admittedly, it's very tough to get motivated for walks when it's below 0 F and you are happy and warm in your covers. blossom, of course, needs no motivation at all. she loves cold weather. on the other hand, she gets overheated in the summers here when it gets above 70, which it rarely does. i have to make sure there is a water source for the dogs and rest them frequently on warm days like that. lucky for blossom we have more winter than summer here.
my friend sandra joined me in the chill. she'd never been to the coastal refuge so she followed me out there. that place is totally different each time i go there. today it was extremely icy everywhere. no cleats but we did okay. blossom fares quite well out on the ice. i suspect you use totally different muscles to stay afoot and sandra and i were both a bit sleepy after our run. had a bit of a headache by the end and lay down on a tennis ball for a bit at home. still have large knots, but am trying to load up on water. usually when i get headaches i can attribute them to dehydration, lack of sleep, lack of eating or anything that upsets my winging scapula. being back at swimming is no doubt upsetting my scapular muscle groups. at some point in my life i ended up with nerve damage. the nerve damage prevented the muscles that normally hold your scapula in were damaged. other muscles have had to take over the role, but they don't seem to like it and knot up. things like swimming, wearing a backpack, kayaking, mowing, well they upset the natural order. of course, i don't stop doing the things i love, just sleep on tennis balls with some frequency.
sandra loves to take over tennis ball chucking duties when she is around. blossom usually still drops the ball at my feet, but she does appreciate sandra for entertaining her.
sandra snapped off a few photos of me. we were both pretty layered up out there. toasty actually. did get cold after over 2 hours out there, who wouldn't?
okay, blossom wouldn't.
lots of tussocks out there, all covered with frost. looked very cool. also handy to step on as there was so much ice out there.
lots of big ol logs out there, possibly leftovers from the '64 quake and tsunami.
hard to really show the frost on the tussocks, but this does kinda, pretty amazing really. totally wishing i had my new lens. will have to make a return trip once that arrives. figure it will snow that day and all the frost will be buried. it will frost again.
not many clouds in the skies these days, though we saw a couple coming back. probably great nights for seeing northern lights. won't see much here in anchorage, though it's possible. you just have to be on the outskirts of town. the outskirts are quite accessible. the coastal refuge would be considered outskirts.
wouldn't want to be wandering around on all this ice in the dark and it gets even colder once that sun drops down over the horizon.
guess cause it's the weekend, we saw several folks out there. lots of other dog walker types and even more bikers. i guess icy conditions are the best for winter biking. people have fat tires, studs, and warm winter handle bar mittens. not sure the biking thing appeals to me at this temperature, but was cool to see them out there.
the sun was shining brightly, though i really don't remember any warmth coming from it. the warmth can readily be felt in the mornings coming through my front windows. it feels like i'm laying on a beach in southern california. great nap spot, stretched out there on the bed with the sun beaming down warmly.
more bikers...
frosty tussocks looking back toward the chugach range.
this is looking more towards turnigan arm.
by beloved freaky tree forest.
4 hour computer class tomorrow night...so not looking forward to that. will have to try and get a swim in first and then head over. the class is from 9p-1am. i'm tired just thinking about it.
rio was bootied up again today. should run outside and plug in the car. dang it...always forget when i have my hands full. rio did pretty well considering how much ice was out there. can't have been easy walking for her. she is a sport and puts up with just about anything. tried a bit of nail trimming on her tonight. have never liked trimming dogs toenails, don't know why. we all have those tasks that just put us off.
more biker shots...
we could have brought ice skates or the kicksled out there, but sandra didn't seem to need either. she just skated on her sorrels. blossom wasn't sure what to make of her odd movements. she lay still, unsure.
blossom is the lump in the sun.
she may have just been taking a self imposed break.
it's just impossible to not get several great pictures out there at the refuge. i've yet to have a bad day in the winter out there.
here again is the strange burlaped stump. not sure what the burlap is there for. leftover from yesteryear?
the rest of my day has been like most others, very little accomplished. the to do list would get longer if i bothered to write an actual to do list. i've been too lazy to do.
did stay up late last night singing and recording my music on my laptop. have no idea what to do with it from there. don't feel like i want to post it on facebook and my blog here is already getting loaded space wise. doubt this blog will survive the year, i'll have to start eachdayanadventureinalaskaII. i do enjoy being able to read back and have a living photo album. the actual photo albums take up alot of space and come with little explanation. still no system. have been putting hte bigger trips in albums still but all these day to day photo's...so far i'll load them to my shutterfly account and make some into actual photos one day. not even sure what has been made into actual pictures at this point. it's all so disorganized. aakk!!
