What is the big deal about spring breakup in Alaska? The days get longer, the snow melts, the ice moves on out to sea. No big deal, right? Wrong.

Coast Guard Alaska is a real telling of the day to day activities of the Coast Guard unit stationed at Kodiak, Alaska. Hosted by the Weather Channel, this seven part series is repeated often enough for your DVR to catch it.

Maybe you haven't been able to come up with enough reasons to visit Alaska. While I personally find that impossible to imagine, I thought I'd help out. Here's just a few for you to ponder.

Book number 18 in the Kate Shugak series by author Dana Stabenow of Homer Alaska has been published. I read through all of the previous books to be ready for the release of "Restless in the Grave". This is a great series of books that are a lot of fun to read.

Almost 2000 miles long from its beginning in the Yukon Territory, stretching across the state of Alaska, through the Yukon Flats in the east, the mountains across the center, the Yukon Delta in the west, finally reaching its destination in the Bering Sea, the Yukon River is certainly mighty.

Alaska is full of extremes. The Aleutian Islands are no different than the rest of the state. Just a portion of the Southwestern Region of Alaska, they hold extremes in location, weather, and history.

A Cold Day for Murder. In the first of the Kate Shugak series by author Dana Stabenow, the stage is set to lure readers into great mysteries set in Alaska.

Alaska is the destination and spring/summer nesting grounds for a huge number of migratory birds from all up and down North and South America and even Asia and Africa. Alaska is home to a minimum of at least 470 different bird species, with over half of them being migratory.

An early history of Alaska, from first European discovery in 1741. Alaska, then known as "Alayeksa", a native Aleut word meaning "great land" or "main land", was a vast land with abundant opportunity for riches in fur trade, whaling, fishing and more.

So much of what we know about Alaska, has been conveyed by outsiders. Those of us who visit, fall in love, and then cannot get enough. What is the draw? There are many answers, but I found the most compelling in reading Arctic Dance, The Mardy Murie Story.