Personal Challenge 2018 - Week 49

This is the 49th week of my personal 50-week States of the Union Challenge. Each week I research one of the 50 United States (in the order they attained statehood). I share tidbits of information about the state here on my blog and I create a card that is inspired by something about that state.

This week's state (the 49th one to attain statehood) is...

Alaska

Date of Statehood: January 3, 1959

Alaska is the largest state in the union (1/5 of the entire USA and twice the size of Texas).

Alaska is the only state name that you can type on one row of a keyboard.

Juneau has no road access to the rest of the state. It is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane. It is also the largest, covering 3,108 square miles.

Alaska has more coastline than the other 49 states combined.

Alaska’s largest lake, Lake Iliamna, is roughly the size of Connecticut.

Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas: the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Bering Sea.

Anchorage’s Lake Hood is the world’s largest and busiest seaplane base. Over 800 take offs and landings happen on a busy summer day.

If Manhattan had the same population density as Alaska, only 28 people would inhabit the island.

Alaska accounts for 25 percent of the oil produced in the United States.

Alaska is less than fifty miles from Russia.

Seventeen of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S. are located in Alaska.

The state flag was designed by a 13-year-old boy. After calling on students throughout the territory to submit their ideas, Alaska ultimately decided on Benny Benson’s scene of the Big Dipper and the North Star in 1927.

The state sport of Alaska is dog mushing, which was once the primary mode of transportation in most of Alaska. The Iditarod dog sledding race is the state’s largest sporting event.

In Alaska, there is approximately 1 bear to every 21 people.

Alaska broke their record high when temperatures reached 100° F in 1915. Their low of -80° F recorded in Alaska’s Endicott Mountains still holds the record for the nation's all-time low.

Because of their long summer days, Alaska is capable of producing some unusually oversized produce. Some notable specimens that have been harvested in recent years include a 35-pound broccoli, a 65-pound cantaloupe, and a 138-pound cabbage.

In Barrow, Alaska, the longest night lasts for 67 days. In the summer they make up for it with 82 days of uninterrupted sunlight.

Aurora borealis (northern lights) can be seen an average of 243 days a year in Fairbanks. The northern lights are produced by charged electrons and protons striking the earth’s upper atmosphere.

Many hotels in Alaska offer Northern Lights wake-up calls upon request.

Alaska has the lowest population density in the nation at one person per square mile.

There are 107 men for every 100 women in Alaska, the highest male-to-female ratio in the United States.

During the Klondike gold rush in 1897, potatoes were so highly valued for their vitamin C content that miners traded gold for them.

More than half the world’s glaciers can be found Alaska.

Moose, caribou, and bear killed by cars in Alaska are considered property of the state. When road kill is reported, the carcasses are butchered by volunteers and distributed as food to charity organizations.

Some of Alaska’s bizarre moose-specific legislation has included laws against pushing a moose from a plane, viewing a moose from a plane, and giving a moose beer.

It is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while they are moose hunting in Alaska.

While it is legal to shoot bears in Alaska, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

No one may tie their pet dog to the roof of a car in Anchorage.

Owners of flamingos may not let their pet into Juneau barber shops.

I decided to go with this bit of Alaska information for my card's inspiration... About 1700 miles south of the geographic North Pole lies the Fairbanks suburb of North Pole, Alaska. The town’s famous Santa Claus House gift shop is open year-round, and thousands of letters addressed to Santa are sent to the zip code each year. (A real-life Santa Claus was even elected to City Council.)

Here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp: Stmpabilities Merry Christmas and Whipper Snapper Gift from Santa stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Cherry Cobbler CS and DP from the Recollections Stocking Stuffer Paper Pad

Embellishments: Stickles Glitter Glue and a Snowflake Brad from an unknown vendor