Adventures in the Last Frontier - johansenfamilyadventuresinthelas

Moving On

Its not easy to move on. March 2 will mark 5 months since I lost my dad and it hasn't gotten any easier. Everyday I wake up with a huge hole in my heart, a reminder of what is no longer there. I've been out taking pictures, doing things with the family, but at the end of the day its always the same....my dad isn't here to share it with.

People deal with grief in different ways and I'm the type that tends to bottle it up and release it when I'm alone. I've spent many a day holding a photo of my dad,crying and cursing the universe for taking him from us so soon. I hold a picture of my beloved grandparents, who I lost in June 2008 and May 2009, and I cry for them also, hoping with all my heart that they are with my dad and that they all knew how much I loved them all, and how much I wish I could share my life in Alaska with them.

Many have told me, and I know its the truth, that my dad and grandparents wouldn't want me to stop taking pictures. They wouldn't want me to stop enjoying my dream that came true...living in Alaska.

So, right now, my goal is to slowly start updating this site again. I cant promise how often I'll do it. Heck, I don't even know if anyone comes here to see these photos, but I know I have to start trying to move on in some ways.

Baby steps.

And so its December....

I cant believe the year is coming to an end. I wish I could go back to January and change so many things.

Visitors to this site may have noticed that I haven't posted any pictures since September. Oct.2,2010 I lost my father. I loved my dad more than anything and one of the reasons I started this site was because I wanted him to be able to see where we live and what his grand kids were up too. My dad has always come to see us no matter where we lived so I figured when he did make it up here he would love seeing all the things I blogged about here in person. Little did we know that in Oct.2009 cancer would enter the picture and change things forever.

I'm still out there with my camera taking pictures but right now everything looks so different. When I look through the lens I am just reminded of everything I'll never be able to share with my dad. There is a hole in my soul that will never close.

I still post a picture a day to my 365 blog, but that's a struggle too. I don't know when I'll start posting to this website again though. Its been just over 2 months since I said goodbye to my dad and every day is still a struggle. I know my dad would want me to keep going with the pictures and posting but easier said than done. I take it all day by day and just do what I can.

I wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. Tell your loved ones how much you care and how much you appreciate them. Life is too short. Don't waste it.

Merry Christmas---Lisa

Colorado Trip

My father was taken by ambulance to the hospital on July 15th, and I arrived in town July 18th. Things went from one extreme to the other....we went from almost losing him to him being able to come home a few days before I left for Alaska. It was a very emotional trip but I was so glad that I was able to be there for him, and for his girlfriend. For most of my trip Memorial Hospital is where I ate, slept, laughed and cried.

Sitting at the hospital, watching storm clouds move in over the Rockies:

Pikes Peak:

A bee on one of the flowers outside the condo. I've never seen one with an orange band like that before.

I wonder if he likes what he's reading?

First picture is sunset and Pikes Peak. 2nd pic is still looking at the mountain range, just a little more north. Having darkness at night was a weird thing for me!

Pods of a Yucca plant:

One evening I went on a walk with my Dad's girlfriend and we spotted these wild rabbits. They were too cute!

I did see blue sky while I was there:

Another afternoon storm moving in:

A little visitor at the condo complex where my dad and his girlfriend live.

When I was growing up the owners of this building always painted it with different pictures and inspirational sayings. Unfortunately the folks who did that passed away recently, so I dont know if the tradition is going to continue.

On my last full day in Colorado Springs a major rainstorm moved into the area. In the summer daily afternoon thunderstorms are the norm, it was the intensity of this one that was truly amazing. I havent been in rain like this in years. I was in a store with my friend Kate when we heard the rain begin and when we got out on the road there was already over a foot of water in some spots. My folks live on the other side of town from where we were so it was quite the interesting ride home. The first picture shows the main intersection when we first came through, about an hour before the rain hit.

Still here

I promise I didnt abandon this site or stop taking pictures. The past month has been very busy. In July I ended up going to Colorado for 2 weeks because my father was very ill. When I got back to Alaska I went back to work, then the kids started school on Aug.19. Now that things are starting to get back into a routine I need to catch up on here! By the end of this week I hope to be all caught up.

Flowers, A Train and A Storm

These photos were all taken on July 6th. Joseph(my youngest) and I were out that evening, just walking and enjoying the evening.

These train photos are from early in the afternoon on July 6th. The tracks run behind our house and I heard the familiar rumble of a train stopped on the tracks so of course I walked through the woods to get a better look! I love seeing the train, it always makes me feel like my Grandpa is saying hi. As I've mentioned on here before my grandpa was a railroad man and I know he would have loved the bright yellow and blue of the Alaska railroad.He and my Grandma would have loved the beauty that can be found along the route here.

I *think* this is from a cottonwood tree:

Wild Geranium:

Lupine:

Fireweed:

Looking in this direction things didnt look too bad, cloudy but nothing we arent used too(all storm photos taken about 8pm):

But in the other direction you could see these ugly clouds rolling in. It never did rain where we were exploring but when we got back to the house, a little over 4 miles away, everything was wet from a downpour that had just occured.

Later that same day, about 11pm at night, Joseph and I walked down to the lake across the street and everything was beautiful and peaceful again:

Independence Day

We had a quiet weekend at home to celebrate the 4th of July. There is still about 20 hrs of visible light so fireworks really arent all that exciting this time of yr. We had no plans to set any off, but the hubby and I both won free fireworks so we had a little show for the kids. Christmas and New Years is when Alaska really goes nuts with the fireworks. Our town is the only one in this region where fireworks are legal on private property so people come from all over to spend their money at the firework stands, which are about 4 miles down the hwy from our place.

This first photo is just to show you how light it was at 11:30pm on July 4th. I darkened the other photos to make the fireworks stand out.

Courtney all serious with her sparklers.(My oldest didnt do much with the sparklers, hence no photos of him).

He didnt like the smell of the sparklers.

I really like the way this photo of Joseph came out.

Back, with nature photos

Sorry I havent posted in a few weeks. Yesterday was the last day of work for a month so I was pretty busy trying to get stuff done and by the time I got home I was too tired to sit and the computer and edit photos :) Now I am home for a month and will be able to get back on track with my photography :)

Here are some random photos that I have taken around my yard and around the high school I work at.

For Grandma....

On June 8, 2009 I lost my Grandma. I miss her terribly and everyday I long to talk to her and show her pictures of Alaska. Today I am just going to post some random images I've taken the last few days that I think she would have really liked.

I spotted this butterfly in a cemetery on Memorial Day. My grandma loved butterflies and whenever I see one I feel like she is saying hi.

A poppy:

These 3 can be found in the woods around the house. #1 is a bluebell, #2 is a wood fern and #3 is a prickly rose aka wild rose:

These photos were taken at 10pm Sat night. We had gone down to the Little Susitna to see if any fish were coming through(June 5,2010):

Thunderbird Falls

On May 27th Courtney and I went to Thunderbird Falls for a little hike. The trail is only 2 miles round-trip and has a very slight elevation gain of 100 ft. The falls are located in the Chugach Mtns and are 200 ft high. Its a very nice trail, winding through the woods, and there are a few observation decks throughout the trail. You can follow the trail to a deck overlooking the falls and then you can take another trail right down along the river and to the base of the falls. Courtney and I only spent a few moments at the deck overlooking the falls because there was a group of moms with little toddlers there and they had pretty much taken over the platform. Thats ok, down by the river was much cooler!(no pun intended).

The view of the Mat-Su Valley as one starts climbing the trail:

They need signs like this because of people like Courtney(as seen in 2nd pic):

Courtney at one of the viewing spots:

When you look over the railing that Courtney is standing by, this is what you see:

Along the trail:

Follow this platform to overlook the falls:

The view from the platform:

Down along the Eklutna River and at the base of the falls:

Mothers Day

As part of my Mothers Day celebration we went to Eagle River, a town just north of Anchorage, to see a movie. These photos are all from the drive home. I love coming back into the Matanuska-Susitna(Mat-Su) Valley...the views are just amazing!

Random

These are just some random images that I've taken lately.

One morning I headed down to the lake thats across the street from the house and came across this loon just casually hanging out. Appropriate that I saw him here, since the name of the lake is Loon Lake:

At this point the ice was just about gone, and while the day looked cloudy......

Further up was blue skies and wispy clouds:

The other day we had a downpour with hail(rare here) and so I was at the window watching the rain, then I began to watch some robins digging for worms in the yard. Right behind the robins I noticed some movement and it took me a moment but I realized I had a ruffed grouse in the yard! I've seen them on trails when hiking but never in my backyard so I was pretty excited! If he was further back in the woods I would have never noticed him because they blend into the surroundings so well.

Running away from me:

Little bits of hail:

Courtney being weird, going out to jump on the trampoline while being pelted with hail:

Bear Paw Lake

On Sat, May 1st, Jim decided to go do some fishing at a lake in Wasilla that recently became ice-free. I wasnt feeling good so I decided to stay home. Later in the afternoon I ended up at Bear Paw Lake, just 2 streets over from us. The little lake was still covered in ice and over the treetops dark clouds could be seen working their way in. As I was taking pictures of the landscape something further in the distance caught my eye and it took me a few mins to realize what I was seeing.....2 sandhill cranes!! They were SO amazing! Its their migration time and a small group migrates through the Valley here. However, seeing them here at a small lake in my town is definitely a rare treat! It definitely made my weekend!

An abandoned cabin sits in the woods near the lake.....

Ice still covers the lake, but not for long.....

White fluffy clouds and blue sky in one direction.....

And dark clouds in another......

Courtney took these photos of a bald eagle at Lake Lucille on Sat. She and her friend Laken, along with Joseph, went fishing with Jim and they spotted this fella in the trees near the shore.

Winters last hurrah

On April 14th winter came by to give us one last greeting, and I must say I was quite happy about it. If I had my way we'd have snow every single day!

This also happened to be the day that I had to go get Alexander from the retreat for deaf kids. I was expecting a messy drive but as the pics will show it didnt turn out that way at all.

Jim backing out of the driveway, headed off to work:

Looking out across the front yard:

Looking down the street while standing at Josephs bus stop:

Joseph at the bus stop:

A bit later I came through Wasilla and saw this accident. As you can see the roads are just wet and unlike my place there was little to no snow accumalation here, 20 miles or so down the road.

The camp Alexander was at. They only got a dusting of snow, I was pretty surprised.

Later, back in our town....Courtney coming home from school and look, she's being camera shy! Thats a first!

Sitting at the end of our street, getting ready to turn onto the hwy:

Headed down the Parks Hwy:

Community center at the corner of the road that the high school is on:

Palmer Hay Flats

On Monday(4-12-10) I had to drop Alexander off at a retreat for deaf kids thats held every spring in Chugiak. On the way home I decided to stop at Reflections Lake, located in the Palmer Hay Flats. I've driven by there hundreds of times since we moved here and have never stopped before so I figured what the heck, no time like the present!

It was a cloudy, overcast day as we had a storm moving in and all of the animals must have been hunkered down elsewhere because I didnt see any wildlife the entire time I was there! There was plenty of moose poop along the trail but no moose anywhere to be seen. Thankfully the clouds werent hiding the mountains so I did have those to look at.

**If anyone is interested, I also do a photo-a-day project(365 project).Its usually just one photo from my day that has caught my eye or defines how my day was. Some days I post more than picture, because I do like to share,LOL. Anyway, here is the link if anyone is interested in checking that out also. http://ak365.blogspot.com/ **

The view from the on ramp. I had just dropped off Alexander and was headed towards home. At this point I hadnt decided to go by the Hay Flats :) Those are the Talkeetna Mtns in the distance and the Mat-Su Valley(Matanuska-Susitna).

The sign says 207 moose hit and killed:

Reflections Lake, still iced over. Looking at the clouds in the pics you can see how gray everything was. The next 2 days(Tues and Weds) would bring us snow, with over 5" of snow falling at my place on Weds. However, the flats received almost no snow, as I discovered when I drove back through on Weds on my way to get Alexander.

Standing on the trail, looking at the Knik River. In the first photo thats the highway going across the river.Off to the right you head towards Anchorage and if you are headed to the left you are driving towards Wasilla:

Chugach Mtns:

In this direction you could just look straight out across the flats. Earlier in the winter herds of 30 moose were seen moving through here:

Looking at the Chugach Mtns:

Whew!

I swear I havent forgotten about this site! Its just been crazy the last few weeks. Joseph has started track and Courtney is the manager for the girls soccer team at her school so my afternoons are spent going from one school to another. To top it all off there is a nasty bug working its way through the house so Joseph was sick, I've had it for a few days and now its starting to hit Alexander and Courtney! Ugh!

Although I felt like death warmed over I did head out to Hatchers Pass on Saturday,April 3, with Courtney. Jim and the boys had gone into Anchorage to go see the Star Wars exhibit at the museum and then to a movie and Sat was SUCH a nice day that it didnt seem fair to Courtney to make her hang around inside while I was sick. Hatchers Pass is one of my favorite places so I loaded up on meds, brought plenty of tissue and drinks and off we went!

Hatchers Pass is located in the Talkeetna Mountains and can be reached through Palmer, Wasilla or Willow, although the road in from Willow is closed during the winter and usually doesnt open until late June or early July. This yr I have a feeling it might open sooner because the snow is melting so fast.

We always have to stop at the Little Susitna River on the way in. The views here are just beautiful, no matter what the season:

The road in the middle is the one we're headed up to get to Independence Mine:

Looking out across the Mat-Su Valley and at the Chugach Mtn Range:

Bald Eagles

The weekend of March 13/14th there was a moose hit on the highway, right by our street. When this happens a charity is called to come and salvage the meat if possible. That must have happened with this moose, and the undesirables were dumped in the woods next to the road.

On the 15th hubby and I pulled onto the highway and noticed a large group of ravens having themselves a feast with the remains and then all of a sudden the husband says to look up. There was a bald eagle sitting in the trees above the ravens, keeping a close eye on everything! I had him pull over and took some pictures. The day was pretty overcast so I didnt get the best photos. The next day I was on my way to run errands when I noticed the eagle was still there and this time we had bright blue skies. Score!! The following pictures are the ones I took that day, March 16th. What a beautiful bird!

Iditarod 2010-part 1

On March 7th we headed over to Willow, the town just north of us, to watch the Iditarod for the first time. Instead of going to the actual starting point we headed to a local lake that the race travels over. This way we would avoid the crowds and really get a good view of the teams as they went by! It was a perfect spot...no fences, no large crowds and while there was a slight breeze we couldnt have asked for better weather.

From Iditarod.com:

The race pits man and animal against nature, against wild Alaska at her best and as each mile is covered, a tribute to Alaska’s past is issued. The Iditarod is a tie to — a commemoration of — that colorful past.

The Iditarod Trail, now a National Historic Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the interior mining camps at Flat, Ophir, Ruby and beyond to the west coast communities of Unalakleet, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain and Nome. Mail and supplies went in. Gold came out. All via dog sled. Heroes were made, legends were born.

In 1925, part of the Iditarod Trail became a life saving highway for epidemic-stricken Nome. Diphtheria threatened and serum had to be brought in; again by intrepid dog mushers and their faithful hard-driving dogs.

The Iditarod is a commemoration of those yesterdays, a not-so-distant past that Alaskans honor and are proud of.

From Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days.

Here is the first batch of photos:

On the highway going through our town. The NBC channel is also headed up to the race:

Our spot on the lake. Nice and wide open:

The next 2 photos are of Lance Mackey. On March 16th his team pulled into Nome and for the 4th yr in the row won the Iditarod, cementing a place in race history as the first musher to have 4 consecutive wins. Lance is also a 4 time winner of the 1000 mile Yukon Quest race and is a throat cancer survivor:

The dogs are the real stories of the race. These animals love to race. Just look at their faces and the determination on them. There are very strict rules regarding the health of the dogs and mushers do everything they can to keep their dogs happy,healthy and safe:

And there goes Cim,waving to his supporters. He's a local boy, from Big Lake.

Catch up--Fur Rondy #3

Ok, lets see if I can try and get caught up on things!

Here is more photos from Fur Rondy. We stopped to watch the outhouse races and they were fantastic. Last yr we'll have to get there earlier because this yr our view wasnt that great and I was trying to take pictures without peoples heads and other body parts in the way!

For anyone wondering, one of the best things about Fur Rondy is that almost ALL of the events are free! The only event we saw that had an admittance fee was the dog pull competition. Obviously the carnival ride and foods requires money but look at everything else you can see and do for free! As a family of 5 we are always on the lookout for free/cheap, yet fun things to do and Alaska never fails to provide!

This one was my favorite!

See the name of their team on their shirts? Hehehehe:

Yes, I'm a Palin fan, but you have to admit this is pretty funny!

This was one of my favorite outhouses! Little did they know that in just a moment they would wipe out, knocking over one of the poles holding up the event banner. The second pic is the pole being put back into place:

Great way to end the week!

I am SO behind on this blog...there is more Fur Rondy to post, the Iditarod, moose stories,weather photos, etc but I just had to jump ahead to my moose encounter from Fri evening(yesterday).

This young cow has been a familiar sight the last week or so, hanging in the neighbors yard eating trash and ours eating shoots. Fri evening my youngest spotted her along the property line having a snack. Of course I had to go out there and get some photos!

She would eat a bit, then watch me watching her, then go back to eating, etc. Then she starts staring at me pretty intensely and I wont lie, I was getting nervous! Next thing I know she is running right towards me(I was standing on our back deck)! I grab the screen door, throw it open and fly into the house, not knowing what she had planned for me.

Well, apparently she was very interested in the bird feeder and bread that I have out for the birds on the back deck. She came over and started munching away on the bread! Now, I am seriously freaking out at this point because I am SO excited, and I start squeaking my youngest sons name, because I wanted someone else to be able to verify what I was seeing!

While all of this is going on hubby comes home from work and starts bellowing my name. I dont want him to spook the moose, who is right at the back door, so I am trying to quietly hush him(and if you know my husband, you know he isnt exactly the quiet type!). He finally sees me and realizes whats going on. He comes over to the door, which I am hanging half out of now, and the moose spooks back a bit.

I have a zoom lens on so I tell hubby to get out on the deck and talk to the moose while I switch lenses quick. I get that done in record time and when I get back there hubby is just inches from the moose, as she is extending her head over the railing and he is completely outside on the deck now.

We stood out there with her for as long as we could but it was about 6:45pm and 14* out and when my fingers went numb I couldnt take anymore photos :) She stuck around for quite a bit after we went in and unfortunately for the birds there will be no more bread for a while, as we dont want her to think we are a food source :(

Standing along the property line, watching me very intently. Little did I know.....

Why is this blurry? Because she started to run towards me and my chicken butt was hightailing it through the door!

I always feel like, somebodys watching me.....

This was shortly after she ran towards me. Jim came home and his arrival at the door spooked her a bit and she headed back into the yard.

Took this pic from the dining room window, watching her decide to make her way back to the deck:

Another view from inside the house. Thats Alexanders head in the bottom of the pic. He could care less about the moose just a few feet away outside.

Making her way down the path to the back deck. I thought it was hilarious that she was using the path I shoveled so I could get in the backyard for moose and bird photos!

As she was approaching I'm looking at those hooves and feeling kind of scared!

Is she going to do it? I think so!

Moving in on bread that was there for the birds:

Didnt need much of a lens for this, as we were thisclose to her:

She got a little spooked and backed off a bit:

Going after birdseed and bread in the snow:

All dusted with snow now:

Thats a pretty good sized snout!

Hanging out, looking for more bread I think:

The haze on the right side of the photo is actually hubbys breath since it was cold:

Do you think she is trying to tell us something?

Fur Rendezvous-Part 2(scroll down for previous posts)

There was so much to see and do at Fur Rondy, and as we only had time in our schedules to head down on Feb.27th we had to try and fit what we could into 1 day. As the festival spans 2 weekends we've already decided that next yr we'll make time to spend 2 days there to really see it all!

After the sled dog races we headed over to the fur auction. Our daughter is a tree hugger(said in the nicest way possible!) and cannot tolerate anything to do with dead animals(well, except for the food she eats but thats a whole 'nother post) so I, being the very kind and loving mom that I am, had to get some good photos of the furs for her :) She does know that one of these days I am going to buy myself a nice fox or beaver hat, because not only are they gorgeous but they are WARM!

We also happened upon the blanket toss. From Wikipedia, a description of why the blanket toss takes place:

Nalukataq is the spring whaling festival of the Inupiaq Eskimos of Northern Alaska, and is characterized most famously by the Eskimo blanket toss.

After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. These take place in June, and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages to allow friends and relatives from distant communities to share the bounty and the fun. In Barrow, for example, Nalukataq is usually in the third week of June. Other villages may be in the week before or the week after. Scheduling depends on how many whales were caught as well as other factors.

