USS Anchorage commissioned!

 i wasn't there.  had to have a ticket.  guess they were doing tours of the ship and the lines were crazy long, like hours.  so this was as close as i got to the ship.  my dad was navy so i think he would have liked this.  of course i went to government hill and went to this small park to get a view of the ship...well part of a view. one young girl was at the park with her father and snottily informed me that, "this is a park, not a boat place".

 was slow moving today due to the snow falling.  the snow later turned to rain and then eventually back to snow this evening.  hopefully, it will just go away and tomorrow the sun will shine and i can get motivated to drive to denali.  we shall see.  hoping to get to bed a bit early and see if i can't get my day moving a bit faster tomorrow.

 thought this moose looked less than thrilled with the weather as well.  it was on the side of campbell airstrip road as i drove to north bivouac.  did a loop with the dogs there.

 at first i tried to get rio to come along.  she stubbornly stayed put on the couch so i got her a treat and bone filled with peanut butter and headed to door to leave with blossom.  she apparently decided to join us and rushed the door.  she didn't even eat her treats.  who knew.  she is a funny dog.

 these are some boats by cheney lake...waiting for better weather to come.

 blossom is thrilled with the increase in puddles to play in.

 fresh coat of very wet snow.  it was a workout doing my loop out there...much needed considering how terrible i ate all day.

 only one super slushy spot that i had to work my way around out there today.

 a few more of the docks downtown.  containers with the alaska rail car.

 a little further off view of the USS Anchorage.

 this was just too cute...kids!!  went to a small gathering to celebrate a friends birthday.  this guy was hiding behind these little plastic menu holders. we played hide and seek for a bit, then the menu's weren't there and he was smashing his face into it.  cracked me up!!  just an adorable kid...some folks just make cute kids!!  they have another one on the way.

 happy birthday sandra.

 she always likes this place so that was where we went.  it's kind of a strange place smack down in the middle of an industrial area.  i was parked by an old abandoned couch.  the food isn't really that great i think, and i'm not really into beer so i just had a small salad and some root beer.  can't go wrong there.  attempted a small chunk of cheese from an appetizer platter someone had bought.  i thought it tasted like diesel fuel.  it was gross.  everyone else seemed fine with it.  i'm a bit more picky than the average person though.

 tossed in some more oldies from south dakota.  hoping to have some fun denali pictures soon.  will be long day of driving tomorrow if i go.

 this is my dad.  he and my mom came up for a visit.  i think we are out at sylvan lake this day.

 behind my apartment was this big open area, which was great for getting the dogs out.  it was cool to as often there would be deer out there.

 devils monument in wyoming.  it was a 2 hour drive from my place.  i remember taking my folks and we got there, they saw it and were ready to leave.  having just driven 2 hours though i ended up walking around the thing for a bit before heading back.

 wild donkey in custer state park.

 a few of fester.  he was a totally cool cat.  got him in californa, lost him up here in anchorage.

 baby huey with a gift my mom sent.

 on the trails.

 and in the water.

 with butch.  he was very tolerant of huey.  not sure huey was quite as tolerant of blossom.

 huey is in the truck and the other dog is his dog mom...we returned for visits from time to time.

 my brother came out to visit as well. jeff.

 my place was small and huey was crazy!!  my parents were there for part of his visit as was my friend, michelle.  we all had a great time.  michelle stayed longer and we headed to badlands together.

 of course we also did all the touristy things we could before everyone left.  these are with my folks at mt rushmore.

 another time i took off with dogs and stayed in a big hotel with them downtown in the twin cities in minnesota.  huey destroyed a couch cushion.  i was sure i would get charged, but the desk people just said they'd had such fun visiting with the dogs they let it go.  huey was maybe 6 months old...and like i said, he was crazy! when i selected him from the litter of pups he was the mellow pup.  i often wondered how crazy the rest of them were.

 sunset on the missouri river.

 my mom chills with the dogs at sylvan lake

 this picture has always been a favorite.  it's pretty simple, not sure why i really like it.  it was taken on a road trip to rocky mountain state park in colorado.

 as were these.

 my new truck.  getting ready to move to alaska about this time.  i had been debating buying a house and even looked at several..then i just felt like something wasn't complete.  it was time to get to alaska.

 elk in the park

 really is a pretty place.

 a few from mt rushmore.  always a must see in the black hills.

 lincoln on his own

 and the profile of washington.

 sylvan lake.  it was just this amazingly beautiful lake out there.  i visited there often.  i do remember about this time getting dragged around by huey on a leash and being told it was a lab and it would never learn to heel.  can't say he ever really did.  you learn a bit more with each dog you have.  he just had so much energy.

 frozen lakes were totally new to me being from california.  i think sylvan was the first lake i walked out on...still kinda strange.

 random black hills shots.

 it really is a beautiful area.  the fall in spearfish is spectacular.

 i think these trees were near the border between north and south dakota.

 roughrock falls...these are in spearfish canyon.  this area is where they filmed "dances with wolves".

 did get quite a few good hikes in while i was there.  the bummer was that south dakota was poorly set up for winter play. i think mostly because most people thought it would be nuts to be out there in the winter.  the wind chill factors were enough to keep you inside most of the winter or at least to keep you from wandering out of rapid city.  they had trails that followed the creek as after the flood they didn't let anyone rebuild along the creek.  many had died apparently.  it was a fun creek to meander on inner tubes in the summer.  there was also a lake quite close to my apartment that i walked often.

 no trailheads were plowed through winter.  maybe they just didn't want to encourage outdoor activity.

 south dakota squirrel.

 sunset behind the apartment.

 another shot of sylvan lake.

and i will end with that and head to bed early.  fingers crossed for decent weather tomorrow.