anchorage coastal wildlife refuge...a find...

the day was slow in starting but when i did get moving i headed to the university lake dog park. we did two loops. rio's fans were all out in force and she was blessed with many treats and pettings. the sun was shining and i got a picture of rio and her shadow. i think they both look cute!

saw this frozen waterfall as i turned around on the road to girdwood after the dog park. there was fog in turnigan arm so i opted to be safe.

blossom enjoys the coastal wildlife refuge.

sunset along the tracks at oceanview bluff park.

pictures from the coastal wildlife refuge. it was crystal clear when i was at the dog park and foggy out on the coast.

a trail winds through the refuge. not sure how this place is in the summer. will have to make a run down there....just to check it out. it's a great place to watch the sunset anyway.

i suspect the dead trees are like most of the dead trees on beaches around turnigan arm, remnants from the water rising after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami of 1964. it looks so desolate with the fog out there though. the picture below i took looking back at the local mountains.

you can see a few brave sledder/snowboarders at the bottom of the hill. at the bottom of this hill is where you can pick up trails into the refuge. i understand that often wildlife use this path to work thier way around the city. i saw no critters today.

the three below were from the first place i stopped on jarvi drive.

i love how the fog looks in this picture. turned out pretty awesome i must say.

thought i'd drive down to girdwood and beyond since it seemed like a beautiful day. get some pictures. when i got as far as potters marsh the fog dropped down. visibility was poor. for safety sake i thought it best to turn around. i stopped first for a few pictures across from potters marsh right before the fog got the thickest.

thought some of these pictures turned out cool. my favorite is the one below. something about trains and train tracks. after i started driving i thought i'd look for the anchorage coastal wildlife refuge. so i took the first exit, rabbit creek and headed toward the beach. i turned down jarvi dr. a few of the pictures above were taken at the first opening i saw. there was some playground equipment and some people were walking down the road...i saw something that looked like a trail that headed down a hill. they were super nice and showed me that you could go down the hill, cross the railroad tracks and there was a local trail that followed the tracks. i took the three pictures above there i believe and then got back in the car and drove a ways more down the road.

i found another park and more nice people. oceanview park and oceanview bluff park i think they are called. the first is on the bluff and has regular park stuff. i followed the trail in the park and it takes you to the other park. there is a big sledding hill (looks rough right now but looks like a fun one after a good snow, i'll have to return) . beyond the sledding hill is more trails that lead out to the anchorage coastal wildlife refuge. i took several pictures out there and the dogs enjoyed an extra walk. sorry...i'm writing at the end the explanation so it won't make much sense in the begining. oh well.

the dogs are pretty sleepy tonight. we all took a nap soon after we got home. i had left a turkey breast in the crock pot...it was ready when i arrived home.

i'm awake late again...it was that evening nap. trying to figure out how to top todays picture taking adventure tomorrow. perhaps the fog will have lifted and i can take the little drive i'd planned today. won't get anything done if i don't get to bed though....

warm and sunny at 31 degree's...

random moose track...they are everywhere. as are bunny tracks. below are some frost pictures. i get crazy for all the frost. these were from baxter bog the other day...i just had to stop. blossom got to chase her beloved yellow frisbee while i snapped away. rio....she's happy to just chill with me.

it's the time of year when moose sightings will become extremely frequent.....they move into town more and more as winter drones on and food supplies get diminished.

worked the last two nights but didn't let the day get past me. took the girls for a loop in n. bivouac. rio kept smelling moose and finally we caught up with these two. took me a minute to find what rio was smelling, but since they were blocking the trail back to the car, i just watched them from a distance. they didn't seem to upset about us, but with rio pulling at the leash i kept pretty far back. they finally went off to the side of the trail and after a guy skied past them with 2 dogs in tow (a ski-jorer) i figured it was safe to pass. i had a massage to get to anyway. thought she'd have to peel me off the massage table after an hour. i certainly don't think i shoud have been allowed to drive in my relaxed condition. hehe. i need to do those more often.