Nalukataq serves two purposes: First, it is a celebration of thanksgiving for success. Second, it is the first of several times during the year when quaq (frozen whale meat)^[1] and muktuk (whale blubber and skin) are distributed to the community. The ability to produce and distribute wealth amongst the community is highly valued in Eskimo cultures, and whaling captains, who always give away large portions of their whales, gain great stature and respect within the village for every whale they catch.

Festive clothing is commonly worn to the event, and highly decorated mukluks and parkas of seal, caribou, wolverine, wolf, and fox are abundant.

There are several stages to the celebration. It begins with a prayer, and a raising of the crews' flags at around noon. Then bread, coffee, and initially various soups of goose and caribou are distributed. Following that, all of the food is one part or another of the whale. The flippers and certain of the guts of the whale are offered to visitors.

After a break, filled by singing and story telling, the whaling crews begin to distribute the catch to each family who attends the event. The amount which is given away depends on the size and number of whales harvested. First comes the quaq, which is whale meat frozen raw and cut into cubes. Next is the avarraq, the flukes of the whale cut into thin strips. Once these have been distributed, the various other cuts of muktuk are distributed frozen, with skin on. A hiatus of a couple of hours follows this, in which time everyone feasts on the catch.

In this interim period, the Nalukataq blanket is erected. It is made from several Bearded Seal skins sewn together in a circle or square. A rope extends from each corner, and is pulled tightly between four wooden beams using block and tackle. This raises the blanket to about waist height. Men and women circle the blanket and hold the edges, and pull out on the blanket to throw the blanket dancer in the air.

Anyone may be thrown on the blanket, but traditionally the captains and their wives go first. Originally they threw out goods, such as clothing, tools, or food as a means of demonstrating their ability to provide, but today that tradition has evolved, and wives of the captains throw candy to surrounding children once airborne. This event is the highlight and namesake of the festival, and may last several hours.

Following the blanket toss, everyone gathers for a traditional dance. Here, everyone is welcome to dance.

After Joseph(my youngest) watched several girls be tossed up he decided he wanted to try and hopped on. Holy moly did he get some serious air and he had a great time while learning important things about native culture. How much cooler can it get?

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We saw these fox pelts for sale at a store along 4th Ave as we made our way to the actual fur auction:

This is what its all about:

Wolf pelts, and boy were they big:

I loved this guys hat. I *think* it was a lynx but dont quote me on that!:

Wow, check out the hat and gloves(and yes, those are gloves)!

The view as we headed to the fur auction and carnival area:

The husband(on the right with the red hood on) helping out with the blanet toss:

After watching the girls Joseph felt he was man enough to give it a try :)

All 3 of my boys are taking part...Joseph is on the blanket, Alexander has the bright orange hat on in the bottom right and the husband is off to right with the red hood on(next to the shorter gentleman with the black cap). The more people pulling the blanket the higher you can send the person:

I wish these photos had come out better! I dont know if I had changed my settings or if I was just so excited to see my boy getting some serious air!

I wish I had been able to understand both groups. We happened upon the community stage at various times during the day and their music was very captivating and almost haunting in a way. I was completely mesmerized by both performances:

Trying to get caught up--Fur Rendezvous Part 1

Wow, I am really behind on posting! I need to get photos up for our trip into Anchorage for the Fur Rondy, a moose encounter from this past Saturday and then the big event we went to yesterday, the 2010 Iditarod! Obviously its going to take me a few days to get all of this up and posted so please be patient and keep checking back(or send a request to be added as a member of this blog, then you get automatic notices whenever I update).

First up, the first round of pictures from the Fur Rendezvous, also known as the Fur Rondy. It began in 1935 as a winter carnival to coincide with the trappers coming to town with all their goods. At that point in time fur trading was the 2nd leading industry in Alaska, but its also quite popular today. At work I recently met a fella who has a 200 mile trapline. He catches lynx, marten,wolvernine and beaver to just name a few!

We also got some new snow right before Fur Rondy so that worked out perfectly!

Woohoooo, here we are at Fur Rondy!

A musher had this on his truck. It was one of the first things we saw when we headed over to the staging area. I think the pic speaks for itself.

A mushers sled:

A musher applying vaseline to the pads of his dogs feet. I asked why this was done and he told me it keeps the snow from building up on the paws.

Scenes from the sled dog races. The firefighters were used to hold down the sleds at the starting line.The dogs are ready to go and if snowmachines and firefghters arent used to keep the sled in place then kiss that team goodbye because the dogs will take off, with or without a musher on board!

The temp wasnt too bad while we were there. It did get colder towards the evening when a breeze started coming in off the inlet.

Iron Dog 2010-Part 4(scroll down for previous entries)

Here is the final part for Iron Dog 2010. Pictures are from when we were making our way back to the truck to head home after a fun afternoon!

Coming up in the next few days I will have photos regarding our trip into Anchorage this past Sat for the Fur Rendezvous. Its a winter carnival that goes back to the days when fur trading was the #2 industry in Alaska!

People checking out some classic snowmachines.....

Gee, I wonder who that trailer belongs too? Hmmm......

Going, going, gone......

Iron Dog 2010-Part 3(scroll down for parts 1 and 2)

Here is round 3 of photos from the starting point of Iron Dog 2010, Big Lake Alaska.

Spectators lining the trail:

Team #5 moves on out after getting the green flag. Family members were able to wave the flags for each team:

Team #20, the only all-female team in the race(and the only females in the race at all this yr) come on out:

Team #22 waits to move up to the starting line:

Both Scott Davis and Todd Palin had their family members names on the shields of their snowmachines(thats Willow written in orange above Bristol and Tripp):

Piper Palin waved the green flag for Team #22, Todd Palin and Scott Davis. She is too cute:

There was a slight mishap behind them as team #13 waited to move up to the starting line:

The gal with the green flag is my daughters math teacher, and her husband is on team #13:

Iron Dog 2010-Part 2(scroll down for part 1)

Here are some more photos from Iron Dog 2010:

This is one way to watch the race:

Racers leave the racers pit, come through this and wait until they are called to the starting line:

Racers at the starting line, waiting for the presentation of colors and the national anthem. In the 3rd photo that is Ryan Sottosanti of team 2 looking back.

Racers put tape on their face to protect against frostbite:

The 2 ladies in the middle make up the only all-female team in the race, and the third all-female team in race history. Thats Tammy Barber on the left and Jana Pevan on the right. Our daughter goes to school with Tammy's oldest son. As of 3:45pm Tues they are in 17th place.

Team 2 at the starting line, waiting to get the green flag:

Team 15 waiting to move up to the starting line:

Team 8 waiting to move up to the starting line:

Presentation of colors and the national anthem sung by this Master Sgt. I wish I could remember his name,he did a fantastic job!

Iron Dog 2010-Part 1

Yesterday we headed over to Big Lake to watch the start of the 2010 Iron Dog race. No, its not a race involving dogs but rather snowmobiles. Its the longest, toughest snowmobile race in the world. Teams start in Big Lake AK, ride up to Nome and then swing back down and head to Fairbanks for the finish. All teams are made up of 2 people, as the race goes through some pretty desolate areas of the state and we all know there is safety in numbers!

To get to the race you have to drive onto Big Lake(which is a few miles from our house).Ever watch the show Ice Road Truckers? Well, thats what we were doing...driving my truck out on the frozen lake. We've had a VERY warm Feb., temps in the 40's the last 2 weeks or so, and so we were a bit worried about the strength of the ice. It did crack when we were standing at the starting line waiting for the race to begin but thankfully my family didnt notice! My daughter would have hightailed it out of there,LOL.

I have a lot of pictures from the race so I am going to do it in parts over the next few days. These photos will focus on our arrival at the race and some of the sights we saw.

We've arrived at Iron Dog 2010! Thats our youngest, Joseph, off to the right in the blue jacket:

One of the views as we were driving across the lake:

This is one of my favorite shots. I love the planes with the Chugach Mtns in the background. Its too bad I am petrified of little planes like this. It must be pretty neat to just fly in to watch events such as these. After the race we got to see the tan and brown plane take off, which I'll show in another post:

The lake is one big parking lot:

Safety first:

There was a lot of overflow in some spots, which made my family nervous but which others enjoyed:

Team #22-Todd Palin(in the background) and Scott Davis. They are both veterans of this race, Davis having won 7 titles and Palin 4. Unfortunately we learned this morning they scratched because of an injury Davis sustained on the trail:

The racers pit:

The racers just milling about in the pit:

The Iron Dog 2010 banner hanging over the starting line:

Rain...and moose, of course!

The temps are still up above freezing, and the snow is rapidly disappearing. Right now its 9:55amAKST and its 40*. That is just wrong for February in southcentral Alaska!

I thought the melting snow would keep the moose away but boy was I wrong. Yesterday my daughter came home from school and she burst through the door going "mom, get outside, there is a moose out there!". I grabbed the camera and headed outside, but we didnt see the moose. We had just about given up when my daughter noticed the moose just over the ridge, standing next to the neighbors house. He wandered along their driveway, munching on trees and just taking his time. He disappeared from view and I just stood in my yard, patiently waiting. Sure enough he was scared by traffic and the warning bells from the train tracks and headed right back into my yard.

This is the closest I have EVER been to a moose and let me say, it was AWESOME! He was about 30 feet away from me and I could see his teeth and hear him chew plain as day. It was just incredible. He wasnt phased by me at all and occasionally would look up from his snack to give me a quick glance and then it was back to the feast in front of him. However, I fully understand that wild animals are very unpredictable and from where I was standing I had my truck a few feet away and could run over to it for cover if I needed too.

My daughter took this photo of me while I was taking photos of the moose!

Less snow,more moose

Shortly after we got the latest snowfall our temperatures began to rise again and I've been watching the snow slowly recede. Today when my husband drove to work it was actually raining quite hard through Wasilla. No rain here at the house thankfully, just wind.

Even though the snow is receding I've been seeing more moose, with 2 visits from a cow right in our backyard! Its always a nice surprise to glance out the dining room window and see a moose munching away in the backyard!

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Feb.13...the moose appeared out of nowhere in the backyard. We had all been cleaning up the kitchen and dining room area and I had just been gazing out the window. I turned for a sec, then went back to looking out the window and there she was! It was also very unusual because it was about 3pm and the moose are usually not seen at that time of day, as they prefer early morning hrs or dusk. Needless to say I grabbed the camera and went out to admire our visitor. Such a pretty girl!

Before the clouds moved back in the sky was a bright blue. I really liked this image of the plane against the blue:

Feb.11 and a cow(female moose) is visiting our backyard. She wasnt quite sure what to make of me and her ears kept going down, so I stayed back against the house:

On Feb.10 I was feeling a bit down, so I headed down this road, which is where I always go when I want to see some moose. Sure enough I found 3 moose along the road, but this bull moose is the only one that positioned himself well enough for some photos. You can see the spots on his head where his antlers should be. Male moose lose their antlers in the fall and they grow back in the spring.

More snow!

I am SO excited! We finally got more snow over the weekend! We havent seen any snow since the beginning of January and I was starting to think that this winter was going to be a big, fat bust! Then on Saturday the snow started to fall, giving us about 4", and then overnight Sunday more snow fell,giving us a grand total of about 8-10" of snow. I have my winter wonderland back, yeah!!

Here are some random photos from the weekend. Our neighbors were probably wondering if I was okay, because I stood out in the snow forever on Saturday. I love doing that--listening to the birds, snowflakes falling around me, looking at the perfectly white landscape..just enjoying everything that winter brings!

Standing at the bottom of the driveway,looking down the street:

At the corner of our street and the highway, then on down the highway to the store we go:

Headed home.The snow has stopped but not for long:

The snow brings out all kinds of different modes of transportation:

Getting ready to zoom along the side of the highway:

Along the highway:

Racing by the house:

My snowmen are happy again:

The black capped chickadees are faithful visitors:

And the woodpecker came to visit also:

In the woods behind the house:

An image of summer lingers..a fireweed stalk dusted with snow:

Behind...

I'm a bit behind on getting photos uploaded! These photos are from Jan.23. We went into Wasilla to run some errands that day.

Depending on where you are in Wasilla you are either greeted by the Chugach Mtns:

Or the Talkeetna Mtns:

Wasilla Lake and the alpenglow on the Chugach Mtns:

On the shore of Lake Lucille, watching the skies come alive. Looking off to left:

The same spot, Lake Lucille, looking off to the right:

The sunset's gorgeous colors in full bloom, as seen just a few miles from our home:

I warned you!

Yes, I did warn you, dont try and deny it! I said that this time of yr I'd get crazy with moose photos and heck, who am I to disappoint those who may be checking out this site?

The first set is from Jan.20. My daughter had just gotten home from school and one of her chores is to take our dogs out in the afternoon. She was out for a few mins and then came running in to tell me that there was moose across the street in the neighbors yard.

The neighbors property sits right along the lake and the moose love to browse through the trees there and just chill out. If they need to run there is the frozen lake or plenty of woods to take cover. I grabbed the camera and headed out to find a Mama with her calf out there. The calf actually came out of the trees for a bit so I was able to get a few shots.

The second set is from Jan.24. I was in bed sleeping when all of a sudden the husband comes roaring in the bedroom telling me to wake up, there were moose in the backyard. Thats all I needed to hear! Once again I grabbed the camera and headed outside in my jammas. Mama was wandering through our backyard and the calf was back a bit in the woods. As the morning wore on they both ended up next door in my neighbors yard. This is the first time all winter that I have seen moose in my yard and I was SO excited! As I write this they are currently out there again,roaming the back edge of the property. Still too dark to take photos though.And yes, I do think this is the same moose and calf in all the encounters.

Also, here is a little video that my youngest son, Joseph, made of the moose in the yard. I had no clue he did this until later on in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muLGn_wYx-o

Jan.20 moose encounter--Mama spotted me through the trees:

The calf....I love those legs, they crack me up!

Jan.25 moose encounter-Mama:

Determining if I am a threat or not:

Aw heck, the lady with the camera caught me chewing on her tree:

Headed into the garden:

Standing in my garden, watching the lady with the camera:

The calf in the neighbors yard:

Busted! Having a snack:

Just a few images...

Yesterday the kids didnt have school so we just hung out here at the house. These are just a few random pics from our Monday.....

Black capped chickadees in a tree in my backyard. I keep these little birds very well fed so they come to visit everyday,singing to me and keeping me company:

Courtney had a friend spend the night Sunday and when we took her home we spotted a Mama and her baby having a snack:

See the baby hiding in the trees?

The sunset as seen from Houston Alaska, looking towards the Anchorage area. The photo was taken at 4:15pm AKST:

Moose stalking in the snow

I was so happy when I woke up yesterday morning and saw snow falling. That was the first snow we've seen since before Christmas! Now everything seems fresh and new again with a couple of inches of new snow!

Alexander had to go see the audiologist so we arrived in Wasilla around 9:05am. The entire way in it was snowing pretty heavily with limited visibility. That was ok with me! Although the radio was keeping us updated about ditch divers and accidents throughout the area I didnt have any problems coming into town. There was a long line of cars in front of me(2 lane highway all the way into town) and everyone was going slow, taking their time and being careful:

Just 30 mins later we went by Wasilla Lake and it had stopped snowing completely :

By the time we got back to our area it was snowing again but I said what the heck, I need a moose fix! As I turned onto Big Lake Rd my son asked me where we were going. Moose stalking son, thats where :) I headed over to the side road that I always go too when I want a moose sighting and again I was not disappointed. We saw 6 moose along the way but these 2 were closest to the road so they became my subjects :)

Trip Into Anchorage-Part 2

Here is the 2nd round of photos from our day trip into Anchorage on Saturday. If you are just dropping by, scroll down for the first round of photos:

Entering Earthquake Park:

Views from the trail:

The kids having fun with a colorful moose:

We came across the Crystal Gallery Ice Carving Competition. Very cool(no pun intended!) to watch:

Trip Into Anchorage-Part 1

On Jan.7 our oldest son turned 16 (holy cow, where has the time gone?!) and as part of his birthday celebration he wanted to spend a day in Anchorage and hit up some of his favorite stores. I figured since we were heading into the city we might as well as visit one of my favorite spots there, Earthquake Park. Its on the site where land disappeared into the water during the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and 75 homes were lost. The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail also goes through the park and offers some great views.

There are quite a few pictures so I am going to break this up into 2 posts, 1 today and 1 tomorrow.

Leaving Wasilla. You can see what a beautiful winter day it was. I never tire of looking at those snow covered mtns:

Once you left Wasilla the trees along the highway were covered with hoarfrost:

Headed through downtown Anchorage,where we would come back too after our visit to the park:

Arriving at the end of the road in Anchorage,or so it seems:

Looking across the parking lot:

Heading down the trail:

The 2 airports in the area were very busy with the beautiful day and planes were overhead the entire time we were out:

A beautiful snow canopy along the trail:

Joseph and Courtney heading down the trail from Earthquake Park:

The Anchorage skyline as seen from the trail:

Mount Susitna aka The Sleeping Lady:

Visiting the lake...

Yesterday it was a warm 13* so Jim and I decided to walk down to the lake, which has been frozen since mid-November or so. The older 2 elected to stay home but our youngest joined us for the outing.

We've seen cars, trucks and snowmobiles on the ice(and moose!) so we knew the ice would be strong enough to support us. However, in this sense we are still cheechakos(an Alaskan word for folks new to AK) and we stayed close to shore. I'm a wuss, I admit it. My worst fear is drowning and so I have horrible visions of the ice opening up beneath me. Sad, I know!

It was a cloudy day, what some might consider gloomy, and so I decided not to retouch any of these photos. There are some where the flash was in use and so it looks brighter but in reality it was a pretty gray day. Right now we have about 5hrs38mins of daylight, as the sun rises around 10:15am and sets about 3:53pm.

As you can see the ice is pretty thick. It goes down deeper past the fresh snow:

Snowmachine tracks leading into the woods and on the lake:

Our neighbor owns a floatplane, so thats why you see the windsock in the 2nd picture:

Black spruce trees line the shoreline:

Our place as seen from the lake:

A snowmachine whizzing by the ice fishing hut:

Some folks out ice fishing. During the spring and summer that is actually Jim and Josephs favorite spot to catch some rainbow trout:

Hello 2010

It is now 2010, and I hope it brings much better times than 2009, or even 2008, brought forth!

We had a quiet New Years Eve, which is the way we like it. We are not drinkers, dont care for the party scene and honestly, have no desire to be out on the road NYE night! Instead we stay at home, make a huge buffet of food, play games and watch movies, then set off some fireworks. We are the only town in the Mat-Su Borough where fireworks are completely legal on private property 365/24/7. The firework stands are about 3 miles down the road from us and Jim picked up a few things for NYE. When we finally headed outside about 11pm to set them off the kids werent too happy, as it was about -6 out and this caused The Husband to be a bit slow when getting everything set up. Ooooops! What he did send up into the air was pretty though and we did enjoy it. I managed to get a few pictures but it was just too cold to really stand there and get ready for a shot! When we were done with our fireworks we walked to the front yard and watched the various fireworks going off across the lake(okay, some of us did, while others who were too cold went inside).

On New Years Day we headed into Wasilla for a few things and I had The Husband stop at Wasilla Lake so I could grab a few pictures of some of the decorations they have set up along the shore, as well as a shot of the ice skating rink the city made. Once again it was about -8 or so and I had to hold my breath when taking the photos because my ice breath came across as a ghostly mist in some of the shots!

And what the heck, here is one of the photos where my frozen breath appeared as mist in the photo.Also, dont let those snowpiles fool you. We havent had snow since the week before Christmas. This winter El Nino is causing higher than normal temps and less snowfall:

Goodbye 2009

2009 is coming to an end, and I cant say I'm sorry to see it go. My family has had a rough yr, with many things going on and so I say bring on 2010, with more smiles and laughter!

I'd like to say thank you to those who drop by this site to see the photos. I do hope you've enjoyed what I've posted over the yr(s). I love Alaska and my life here, and I really want that to show in the pictures I share. Alaska has captured my heart like no other place I have been, and I feel honored to be able to go out and showcase her beauty.

No pictures today, I am just going to end 2009 with a simple thank you....

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

From our home to yours, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. May your day be filled with magic and love!

The day after the storm....

The snowstorm ended on Thurs and Fri(Dec.18th) brought us blue skies as a background for all the white. In the end we got close to 2ft of snow, which to Alaska is no big deal but if you're on the east coast right now its a huge disaster (hey, I'm a New Englander by birth, I can make fun of the way they are freaking out over all the snow!). In Alaska the town of Valdez saw over 7ft of snow in a 2 day period. Now THAT is a snowfall! I told Jim I wanted to move to Valdez but he said "I dont think so!". Awww, no sense of adventure with that one

The house the night the storm ended. Plenty of snow for my Christmas decorations now:

Looking at the back of the house from the woods:

See the position of the sun in the sky? This time of yr thats as high as it gets:

Ask and ye shall receive....

