Get out the Vote!!!

Here's a bonus cartoon for Election Day:  Get out the Vote, a short cartoon produced in 1961 for the "Tales of the Wizard of Oz" cartoon show.  It's a little scary how accurately this depicts most modern elections...   I guess not much has changed since 1961.   Do yourself a favor and skip the saccharine-sweet opening and jump right to the start of the cartoon; it begins at .38.

Alaska Trip, Part Tree

So, as you recall, we left our heroes spending the night in glorious Ritzville, Washington (population 1,673, if you count the insects).  The next day, we woke up bright and early to begin our drive to  Seattle, and the start of our cruise.   After a delicious breakfast provided by the Best Western Hotel (fortunately their vending machines were not bolted to the wall and easily tilted) we drove down the I-90 and made it to Seattle with very little time to spare.
We had reserved a parking spot in the parking lot across the street from the boat, and the website for the lot had said they had a shuttle bus that would deliver us and our luggage straight to the boat.   What they didn't mention was the cut-off time.   The shuttles had stopped running by the time we got there.   This was not a good thing, as my traveling companion packed like she was moving to Alaska.   Between the two of us, we had five suitcases, a laptop computer, two grocery bags full of snacks for the cruise (including a 12-case of Pepsi) two more travel bags full of books, DVD's, games and other travel necessities, sweatshirts and two pillows, in case the pillows on the boat were not broken in.  We parked the car and emptied out our luggage, and just stared.   Somehow we had to get all this luggage across the lot, up the elevator, across the street, down the elevator, and across the port to the luggage check point...   within 30 minutes.   We loaded up as well we could - I strapped two bags around my neck, loaded one suitcase on top of another and wheeled two of them behind me, while my partner carried the rest.   We looked like walking closets.   As we loaded up, we noticed the one thing we were going to have to leave behind, the bag of baked goods we had bought at Heaven on Earth Bakery in Oregon.  They looked so good sitting in the trunk, and I desperately looked for some place were we could hang that one extra bag, and bring those delicious looking pastries onto the ship.   Alas, it was not to be.   I took one last longing look at the pastries in all their decadent glory, closed the trunk of the car, and began the journey to the dock.  We struggled.   We fumbled.  The elevator shook as it took us up.  But, we made it to the dock.   The picture they took of us boarding the ship looks like we're getting off a World War II troop ship from Africa.  I wish I had bought that photo. 
And so began our cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl.   The first two days were spent at sea as we made our way to Juneau.  The Pearl was a nice ship...   In fact, here is a picture of me in our stateroom.

Ha! Ha!  I am, of course, ribbing you.   I wish our room was the size of that bed.   We had an inside stateroom that fit two single beds snugly with a small walkway between them.    However, it's OK, who's going to spend their time in their room?   It's a cruise!   We'll be spending days on the outer decks, enjoying the pool, the live music, the poolside barbecue, the rock climbing wall, the tennis court, the zipline, the golf course, the deer hunting, the live re-enactment of the civil war, all presented on the decks of the Norwegian Pearl!
Day one:  it rained.

Actual size of stateroom

Day two:  it rained.
Day one was not only a rainy day, but the boat rocked.   Noticeably.   I went to breakfast and noticed that the crowd was much lighter than the night before.   I later discovered that many people were feeling queasy and decided to forgo breakfast.   I was a little queasy myself, but it takes more than seasickness to get me to skip a free meal.
Have you ever been seasick?   I have, once, on a trip to Catalina.  I wanted to die.  My sister said my face had actually turned green, like you see in comic books.   Fortunately, neither one of us would get seasick on this trip.  
Here's a few photos from on board:

 

Eventually, we made it to stop one, Juneau, the state capital.   Juneau was named after one of the original prospectors to find gold in the area, Joe Juneau.  I wish I had made that my nickname for the trip.   Juneau is the third-largest municipality in the U.S., covering 3225 square miles.   It is also the only state capital bordered by an international boundary (Canada) and the only state capitol that is  accessible only by sea or air - there are no roads leading to Juneau.   It is also home to the Juneau ice fields, which feed the numerous glaciers that have formed the area.   Mendenhall Glacier is one of those glaciers, and is a main tourist destination in Juneau.   We jumped on a shuttle bus and within 30 minutes we were at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center, dedicated in 1962 as the first US Forest Service Visitor's Center in the nation.   We also passed the first McDonald's to be built in Alaska.  People were so excited when this restaurant opened that there were lines around the block.  The people of Skagway had Big Macs airlifted from this location for all their townfolk.  Now there are five McDonald's located in Alaska, but this remains the only one in Juneau.
The Mendenhall glacier is one of the few glaciers that you can actually hike to, and on top of.   We hiked to Nugget Falls, which is close to the glacier's face and about as far as you can go without some serious hiking equipment.  Bears were in the area so some areas were closed off.   We didn't see a bear here, but we did see a porcupine and a bald eagle.   Our bear sightings would have to wait for another stop.

