off into the sunset...

 another hodge podge of photos.  above was the sunset as i drove home from the fair last week.  so pretty.

 more mushrooms from my various hikes and rambles.

 3 nights of work completed. no blog post last night as i as out late at a party.  a wedding party.  turned out to be less wedding and more party...loved it!! leave it to amy to do the unusual.  fabulous!!  she also looked fabulous as well.  hope she posts pictures.  i'm lousy at indoor photography.  the flash is always so annoying and i hate bugging people.

 i have no issues bugging mushrooms and fungi though. haha.

 the party was out at alyeska in girdwood.  i finally got up that tram.  i worked the night before and i think my brain stopped just when i was feeling like i was moving at warp speed.  so i was totally late for the first part.  my thanks to tiffany for just telling me to get a tram pass and come up.  i think amy was happy to see me up there.  the tram wasn't too bad for me as far as heights.  i could feel my stomach doing some flips from time to time but over all i was a brave girl.  there is one section that gets a good sway going up and a sway and a drop going down.  yikes.  i was warned.  on the way down there were some co-workers on board who kindly distracted me.

 lots of dancing at the party which i always love.  these kind of parties it's also fun because there is no expectation of you having to have a dance partner to be on the dance floor.  you can dance with everyone.  we had a few alaska tables with the peds crew so that was fun.

 they also had a photo booth which was a fun idea.

 work was steady as usual.  i worked the cardiac care unit then the adult icu then the peds icu.  a nice week.  you just never know.  a little rainbow action from my back deck.

 have been on so many trails..not sure exactly where all these are.  i move around every day and hit a different trail.

 today i was totally slow getting moving.  this below is from campbell airstrip i remember..the back mushing trails.

 anyway, today i headed to potter to mchugh with the dogs when i finally got going.  it was raining a bit, wet and all those roots were giving rio fits.  there was also a pair of guys out there that had me a wee bit nervous. i'm always bear aware, but really it's the humans that i worry about most.  these two had a gang banger look about them, didn't seem like hikers.  they didn't seem to have a planned route, just sort of there and meandering.   i like a look of purpose.

 just took the dogs to the view point and then turned around.  soon after we turned around the dogs got all alert, rio had nose up.  then i saw a totally fresh bear scat.  back to worrying about the bears.  that thing had to have  been close.  i never saw it though.  i got back to the car and we left.  as i drove out those two suspicious guys were still wandering around.  hmm...

 had bear spray so ready for bears and strange men.

 i'd enjoyed girdwood yesterday so i headed back that way.  the winner creek trail that starts on the crow mine road is nice and wide open for rio.  took the dogs down there to the hand tram and then used that as my turn around.

 that trail is also a good mushroom trail.  lots of the shrooms had been knocked over by others but there were still plenty to keep me occupied.  so much fun!!

 on the way out there the water was a bit choppy in the arm, but i did see some beluga whales out there.  i stopped a few times to watch and attempt to take a few photo's.  nothing spectacular.  it's never easy getting good beluga pictures out there, but always fun to see them.

 debating making a run to talkeetna tomorrow or perhaps hatchers pass.  hmm...we shall see.  maybe it will depend on if i get any takers to join me.

 syria is still out there. i'm really not keen on attacking.  i'd really love to see the arab nations police themselves and the other nations around them.  they have chosen no action as usual.  seems the arab nations could care less how many people die over there or in what manner.  we like to get all humanitarian on the situation, yet we are quite selective about which humans are worthy of our effort to protect.  we certainly looked the other way as the rwandans were slaughtered.

 chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction.  i'd really rather have more clear proof this time around.  turned out to be no proof in iraq.  seems no matter what we do to "save" the people of the middle east we are hated, our flags are burned.  we have to ask if any of them really want us there or want us to help or intervene.  instead the president has decided to make his plea and let congress banter about what we should do.  wise choice on his part i think.  let those knuckleheads duke it out.  that should delay any action for some time.

