Fairbanks

Gorgeous weather. I was inside most of the day, but it was still amazing. We were there the nicest week of the year I think with all the autumn colors!

Notice the mirror under the car so you can see the underside. More about the auto museum below in the text.

They had clothing at the auto museum too, I think on loan from a other local organization, but as a permanent display. To have age appropriate clothing accompany the cars was neat-o.

Love this dress! Seriously, love it.

The details on these cars are amazing. Complete with wicker baskets on the side and lovely woodwork.

Just taking a spin! Actually, this would have been a hard vehicle to drive. The steering wheel and gears where awkwardly positioned. The museum does drive the cars periodically so they remain in working condition. Not this one, it's a junker.

There's something wrong with this pic - can you guess what?

Which part - a white girl, with no mushers, in the grass?

A piece of the Alaska pipeline. Yes, I saw it, and I saw a moose for three seconds, and a musk ox too.

Okay, so the pictures are not of the conference, which is why I went. I assure you it consumed, in a good way, 99.99999% of my time. It just happened that my co-worker was somehow keen on taking my picture when we went places. Most of this is at the hotel where we stayed.

The Fountainhead Auto Museum was located on premises, and it was a lovely museum, which was started by a rich man who apparently has done a lot for Fairbanks. I also visited the Museum of the North, of course, which was smaller than I imagined. They expanded a few years ago, I think adding a bit of workspace etc., and they redid some exhibits. The difference between the new and old exhibits is astounding - from blank grey flat barely interpreted exhibits to exhibits with depth and general visual interest, as well as better interpretation. One odd aspect in the main gallery is the combination of displays. There is a case of a remarkably preserved baby mammoth face, followed by Athabaskan clothing, next natural history specimens, next to something about outer space, followed by historic gold rush - all from the same area geographically, but very dissimilar collection types.

The conference went quite well. I did learn a lot, even though I had originally thought the topics were not super interesting. I think I learned most about myself. I am on a serious marathon of self-exploration, trying to better grasp the universe and whatnot. On Friday, right before I went to bed, I reflected on the day, astounded that all that had happened could have been in one day. It's hard to summarize, but I gave my presentation, which went very well, I felt good, and then later felt misunderstood and shunned. No one asked me to dance :(

Ok, back to business. At the conference I learned about lobbying, working with communities to create exhibits (we Skyped with staff from Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand), and I learned about Etta Jones, who lived in Old Harbor for some years, and then her and her husband took one last job in Attu before retirement, only to be captured by the Japanese. He was shot, and she was shipped to Japan for YEARS. It sounded like hell. The author, her niece, was presenting and she read a rather pleasing poem about the horrible torture of whistle blowing. The guards would blow the whistle for every movement - waking up, dressing, eating, cleaning up, walking, sitting, standing, undressing - everything!

On Saturday, I was supposed to go to Anchorage, followed by Oklahoma City. I had been feeling not great. It was a REALLY busy few days and I have been fighting several viruses apparently. Before I left the hotel I decided to walk around this lovely lake one last time. I got halfway around and suddenly was faint and sick. That was it, I could go no further. Luckily, someone from Kodiak came upon me, a nurse at that! The hotel brought a golf cart out to get me, and waiting was an ambulance. I was not going to go to the hospital, but I felt terrible, and was not really "with it" enough to make decisions. My heart rate was fast, so they took me in. They gave me 3000cc's of IV fluid, about 3.5. pints. It was apparently needed. I didn't pee it out. I missed the flight out, but the Kodiak colleague was staying with her friend, who let me stay in the guest house. I cancelled the trip to Oklahoma. The doctor thought it would have been crazy for me to fly there, stay one day, and fly back. I agreed.

I felt like an ass for cancelling, but I was sick. Abby also was sick, and it was a good thing I came home for her. Those first two days back were rough though, and let me tell I wished I would have went to OK, but it all worked out, very weirdly. I am very thankful my Kodiak friend helped me, and her friend in turn. I am glad I did not get really really sick, but was helped to get better in the right time frame. Being sick can be scary (when you feel like you're going to pass out and you're alone.) Things seemed to work themselves out, in a confusing way. I'll take confusing over not working out though.