an adventurous trek to Homer...and expensive!

 

i have arrived home safe though and that is really all that matters. the rest you just throw a credit card at. these are still from June.  debated switching to some July pictures but here we are enjoying more june fun. 

so mostly a combo of the Denali Highway crossing and the trek to Valdez with other stuff in there. 

i'm currently watching some olympic action.  i guess there are many on the right who are refusing to watch because, "they don't support protesters"...of course, they have been more than supportive of those who stormed the capitol.  to me, if you are on the side of hate and anger and negative attitudes you just might be on the wrong side. people are wallowing in the hatred and not even aware of what it is doing to them. 

our young swimmer from Seward surprised everyone and took Gold the other day.  so fun to watch.  the US girls gymnasts took Silver even after the big star Simone pulled out.  she had been the constant focus to the point that it felt like Simone was the team and then there were those others.  i don't feel that came from her. when i saw her interviews she always tried to deflect back to the team and away from the stupid, how does it feel to be the greatest gymnast that ever lived bull...no pressure there. so it sounds like she snapped a bit and couldn't continue.  

it's sad that we push these folks to the brink with expectations that nobody could possibly ever live up to. i hope that doesn't happen with our Seward swimmer. 

i decided to drive the Skilak Road. i was rewarded for this by getting to see the most dramatic and beautiful display of fireweed.  that high was brought down to a low when a light on my dash said low tire pressure right after i got back on the main road. 

i was trying to figure out how i was going to get help.  i had dogs in tow on the side of the road.  

thankfully, a fine gentleman stopped almost immediately and came to my aid.  it was then that i discovered the new car came with a cheap spare.  will have to see about turning an old tire into a full spare.  

that cheap spare should only be driven a short distance and at a slow speed.  i was able to contact a 24 hour tire repair guy in the Kenai who ended up meeting me in town in Soldotna.  

he put some plugs in the big holes on the tire.  so with a $25 bill i was back on the road. so the kindness of strangers....

after seeing the size of the hole i was less than confident.  i did get down to Homer.  first i got caught in traffic...when i passed the accident scene i decided that perhaps the flat had prevented me from being in the wrong place.  it looked like there must be a fatality. i haven't confirmed that but i have heard from others that this was the case. careful out there.  way too many out there in a hurry, doing stupid things. 

we hit the beach then crashed in our room at the Driftwood.  in the morning i again hit the beach for an awesome low tide. 

there were lots of rocks exposed and great tide pools.  found the baby sea stars.  i saw zero stars later on the spit. 

not wanting to risk driving back to Anchorage on an iffy tire i stopped by the tire place in town. the hole was too large for them to patch, they would not put it back on.  my options were not great, drive all the way back to Anchorage the next day on the cheap spare or replace all 4 tires...since it's all wheel drive they wouldn't replace one or two.  so that wasn't cheap.  they did have one set that fit my tire. just one.  so in the end that is what i did. the dogs were not happy sharing space in the car with the 3 "old" tires.  not really old since the car only has 5000 miles on it 

i joined my friend for dinner at her place that night and after a good meal and lovely conversation...she suggested i leave a few of the tires at her place.  we then bungee corded the last tire into the car. so the dogs had space.  she felt it wouldn't be good to put a heavy tire on top of the car in case it flew off for some reason.  could do some real damage. 

my hope  is to sell two and make one a full spare. may be easier to sell the two down there.  less inventory. 

back on the beach in the morning and then the drive home.  uneventful, thankfully...

except i got a call from the carpet people.  they will not return to finish the edges of the stairs until August 28th!!  she said it was my fault that this wasn't done in one day...because i wasn't prepared!!  pissed me off.  i wasn't prepared???  how was i to know that underneath the current carpet there were some bits of wood not there that they believe they need to do the carpet.....and for some reason are incapable of doing.  in my mind that goes with laying carpet.  also the people who put the old carpet in managed without those little bits of wood just fine. so infuriating to say the least. 

what a nightmare Lowes has been and they only have one company they work with to lay flooring. this company isn't capable of moving appliances or dealing with anything that comes up in a job. won't be using them ever again if i can help it. 

so today was a chill day.  although my little trek to Kayaker Cove is a wash.  my friend, who put in the reservation invited more people than can fit in the small cabin. it barely fits the 4 it says can stay there let alone 6 and two small dogs.  best to back out and try again for next year i guess. frustrating as it was my only paddle trek planned for this year.  

last night i relaxed by watching olympics and painting rocks.  may return to that as it is relaxing. 

our covid numbers are increasing again.  things get dragged out because we have so many conspiracy crack addicts in this nation who have lost any sense of reality. they refuse to trust any sources that aren't total nuts who have no expertise in anything other than getting them riled up and filled with conspiracy crap. 

so that is where we are.  seems the hospital is a bit short staffed.  i have texts every day offering crisis pay. oh to be younger and not burned out on the work. i'd be able to take advantage of it, but i just can only be nice for some many days.  

outside is where i would rather be.  the olympic's are making me want to get back in that pool

i posted some of the fireweed photos in an Alaska page.  all positive feedback, zero snarky comments...that is a rarity these days.  so that was great.  got over 1000 likes so far.  

very few moose sightings this summer.  kind of odd.  i saw zero critters on the drive to/from Homer. 

flowers have been great this year though. 

