"The Tank"

At one time I thought Russia was a totally isolated and totally self-sufficient. I found on one of my early trips to Moscow, in 1990, that wasn’t the case.

My company was one of the early ones trying to forge a relationship with Russia to drill and produce oil and aviation would be a necessary component and as the aviation advisor I was sent to define the use and arrange and coordinate with a Russian company to provide the airplane and helicopter support we would need.

Initially I wasn’t having much (actually none) success in making contact. Hours of sitting around the hotel waiting for translations and contacts to be made and meetings to be arranged.

Our resident managers wife took pity on me one day and asked if I would go with her to one of Moscow’s open air markets…it was the middle of the winter! Desperate to get out of the hotel I agreed and we bundled up against the below zero weather and took the subways (Moscow has a most architecturally wonderful system, built on the bones of the thousands of workers it took to build the ring) out to the market.

The market was spread across the hills of a large park and filled with vendors selling all kinds or wares from all over the communist world (Cuba, theRepublics, Africa and more). Trudging across the snow packed ground, the air heavy with the frozen breath of the amazingly large crowd, we surveyed the tables of mostly cloths made in China and other Russian republics.

At one table, where what I thought were toys, were some small military tanks. Crudely crafted I was assured they were models of authentic Russian tanks. As they were small (about 1” long)and of rough molding I took him at his word and bought the small tank for a few Rubles.

Years later I happened to “closely” examine the tank and to my surprise (well not really, I should have suspected) the “Made in Russia” tank had actually been “Made in China. отсутствие проблемы which means “no problem”.( ”Nyet problema'')

Alaskan Cruise

Alaska has moved many to try and capture its magnificence. Michener’s Alaska, Jack London’s Call of the Wild and of course John Wayne and North to Alaska. Over time the fascination of Alaska has called many.

That fascination still calls and the cruise line do a great job of showing a slice of that rugged states beauty. Today over forty ships ply the Inland Passage between Seattle / Vancouver and Alaskan ports as far north as Anchorage. Each of these ships carries thousands so you can see that during the cruise season (May to September) thousands get to view the marvels of the Canadian / Alaskan Inland Passage.

Last week neighbors Larry and Regina Mercer and Bobbie and I added their names to the long list of those legions that have made this spectacular trip.  Bobbie and I  also celebrated our 45th. Anniversary in Seattle before boarding the ship.

Boarding in Seattle they were treated to some of the most beautiful scenery nature can provide. They were treated to great sights and “a lot of food!” (and…no one gained weight?)

With stops in Tracy Arm Fjord, Tracy Arm is a magnificent glacier-carved fjord just south of Juneau.


Many cruise itineraries include a visit to this incredible place, often as a substitute for the comparable Glacier Bay National Park.

The fjord is part of the 30 mile long Tracy Arm - Fords Terror Wilderness region, located about 60 miles southeast of Juneau.
The fjord is truly one of the most dramatic locations in Alaska, or in all of the world, for that matter. The sheer, glacier-carved walls are often shrouded in mist.

Glacial calving in Tracy Arm can often be quite spectacular, as huge chunks of ice break off and plunge into the frigid waters below.


Skagway, where they took a train ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.

The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months.

Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier...another beautiful stop showing the magnificane of nature.

Ketchikan…where the boats were stacked four deep…end to end (parallel parked “beep beep”).

With one more stop in Victoria Canada the group were headed home, cameras full of pictures, memories full of good times, fellowship and marveling over the sites they had seen.