the picture below is from baxter bog. i took the girls there yesterday in between shifts. always a great loop when i'm tired. rio did spy a moose there. i didn't linger though as it looked like the same one that chased us last week. that moose is a bit edgy so best to leave it be. you can exist with moose pretty easily, but you do have to be alert and aware of the signs of agitation. the moose above were pretty relaxed, but thier ears were back so they were keeping watch on us.

the next picture is just a trail marker in the n. bivouac system. thought it came out kinda cool.

on wednesday i took the pups to rovers run on the campbell airstrip trail system. there are some mushing only trails out there. as i started the walk i saw a team go by on the trail. it was too quick for me to get a camera out. every so often i get a glimpse of a team out there or off of tudor road as i turn in to come home. we had some blue skies earlier this week before it clouded up. looks like it was clearing tonight again. the moon looks pretty big.

my massage therapist was meeting with friends after my massage to head up to near point. not sure i'm ready to hike 8 miles in the darkness, but was thinking it would maybe be easier to hike in the winter than in all the mud of the summertime. i'll have to attempt the trek.

work called wednesday and asked if i wanted to take the on call. hard to say no to that...guess i'm not poor enough yet. so i was on call which worked well as i got my costume pretty much finished for the ski for women. i think it's cute...doesn't look very potatoheady, but i figure i'll find some way to carry my mr potatohead dog plus i'll be surrounded by potatoheads so it will be cool. i think it looks cute, i'm a dog girl so what does it really matter.

i did get called in at about 10pm. it was a bit of a cluster when i got there, lots of admits,everyone stressed. often when i walk into that i am just quiet and wait a few minutes to dive into the fray. since they didn't seem to know where i was going and which patients i'd be taking i went down for some caffeine to help me wake up. i guess my silence was taken as me being mad about being called in. really, my thought is if you are on call you could get called in so i never get why people are ticked. just like i don't get why docs get mad when you call them in the wee hours when they know they are on call and getting paid to be on call. i'm guessing they make quite a bit more money than me to be on call.

i got luck of the draw as i had one patient in the picu and aside from being dehydrated and on the verge of getting sicker it was a pleasant night. had to call the resident. often it seems the residents just want you to tell them what to order, but i always try and make them look up stuff ...some people are smart, some just act smart and some totally talk out of thier arse. idiots can sound pretty smart so best to look stuff up yourself or be pretty sure of who you are getting information from. i think the guy is pretty stressed in the picu and he got all flustered asking me questions about tylenol suppositories. i think somehow he came to think they just put a pill in there...anyway....very strange conversation where i just said, "it's a supposity not a pill" alot. the resp guy overheard it all and a bit later after the resident left we both just started laughing bewildered at the odd conversation that had just transpired.

blossom was a bit concerned about the big dog in the house. she got a good sniff in and then i took her picture. i put that patch on there so i'd have a pocket for my little camera. may still take the zoom just in case in a backpack, but always worry i'll fall on it.

just watched my netflix pick for the week "ramen girl". it was actually a cute movie. took awhile to get around to the point of it all, but i love a good message and i love when people who are floundering find their way in this world. forever hopeful.

stopped by to see karen, who had to have surgery last night. she is a co-worker and newer friend. she fell a few weeks back and broke her humerous and apparently broke her hip as well. so she is fixed now. wanted to check in and take a few things to her. when i was hospitalized several years back someone brought me my own wash cloth and lotion so i didn't have to use the hospitals...(i know where the washclothes have been and the lotion just reminds me of all the patients i've put it on and really i just can't put it on myself) i bought one of those diffusers...hope it helps...hospitals smell. :-) of course, i forgot to get a bottle to set it in. we attempted a styrafone cup that they had at the nurses station, but that stuff ate through it. so karen...if you read this feel free to toss the whole thing if it's a bother. i won't be at all offended. i know she'll make a speedy recovery, but i feel badly as i know she is very active like me and will be on the verge of insanity sitting about.