I wanted snow and boy did I get it Its been snowing since about 10am Monday morning and we are currently under a winter weather advisory until 4pm today. We've already gotten about 8" of snow and could see up to a foot of snow by this evening! Right now I am looking out my dining room window and the snow is still a'falling! Here are some images taken from local DOT cameras at various spots in the area. These are all from around 10:30am(about 25 mins ago). If you are interested in the DOT cameras between Anchorage and Fairbanks you can go to this link: DOT Roadcams The camera near my place is the one called Parks Hwy @ Hawk Lane.

This view is right by our house. The webcam is at mile 53.2(looking towards Wasilla) and the turn for our road is at mile 54.5. You can see that even at 10:30 in the morning its still dark and with the snowfall visibility isnt great.

This view shows the Knik River bridge #2, which is on the way out of Wasilla heading towards Anchorage. This bridge can get very slick and this area leads into the Palmer Hay Flats,the stretch of highway known for accidents and moose vs vehicle collisions:

This is from the Eagle River camera. This is the general area Jim works in and the commute through here gets pretty bad when it snows. Because people have studded tires on their vehicles 7 months of the year nasty ruts develop in the road and if you happen to hit the rut wrong it catapults you out of your lane. Its a scary experience! This particular area is also known for its 'ditch divers'--folks who end up in the ditches along the highway and in the median dividing the directions of traffic:

Christmas parade and fireworks

This weekend was the annual Colony Christmas Days in Palmer, and every yr we head over there to watch the parade and fireworks. Last yr I believe it was about -10 out when we went, but this yr it was a balmy 2*. Its a nice little parade and we always enjoy it(although we did have to leave it early last yr because the kids didnt dress properly and got too cold). The parade started shortly after 5pm and then the fireworks were at 6:30pm.

How cool is this ice garden that the local garden club made?

Moose and Hoarfrost

*Fair warning--this is the time of yr when I go moose crazy. That means a winter full of moose tales and photos! If you dont mind reading about them constantly, please proceed. If you are like my husband and wonder how many moose pictures one person really needs, then you might want to move on to another blog for the next few months, hehehehe :0)*

Moose and hoarfrost, thats what I was out photographing this morning! Its been cold and foggy the last few days and a thick layer of hoarfrost has developed on everything. I headed out to the store this morning and of course had to take a detour to see if any moose were at the creek, and yes, yes they were. I first spotted a moose off to the right as I came driving up and got out of the truck to get photos of her. Knowing that when there is 1 more are sure to be around I decided to cross the street and see if I could spot any moose on that side. It took a minute but then I suddenly noticed a large brown shape behind the white of the branches, and then the shape moved. Bingo! I stood there taking photos of her for quite some time and then she started to get a bit nervous as more cars drove by. Well, turns out that she had a baby with her! It was off to the left, hidden in the brush. I am so glad I stayed off to the side, as I dont want an angry cow rushing me! I backed off and they started to run through the brush. I could hear a large truck approaching and next thing I knew Mama and her baby were running across the road. I started snapping photos while trying to walk backwards on the icy shoulder, hoping that the moose kept running straight ahead and didnt veer off in my direction. The truck stopped, the moose made it across the road safely and they disappeared into the brush. I decided that it was a good time to go back and sit in my truck and get warm :0)

This one was back from the road a bit, apparently keeping an eye on me and the other moose.

Christmas is in the air...and I see some moose....

On Fri, Dec.4th, I headed down the road to Three Bears(a small, Costco like store) to grab some food for my daughters 14th birthday party being held that night. On the way home I decided to head down one of the back roads that I can usually find moose on, especially at that time of day(sunrise). I was not disappointed! There were 4 moose there, wandering along the frozen creek and just munching on the trees. It was cloudy and with the sun not quite up it was hard to get some good pics but I tried! (2 of the moose ended up in the trees and I didnt get any clear shots of them, and the 4th one was across the street on the other side of the creek. My photos of her didnt come out that great either)

If you look in the bottom left corner you'll see the temp was 10* on Friday morning when I went to the store. That was about 8:45 AM AKST. Then when I was out stalking the moose there was an absolutely gorgeous sunrise!

These signs are posted in both directions as you are leaving the Wasilla area on the Parks Hwy, in an area called the Palmer Hay Flats. Its an wildlife refuge area and the moose love to come here. Its a flat area and the fog really likes to sit in there and with our dark winter days it can be very hard to see a moose coming across the highway:

The old Wasilla town site is located right across from the post office we use and they have their buildings lit up. You can read about the buildings here: Old Wasilla Townsite

A trip into Wasilla and Palmer

The high school my oldest son attends holds a large Christmas bazaar, the largest in the Mat-Su Valley if I remember correctly. We didnt go last yr and he was upset, so we made sure to go this year. Wow, were we impressed! I told The Husband we'll have to set aside more money next year so we can get all of our Christmas shopping done in one shot at the bazaar!

While it was a cloudy day, which also turned into quite a windy one in Palmer and Wasilla, it was great to just get out and have some family time.

Here are some photos from our trip into town:

Taken on Saturday morning about 9:30am:

Headed down the Parks Hwy, about the first 3 miles from our house.The other night when I got off work around 11pm it was snowing like mad and I could not see a thing on this road! I was just praying that a moose didnt appear before me in the road:

Its a warm afternoon in southcentral Alaska:

The Parks Hwy headed towards Wasilla. To the right of the signs you can see the snowmachine trail along the road:

Sitting at the light at Main St and the Parks Hwy,looking at the Chugach Mtns:

How much is gas where you live? Leave a comment and share!

Pioneer Peak, one of my favorite subjects, watching over the Mat-Su Valley:

Headed towards Palmer on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. This road is named as one of Alaska's most dangerous rds. Sure offers a pretty view though:

Looking across the school parking lot(Palmer AK). These photos were taken close to sunset, somewhere around 3:45,4pm:

Where my oldest goes to high school, and where you'll find the Mat-Su Valleys best Christmas bazaar:

If you stand in front of my sons high school this is the view you'll have:

White Thanksgiving

We had a white Thanksgiving here, with more snow falling on Friday the 27th. Unfortunately the heaviest snow fell in Anchorage and Wasilla, and we only saw about an inch here in our neck of the woods. Usually its the other way around. Here are a few photos from Friday. As you'll see some of these photos appear a bit dark. I could have used Photoshop to lighten them but that wouldn't be a true representation of what it was like here.I took the photos around 1pm and it was pretty dark as the snow fell.

Actual Time	9:41 AM AKST	3:52 PM AKST
Civil Twilight	8:43 AM AKST	4:50 PM AKST
Nautical Twilight	7:46 AM AKST	5:47 PM AKST
Astronomical Twilight	6:53 AM AKST	6:40 PM AKST
Moon	1:59 PM AKST	4:59 AM AKST
Length Of Visible Light:	8h 06m
Length of Day	6h 10m Tomorrow will be 3m 56s shorter.

Alaska skies.....

No matter what direction I looked this morning the skies offered something different to look at.The sun is now rising at 9:30am and setting about 4pm. I can watch the sun rise just above the mountains that can be seen across the lake and then in the late afternnon the trees in the backyard are washed with a vibrant pink as the sun once again descends.

The last 2 weeks we had temps that remained between -15 and -22. Quite a difference after the unseasonably warm October we had. On Monday a system moved in that brought us high winds and more moderate temps, upper 30's and such. Right now the thermometer is hovering at 29*.

**I cant gurantee that I'll be updating this blog as regularly as I normally do. My father is ill and right now my heart isnt really into much of anything at the moment. I will try my best to get some photos to share**

Excursion into Wasilla

My oldest had an appt for his hearing aids in Wasilla Thurs afternoon so we stopped by Wasilla Lake to get a few pictures. If you are new to this blog you will soon see that Wasilla Lake is one of my favorite spots for taking pictures. I just love standing there in the middle of town and seeing the beautiful mountains surrounding us.The photos at Wasilla Lake were taken around 3:30pm AKST. You can see that we are starting to approach sunset around that time.

**Just a little sidenote..I am posting this entry at 12:35am Sat morning and we're having our coldest temps so far. Its currently -8* with a windchill of -14*. Not too shabby! I've got the woodstove going strong so the house is nice and toasty!**

Nuthatches getting some food in the backyard.

A nuthatch in my backyard. I've been stalking these little creatures since there havent been any moose around!

This was taken in my yard,about 9am or so Thurs.

Someone took a snowmachine on the ice already. Brave soul--you couldnt pay me to go out on the ice yet!See the sunset reflecting in the windows of the buildings?

FINALLY!!!

Snow has finally arrived in southcentral Alaska!! Our first snowfall arrived on Sun., Nov.8th and we got about 2" of snow that day. Our daughter also ended up winning the pool we had going on for when the first snow would fly. She had picked Mon. Nov.9th so she was off by just a few hours!

Todays storm really made up for the late snowfall. It is now about 5:40pm AKST and we have just over 6" of snow. I love it!! I've been outside in the snow all day enjoying every bit of it. Here are some random photos of our day today:

**As this is Veterans Day I would like to take a moment to thank all of the men and women who have honorably served in the United States military. Your service and dedication to this country is very much appreciated. As a Navy veteran myself I salute you and thank you. A special thank you also goes out to my husband, a retired Navy Corpsman and to my dad,who served in the United States Marine Corps!**

Ice is here,but still no snow

On Friday I had to take my youngest into Anchorage for a doctors appt so we stopped by the Knik River on the way home. Our nighttime temps have consistently been staying below freezing and the river is freezing up. This river is about 25 miles long and its source is the Knik Glacier.

One of my favorite visitors...

This female hairy woodpecker is a daily visitor to my suet feeders and I love watching her! She hangs on the feeder and spins around, eating away and not seeming to have a care in the world. In these particular photos she is at the feeder I have mounted just inches from our dining room window and our cat Bismarck and our husky Skye go nuts watching the birds feed.

Hairy woodpeckers are one of the most common woodpeckers across the US, and the male has a red tuft on his head, whereas the female has the black and white bands.

Not-so-patiently waiting....

As I mentioned in my Halloween posting, we had some nasty winds last week. Thurs and Fri we had winds 35 mph+ with guts up to 75mph. In other parts of the US this could be enough for tropical store warnings...here in Alaska its just another windy day! We headed into Wasilla the afternoon of Halloween to pick up some things and the wind was pushing the truck around and the haze that can be seen in some of these photos is actually glacial silt, volcanic ash and dust from the Valley being blown around and blocking the view of the mountains.

Heading down the Parks Hwy in Wasilla. See that stoplight? If you turn right there it will take you to the home of a certain former Gov. of Alaska:

The wind really had Wasilla Lake moving:

Pioneer Peak through the haze:

Yesterday morning we headed down to the lake across the street to see what was going on, if anything. It now has a thin layer of ice on it, so no more fishing until we can get out there and drill through the ice for some ice fishing!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from southcentral Alaska! While we dont have snow we do have cold temps and winds about 35 mph for our trick or treating pleasure. At 8:40pm its currently 26* out. I took the kids to a local fire station for their haunted house, and then we went by a neighbors house on the way home. Unlike previous places we have lived there just really isnt anywhere to trick or treat near our house and with the winds being so bad I didnt feel like taking the kids to a neighborhood in Wasilla. Bad mom, I know!

This is a photo of the younger 2 dressed up. My 15 yr old didnt want to participate. The pumpkin was carved by The Husband.

Slowly but surely...

On Monday I dropped Alexander off at a retreat for deaf kids, put on by the Alaska School for the Deaf. The retreat was held in Chugiak, which is located south of Wasilla, along the way to Anchorage. I thought the mtn tops there might be covered in snow but that wasnt the case. Except for a very light dusting on the highest peak there was no snow to be seen anywhere..

That wasnt the case today though when I went to pick up Alexander. Snow fell on the higher elevations yesterday and gave these mountain tops a bit of a dusting...

Well of course I had to grab a shot of Pioneer Peak as I was headed out of Wasilla to get Alexander..

Finally, some good snowfall on those mountains! On the way home Alexander and I stopped at Wasilla Lake so I could get some shots of the mountains. I love seeing them covered with snow, it just overwhelms me...and they arent even fully covered yet! I just think its one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I feel so lucky to be able to live here and see this every day.

It was quite breezy at the lake and so while I just trying to warm my fingers back up I took this shot of Pioneer Peak while sitting in my warm truck in the parking lot.

Termination dust is back, and beautiful sunrises

One nice thing about fall and winter in Alaska is that even those of us who dont get up early can enjoy a sunrise, which other times of the yr really isnt on the table for us :0) The sunrise photos were taken around 8:40am Fri and then about 9:30am today(Sat).

Termination dust is also back on some of the higher mountain peaks. Hopefully it keeps moving lower and lower. We've had absolutely no sign of snow here in the lowlands.

Random

These are just some random shots that I've taken over the last week or so. While our temps have dropped into the mid-20's, low 30's at night we still havent seen any snow and more rain is in the forecast for the next few days.

These next 2 photos are pretty poor quality,but I wanted to include them anyway. I was headed to my youngest's school and spotted this cow and her calf in someones backyard. They were standing next to the swingset but I think a certain someone slamming on her brakes and stopping her truck spooked them a bit((cough cough, sorry moose!)). As I started back down the road this guy on an ATV, training a sled dog team, appeared on the trail that runs beside the road.

These photos were taken at a little observation area right next to the Big Lake Library. Big Lake is the community right next to the one I live in, and it is a popular summer destination, although more and more folks are settling here full time. These photos represent new growth and new beginnings. In 1996 a fire roared through this area, in the end burning over 37,000 acres and earning the distinction of the most destructive wildfire ever in Alaska. Walking through these woods one can still see burned bark on trees, stumps that are black yet surrounded by new green that has sprung up over the yrs. In the pics above, with the dog team, that entire area was also burned by the fire and blackened spruce still litters the landscape.

This is all fireweed that has gone to seed. If you saw pictures I'd posted a few months ago these used to be a bright fuschia color.

This.Just.Stinks.

Well this just stinks! We're coming up on mid-October and we're not even close to getting snow here in the Valley! I guess last year I got spoiled by our first snow on Oct.7. This year we are having above average temps and there doesnt seem to be an end in sight. Check out the weather forecast for the next few days:

Today

Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Areas of fog in the morning. Highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Variable wind to 10 mph.

» ZIP Code Detail

Tonight

Mostly clear. Areas of fog after midnight. Lows in the mid 30s to lower 40s. Light winds.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Variable wind to 10 mph.

» ZIP Code Detail

Tuesday Night

Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s to lower 40s. Light winds.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Light winds.

» ZIP Code Detail

Wednesday Night and Thursday

Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s to lower 40s. Highs in the mid 40s to lower 50s.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows in the 30s.

Friday through Sunday

Mostly cloudy. Highs in the 40s. Lows in the 30s.

Ugh,so not what I want to see! I am just waiting for the morning where I wake up and its a winter wonderland outside of my window! Even the termination dust on the mountains has dwindled down to almost nothing, as the pictures show.

51* on Oct.11, about 2pm. We were warmer than my family in CO, who had had snow and ice at their place! Someone needs to tell El Nino to GO AWAY!

Arriving in Wasilla. When these mountains are completely covered in snow its a wonderful way to be greeted as you drive into town:

Headed into Anchorage. See how bare the Chugach Mtns are now?

Our days are also getting shorter, with sunrise around 8am. Soon the sun wont rise until after 9am and will set shortly after 3pm. Many people dont like the short days(my husband being one!) but I truly enjoy them.Jims biggest complaint is that he goes to work in the dark, and when he comes home in the evening its dark. His lab has no windows so the only time he sees daylight during the week is if he ventures out during lunchtime.

Actual Time	8:35 AM AKDT	6:54 PM AKDT
Civil Twilight	7:51 AM AKDT	7:38 PM AKDT
Nautical Twilight	7:00 AM AKDT	8:28 PM AKDT
Astronomical Twilight	6:09 AM AKDT	9:19 PM AKDT
Moon	12:12 AM AKDT	5:32 PM AKDT
Length Of Visible Light:	11h 46m
Length of Day:	10h 18m Tomorrow will be 5m 43s shorter.

Friday Fun

Joseph was at school today until 5:30, and Jim was headed into Anchorage after he got off work so I thought, what the heck. After grabbing Joseph I'd head down the road to Fish Creek, always a nice spot to get some pics.

It was cool and cloudy by the time we got to the little park but fresh air is always a good thing, and Joseph and Courtney enjoyed watching the fish and ducks with me(my oldest stayed home--hes 15 and too cool to hang with me now!). There were a lot of salmon in the creek, both alive and dead. The ducks were swimming around, nibbling on the dead salmon that littered the water.

Fish Creek, in Big Lake, Alaska:

Feeding on salmon carcasses:

Look at all the salmon...too bad you cant fish in this particular area of the creek!

Random

I havent had a lot of time lately to get out and grab some good photos so todays posting is just some random shots I've taken here and there over the last week or so.

It may be autumn, but winter is slowly working its way into the Mat-Su Valley. Our nighttime temps are dipping to freezing or slightly below and the forecast calls for rain and scattered snow showers for the coming week. The yellow and orange of the trees seems to be at its peak right now and I think one good day of wind will help take the rest of the leaves down.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some good pictures soon!

Termination Dust!

I was so excited driving into town today. Last night our temps dipped down and while we were getting rain, the mountains were forecast to see snow. Sure enough, when the mtn tops peeked out from the clouds this morning I was able to see termination dust on them! Termination dust is the first snowfall to cover the mountains, and when we see that we know its going to creep further and further down until the valley is also a blanket of white! I get so excited because that means snowfall for us wont be too far away and that makes me VERY happy! Here are some pictures I grabbed before and after work. Some of them were taken while I was inside my truck, so they arent the best quality.

The first 2 pics are taken about 1/2 mile from my house

The clouds out in the direction I live:

Looking down on Wasilla:

Pioneer Peak, looming over Wasilla:

On my way home, sitting at a stoplight and looking at the termination dust atop the Talkeetna Mtns:

I had to stop by my neighbors and get a photo of their blanket of leaves. It looks so pretty, especially in the sunshine:

Colors, colors

Fall colors are really surrounding us now and each day I take some time to sit and just watch the leaves gently fall from their branches down to the earth. The other morning the early morning sunshine created a spectacular display among the trees next to the house. The golden hue glittering throughout the woods was such a gorgeous sight.

The pain of losing my grandparents within the last yr is always fresh and I weep daily, but its moments like this when I really feel the pain cut deep and I long to call them up and say "hey, guess what!".My grandfather was a retired railroad man, and he and grandma traveled extensively across the US on the train. Grandpa always loved checking out trains and when I saw this one stop behind our house this morning I so badly wanted to talk to Grandpa and let him know about the colors of the train against the fall colors of the woods, and how the number of passenger trains we see daily are dwindling as tourists disappear as winter approaches. I wish he and Grandma could be here, taking a ride on the Alaska Railroad, seeing sights they've never seen before.

In the woods behind the house:

A Call For Help

Very recently there was a devastating fire in the Alaskan village of Kotzebue.Kotzebue lies on the western coast of Alaska,33 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Like small towns and villages all over, when something tragic happens people pull together, and this is no different. Under my links section I list 2 particular blogs related to Kotzebue. I love the way these ladies share what life is like in their Village and now they are asking for help. Here is a re-post of their blogs, and you can also go to http://tundratantrum.blogspot.com/ or http://finnskimo.blogspot.com/. For every $10.00 donation not only do you help these folks out, but you also get the chance to win some REALLY cool Alaska items!

One good thing about living in a village, is the astounding help you get in the wake of a tragedy.Early Saturday morning, the residents in Kotzebue (those who were awake, or awakened by the sirens) witnessed a sight so awful, words can not describe

A house fire ravaged four homes in the middle of town. Three of those homes were completely destroyed along with the memories within them. One home was partially burned, but will survive this with a nasty scar on one side.

Those homes belonged to a father and mother, Homer and Margaret Russell, elders in our community, grandparents taking care of grandchildren, parents who raised children. Homer suffered a fractured leg and Margaret scrapes and bruises. Their daughters, Eva and her husband Henry Booth also lost their home, as did their other daughter Barbara and her husband Chuck Janitscheck, but all escaped without harm.These families lost everything.

The home that was damaged belonged to another elder, Dolly Sours, who escaped unharmed with a friend who happened to be visiting.

So...we need YOUR help!Starting today, we will be hosting an online contest for locally made products.For every $10 you donate to the family, (I'll tell you how in a bit) your name will be put into a random name generator, for a chance to win some pretty AWESOME items.So far, we have the following: (I'll post photos tomorrow, as well as other prizes as we still have them coming in from local people)

Deluxe handmade Knife By Siksu's Knives

Eskimo Kuspuk (atikluk) made by a local sewer, custom to fit YOU!

