Alaska: A Land of Bears

If there's one thing I found out after going to Alaska, it was...that they have a lot of bears.



Apparently, it's a bad enough problem that someone has invented the bear-proof trash can.



And at any park or campground, you'll see numerous warnings telling you not to leave any food out, so as not to attract the bears.


I must admit, it was a little unnerving sometimes to go down a trail and have to worry about encountering large, potentially dangerous animals.


Luckily, all of my bear encounters in Alaska were of a nice, friendly, cuddly nature.



At zoos and animal reserves...


Or from a very, very safe distance.


However, in case I did have a "bad bear day", I would know exactly what to do. Because of helpful posters like these.

Reindeer Vs Caribou

You wanna know the difference between a reindeer and a caribou?






It's a trick question, really. Or maybe it's not. I'm sorta confused by trick questions.


(P.S. The picture below was taken shortly before my tiny tiny little nephew was somewhat kicked in the head by that harmless looking reindeer. Don't worry, he's fine.)





According to the woman who worked at the Reindeer Farm in Palmer, Alaska the difference between a reindeer and a caribou is ... a reindeer can fly.




No, really.





A reindeer is simply the domesticated version of a caribou. Since they are domesticated and nice, docile creatures (except for the one that kicked my nephew), they are flown around the world for various reindeer purposes. Usually involving posing as Santa's animal sidekicks come Christmastime. They grow antlers, which are filled with many many blood-vessels and help regulate their body temperature. They shed their antlers every year. Female reindeer, as well as male reindeer, grow antlers. Also they can walk on top of snow. And are unsinkable. See, I learned a lot at the reindeer farm.





Also, that they can get a condition called "antler warts", which are warts...on the antlers. They're disgusting-looking. Apparently you can't really do anything about them except hope that they don't come back after the reindeer sheds his antlers.





This little baby reindeer was orphaned and so the people at the reindeer farm are bottle-feeding her. She was especially friendly.





Also, they let all the kids bottlefeed her. She gulped down the entire bottle in about 2 seconds.


Another awesome thing about the Palmer Reindeer Farm? As well as reindeer, you can also feed elk.





And moose. How very Alaska.

A Seal A Day...

... keeps the blues away.




Seriously, this harbor seal could save anyone from even the foulest of moods, just be chasing its flipper-tail.








His other seal companion seems less enthused, however, choosing to sleep and ignore Spotty's antics.

University of Alabama: Roll Tide

In the continuing adventures of Lindsey in Alabama, I spent a hot, sweaty afternoon wandering around the University of Alabama campus.  Let me give you a pictorial tour!  At the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, you can find...

...many pretty red brick buildings...

...a sleeping robot...

...some random sculpture art...

...a drawing by Art Spielgeman...

..the Denny Chimes...

...the Presidential mansion, sporting some lovely antebellum architecture...

...the largest college football stadium I've ever seen

...along with statues of past famous football coaches.

...a boat full of rocks...

...and many, many red and white flowers.

Bacon-palooza

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and I'm sure the 2-3 of you who read my blog are dying to know more about what other wonderful things there are in Alabama.  Besides the adorable dog.  


Well, part of my Alabama experience, though not necessarily indicative of the typical Alabama experience, involved... bacon.





The night that I arrived, Corianne and her roommates threw a big party.  Instead of picking a single theme to the party, they instead picked several.  


The party would have tie-dye.  





The party would have a water balloon fight.  





And, probably most importantly of all, the party would have bacon.

A bacon-themed cooking competition, actually.


The above-pictured gold spray-painted rubber pig was the prize to be awarded to the one who most effectively and creatively incorporated bacon into their dish.


I made bourbon bacon brownies, from this recipe that I found.  This is the batter.  I actually think they turned out pretty well.





Corianne made a bacon turtle cheesecake (which sadly I could not try because it had nuts in it).





One of the most popular entries were these bacon-topped cupcakes.





They were so delicious, even this ball pyton was tempted by them. Don't ask me why someone brought a python to a party. That's just how they roll in Alabama, I guess. The snake was very cute and chill though, as far as snakes go. And he was named after some famous Floridian football player whose name escapes me but starts with a 'T'. My mom would probably know. For the sake of this post, I'll just call him 'Snakey'.





Snakey was a huge hit with the ladies.




Anyway, back to the bacon.


These were some kind of delicious fried chicken-bacon balls with a duck sauce to dip them in.


There was also some of your basic, chocolate-covered bacon.



There was a delectable cheesy, corn, bean, bacon dip.



There was some crackers with cheese and bacon-y stuff on top.



And there were these peanut butter bacon cookies. They happened to be the only vegetarian thing available at the party, because of their use of veggie bacon instead of real bacon.



I'll have to admit, my favorites were the bacon-wrapped prunes (much more delicious than it sounds, seriously) and Annie's creation, which were jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.



For this creation, she won the coveted Golden Pig.




The lesson I learned from this party was that, if you open your mind a little, you can add bacon to a lot more foods than you would normally think.

Also, to always check your "douche bag" at the door.

Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog

I recently went to Alabama to visit my friend Corianne.




Another one of my friends from high school, Annie, also drove over from Atlanta to visit that weekend, and it was awesome to see her.

Corianne has the enviable luck of getting to live with this dog.  He's a hound dog.  And his name is Bernie.




Bernie, sadly, belongs to Corianne's roommate, but still. I'm jealous of anyone who gets to come home every day to those big, brown, hound dog-y eyes. And the floppiest of ears.





Those eyes...they just make you wanna give him snuggles and ice cream all day long.





I was sad to say goodbye to Corianne and Alabama upon my leaving. But I confess, I was also really sad to say goodbye to Bernie. The ears! So floppy!