mid drive change of plans...

 and i ended up in Hope.  always a nice place to visit.  so these are the start of Hope plus some catch up from experimenting with this new little canon.  i'm enjoying playing with the sepia and the fish eye.  both things i'd wanted.

 the first place i took the camera was in the Bog by my place.

 got a late start today...what is unusual about that.  so this probably helped me make the change, plus as i got closer to the Hope cut off the weather was getting wetter and wetter and when i cruised back towards home i could see some fresh snow dusting the mountain tops.

 it's that time of year.

 there are a few hikes in Hope area and i have only taken one of those hikes.  checked out a few trailheads for future hikes.  just wandered with the dogs, took a few walks along the way, one in portage valley and then another around Hope.

 Blossom looks cute in Black and White and in Sepia.

 every time i listen to the news it's all bad...Turkey in mentioned and i have a friend who i hope is done with her vacation to Turkey now and home safe.  seems like a not to great place to be vacationing at this time.  last she checked in she was having a good time and didn't seem nervous at all.  so i guess i shouldn't be either.  she travels alone all over the world...impressive. not sure i'm ready to be that brave yet.  of course, that being said, i hike all over bear country alone all the time.

 trying to see how decent the zoom is on the little point and shoot so i snapped a few of this dragonfly

 the trees were just pretty. lots of blue skies this week.

 got to the post office to send off a few letters and get stamps.  looks like these first mailings won't be discounted. reply to emails...all in a days work for WARIS at this point.  minimal time on the job for me is 15-20min/day.  some days much more.

 great that others are stepping up and willing to help out.  hoping we can make a difference some way or another.  just being a voice makes a difference i think...lets people know they are being watched and that someone cares about the sanctuary.

 more zoom practice...loved the fall colours out at University lake sunday

 playing with the fish eye again.  there is always a new way to see the world through the lens.  distortion...

 was waiting in line at the post office and though to myself and the guy behind me it would appear that i was next, some girl had pulled herself in right beside me and when the guy asked who was next she stepped right up.

 the guy beside me and i had a bit of a laugh...perhaps in this new world of entitlement we should make those who feel entitled wear signs so the rest of us can react appropriately.

 so annoying...thankfully i wasn't in any big hurry.  people can be quite annoying and selfish though.

 this one great dane at the dog park is tall!! i think his name is crow.  this is one of the social groups i run into at the park.  as is the way my social life seems to go i am welcome, people chat with me, but i never become part of any group.  i think my best groups in life where i have been totally a part of the group were probably in Ketchikan and at Eagle Rock Emergency Pet Clinic.  those people were like family...many still are.

 had to show off my WALRUS ROCK shirt...!

 lots of swans now at Potters Marsh.  i only stopped for a bit to enjoy them.  it was windy out there!!

 great fall color along the road.

 chasing fall is what you do...i guess some chase aurora's...i tend to chase fall.  love this season!!

 pretty reds in there.  seems like the east coast gets way more red in the trees.  wish i had a back yard mixed with aspen/birch and Japanese maples.  those would be cool together.  the reds on those maples is awesome.  i have an amur in my front yard which does quite well in the fall.  i was looking for a Japanese maple...the garden dude at the fancy garden shop here insisted the Japanese maple wouldn't survive here and said it must be an Amur Maple...he was wrong.  i like my tree, but it's not as striking as the Japanese Maple over on Madelyn street.

 beautiful day out there.  Maybe tomorrow i'll make the run to Seward?  one never knows.  i could skip Tuesday and stay more local and then hit Seward on Wednesday.  my schedule is all messed up..i seem to be working a lot of weekends this month. so much for self scheduling and seniority.

 liked the old crumbling house in the fall colors....this area was abandoned after the water levels rose from tsunami waves post 1964 quake.

 these old power lines were left behind.  there are still some of these old glass parts, i hear people like to collect them.

 stuffing envelopes as i write...still need address labels for a bunch of them, but i just got one roll of stamps so far.  figure i'll get them out in batches.  i'm sure we will get many returned, but most people go out there with others so hopefully enough will get through to get the word out.