Covid cat was thrilled to have me home and for his time locked up to end.  he hates being locked up.  at least that kept the bird population safe for a few days. i'm feeding him as much as i can in hopes he becomes too fat and lazy to kill birds.  

here he is making his way up the trees in the yard on morning

lots of pretty wildflowers on the trek to Valdez.  

still lots of clutter to deal with.  the office is looking much better though.  so one down. 

these sweet puppies embarrassed the heck out of me at my friends house.  they both peed on her carpet!!  this is not something either of them has ever done.  my friend was so nice about it and actually said she wasn't surprised as her daughter has been allowing her granddaughter to crawl around naked and she has been peeing on the carpet.  she figured the dogs might not be able to resist the smell.  

not something i want my dogs to become used to or repeat, ever. 

plans are starting to be made for a family reunion...anxiety for me.  always seems to turn into some sort of drama.  feels like i can't win either way. i skip it i'm terrible, i go something terrible happens. it wouldn't be until next summer and who knows what will be happening with covid by then.  will travel be up or down?

me, happy with the dogs in nature.  

they seem pretty happy with me.  no drama with dogs, right?

well, except when they pee on someone's carpet. 

they are always great at the little hotel. i have the room booked for when my niece and her family are up here.  so they will stay here just a few nights and be in Seward/Homer the rest.  so i will join them in Homer and off and on in Seward too...we have a kenai tours cruise...you can go on that over and over and see different stuff.  hope the weather is good. 

also found i have a small pension from my early days at Prov...so that is an added little bonus to the retirement account.  every little bit helps. 

on WARIS news...not too much is happening i know. i did write to a ranger that has done art for our stickers before and told her my idea for the next sticker.  she will work on it in a month or two so that is awesome.  one person has written showing interest in participating.  maybe we can get the enthusiasm up post Trump and Covid. i have wanted to keep a little bit of a low profile...

some rain fell off and on during that drive home.  amazing how fast weather can change. 

the flowers will soon fade away and we will move towards fall and winter again.  

this is in Valdez.

not sure if i'll get back there this year. well, i guess i will head down to watch some olympics and see what creative juices come to me on the rocks.  

thankful for A. the kindness of a stranger in changing my tire.  he lives in Eagle River and is military.  B. that all is well again. the tires are safe, the car is safe, i am safe and my pups are safe. C. friends, old and new!!  so many great people out there. 

another drive awaits me....

getting ready to head to Homer again for a few days.

always trying to pack as much into our short summers as i can.  i do not like leaving this place ever, but especially in the summers. you are away for a few days and you miss so much drama.  this place is total drama all summer.  constantly changing. 

my 6 days of work are behind me once again.  i think all but one shift were in the ICU.  i get texts every day looking for staff.  it was busy but not insane

the covid has increased...mostly non-vaccinated.  they are deniers until their dying day. nothing will change those poor folks.  they clearly do not enjoy all the torture that comes with life as a patient in the ICU but i can't help but think they could have saved themselves all of this had they just gotten the vaccine. i'm afraid i have much less empathy for these folks. at this point they have made their bed i guess.  sad that they followed bad advice and crazy conspiracy theories to their own painful and miserable end. their body, their choice....though it is ironic that they still would refuse women the choice.  

our world has always been a place where women are kept in their place by any means possible. 

my two days off were spent heading north.  joined a few friends out at Byers Lake.  a cabin opened up and my friend booked it.  thanks for the invite and for the great escape. we had decent weather.  a little rain the second day but still beautiful and a lovely escape. the big mountain, Denali, even showed itself a few times.  the dogs had a great time too. 

the first day was hot and my friends got onto floaties, one was the pink flamingo that usually chills with the Skelly's in the summer. nabbed right from the deck to join us. 

these are from wanderings in June still. it's almost August.  time does fly.

my new vanity plates arrived in time for our adventure north.  love them...it is kind of surprising that WALRUS was not taken, but happy for me. 

much of my time this week was spent prepping the stair rails by sanding and staining.  Friday night was crunch time. the carpet folks were coming early Saturday morning

i have always been a person who paints outside the lines.  no perfectionist genes here.  perhaps that is why i was such a terrible fit for a religion constantly pushing you to be perfect.  i have no such lofty goals and never will be.  God made me a mess and i suspect God likes me as i was created...a hot mess. perfection is way over rated.