We eventually returned to downtown Juneau and did some shopping and site-seeing.   Among the souvenir shops found on the waterfront is the infamous Red Dog Saloon, founded during the Gold rush days and recognized as Alaska's oldest man-made tourist attraction.   I was happy to find that we were cruising at the end of the tourist season, so much of the merchandise was drastically reduced.   For anyone who received a souvenir from me:   I paid full price for your item.

On our next installment, we'll show you the town of Skagway.  The Big Macs were all gone by the time we got there.

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Ballot Box Bunny

Only three more days until election day!   For today's cartoon I've picked a standerd Bugs Bunny / Yosemite Sam cartoon from 1950:  Ballot Box Bunny, directed by Friz Freleng.  This cartoon contains the infamous "Those Endearing Young Charms" exploding piano gag (used at least three times by the Warners crew) and a unusually dark ending that in recent years has been edited out of television showings.  I wish all elections could be determined this easily.   Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Cartoon - Olive Oyl for President

As we get closer to Election Day, I thought we may want to take a look at some of the alternate candidates that didn't get much traction in the year they ran.   Here, from 1948, we find Olive Oyl running for the top spot against Dewey and Truman.   While that election has been called the greatest election upset in American history, I am sorry to say that Truman beat Dewey, not Olive.
This is the rare Popeye cartoon with no spinach, no Bluto, and very little violence.   It also is a bit sexist, rooted in the 1948 ideals of womanhood.  Enjoy!

While leaving Winco...

I stopped at Winco today to buy a Halloween pumpkin.   As I was leaving I passed by the crane machines they have in the lobby.   I noticed that they were fully of Halloween-themed stuffed toys - mummys, monsters, and the like.   Then I took another closer look...

Sure enough, there among the monsters was Obama's head.   Now, I would think that politically-themed decapitated heads were scary enough, but I would have thought that Romney's people would have demanded equal time for Romney's head.  After all, the election is coming up.   I took another look, and sure enough, there in the corner was Romneys' head.  

I'm hoping this becomes a trend.   I'll be more willing to spend money on a crane machine if it was full of the decapitated heads of our political leaders.   Of course, fifty cents is a bit too much to pay for one of their heads...

Alaska Trip, Part Too

Here is part two of my trip to Alaska.  Fasten your safety belt, as we travel through three states in this installment.  Four if you count my mental state...

We woke up bright and early and indulged in a breakfast of whatever we could find in the hotel lobby.  I was lucky, I found a sandwich in someone else's suitcase.  We then began the long drive along the Oregon / Washington border.   We crossed into Washington at Kennewick, drove up into Spokane, crossed over into Idaho, entered Coeur d'Alene, and finally made it to Silverwood Theme Park.

Silverwood opened in 1998 and is Idaho's only amusement park.  It started as an airfield and air museum and slowly transformed into a full-fledged amusement park and water park.   It currently operates four roller coaster, including the original Corkscrew from Knott's Berry Farm, which was the first modern-day roller coaster to turn people upside down.   It was great to see this piece of coaster history in action.  It even still carried the scent of boysenberries.

The park contains two wooden coasters, which was the big reason I wanted to stop.   I had ridden them both several years earlier and remember them as world-class coasters.  First stop was Timber Terror, an out-and-back coaster built in 1996.  I strapped myself into the front seat (my personal favorite), the operator released the brake, and I began my ride. 

Approximately two minutes later, I dragged myself from the front seat and crawled to the exit.   It seems that they have not put much maintenance into the ride since 1996.  This resulted in a very rough ride.  Through the second half of the ride I had lifted myself from the seat to avoid the punishment to my spinal column.   Once I exited, I straightened my back and headed for the larger of the two coasters, Tremors.   Apparently I am either a glutton for punishment or a slow learner.

Tremors was built in 1999 and quickly jumped onto many coaster enthusiasts' top ten list.  I rode it when it first opened and loved it.   The coaster was fast and unrelenting and passed through four tunnels along the way, including one that is visible through the gift store's glass floor.   This time, I approached with some trepidation.   Would I be spending the rest of my trip in a neck brace?   Hopefully they had spent some money on maintenance.  Here's a video of the ride in motion, including a point-of-view shot of the entire ride.



