Hi all, I’m on the Amaz!ng Cruise in Ketchikan (local time: 1:30pm, local weather: gray), hanging for a few minutes at an Internet cafe. So far the cruise has been wonderfully beautiful — the mountains, sea, mist, eagles, salmon leaping out of the water — awesome. Yesterday we heard talks from Randi and Richard Saunders of the Aussie Skeptics. It’s my millionth time hearing Randi, and that never gets old, and my first time ever meeting Richard, which has been a real treat. There’s always at least one person I meet who lives absurdly far away from me who I totally end up loving, so I guess that’s Richard on this trip.
We also had a panel discussion yesterday with me, Randi, Phil Plait, Richard, and Hal Bidlack. That was followed by cocktails and trivia, and then a formal dress night, which was a lot of fun because people just look so damned sexy dressed up.
I’m having some difficulty stringing sentences together, if you couldn’t tell, as I haven’t slept a whole lot and I haven’t eaten, and also I just got back from a very long walk to see some gorgeous totem poles. No photos because I didn’t think to bring a USB cable off the ship….maybe once we hit Juneau. In the meantime, I see Phil has posted some at badastronomy.com. Time to hop back on the boat and get some grub!
The cruise sounds like fun and I suddenly feel a step closer to you Rebecca because I know Richard too! I am an Aussie Skeptic and we see each other fairly regularly at the pub. So if you see this comment tell him Monika from Sydney says hi!
It's like playing six degrees of separation only easier because despite the geographic spread the Skeptic community is fairly small.
I hope you now have an excuse to come visit us down under one day!
Oooo. I'm jealous! Sounds like a great trip already.
Glad you're having a good time. Now go, eat and rest and get more coherent!
All booze and no sleep makes becca sound Vegas.
Remember, this trip is not for relaxation. Sleep comes after the trip is over.
I was going to fly down there to meet up with you guys in Ketchikan, but the guys at work have been passing around some bad crud for the last few days, and this week is apparently my turn to be sick. I've never actually been in Ketchikan, just the airport, which is on a different island. It's the only airport I've ever been in where I could sit and watch blue and humpback whales swim by.