each day an adventure in alaska: another sunny day in anchorage...

went with friends and a total of 7 dogs down to the beach off of kincaid park. no more chunks of ice left out there. the tide was out when we arrived and was coming in as we left. tanya and lena left before the rest of us, amy, michelle and i stayed until about 2:30 or 3. it was just such a warm, sunny day it was hard to stop walking. there is a lot of beach to be walked out there again and we were the only ones out there until we were walking back towards the cliffs.

tanya and lena headed down the cliffs first. i went last to get rio down safely. both dogs are beat at this time. blossom was pretty sore and slow getting off her dog bed on the back deck. it's time of year to rotate beds. last years deck bed goes to the trash..i had left it out anyway when the snow came last week. the old car dog bed becomes the new deck bed and the oldest bed in the house becomes the new car bed. keeps things a bit fresher. they get flat over time anyway.

there was a boat out in the inlet. not much boat traffic outside of anchorage. i do miss that about life in ketchikan, all the water activities. i lived on the water the last 3 years of the 6 that i lived there. watched cruise ships, ferries, barges, tugs, fishing boats...and of course all the float planes passing through. add to that an assortment of whales, seals, sea lions, birds...well our water activity seems pretty dull in comparison. i have always been a sea person rather than a lake person though . seems like you are mostly one or the other in life. i'd much rather be walking along a beach than chilling by a lake.

i think michelle is taking pictures of denali which was visible from the beach. may be hard to see in the picture above but denali mountain is to the far right in that picture. tanya is with her dogs down the beach a bit.

lena and amy hadn't been out to these local beaches so fun to share with them one of my favorite anchorage spots. i've no doubt they will both return with their families.

here is amy(speedy) and lena with manny. guess her puked on the way home. not too unusual for the big boy. i suspect he probably drank some salt water which didn't set too well.

not sure where i'll walk tomorrow. i have a few nights of work and then our weekend paddle. rumors are for good weather. we shall see. you never know in alaska. the joke is always "if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes". would be great to have some nice weather. tanya is always a good weather magnet so i'm hopeful.

started pulling out the summer gear so i can get it all packed up and ready for the trip. i think we all tend to take more gear when we know we will be staying in the cabin and just kayaking out from there. got to plan more tightly when you know you have to fit it all in those little boats and move from place to place. a cabin is a luxury in alaska. i know from my childhood in california that the word cabin means something totally different to many in the lower 48 than it does in alaska. it could mean almost anything here whereas in the lower 48 it generally seems to mean a place in the woods with running water and electricity. so basically, houses in the woods. oftentimes fancy houses in the woods.

swept the car out a bit, cleaned up some of the crap. working on laundry now so i wasn't my usual slacker self today. so we did walk for 3 hours...i still got a few other things done.

even managed a little swim. just did 30 lengths so only 15 laps, but want to get into the habit of just getting there more. it did feel good and i still have that healthy soreness that comes from making your muscles work a bit.

i'm sure i will remember a few muscles i had forgotten about while paddling this week. summer is coming fast...alaskans go a bit nuts in the summer. we try to fit in so many adventures. nobody wants to waste anytime or any daylight.

lots of happy dogs on the beach today. felt bad that tanya kept hers in check, i know it pains her to keep them leashed and it pains her that they get irritable with other dogs. overall, they seemed to be doing fine today. i think that is how they are, mostly okay, but then wham, another incident will happen. it does make me appreciate my pups more. just good natured dogs, they were pretty open to training.

rio visited some folks who sat down to relax on the beach. they were welcoming to her as it seems everyone who meets rio is. that dog is a magnet for attention and affection. it's that sweet face, and then they hear she is blind and they just fall for her. i think she knocked a few of them over doing her rio body rubs. she seems to have no idea of her size. it was a long walk for her today though. she is such a trooper. just keeps plugging along. she's snoring on the couch downstairs, blossom slept outside on the dog bed and then dragged herself inside and lay down on the inside bed. it's all soft and new. neither has moved much. dinner, sleep.

wonder if all these guys are equally tired. manny below, morgan and maizy, the lab in these pictures. they all had a great time romping in the sand, mud and water. we lost a few tennis balls. saw another dog playing with a tennis ball and i suspect it was one of ours...sharing. as long as some dog is happy. blossom was wiped out..she didn't need anymore playtime today.

another shot of the boat in the inlet.

will have to get myself organized. so far my stuff is just starting to collect on the spare bed for camping...this is how it always starts. i've done so many trips now you just know what you are supposed to have. by the end of the summer it's all half packed all the time anyway. i tend to keep my big car tent in the car with a bag for cooking stuff.

i think everyone had fun out there. i tend to be the one who gets the hikes organized. i do have a purpose in life i guess. i don't see myself as social, but hiking is my social.

those rocks can be hell on the paws and pads. i'm sure rio was getting sore feet. she seems to enjoy walking in the mud. you tend to sink into it. it's wet and cool. 7 muddy dogs came home. i rebrushed blossom after she dried out. that is summer. blossom dries on deck and leaves behind a dog of dirt when she gets up. then i brush out the rest.

no rock cairns out there yet, i hope that guy comes back to the beach and makes some...or perhaps i will try for a lazy beach day where i can make cairns and write more silly notes in the mud. it is relaxing.

he's probably excited to get back out in the creeks with his rocks. above is manny.

lena and tanya leaving so they could be back in time to get their kids from school. it's almost out for the season. they get out a little earlier here i think so that everyone can enjoy all the daylight.

raven flies past.

ducks on the water. eventually the tide came in enough they all flew off for the pond by the cliffs.

blossom couldn't resist getting herself sunk into the mucky pond water. always a lovely odor.

we saw 4 moose on the walk back to the cars. all fairly far off. the one mama and baby moose were close enough that rio caught scent of them. saw another moose as i drove out. people were stopped taking pictures. it was a little ways off, suspect it had a baby with it. it is that time of year though. tourist season so it could just be a regular moose with it's moose paparazzi. kincaid is one of those places people come to try and check moose sighting off their list.

tanya and lena look so tiny from the top of the cliff. it's a fairly steep trail down to the beach. we took turns.

great to have the entire beach to ourselves. that doesn't happen often and soon with the kids getting out the beach will often have lots of folks with their kids. great place for a fire and a gathering.