Birch Bark Basket made by a resident of the Upper Kobuk

Mukluk Keychain handsewn

Mitten Keychain Handsewn
2 jars of homemade Aqpik Jelly (made by Red Seeberger)
2 jars of homemade Blueberry Jelly

2 jars of homemade Fireweed Jelly

A beaded Barrette with Mukluks and Flowers sewn into it

Ivory Ulu Earrings

An Ivory Zipper Pull

Three Fillets of Kenai Red Salmon (Vacuum Packed, frozen)

Three Packages Alaskan Halibut (Vacuum Packed, Frozen

Matted Photos by Aqvaluq Photography

Swan Antler CarvingAnd a multitude of other fun,

and SUPER ESKIMO things!P.S. if you want to donate something, please let me know, and I'll add it to the list.Here's two ways to win:1. A SAVINGS account has been set up at WELLS FARGO Bank under the name:Rick Janitscheck (the custodian for the account)ACCOUNT: 9790207832Visit your local Wells Fargo Bank and donate in increments of $10 (ten dollars) to that account. For every $10 you donate, your name will be placed in the database. Email me the confirmation of donation to: finnskimo@hotmail.com2. Write a check to: KOTZEBUE HOUSE FIRES, and send it to me, "C/O Maija Lukin PO BOX 1350, Kotzebue, AK 99752" and email me the amount and I'll put your name into the database.The drawing will be held Friday, September 25th.

Witnessing the fire only gives you an awareness of your vulnerability on this earth. A year and ten months ago, my aunt and cousin died in a house fire. Several months ago, a Selawik family with young children lost their home to a fire. Fire's rattle my nightmares, and shake me to the bone.What else can I do? I don't know, but what I can do is help.Thank you for your support and help. The residents of Kotzebue really appreciate it!

Eklutna Lake Hike

This weekend we once again had beautiful weather in the Mat-Su Valley. The husband and I both had to work Saturday but we decided to take the clan up to Eklutna Lake on Sunday to walk the main trail there, which follows the lake.The valley the lake sits in is located in the Chugach Mtns, and is south of Wasilla. The retreating glacier carved out the valley and then glacial and freshwater streams created the lake, which is 7 miles long. ( http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/chugach/eklutna.htm )

The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and the sunshine made the yellows and reds on the trees stand out even more.It was just so peaceful and beautiful that I did not want to leave at all! Here are photos from our day out:

This is a Ruffed Grouse, which also happens to be the state bird of PA!:

You just never know what you are going to come across when out on the trail:

The 15mph sign is for the ATV riders, who are only allowed on the trail certain days and times.There were alot of ATV riders out there yesterday!:

The neatest clouds always seem to form over the Talkeetna Mtns. These are the clouds we saw as we headed back towards Wasilla at the end of the day:

Lovely Day

It was a beautiful day in the Mat-Su Valley today. Bright blue sky with a few clouds here and there and a high temp of 62*. Nice and comfortable!

The business I work for has one of THE best views in the area and I decided to take advantage of it after I got off work. From the back of the building one can look down on Wasilla and see our big city center(and when I say 'big', I am joking!).

As you can see in the photos Wasilla Lake lies right along the Parks Highway, which is the only highway that leads from Anchorage right on up to Fairbanks a few hours north. All of the big box-store retailers in town are located right along this highway as you drive through Wasilla. In the photo you can spot Fred Meyer(groceries,clothing,household goods,garden items, etc..and a place I pretty much avoid) and Target. If you headed down the highway about a mile(towards Anchorage) you would find a Super Wal-Mart and Sears. If you are back in Target and head the other direction(towards Fairbanks) there is Carrs(Safeway),a small Borders/Waldenbooks bookstore and many small mom and pop stores(aka locally owned).

Many people driving through only get a small glimpse of Wasilla...the stores, the traffic, the train tracks running right along the highway. They dont notice the beauty behind everything...the glorious mountains that surround us,the many lakes and streams that can be found just about everywhere you turn, the ability to go into a store and be greeted like you are a long lost friend.

Everyday I look around and marvel at the beauty that surrounds me. I love the town I live in. I love Wasilla and its quirks. I love Alaska and the peace it brings me.

These are just a few pictures of the town that embraced me and made me feel like I had finally come home.

The Talkeetna Mountains surround the area. Soon we will see "Termination Dust" on the mountains, ensuring us that the snow will soon reach us(An Alaskan phrase referring to mountain-top snowfall signalling the end of summer) :

For some reason I look at this tree and see the strength and resilience that defines Alaska and its people:

The trees are losing their leaves:

Busy time of year

Its a busy time of year right now. The kids started back to school on the 17th....I now have 2 in high school, a freshman and a sophmore, and our youngest is in 5th grade. I cant believe how quickly time has gone by!

The same is true with the seasons here in Alaska. Autumn is quickly approaching and yellow and reds are starting to appear in the trees and bushes.Fall is a very quick season here and while it is very pretty we dont get the very vivid colors,like the ones you would see in New England. Next to winter its my favorite season so I try and get out and enjoy it as much as possible. Unfortunately I havent been able to get out much lately and take photos. Between work and the kids schedules I've also had rain to deal with. I cant complain too much about the rain though, as I do love it. The rain was one of my favorite things about living in western WA state!

Here are a few pictures that I've taken in the last week or so. The lake pictures are from the lake across the street from us, Loon Lake, and the cloud pictures were taken the other day in Wasilla while we were running errands.

Hopefully soon I'll be back with some pictures of our changing foilage!

Our fox adventure!

I have a co-worker that does wildlife photography, and he also happens to live up the highway from me. He had recently gone driving into one of his favorite spots, the Nancy Lake Recreation area, and came across some very special animals. 5 young fox kits lost their mother recently(she was hit by a vehicle)and they keep coming back to the area where she was struck. My friend counted 5....3 red fox kits and 2 cross fox kits.

After hearing about these cute little guys and their sad story I just had to take a drive over there and see if they were still around. We got lucky and they indeed were still there! Just as we were coming over a hill on the road I could see something golden laying just on the other side of the white line and it was a little red fox kit! We pulled over and he was not afraid of us at all. The little guy came right over to us, sniffing and checking everything out. Before we knew it a 2nd red fox kit had appeared and he too wanted to know what we were all about! They took a real shine to Courtney and Joseph and followed them wherever they went. One of them even went over to Joseph and tugged on his shoelace, trying to play. While this was all very fun and cute I had to remind the kids that these are wild animals and we couldnt pet them or feed them anything, no matter how cute we thought they were.

A bit later I noticed some movement further up the road and this is when the crossfox kit made his appearance. He was very skittish compared to the other 2 and I had a hard time trying to get a good photo of him. His coloring was absolutely gorgeous--black with a honey gold mixed in. He truly was a spectacular looking animal.

We spent about an hour and a half taking photos of these little ones. As we were leaving the 2 reds sat there and gave us the saddest little faces! I felt truly honored to have such an up close experience with these wonderful animals and I sincerely hope they can survive our long winter that will be upon us before we know it!

We also saw 4 porcupines while we were there but I never realized those suckers could waddle so fast! I tried to get some photos of them but it just didnt happen. Lisa-0 Porcupines-4 :)

Enjoy the photos!

STAY TUNED!!

We had a wonderful adventure tonight involving 2 red fox kits and 1 crossfox kit! It was so neat and I cannot wait to upload the photos for you to see. I hope to have them on my blog by early evening tomorrow so stay tuned!

One fish, two fish...NO fish....

Today was a beautiful day in SE Alaska. The sun was shining bright and the sky was a wonderful shade of blue, with a slight haze in some areas. The temperature was around 70*, which is just perfect in my opinion!

We headed out to a local river with the kids to try some fishing. This river is right down the highway from us and has salmon and trout(one of my favorites).

When we first arrived we were the only ones there but soon a few more folks trickled in. We could see some fish in the river but they were very stubborn and never did bite, so therefore we ended up leaving enpty handed :( Thats okay because we all had a good time and its always great to be outside, taking in the fresh air and the beauty that surrounds us!

Heading off, hopeful that we'd be leaving soon with something for dinner:

Looking down on my clan:

Look, can you see me and Courtney?

There were some carcasses downstream:

We werent the only ones fishing:

Jim and the boys on the other side of the river, trying for trout:

Wasilla Governors Picnic

On Friday afternoon we headed into Wasilla for the Governors picnic, an event that is held every yr. This year the cities of Wasilla, Anchorage and Fairbanks were hosting the picnics.Being a big fan of our now famous former(as of today) Governor I was excited to attend, and I was not disappointed.

Clouds were threatening us with rainfall the entire time but thankfully the rain stayed away for the picnic. When the kids and I arrived we immediately noticed the HUGE lines of people. Turned out they were all waiting in line to get some food served up to them by Gov.Palin and her youngest daughter, Piper. Not wanting to stand in line we decided to wander and see how close we could get to Gov.Palin. That turned out to be a pretty good idea! We ended up circling the tent the Gov. was in and ended up about 2 ft in front of her. I literally had the arm of one one of the gals providing security across my chest.There were reporters from all over right next to me and it was getting to be quite a push fest. I was joking with the young gal doing security that although we were getting to know each other awfully well and I thought she was nice I was married and not to get any funny ideas. We both laughed and I figured at this point having an ally in the crowd was a good thing!

Gov.Palin was standing there with Piper handing out hot dogs, and at the same time trying to sign the many items that were being thrust at her....books,clothing,dishes(yes, dishes!) and what appeared to be just random pieces of paper. At one point her youngest son Trig was handed to her and Gov.Palins face lit up at the sight of her little one.(We actually ended up standing next to a woman,family friend or relative of the Palins, I do not know, holding Trig and let me just say he is GORGEOUS! Such a happy baby. Think she would let me babysit? LOL).

The kids and I stood there for quite a while, snapping photos and just watching the mob scene. Gov.Palin then went to the other side of the tent, and her back was too us, so we decided to head over to the Veterans garden, where she was going to be handing out Blue Star Banners to local residents with ties to military members stationed overseas.

At 6pm Gov.Palin and other representatives(Lt.Gov. Sean Parnell, the mayor of Wasilla, local Veterans)took their seats and the ceremony recognizing local military members began. Gov.Palin gave a great speech about supporting the men and women of our military and how "every day is a good day" when her son Track calls from Iraq, alive and well. She pretty much steered clear from major political statements in her speech and when she was done the crowd erupted in applause and we could hear someone shout "we want you as our commander-in-chief Sarah!".

They began to hand out the Blue Star banners to family and friends. If you arent familiar with the Blue Star banners, they are a way to identify someone who has a military member serving overseas. If you see one of these banners in a window, and it has 1 star, they have one member serving...2 stars= 2 members and so on. If one ever sees a Gold Star banner..those represent a military member that has died while serving.

After the ceremony Gov.Palin was again surrounded by people as she tried to make her way to her vehicle. She got into the drivers seat of the SUV and her and Piper made their way out.

A bike made in part by Orange County Choppers in honor of Alaska's 50 Yrs of Statehood:

Part 3: Summit Lake Recreation Area

(scroll down for parts 1 and 2)

After we were done walking around Independence Mine and seeing that the trails were closed we decided to go find Summit Lake. I had heard about the lake and the road from friends at work and it was supposed to be just up the road from Independence Mine.

When you first turn up the road to head towards Summit Lake it is quite jarring. Its a dirt road the entire way and this first portion was very rough and bumpy.If you dont have a good suspension on your vehicle dont drive more than 10mph! It smooths out a bit further up but one must still pay attention to ruts and large rocks in the road.

We quickly found the Summit Lake Recreation area and it was breathtaking. The bright blue sky was an amazing backdrop for the rocky hilltops as they jutted high into the air.

As we followed a trail down and came up over a hill we saw a large group of paragliders on a hillside,preparing for their turn, while another paraglider was flying through the air above the valley below. We went over and sat by them and watched for quite a while, as none of us had ever seen paragliding up close and personal. I can safely say I will never try it but Courtney actually thought it looked fun! Hmmmm....!

After watching the paragliders for a while we headed back over the hill to Summit Lake. Jim and the kids took their socks and shoes off and soaked their feet in the cold water for a bit. The edge of the lake was shallow but we could see that just a few feet in it dropped off pretty dramatically.

If we had had more time and had brought extra gas with us we could have gone past Summit Lake and kept following the dirt road. It leads right to Willow, which is the town just north of where we live.However, we didnt plan that far in advance so after spending about an hour at the lake we headed back home, sunburn and exhausted but very pleased with the day of exploring we had had!

Part 2: Independence Mine

Heading further into Hatchers Pass you will find Independence Mine. You can read more about the history of Independence Mine here: http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/indmine.htm

Its a really nice place to explore and check out the old buildings of the mine. There are also quite a few trails around the mine that are great for exploring but unfortunately all of these were closed when we were there Sunday so we just wandered around the mine. Last year the kids and I came out here about the same time of year and it was packed with tourists, many of them Japanese. This year it was completely different,as we practically had the place to ourselves.

The white you can see in the background is a huge piece of ice that was practically taking up the entire space.This is in the water tunnel:

I was standing in the water tunnel looking out. The temp was probably close to freezing in the tunnel and it felt GOOD!

Part 1: Hatchers Pass and Little Susitna River

Sunday morning we woke up to clouds and cooler temperatures but it wasnt supposed to last all day. It didnt matter what the weather had in store for us, we were headed up to Hatchers Pass no matter what, and if the weather stayed cool that was fine with us as it has been VERY hot lately!

Hatchers Pass is on the outskirts of Wasilla so it doesnt take too long to get there from where we live. As soon as we started up the road to the pass we could see blue sky and we knew it was going to be a nice day for exploring.

Everytime we go up there our first stop is always the Little Susitna River. This time of year I love to hear the water roaring by and it did not disappoint yesterday. We walked out onto the rocks that line the river and the river was rushing by. The sun was glistening off the water and all the trees and brush lining the banks are so lush and green.Its definitely a great way to start the day in Hatchers Pass.

Stay Tuned!

Stay tuned! We had a great day of exploring and seeing new things today, so I have a lot of pictures to go through and upload! I should have new photos loaded in the next day or two, and may have to do several entries for it all!

Smoke in Wasilla

Here are 2 quick photos I grabbed this morning when I arrived at work. The smoke from the wildfires obscuring the Chugach Mountains....

Still kicking....

We're still kicking here, although I dont have any photos at the moment to prove it.

Our area has been in the midst of a heat wave for about a week now and its really getting to be too much. We had plans to canoe yesterday but when the temperature reached 90* yesterday afternoon we said, um, no thanks! These temps have created dangerous fire conditions and for the last few days a haze of smoke has hidden the mountains that surround Wasilla. Yesterday when I went to work I could make out a faint outline of the mtns behind the haze but today it was quite different. It was just a wall of white surrounding the valley and as I headed north out of Wasilla towards home you could smell smoke in the air. There are no wildfires around us(knock on wood), its all smoke coming in from fires in the interior and in Denali Natl Park.I'm really hoping the high pressure lifts and we get some relief in the weather. I did not move to Alaska to sweat!

Fireweed is blooming all around us and the cottonwood trees have been creating a sticky film all over our vehicles. We used to be so anal about out trucks before we moved here, keeping them spotless but that is a battle that we will never win in Alaska!

We plan on taking Jim hiking up at Independence Mine on Sunday, as he has never been up there with us before(always had to work when the kids and I went). I should get plenty of pictures this weekend to make up for the last few weeks of nothing!

Hope everyone else is having cooler weather, and if not, I hope you are enjoying your heat!

Busy weekend

This past weekend was a busy one for us. On Saturday we headed out to Eklutna Lake, which is just south of Wasilla. Jim had borrowed a canoe from his co-worker and wanted to take the boys out on the lake, while Courtney and I would wander the trails(she cant go out on the water due to her surgery).

Saturday the skies opened and the rain fell but it didnt bother us. A camp host at the park was joking with us and asked if we had brought our umbrellas. I smiled back and said 'no sir, we spent 7 yrs living in the Seattle area, we dont need umbrellas!'. We were all wet and muddy by the end of the day but we didnt care.

This was our first time to Eklutna Lake and my breath was just taken away. I couldnt believe how beautiful it was, and the color of the lake was this amazing aqua color. I just couldnt stop staring at the water. I told Jim we will definitely make a trip back in the fall just so I can see the lake surrounded by the fall colors(yes, we do have an autumn season here, its just much shorter than what you would see in MA or CO).

On Sunday we stayed home, but took the canoe out on the lake across the street. On the first trip out it was me, Jim and Joseph. It was a huge feat for me to do this, as I have a huge fear of the water and drowning. I managed to get a couple shots while we went around the lake but for the most part any movement in the canoe had me whimpering like a puppy so I tried not to move...at all. :) Jim dropped me off at shore and went and got Alexander, so he and the boys could fish(the lake has rainbow trout in it). Well, about 2 hrs into their trip they caugh a fish....but also ended up flipping the canoe over. All 3 of them went right into the lake. Of course they all had life vests on so they were floating, trying to get a hold of a canoe. Thankfully there was a boat nearby fishing and they came and picked the 3 of them up and brought them back to shore. However, we now have 2 fishing poles sitting at the bottom of the lake, one we had just bought on Sat, grrrrrr! Never a dull moment here! :)

Enjoy the pictures, and as always thank you for looking and feel free to leave a comment. We love to hear from visitors!

Eklutna Lake is in Chugach State Park, prime bear country, so I wasnt surprised to see this sign. The ranger we talked to said several bears had been seen in the area. Courtney and I were looking for bear, moose and sheep up on the ridges but we didnt see any sign of life whatsoever:

Jim and the boys head out for their adventure on Eklutna Lake:

And away they go.......

Courtney had to take a lot of breaks along our walk because of her back. Here she is sitting on a log, just taking in everything in front of her(and probably mumbling about me for making her walk over 2 miles that day! She did great though!):

Ominous clouds were waiting for us as we headed back towards Wasilla and home:

Beauty everywhere

A year ago today I lost my grandmother. She fell ill while my family and I were in the process of driving to Alaska, and I never got to tell her what it was like here. I know she would have loved the beauty that surrounds me everyday. I wish she could have seen the pictures of the moose that meander into our yard, and of the loons that call to us first thing in the morning. I wish I could just pick up the phone and tell her how much I love Alaska. I miss her, and my Grandpa, terribly.

They would have liked these next few photos. My daughter,recovering from spine surgery, hasnt been out of the house much because it hurts to stand too long or walk too far. However, we did manage to get her out for a bit last Saturday. Our town has started up a small craft fair/Farmers Market type of thing so we drove about 2 miles down the road to check it out. There really wasnt anything that interested us so on the way home we stopped at the Little Su River.

Anchorage and The Woods

Last week our daughter had to have spine surgery at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, over an hour away from where we live. It was an all-day surgery and there wasnt much to do except sit around and wait, so we decided to walk around the hospital campus and see if there were any shots I wanted to take. It didnt stop us from being worried sick about her, but it did help pass the time. Here is what I came away with.

I also took some pictures in the woods around our house today, and those pictures follow the hospital ones.

The Anchorage sky the morning of her surgery. We had to be there at 0530...very early! Also a pic of one wing of the hospital:

Views from a skywalk at the hospital. The campus is heavily wooded, which I really like. We saw a sign posted near a parking garage warning us of an agitated moose on campus but we never did see it,or any moose for that matter:

Looking out at Anchorage and the mountains from atop one of the parking garages at the hospital:

The woods around us have really come alive. Birds and other little creatures are scurrying about, flowers and other greenery have taken over the forest floor. Its amazing to look out there and think of how just 2 months ago it was barren and there seemed to be no life back there! As much as I adore winter I do love to see all the plants and flowers come alive again.

This is fireweed. When the flowers on it bloom, from the bottom on up, it is said there is only 6 weeks to winter when the final top flower blooms:

Brainfart! I cant remember what this is called:

They call this snake grass:

Wild roses:

The backyard really fills in during the summer. If you go back and look at winter pics you wouldnt think it gets this lush back there!:

A paper birch in the backyard. I love their bark:

Some cool growths I found on some trees in the woods:

I liked how this picture of some fungus on a tree came out a bit fuzzy:

Saying Thank You

As I mentioned earlier today, it is Memorial Day here in the United States. I always have such strong emotions on this day as I sit back and reflect about those who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice. We wouldnt have the freedoms we do today if it wasnt for the men and women of our military, and I am so very thankful to them. My husband calls me a super patriot, as I am so fierce when it comes to my dedication to this country and those who wear her uniform. I was raised with a very strong sense of pride and patriotic duty, and I hope my children are able to see the importance of honoring our brave sailors,soliders and Marines. My husband served 20 yrs in the United States Navy and we are thankful that he came home safely to us each and every time.

I took the kids to the Memorial Day ceremony at the Veterans Wall of Honor in Wasilla. It was a beautiful day for such a thing, and it was a very moving event.One particular speaker was especially moving, and that was Senator Charlie Higgins. He spoke of some of the things he witnessed while serving as an Army officer in Vietnam and of being a young child and attending funerals for veterans, one of who had perished from wounds received from the Bataan Death March.