i did get to wear my new dansko shoes for those two nights. great coming in late so the first night on them i wasn't there the full 12 hours. had little moments of spasm, but overall it went well and i think i had less hip pain. we'll see...fingers crossed as they say.

it's 2 am. i took a nap this evening, but i'm sleepy...

always keeping busy...

above is just another picture from yesterdays walk. i didn't take any today. i was walking the big loop at n. bivouac. kelly had called so we ended up meeting part way. good to catch up a bit. guess i walked pretty fast. it was nice out. warmer than yesterday. close to 10 probably. the dogs had a great walk and were sleepy tonight. above is buddha. he had a blast romping in all that lumpy snow. thought the picture showed the joy of it a bit.

after my walk i had a list of errands to run. i stopped at walmart for material for my ski for women costume. i bought this set of potato heads to use as guides. they were pretty cheap. i think around 10 bucks. i can give them to some kid when i'm done with them. they may come along on the ski if i can figure out a way to include them in my potato sack costume. hmm..

my sewing skills are pretty weak. took me a bit to get the bag made. it will do i guess. i'll try and get the facial features to make up for what the sack lacks. i'm going for the dog potatohead. more in character for me.

also bought a pair of dansko's so we'll see how that goes for me. my hip still aches and i've had tiny spasms, but hopefully between the new shoes and a massage friday that i scheduled myself for life will improve. i also hit the gym for some laps in the pool. got 42 in. i count each time i hit a wall....i think an actual lap is getting back to original wall. my hip did feel better as i did the laps so i think i really need to be consistent in getting over there. the jacuzzi felt good too. i usually do 4 laps kick board and then 4 laps alternating front and back strokes. today i did 3 front to one back so that is more work.

off to bed...

it's all in the shoes...

blossom checks back on me. andrea and kelly wait at the tank trail...blossom is on the powerline trail...below is kelly bundled up.

tanya watches the dogs romp and wrestle.

as you can see the monday walk was fun and beautiful. we did the gasline to powerline to tank to moose ridge link back out across the ponds and around to the big loop trail back to the cars. below is kiska enjoing the sun. we were out the usual 2 hours.

tanya and andrea are all smiles despite the chilly weather...helps to take the gasline trail to warm up a bit. hills do that. i did have to re-heat and thus nap upon returning home.
awesome views of the alaska range and denali and foraker mountains.

julie and linda hang with the pups on the monday dog walk.

above and below are from my bog here by the house.

i love wispy clouds like these. i keep meaning to get a book on the names of all the various cloud formations. they are so cool!

these three pictures are from n. bivouac the other day with blossom and rio between shifts.

blossom is just so dang cute. sorry...i can't get enough of her cuteness!

pictures are uploading like crap this week. not sure what the deal is...so frustrating. i have lots of fun/cool pictures to load. it's been so pretty out this week. clear blue skies, crisp...gotta love winter. i'm trying just loading a few at a time and that still isn't working. grr....!

just watched "paper heart" while attempting to load pictures.... don't really want to stay awake much more....some days computers can just make me nuts. oddly enough though at least the computer isn't freaking out that i took my camera's card out. the last week i've had to replace the little card in the slot in order to get the error message off. i could computer vent for hours. need to get more zen though. not sure i enjoyed that movie or not. just a strange documentary. strangish comedian charlyne yi questions love as she starts dating the dude from juno. he is just like he was in juno so though it all worked for that movie i sense that both those actors just were themselves in the movie and it worked, but that they probably do not have a long and successful acting career ahead of them. haven't heard of the writer turning anything else out of late either. i guess there are people who are one hit wonders in music it would make sense that you could be that way in a movie too.

