another day at the beach!!

 i didn't start out here.  the wind started to blow this morning and i was silly and headed towards glen alps trailhead.  it was super windy up there.  i could see that from my house, but still i made that drive up.  this is the view i got from there (below).  so i went down to the beach, you can see it from this below photo.

 turned out to be a lovely day at the coastal refuge.  rio stayed home but blossom destroyed one of the cheap tennis balls from costco.

 oh well.  wasn't sure of the tides, but there were two couples who went way further out than i did so i figured as long as i was behind them i was pretty safe.  the chunks of ice are covered with snow so seems like the tides haven't come in too high of late.  the couples said the high tides that cover this beach area only happens when the moon is totally full.

 quite a few people out at the refuge today. mostly, sledders. i really should plan a sledding day out there soon.  get some friends together.  it really does look like a great sledding hill.  i did rescue some small child who went into the bush.  she was fine, just a wee bit scared.

 i also rescued a sled that got away from it's rider.  i laughed as i picked up the sled and took a few steps up the hill..it was clear the kid expected me to just bring the thing up.  not.

 blossom happily chasing her tennis ball.

 a few of the bergs out there.

 i'm sure the sunset was lovely out there.  didn't want to leave rio home alone for too long.

 the dead trees out there are always fun to photograph.  these are still remnants from the big quake of '64 up here.  the water level rose and when it did these trees were saturated in salt water and it killed them.  amazing that they all still stand.

 activity on the sledding hill at reef rd.

 managed to get to the pool.  there was a sign at the desk apologizing for the pool temperature being 86 degrees.  no need apologizing to me for that one.  i totally enjoyed it.  here is the pool at closing time.  saturday and sunday are my favorite days there.  it's not crazy, totally relaxing

 here is as much of the sunset that i saw tonight.  this is from my bedroom window.

 stopped by the reflective statue after my laps.  looks nice at night too.

 back to the refuge....

 mostly had the wide angle lens on, but i also changed it up a bit...! looks like it was raining in turnigan arm.  i actually started to drive that way and did get rain drops on the windshield...seemed like a good time to head to the pool.

 you can see the snow blowing around in the mountains...where i attempted to hike earlier.

 i almost said morning but it's pretty rare that i get up and out too early.  blossom wakes me at 8 am for breakfast, but then i tend crawl back in bed with the newspaper.

 my ipad books section came with a free copy of "winnie the pooh" so i started reading it last night.  ordered a few other books to read as well.  it was my first time reading on the ipad.  i gotta say it's much nicer than reading on the kindle.  i still have books to read on there, but it's pretty old.  i like that the ipad shows pages and like that you just swipe to turn a page, feels more like a book, plus there are colours.
fun to read winnie the pooh over again. such a cute book.

 the trail is covered with snow again so not so bad, much of the winter it has been pretty icy.

 more dead trees.

 blossom, as usual, could care less about the scenery.  she is totally focused on the tennis ball.

 sadly, i totally forgot to bring my sunglasses.  it was bright.  i can't stand squinting!  so annoying. there are worse things though...too much sun!  can't really complain about that!!

 sent my schedule request...figure i'll try 3 on, 2 off, 3 on...followed by 6 off.  may be nice to not work that 4 day stretch.

 same photo, pretty much, just one in black and white.  it totally changes the look in my mind.

 this log has been here as long as i've been coming.  it's the unofficial trail marker.

 a pretty cool log anyway.  always a photo op.

 always good to capture a few folks on the beach.  nice sunshine!  i think they may have been skiing.

 the whole kenai looks like it may be getting rain.

 no rain here though!! still some talk of more snow.  not like they got back east yesterday. my brothers pictures on facebook were pretty impressive.

 not sure if you can see them, but the two couples are up there on the right.  they went pretty far out there...when they returned one of them said it was a bit slushy out there.  i stopped several hundred feet before they did.  feared a foot slipping down through the ice and getting stuck between chunks of ice.

 just the scenery...i know...again i've taken too many pictures, but i had a great time.  hard to go down there and not take lots of pictures.

 hidden ice chunk...could be treacherous.

 sounds like there is a ticked off ex cop in california.  that is frightening.  don't see how it will end well for him.  not sure the whole story.  he's upset over getting fired and is now taking revenge.  at least one police officer is killed.  the whole thing just is sad.

 drinking a winter blackberry, mikes.  those are good. i should restock before they stop selling it.  they only sell them in the winter...

 was going to go see "identity thief". i saw it was getting terrible reviews from a few sources and bowed out. my friend that went didn't have much good to say about it so i think i made the right choice.

 not much out there that looked good this week.

 more at the waters edge...well kinda.  first there is a bunch of ice chunks and eventually you get to water.

 these chunks are a bit further back.

 a man was convicted of murder up here...it was his wife.  he was trying to say it was accidental.  the family seemed pretty screwed up. the kids were all standing behind their dad and changed their story from right after the murder happened.  they all told stories of the mom brandishing a knife repeatedly at them all in anger...that this was normal.  the husband said he just had the gun to protect himself and it just went off.  one daughter said something about what a happy family they were...it was pointed out to her that normal, happy families don't generally threaten each other with knives and guns on a regular basis.

 an unsolved murder in southeast alaska this past week.  lots of people gathered for the funeral of an elder and after everyone dispersed a young girl was found dead at the place the service was held.  she was only 13, very sad.

 4 dogs have died in 3 different dog sled races this past week.  those are very sad numbers.  hope it's not telling of what may happen in the iditarod.  i believe we've gone 3 years without a death.  dog deaths never seem to happen in the shorter races, so that was odd.  it's been unusually warm though, that is never good for dogs on the teams.  they prefer cooler temperatures.  of course, they mush in the lower 48 and i think it's warmer over all.  maybe the dogs are just more used to it down there.

 skijor races tomorrow.  i may try and get out there and take some fun photo's.  dogs are just fun to photograph.

 more scenery...loved the sun and clouds!!  see why i hate days without clouds...they really do make a difference in photography

 i still get way too many crooked landscapes.

 maybe i have one leg that is longer than the other, causing me to stand crooked.  i think i get more crooked pictures with my little powershot.  that camera is usually in my left hand. i'm not left handed but for some reason i seem to take all my powershot photo's left handed.  maybe i should go back to the right hand and see if that makes for straighter shots.

 more cool trees.

 off to finish up winnie the pooh!  so happy that this book is not on the kindle.  those pooh bear pictures look so much better in colour!!

good night...i know loads of pictures, but i hope you enjoy them anyway.