ST>> We bought out house in Anchorage in 1989.

1980 NOT 1989!

 RH> She'd have a hard time on a flight to HI; they're 6 or more hours,
 RH> depending on where you start from. No meals either.

We did that flight a lot and usually went to Kauai.  Not quite 7 hours, push
back until the door is opened again and then a short inter-island hop. Closest
warm place, with actual green growing things, to Alaska, and hitting the
botanical gardens was pretty much a given.  The flights were almost always
red-eyes.  Which is also the reason we/I don't do that kind of flight anymore.
But for things like when we went to Australia, it was fly to Los Angeles (about
8-9 hours counting the layover in Seattle), spend the night, get up the next
morning and take the 14 hour flight to Sydney.  If we were headed for that part
of the world, on one of the legs we always stopped somewhere in the middle(ish)
and spent anywhere from a night to several weeks.

Recall that the wife and I were DINKs (Dual Income No Kids).  I was a GS-11
computer guy with the Feds and Connie was a bean counter for the State.  Our
biggest problem to traveling was getting someone to watch the two dogs and the
cat, which can be worse than kids.  We always tried to get a house sitter
because having a mechanical problem could cause frozen pipes, which is no
bueno, and it was easier on the pets.  Towards the end I worked for NORAD out
at Elmendorf AFB and there was pretty much always somebody wanting to get out
of the barracks for a week or three.

 RH> A quick get away kind of place? Close enough to a river where you can
 RH> catch your own supper?

Sort of, a bit more permanent.  It's a 3 to 4 hour drive from Anchorage, so I
tend to stay 4 or 5 days there before heading back.  Hard to describe but I
took the 5th wheel, a Wildcat by Forest River BTW, pulled the tires off and
dropped it onto blocks.  Had a shed built over the top with the RV offset to
one side. That pretty much rules out ever moving it again without some major
effort.  Last summer the RV door side half of the shed was enclosed and
finished inside.  this summer I'll be hitting the yard sales looking for
furniture, plus going to Home Despot to look for window shades.

I don't eat stuff that lives in the water.  I'll catch fish, but I just give
them away if I can, if I can't then I don't fish.  Gave up hunting after
getting a cow moose, with a permit.  I gave half away immediately, and we
started eating on the other half it, after over a year there was probably a
quarter of the animal left to go.  Those remains ended up being donated as dog
food for the Iditarod since freezer burn was starting.  Thing was about the
size of a horse.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Galloping Horses (Thai Appetizer)
 Categories: Thailand, Appetizers
      Yield: 8 servings

      1 ts Oil
      1 lb Ground pork
      4    -to
      8    Garlic cloves
           -- finely chopped
      3    Green onions, white part
           -- chopped
    3/4 c  Roasted salted peanuts
      1    Fresh pineapple; -OR-
      5    -Tangerines, -OR-
      4    -Oranges
    1/3 c  Sugar
    1/2 ts Pepper
           Lettuce leaves
           Mint or coriander leaves
           Chopped chilis

  Grind peanuts.  Heat oil in a frying pan, add pork, garlic and onions.
  Cook until pink color disappears.  Drain off most of the fat.  Add
  sugar and pepper, cook 1-2 minutes.  Add peanuts, mix in well, then
  remove from heat.  Cool to room temperature.

  Prepare platter, lining with lettuce leaves.  Peel and segment the
  citrus fruit if used, cutting each segment down to the back and
  fanning open to form a circle.  If using pineapple, cut off top
  leaves and outer skin, as thinly as possible, from top down.  Look at
  the "eye" pattern, as it forms a spiral down the pineapple.  Cut the
  spirals with a sharp knife held at about a 45 degree angle.  Cut off
  bottom.  Cut pineapple into about 5 or 6 wedges and then cut each of
  those into 1/4 inch slices.  Arrange fruit on platter.

  Mound meat mixture onto fruit, and decorate with other garnishes.
  Serve at room temperature, or chilled.

  (servings:  8-10)

  From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)

MMMMM

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