work was fine...no drama. ran sledd a few nights. my hip has been spasming at work quite a bit this weekend. very painful and nearly disabling for the few minutes it's freaking out. was chatting with sandra today and she mentioned shoes...a little aha moment for me. i have my keens that i have worn to work for ages so they are probably super old and not at all supportive at this point. it would explain why my hip is way worse at work and why i can walk miles, such as i did today, and just have mild discomfort. i wear the ice bugs for my winter walks and those are very supportive. so i'd like to get some new work shoes...and maybe see about seeing employee health to make sure there isn't anything i can do to help. perhaps schedule a massage as well. i'm working on my to do list as i write and wait. it's getting long.

was going to go to gym tonight, but i fell asleep and then put the movie in. there was also a new episode of bones i hadn't seen yet. love that show.

rio sniffed out a moose in the bog the other day. as she was draggin me i was searching for the moose.....the object of her desire. we have conflicting desires on this front...she wants to meet the moose and i wish to prevent her from meeting the moose. it could be the web site is the one having issues with loading at times (just a random thought). anyway....i finally saw the moose, about 30 feet off facing the other direction so i thought i'd just keep moving forward past it. moose didn't like that idea apparently and did a 180 leap and started booking towards me. i ran with the pups and when i looked back the moose hadn't come out of the bush to the trail. i ran a bit more before deciding it was safe. those things can get big when they are coming at you....i really think they gain weight as they run towards you.

the next day i opted to go to the dog park at university lake. it's always crazy with dogs on the weekends. saw many of the regulars that i've known for years. after going the loop one direction i just joined up with the group and circled back. rio was wanting to follow the treats anyway. we took a back trail to the parking area....kinda silly that i'd never taken that path before in all these years.

today was monday walk. we had 7 dogs and 6 humans i believe. lets see...bohdi, buddha, blossom, kiska, mandee, rio and indy. those are the dogs obviously...humans, andrea, tanya, kelly, me, julie and linda. it was linda's first trek. i was worried she wasn't having fun but i think she was just lagging behind to take it all in. it was quite pretty out and also i think she likes to work on training with kiska. it was great to have kelly there too. it's been quite awhile. i gave her dates for a drive to kennicot this summer and she seems like she still wants to do that. she's off a bit this week so hopefully we get in another hike together to catch up more. i brought a calendar for tanya and showed it around when we were at kaladi's for our hot cocoa. kelly seemed like she would have liked one. will probably adjust who i send them out to next year. i sent to all my sibs but not sure several really are interested. haven't heard that the calendars were even received from most of them. figure that will be the sign to not send it next year if i make one. my family is strange that way though. joel emailed me out of the blue. he's kinda disconnected himself from the family in some ways so cool to get an email and actually have an exchange. i mentioned the calendar as i had run out of envelopes and hadn't sent his off yet. i asked if he wanted one and he wrote that he did and that he still had the moose calendar from when my picture was bought by anchorage daily news for thier annual calendar. who knew. our family just never really communicates...would be nice if we did more of that. was talking to my sister and it came up. i remember our dad never gave me a compliment that didn't have some sort of disclaimer on it. this is good but... apparently, he said nice things to other people about me....sure would have been nice to get a compliment from him myself though. it was just funny that my brother never even mentioned getting that old calendar and here it is years later and it's something that he has opted to keep.

it has been chilly like i said. as i drive home from work in the mornings it's like 0-5 degree's. i overdressed today though and felt a bit hot. kelly and i laughed at the idea that one could over dress in 3 degree weather...doesn't seem possible.

occasionally at work i glance out a window and see a moose. it happened the other night. always just amazing to look outside the hospital and spy a moose cruising down the sidewalk. the hospital rooms in ketchikan icu overlooked the water and so you could occasionally see a whale cruise by. i recall looking out at some pretty rainbows, sunsets, lots of boats and float plane activity. the cruise ships, ferries and tugs were just part of the scenery. you got where you knew which was going through.

well, since these pictures are loading slowly and i have a paper or two to read you will have to hear my views on current events....feel free to cut out now.

