I visited Alaska, now I've been to all 50 states. Some Alaskans are, well, strange. Like the guy who built this outhouse (near his cabin) both nearly 100 miles from any civilization. He flew every board and nail in by plane, landed on the glacier, then carried it up the mountain.

The beginning of the Iditarod Trail at Seward (named after Lincoln's Secretary of State who purchased Alaska from Russia). Seward is the ice-free, deep water port south of Anchorage where the Alaskan Railroad starts. The yearly Idetarod race recreates the 1150 mile race to Nome to take Diphtheria serum in 1925.

I biked the Iditarod (well, part of it).

A moose checks out the bikers near Anchorage. There were three bear attacks this summer in the city of Anchorage.

One of the glaciers at Kenai Fjords National Park.

Mt. McKinley (per US gov.), Mt. Denali (per Alaskan gov -they're as independent as Texans.) Tallest point in N. America. Ted Wilson summited here, after helping save a Japanese team that had lost one member, and two others lost toes or fingers (a surgeon) to frostbite.

Landing on the glacier below McKinley in Denali National Park.

Beautiful vistas. Hope to go back with you to see the arora borealis (which occurs twice a year around the solstices) and the other National Parks. Alaska is a BIG place. Russia is closer to Anchorage than Barrow, Alaska is.

Back East

I show up at the National Constitution Center in Philly, where I will speak in 12 hours.

The crowd grows thick in anticipation.

The TV trucks from all the national media are patiently waiting to broadcast.

Come to find out, the crowd is waiting for Hillary and Obama, not for me!

And, the place was all but empty when I arrived there the next morning.