cm: reminds me a bit of those first-time travellers to Europe who manage to do some five or six countries in three weeks 
Just out of curiosity: do you intend to go back later and spend more time in a few of the places that you took a liking to the first time around?
omniscientnot:
Absolutely. However, that’ll have to be done in shorter trips, scheduled around my kids’ school vacations, once September 2000 arives. So right now we’re doing “quality through quantity,” and you know, it ain’t that bad.
To me and my wife, touring is like what Mae West (I think) said about sex…When it’s at its best, it’s great, and when it’s not, it’s still pretty good.
Chaim Mattis Keller
Oops, above, change “arives” to arrives.
Darn, how I hate bad speling. (<-intentional)
Chaim Mattis Keller
gene: Yes, it’s true that Alaska has public beaches. But the beaces on the ocean are pretty few and far between. Cook Inlet (where Anchorage is situated) has several beaches and people wind-surf from them. Even in the “heat” of summer, the water is cold enough to freeze your buns. Most windsurfers wear wetsuits. There is also a “beach” of sorts in Valdez and many of the ports have a “beach” of some kind. In addition, there are many lakes in Alaska that have public “beaches”. When you hear a sourdough talk about “the beach”, he/she may be referring to a shoreline of one of the lakes. There are some pretty spectacular beach-like spots set up on the shores of some lakes. The ones I am familiar with are Mirror Lake just outside of Peter’s Creek (about 20 miles away from Anchorage), Wasilla Lake, Big Lake, and Cheney Lake (?) in Fairbanks. All those lakes have public “beaches” and facilities. But, again, the water is damn cold! At least in Fairbanks, the summer temperatures can get into the 90s, so you can get out of the water to thaw. I have always seen lots of people in the water at all of these lakes, so I guess when in Rome…
Dang! How could I have forgotten? Where I work (Prudhoe Bay), there is a “beach” on the Arctic Ocean! The local Polar Bear Club takes a dip in it every year. You can easily spot the members of the Polar Bear Club - they’re blue! (Although different from the Fugates as reported on by Cecil)