had to check out the best/worst dressed for SAG and Golden Globe awards. i still think those hollywood people are pretty egocentric that they need so many dang awards ceremonies for themselves. very few nurses get any sort of recognition, same with firemen, police, teachers...but these hollywood folks seem to believe they should be awarded for farting right. they do get dogs, children, monkeys and even asses to act....just saying. i still enjoy checking out what outfits their people convinced them they looked fabulous in. must be tough to have so many people kissing your arse....i mean how do you know who to trust.

gotta give clooney chops for putting together the event to raise money for the earthquake victims of haiti. i heard some in the background on my patients tv as i ran the sledd machine and i guess they raised over 60 mil. of course, that idiot, sean penn had to go down there himself. he always has to get in the middle of stuff and get all political. he's an idiot. just an actor that has been told too many times he's fabulous and perfect and now believes it to the degree that he has become a nuisance in my opinion. if you aren't helping in haiti, you are in the way. anyway...i really need to get on the red cross site and donate and i should try to download a few tunes from the fund raiser.

a few alaskan cross country skiers got named to the olympic team so that is cool. go kikkan i say. i've seen her out on the trails with her dad and dogs out at n. bivouac. just seems nice. jeff king won the tustemena dog sled race. the censes started and they chose to go to a remote village in alaska and start it off that way. i guess the censes dude flew in to a nearby village and then got a ride on a sled dog team to the village.

gotta make a potato head costume so add that to my to list for the week. eek! not sure how well i'll do at that project. still reading...anchorage has 5 off leash dog parks...yippee! overall they have worked out well since bieng designated in 2003 (and i helped!! ) i guess there are some trying to get a fenced dog park in the down town anchorage area. i wish them the best..as it sounds like a great idea to me! i guess at present the land has been mostly used by homeless as a drinking area. the lady who's dead husband the existing "park" is named after apparently isn't a dog fan though and is offended that this is being suggested. still reading...redoubt was spewing some steam last week. that was one of the pictures i was attempting to post. i was on a trail and i thought i saw a volcano with some smoke...but couldn't tell for sure if it was just some clouds...the paper says it's sputtering a bit.

done loading all i'm gonna attempt tonight. my errand list grew as i waited for pictures to load. off to bed....

sunshine and blue skies....

blossom enjoys the sun beams.

in anchorage but all alone...

it was such a beautiful day out there today. chilly,but not miserably so. took the dogs to n.bivouac trailhead. we walked the gasline to powerline to tank and then took off on side trails to extend the walk. amazing how you hardly see anyone out there despite there being several cars in the lot. there are just so many trails you can take. first i mailed off a few packages. i think i offended the post office dude. i tried to just say no there weren't any perishible items in the boxes...apparently he is required to say the entire line to everyone. oops. i improved my bad kharma from that by stopping to help a girl that had slid into the snow and was trapped. i don't think i was much help. she finally got out after a third guy stopped to help.

had a freaky/scarey dream this morning. in case i haven't mentioned, i tend to get lost in all my dreams. i'm always wandering around freaking out. usually, i am trying to get to work, am late and lost. this morning i apparently lived in some high rise combo cruise ship appearing place. i'm not too keen on views from high places so that was freaking me out in the dream...i was either looking out at a beautiful ocean view from very high up or trying to use the staircase to find my way to my apartment. the staircase seemed to go on forever. of course, i couldn't remember the apartment number either.

ate comfort food tonight so hopefully no freaky dreams tonight. i made my mom's meatloaf. i always find it tasty. i go through foods. like a few months back i was on a tuna fish sandwhich kick or i'll make spaghetti often or pancakes...whatever...then i tire of it and move on to the next thing. i had forgotten about meatloaf. it's pretty good though. food is a great way to be with mom on those days when you miss her.

