arrival to Round Island...

 forgotten that there were these openings at the end of the spine.  walrus on island when we arrived.

 a few more from Togiak of course.  we got out pretty quick Tuesday morning.  captain was a bit short that morning.  not an am guy?  we did get on our way fairly quickly and his mood lightened. he loved to talk about the native culture so that seemed  a way to bring him back into a better mood.  interesting stuff, he does seem to know a great deal about the area.  still a lot of story telling passed generation to generation.

 just finished 3 nights of work.  ICU, ER and then back to the ICU for the last night. kept busy. nice in the ER i had patients with actual medical issues...haha.  that is not always the case but nice to feel like you have done that job rather than just deal with people who don't belong clogging up the ER.

 dropped my  car off in the morning after my first night. some rubbing noise in the back.  seems it will be a bit pricey to repair and hopefully it will be done tomorrow.  we shall see. i have a loaner car for the weekend.  thankful i arranged that.  still they do not allow dogs in the car so leash walks these past few days.

 check out those walrus on my leggings!!  so cool.

 last few in Togiak and then we headed off towards the island.

 had a corgi incident on one of the walks. the pups are getting better and better at leash walks and heeling but every so often they catch sight of something and just bolt.  it can be tough to hold them back.  the other day it was a few happy corgi's playing besides the fence in their backyard.  the pups yanked the leashes simultaneously of course, the leash grabbed my fit bit and must have burst some vessel.  i had a nice little hematoma for work that night.  still swollen and sore. by morning after running around all night in the ER i think my arm had swollen around the fit bit...it was getting super sore. switched arms the next night. put it back there today but i can see again there is swelling on both sides of the fitbit.  time to take it off for the night

 it's super annoying and aggravating when they win and are able to get me to release their leashes...it could also be potentially dangerous.  if they were to see a bird across the street or something that could mean darting into traffic.  can't think about that.  gotta just keep training and hope they get it sooner than later and before any disaster strikes.

 today twice within a few minutes they were able to bolt and make me release the leash...both were in the bog and both were chasing the same magpie.  i was pissed and tired to boot. there were stern words. always embarrassing.  pretty loudly proclaiming "no" "bad" and then seeing someone walk by who is no doubt judging you for being mean to such adorable puppies.

 passed a few of the large boats out there. i think the smaller boats pull up to these boats which are probably processors.  he was explaining but i was sitting further back and he was mostly speaking to Ryan.

 passing all the big boats.  he cruised around a bit since we had some time.

 Ryan was pretty excited because he hadn't been close to these beach areas.  they are directly across from the island so he sees them in the distance all the time, fun to see them up close and hear stories.

 no whale sightings out there for us.

 the twin rocks i think they are called.

 approaching the island.

 you can see the trail that goes pretty much straight up below.  that is the trail i got chicken on...steep and i was alone and i'm not too keen with heights the older i get.  i wimped out.  life is full of little disappointments.  i will survive this one i guess.

 a few walrus on flat rock in boat cove as we arrived.

 one peeking out from the rocks there.

 Ryan heads over to the rocks.  you are greeted and they were super cool and even helped me lug my gear up the rocks and up the stairs. they had only put some of the steps up due to the snow that was there still.  they never came back down this way anyway.  was looking at the web cam pics today..it sure has greened up out there.  it greened up it seemed just in the few days i was out there.

 a bit more of the area.

 then you get busy hauling gear and getting it all up on the island.

 the walrus below are at the little rock that juts out above right in the picture above.  there is a look out right above them.  it's probably the closest place to see the walrus...close to camp but also the look out is in close proximity to where the walrus are.

 my last day a few walrus actually hauled up very close to my tent on the rocks.  Margaret and i sat and watched those guys as moved my gear over to where the pick up was.  the guy was still on island for a day trip so we had some time to kill anyway.  no stairs on this other side.  some "steps" were gouged out into the grass higher up and then the rocks were sort of laid out for easier climbing.

 the boat leaves.

 gear on the platform.  thanks Ryan!!

