how to finish out the season....?

will have to figure that out. where to go to see the best fall colors. i have just driven a lot this past week with my brother here. i think he had a great time.  it was super fun having him here. 

these are from last June. finally done with last June.  :-) 

this week we had quite a lot of rain but we had less rain than i had last year for the Denali crossing. 

my brother arrived while i was at work.  so i had him take a cab and settle in.  i'm always exhausted after travel and he got here after 9PM...so 4 hours later for him. 

i had to sleep a bit after work so he hung out and hit the grocery shop for snack items. he eats a lot more junk food than i do...and i admit my processed food is more than it should be. 

we headed to Hatchers Pass as it's a pretty drive and Independence Mine is always a guest favorite. 

the next day we hit the Value Village for cheap rain boots for him. we found a pair for $13 and they worked great all week. i may just re-donate them for resale or i could use them as planters next summer.  they work though so seems better to just pass them forward. 

we then hit the museum and some shops downtown. i got a parking ticket.  i'll have to contest it as the machine wasn't taking money correctly and i had called the number on the meter and been assured that i was good until 3 pm.  i will try to fight that one! 

then we wandered out towards Girdwood to explore a bit. a few hikes with the dogs. the day before i think we hit the dog park. 

then we were off for the road trip. i'd gotten a dog friendly place in Healy, just north of Denali National Park. so that worked great. we settled in, got dinner someplace and then we drove those first 15 miles of the road. the sun had come out and it was perfect light. the big mountain popped out so that was amazing. 

we had done a walk at the xyz lakes in Talkeetna on the way and made stops for photo ops. the big igloo eye sore has new owners i guess.  the Cantwell gas station i think are the ones that bought it.  they said while the outside looks terrible, the inside is in surprisingly great shape.  they plan on making a distillery out of it. sounds promising.  they have spruced up the gas station there in Cantwell. there are like 6 fancy bathrooms, laundry and a shower for hire. 

we woke up and hit those first 15 miles again in Denali. not much to spot. no animals, well a few distant moose in our drives is all. 

off we ventured to the Denali Highway. we made our way slowly across that beautiful stretch.  a few sprinkles but i nice high ceiling for great views. plenty of stops for photos and then we settled into the Maclaren  lodge. both our nights were warm and comfortable. 

the next day we woke and traveled the last bit of the Denali Highway and walked at the Maclaren summit. we then drove south home again.  we made a stop at the Matanuska Glacier. i hadn't texted...thankfully, the boss was there and approved my trek in front of the glacier. i guess i'm like the only one, or one of very few, that has this privilege.  great to speak out i guess. i have texted him photo's of the dogs at the glacier and apparently they have several of those photo's on their screen photos that they share with tourists.  so cute. so i did tell him i wasn't aware that this wasn't something they still didn't do for others and that i would text him in the future and thanked them.  i also sent them some new photos.  

the next morning we got up very early...but alas not early enough.  we missed the 9 am boat out of Seward. we did catch the 9:30 one. i am now seeing that they charged for that change.  brats. it was an our shorter. the weather wasn't great..so a bit rocky out at sea.  i got a bit queasy...i think because i foolishly ate some cup of soup. it was a quick turn around from the drive so i wasn't totally prepared. 

only one whale spotted but we did see lots of other wildlife and we ended up in Aialik bay instead of the further one.  i was fine with it and my brother had left his meds in my car so i think he was happy with how it all worked out as well. 

the next day he was beat.  felt crappy. so i just told him to nap as it was raining out anyway. i took the dogs for a walk and then i hit the grocery. he'd mentioned wanting my Mom's fried chicken so i taught him how to make it.  he called last night from Boston as he was attempting to make it with skinned breasts...doesn't work as well.  gotta have the skin.  haha. we watched more of Schitts Creek which he has gotten me hooked on. 

his last day we did the big loop at Campbell Airstrip.  so i probably wore him out a bit again.  haha. 