 we are more than just advocates for the sanctuary...i think there is no way to do this without being advocates for walrus in general.

 ate the rest of my chicken saltimboca tonight..so nummy!!  not something i eat very often.  i should cook real meals more often.  i think you cook less when you live alone.  more fun to cook for others.  eating for one tends to be more of satiating hunger rather than enjoying a meal.

 the articles i had seen about the Japanese volcanic eruption..."people were found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest" apparently you aren't dead there until a doctor examines you and finds you to be dead.  so your time of death could be delayed for hours.

 above was at the cut off headed to hope...the pull out right before the turn has a view...you can see it was looking pretty wet at that point.

 i turned back in to enjoy the sunshine.  so in these i'm almost to Hope.

 someone posted a talk show/comedian sort  going off on Fox news.  i guess Fox  news has been wasting on air hours blasting President Obama for holding his coffee as  he got off  the Presidential jet and giving a salute to the crew on the ground.  funny thing is that this guy found a photo of President Bush doing the same thing except he wasn't holding a coffee he was holding a dog. Fox news is more of a propaganda network than actual news.  i know they all are to some degree...but i think Fox spews out the most hateful crap. it's always funny that a news source that seems to cater to the right wing conservative religions folks is filled with such hate and judgement...wouldn't Jesus be proud.

 we took a walk in Hope down to the waters edge...it was a muddy walk . i let the pups wade in the clear creek before we wandered around town more and loaded back in the car.  my car is never really clean. i dream of having a separate human only car one day.  way too much else on the list though.

 this big pumpkin hangs out in Hope year round.  kinda cool for this season.  probably was created for Halloween one year and was never dismantled.  old stuff is scattered about around most of Alaska's places.  was too spendy at some point to have it removed and carted off.  spare parts always seemed to find a use at some later date by someone in the community.  clutter exists.

 the smart ones incorporate the clutter in the decor and make it look cooler than trash.

 old trucks are scattered around as well.  makes for some fun photo's in my opinion.

 i cruised a few of the roads i hadn't been down before, which was fun.  who knew Hope was so large..i mean larger than the little downtown area that it seems you always just go to and then leave.  it was a pretty drive to the trailhead.

 especially now with all the fall leaves scattered around.  loved this dog decor.

 trucks look cool in B&W and Sepia.

 nothing wrong with a little color too.

 a moose at the side of the road seemed willing to let me snap a few photos and experiment with my new toy.

 she looked nice in sepia too.

 interesting article in the ADN a few weeks back about FDR's trip to Alaska.  not too many Presidents make the journey or stay very long.  looks like back then he traveled by boat.  at the time Alaska was a territory and not a state. the same battles sound like they existed back then...not much changes really.

 these are from the waters edge out in Hope.

 just some beautiful scenery. of course, nothing is open at this point really.

 the whole state is winding down and getting ready for winter.  it's long but i really don't hear too many people complaining.  most folks up here enjoy winter.  may have to more further north if this global warming keeps up...we want snow!

 woke this morning from a dream i was having where i was cleaning my house...felt i should return to sleep....that girl in the dream was the only one cleaning my place.  i did go through a cupboard tonight.  it has all these packets and i knew many were out of date.  it was a mess so now it's not.  good to just pick a cabinet or drawer ever so often and tackle it.

 Blossom takes in the views and enjoys the wind...ok, not sure dogs really take in the views.

 she did take in some stinky dead salmon when we stopped for a walk in portage.  i thought she was slipping into the woods to do her business but then i saw her munching on one of those disgusting dead salmon.  brat!!  all those tv ads where dogs are made out to be picky eaters...crap!  i've seen the gross stuff dogs will eat...they aren't picky from what i've experienced.

well....just a few more envelopes to stuff and i'll send off the first round of letters tomorrow.  grateful today for 1.  blue skies and rain...it's all good.  2.  the lessons i learn from my dogs...they live in the moment and always forgive.  3. sleep...deep and renewing sleep.