall was like a chalk board and there were some pieces of chalk to leave your mark on the wall - for the night at least.





We stayed until a bit after 1am and then of course no night out in LA would be complete without a visit to Mel's Diner on Sunset. Jocelyn and Cynthia felt it was important to start the day out with eggs and bacon! LOL The night ended at 4am and it could NOT have been any better.


Cyn and her friend Derek


Jocelyn and Cynthia at Cyn's birthday party


Posing before the party - Cyn in BCBG and Joc in Betsey Johnson


Tim, Cynthia, Rachel and Derek


Cyn and Rachel




Jocelyn showing off her new Betsey Johnson dress and Steve Madden stilettos


The birthday girl with her blackberry - SOOO LA!! :)


Tymica and Cyn


The next day was a recovery day with brunch at The Saddle Ranch. The food was good and how can you go wrong with $10 bottomless mimosas and bloody marys?? Nobody was brave enough to ride the bull inside though. The place was awesome and the gimmick is that each table gets something free with their meal. For us, it was a massive silver martini glass filled with cotton candy. Jocelyn took an artistic photo of it in case people did not believe it.







This day we also checked into the hotel so we could give Cynthia a bit of space.

Other things that we did on the holiday were go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The La Brea Tar Pits where there is literally tar coming up from the ground. Enid and Jocelyn also went to see Sex and the the City 2 while Trey and Bruce went to the Tar Pit museum. Additionally on this trip was Enid's first sushi experience. I do not think she would say she loved it, but it may be something she tries again!! We took a picture just in case it was a once in a lifetime.




Joc Mom and Cyn at La Brea Tar Pits




The family at LACMA

The last day Jocelyn's parents were in LA we all took advantage of hanging out by the hotel pool and enjoying a relaxing day. Cynthia worked but got out a little early to drive them to the airport while we enjoyed the one private meal in 2 weeks. It was hard for Jocelyn to say good bye to them.

Later, on our last night there, we went out with Cynthia to a place called The Abbey. Trey and Jocelyn like to dance and there is not much music here that we like to dance to here in New Zealand (hip hop, etc.) The Abbey is technically a gay club but there were definitely straight people and Trey was an excellent sport - even posing with 2 men for a photo!! It was named Best Gay Club in the World by MTV Networks and is an SBE venture which is a company that owns many prominent bars, clubs and restaurants. Amazing cocktails and awesome music. And, of course, what gay club would be complete without an iridescent painting of Liza Minnelli on the wall!!??!! LOL I just had to get a photo. We also met a really nice guy named Brian who was celebrating his birthday and simply could not wait for other people to start dancing so got into it himself. Nice guy.






WEST COAST BABY!!!



DJ booth at The Abbey









Trey showing off the menu at "The Best Gay Bar in the World" :)


Nobody knows how to party like the gays. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!!


Last day was spent relaxing with Cynthia and of course, one more stop at Mel's diner for breakfast.

It was the best trip to LA yet and it was amazing to see Jocelyn's family. It will be hard to go a whole year without seeing them again but Trey confirmed that his conference next year will be in Las Vegas so the Fary's and the Holzwarth's will show Vegas a party like it has never seen before. Vegas may even need a year to prepare!