 i'm not good at small talk.  my friends boyfriend often surprises me.  i think he picks up on stuff way more than i would think.  he has that external persona that doesn't  always jive with who he is.  after a few minutes of small talk, which i'm always a bit sluggish at, he asked me about syria.  once i have a real subject to discuss i am immediately more comfortable in a conversation. not everyone sees that sort of thing.

 bear bread.  some sort of fungi...this stuff comes in all shapes and sizes as well.

 this is campbell airstrip trails.

 a couple horses crossing over the bridge.

 drive out to fair. we have giant cabbages up here but we also have  giant pumpkins.  we were to early for the pumpkin contest.  the winner was 1,182 pounds.  another larger pumpkin was dq'd.  it weighed 1,289 pounds.  these giant veggie growers are totally serious.  it's a pretty  big deal.

 england is not up for a syrian attack either.  france seems to be the only ones wanting to support us if we go for it.  i'd just prefer we not.  there are other ways to try and force a corrupt government out of power or aid rebels or whatever.

 took so long to actually get to the fair i took some pictures from the car as i slowly made my way to attempt to park.  it took for ever to get there.  really not worth the bother in the big picture, but it was a pretty day and we all enjoyed our time there once we got there.  next time i go i will for sure not go on a weekend day.  they charge 2 extra bucks too.  bother!

 the temperatures are dropping down at night.  my place feels colder.  i have kept the cat door closed and should probably just pack it and close it down for the winter.

 a few from the king tut exhibit at the fair and the reptile house that i walked through with maddie.

 not sure where they came across all this gold out there in those days.  of course, these are only replica's.  gold paint is pretty easy to find.

 the chariot.  cool to see one more life sized.

 bob and maddie.

 snakes.  happy there aren't any loose snakes up here in alaska.  reptiles really don't like cold climates.  just our one or two frogs i think.  i think there is just the one frog up here and maybe more in southeast alaska.  not sure.  no lizards or gecko's for sure.

 two headed cow..stuffed.

 iguana and they also have a variety of turtles, neither lives here in alaska either.

 there is one of those champion cabbage heads.

 we had to check out the critters as well.  always fun.  a bit stinky though.

 miniature goats

 and a super friendly caribou...though domesticated caribou are called reindeer.

 i will have to try and get myself moving a bit quicker tomorrow.  it's already midnight and i'm hungry.  don't want to go to bed too hungry so i'll have to look for some kind of snack to get me through.

 the rest are from the day after the fair when i joined bob, tanya and maddie for a hike out prospect heights.  denali was out.

 need to re-do my pals.  it's not due til november but that class is full and the october class is a two day class and then there is this month and december.   for some idiotic reason they have this rule of can't be overdue. it's really quite silly.  they should have a grace period.  they say you can't work with it expired. of course, now that i'm in the float pool i can work with it expired, just not in peds.  the funny thing is that when peds was totally busy they invited other adult icu nurses to cross train up there.  i know one who got 4 hours orientation and then worked the last 8 hours on her own.  she hadn't taken pals for years or worked in peds for years.  odd how i have to be so current when i've taken that class repeatedly and have worked in the peds icu for years, yet people who work in other units and haven't worked in peds for years or taken the pals class for years are somehow exempt.

 bob and maddie had fun shaking the fireweed seeds all over.

 they are a bit like dandilions in that they are a seed with fluff that gets blown in the wind.  below you can see all the fluff being blown about.

 it is fun...i caught on quickly.  not sure why i'd never done this before.

 tanya above.

 missed her birthday...i'm way behind on birthday gifts and such.  i live behind though i guess. it's a miracle i get the laundry and dishes done really.

 i had maddie take some of me shaking the fluff from the fireweed.

anyway.  i guess i will hit the sack. i should put pictures on cd's first.  i still gotta get them onto shutterfly as well.  so behind...see this is the story of betsy.  month late and hundreds of dollars short.....inflation!!