They closed the ceremony with 'Amazing Grace' played on the bagpipes, and then TAPS was played. A 21-gun salute was the final honor given.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day I would like to thank those who have served this great country of ours. I especially honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We attended the ceremony at the Veterans Wall of Honor today in Wasilla and I will post the pictures later tonight.

Been a few weeks...

Its been a few weeks since I posted. I've been busy with work and taking the kids back and forth to their different activities. My daughter is also having major surgery on May 26 so we've had some appts in preparation for that.

I lost my grandfather on May 8. He and my Grandma, who we just lost 11 months ago, had never made it to Alaska.They travelled extensively throughout the lower 48 but since Amtrak doesnt come up here and they didnt fly their travels never took them here. I wish I had been able to share with them the beauty that surrounds me everyday. I know they would have really loved it here...except for the winters :) They got enough of the cold and snow back home in Massachusetts. I hope they are somewhere right now, watching over me and getting the best view of Alaska one could have.

The weather here has been great--lots of blue skies and sun. It did rain the other day when I was still back east and I just heard on the radio that was the first rainfall in a month. While everything has been greening up the dry weather has prompted burn bans and residents have been urged to be very careful because of the fire danger. The Mat-Su Valley did see several brush fires last week but thankfully they were all quickly contained.

The loons are out on the lake across the street. While I havent seen them yet they can be heard loud and clear, especially first thing in the morning.

We are up to about 20 hours of visible light and the kids last day of school is this Friday. That means playing outside until 1am or so. I think the long summer days are my kids favorite thing about Alaska.

Here are some pics showing how green everything is getting and of the lake across the street.

Sun and warmth

So far this week the weather has been perfect. Bright blue skies and temperatures that are nice and comfortable. Yesterday my thermometer in the backyard reached 71* and today we're currently sitting at 70*.

Alexander spent the last few days attending a retreat for deaf kids at Mirror Lake, which is about 25 mins north of Anchorage. When I arrived to pick him up today I had some time to wander so I took a few shots of the area. Its right up against the mtn so I was curious about bear activity. I was told that a camp a few miles down the road had spotted a bear but the only thing spotted in the area of Alexanders camp was moose.

Alexander and I headed out and the closer we got to Wasilla the more I wanted to go anywhere but home. It was just too nice to head back to the house. Since Alexander was falling asleep in the passenger seat I asked him if he minded heading up to Hatchers Pass and he just nodded and said sure.Thats all I needed to hear! Off to Hatchers Pass!

While there was still a fair amount of snow up there it was warm enough where we didnt need any jackets. The snowcapped mountains were just stunning next to the deep blue sky and while I didnt see any, I could hear birds all around us.I honestly could have stayed up there the rest of the day just enjoying the view!

I took this photo Tues night:

The next few photos were taken at Mirror Lake, where Alexander went for the deaf youth retreat:

The following photos are of Hatchers Pass. The river is flowing free in spots and today I could see large chunks of ice floating by at times:

Normally we pull up here and give the ranger the day fee. Not yet! Independence Mine is still snowed in:

It's in the clouds.....

I carry my camera with me just about everywhere but I just havent been able to get many shots lately. It seems like I am just rushing from point to point without being able to really enjoy whats around me. That is so frustrating!

I really enjoy watching the clouds and sky so the images I'm posting today are all from last weekend. We had a beautiful day with blue skies and big fluffy clouds and I just really liked the images and contrast.

Yesterday I got a phone call that no mother ever wants. Shortly after 8am I received a call telling me that my sons bus had been involved in an accident and that there were injuries, my son being one of them. I got the location from the dispatcher and rushed to the scene, as it was just right down the road from our house and minutes from Josephs bus stop. It turns out that a car came speeding out in front of the bus and took off down the road. The bus had to slam on its brakes to avoid the car and several kids,including Joseph, were thrown against the seat in front of them. Joseph's left shoulder is what hit the seat and he was complaining of pain.Other kids had faces and chests slammed into the seats. When I arrived on scene there was a firefighter checking out Joseph and I began doing my own assessment. In the end no kids were transported by ambulance to the hospital, thankfully. Joseph is sore today and will probably have some bruising but all in all everyone was very lucky to not have more serious injuries.

Speeding certainly isnt limited to this area, but it sure seems like we see more of it here than other places we have lived. Maybe its because we are in rural area and there isnt a huge police presence? I just dont understand why people are in such a hurry. Is it really that important to arrive wherever you are going 5 minutes early? Just my rant for the day!

Buds are beginning to become quite noticeable on the trees and all of the snow in our yard is gone, except for a few small piles along the driveway where we had the 6' high mounds. Temperatures have ranged from the high 30's to low 50's and on Monday they are calling for temps to reach into the 60's. That will be good news for Alexander. Monday thru Weds he is attending a retreat for deaf kids at Mirror Lake, the same location it was held at last yr. When he was there in 2008 there was still snow all over the place, so I hope to snap some pics of the area when I drop him off Monday.

The days are getting longer, with over 15 hrs of daylight now. This makes Jim very happy, although pretty soon we are going to have to put up room darkening shades so he can sleep. He had a horrible time last year trying to sleep with the constant daylight and he ended up turning the bedroom into a dungeon with everything he put over the windows! We agreed to compromise this yr on how dark he could make the room.

Nothing new with the volcano. There hasnt been an eruption in a few weeks but there is still dome building going on. The alert level is still at 'orange' and 'watch'.

Sun, melting ice and mud

Its a beautiful day here in southcentral Alaska. The sun is out,the snowcapped mountains are standing tall over town and the temperatures are in the low-50's. Spring has definitely arrived!

After I left work I had a bit of time before I had to head home so I stopped by Wasilla Lake. Many of you have figured out that this is a favorite spot of mine. Its a large lake right along the highway as you pass through Wasilla and the view of the mtns from there is just spectacular, especially on beautiful days such as this.

Today the wind was blowing pretty good so it was hard to be able to stand still and get a good shot but I managed a few! The ice on the lake is starting to break-up and the ice skating rink is done for the season. Just about all of the shoreline is now visible, hidden since Oct by snow.

Here at the house the melting snow has revealed moose poop all over the yard! A friend said she wanted to see me hold the moose poop in my hand so yep, theres a picture of that.

The melting snow has also created plenty of mud. The side of the driveway I park on is definitely muddy,as you'll see in the last pic.

I'm going to see what the weather is like tomorrow and I may venture out to Hatchers Pass, another favorite spot of mine around here. If its overcast and windy I'll just stick closer to home!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.....

What a difference a year makes. When we first got here last yr we had a big snowstorm in the middle of April. My kids wanted to stay in the house and complained of freezing to death. Fast forward to April 2009 and here is my youngest...barefoot, wearing shorts and a t-shirt with snow all around him.Then the next day he wore shorts to school.Funny how we acclimate to our surroundings without really thinking about it!

This is what the beginning of break-up looks like. Lots of puddles and mud creating a mess.This is the parking lot of my youngest's school. It actually looked better this day than it had the previous day:

For the first time since October our street is all pavement, and the piles of snow along the side of the road are quickly diminishing:

This sign is seen on the Air Force Base as you are leaving the base. Drinking is an issue the military doesnt take lightly. However its not just a military issue. Alaska has a very high rate of DUI-related accidents:

Leaving Anchorage and headed home towards Wasilla:

Almost home. Notice how the snow has disappeared along the highway. It will be another month or so before we see the trees bud and everything green up.

Still here!!

I'm still here! I apoligize for not getting any pictures up recently. Between work and taking the kids back and forth to after-school activities I havent had much time to myself to take photos or blog.

We did experience an earthquake on Tues. It was a 4.7 and was centered in Big Lake, which is where Joseph goes to school. His class crawled under their desks when the quake hit. Courtney goes to school about 2 miles away and she didnt feel it, but others in the school did. Jim called me at work to ask if I felt it and I said 'felt what?'. :) He was drawing blood from a patient when it hit and he said they all thought a car had hit the building. Jim grew up around the Bay area of San Francisco so earthquakes are nothing new to him. He was actually in the big '89 earthquake there, the one that caused part of the Bay Bridge to collaspe.

Apparently at work I was one of the only ones who didnt feel the earthquake. I was told our entire building shook and all the windows rattled but I didnt notice a thing!

Alaskas 5th season is just about here....breakup. This is when all the snow melts, the rivers and streams start to flow free again and everywhere you look there are huge puddles of mud and water. We've had some daytime highs around 50* and at night we are back down into the teens, so whats melted during the day freezes up at night. I have lovely sheets of ice on my driveway because of this!

The volcano has been downgraded to level 'alert' and code 'orange'. There is a constant steam plume being emitted at this point but no big eruptions for about a week now.

We have to go into Anchorage tomorrow for Courtneys pre-surgery x-rays so hopefully tomorrow night I'll have pictures of the area to post. The snow is really melting and brown is color of the moment.

Quieting down

There have been no new eruptions since the weekend. Small (less than 30,000)plumes of ash and steam were visible all day yesterday and the latest report is that scientists believe a new lava dome is forming. These photos were taken Sunday morning when we woke up. Strong winds had moved in overnight and the ash was being blown around everywhere.

And its still going.....

Its Saturday night and there have been 3 eruptions today, the latest occuring around 7:30pm. We just noticed a bit ago that we have a fine dusting of ash for the first time since all of this started:

As I type this one of Courtneys friends just called to let us know about the ashfall, not sure if we were aware or not. They live down the road about a mile, next to Courtneys school. Anchorage has also gotten a dusting of ash and the ashfall advisory goes to 1am Sunday. Of course that could be extended if any more eruptions happen overnight.

Thats the latest, I'll update as needed regarding conditions.

ETA: Right after publishing this post I went outside to take the dogs out for the night. In just a short time even more ash had fallen. These photos were taken about 20-30 mins after the above ones were:

Mt.Redoubt erupts again...and again

Its now Friday, March 27th, and I just cant keep up with the volcano! There were 2 more eruptions this evening, and if I remember correctly we're up to a total of 13 since this all started on Sunday. Scientists say it could go on like this for months. Its being reported that Anchorage got a very fine dusting of ash mixed in with the light snowfall we had today. I dont think we got anything here but to satisfy my curiosity I'm going to put a filter over a jar, put some snow on top and see whats left on top of the filter after the snow melts! Just a simple little home experiment! Hubby and the kids are already bored with the volcano and all the action but I find it very exciting. Nature is so amazing and powerful and being able to watch the natural process of the volcano is a wonderful opportunity.

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The volcano is at it again. It erupted twice this morning, one of the eruptions being the largest since the volcano came alive on Sunday. It is now being reported that ash is falling in Homer, on the southern part of the Kenai Peninsula. Alaska Airlines has cancelled all flights in and out of Anchorage due to upper level ash moving through this area. The particles at these levels are very fine and arent expected to fall to the ground, just cause problems for air travel. http://www.adn.com has some great photos of the volcano and the ash clouds. I've been checking the seismic activity for the last hr or so and its increasing once again. Maybe there is another eruption brewing!

A lot going on

Wow, a lot to update today!

First, the volcano, Mt.Redoubt. There was a 7th explosion this morning but no ashfall is expected to occur from it. The mtn had quieted down somewhat but this latest explosion goes to show that she isnt done showing us what shes got! It was a bit hazy around here Monday but that has all cleared out.We never did see any ashfall whatsoever at our place.

Going back to the weekend....on Saturday we took a day trip and headed south of Anchorage, as we hadnt been down there before. It was SO gorgeous! When we got to Turnagain Arm, which is a body of water along Anchorage, I was in awe. Its covered with ice and huge chunks of ice are pushed up everywhere. I've never seen anything like it before. We pulled off at a scenic lookout and watched the ice move with the tide. It really was interesting to watch. In some parts the ice had carved tunnels, and water flowed between walls of ice. There were snow covered mountains all around us as we traveled down the Seward Highway and we saw bald eagles all along the way.

We stopped at Portage Glacier and while I got a few pictures it was hard to see things because the snow was starting to come down pretty hard. Jim did get to be a good samaritan and helped pull out 2 different vehicles out of ditches. Each person had pulled off to the side of the road and underestimated the depth of the snow, and then got stuck. Both were trucks and we hooked up a chain and a pull strap and got them out of the snow. We learned quickly out here that carrying a tow strap is a must.

With the weather getting nasty at Portage Glacier we decided to head out and go down the highway a bit further. We were now on the Kenai Peninsula and snowmachines were everywhere. There were all kinds of pull-outs along the way and we saw hundreds of trucks and trailers that were carrying snowmachines for a day of fun in the snow.

We headed down the highway towards Moose Pass but since the snow was starting to move in we decided to turn around for the day and head home. It was such a beautiful ride though. It was amazing to see all of these sights that I have only seen in the books of Alaska I've read over the years. Dreams do come true Smiling

On Sunday we went right down the road to Big Lake to watch the Alaska Ice Racers in action. That was VERY cool to watch. Dirtbikes, quads and what I equate to dune buggys raced on a track made on the ice. As we slowly drove our truck onto the ice the truck was dead quiet and I think we were all waiting for the ice to break,lol. What can I say, we've watched too many episodes of Ice Road Truckers in this house! Needless to say the ice didnt break and we drove out into the middle of the lake with everyone else and watched the races for about 2 hrs. The guys on dirtbikes were popping wheelies, which the boys really loved, and there were a few wipeouts during the races but nothing serious. Jim checked out some of the bikes on his way to a bathroom break and yes, the tires did have small studs in them for traction.

All in all it was a great weekend. We were able to get out of the house and see things we've never seen before. Everything we saw this weekend just reminded me even more of why I moved to Alaska in the first place.

Spring is arriving here. For the first time since Oct. I can see pavement on my street and only need to use 4-wheel drive on my driveway and a small portion of my street. Snow is melting in the yard and yesterday around 5pm the temperature was 55! Thats just wrong! We're getting more daylight, with about 12 hrs of visible light right now. Before we know it we'll be at 20 hrs of light!

Quite a few pictures to share this time, hope you enjoy them! Feel free to post comments, we'd love to hear from everyone and if there is something you'd like to see a picture of let us know!

Leaving Wasilla:

I didnt get the best shot of this sign but it says 295 moose have been killed on Mat-Su roads since July 1:

Leaving Anchorage and looking at Turnagin Arm:

Along the highway:

Headed into Portage Glacier. The poles along the road are to mark where the road is if there is a snowstorm:

It was snowing pretty good at Portage Glacier:

On the Kenai Peninsula, traveling Seward Highway:

Watching the Alaska Ice Racers on Big Lake:

Taken Tues, March 24th around 5pm. Boo, spring is here:

Mt.Redoubt HAS erupted

9:05 Mon night update---The volcano erupted for a 6th time around 7:40 this evening. We have not seen any ash in our area, but it has been reported to the north and west of us. There is an ash advisory for the Suistna Valley until 5am Tues morning. If you go to http://sunhusky.blogspot.com/ you can see pictures of the ashfall in the town of Skwentna, which is to the west in the Alaska Range.

Mt.Redoubt began erupting Sun night, shortly before 11pm. A total of 5 eruptions have taken place, the 5th happening at 4:40am Mon morning. The area we live in is currently under an ashfall advisory but we have not see seen any at this time, although towns NW of us have reported light ash. Schools are in session and people are being warned to take precautions in case of ashfall. I'll update with more later.

Just a little update

Just a quick update from here...I've been working all week and just havent had the time to get out and take some pictures. However, this weekend we're going to try and take a day trip south of Anchorage. We havent been past Anchorage since we moved here(well, Courtney has but the rest of us havent!) and I'm really looking forward to getting out and seeing something new!

The volcano warning has once again been reduced to an advisory and the aviation alert was dropped to yellow. Last night and then early this morning saw some highler levels of seismic activity though. I check the Alaska Volcano Observatory several times a day so if anything significant happens I'll be sure to update here. I might even get to see Mt.Redoubt this weekend if the skies are clear when we head south! I'm really hoping the mountain shows itself.

Hopefully Sunday or Monday I'll have new photos to upload!

Mt.Redoubt update

A few days ago the volcano had been downgraded to an advisory, since activity had slowed down. Well today the mountain came alive again and showed that it wasnt finished. This afternoon a plume of steam and ash rose almost 3 miles into the air and could be seen from the Kenai Peninsula, as well as some spots from Anchorage. The volcano has once again been moved to an orange/watch status. They dont expect an eruption anytime soon but as Mother Nature has shown, anything is possible. The following is the webcam photo of the volcano at the time of this posting. You can see the steam plume on the volcano. If any more significants events occur I'll be sure to post and let everyone know if the ash will affect us in anyway.

Moose Love

Before I start my entry about the recent moose encounters I just want to say that March 7th was our 1 yr anniversary in Alaska! I cant believe its been a year already! It seems like its gone by so quickly. In some ways it was a very rough yr, with Jims military retirement pay being completely screwed up, losing my grandmother in June,learning Courtney will have to have major back surgery and adjusting to life outside of the military.However with the help of family and friends, and with the beauty of Alaska to soak in, we made it through stronger than ever.

Now on to some moose love! Last week we had a very close encounter, 2 in the same day actually! I had taken our dog Skye out for a potty break around 5am and noticed that moose had come through the big snow piles along the driveway. When I put Alexander on his bus at 5:30 I went right up to the tracks along the woods to check them out,disappointed I had missed the moose. At 5:45am I brought out our dog Spike and as he headed out the door he started to go ballistic. I automatically assumed there was a dog loose and tried to see what was going on. There was no dog--instead there was a big moose standing in the middle of our driveway, right behind Jims truck! I yanked Spike in and we waited for the moose to head back into the woods.

At 8am Joseph and I headed down the driveway to go to his bus stop. It was now daylight so I didnt think much about the moose. As we crossed the street and headed towards the bus stop I noticed movement in the neighbors yard, down by the lake. I turn to get a better look and what do I see but 3 moose--a mama and her twins! Thats the first time I have ever seen twins, and it was quite exciting. However, mama moose are very protective and once mama noticed Joseph and I her ears went back and she was staring at us dead on. I told Joseph to stop and that if Mama charged us he was to run back to the house as fast as he could while I distracted mom somehow. We stood there for a few mins and I decided we could slowly head towards the bus stop. Thankfully the bus arrived a few mins later and Joseph got safely on the bus and with the bus as a cover I walked back to the house.

In the next few days we spotted single moose here and there but no more mama and twins. Then today we had another wonderful encounter, this time with a mama and her adolescent male. They may very well be part of the family we saw the other day, and maybe something happened to the other twin, I dont know. They spent over 2 hours in my backyard and it was wonderful to sit there eating dinner and have these wonderful creatures eating their own dinner about 40 ft away.

As I stood at the window snapping pictures(they were just too close to the house and it would have been stupid of me to go outside)my dogs were right beside me, whining and barking at these visitors to their yard.

They were finally chased away(literally) by my neighbor as he came through the woods on his snowmachine. Hopefully they'll be back soon because it really makes my day when they come to visit.

I Love Alaska-Part 2

We ended up with almost 2 ft of snow yesterday. Early in the afternoon a snow advisory was issued but they were a little late with that since we already had well over a foot of snow by that point. The weather created a lot of havoc on the highway between Wasilla and Anchorage. Callers were flooding our local radio station with reports of accidents and ditch divers. One woman reported over 26 cars in the ditches between Anchorage and the Valley. For some reason when a big storm like this hits all the stupid people get out on the roads and it turns into a big mess. Alaska=snow so I dont understand what happens to peoples way of thinking.

I thoroughly enjoyed the snow and spent just about the entire day outside. In the following pics you'll see only 2 other family members joined me. The other 2 decided to stay in because they were sick/didnt feel like going out. Party poopers!

Jim headed out for some fun in the snow:

Poor Spike, plowing through the deep snow:

Jim, Joseph and Spike having some fun:

Jim is 6'1", you can see the snow is getting pretty deep:

Joseph running out to play in the snow:

Oooops, didnt realize it was so deep:

There is part of a dog:

Spike the Snow Dog:

Headed back to the house:

Going south on the Parks Hwy to the store:

This was the only vehicle we saw in the ditch. The first pic is taken on the way to the store, the 2nd pic is the view on the way back home:

We were sitting at the intersection waiting to turn left. I posted a picture of this intersection a few blogs ago...if you go back and look there is a big difference between that day and this one!:

I could barely make out the temp sign through the falling snow:

I love Alaska!

What a great way to end February! When we went to bed last night the forecast called for some snow around midnight with little to no accumalation. Fast forward to 8:30am Sat morning when we woke up.....to over a foot of fresh snow! I couldnt believe it! I love it when they get the forecast completely wrong.

Within half an hour the entire house was up and outside, shoveling the snow or playing in it. Its 11:45 Alaska time and its still coming down out there. I'd say we have at least 15-16" right now.

Of course I had to get out there with my camera so here are some shots from this morning.