thought these frosty flowers were beautiful.
sandra and i laughed at how well blossom blends with the tussocks. where is blossom?
sandra and i thought our walk was over and headed back to the cars. there were actually several folks out there sledding. pretty brave as the sledding hill seems a bit icy to me. could hurt your bum.
we weren't actually done as when we got to the cars, sandra realized that her car key was gone. we suspected that if we had a chance to locate it, it would have to be where she first started taking pictures...that was at this main stump that has a pink flag to help guide everyone back to the trails.
we looked around the stump and didn't see anything. i suggested she look at the first picture she took to be able to get closer to where the scene of the crime was. we knew if it wasn't here it was gone as beyond the stump we just wandered out on the ice field. no actual trails out there. sandra took my suggestion and it worked. there she is after having discovered her key...lucky day. we figured if it dropped in the tussocks they were lost forever.
here is sandra with her key. needle in a tussock.
this extended our walk by almost an hour and made it possible for us to enjoy a bit of the sunset. blossom, of course, was thrilled with the added walk. bonus!
this is the main stump at the end of the trodden trail. beyond this is just on your own.
beautiful day though and i'm happy we got some extra time in.
the trail can be seen, though it's not in existence in the summers. today it was ice. we have our ice roads and our ice trails.
and our spindly trees of course.
finally got some taco's made tonight. still feel full, could be all the water i've drank trying to hydrate. hope this doesn't mean i'll be up in the wee hours peeing. it does take alot to wake me from a sleep.
sunset from the sledding hill. had to laugh as we left, sandra totally ran a red light! this after she had berated me for driving too fast in a residential area. i really don't think i was driving too fast, but thought it funny that she totally ran a stop sign after giving me driving instructions.
rio sat down on the sledding hill, obviously we wore the poor girl out!!
hard to get pictures of both dogs sitting down.
as i headed home i stopped to snap this of the sunset on turnigan. the colours are just brilliant!!
when i got home i lay on the couch with a tennis ball. at some point rio decided to join me. usually she just lays at the foot of hte bed, today she climbed on top of me like she was a kitten. i called sandra to say i may be trapped and need help. 120 pounds of dog can be quite uncomfortable. she looked so happy though. looks like we have several more days of bundling and cold weather. monday walk tomorrow...no baked goods yet. i really should get on it. maybe i can make some cowboy coffee cake in the morning. odds of that happening are not great, but we'll see.
sandra loves to take over tennis ball chucking duties when she is around. blossom usually still drops the ball at my feet, but she does appreciate sandra for entertaining her. 
sandra snapped off a few photos of me. we were both pretty layered up out there. toasty actually. did get cold after over 2 hours out there, who wouldn't?
okay, blossom wouldn't.
lots of tussocks out there, all covered with frost. looked very cool. also handy to step on as there was so much ice out there.
lots of big ol logs out there, possibly leftovers from the '64 quake and tsunami. 
hard to really show the frost on the tussocks, but this does kinda, pretty amazing really. totally wishing i had my new lens. will have to make a return trip once that arrives. figure it will snow that day and all the frost will be buried. it will frost again.
not many clouds in the skies these days, though we saw a couple coming back. probably great nights for seeing northern lights. won't see much here in anchorage, though it's possible. you just have to be on the outskirts of town. the outskirts are quite accessible. the coastal refuge would be considered outskirts.
wouldn't want to be wandering around on all this ice in the dark and it gets even colder once that sun drops down over the horizon.
guess cause it's the weekend, we saw several folks out there. lots of other dog walker types and even more bikers. i guess icy conditions are the best for winter biking. people have fat tires, studs, and warm winter handle bar mittens. not sure the biking thing appeals to me at this temperature, but was cool to see them out there.
the sun was shining brightly, though i really don't remember any warmth coming from it. the warmth can readily be felt in the mornings coming through my front windows. it feels like i'm laying on a beach in southern california. great nap spot, stretched out there on the bed with the sun beaming down warmly.
more bikers...
frosty tussocks looking back toward the chugach range. 
this is looking more towards turnigan arm.
by beloved freaky tree forest. 