 tent is all set up...not to move my food to the cook tent storage area so the fox don't make a meal of it.  sadly, though the sun and heat were awesome...the big plastic bin got a bit hot for some of my food.  the butter is still a bit of a mess.  one i haven't really dealt with since getting back.  don't want to waste it but there is wrapper all mixed into the thawed and re-solidified butter.  what to do. thankful i left the gorp with them.  it would have melted away.  it was really nummy gorp though.

 more pics of the tent. great to set up the tent in the sunshine rather than in the rain.  it's a heavy tent.  they recommend a 4 season tent.  i actually bought that tent before my first trek to Round Island back in 2012.  still a great tent.

 forgot extra rope.  if it had gotten windy i would have hit Margaret and Ryan up for some rope but it worked out fine. the vestibule i just used my rain boots to help hold it. the tent had plenty of room inside since it was just me in there.

 views from the cook tent.

 it's a nice little set up.  this is all supplied for you. you can see the burned bit to the left.  Alicia's addition to the cook tent.  oops.  haha.  she felt so bad.

 the poo poo palace.  ate dinner with a friend tonight who was out there with me the last trip.  he of course, asked about the palace.  he was happy that the name had stuck.  they made a sign and everything.  you do find ways to entertain yourselves when you spend the summer out there.

 i still think it would be so cool to do a book of stories collected from the rangers who have been out there over the years.  below is the poo pool palace and in front of it, the white tent is the cook tent.

 this platform is up by the cook tent.  my first trip we were playing cards out on this deck on a beautiful day like this when suddenly a group of fox were playing and starting darting through our card game. so cute.

 in the distance is the rangers compound.

 this is a deck in front of their place, there is always walrus bones set out for guests to enjoy.

 typical island trails.  headed over to first and second beach

 there is a look out on either side of first beach.  this below leads to the closer look out.

 the flowers are no doubt blooming like crazy. hope i get my car back tomorrow so i can actually take the dogs for a real off leash walk and get some of the energy out. leash walks do drain energy but it's not the same.  i think the training can be pretty tiring for them. we did the bog today and then headed up the neighborhoods and down Patterson back home.  so we did have an off leash play time in one part of the park and then another at a grammar school on Patterson.  so they did have the opportunity to chase the ball and sticks and whatever.

 was also able to mow the little bit of lawn that has grown in the back yard...my neighbors mowed my front yard...thanks neighbors...so nice to have nice people in the world.  :-)  of course after the mowing was over...out came the hose.  the pups were so happy!!

 so this is from the first look beach first look out.  lovely views.

 one guy down there...so i'll come back to more Round Island on my next blog post.

 the rest are just local stuff.  one night there seemed to be a parade of moose passing by the place.  it was really a mama and her two second year calves.  i think one had gotten separated last year but it appears they all got back together and survived.  mom moose has had calves in the bogs many times over the years i've lived here.  she has distinctive scarring on her side.  she has also chased me out there a few times. one time right after dropping calves. she can be a very protective mama.

 they were all spread out with 10-15 minutes between moose sightings.  Ivy was on the case and her barks alerted me to the next moose.

 this one below is mama.  Ivy is above.  love those eye lashes.  she and Tusker both have these incredibly long lashes.

 maybe i put these in already but i'm not sure.

 the puppies bought me these great new XtraTuffs for my Birthday. they always know what i want!!  so sweet!!  loved the octopus design as soon as i saw them.  XtraTuffs are standard wear but they have had a lot of competition by Bogs of late.  so XtraTuffs joined with local company Salmon Sisters who designed a few of the boot designs.  they are flying off the shelves.

 last moose in the parade.

 right after i returned from Round Island and was unpacking Ivy took an interest in a book i had been reading on the island.  thankfully, she lost interest after the first few chapters and kindly did not lose my place.  sadly, this one can not be placed in the little free library when i get it up.

 baby ducklings at the Dog Park at U-lake.

 gotta love spring and all the babies all over the place.  :-)

 more babies...goslings!! adorbs!!

 well i am currently sneezing.  i generally sneeze 20-30 times  before i'm done.  i'm also pretty sleepy from my week of work.  what excitement will tomorrow bring.

grateful for:  A.  truth  B.  seeing friends and catching up  C.  things that make me laugh