From Texas Jeeps to Louisiana's Aligators

“Never insult an alligator until after you have crossed the river”
Cordell Hull, American US Secretary of state (1933-44)

Howdy from Louisiana! You know: New Orleans, Batu Rouge...Alligators, it's all here :)

I flu today in Shreveport,Louisiana. Today in the morning. Friends met me at the airport with some banners on which I could read:"Tony, bine ai venit in tara Louisiana!". It was very special.

In the evening had a party and about 20 friends and their family came.We visited,laughed and just had a great time.

The crazy part of the day was the trip to the Alligator's Farm.I got to see real alligators in their natural environment, how they feed them and so forth.Alligators live only in Florida,Louisiana and China.As you know everything made in China is cheap, so the real Alligators are those made in Florida and here,in Louisiana.

I got to take a picture with a baby alligator.He is 18 month old.The oldest one at the farm they have is 62 years.It was soooo cool!!!!

See you later...Alligator!

From cool Alaska...to hot Texas

"There is a growing feeling that perhaps Texas is really another country, a place where the skies, the disasters, the diamonds, the politicians, the women, the fortunes, the football players and the murders are all bigger than anywhere else..."
Pete Hamill

OK, here I am: from the cool Alaska to hot Houston,Texas. Got here 2 days ago and had a super time: spent some time in a friend's Dental clinic(not for treatment!), went to a profesional baseball game on a Minute Maid stadium(Astro's game), went to a high school football game on the Reliant Stadium(the largest one here!It's huge!).Go Mustangs!

The coolest of all was..."Jeep-ing" on the beaches of Gulf of Mexico.Yep, from hiking the glaciers in Alaska to riding moster turcks on the hot sand of the beach down South Texas.It doesn't get any better then this, baby!

Love it.

Tomorrow, I am off. Next stop:Loisiana.

Bye bye Texas! You rock!

The 7 Craziest Days in Alaska---Day 7

...I am heading for the Anchorage airport in less then 30 minutes.It's 10,30pm here and my flight leaves at 1am in the morning.It's a gonna be a long flight to Texas.

I am leaving Alaska in it's kind of hard to believe.I got to love this place more then I thought that I will.

Well, I am leaving but I'll take with me all my great experiences and memories,all my new and old friendships.

My Alaskan experience was the BLAST of my SUMMER!!!

The Adventure goes on.

Bye bye Alaska, the Great Land.Until next time:)

The Craziest 7 Days in Alaska---Day 6.(part 2)

"Take a look at your natural river.What are you?Stop playing games with yourself.Where's your river going?Are you riding with it?Or are you rowing against it?..."

Frederick Frieseke, American born French Painter, 1874-1939

In the second part of the day I went whitewater rafting.Went on a 3 and 4 lever white water.The most dangerous is 5.The highest is 6 but nobody can ride it.Niagara Falls is a 6 :) Any volunteers?

We went rafting on Lion's Head where several rivers with cold glacier water create very ruff and fast currents.There were 2 rafts:one in the front, the life saver and then the group raft.

I was on the second one and I was one of the paddlers.We had to wear dry /water proof suits because if somebody falls in the water, the body can freeze in few minutes.Rafting on glacier water is different and more risky then in warm water.I love this crazy stuff!

It was amazing how important is was for all paddlers to pedal in the same rhythm when "the captain" told us too.It was interesting to see that me and we all had to face the waves as they come and hit our boat and not hide.It was incredible to see that when you are heading toward a big wave...you face it with force, you pedal and NOT let your boat float.Why?The whitewater are actually so powerful and go up the river.If you don't pedal, the stop you boat and then flip it over.

It was CRASSSSSSSSSSSSYYYYYYYYYY adventure!!!!!!!

Loved it to every second!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End of Day 6

The Craziest 7 Days in Alaska---Day 6.(part 1)

"You need special shoes for hiking... and a bit of a special soul as well"

Emme Woodhull-Bäche

Today I hiked the Matanushka Glacier with the pros aka the professionals.Our guide is Greg,a very cool guy.Yep, we had special hiking shoes and gear, crampons and everything else we needed to get deep inside the glacier.

As we advanced inside the glacier, the ice made mountain, the scenery was breath taking.The ice walls, crevasses, moraines and cracks in the ice were fantastic...

I have some many great pics from there but will post only one.What you see is ice only, except me :) I am real...still.

Nobody could ever stop the force of a glacier.It carves valleys and it moves mountains...

It's NOT the end of Day 6

The Crazyest 7 Days in Alaska---Day 5

"In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside..." John Fitzgerald Kennedy, American 35th President 1961-63; 1917-1963

I have not rode a tiger.On Friday I rode a four wheeler with Mr.Fred, a friend.We went up on the Hatcher Pass, a beautiful area.Drove for many hours by little creeks and mud holes.Got up on the top of the mountain and drove those machines in tundra.It was so cool to see vegetation I read only in the books about and walk on the soft carpet of subarctic plants.

While travelling picked some blue berries.It was fun to discover the wilderness of Alaska and its mountains...

The End of Day 5

The 7 Craziest Days in Alaska---Day 4

"A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work"

Author Unknown

Yep, on Thursday I went fishing.The best river fishing is in Russian River and Kenay River.With a friend we went to the Russian River. I could not leave Alaska without catching a big big salmon. And I did.

I caught several.My line broke several timers, I lost few hooks but it was fun.

I got the biggest fish of the day, a Red Salmon. It was bigger then any fish my friend caught in that day and he is a pro.

