the nertz reunion....

but first...a few other alaskan pics...the top is just some swans i took pictures of in cordova when we were waiting to begin our trek to kayak island. i always love swans. just such graceful birds. below is from my drive to a friends wedding reception in girdwood last night. girdwood is about 45 min drive from anchorage. the road follows turnigan arm. it was rainy and windy last night. 95% of the time you will see dall sheep at windy point. all you have to do is drive on a curvy road and look way up! so this is one of the sheep i saw while en route. the wedding reception was nice. i'm really not much of a wedding person...but it was nice to see some friends i hadn't thought about. my friend maria was there so we chilled for the time i was there. also ran into friends from a very wet kayak trip to icy bay. not many pictures from that trip. we were cold and drenched. hopefully i can catch up to a few of those folks for another trip. it should have been a miserable trip, but everyone was really great.

after i slept a respectable 4-5 hours i got up to get ready to meet friends from shuyak island at the moose's tooth. it was super fun. we all just laughed and laughed. it's always great to bust a gut. took awhile for everyone to gather. jason came in limping due to some illegal parking. these are the people i hang out with...

it's the first time we got everyone from shuyak together since our group was stranded out there last summer. we got a few of us together a few times to play nertz. jason, meghan and i grew up playing this crazy card game and we taught everyone else...we were stranded on an island with loads of time on our hands. we played 4-6 hour stretches out there.

i'm sure the restaurant really appreciated our noisy card game and the fact that we took up a large table for several hours. we did eat pizza and drank our share of beer. we kept it coming so that we could justify our table use.

the below picture is of 2 of the rangers, jim(foreground) and jon and sandra. we've polished off the pizza and are playing some nertz. if you don't know nertz it's like a crazy group solitaire. there is no way to avoid screaming. jim finally won one hand and he goes bizerk...he was the worst nertz player in shuyak and was just as excited there when he won a hand. he gets so excited that he stands and starts dancing and screaming. oops..hehe..

in this picture is tanya, me and jason. i believe the game has just ended...and since my nertz pile is gone...i must have won. i only win when meghan isn't playing. she was taking the pictures. jim brought his girlfriend, erica who was as great as he kept saying on the island. i'm always impressed with someone who can jump into a group they've never met and just seem like they've always been there. she picked up nertz very quickly and i think she had a great time too. anyway...it was a great time. hard to describe in blog. we're an odd assortment of people who probably never would have become friends except that we were stuck on an island together. i was still giggling on my drive to girdwood later that evening.

so today wasn't nearly as exciting. i know....back to the normal life. i have such a hard time waking up without that shower to spring me to life. so it was a sluggish start to the day. i met up with gail and her dog duke for a walk in campell airstrip road trail. no bears and no moose today. no complaints from me. we did have to work our way through the 6-12 inch puddles that were the trail. my extra tuff rain boots have sprung holes. i bought them about 15 years ago while i lived in ketchikan. in ketchikan you roll the boots down when you aren't in 12 inche puddles. that is where the cracks finally leaked. i think i discovered that one the trek to shuyak. i really must buy some new extra tuffs. they are expensive rain boots, but the best! a must have for any adventerous alaskan. i know you aren't supposed to roll them down, but i'm sure i will...i was in ketchikan for 6 years and part of me is still there. it was just a wonderful place to live. i miss it. there are things i don't miss so much though...like no roads, no shopping, no decent gym, 12 feet of rain/year, the exorborant cost of living and the fact that you can pay more to get from ketchikan to seattle than to get from seattle to anywhere. that is crazy. the planes often don't come and go when they say as the weather is rainy and foggy and windy and just nuts. other than that..i loved it.

the weather turned nice today. everyone is outside trying to start the task of cleaning up the yards from winter and preparing for something green to grow. i was raking up leaves and picking up the remnants of dog poop. that is all the talk around...all the poop that is left after the snow melts. alaska is quite a dog place. fun to visit with neighbors. i love this time of year, people are so happy for nice weather they are friendly and chatty. blossom visited with the neighbors. they had some little kids over who had a blast throwing her tennis ball. both kids and dogs were happy.

i went to the gym. i saw that there was a yoga class. it was kinda lame though. mostly jsut relaxation and breathing with a few poses. i wont' attend again. i can breathe at home. i think my feet totally reeked...or maybe that was someone else. anyway...i should do more yoga. i have a rodney yee power yoga tape that i always liked. he's great. i know you have to breathe right, but some yoga instructors get all meditative and spiritual. it's freaky. i'm not one to say "almmmmmm..." or whatever. i'm super flexible. i think almost too flexible for yoga as my joints take me beyond the pose and then i'm really just all contorted out. others are having a tough time getting to the pose postition and i'm falling over from going beyond it. i headed to the rowing maching and some free weights...my comfort zone in a gym..then off to shower...sweet shower! good night..

here's hoping the tiles came in saturday and there will be progress...