i took a rest as the plan was for me to drop him at the airport and head for work.  as we were leaving the phone rang and i got a miracle on call.  never got called in.  i was pretty beat as well so it was nice to get some rest. 

worked the last two nights and now i've been off for two before i return tomorrow night. drive to Fairbanks? Chicken? Valdez.  not sure where to head. not too much time left before the rain turns to snow. 

i am officially the only one of my siblings left in my 50's.  i can lord that over them for a few years....60's are looming though.  scary. 

peds icu was pretty sad place this week.  bad cases...even with all the aches of aging and the disruption to normal activity.  i do feel blessed to be able to live out a pretty full life compared to the short life i see in many patients i work with.  it's always just that reminder of what a gift each day is. 

these are from last years trek across Denali Highway. i do try to change it up and head to Fairbanks every few years.  could ponder Chicken and Valdez? hmm.  will have to think on this. 

this is the xyz lake hike from last year. 

the wooden moose are Talkeetna decor.  they have put on on the trail, don't recall that being there before.

loads of bikes at the shop there. was kind a cool mess. 

so it was a wonderful holiday with my brother.  i often have a hard time believing that people want to visit me and not just Alaska.  seems silly i know. i am done with June photo's though. 

work has been busy so no idea how i got that on call. someone was watching out for me. 

wild flowers. less and less of these. all this rain has brought loads of mushrooms though. 

it looks like rain will be returning again. 

today was nice though so i headed out to north Bivouac and did some very back side trails to hunt for fun mushrooms.  figured i'd get this in before i posted todays mushrooms

yesterday i slept and then hit the dog park for a quickie before meeting my friend SJ for dinner. he's in from Hawaii. it's been a bit so great to catch up. 

always fun. lots of laughter and catching up with my brother. it's rare to get that much 1:1 time with a sibling...with anyone often really. 

after i met up with SJ i headed back over to Campbell Airstrip and just walked with the dogs to the other bridge and back. i was so full though...! Tusker above shaking off. so cute. really miss that boy of mine

Sunny Boy got a good brushing out today.  little mats from the week of adventures. 

sun at Maclaren last year. 

and back to March of this year. 

so many photos behind i will never catch up so i do enjoy a bit of the old and the new. 

took loads of photo's with Jeff here.  with visitors you want to make sure they have lots of photos of them on adventures in AK. 

had stayed at the cabin between shifts so i pretty crazy few weeks for this usually hermit prone human. 

ate out quite a bit this past week.  will have to hit the store again and stock up on some salad stuff for my next two days of work. 

time to start thinking about doing some extra shifts, getting back to the pool, getting Sunny Boy signed up for another class. 

also will need to start to think about getting winterized next month. 

grr....just heard Sunny Boy chomping on something and he destroyed another pair of reading glasses.  always my fault for leaving them out where he can get them...dang it though...so annoying!!!

he is almost a year old.  i haven't gotten him as well trained as the Ivy/Tusker combo or Blossom.  i suspect i just didn't have it in me last winter. hoping this winter i can do better by him. he's super smart.  it's all on me.  

he is doing quite well on our walks and at home. the bark spray collar is helpful.  fear it got a bit wet with all this rain.  bought some new cartridges so hopefully i can make that keep working.  he does respond well to it.  my neighbors say he doesn't bother than so that makes me feel better. he for sure barks more than i prefer. 

the glasses...that is his main bad boy behavior.  just bratty. like Tusker, he relocates shoes but so far hasn't destroyed any. 

here he is in class...so cute and so young.  he's grown a lot these past months.

hoping i can rise to the occasion and make a great pup meet his potential. :-) well off to eat and perhaps enjoy some more of this sunshine. 

thankful for A.  safe travels for my brother and i. B. that he came up for a visit.  it's getting tougher for him i know with his health.  so happy i could show him some of the beauty of this place.  C. my overall decent health.  i see him struggle and i watch patients passing away or just dealing with horrible things at a way to early age.