We let all the fish go back into the river.Before coming and fishing in Alaska I could not understand the concept of fishing for fun.I knew:you catch fish to eat it.

Nope.You may fish for fun, for excitement.

I had a blast.A lot of FUN!

Now, I can proudly leave Alaska.I caught my fish of pride :) Ha!

The 7 Craziest Days in Alaska---Day 3

"When men come to like a sea-life, they are not fit to live on land..."
Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784 British author

I took a cruise out of Seward with Kenay Fjords Tours and spend 7 hours on the Ocean and in the Resurrection Bay. I really wanted to see sea life and I got it.We all saw whales, puffins, sea lions and many other water creatures.Also we saw Ayalik Glacier and heard it's roar.Before an iceberg calves out of a glacier the sound you hear is like a thunder. The power of the nature is incomparable with humans power or wisdom.

The cruise was very cool as the ship was brand new and fancy, we served a delicious dinner there:grilled salmon, veggies, rice, desert and plenty of drinks.Also chat with some people I met there.

Sometimes,while in the Ocean the waves were huge.They were so big we almost could not see the mountains.Again, the nature's power is incomparable to ours.

The End of Day 3

The Craziest 7 Days in Alaska---Day 2

“Glaciers are delicate and individual things, like humans. Instability is built into them.” Will Harrison

Before I got to Seward I spent a nigh in a very quite place, near Cooper Landing, in a friend's camper.I enjoyed the silence because soon I'll get back to the "Real World".

The next morning drove to Seward and on the way there, hiked to the Exist Glacier.Even Alaska has 100.000 glaciers, each of them is unique and beautiful. I have seen many glaciers but never got tired of them.I am fascinated when I am looking at gigantic mountains aka rivers of ice called glaciers...

The hike to Exit Glacier was easy.It's called Exit because this was the way the first explorers exit the ice field where this glacier starts.

I spent the rest of the day in Seward.It's a small town with really cool port.There is not too much to do in Seward except enjoy fine dining places, visit Sea Life Center, check the shops or take a cruise to see sea life and more glaciers.The main thing there is fishing.I think Seward is fishing heaven.

It's unREAL the fish I saw in the harbor.I watched the fishing boats coming in harbors and unloading the fish.Some fish were bigger then me.It costs about 265$ per person to have a private fishing experience on a fishing boat.

The End of Day 2

The Craziest 7 Days in Alaska---Day 1

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet..."

William Blake

In less then 24 hrs I am going to leave Alaska after having here the greatest time of my life.

Last week was my week off and I got to play a lot.

So, last Monday I took a truck and drove down South to stop by Portage Valley.Met some friends I made here and told them bye.Took the cruise on the Portage Lake and saw Portage Glacier.It was fascinating.

Then took my back pack and hiked all the way to Byron Glacier.We came to Portage Valley all summer, bringing different groups and individuals but never got to hike all the way up to the Byron.

I really wanted to get there and touch his blue ice.I took me 3 hrs but I did it.

Then got in the car and head further down to Seward.

The End of Day 1

The Greatest Alaskan Treasure

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend"

Albert Camus, French Novelist, Essayist and Playwright, 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature

In less then 2 weeks I'll leave Alaska. I spent here one of the BEST summers of my life. People use to come to Alaska for gold, today they come for oil, fun and so many other things.

I really didn't know much of what to expect when my plane was landing here after the longest trip I ever had. I didn't know much about Alaska and its people.

Looking back at every day of my time here I have discovered something I never thought I will find here. I discovered something more precious then gold or oil. Here in Alaska I made some of my best friends and I look upon time believing that many of the the friendships started here will last forever.

I thought about the friends I already have in Romania and in many other places. What keeps our friendship? There are people of different ages and social status, people who leave close by or far away that treasure so much our friendship.

Some say the distance kills a friendship.I disagree. A friend will be your friend in despite of any circumstance. A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to You when you have forgotten the words. A friend is a giver, not only a receiver. That's a real friend.

I wish a could look into the future and know how many of my friends today will still be my friends maybe in...50 years.

Will You still be here?

Back from the North Pole

"Harry Potter is like Santa Claus...he is soo REAL!"...

Yesterday got back from cool and crazy trip to Denali National Park, to Fairbanks, North Pole...

We had a blast!!!

The first night we camped on Denali campgrounds and then the next day we took a 9h bus ride in the park.It's incredible.We got too see all wildlife that lives there.

Near Fairbanks we saw the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline, then we went to the North Pole.

There I found Santa Claus and his wife, both in the same town.It was unreal and it brought me back to my childhood.Also Santa told me that he will bring me many good gifts this year.

Look forward to seeing you soon.. :)

Float plan ride and more...

"Bikes and planes aren't about going fast or having fun; they're toys, but serious ones..."

Harrison Ford

Hello World, yeah, I am back.Was so busy that my blog was not a priority for me anymore. Actually many things are not a priority for me anymore. I just enjoy life and don't care about the rest.I know 1 thing:good things don't last long so I decided I'll enjoy every minute of it...

Yesterday I took a float plan ride.It was so cool.In the picture is the plane I flu in.

Take off water is very smooth and you feel no bumps.The flight was good as well and landing, excuse, "watering" was fantastic:)

We spent less then 1 hour in the air and I got too see a lot of cool stuff, wild life and cool landscape.

Tomorrow will be gone again.This time myself and 3 other colleagues of mine.We will go to Denali Park, one of The Parks of Alaska.We will go hiking, will visit lots of cool places and will camp there.Will be back in 4 days.

Cheers!

ps.Hopefully bears will not eat us:)