being mediocre at many things is my sweet spot.  excelling at nothing other than being mediocre.  

so these are Valdez, Matanuska. i should try for another run to Valdez...the salmon are running and it's always so much fun watching the sea lions feed on them. 

the weeks go quickly. 

the carpet is mostly in.  they will have to return to do the outer edges.  apparently when the pulled the old carpet off they found that lots of the anchor bits of wood were missing.  clearly the last folks that changed the carpet did not let this concern them.  

seems pretty crazy to me that these workers can't manage to do anything outside their small scope of  skills.  the days of the handyman seem to be a thing of the past with very few of these talented workers left.  

it was suggested i  hire a carpenter...or do it myself.  seems ridiculous to hire someone as skilled as a carpenter for a small task like this, especially when their skills wouldn't be used for something that would be seen.  these are just to tack the carpet to.  so yesterday i headed to the hardware store and bought the wood to make this happen. 

i watched a bit of Olympics while i sawed the tiny pieces and swore hammering them in. the wood i bought was cracking.  cheap i guess.  it's there so hopefully, they will return and finish it up next week.  

how long would it have taken to find a carpenter and then wait for them to be available for this small thing...and at what cost.  this same company is the one that is not capable of moving appliances for the flooring.  not impressed with their lack of skills but the carpet seems to be turning out for the moment. it's like if i was working ICU and my patient coded and i was all, oh i'm sorry, i don't do CPR, you will have to hire someone who specializes in that...we'll wait. 

the talks with the company over the nurses union contract are getting more heated. seems silly to not be giving the nurses more of what they are asking for considering that the supply of nurses is getting smaller and the demand is increasing. 

been attempting to take pictures from under the flowers. some work better than others. i saw that someone had done it and it looked cool. 

always looking for new ways to see the world and all this beauty.  

otherwise i have not done any great hikes and was pretty lazy these last few days as i worked on the stairs. lots of tennis ball time in the yard. 

we have also hit the dog park a lot. 

when i went to Byers, Covi Cat was out catting around so he got to stay free while i was away. that is the first time.  i have a little trek coming up in a few weeks and the dogs will stay home so i'll have to leave the dog door open.  he will be free for a few days.  hopefully, all is okay.  makes me nervous but in truth he has freedom while i am at work every night.  

i don't see him wandering out front in the neighborhood ever. i think he mostly enjoys my yard and my connected neighbors yard.  she says she sees him out there quite a lot, stretched on her deck.  she tries to say hello but he scurries back over the fence. i hope he sticks to the two yards.  i am quite fond of that silly orange cat and would feel awful if anything bad happened to him. 

he was sitting in front of the tv the other day as the Olympic opening ceremonies were happening.  he kept batting at the flags folks were waving

a strange Olympics with the covid stuff but it's still happening. no spectators.  i feel bad for Tokyo as they spent a lot of money to put on the Olympics and clearly lose a lot of income by not having those stadiums filled. 

with so many fools listening to freaks on the internet over science we are in for the long haul on this Covid stuff.  so frustrating. 

as i said, my empathy is waning for those who refuse the vaccines for conspiracy crack crap, but that is the world we live in.  the internet seemed a great way for information to be readily available but it turned out to be an easy place for misinformation to be made available. many would rather believe the nuts that post on YouTube. 

it is pretty amazing and sad how easily humans can be manipulated to believe all sorts of mallarky.  there have always been snake oil salesmen as it were but now it's just on a level we have never seen before and never imagined. 

tons of flowers on the sides of the roads...so pretty. 

i'm seeing more and more mushrooms and the fireweed is really popping out.  hoping to see some of it on the drive down  

i just wanted to toss in a quick blog.  then i gotta eat, shower and pack the car.  

the dogs will be thrilled to get back to the beach.  i keep meaning to do day treks to Seward but haven't gotten over there yet. 

it's all so pretty, you can't go wrong no matter what direction you head.  good to change it up though.  

at the camp ground.  we'll be at the driftwood the next two nights though. 

love watching storms in the distance.  South Dakota was amazing for that when i lived there.  so flat you could watch the storms for miles.  crazy storms there. 

forget me nots.  always a favorite flower.  so delicate

the office is much more presentable as are the stairs...nice to have all the steps covered again.  will be good for Ivy to have the carpet.  

i'll have to finish some more touch ups on the stain and i ordered some flower stencils. may do some sort of design on the rails, muted like the other ones i've done. i like the look...even if others don't.  i have to add some art in to what i do. 

i had better get myself moving.  at least i take off so often i am generally half packed and getting out is pretty quick once i get moving. stop at the store for some snacks and away i go.  the car is already gassed up. 

so pretty....!!

what delights will we see on this drive. i love getting out there and exploring.  

peace out for today. more later.  :-)

thankful for A.  the health to be able to explore B.  enough wealth to be able to explore C. friends and critters who are willing to explore with me.