flowers, snow and a bear...

above are wild rose...saw them on the drive up to artic valley for my hike today. first took blossom and rio on a walk in the bog and neighborhoods around me. the mosquito's were a bit thick in the bog which is to be expected this time of year. i had a light spray plus by clip on mosquito repellant thingee. it's actually helpful i think. they grazed by me but didn't bite me. rio wasn't quite as lucky, though she doesn't seem to itch for days like i do. she does a roll on the ground occasionally and then forgets about it. perhaps other mammals aren't as badly impacted. i must say my mom always swore she never was bitten by a mosquito though even if she was in a swarm.
yesterday was a relaxing day. i walked the dogs around here, layed about in the sunshine reading and waited for the dryer repair guy. once all the pet hair was cleaned out the dryer worked again. a miracle!! so then i had to begin to re-hair it as the laundry was piling up. now i've noticed that my caulking job is still not working on the shower door. drat!! see why i hire people for this stuff!!

these are just more pictures of wildflowers. they aren't in full blooms yet up there on the mountains, but headed that way. by july the wildflowers will be amazing. i'm exited to be in the aleutians for that awesome flower time. just amazing how many varieties you can find and how quickly they grow each year really.

artic valley is a downhill ski place run by volunteers in the winter i believe. it was originally set up by the military for thier people i believe. i think they wanted to keep the armed servicemen of alaska happy living in this weather and darkness. the military has actually been pretty good about allowing public use on military land. as you drive up the dirt road to this trail, you pass by the golfing set up as well. the road signs say 25 mph unless troops present then 10 mph. i thought that was amusing. i forgot that there is a different fee for use of this trail system that goes to the upkeep of the skiing. i have my state parks pass which covers all of the chugach....except here and the eagle river nature center. so i had to find change in the car to cover my expense. there are several trails at the ski place. today i took the one that goes up the valley to a view above.

it only took me a half hour to get to the top from there you can head either direction along the ridge...up of course. i just went a ways to check out the views. this is just at the top. from here you are looking at eagle river area. the valley in the rear leads to the eagle river nature center and the near one leads to the trail that my friend kelly and i took the other week to eagle lake. below you can see the lakes that are the destination for eagle lake/symphony lakes trail. we didn't make it that far the other week. i've never actually been to the lakes...there is a section of rocks to cross and i'm fine with it and i'm sure blossom would be fine, but i freak out with the dogs that they will hurt themselves so i tend to turn back. wimp...i know.

above is blossom at the ridgeline on todays hike. she found a patch of leftover snow and made use of it. those dogs would be perfectly happy if it was winter all year i think. they sure love the snow! that was the only patch we could get to easily.

there are always loads of these cute prairie dogs ( i think that is what it is). it took blossom awhile to figure out what was making the noise, but once she spotted one and then figured out about all the little holes...the chase was on. i opted to keep her on a leash for much of the walk. she has the extender leash so that still gives her 25 feet stretch to explore. i just was worried with her running around chasing prairie dogs that she'd break a leg in one of the zillion holes that were out there. those things are quick so it's doubtful she'd ever have a chance of catching one. i did get a picture of ones butt quite clearly as it headed back in the hole...i found it amusing.

on the drive home from artic valley i spotted a smallish black bear feasting on roadside dandilions. it was a really cute bear and allowed me to take several pictures before he decided to get anxious and bolt.

he's quite cute though, don't you think??

last night i watched "speak" again and could watch it again. something about that movie. the angst...i cry everytime, but it's not a bad cry, it's just a really good movie which i really think brings the emotions to life. i got a package from amazon with more reading material for this summer of sun (i hope). also got a package my brother sent of stuff from them sorting through mom's stuff. always fun to get stuff like that as i really had no idea what had been set aside for me. some of it was obviously stuff i'd given to her, poems i'd written for mothers day, a music box from alaska with "it's a small world" as the song. we used to ride that ride over and over together at disneyland when i was a kid. she was obviously just as adverse to fast rides as me so we made a good pair...or did i become adverse because she only took me on it's a small world. whatever, it's a great little song.

so ends another day of excitement in the life and times of betsy...