wiseman, marion campground and a few belugas

thought i'd toss in a few beluga's from last week. impossible to get decent photo's of them. i'lll just toss in a few here and there. the adults are the white colour. the juveniles are grey. must be a good sign that there were lots of grey beluga's out there. i watched them for quite some time and called tanya to let her know. i guess she also drove out to watch them for a bit. they've been hanging out there for a week or more.

they were all over so i couldn't just pick one to watch i just had to try to get pictures of all of them...thus failing to get any decent pics of any of them really.

a couple dives...

the drive goes in reverse. good to check it out in different times, different lights. we had skipped wiseman on the way up so we stopped in to check it out coming back. it's just north of marion campground where we stayed for the night. it's a nice little campground and we found three spots quite close together. little campfire for our last night all together. julie and maria cooked the meal they'd planned. a few mosquito's joined but not horrible. scott and jacqui took off the next morning before i ever saw the light of day. i think at 0600. it was just us girls after this night. above julie gets some love from blossom, who always gives it freely.

tanya, sue and maria enjoy the evening.

julie provided s'more supplies and got the marshmallows cooking.

can't say this night was as good as our tundra night, how could that night be topped.

the dogs got used to the routine and were wonderful about settling on thier blankets while we set up camp and did what we needed to do. rio did have a bit of a meltdown this night. i thought i could leave them in the tent for a minute and run to the latrine, but they were trying to get out and then rio grumbled and tanya and sue when they tried to stop her. she's never done anything besides grumble, but she's big and i'm sure it made them nervous. once i entered the tent she was out like a light. dogs sometimes are like toddlers. it was like she was overly tired and unable to control her emotions. that was her only bad moment of the trip and i just felt bad for her. poor dog. she really did great and we had no other meltdowns.

here are some pictures from wiseman. we got there in the evening. there is a bed and breakfast place there, we really didn't see any people, but we wandered around town a bit. the population is apparently 20. it's an old mining town that sits on the koyukuk river.

not sure what the orange stuff is on the log, but loved all the tiny log cabins. i'm no fan of trapping. find it to be a cruel form of "hunting". hopefully, these old traps are now just decorative and not in use, but i doubt it.

liked the sign. whitehorse, deadhorse and our horse...hehe.

there was lots of old machinery sitting about. would be nice to catch the place when the museums and such are open. i guess you can walk to the old cemetary, but i don't think anyone was game. we kinda all wanted to get set up in the campground.

this would be a rough place to winter over in.

there are occasionally strange old phone booths in odd places in alaska. not sure if this one is functional at all these days. i guess the post office isn't in use.

i'm watching "mostly martha". not the new american version, but an older german one. i love it. so much superior to the one made here a few years back. always a favorite of mine.

there is the old post office and another old cabin.

not sure what my look is here. not one of my better photo's. i think the dogs were wanting to explore.

there is the official wiseman signage.

the rest are just pictures taken from the drive south from atigun pass.

the mountain range wasn't quite as spectacular as it had been when we drove up. we enjoyed the drive and all the colours.

lighting is everything.

got the duct tape off the car today. we are getting back to normal. one day of work under my belt and i head back to work in a couple days. blossom and rio are always a hit at the honda service department. they love them there. sandra, karen and i went to a newer place to eat tonight called "junos". it seems pretty good. not at all crowded. probably gets a larger lunch crowd. good food, though i think i'd skip the desert we selected to share. it was a fried cheesecake. sounded scrumtious, but really was just kinda strange. anyway, when i said the pups and i had hung out waiting for the car, she was surprised i'd taken them. she was then laughing as i told her how disappointed they'd be there if i didn't. the girls always get treats and lots of attention there.
rio was limping a bit on her front leg so i let her stay home and took blossom to the bog for a shorter walk. i was debating going to the gym for another swim, but i was pretty knotted up in the wee hours and i'll go tomorrow which will give me my 3 for the week. should be sufficient. was good to take a break i think. kinda makes your body have to push itself after the stretch off.

gotta have a few pictures of the big trucks on the road.

keep thinking about that jesus camp movie and how these evalengelical christians believe god would have us just use up all the resourses on the earth since he's coming again and then they will just be given a whole new earth. it just amazes me. looking at all the details that were put into creating this amazing place called earth i'm baffled that one could think god was pleased to watch it get torn apart. if the earth was created purely for functionality why creat such intricate detail and design. why the deserts and the oceans and the tundra. why not just put one kind of lumber and oil that was accessible. why design millions of types of insects and wildflowers. it just doesn't add up. i think those people will be very disappointed one day when they meet god and god just isn't as happy with thier callous view of our earth as they seem to be. i believe god will be very disappointed in how those people cared for the land and creatures that he created, that he no doubt agonized over. if that is how it is. the jesus i read about in the scriptures will not be happy with these so called christians. religions have become nothing more than businesses. i just don't see the jesus whose sermons i read being interested in such grandious services and self serving attitudes. jesus lived simply, his messages were simple...i look at all the religions and i see that these seem the exact opposite of the message.

also thought today as i waited for the car about the possibility of bottling air for sale. i mean if you could come up with a simple way to filter the air we breath in an easy to wear apparatus, well, you could sell it. i mean if people buy water in bottles why not air. was thinking it would be perfect to direct it at all these crazy runners/bikers in the big, smoggy cities. it could work.

i'll stop ranting now and let you just enjoy the scenery as we did. i may have to have a bowl of ice cream before i turn in. i mean really, i skipped desert this evening as it just wasn't all that tasty.

the clouds lifted more and more as our day progressed up there. we had fun with the walkie talkies that day too. good to be connected to the other cars.

we left the fall colours behind, but they have started to show up more and more down here. it's also been noted that there is some termination dust on the tops of the mountains. winter will come soon i sense. will have to get ready. tire changeover, move the skies from the shed to the yakima....

now leaving the borough. will miss it and perhaps one day i'll return for another trip. perhaps that flightseeing trip or a rafting trip. already trying to look into next years journey. want to kayak out of gustavus with the humpback whales. better get started....