Dear Cha-Wel-Dor-Sue:

Pat and my trip to Alaska is now behind us and adds another chapter to our travel experiences. Should we make a second journey to this vast and beautiful state it will be so far as I am concerned to the far north and include such areas as Kotzebue, Nome, Point Barrow, and Pruduff Bay and to the Aleutians, Kodak Island, the Pribeloff Islands and finally to the Katmai National Monument Park. This latter is the so called "Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes" and is supposed to be one of the most unusual spots on the face of the Earth. Speaking of Alaska, can you imagine a single state larger than the next three largest combined? (Texas, California, and Montana). We flew over it part of the time, drove over it many miles, and sailed the Inland Waterway or "Maritime Highway". The state has only five hundred thousand residents or approximately 1/6 that of tiny Connecticut. Most of the inhabitants of Alaska are recent arrivals, prompted by the construction of Tap (Trans-Alaska Pipe line) which is now carrying one and one-half million barrels of oil a day to the port of Valdez. We saw and took pictures of this seven billion dollar project. This tremendous influx of new money into Alaska added to the factor of inflation to make Alaska one of the most expensive states in which to live today. Hamburgers cost $5, coffee $1 a cup, and a half grapefruit $2, and this goes on ad infinitum.

Alaska is essentially undeveloped and there are forces in Washington and the various conservation groups which want to keep 90 percent of the land undeveloped and in the national park category. The Alaskans, on the other hand, want to develop their vast natural resources as much as possible including lumber, minerals, oil, gas, and fishing, and my sentiments are with them. The state is so big that both sides could be accommodated and, incidentally, both have sound and rational reasons for their point of view.

Our Alaskan venture began in Vancouver by sailing on the SS Veendam (Holland American Line) along the Inland Waterway to Ketchikan, Juneau, and ultimately to Skagway, the pushing off point for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. We left Skagway and via a scenic cruiser (Bus) drove to Whitehorse and Beaver Creek in the Yukon en route finally to Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks is the take off point for most of the points in northern Alaska. It is a rather dull and uninteresting city. From there we drove south via bus to the McKinley National Park remaining overnight at the lodge. Unfortunately we never did get to see the highest peak in the northern hemisphere as it was continually shrouded with clouds. Finally we drove to Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, from which we made side trips to the Portier Glacier and to the Alyeska ski area. From Anchorage we flew to Sitka, the former capital of Russian Alaska. Finally we flew back to Seattle, Washington.

Our trip was made especially memorable as we shared it with my brother Ken and his lovely wife Ruth, both of whom travel very well. Our likes are quite similar and their sense of humor and easy going attitude made every moment a pleasant one.

Ken and I reminisced a great deal about our childhood days, and he recalled many incidents that I had long since forgotten. His memory of those days is vastly superior to mine and proved to be a gold mine of family memorabilia.

Ken drove us from the airport in Seattle to Portland, Oregon, and to his home. We spent the night there and in the morning had the pleasure of meeting his family. His son Kenny was there with his daughter Jennifer, and his daughter Janet was there with her husband Tom and her two children, Adam and Heather. All seems well in Portland and Ken's business is firmly established and growing every year.

Before taking off on our Alaska jaunt, Pat and I had flown to Calgary, Alberta for a four-day meeting of the Canadian Urological Association at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. It was a fine meeting and the most scenic area in the world. (Canadian Rockies) One of the bits of entertainment was a medieval banquet, and Pat and I were honored by being asked to sit at the head table with the President (William the conqueror Lakey), the President Eleot (Andy the confessor Bruce), and the local arrangements Chairman (Malcom the lion-hearted McPhee). We were all dressed appropriately and wore medieval costumes, and it was a splendid evening. Naturally, we were ushered into the dining room with bag-pipes.

Next year the Canadian Urological Association is playing host to their British colleagues and some 50 to 80 British Urologists will be oozing to Montreal for a combined meeting, similar to that which Pat and I attended in London four years ago. Certainly Pat and I will plan to be present at this meeting, fate permitting.

The drive from Calgary to Vancouver (580 miles) was beautiful and took in the Roberts Pass and the Frazier Canyon. However, 14 hours on a bus was an ordeal.

This past week has seen my return to the operating room still feeling comfortable with my ability to handle the stresses of surgery but also to some extent looking forward to mid-October when Pat and I will be attending the New York section meeting in Madrid to be followed by a post-convention tour of one week through southern Spain. Our attempts to arrange a further week in northern Africa have proven unsuccessful, and we will leave that venture for another date in the future.

I am writing this en route back from Magic Mountain in Vermont where we spent the weekend having found everything secure except for a small amount of water in one of the bunk rooms having leaked in at the point where the foundation wall meets the cement flooring. It will need another treatment of thoroseal and hopefully this will improve the situation. This condition is not unusual in the spring but fortunately it is never seen in the fall or winter.

The most exciting moment of the entire trip to Alaska was when I chartered a single plane, a six passenger Cessna, and we had a one and one-half hour flight over the ice cap to Glacier Bay. We saw the peaks protruding above the Ice Cap and at least five glaciers. We traced the course of several of these down to the bay itself where the glacier was calving their icebergs into the sea. At times we were only a few feet above the vast crevices with their blue ice and their huge lateral and terminal moraines. The trip was vaguely reminiscent of the one we made in New Zealand where we flew to the glacier on Mount Cook and landed on it with a plane equipped with skis.

The only unpleasant note to report at this time is that our stately Oaks at our home on Wyllys Street are slowly being killed off by the combined infestation of the gypsy moth and the inch worm. Every day vast terminal branches are falling off having been cleanly eaten across by the worms. In a few years I fear they will all be gone and the only favorable aspect of the whole matter is that my wood pile will be greatly enlarged for the future. I do feel, however, that certain members of my arboreal family are slowly departing from the scene.

With love to all,

Dad

7/26/80

CEJ/dm