drooling and spitting kind of day.

 sleepy as well.  i went to the dentist this morning.  it was my first procedure with this newer dentist.  so far so good.  i had a crack in an old took with a filling so it needed a crown plus a cavity to fill in a tooth above.  i have not had the best experiences with dentists so i like that they treat it more like a spa there than a torture chamber.  above is another cairn memorial.  Blossom keeps popping up in my fb feed memories.

 that one was in Denali National park.  i zipped around the horseshoe lake trail.  these are from the trip to hunter cabin in Denali State Park.

 it was early for me to get to the dentist, my crown placement will be early as well.  I'm not keen on early.  done night shift for too many years. i am happy to request the gas when i am there.  feeling drunk and listening to a moth podcast made it all that much more pleasant

 after my tongue felt huge and all that numbness...so that has subsided...at least back to the usual numbness i have left over from a procedure i had in Ketchikan that never went back to normal. that was a infection from a remnant that was left in after i had my wisdom teeth removed under local.  that took hours and after digging for the last bit of that root the guy gave up.... i had subcutaneous air in my face and neck for days...well probably weeks.  someone later said that was from my jaw being dislocated over and over.  thanks dude!

 it was raining all day really, which is the best day to hit the dentist i guess.  as i drove home i was still a bit dopey from the gas...not sure why they allow people to just drive home after that.  Cheney Lake looked beautiful with fall colors so i decided to stop, breath fresh air, enjoy the views and drool and spit my way around the lake...puppy free.

 came home and took the pups to the bog.  hardly anyone out in the rain so i let them chase the tennis ball around the park... they had some major chasing run time in the big open area.  no moose or bears spotted.

 yesterday after i woke up i met a friend and her dog and the dog she was watching, Winston, for a walk in North Bivouac.  her girl Maizy is a bit older so she wanted a flat easy trail.  pups got lots of run time in.  we did a side trail loop but then a few hundred feet ahead i saw this large black, non-dog, mammal appearing animal.  probably a big black bear...so we opted to just turn back and head the way we'd come.  somewhere along the route back, around where the bear had been but on the other trail...Tusker went into super sniff mode. none of the other dogs did.  Tusker seems to be a bit of a tracker.  I'm good with that.  i miss Rio for that.  she always seemed to be able to locate moose and bears.  i saw more moose with that blind dog than i had ever seen...we walk by so many unaware.

 we were happy we'd taken a different route and avoided this big guy.  above the pups say good morning. so cute. below, a squirrel has dragged a mushroom up into the trees to consume later.  they do this...learned about it in our Mushroom class in Denali last summer.  so some of these are from a walk off the main trail in the dog park.

 sunset at Hunter.

 just had 2 shifts this week since I'd taken that class earlier.  the first one i was in IMCU.  i turn out to be a resource for those nurses often.  we sent 4 patients out and got 3 back in. makes for a steady night.  i actually had a student nurse for the first few hours. that rarely happens being that we work nights.  i think i moved pretty fast for her.  she looked a bit shell shocked.

 they actually have rarely put me with newbies. I've decided i have a personality disorder that i am unaware of.  it's probably best. I'm good with newbies that are quick to learn.  i have less patience with those who are not that quick.

 views of the new cabin.

 in between shifts i woke, i got dressed, i put on my boots, then i got lazy and decided to take a nap.

 another hurricane is bearing down on the Caribbean.  apparently, Maria has done a lot of damage to Dominica.  was reading an article...the air can hold 7% more water for each degree C the temperature rises. "warmer ocean makes for a warmer atmosphere, a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture". this is based on the Clausius-Clapeyron equation..."a widely accepted equation established centuries ago, long before any politicized debate on climate change".  this is from the Time Science article by Justin Worland.

 the day of my first day of work i met with my friend Lena for a nice walk at Spencer Loop.  i hadn't done that for ages and she hadn't either.  it's in South Bivouac.  seems to always have more bear activity on that trail head even though it is right across the street from North Bivouac. i will walk N.Biv alone with the dogs but not S.  Biv.  true to form there was a hell of a lot of bear scat sightings all along the 5 mile loop.  Lena is always good for a longer walk with hills.  Spencer Loop has some hills. it's a climb to the top, but great views of course.  not many photo ops that day but a good walk.

a few from the top of the Curry Trail that we did while we were up at Hunter cabin.

