Journal

Welcome to Fairbanks!

After a 16 hour drive to Alabama, a 1.5 hour drive to Atlanta, a 5.5 hour flight to Seattle, and a 3.5 hour flight to Fairbanks, I finally arrived in Alaska Monday afternoon to begin my 14 day quarantine period. Both flights were wonderfully smooth (at least during the times I was awake) and there were some beautiful views of mountains on the way into both locations.

An image of the sky out of a plane window. Far in the distance a snow covered mountain peak can be seen.
A mountain peaks out of the clouds on my descent into Seattle. I still am not sure which mountain peak it is... do you know?

A snowy Alaskan mountain range outside a plane window.
Seeing this mountain range [The Alaska Range] was how I knew I was about to land in Alaska!

After seeing all these mountains on the way in, the biggest thing I noticed on my trip between the airport and the resort where I’m staying is how flat Fairbanks is! I don’t know what it is but any location that has a very flat topography fascinates me (the other location that comes to mind is Houston, TX, where it feels like the only change in topography is the ramp onto the interstates). Looking out of my hotel, I can see the hills surrounding Fairbanks, but they feel so distant. When I mentioned this to Jeremy, he commented that “[Fairbanks] is in a bowl between hills” and promised that I would be seeing more mountains soon, so I am looking forward to that!

Life in Quarantine

Over the past two days, I’ve been trying to decide if I am jet-lagged or not. It’s fairly difficult for me to decide because 1) I don’t remember the last time I changed more than one or two time zone, 2) the last few times I did change several time zones I was in my early 20s/late teens, and easily bounced back every time, and 3) I’m still teaching my NYC students virtually, which means I have to be awake at 4:30 a.m. anyways! I will say that it is getting harder to wake up at my usual time in relation to the school day (an hour and a half before, which would be 3:30 a.m. here), so perhaps I’m not jet lagged. Darn it!

Being awake that early does mean that I get to see the sunrise through my window as I begin my teaching every day! It’s been lovely the past two days.

Image of a parking lot and the sunrise.
This was taken 14 minutes after sunrise yesterday, which occurred in Fairbanks at 4:40 a.m. You can tell from this photo (showing the parking lot in front of my suite) how fast it gets bright in the mornings!

As of right now, I’m hoping to make it to the weekend so I can spend some time really enjoying Fairbanks and preparing for the work we will be doing in Toolik!

Comments

Thu, 05/13/2021 - 10:26

Sarah Ansbro

Awesome post, Liza. I love your pictures from the plane! I had no idea you had such a long drive before even getting in the air.
I am so excited to work with you this summer!!

Fri, 05/14/2021 - 20:22

Liza Backman

Yes! The drive from NYC to my home in Alabama to drop off my car with my parents took quite awhile, but to be honest I'm fairly used to it. I'm looking forward to work with you too!

Fri, 05/14/2021 - 16:40

MelissaLau

While I wish you could experience more of the quirky hospitality of Fairbanks, AK, I’m so excited to follow this expedition! It’s going to be life changing!

Fri, 05/14/2021 - 20:24

Liza Backman

I've sensed a little bit of the quirkiness of the location just from ordering food through GrubHub, haha. But I am sad that I am missing out on finding out the culture of the place... that's one of my favorite parts of traveling!

Wed, 05/19/2021 - 11:31

Ann Busch

The biggest mountain around Seattle is Mount Rainier a currently not (but could be again) active volcano. I suspect geologists have a specific word for that type of volcano, but I don't know it.

Fri, 05/21/2021 - 04:51

Liza Backman

I thought it was Mt. Rainier too! And I think it is still considered active (just not eruptive) because they've noticed some sub-ground tremors around it. It's considered a "decade volcano" by the International Volcanologists (I think their official title is "International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior").

Fri, 05/21/2021 - 04:56

William Henske

14 days of confinement would get all of my grading done! How great to at least get a change of scenery.

Mon, 05/24/2021 - 21:35

Liza Backman

That would definitely have been a good use of my time, but in typical teacher fashion my plans for grading are always thwarted by simply not wanting to grade, haha!

Thu, 06/03/2021 - 15:54

Carole Corsby

Grading was always the hardest part of being a teacher, not because of all the time it took, but because I always wanted to grade everyone on effort!

Fri, 06/04/2021 - 09:50

Liza Backman

It's always hard to find the best balance between effort and accuracy in a way that helps encourage growth while maintaining standards! I definitely feel the same way.