I am happy to report that the ride was rideable.   Not as smooth as I remembered, but definitely less rough than the previous coaster.  The rest of the Park was very enjoyable, though unmemorable...  Except for the ice cream.   They have an ice cream place called the Creamery that makes HUGE ice cream cones...  and the ice cream is delicious.   A double scoop weighed in at over a pound.   I had Huckleberry Heaven and Maui Wowee.   The Maui Wowee was a blend of tropical flavors that was perfect on a warm day.   I still dream about that place. 

We soon left Idaho and had dinner in Spokane, in a historic diner called Frank's.   In 1931 Frank Knight bought an old observation railcar that had been used as a Presidential railcar in its last years.   he converted it to a diner and opened it in Seattle.  When he lost their lease, he moved the whole works to Spokane, and continued to operate in the same railcar.   While the railcar was beautiful, the food was rather ordinary.   Not highly recommended by Joefood.  However, they have been voted the #1 breakfast in Spokane for the last 14 years, so you may want to try them if you are in Spokane for breakfast someday. 

We ended up spending the night in Ritzville, Washington, in one of the top-rated Best Western hotels in the country.   Ritzville is a town well-known for its great Best Western's.  Besides that, there is nothing to see in Ritzville.

Stay tuned for part three.   I know I am in suspense...

Alaskan Trip, Part Won

I recently returned from a seven-day cruise of Alaska...   At least as much as you can see on a seven-day cruise, which is relatively small.   Basically, you are visiting the panhandle.  But what a beautiful panhandle!   I came back refreshed, inspired and about fifteen pounds heavier ...and whatever weight I gained, my bank account lost.   I promised I would give you the details of the trip, so without further ado, here they are!

DAY ONE:   We had decided to drive up to Seattle to and enjoy the sites on the way there and back.   My plan was to leave at about 2:00 AM and get in a lot of driving before it got dark.   Well, we did leave at 2:00...   PM.   I really have to start packing earlier.

We drove up interstate 5 and stopped for in Santa Nella for lunch at Pea Soup Anderson's, which is known far and wide for their kitzy Danish architecture.  I had pea soup, which I believe is the only time in my life I have eaten a meal without any sort of meat involved.    We continued driving until we reached Corning, which seemed as good a place as any to spend the night.


Pea Soup Anderson's in Santa Nella. 

DAY TWO:  After a rousing breakfast in the Best Western hotel lobby (we stayed at Motel 6),  we continued up Route 5 into Oregon.  Oregon is a odd state.   They have a state law that states you can't pump your own gas.   They have attendants that pump it for you, and one of them, I swear this is true, actually washed my windshield.   I wish I had my camera ready.

Lunch was at Heaven on Earth Restaurant and Bakery.  It's in Azalea, a little past Grant's Pass, in  the middle of nowhere.   The place looks deserted, and I almost didn't stop since it looked abandoned.   But I couldn't pass up the sign on the side of the building: "Home of the World Famous Cinnamon Rolls." 

We pulled off the interstate, parked in the dirt lot and walked in.   I was met by the hugest assortment of baked goods I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in my life.   And they were all HUGE.   Cakes, cookies, jams and jellies, bread, and the biggest cinnamon rolls I have ever seen.  Literally, the biggest one is the size of a round cake. 

 

We were greeted by a seemingly pleasant lumberjack and taken to our table.  We were the only ones in the place besides Lumberjack Jim.  At this point, I remembered the Yelp review I read before we went in: "Good setting for a horror movie"   I didn't see any copies of To Serve Man around, so I got comfortable and ordered lunch.  

We had the turkey dinner and a hot roast beef sandwich.  The food, to put it mildly, was fabulous.   Everything was homemade, from the mashed potatoes to the huckleberry lemonade that was currently in season.  The turkey was just like Thanksgiving dinner; carved pieces straight off the bone.   For dessert, I had a huckleberry cobbler that was delicious, and we took with us some cinnamon rolls, lemon cake and cookies.   These desserts would later suffer an ignominious fate, but more on that later.

We continued driving up through Portland, then took a right turn onto Route 84 east.   There's an amusement park in Coeur d'Alene that I wanted to visit, and since we were in the neighborhood, I decided to take a side trip to Idaho.  We drove through Hood River (a party town if I've ever seen one) and ended up at The Dalles.   The name of the city comes from the French word dalle, meaning either "sluice" or "flagstone" and referring to the columnar basalt rocks carved by the river (thank you, Wikipedia).  Here, we had a delicious dinner of Chicken McNuggets (it was late), and settled down for a good night's sleep. 

NEXT:  Look for the story of the Backbreaking Roller Coaster Ride, the Great Luggage Relay and ignominious fate of our cinnamon rolls, all in the next thrilling chapter!   Plus, we finally get on the boat!