I could hear the train coming, so decided to head through the backyard and over the ridge to get a shot of it.This is just when I was looking down the tracks, listening and waiting:

Here comes the train:

Its the Polar Express(great movie and book if you arent familiar with it)....or at least thats how I felt with the train coming through the snow. This is an Alaska Railroad passenger train:

The snow is falling on and around our humble abode:

Courtney with our husky/shepherd mix Skye:

Joseph enjoying the snow:

Jim in action:

Jim and our cat Bismarck aka BizzyKitty:

Alexander, what a flake! :

Looking at the street:

I couldnt agree more:

Grrrrrr

I've been trying to post most of the morning and the site keeps shutting down on me! Lets see if I can get it to go through this time.

Days are getting longer...when I take Joseph to his bus stop at 8am I no longer need the big flashlight and the sun is setting around 6:45pm. This makes Jim very happy. Of course with daylight savings time coming up it will all adjust again.

We've had some very nice days lately. Lots of sun and blue sky. Yesterday morning when I went to work at 8:30am it was 0* and when I came home at 2pm it was up to 32* and the sun was very warm. I had a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over that plus my fleece jacket and I was melting.

I'm going to post my pictures in a backward fashion...I'll start with the pics I took this morning as Joseph and I were waiting for his bus, then I'll post photos from my little trip to Wasilla Lake yesterday. The last set of photos will be from the neighborhood here and those were taken on Fri and Sat. Enjoy!

The sunrise as seen from across Loon Lake:

He thinks Mom is weird:

The ice skating rink they've made on Wasilla Lake:

Look, there I am :) :

Wasilla Lake really provides some great views of the mtns surrounding the area:

Sorry the shot isnt really clear but they were all the way on the other side of the lake from me. Yes, that SUV is parked on the lake! In the winter when the lakes freeze over people drive right onto them, make driveways,have races, etc. These guys were out there fishing:

Look, moose! Ok, so they are made out of metal but hey, they are still moose. And the 2 of them look really cool at night when they are all lit up:

I was standing at the edge of my driveway looking down the road to the left when I took this picture. I loved the contrast of the sky and the white-covered trees:

More shots of the winter wonderland. The trees were so pretty and sparkled beautifully in the sun:

We got snow the other day that was perfect for snowman making, which is very rare. Usually the snow is so dry you cant make snowballs let alone snowmen. Jim made these little guys, took some icicles that were hanging from the roof and voila, we have our own snow guards:

Quiet lately

I havent been shooting many photos this week. Between being ill and yucky weather I just havent been inspired. Some of you may be wondering what my definition of yucky weather is---that would be temps above freezing! The last week or so we've been above 32* and yesterday these temps helped bring us rain,sleet and then finally some snow. It wasnt the 7" they were predicting but hey, I'll take whatever snow I can!

We havent had any moose in the yard lately but I did see 3 moose on Monday. 2 of them were right down the highway on my way to work in the AM, just off to the side munching on some trees. The third moose was later that day on my way home, and it was almost in the exact same spot. The moose came darting out from the left side of the highway and ran right in front of the tow truck that was in front of me.Thankfully the truck did not hit the moose and it made it into the clearing safe and sound. That same day I spotted 2 ruffled grouse in the middle of my road but didnt have my camera with me(bad, I know) so I missed out on a great photo opportunity.

I did have this guy visit me with his buddies though:

Its a little grey jay, isnt he cute? He and his friends discovered some bread that I had thrown out on the deck.

The Iditarod will be starting soon and I hope to be able to head the 20 miles north to the start of the race to get some snapshots.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post in the next few days!

Just a little blurb

Things have been pretty quiet here lately. We received a few inches of snow on Tues, but today the sun was out and the temp was just above freezing so we could see the snow melting along the roadways and such.

Jim and I both had today off so we headed into Palmer so I could finally get an Alaska drivers license. Well, we get there, all the paperwork is filled out and then I am told I need my marriage certificate((sigh)). I couldnt believe it. My test score is good for a week so next Weds I'll be back there to just do the paperwork, eye test and then get my drivers license.

After that we headed into Anchorage to do our grocery shopping at the commissary. One of our main requirements for settling in a certain area was to be a reasonable amount of distance from a military base. Compared to the prices we pay in Wasilla at Fred Myers, Carrs(Safeway) and Walmart the base store is MUCH cheaper when it comes to most food items. So 1-2x a month we head down there and stock up on things we need.

It was a cloudy day but the road was clear and traffic was very light. We did see quite a few ditch divers along the way, which puzzled us since the roads were so good. We figured speed and overnight temps must have played a part in these cars ending up in the ditch. There are also grooves that have been worn into the highway on the way to Anchorage and they are horrible when switching lanes. When its icy out and tires catch these grooves just right its not uncommon for a vehicle to be thrust from the lane into a spin. Studded tires are one of the biggest reasons these grooves exist.

These are just some snapshots from today. Since it was cloudy and the windshield was dirty(Jim did clean it before we left Wasilla but this time of yr nothing stays clean long!) the shots arent of the best quality, and for that I apoligize. I just wanted to try and capture the beauty that surrounds us no matter where we drive, even in the base commissary parking lot!

Headed into Palmer, on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. This is one of the most dangerous roads in our area, and unfortunately a lot of deaths occur on it.

The mtns on the left as we head out of Palmer, headed towards the highway that will take us to Anchorage:

The Glenn Highway. On either side is the Palmer Hay Flats, a protected area for wildlife. I've been told in the next month or so we could see herds of moose gathering in the flats. There are also signs along the highway here that keep count of the moose that have been killed along here since July. The number was 200+:

The next 2 shots are of the mtns along the highway. They are truly breathtaking no matter what time of the yr it is but I have to say I love them when they are covered with snow:

One of the ditch divers we saw on the way to Anchorage. This is the highway Jim takes to work everyday and some days this winter he has seen 15+ cars in the median or spun out on the sides of the highway:

We were sitting in the commissary parking lot for this pic. Out of all the commissaries we've been to this one definitely wins prettiest location award. They even have signs on the building itself warning of the fox,bears and moose in the area. One of these days I need to remember to take a pic of those signs:

It was a warm day:

I was trying to get a picture of the Alaska state flag when the wind carried it out but no such luck. I love our state flag:

The rest of the pictures were taken as we were headed north on the Gleen Highway,headed back home. The Talkeetna Mountain Range is what can be seen in the distance:

Taking advantage of blue skies

Yesterday we had to head into Wasilla to pick up some mail so I decided to have Jim take a detour up into Hatchers Pass. It was our first trip up there this winter, and it was gorgeous! The scrolling pictures above the blog show pictures from when we went over the summer so you can compare the area in the 2 seasons.

The sky was a beautiful blue and while it was cold out(-9 when we went out) it warmed up into the low 20's when we headed out around noon. As we made our way down the highway we passed many a truck towing snowmachines.(Today was the start of the Iron Dog, the longest and toughest snowmachine race. It took place in Big Lake, which is just a few miles down the road from us). Seeing all those snowmachines go by really made me want one! What a beautiful day to be out there playing in the snow! Courtney actually spent Sat snowmachining with her best friend and they saw quite a few moose while they were out on the trail.

When we got up to Hatchers Pass there were quite a few people there....skiing, snowboarding, snowmachining and snowshoeing. We hadnt brought any snow gear with us so we(it was me, Jim and Joseph) just walked around, watching everyone else and I snapped photos. It was so beautiful up there!

We had 2 moose in the back this afternoon and I was able to get some pics of one of them but for some reason my camera isnt uploading to the computer((sigh)).

The volcano is still acting up but no eruption.Yesterday the webcam was crystal clear and a steam emission could be seen all day, and when I checked the volcano cam today I could still see some steam being emitted.

Here are the photos from yesterday! The first picture, the moon, was taken Friday night.

The Parks Hwy, which we live off of, and the only major highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks.This intersection is 6 miles south of our place:

On the Parks Hwy, making our way towards Wasilla:

Headed up Wasilla-Fishhook Rd towards Hatchers Pass:

Little Susitna River at Hatchers Pass:

Hatchers Pass:

On the way home we had to stop and get some propane for our stove. Jim noticed the moon in the sky:

Volcano Update

Mt.Redoubt had 2 periods of pretty intense activity today. The first one occured around 11:45am Thurs morning, and the second was around 3:30pm. This is the strongest amount of activity seen since Jan.30. While the snow and clouds prevented the mtn from being seen by webcam local radar showed that no eruption took place. I'm posting a picture of the seismic activity measured by sensors close to the summit. There is no mistaking when the activity began to increase.

Once again though, there has been no eruption as of 9:45pm Thurs night.

Still waiting for the volcano to do something...

It's Weds morning and Mt.Redoubt is still simmering and keeping everyone guessing. Seismic activity has still been very high and steam emissions have been viewable on the webcams the last few days but there has not been an eruption. The activity level at the mtn was quite high on Monday with large bursts of earthquakes and I thought Monday would be the day but alas, nothing! At this point who knows what the volcano will do. It could erupt in days, weeks or months...or not erupt and just quiet back down.I'll keep everyone posted on it though and if something major happens I'll post here as soon as possible.

We had almost 2 entire days of constant snow last week, giving everything a fresh look again. We've also dipped back down into the negatives and single digit plus-side temperatures. Yesterday morning when I headed to work it was -9 and it was -18 at Josephs school. Right now its -5 and we should see a high between 5-10*. More snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, yeah!!

Our days are also getting longer here, which makes Jim very happy. When he leaves work at 5pm its no longer pitch black, and there is still some light when he makes it home around 6pm.He cant wait for spring to arrive but I'm countering his warm weather wishes by doing my snow dance everyday :P

	Rise:	Set:
Actual Time	9:12 AM AKST	5:14 PM AKST
Civil Twilight	8:23 AM AKST	6:04 PM AKST
Nautical Twilight	7:30 AM AKST	6:56 PM AKST
Astronomical Twilight	6:40 AM AKST	7:47 PM AKST
Moon	10:08 AM AKST	6:38 AM AKST
Length Of Visible Light:	9h 40m
Length of Day	8h 02m Tomorrow will be 5m 33s longer.

Rise:

Set:

Actual Time

9:12 AM AKST

5:14 PM AKST

Civil Twilight

8:23 AM AKST

6:04 PM AKST

Nautical Twilight

7:30 AM AKST

6:56 PM AKST

Astronomical Twilight

6:40 AM AKST

7:47 PM AKST

Moon

10:08 AM AKST

6:38 AM AKST

Length Of Visible Light:

9h 40m

Length of Day

8h 02m

Tomorrow will be 5m 33s longer.

On a serious note--rural Alaskan villages have really had a tough time this yr. Heating and fuel costs have been insane, and that in turn has caused the prices of food to rise. There was recently a shopping list posted by Ann Strongheart, who is the project director for the youth program in Nunam Iqua, which is in western Alaska . Seeing these prices made me feel pretty good about what I pay here in the Mat-Su Valley .

$ 8.99 —- 2 lbs Raisins

$ 3.10 —- 2 boxes of Jiffy Blue berry Muffin mix

$ 6.99 —- 1 bag generic cheerios

$10.25 —- 3lb Coffee creamer

$ 4.72 —- 8 packages unsweetened Koolaid

$17.34 —- 6 cans of fruit cocktail

$10.76 —- 4 cans vegetables (2 peas 2 beans)

$13.35 —- 1 large jar of Mayo

$ 6.45 —- 1 one pound box spaghetti noodles

$10.35 —- 5 lbs white rice

$13.40 —- 4 boxes of rice-a-roni

$ 4.49 —- 1 can spaghetti sauce

$ 5.00 —- 4 small cans chili

$ 8.95 —- 12 cup a noodles

$11.98 —- 2 loaves generic bread

$ 9.95 —- 6 rolls of Toilet paper

$12.90 —- 2 - 2lb boxes of pilot bread

$ 6.99 —- 5 lbs fresh potatoes

$ 5.99 —- 18 eggs

$ 3.81 —- 1 quart cottage cheese

$ 7.99 —- 1 pkg string cheese

$ 6.38 —- 2 pkg blue bonnet margarine

$ 3.99 —- 1 pkg frozen stir fry veggies

$ 9.15 —- 1 dozen frozen corn on the cob

$ 7.41 —- 1 pkg oven roasted turkey (for sandwiches)

$ 6.19 —- 1 pkg sliced ham (for sandwiches)

$14.78 —- 2 pkg Kielbasa Sausage

$11.42 —- 2 lbs ground beef

$22.36 —- 5 pork chops

$16.38 —- 2 pkgs Johnsonville Italian Sausage

$19.58 —- 2 pkgs Tyson IQF frozen drumsticks

$ 9.79 —- 1 pkg Tyson IQF chicken thighs

$ 6.49 —- 6 rolls generic paper towels

$82.55 —- 1 case size 6 Huggies diapers (144 diapers)

She and her husband travel over 50 miles roundtrip by snowmachine to get these groceries. If you'd like to read her entire journal entry go to:

http://www.themudflats.net/2009/01/25/shopping-day-in-nunam-iqua-alaska/ (disclaimer: I dont care for this website and the politics they support, but they had the diary entry so I posted the link for those who may want to read the entire story of one families journey for food in rural Alaska)

On to pictures....a very dear friend of mine requested photos of the kids/family. I cant promise when there will be pics of me, I much prefer to be behind the camera, but I did take pictures of the kids for her. Jim is also an elusive creature, rarely making it onto film ;) So here are some pictures of the kids and just some shots from right around the house. I need to go out in a little bit for some groceries and will take my camera. You never know what photo ops may arise!

The oldest:

Our middle child:

The youngest:

Not much snow out there, but a few days later its a different story:

The house as seen from Josephs bus stop:

Thanks to the latest snow storm the snowbanks along the driveway are nice and big again:

Sunday, Feb.1 was a clear, sunny day and the snow sparkled like glitter:

These are moose tracks we found in the snow at the bus stop:

Trees in the yard next to the bus stop. I love these trees(they are on both sides of the driveway) and if they were in my yard they'd be decorated with white lights for Christmas/winter!:

Volcano Update

Mt.Redoubt is still stirring, with activity greatly increasing today around noon and lasting until early this evening. Steam emission was noted during an observation flight but as of 8:27pm Alaska time the volcano has not erupted. The crew at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been great about keeping their website updated with the latest information. Once again, that link can be found on the right-hand side of the page in the links section.

As of right now the wind trajectory would take the ash over the Kenai Peninsula. However, people in the Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage are taking every precaution, buying up masks, plastic, cheesecloth, bottled water, and air filters for their homes and vehicles.

My work has already put in place the emergency plan in the event the volcano erupts, with the ventilation system being shut down immediately and employees and customers being sent home.

I'll post again when there is another significant event.

Volcanos,snow and moose

Right now one of the bigger stories here in Alaska is Mt.Redoubt, a volcano about 100 miles south of Anchorage. On Jan.25th its status was upgraded to ORANGE/WATCH, which means an eruption may be imminent. There has been increased seismic activity as well as an increase in gases. For anyone that is interested there is a link to the Alaska Volcano Observatory on the right hand side of this page, in the links section. On their page you will find the latest updates, maps showing where current wind direction would take the ash and web cams showing the volcano.

The kids school district sent out an email yesterday regarding ash and according to all 3 kids emergency preparedness in regards to the volcano was discussed in their classes. The only thing we would have to worry about in our area is ash fall, and possibly some earthquakes/tremors related to an eruption.

As a weather junkie I find this all quite exciting and am keeping an eye on Redoubt!

On Jan.24 we got our first snowfall since Christmas Day. It was so nice to see snow falling again! Everything has looked so brown and yucky since the rain took most of the snow away and even though we only got about 2" it made the world look pretty and new again! Today the forecast calls for snow this afternoon, with an inch of accumalation, 2-4" tomorrow and another 2-4" Friday. I really hope this actually happens, because I'll take all the snow Mother Nature wants to throw at us!

Its been about 2 weeks since I saw a moose so it was a pleasant surprise yesterday morning to look out the back window and spot a moose on the hill behind the satellite dish. She is the biggest cow I've seen so far. I swear her legs were 4-5' long and she moved quick! In no time at all she was in the backyard, on the hill behind the fire pit, and then she moved into the woods between our place and the neighbors. She was in there for about 20 mins before she moved across the street into the yard by the lake.

If there are any significant updates regarding to the volcano I'll be sure to update this post!

On Tues Jan.20 there was an amazing sunrise--deep purples and reds. I tried to get a good photo of it but these photos dont do the sunrise justice at all.

Finally, snow is falling again! Thank you Mother Nature! :

I picked Courtney up after school on Monday and handed her the camera. She took the next 2 photos as we were headed down the road her school is on:

The latest moose to visit us,on 1-27-09:

She mooned me! Silly moose!

Thank you Mother Nature

Mother Nature finally sent some cold air back to southcentral Alaska. I'm currently showing a temperature of 16* at my place, which is much better than the upper 40's we were seeing last week. My driveway is still all ice, even though Jim can now get up it thanks to all the sand and salt we have down. I just wish the city was doing as well with the roads. Our road is still pretty bad in spots and just yesterday Courtney and Josephs bus slid off a nearby road and the bus ended up in a ditch. Thankfully Courtney wasnt on the bus because she spent the evening with a friend of hers. However, since this bus picks up the elementary kids after the middle school/high school run another bus had to be dispatched to pick up Joseph and his bus mates. Hopefully the bus doesnt have any problems today.

Last Friday Anchorage had no school again(that was 3 days in a row,which apparently hasnt happened for as long as people can remember) but our area did. Our road was never sanded or touched until after 4pm! That morning I had to walk the kids to their bus stops on an extremely narrow,icy road in pitch-black darkness. Not good. That afternoon Alexanders bus couldnt even drop him off at our driveway,like the special need buses are supposed to do. They couldnt get traction and ended up about a block down the road, stuck on the wrong side of the road. I had to walk down there to get Alexander from the aide and we slipped and slided all the way back to the house. Courtneys bus came along and the driver stopped to help Alexanders bus get chains on. Then came along the one police officer our town has to block traffic and alert drivers. About 45 mins later is when the machine showed up on our road that was trying to shave ice off the pavement.I have a feeling our local law enforcement made a call to the public works dept.

Just a little tidbit about our town--in terms of size its the largest one in the Mat-Su Borough at 24 sq miles, however we have the smallest population at about 1600 residents. Thats a lot of area for 1 officer to patrol, but thankfully the Alaska State Patrol also helps out and responds to calls out here.

If anyone watched the Inauguration Parade yesterday the Colony High School Marching Band looked terrific! There was also a float from Barrow Alaska with Natives on it. It was great to see Alaska represented by 2 great groups.

On Sat the 17th we had to head into Wasilla to run some errands so I snapped some pictures while we were out and about. We were hoping to go watch a dogsled race but unfortunately the warm weather forced the cancellation of it, so we were left with just errands to do.

Colony High School Marching Band

I'd like to do a special blog today in support of the Colony High School Marching Band. My oldest son attends this school and the community as a whole is so proud of the band for raising the funds needed to attend the Inauguration Parade in Washington D.C.! They are the only active marching band in Alaska and this is the first time since Carters Inauguration that a school from this area has been invited! I think its a great opportunity for the kids and I am so glad the community stepped up to make this trip happen(the school board voted NOT to give the kids the extra funds needed for the trip....the band had to earn the money on their own). I had really wanted to go to the school on Fri for the special send off but sadly I couldnt get out of my driveway because of all the ice :(

You can follow this link through the Anchorage Daily News to follow the bands blog:

http://community.adn.com/adn/blog/102328/

This is the bands fundraising website:

http://www.chsmusicboosters.com/

WAY TO GO COLONY KNIGHTS MARCHING BAND!

You've got to be kidding!

The weather here has gone insane! Tues night a system moved in that brought our temps up into the upper 30's and low 40's. Snow we were getting into Tues night changed to freezing rain and the roads around here turned into large skating rinks. Schools in our area as well as Anchorage are closed for the 2nd day today, although in our area its being reported that main roads are doing pretty good, its the side roads that are extremely icy and ugly.

I cant believe we were dealing with -35 temps last week and as of right now,0705 Thurs morning, my temp gauge reads 41. I would take the subzero temps over this junk anyday!

There are 2 sets of pictures today...the first set will be ones I took on Monday when I ran to the store to get some milk. The 2nd set are pics from yesterday. Jim and I decided to brave the roads to go get some more milk and items for dinner. The hwy was definitely icy in spots by us but by that time of day(mid-afternoon) it wasnt too bad.

The warms temps are supposed to be here until Sat, and then Sat night we are supposed to see temps go below freezing. If there is still water on the road its going to get very dangerous around here yet again. At this point they are also calling for snow on Sunday--a report last night said 6-12in but I dont have much faith in that!

