hey i'm hearing horrer stories about the bugs (Anchorage, Fairbanks: hotel, work)

[FishTAxi]

spray your hat and shirt with bug dope. carry a tipparillo or two with you. if the bugs get bad and in your face light one up.

lake clark national park preserve and its tributaries is top notch fly-in fishing country. a few bugs shouldn't matter.

you are going to have a great time!

[Karla with a K]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

White socks are those worn with sneakers/sandals and shorts. .

rofl ok you got me. we have similar here in fla only they are mostly black socks , I really have trouble understanding the black socks/sandal combo.

FishTAxi - thanks for the tip I will go to our local "outdoor" store

You know I won't be able to leave without buying one of those "net hat thingys".
Come to think of it I just decided what this years "everyone gets one" xmas presents is going to be. At first it was going to be "totem poles" but the hats would be much funnier

karla

[Alaskagrl]

I'm telling ya, I never thought I would see the day when I ever got so desperate as to wear a headnet, but it happened last spring while bear hunting on a salt flat meadow. Dusk came (perfect time for bears to be out) and all of a sudden, clouds of white socks and skeeters were POURING onto us...down my shirt, up my nose; I mean, I've never felt anything like it (and I used to live in N MN, for crying out loud!) Thank goodness my hunting partner had brought an extra headnet. Without it, I would seriously have been RUNNING the mile back to the truck! And the bugs aren't usually even what I consider "bad" here. So, yeah, it ain't cute but when the bugs are bad, honey, you won't even care, I promise you! Buy one.

[Karla with a K]

alaskagrl
I just did a google search I can order them before the trip
would you recommend one that has the hat built in or just the plain one that you wear over your hat or just your hair.
thanks
karla

[Rance]

Karla I don't really think your gonna need one on your trip. You may need them worse down there in Florida. If you were gonna be out in the woods I'd say get one...but I think you should be fairly safe on the cruise ship or around any of the coastal towns you stop in.

[Karla with a K]

Originally Posted by Rance

Karla I don't really think your gonna need one on your trip. You may need them worse down there in Florida. If you were gonna be out in the woods I'd say get one...but I think you should be fairly safe on the cruise ship or around any of the coastal towns you stop in.

Your probably right rance the past few weeks we have been having serious gnat problems, I bet it is because we have had no rain.

But you know me, never one to pass up on the chance to pull one off on hubby.
Can you imagine the look on his face when he comes home from work and I say "ooo look what I got for our trip" and I make him try it on.

I think deep down he is slightly concerned that I may try to bring home a moose

Didn't you mention something about a place that I could go see "sled dog" puppies!!!!!

karla

[Rance]

Yes there is a dog sled thing in Seward. I'm working on it. Not sure about puppies in August but you never know...

[Alaskagrl]

Originally Posted by myfask

alaskagrl
I just did a google search I can order them before the trip
would you recommend one that has the hat built in or just the plain one that you wear over your hat or just your hair.
thanks
karla

Yeah, Rance is right... if you are not going to be hiking way in the boonies; you may not need one. If you DO get a head net, I would buy one without the built in hat; that way, you can fit it over any kind of hat, plus it's eaiser to tuck into your shirt-neck if you don't have a hat on...that's my 2 cents!

[mal_flisk]

The little wooden moose with the M & M moose droppings is always a gag present. You raise the tail and M&M's come out the rear. Tacky and tasteless, yes, but still worth a laugh on your desk for the odd visitor at work. Visit Title Wave Books in Anchorage for the best in postcards. Especially like the ones put out by the comedy troupe at the old Fly By Night club with Mr. Whitekeys. The card labeled the Homer Spit has a woman expectorating a mouthful of water on an old guy wearing a toga. The one labeled "My 1st Alaska Job" has a cheesy looking guy in a checked suit and tie selling (or attempting to) refrigerators to a couple of obvious natives. You get the picture.

[BudinAk]

Here's a link to a write-up from an Anchorage Daily News source...pretty good blurb about the nasty bug species of Alaska:

http://www.adn.com/adn/intern/hollybugs.html

Bud