of course, i was belching up that meatloaf as i did my laps. i'm trying to get myself motivated to get back to a regular work out. i always feel so much better in general when i hit the gym with regularity. i started back with 40 laps and 10 minutes of rowing. since i had already walked over 2 hours outside today in 5-10 degree weather...i think i'm good. really need to pop down and take a few ibuprofens...just cause. you do that when you are over 40. i feel like i need to get to the gym at least 3x/week. swimming is good as i think it works everything and will be easy on my hip. i seem to have some chronic pain in the left hip and 2 times i've had mini spasms. i think swimming will really help this. figure if i swim first then hit the machines and free weights my hair will dry a bit before i head out to the 2 degree weather as i did tonight. a bit chilly out there right now.

well, this wouldn't load last night and i only loaded a few today. will add more later...just got back from a loop of the bog. another very pretty day out there. i have work tonight so i think i will go nap. was up late watching "marley and me". gotta love that one. so i'm sleepy.

bog and rovers run...oldies but goodies

a picture from another day with the sunshining in. gotta get your sunshine in when you can. today i took both dogs to the bog (baxter bog by my house) and then took blossom off to rovers fun. always fun out there. lots of activity some days. skiers, ski-jourers, walkers, dogs...no moose to day. mostly, just blossom, me and the beloved yell0w ball.

not much makes a doodle happier than chasing that yellow ball. she loves to visit people she meets on the trail too. she is one friendly dog. walked a bit with an older english gentleman. i've run into him before. when we moved on, blossom was hesitant as she seems to want to keep a group together....whether they really are a group or not.

the sun was setting as i drove down tudor headed to home and the grocery. i had to stop and snap off a few pictures. thought it quite lovely. this open area is just down the road from my place. often i see moose out here as i drive to/from work. also occasionally you will spy a dog team cruising by out there. not today.

i've really got to work on the laundry some more so i have someplace to sleep tonight. i love fresh sheets and if i were rich and famous my help would be washing my sheets with great regularity. i have no help though so unlike oprah ( who apparently gets fresh sheets daily) i have to be satisfied with fresh sheets every week or two. i snagged some play dough from work. actually, we were getting stuff for the downs girl in the adult icu and i just couldn't hand it over. i find the smell of play dough intoxicating and i really don't think she could have worked the playdough anyway....what with the puffy hands and all. that is what i'm telling myself anyway. really, i just love the smell. i also love patchoulli and often get it mixed in lotions at the body shop. they have great stuff there. doubt they have play dough scented lotion though...hmm.

so a less than exciting day...laundry, dishes, vacuuming, carpet cleaning...! have a few little packages ready to mail, hopefully tomorrow. can't believe my days off are flying past me so quickly. tomorrow gym, really...unless i go for a late afternoon ski. i always figure it's better to be outside doing activities than in a gym, but i really could do both. i really should considering i'm paying for the dang gym and it's not cheap.

should i watch a movie or just read and crash? i was on the phone a bit today. i chatted with my sister and my friends michelle and natalie. always fun to catch up. i'm not a texter at all...i still prefer the phone to the ear thing. i'm not attached to the cell phone either. i love the peace and quiet that comes when you just tune out all noise. i often drive in the car without the radio on. the cell is great to carry around in case i get kicked by a moose or run into a tree or something. well, i hear that dryer winding down and i'm getting sleepy. i'll finish off my apple and happily decorated animal crackers and head to bed....

the humans outnumbered the dogs today...that's a first.

off for another monday walk. we had 8 peoples and 4 dogs. blossom is worn out all the same. this is lena with one of her 3 boys. they don't have a dog right now and since it was a holiday the boys wanted to have some dog time. don't think the one above really liked the length of the walk, but this was early on and he's still smiling.

besides lena and her family, gail and sharon came along. above is gail. below, sharon with two of lena's boys.

below is lena and her family. i think the third boy is between lena and her husband, jason. it was a nice walk. blossom got some rumbling in and has been pretty tired tonight. i thought about heading out for a ski or the gym, since i've been such a slacker, but i was a slacker again and took a nap.

we got a little bit of snow last night. not enough to get the snowshoes out,but it does always make the place sparkle.

just watched a favorite movie that i pretty near have memorized by now, "spitfire grill". always a good one. that is the extent of my excitement today. good night....