The following 2 pics are the eaves above the dryer vent. Apparently the heat coming from the vent caused this 'frost' to form:

The trees in the woods between my place and the neighbors:

A field along the Parks Hwy, just right down the road from my place. The street Courtneys school is on is directly across the hwy from this field. Every now and then one will see moose grazing here:

Looking up the Parks Hwy, towards where I live. The truck on the far left is on the rd that leads to Courtneys school:

2 days later, the snow on the trees is all gone. It all looks so bare :( :

Remember how we could barely see the picnic table? The rain took care of that. Stupid rain:

Our driveway is pure ice.I had fun trying to walk down it to get this shot. I pretty much had to walk in the snowbank on the side of the driveway:

Our street. That corner is treacherous to begin with and now with ice I've been waiting for someone to plow into the ditch or hit the utility pole(which also happens to be where Joseph and I wait for his bus.Thank goodness school is closed):

The next few pictures are of the highway when Jim and I went out yesterday afternoon. You can see there is ice and slush all along it. The pictures where I focused on the clouds are looking in the direction of Anchorage. The sun was trying to peek out but just couldnt win the battle against the clouds:

Remember when I snapped the picture of this reading -29 just last week?:

The parking lot at the store. We slid into our parking spot, as did most everyone else pulling in:

I was really nervous about someone sliding into our truck:

I cant escape! Jim coming into the woods after me. Even with the rainfall reducing the snowpack it was still 2-3' deep in the woods:

Courtney being a weirdo, with Skye-puppy standing next to her:

Bye-Bye Negative temps

It looks like our negative temps may be gone for now. I woke up this morning to a temp of 10*, the warmest morning we've had since right after Christmas. Jim and the kids are happy about this, as the extreme cold was really wearing thin on their patience. I honestly didnt mind the harsh temps. For our first winter here it was quite the experience,having never been in cold like that before!

Its been a few days since I've seen any moose. The last encounter was 2 cows in the backyard. I'm wondering if the warmer temps will keep them further back in the woods again.(Jim just called--he saw a moose along the Parks Hwy this morning as he was leaving Wasilla, headed off to work...no fair! hehehe)

Had an interesting moment very early Sat morning. Around 1am I woke up to the doorbell and Spike barking. Then I noticed flashing blue lights coming in through the bedroom window. I woke up Jim,threw on some clothes and headed outside. Turns out someone wiped out and landed in the ditch across the street. If I had been fully awake I would have grabbed the camera but I didnt even think about it at the time.

In the short time that it took me to get dressed whoever rang the doorbell, presumably the people driving the vehicle, had vanished. Our neighbors down the road are volunteer EMT's and they came across the vehicle as they were arriving home. He put on his lights, called the Alaska State Patrol and we all waited for the police to show up. Once he did we all talked to him for a minute, he secured the scene and sat to wait for the tow truck. 45 mins later the tow truck arrived, pulled the vehicle out of the ditch and off they went. The owners/drivers of the vehicle never showed up. I'll have to keep an eye on the 911 log that is listed in the paper to try and find out that happened.

I havent gotten too many photos lately, but here are a few:

This is what happens to a garden fence when a moose comes through:

Our last moose visitor:

If you look closely you can see the 2nd cow on the left,hidden in the trees:

A present left in the side yard by one of our moose visitors:

Close-up of one of the mtns surrounding town:

We need some fresh snow! A pile of dirty snow in the Walmart parking lot:

Cold with a side of moose

We're still in the midst of a cold snap, apparently the coldest snap since 1999. Our temps have been below zero for about 9-10 days now, although it looks like the streak may be ending this Thurs. These temps are nothing compared to what the interior is seeing--temps of negative 60! Now that is cold. Tok, one of the places not far from the Alaska/Canada border, had HIGHS of -45 forecasted the other day. You know its pretty bad when your forecasted high is a double digit negative!

Needless to say we havent been outside much due to this cold weather. Your face starts to hurt and if you dont have good gloves and boots on it doesnt take long for your hands and feet to start hurting. This morning at Josephs bus stop the temp was -22 and both of us had our jamma pants on under our jeans for a little extra warmth. I need to head to the store this weekend and get Joseph and Courtney some thermal underwear. Alexander has some but the other 2 dont.

The cold is also very hard on the vehicle. Jims truck is still down, due to the cold killing the battery. Hes stopping off tonight to pick up a new one and apparently we arent the only ones having this problem, as almost every auto parts store was sold out of the battery he needed. He is going to have to go by the dealership for it.

My truck is handling the cold well, but still makes a lot of noises that freak me out a bit. The metal can really become brittle in this cold and things are prone to crack. Driving down the road I hear noises that I've never heard before and I just cringe. She keeps starting though, and thats the main thing!

I dont know if its the cold snap or my sparkling personality(hahaha)but I have had moose in the yard every day but Sunday(and I dont know for sure if we had any only because I worked all day). I had a cow visit the last 2 days, and I think it may be the same cow. Only thing that worries me is that she has been by herself, which is unusual. I really hope its now the cow that has been here with her baby. We do have train tracks running back behind the house and I hate to think her kid could have been hurt or killed. So we'll just think happy thoughts and hope its a different cow :) Yesterday evening she was right across the street and both Courtney and I were in the yard watching her. She would glance up at us but honestly didnt seem bothered by us. She wasnt even spooked by the cars going by, and she was standing right next to the edge of the road. If it is the same cow that was in my yard yesterday morning then she is a strange one because our Beagle spotted the moose while I was out there taking pictures of it and he went ballistic here in the house. All of a sudden I heard crashing noises, looked at the dining room window and Spike was hurling himself at the window,barking like mad the entire time. The poor moose got scared and took off running into the woods. Dumb dog!

6 miles down the rd from our house.Taken 11:15am 1-3-09 on my way to work:

Looking down on Wasilla and the Valley from the back area of where I work:

Looking down at Wasilla and one of the main shopping areas:

Looking down at the Parks Hwy in Wasilla. Talkeetna Mtns in the background and that field of white behind the buildings is actually Wasilla Lake:

Hoarfrost on the trees:

Another visitor:

And the show continues!

I love Alaska! I love being able to witness wildlife right outside my front door, it truly is amazing!

Yesterday afternoon the mama and her baby came back, this time in the woods across the street from the front yard. They were out there for quite a while, tearing bark off the birch trees and munching on the other shrubs. I am sure people driving by had quite the laugh for I was standing out there in my Alaska jacket and reindeer pajamas just clicking away on the camera Hi,my name is Lisa and I am a moose stalker!

Today around noon I had an even better surprise. I headed into the kitchen to get a slice of Jims birthday cake(he turned 39 on Dec.27th) and when I glanced out the kitchen window I noticed movement in the backyard. This time there was a bull moose out there, along with a cow! This is the first time I've seen a bull moose in the neighborhood and I could barely contain myself! This time I was smart enough to pull on my jeans over my jamma pants and I threw on my nice warm boots, rated to -40.

I managed to get a few pics of the bull moose before he wandered over to a neighbors yard. At that point all I could see was his rack over the fence as he munched on the trees in their yard. The cow that was with him was pretty skittish and she pretty much stayed hidden in the trees.

On another note, it was very cold this AM...so cold that Jims truck wouldnt start and he had to take mine! I guess -30 wasnt the trucks cup of tea, hehehe. Needless to say we need to get block heaters installed ASAP.

The pictures below are ones from yesterday afternoon when the moose came back across the street and then the bull moose from this morning.

First visitors of 2009

What a way to start 2009!

Every morning when I wake up the first thing I do is check the outdoor temp, and today was no different. I headed to the kitchen pulled up the blinds and surprise!! I got more than the temp today

A mama and her baby were in our backyard. I believe its the same 2 moose that have visited us before,and they are very calm and dont seem to mind us too much. I couldnt believe that Jim was actually home while they were here and I rushed into the bedroom to get him.

The baby decided to hide in the trees of our yard while Mama stayed out where we could see her and just marvel at her size and beauty. Moose arent the brightest creatures but they are beautiful.

I stood out there in the -18 temp with my jammas on taking photos My hands would go numb and I would have to put them in my armpit to get feeling back,lol. After about half an hour or so they started to move deeper into the woods, and about that time my dad called. I headed into the house to talk on the phone but kept an eye on the moose through the window.

Jim had just taken Skye(our Husky) out into the front yard when we heard the train whistle. I see the moose start running through the trees and thought they were going to follow the tracks down. WRONG! Next thing I know both moose are hauling butt right into our backyard, and they are headed down the side of the house, which will take them right into the front yard where Jim is!

My poor dad got some yelling in his ear. I started yelling at the kids to let their dad know what was coming but there wasnt much time. Moose can run...FAST. Before we knew it they had dashed through the front yard into the woods across the street from us.

Poor Jim came inside and looked like he had run a marathon He said he was out there, heard the train whistle, then all of a sudden heard this strange noise. It got closer and he realized it was the moose coming through the snow. He and the dog managed to get up on our front porch right before the moose came flying through.

The moose grazed a bit longer in the woods across the street but as more cars came by on the road they disappeared deeper into the woods until I could no longer see them.

What an AWESOME way to start 2009!

Boiling water into cold air

Attachments:

H2O

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a very nice Christmas. Our first Christmas in Alaska was very nice and quiet. We spent Christmas Eve with our neighbors. They invited us snowmachining and then we sat around and chatted for a bit after that.

Christmas Day turned out perfect. It started snowing about 9am and snowed throughout the night. We ended up with about 10 inches of snow. I couldnt have asked for a better gift for my first Alaskan Christmas! Jim was just happy it snowed that hard on a day he didnt have to drive to work :)

Yesterday we headed into town to pick up the mail and grab some groceries and the famous Mat-Su wind was blowing again. In pictures below you'll see the snow being blown across the road, creating white out conditions at some points. The road in front of Wasilla Lake is the worst when the wind blows. It takes all the snow off the lake and brings it right across the lanes of traffic. Today we're under a high wind warning:

The National Weather Service in Anchorage has issued a High Wind
Warning... which is in effect from 6 PM this evening to 9 PM akst
Monday. The high wind watch is no longer in effect.

The sharp contrast of strengthening high pressure over interior
Alaska and low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska are creating strong
and gusty northeast winds across the Matanuska Valley. Northeast
winds are expected to increase this evening with gusts of 70 to 80
mph. Winds are expected to continue through Monday evening then
diminish overnight.

As you can seen from our forecast for the next few days its going to be a tad chilly here. Not as bad as interior Alaska though, where Fairbanks is supposed to see temps of -50.(I've added weather icons for various Alaskan cities at the bottom of my blog, so you can check that out to see how cold it is across the state).

	Today Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs zero to 15 above. Northeast wind 15 to 30 mph with local gusts 45 to 60 mph. Areas of blowing snow. » ZIP Code Detail
	Tonight Mostly clear. Lows 5 below to 5 above. Northeast wind increasing to 20 to 35 mph with gusts of 70 to 80 mph. Areas of blowing snow. Wind chills 20 below to 30 below.
	Monday Sunny. Highs 5 to 15 above. Northeast wind 25 to 40 mph with gusts of 70 to 80 mph. Areas of blowing snow. Wind chills 15 below to 25 below. » ZIP Code Detail
	Monday Night Clear. Lows zero to 15 below. Northeast wind 25 to 50 mph. Gusts of 70 to 80 mph in the evening. Areas of blowing snow.
	Tuesday Mostly sunny. Highs 5 below to 5 above. Northeast wind 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph. » ZIP Code Detail
	Tuesday Night Partly cloudy. Lows 10 below to 20 below.

I cant believe 2008 is almost over. It seems like just yesterday we were arriving in Alaska the first week of March. This has been quite a yr for our family, a lot of changes with Jim retiring from the military and our move to Alaska.I cant wait to see what 2009 brings--hopefully lots of good things!

I've got quite a few pictures to share. I'd like to thank my FIL Fred for helping me out! He read about the camera issues I've been having and sent me an extra camera he had. Its a very nice Olympus and I'm having a ton of fun playing with all of the features on the camera. So thank you Fred!

Joseph:

Jim and Joseph heading out:

Jim and Alexander taking off:

I just love this tree in my neighbors yard:

The polar bear on a snowy night:

Waves of snow in the backyard:

The backyard:

Snowy branches:

Looking down the street:

The snow keeps building up:

The Talkeetna Mtns as seen when heading south from our house,towards Wasilla.This is about 6 miles from our place.

Entering windy Wasilla:

Headed to the post office(building seen behind stop sign).Talkeetna Mtns in background.

Its a warm day!

Driving on the Parks Hwy in front of Wasilla Lake, lots of blowing snow:

The mtns looming over Wasilla:

The mtns surrounding town:

Headed home, our street is down the hill on the right:

Headed up our street, going home to warm up!

Cold weather

On Sat. Dec.13 we went to the lighted Christmas parade in Palmer, which is a town next to Wasilla. Being that the parade was due to start at 5:30pm I knew it was going to be cold and stressed to everyone to dress warm. That night my kids learned when I say dress warm, I mean it! Its a matter of life and death in these cold temps.

By the time the parade started it was -3 and standing still the cold really seemed to seep right into your bones. There was a very nice couple standing next to us, we chatted for a few mins before the parade and as the parade got underway I noticed what they were wearing. The woman had on a silver fox hat(I dont know that because I'm smart, someone else in the crowd asked her what it was made from) and the face of the fox and everything was still there. Now I fully admit to being a suburbs girl and have never seen anything like that close up. Her husband had on animal hat also, although I dont know what kind his was. The paws of the animals were dangling down his back, and the ears and face were also still attached. I wasnt trying to be rude but I couldnt stop looking because I've never seen anything like that before. I do have to say that they looked very warm(the woman had on a long fur coat also and the both of them had large gloves obviously made from some animal...maybe fox too?).

My daughter, our resident tree hugger, was NOT happy and didnt want to stand anywhere near these folks. I tried explaining to her how animal fur has been used for centuries by people here to keep warm and survive but she wasnt having it.

Now, by the middle of the parade Joseph is really squirming and putting up a fuss. The little bugger wore sneakers instead of his winter boots like he was told too. Since he was complaining of his toes really being painful and not being able to move some of them we ended up going to the truck so he could warm up. The older 2 were also happy to get in out of the cold weather.

Luckily we parked right by where the fireworks were going to be held so at 6:30pm we sat there and watched those go off. That was a first for all of us, as we have never seen fireworks for anything in December before.

We got about 3.5" of snow Monday afternoon, and now we're back to the cold temps again. Josephs school always announces the temperature in the morning announcements and today it was -17.

I managed to squeak a couple decent pics out of my camera this weekend. I'll post those at the end of this post. I really wished my camera had been working today---the mtns were absolutely stunning in Wasilla today. One of my favorite things is driving into Wasilla on a clear winter day and seeing those looming white-covered mtns on 3 sides of town. It absolutely reminds me of all the reasons I had for moving up here and how glad I am that we followed our dream to come up here!

I Must Have A Sign

So I'm thinking I must have a sign on the front of my truck that only moose can read and it says "here comes Lisa, please feel free to run out in front of me". Its becoming quite a popular thing with the moose lately!

I was on the road between Courtneys school and Josephs and of course, being almost 6pm, it was dark. Rounding a corner a spotted a moose on the right shoulder just as we came up on him. I'm sitting there as I pass him thinking "do not move from that spot, stay right there" when all of a sudden I catch movement from the left side of the road. A smaller moose comes tearing across the road right in front of my truck!

Now thankfully, as usual on this road, I was taking it slow. We had gotten about 8" of snow and the road was covered plus I knew there was a layer of ice underneath all that snow. Dummy me should have remembered that if you see one moose you better start looking for the other one. I was too busy worrying about that first moose jumping out in front of me.

Courtney and Joseph were both with me and I said to them that I think they are my jinx, because every moose run-in I've had on that road they've been with me.

Tonight we have to be at Josephs school for a play hes in and I'm wondering if we'll have any encounters on the way there or on the way back.Keep your fingers crossed that the moose dont try to say hi to the front of my truck again.

In other news, Jim will unexpectedly be commuting to Anchorage for the next week or so. He arrived at his lab this morning to find the entire building dark, the fire dept pulling away and his lab flooded. A pipe had burst on the 2nd floor and his office had its own waterfall going on. Needless to say he isnt too happy. One really has to wonder about the construction....this is a brand new building, just finished in Sept and there is a pipe bursting. We didnt even have super cold temps last night. Thank goodness gas is down to 2.46 right now.

No pictures to post. Have I said lately how much it sucks not having a decent camera to use. We have 3 cameras in the house and none of them are working properly :( Hopefully I can find somewhere I can bring the cameras too to see if we can get them fixed.

Weather ramblings

No pictures today, just some rambling about the weather.

The weekend brought us some nasty weather. A front moved in that raised the temps just enough to cause freezing rain. There is now a glaze of ice all over my sidealk and driveway, making getting in and out of the house quite a balancing act. Poor Courtney fell quite hard yesterday as we were leaving to get Joseph from choir practice and I wouldnt be surprised if she ended up with some ugly bruises from her fall.

Yesterday the winds moved into the Mat Su Valley. This area is known for the winds that come through and yesterday they certainly lived up to their reputation. We had gusts up to 70 mph and walking was almost impossible if you were walking into the wind. When I arrived at work and opened my truck door I thought for sure it would be torn off the hinges. Later in the day at the post office it was the opposite--I was trying to open my truck door to get out and could barely push it open against the wind.

Funny thing is that in WA these winds would be a major story. My kids actually had a "snow day" in WA because of high winds and all activities were cancelled. Here in Alaska its just another day. Earlier in the season we had another storm that brought 100 mph winds to Anchorage. Once again, winds like that in Miami or NYC and everyone is talking hurricane but here, thats life in the last frontier!

We've got another system moving in today that is supposed to bring up to 6" of snow to our area. Hopefully it covers up this ice and makes getting around a little easier. I dont mind driving in the snow at all but trying to drive on ice scares me. The other day while coming back from Josephs school we had a vehicle spin-out in front of us while coming around a corner and they went into the ditch.All because they took the corner too fast.

I've been getting asked about the daylight hrs at the moment. We're currently at about 5.5 hrs of daylight. The sun is rising around 10am and sets a bit after 3:30. The early darkness isnt bothering me a bit, I actually enjoy it quite a bit but Jim does get annoyed because he leaves for work at 6:30am and its dark, and when he heads home at 5pm its dark. The only daylight he sees is during the weekends when hes home.

It looks like we had moose come through the yard last night. I saw fresh tracks in the backyard and the dogs were sniffing around the front yard like crazy. Hopefully the moose will make a daytime appearance!

I have to head into Anchorage today to take Courtney to a docs appt, so maybe I'll be able to grab some photos while there. If not this new snow moving in should definitely provide me some photo oppurtunities.

Moose Tales

Moose sightings!! I was so excited about the snow over the weekend that I forgot to post about my moose encounter last Sat morning, but then I had another one on Monday so here I am :)

Sat morning I had to be at work at 7am, so I headed out around 6:30am. We live right off the highway that leads from our place to Wasilla, so I turned left and headed south. There is a slight incline in the road and then a curve as you are headed out on the highway and as I rounded that curve in the highway I had quite the surprise...2 moose standing there! Thank goodness they were over in the northbound emergency lane because I didnt even see them until I was right up on them. I love seeing moose, but not in the highway!

On Monday I was coming home from work, was coming around the bend right before my house and noticed 2 dark shapes in the woods next to my driveway..2 moose! Both cows, and one of them looked like it might have been a juvenile, as it wasnt as big as the other one. As I parked my truck they got a bit scared and moved closer to the road, then into the road as a vehicle passed by and spooked them again. My older 2 and I watched them cross the street and figured that was the end.

About 10 mins later my daughter was pulling up the blinds in the dining room when I hear her gasp, and then our Beagle mix started going nuts. I ran over to the window and the 2 moose were in our backyard, munching on some birch trees we had taken down over the summer! My daughter and I headed outside to get "close" to them and watch the moose in action.

We were probably 50 ft away from them, and at one point I went up by my picnic table, which probably put me about 30 ft away. They didnt seem to care about us at all...they never put their ears back and didnt display any of the typical warning signs that they werent happy with us. The moose would occasionally look at us like "oh, you are still here" but they pretty much spent the entire time munching away!

They spent over an hr in our backyard and then slowly meandered over to the neighbors property. We figured that was the end of our show and we went in for the night. Well, when I got up the next morning and took my oldest out to the bus I noticed tracks in my yard. The moose had come back, and they had come up my driveway and into the front yard! As my dogs were out there sniffing the moose tracks we noticed even more tracks along the side of the house and in the backyard! They had walked around our trampoline and walked right into my garden! Their tracks then led right back into the woods next to the driveway. They had gotten even closer and we missed it!! I am really wondering if the moose were in the front yard when we had the Christmas lights on. What a sight that would have been!

Apparently the moose are still in the neighborhood. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I went to my youngests bus stop(just across the street and down a bit from our place) and we spotted the 2 moose crossing down the side street. I'm hoping they pay us another visit, and this time notice the pumpkins and salt lick in the yard!