4 hour computer class tomorrow night...so not looking forward to that. will have to try and get a swim in first and then head over. the class is from 9p-1am. i'm tired just thinking about it.
rio was bootied up again today. should run outside and plug in the car. dang it...always forget when i have my hands full. rio did pretty well considering how much ice was out there. can't have been easy walking for her. she is a sport and puts up with just about anything. tried a bit of nail trimming on her tonight. have never liked trimming dogs toenails, don't know why. we all have those tasks that just put us off. 
more biker shots...
we could have brought ice skates or the kicksled out there, but sandra didn't seem to need either. she just skated on her sorrels. blossom wasn't sure what to make of her odd movements. she lay still, unsure.
blossom is the lump in the sun.
she may have just been taking a self imposed break.
it's just impossible to not get several great pictures out there at the refuge. i've yet to have a bad day in the winter out there. 
here again is the strange burlaped stump. not sure what the burlap is there for. leftover from yesteryear? 
the rest of my day has been like most others, very little accomplished. the to do list would get longer if i bothered to write an actual to do list. i've been too lazy to do.
did stay up late last night singing and recording my music on my laptop. have no idea what to do with it from there. don't feel like i want to post it on facebook and my blog here is already getting loaded space wise. doubt this blog will survive the year, i'll have to start eachdayanadventureinalaskaII. i do enjoy being able to read back and have a living photo album. the actual photo albums take up alot of space and come with little explanation. still no system. have been putting hte bigger trips in albums still but all these day to day photo's...so far i'll load them to my shutterfly account and make some into actual photos one day. not even sure what has been made into actual pictures at this point. it's all so disorganized. aakk!!
thought these frosty flowers were beautiful. 
sandra and i laughed at how well blossom blends with the tussocks. where is blossom?
sandra and i thought our walk was over and headed back to the cars. there were actually several folks out there sledding. pretty brave as the sledding hill seems a bit icy to me. could hurt your bum. 
we weren't actually done as when we got to the cars, sandra realized that her car key was gone. we suspected that if we had a chance to locate it, it would have to be where she first started taking pictures...that was at this main stump that has a pink flag to help guide everyone back to the trails.
we looked around the stump and didn't see anything. i suggested she look at the first picture she took to be able to get closer to where the scene of the crime was. we knew if it wasn't here it was gone as beyond the stump we just wandered out on the ice field. no actual trails out there. sandra took my suggestion and it worked. there she is after having discovered her key...lucky day. we figured if it dropped in the tussocks they were lost forever.
here is sandra with her key. needle in a tussock.
this extended our walk by almost an hour and made it possible for us to enjoy a bit of the sunset. blossom, of course, was thrilled with the added walk. bonus!
this is the main stump at the end of the trodden trail. beyond this is just on your own. 
beautiful day though and i'm happy we got some extra time in. 
the trail can be seen, though it's not in existence in the summers. today it was ice. we have our ice roads and our ice trails. 
and our spindly trees of course.
finally got some taco's made tonight. still feel full, could be all the water i've drank trying to hydrate. hope this doesn't mean i'll be up in the wee hours peeing. it does take alot to wake me from a sleep. 
sunset from the sledding hill. had to laugh as we left, sandra totally ran a red light! this after she had berated me for driving too fast in a residential area. i really don't think i was driving too fast, but thought it funny that she totally ran a stop sign after giving me driving instructions. 
rio sat down on the sledding hill, obviously we wore the poor girl out!!
hard to get pictures of both dogs sitting down.
as i headed home i stopped to snap this of the sunset on turnigan. the colours are just brilliant!!
when i got home i lay on the couch with a tennis ball. at some point rio decided to join me. usually she just lays at the foot of hte bed, today she climbed on top of me like she was a kitten. i called sandra to say i may be trapped and need help. 120 pounds of dog can be quite uncomfortable. she looked so happy though. looks like we have several more days of bundling and cold weather. monday walk tomorrow...no baked goods yet. i really should get on it. maybe i can make some cowboy coffee cake in the morning. odds of that happening are not great, but we'll see. 
If you do end up switching blogs you should make sure you get one where you can post BIG photos! I usually go through and click most of them to enlarge them.
ReplyDeletei know you like wordpress. i've found it a bit clunky..i'd need a guide. probably would just do blogger over. it's very easy. i'm at like 66% percent now..eek!
ReplyDelete