it was a bad hair day for Ivy Rose...

 but she still looks adorable.  dogs can pull off bad hair days much better than me.  i would like to get them to the local dog pool for swim time and a bath though.  would be good for their coats.

 bad stretch of work for walking i must admit.  not the best sleeping week so the dogs got lots of back yard tennis ball time

 today i took them out for a nice long stretch out Campbell Airstrip.  up the airstrip and then across to the homestead trails with a return via some back trails over to Rovers Run and back.  the dogs seemed happy with their extended walk.  hopefully we pull a few more of those off this week. 

 this moose and it's mama were spotted by the parking lot as i left work.  this guy was super close but i was looking in the distance where the mama was and then it was like, oh wait, there's another one right there.  he seemed content. i love when they get down on their front "knees" like that.  so cute.

 Ivy even lay down a few times to cool her belly.  Tusker had one incident of puking early on.  he had the tennis ball and was making those I'm going to puke moves...I'm all, "drop the toy, drop the toy!!".  thankfully, he finally did right before he puked.  with Ivy near by i think he was reluctant.  silly dog.  not sure why he puked.  he seemed perfectly fine before and after.  maybe just got too excited. 

 i worked ICU all week.  my last night i was on call until just after 3 am....which was about when i was getting ready to crash.  before that i had been resting though, binge watching some Gilmore Girls.  resting always good.

 goofing off with the puppies and some long tree lichen.  they were fairly worn down by this time...

 liked how these two different types of trees were intertwined. 

 the partial government shutdown is supposedly over...the GOP and the iitoo get all the blame for this one.  i would hope that something would be passed to prevent either party from ever using the American citizens in this manner in order to attempt to blackmail the other side in an attempt to get their way.  thankful to Pelosi and the Dems for holding firm and refusing to discuss his idiotic wall while citizens were being held hostage by this shutdown. i believe today an airport in NY as closed because of this...it probably helped move the needle of idiocy towards common sense.

 a Dem Senator from Colorado had enough the other day. i really liked the things he had to say. i so agree.  our nation is falling behind....he also pointed out that there had been a bill about border security with much more money included...it had been blocked, like so many other things, by the GOP...they just couldn't let Obama get anything, even if it was actually something they really wanted...it was lunacy. they had 2 years to get his stupid wall, but they didn't do it as they opted for tax breaks for the wealthy over the wall...basically they know the wall is lunacy or they would have made it a priority.

 i have been happy in some ways that the GOP in the end was pretty chaotic in governing...imagine what they could have done if they hadn't only learned how to obstruct progress.  they have gotten many judges in place.  though they got many judges in, one hopes that at least a fair percent will actually believe in the rule of law over partisan politics. 

 another close ally of the iitoo was indicted today on several counts.  the guy has a tattoo of Nixon on his body and he loves all the media attention, much like the iitoo.  he may just be fairly confident he will be getting a pardon. 

 my first night at work we had yet another decent sized aftershock.  i guessed it 4.4, UAF settled at 4.5 so i was again close.  a bit tougher since i was at the hospital and it felt different. 

 end of the year statistics by UAF puts AK at over 55,000 quakes.  there were a few large earthquakes though so our average was probably a bit higher than normal due to these.  there was our 7.4 but there was a 7.9(yikes) off the gulf of AK and  several months of increased activity along the Brooks Range and the North Slope..not sure why these were showing increased activities...fracking?  oil drilling activities?  one wonders.

 seemed like a frame waiting for some sort of art to be held within. 

 quite a few others went out into the ice out there.  it warmed up, got breezy and our snow is now turned to ice.  cleats on and off we went. 

 getting called in at 3 am though i was out on the streets and roads before anyone had really attempted to decreased the impact of the ice.  i feared i may slip and fall and need a trip to the ER as a patient and not make it to work.  it did help wake me up. 

 my patient didn't arrive until well after 5 am though so tuck in and move on.

 the pups snuggled up together the other evening.  so sweet. 

 pretty skies out there though at times these past few days.  below if the view out my bedroom window

 this is the view out on the cross over trail between Homestead and Rovers...i love the views out there

 Tusker tolerates me need for silly photo ops

 you can see the wind blowing that flag straight out.

 i realize I'm liberal so I'm not allowed to have any patriotic tendencies...haha.  that is what they'd like the iitoo followers to believe...and many of them do... along with the idea that liberals want totally open borders and to take away all your guns.  we also hate children and want to abort them all. inciting fear is very effective manipulation tool.

 this moose was spotted as i drove to the trail head for our walk today.  cruising along a fence line on Tudor Rd

 the bridge at sunset.  icy roads so i ended up opting to just stay close. they did close schools and there was an accident that happened on the Seward Highway. the rocks have been falling since the earthquake more than usual.  wet weather doesn't help.  there was a driver with bad injuries according to what i read in the local reports.  a large boulder dropped on the car at the wrong time.  they have totally closed off the water pipe...too many close calls

 the rest are a few more from our little yurt trek.  need to find a few more fun things to get myself out and about. 

 there is our home for the night

 this is a sauna...i didn't pay attention to the details of this area or i would have brought a suit and enjoyed a little sauna action.  nobody did.  those wood burning sauna's are great though.

 this is the main cabin.  for general hanging out and cooking.

 there is an additional, no dog yurt closer in to the main cabin.  ours allows for up to 3 dogs i think the rules state.

 was happy the pups got to join. 

 increased coughing at work this stretch. it's always so dry there.  overall not too awful though.  the sinuses keep draining like crazy though.  at work when i blow my nose i get a nice collection of blood too...

 smiles on all...we dropped our gear and then headed out for a bit of a longer walk up the hill.  the pups enjoyed the extended walk

 they are pretty happy dogs i must say.

 corrected a rumor about me the second night at work.  apparently, the word is i used to be a flight nurse.  nope, never was.  I'm bitching about the extra education working ER, ICU and all, imagine how much I'd be bitching about the extra education with a flight team gig.  not sure where that rumor came from...there are worse rumors to be had though so I'll take this.

 this is where we stopped...there was a gate and increased avalanche risk higher up...so we were good

 loved this of my friends taking a selfie beyond the gate.

 heading back down the hill.  i really need to ponder cabin rentals...

 pups make a run into the deeper snow for the tennis ball.  we never lost it....they have gotten much better at finding their toy under the snow. more focused

 inside the main cabin.  nice tables, which worked out perfect for our game of Nertz.

 well stocked with dishes.

 the wood pile guarded by a snowman

 another snowman greets you as you head to the main cabin.

 guess i should turn in.  the on call night messed me up. 

thankful for: A.  the end of the partial shutdown...hoping that it doesn't start all over again in 3 weeks time. B.  long walk with pups C.  another aftershock, no damage...the pictures on the wall remain crooked...after so many aftershocks it seems pointless to keep trying to straighten them...Mother Nature can just do what she wants with them . imperfection is apparently what she wants.