Here are some pictures from the Monday moose encounter. Once again I apoligize for the darkness and quality of the pics, as the good camera is still kaput :(

Good storm!

The storm that hit over the weekend proved to be a good one! We're measuring about 9" in our yard total that fell between Sat and Sunday. Now thats what I'm talking about! We were slow at work Sunday so I was able to leave early and be home by 1pm. That gave me all day to play outside, woohoo! We took the kids down to Loon Lake and walked out on it. There were 2 shacks/tents out there for guys ice fishing, which I thought was pretty cool. Whenever I see them out there I always think of the Grumpy Old Men movie(those who have seen that movie will know what I am talking about!).

This morning I think its about -5 but I dont have confirmation on that at the moment. I do know that I get icicles in my nose the minute I walk outside Joking

Here are some pictures from yesterday. The camera I normally use is currently on the fritz, so I had to use an older camera that doesnt give the best pics, so please excuse the quality!

Walking in a winter wonderland....

We hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Our 1st Thanksgiving in Alaska was a very good one. Lots of snow and lots of good food to eat.

The snow kicked in again today and they are saying we could see a foot of snow by tomorrow afternoon, wooohoooo! We've started to decorate the house for Christmas, and this is what it looked like about an hr ago:

I love Alaska

Hoarfrost and more

On Tues the 18th we woke up to a winter wonderland. Everything was covered in a thick layer of hoarfrost and it was just gorgeous. It looked like the land had been covered with sugar. After the kids went to school I headed off into the -11 weather(which isnt bad as long as you keep moving!) and got some shots at Loon Lake, which is across the street, and of some trees around the house.

The frozen lake below me:

Random photos

Maybe he is surprised by all the snow?

Spike just wants to stop taking pictures and play in the snow!

Can we just play please? Skye sitting patiently.

Looking down the street:

Down the railroad tracks, behind the house:

More snow!

We got more snow yesterday evening and overnight, amounting to about 4.5.! I was so glad to see it, as it gives everything such a nice, fresh look! Jim and I were out about 10pm last night shoveling(I think we're the only people around here who shovel but honestly, I cant stand to look at a driveway covered in snow!) and it was just so peaceful. I have to go out and fill up my truck after Joseph goes to school so I am hoping to snap a few photos while I am out. Its not getting light enough to take decent photos until almost 9am so have to wait a bit :)

Yesterday Courtney and I were out front with the dogs when she noticed something on the lake across the street. Peering through the trees we could see 3 kids and a dog out there ice skating! I couldnt believe it. I didnt think the ice was thick enough and to be honest I dont know if I would be brave enough to head out on the ice right now. A co-worker of Jims said the ice should be just fine but I just may have to give it a few more weeks.

November

I cant believe its November already! Where has the yr gone? I must say I am looking forward to 2009 :)

I've been working the night shift for a few weeks now so havent had much time to get out and explore since I sleep during the day. I did have yesterday off though so while I was out voting I decided to go by Wasilla Lake, right in the heart of town, and snap some photos. It was just such a gorgeous morning and the mtns were out in all their glory. Because of the daylight savings time change the sun is coming up a bit after 8 and there was still a red hue to the sky when I snapped these photos around 10am, although none of the red came through in the photos. It was also a bit chilly---about 14*, which actually is a warm day for us lately. The photo of the sign with the name of the park on it was actually taken from inside the truck because I realized after I got back in that I had forgotten to take a picture of it and at that point I couldnt feel my fingers(and yes, I had gloves on! ).

I'm also including a few pictures of a frozen river thats about a mile down the road from us.

Moose sightings---its been an interesting week! Joseph has basketball Mon and Tues after school and as we were coming home Mon evening 2 moose ran right in front of the truck. I about had a heart attack and Courtney and Joseph both started yelling Mistaken Thankfully we were on a back rd and I was going slow because some jerk was riding my tail. If I had been going any faster it would have been ugly! The yesterday, Tues, as Courtney and I were headed to Josephs basketball game we spotted a moose sitting on the side of the main road. There were 2 vehicles right next to it so we thought maybe it had been hit and was injured. It was a cow and she was a big girl! On the way back home the 2 vehicles were still there but the moose was gone so we're assuming it was okay and ran off. We didnt see any signs of the moose having been put down. Out here if the moose is salvagable they have a list they start calling for people to come and get the meat. Its not uncommon to see the moose on the side of the road being butchered for its meat. Courtney, my little tree hugger, is not pleased with that.

Joseph has choir today so lets see what happens tonight when I head out to get him!

Here are the pics, hope you enjoy!

Brrrrrrrr!

I think this morning is the coldest we've seen so far. Wunderground.com is saying our temp is in the negatives but the thermometer I have outside the kitchen window says 8*. Definitely cold! When Joseph and I were outside at 8am waiting for his bus he turned to me and said "Mom, this place is a lot different than WA". LOL, yes son, it sure is!

It is now pitch black at 8am, and the sun starts to rise around 8:30 or so. I am really curious to see what happens when Daylight Savings Time kicks in!

Its amazing what a day or two can do. I picked up Alexander on Fri from the deaf teen retreat and if you look at the photos from the previous entry you'll see the ducks on the lake. No ducks on Fri! There was actually a thin cover of ice on the lake:

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Palmer, where there was a holiday craft fair taking place. I snapped these photos in the parking lot on our way out.

Winter Wonderland

I know its still fall but when I look outside I cant help but think winter wonderland. Its even inspired me to listen to some Christmas music! Of course those who know me well will know that I listen to Christmas music year round

Its snowing again today--we already have about 3-4" left on the ground from the last snowfall. I had to take Alexander to a place called Meier Lake. He'll spend the next 3 days there as part of a deaf retreat that is sponsered by the Anchorage School for the Deaf. He went to their spring retreat and really enjoyed it. This gives him a chance to hang out with other deaf and hard of hearing kids, and just gets him out of the house. I know he gets tired of spending day in and day out here with all of us--I was a teenager once and remember those days ;)

When we left our town to head into Wasilla the weather was cold, but no snow falling. As soon as we started getting closer to Wasilla I could see the cloud cover and knew something was happening! Sure enough, the snow had started in town.

The center Alexander is at is near Hatcher Pass, which is east of Wasilla. We headed up that way over the summer when we went to Independence Mine. The snow was really falling there and as I dropped Alexander off I snapped a few photos.

I also had my first moose sighting of the season yesterday! I was headed into Wasilla to go to the post office and along the highway I spotted 4 moose, and one of them was a bull! I've never seen a bull moose before so I was pretty excited. Unfortunately the highway was pretty busy and I had someone right on my tail so I wasnt able to pull over for pictures, darnit. It sure made my day seeing them though! As long as I dont hit one with my truck. Now that the snow is here the moose are coming down from the hills and are being hit more often. Just the other morning I guy hit a moose about 1.5 miles from our place. Jim missed it by about 10 mins. When I am coming home from work at 6am thats the only thing that scares me--moose on the highway!

Interesting few days

The weather has been interesting the last few days. Thursday evening we were going between fine snow and light rain. Josephs school had a movie night which he had stayed for, so I had to go get him about 5:30pm. The road our house sits on was fine, the main highway was fine but once I got onto the street Josephs school sits on look out! It was pure ice. There is a pretty sharp curve you have to take to get to the school and I fishtailed going on that and then as I was pulling into his school parking lot I fishtailed again and came within 1/2" of hitting a metal pole for the chainlink fence.Good times!

Early Fri AM we had a pretty bad windstorm. I was coming home from work about 4am and was almost pushed off the road several times. Then I pull into the driveway and I am thinking that it looks a lot darker than usual. Thats because we lost power! The wind was whipping through here,sounding like a freight train on all sides of the house. We were a bit concerned as the house is surrounded by tall birch trees but thankfully no damage to the house and no trees were lost. Jim went into work and he ended up coming home around 10am Fri morning as his clinic was without power. We finally got power back about 1:30pm Fri afternoon.We later learned that winds between 90 and 100 mph whipped through here.Something I heard about this amused me. A local newspaper wrote that "in Houston or Atlanta winds of 100mph whipping through the city would be major news and an emergency. Here, its just another day in Alaska". So true, so true!

Sat was a nice day. We spent the day running errands and getting some Halloween decor up in the yard. Here is a pic of the view from Three Bears, which is basically our equivalent of a small Costco. Its 6 miles down the road from our house.

Here is the view we had from the Wasilla WalMart parking lot:

We came home and Courtney and Joseph had some fun while I dealt with the Halloween decorations:

What a difference 24 hrs can make. This is what the yard looks like right now:

Its lightly snowing and they are predicting up to 3".

I love Alaska

The calendar says its fall....

But Mother Nature has other ideas :) We had our first snowfall on Sunday, amounting to about an inch in my yard. I had been at work when it started and was actually out in the garden area so I got to stand out in it as it went from rain, to sleet to snow Yes Wasilla didnt have anything stick to the ground but as I got closer to our town I was noticing my headlights reflecting a bit more and sure enough, snow!

Today it started snowing shortly before 8am. I've got all the blinds open so I can enjoy it :) One great thing about living in the woods---its makes for a beautiful canvas for the snow.

Here are some pics I took Monday morning of the snow that was left. Hopefully today I'll be able to get some even better shots.

Getting colder!

Its definitely getting colder here. The last few nights have dipped into the lows 30's/upper 20's, thanks to no cloud cover the last few days. When I went outside this morning at 5am I couldnt believe how clear the sky was and how bright the stars were. Its amazing how the sky looks when there is no light pollution! One of the perks of living off the beaten path!

Fri,Sat and Sunday were amazing fall days. Bright blue sky all 3 days and temps in the upper 40's/lower 50's. Of course I had to work all 3 days but did manage to get a few pictures taken. They arent my best shots but they give you an idea of what it looks like around here.

Fri when I got home from work I went to work in the yard with the kids. We have a ton of wood that needs to be cut up and little things in the yard had to be cleaned up in preparation for winter. As we were out there working we noticed dark clouds heading northeast. They missed us but Jim was caught in one of the downpours on his way home. Here are some pics I took in the yard on Fri:

These are a few shots I took from the parking lot at work Fri afternoon. I hadnt seen the mtns in quite a few days because of all the rain!

These last 2 photos were taken Fri evening when we headed into Wasilla to get some dinner:

Close Encounters Of The Moose Kind

Jim had a great wildlife experience the other day.

He now works in Eagle River, which is just north of Anchorage. Anchorage is home to Elmendorf Air Force Base, where we go for our main grocery shopping. Last Fri after work Jim headed to Elmendorf to get the grocery shopping done for the weekend. The base is heavily wooded and is full of wildlife. There are actually signs by the front of the commissary/exchange that say "do not feed the bears, foxes or moose". I thought it was a joke when we first got here! Anyway, I digress....

Jim gets the shopping done and heads out of the parking lot, turning right at the lights that will take you out towards the gate. A bull moose appears on the side of the road and saunters right into Jims lane(there is one lane for each direction). He stops the truck and according to Jim the moose looked right at him with a face that said "thats right, this is my road and I'll take my time crossing it!". The moose came up right to the front of the truck and actually rubbed against it as he made his way across the lane! Jim said the rack on this bull moose was amazing, and something that hunters would have definitely been drooling over. The other lane of traffic had stopped by now and the moose continued his trek across the road.

The kicker is that Jim had my cell phone with him, which has a camera on it. Did Jim think to pull the phone out and get a picture? Noooooooooooooo! He didnt even think about it until he was halfway home! I could have killed him! LOL Such a cool moment and I missed it (insert whining and stomping of feet Crying ) I have to take Courtney to the hospital at Elmendorf on the 30th in regards to her scoliosis so I am really hoping we see a moose when we are there(fingers crossed).

On other fronts...I havent gotten any good pictures lately. The weather has been quite rainy and I've been hoping for a shot of the mtns but the clouds have been keeping them hidden. What the locals refer too as "termination dust" (snow arriving on the mtns) is creeping farther and farther down the mtns. Nights and mornings are definitely getting colder. We had our first frost of the season yesterday and today, and I am seriously thinking of firing up the wood stove today for the first time this season.

All of the trees around us are such a beautiful yellow. There is a bit of orange and red mixed in but the dominant fall color here seems to be yellow. On the instances the sun does appear it causes such a glow when it hits these golden leaves. When we were sitting here Sunday watching football Jim made a comment about the falling leaves, saying it looked like it was snowing.

I'm hoping that in the next few days I'll be able to get out and get some pics of the mtns and the snow, and some more of the beautiful fall scenery around here. I love driving into town because the highway looks so pretty lined with all the changing foilage.

Happy Fall!

Sept. in Alaska

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in the Mat-Su Valley. I woke up to find the wind blowing, although it wasnt anything overwhelming. As the clouds started to part the rays of sunshine hit the trees in just the right way, creating this golden effect. Looking out my back window all I saw was gold, and it was just gorgeous.

After I got all the kids off to school I decided I just couldnt sit around the house so I decided to do a little exploring. I headed off towards Big Lake, which is a little town right down the road from us. Joseph attends elementary school there, and Big Lake, which is the lake the town was named after(duh) is located right by the school. I went to both the north and south entrances and got some pics from both locations. I then went to a little park called Fish Creek Park. There is a nice observation deck that juts out above the creek/little river and I stood there for a while, just enjoying the beauty of it all. Once again the sun was hitting the trees just right and it reminded me of some of the pictures in the books I have about Alaska, and how they fueled my desire to live here.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took yesterday. Jim laughs at me and says I take pictures of anything and everything but I cant help it. I find beauty in everything out here. Yesterday I found the cloud formations in the sky especially amazing and took several photos of those. What can I say, nature offers so many things to appreciate

The view from Josephs bus stop:

This mushroom is in the woods next to the house:

One of those cloud formations I was talking about:

A meadow at the south entrance to Big Lake:

View at the north entrance of Big Lake:

Trees changing color at Fish Creek:

Salmon in Fish Creek:

A home(most likely a vacation home)on a little island in the middle of the lake:

Fall is on the way

Little signs of fall are creeping into view. I've been watching leaves flutter down from their branches, berries are cropping up on bushes(even though all the rain hasnt helped produce good berries),the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting crisper and the kids go back to school on Monday(Jim and Lisa doing a happy dance, shhh!).

Today the kids and I headed back to Walmart to finish up school shopping and I snapped this pic of the mountains hiding behind clouds again.There really are mtns behind there, not that we've seen them much lately!

I think I also got my last batch of my lettuce today. Lettuce is a crop that likes chilly weather but I think even the lettuce has had a bit too much rain and bleary weather. I'll definitely plant it again next year though! I love having my own lettuce for a nice fresh salad! It doesnt look like much in the picture but we had plenty of lettuce to make up a nice big salad that will last for days!

Speaking of berries, here are some pics I took right in my backyard. I havent identified the berries yet though--I really need to invest in a book specific to Alaska plants! I keep hoping that one morning I'll pull up my blinds and see some moose out there munching down on the plants and their offerings Surprised **ETA--so,maybe I should have taken the time to research before I posted? The berries below, as well as the big leaf in the 2nd picture, are all part of a planet called Devil's Club. The plant has barbs on them that produce skin irritation(note to self, dont grab the plant!) and the berries are poisonous!

Big leaf on the plant:

The berries below are called Watermelon Berries and can be picked and eaten.

No opportunities lately

The weather hasnt been cooperating with me lately when it comes to taking pictures! We've had a lot of rain and dark gray days, and I just havent been able to get any good pics. I've been waiting and waiting for the mountains to appear from behind the clouds and of course, the one day I leave the camera at home the mountains were out in all their glory. That same evening I drove home from work and there was the most amazing sunset....reds and pinks just bursting from every point in the sky. No camera though. Damnit!

I did manage to grab a few pics the other day of the kids hanging out. It was a nice clear day so I decided to get some burning done(I love living out in the country and being able to burn trash,wood, etc in a burn pile!) and the kids played outside all day(well, 2 of the kids did anyway..Alexander was in one of his sullen teenager moods!). Here are a few shots from that day, Aug.6.

Beautiful sky:

Burning hot:

The kids at play:

Courtney mid-flip:

The Food Chain

Here in Alaska we are constantly reminded about the creatures that roam among us, and that they have a food chain of their own.

In todays online edition of the Anchorage Daily News they have an article, and video, regarding a bear that went after a moose calf in an Eagle River neighborhood. This particular town is about 30-40 mins south, as you head towards Anchorage.

I found the video very ineresting, seeing nature working like that. I'm going to post the link to the video but warn those that may be sensitive to animals to think twice about watching it. Our tree-hugging-may-no-harm-come-to-anything daughter did not appreciate the video at all Whistling

http://community.adn.com/mini_apps/vmix/player.php?ID=2035893&GID=118

Autumn/winter around the corner?

These purple flowers are called FIREWEED. They bloom from bottom to top and its believed that when the top blooms its the signal of the end of summer. Its creeping up there!(the photos were taken in our backyard..the back portion is all woods) There have also been other signs. The mountains surrounding the valley we live in were spotted with what Alaskans refer too as "termination dust", which is snowfall on the mtns, also signalling the end of summer. I dont know about other Alaskans but I am ready for fall Smiling

Very cool website

We've had 2 days of solid rain, so I havent had much oppurtunity to get any photos. So, I've been online today just surfing and exploring. The kids and I found a very cool wesbite to calculate the daylights hrs as we progress into autumn and winter. Not only can you use this website for Alaska,but for the rest of the world too. Pretty cool! When we plugged in the kids birthdays,Christmas and Halloween the kids were a bit shocked at what they saw :) Courtney was grumbling about moving back to WA, hehehehe.

Here is the link:

http://www.alaskamagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=24

Here is a sampling of what we discovered:

Friday
    31 October 2008   Alaska Daylight Time

         SUN
    Begin civil twilight   8:40 a.m.
    Sunrise        9:28 a.m.
    Sun transit      1:43 p.m.
    Sunset         5:57 p.m.
    End civil twilight     6:45 p.m.

Thursday
    20 November 2008    Alaska Standard Time

         SUN
    Begin civil twilight   8:29 a.m.
    Sunrise        9:24 a.m.
    Sun transit       12:45 p.m.
    Sunset         4:06 p.m.
    End civil twilight     5:01 p.m.

Thursday
    4 December 2008   Alaska Standard Time

         SUN
    Begin civil twilight   8:56 a.m.
    Sunrise        9:57 a.m.
    Sun transit       12:50 p.m.
    Sunset         3:42 p.m.
    End civil twilight     4:43 p.m.

   Thursday
    25 December 2008    Alaska Standard Time

         SUN
    Begin civil twilight   9:16 a.m.
    Sunrise       10:20 a.m.
    Sun transit      1:00 p.m.
    Sunset         3:40 p.m.
    End civil twilight     4:44 p.m.

Weather and plants

We were so excited to have our first real garden this summer. Over the yrs I've had plenty of flower gardens, but other than pumpkins we've never grown any of our own fruit or vegetables. This yr we decided to start small and planted corn, strawberries,pumpkins, lettuce and green onions.

So far the only thing really thriving has been the lettuce. Green onions are doing 'ok' and the birds have given the strawberries a thumbs up! The pumpkin plants are growing but we havent seen any flowers on them yet...no flowers, no pumpkins.

The corn...well that has really been a bust. They've grown maybe 3 inches and thats it so far :(

The weather we've been having is just not helping. There hasnt been much sun and the temps have been pretty cool for this time of yr. Everything needs more sun! As much as I am not a sun person it would be nice to have a little right now. I want some pumpkins for Halloween! Plus with the grocery prices going up and up it would be nice if we could sustain ourselves in some areas!

Attachments:

Lettuce

Pumpkin plant

Adventures in the Last Frontier - johansenfamilyadventuresinthelas

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Whew!

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Iditarod 2010-part 1

Catch up--Fur Rondy #3

Great way to end the week!

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Iron Dog 2010-Part 4(scroll down for previous entries)

Iron Dog 2010-Part 3(scroll down for parts 1 and 2)

Iron Dog 2010-Part 2(scroll down for part 1)

Iron Dog 2010-Part 1

Rain...and moose, of course!

Less snow,more moose

More snow!

Behind...

I warned you!

Just a few images...

Moose stalking in the snow

Trip Into Anchorage-Part 2

Trip Into Anchorage-Part 1

Visiting the lake...

Hello 2010

Goodbye 2009

Merry Christmas!!

The day after the storm....

Ask and ye shall receive....

Christmas parade and fireworks

Moose and Hoarfrost

Christmas is in the air...and I see some moose....

A trip into Wasilla and Palmer

White Thanksgiving

Alaska skies.....

Excursion into Wasilla

FINALLY!!!

Ice is here,but still no snow

One of my favorite visitors...

Not-so-patiently waiting....

Happy Halloween!!

Slowly but surely...

Termination dust is back, and beautiful sunrises

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