 above here is actually from the road coming back down the Richardson Hwy...below is the sunset the first night at Hunter cabin.

 i believe that is Hunter Mountain in the back ground...what the cabin is named for.

 i took a shower at the hotel in Fairbanks and came out to see these guys had each selected a bed...wasn't sure where i would be sleeping that night. haha.

 these are Cairns up at Curry.

 my second night of work i was a sitter.  that just means they ran out of techs so they put a nurse in to sit with a confused patient all night.  i didn't actually sit much with this guy.  he was confused and constantly trying to get out of bed.

 repetition is often common in nursing. i  think my most repeated phrase tends to be, "you are peeing, you have a catheter in your bladder" but that wasn't what i was repeating the other night.

 the other night i was repeating, "relax, good night, see you in the morning"  the old guy was repeating "good night" and "see you in the morning" . these we were both doing in a sing song way.  it was actually pretty cute, but repeating it every 30 seconds to 2 minutes for hours on end...well that can make you a bit nuts. there was also lots of hand holding.  I'd alter it at times to include, "sleep tight" or "sweet dreams".

 when you are about to lose your mind you hit the call light at ask for a breather.

 pulling the patient back up in the bed happened often as well.

 put one earphone in and listened to podcasts for much of the night to try and keep myself sane.  haha.  like to listen to BBC and NPR.  they have more world news...the US only news is all about iitoo.  that is just too annoying.

 JT car has a sky roof...i think Tusker felt pretty cool with that breeze blowing on him.

 Ivy sharing her tennis ball with Ginger.

 rake a little, pick up dog poop...the little errands of life have kept me busy otherwise. the last two nights i really should have gone to the gym.  I've been a slacker at swimming.  need to recommit for winter.

 Tusker sleeps like Blossom used to.

 liked this of KR.

 traffic on the Parks highway heading north.  i feared an accident but it was a wide load thing.  we got past it fairly soon. tons of road work trying to get as much done as possible. i was happy that they did some work on Tudor. there were horrible ruts there last winter.  they are doing some work on Patterson so various parts are closed at different times so I've had to adjust getting in/out of my house.

 this was again coming down the Richardson.  i think this is at Paxson Lake Campground.

 Kelly took this one below and another one of me lower down.  this are at the top of Curry.  

 lots of tennis ball throwing going on.  at my place i have had so many bad bounces of late which just means i have lost lots of tennis balls to my neighbors back yards.  poor pups get so confused.

 another stop to run the dogs below on the drive home. they are pretty easy to please.

 whipped up some lo mien this afternoon.  seemed like a nice soft food choice.  will have to be careful what i eat for the next few weeks until they put the actual crown in.

 the mushrooms are rotting away. it is hitting full fall colors in Anchorage now.  so beautiful.  looks like Reflections Lake is pretty sweet as well.  may see about getting a room in Homer again for maybe a fall drive down the Kenai. haven't done that before.  could be fun.  maybe the 25 and 26th..will have to see if the dog room is available.  could stop and see the baby walrus in Seward again.  I'm guessing they will ship him out to a new place soon.  he's over 200 pounds now.

 we have the dog pool available for a party. i need to call tomorrow to confirm that the party is happening...i have it set for my two but need to let them know we will have more of us.

 the convey had a breakdown so they were all enjoying the views.

 another of Ivy in Fairbanks.

 pic by Kelly

 i took a nap but I'm still tired.  that gas felt great but i do think it kind of wears me out.  if you haven't used it for procedures...ask for it.  it sure makes dental work much more tolerable.  there is a bit of a hang over though

 watched a bit of the Emmy's last night.  just while i did other stuff, didn't really sit down and watch it.  looks like Handmaids Tale took many awards. i have wanted to check that out.  don't have HULU...may have to get that just to enjoy this show and whatever else they have.  eventually will probably need to get rid of cable.  it's going away as the home phones and newspapers seem to be.

 try to adapt to this new stuff.  sometimes I'm better at it than other times.

 liked the sun hitting Hunter cabin.

 i shall turn in...i put a few things on my to do list for the morning.  i finally pulled the gate down from the upstairs bathroom.  so far the pups have been fairly good about not bugging the cat trying to eat/pee...when i say pups, I'm really saying Ivy. haha.

grateful for:  A. walking partners  B.  walks in the rain  C.  beautiful fall colors