autumn is the time of incredible beauty...

 and this puppy is one adorable subject.  my other dog Rio is less easy to photograph.  due to her blindness if i try to walk away from her to get a photo she quickly rushes towards me, fearful that i have left her behind. i find this baffling as i've been with her for over 8 years now, one would think she would finally feel secure.  like humans though those scars from our youth can follow us throughout our days.

 woke to the view above and a few early travelers on the road.  so i got myself moving, fed the pups and headed on my way as well.

 no idea what sort of horses these are but i thought they were pretty out there, grazing.  there were people camped nearby and the horses did have bridals on.  no wild horses in these parts.

 as i cruised along i was passed by a dog team in front of a 4 wheeler out for their morning run.

 beaver ponds are prevalent.

 as are glaciers.

 it was a bit more cloudy on my day two, but still pretty out

 that is a pingo out there in the distance...and below closer up.  what is a pingo besides a cool name for a hill you ask?  it's an earth covered ice hill formed by upward expansion of underground ice...that is what websters says anyway. first heard about them from my milepost as i drove the dalton..now i see that they are everywhere.

 life is like that...when you learn something suddenly it was there all along and all you had to do was just understand what it was.

 there are a lot of interesting things i've learned since living in the north.  below appeared to be the inside of an old pingo.  part of it had collapsed and a pond had formed.

 i liked the reflections...because i'm nuts about reflections

 below are kettle lakes/ponds....what is a kettle lake?  well, websters didn't know, but the milepost does...these small lakes and ponds are remnants of glaciers receding.  as they recede blocks of slower melting ice form depressions  called kettle holes or kettle lakes...depending on the size of the depression left behind.

 my blog is fascinating and educational.  haha.

 had to stop at Maclaren Summit for a walk with the dogs. this was cut short by Rio.  i let her off leash in an attempt to get one of those photo's of her and she began to book back towards the car. it is a pretty place to walk and we did go a bit before turning back.  Blossom got some tennis ball time in which always makes her happy.

 we took Rio along today as well and Blossom got some tennis ball time in.  today we just headed to Jodphur trailhead and did a loop out there.  we went out the main trails and then returned by the waters edge.  i got a bit turned around so we made a wee bit of a detour but eventually we ended up on the dunes.

 Blossom loves the dunes, i think she would have preferred to skip the longer walk and just hit the dunes.  i say this because we passed several side trails on the way out that lead to the dunes and she stopped and sat down in protest at each one.  i, being the master, won this battle with the dog...okay i'm a wimpy master and am often swayed by her sweet face.  she did get brushed this morning, which she hates....so in protest she laid down in every muddy puddle she came across.

 it's been a day of getting a few things done.  the sun came out....i suspect the clouds have already filled back in to assure that nobody in Anchorage sees any sort of splendid views of the aurora this week.

 lawn is mowed and a few things towards winter prep have begun.  also cleaned out the fridge a bit...always way more to do on the house but at least it's a start

 i also pulled my Yakima off the roof of the car long enough to plaster it with stickers that have collected.  it's quite the task getting that thing off/on the roof.  so it is all stickered up now.  i often catch people waiting for traffic lights checking out the yakima.  it does give my car character...i find the car appears quite dull with it off.  i put a WARIS sticker on there...being that i am in the hole over $1500.00 i figure i've donated enough to merit a sticker.

 there is my girl again...so cute.

 no moose sightings and i never saw a moose on this run of the Denali Highway.

 clearly a hawk of some sort, saw it while i was out walking with the pups.  didn't get any decent shots of it...just this silhouette.  i may have actually spelled that right...or it's so wrong that the spell check didn't recognize it.

 like this action shot.

 she is in her element...not my element.

 kettle ponds.

 love the changing colors of the fireweed this time of year.

 put my old push mower out front for free...no takers yet.  i used my gas mower again today...i'm an expert now i guess.

 the grass growth should be slowing down here soon. it's already slower for sure.  will chop up the falling leaves a bit too as that is good for the lawn i hear.  so many spendy things i'd like to do around the house.  need a new roof, kitchen needs a remodel, landscaping, remodel the master...no immediate plans for any of it yet though.

 a stand of trees in the distance and a pond below.

 an adorable fluffy dog in Bethel named Irvina was beaten to death with a flashlight.   the guy had been drinking and his sister left the house with her kids to wait it out..he must have some history...she returned to hear  the commotion inside.  of course the poor woman was distraught over this incident and the guy resisted arrest...i hope they give him the max.

 apparently some British Muslims who have joined the jihad have become disillusioned and wish to return home.  they feel they have a message that could encourage others not to join...England won't take them back or will jail them if they somehow get back.  seems rational to me.  write a letter to a newspaper and get your message out there.  will people ever learn to take responsibility for their actions.  you can't join a crazy militant army and then just simply walk away and return home like nothing happened.

 and to the guy with the British accent who is beheading these innocents...if you are so set on what you are doing being the right thing then take off the mask...clearly the guy knows in his heart that what he is doing is wrong or he wouldn't worry about repercussions for his actions.  it's not brave to wear a mask and hide yourself, it's a cowards action.

 recall this lake from years past...some trips you just hit certain areas at the peak...this area was awesome.  the reflections were spectacular.

 probably took too many photos here but it really was a beautiful sight.  a bit tough light though, tricky and i don't know many tricks.  i just snap shots to share.

  a guy got attacked by a Kodiak Bear on Shuyak Island.  i've been there, we did see one big bear on the shore as we were paddling.  that was as close as we got. it's a beautiful area.  he was able to keep his wits about him and though he didn't get his bear spray canister out fast enough he hung on to the thing and was able to eventually give the bear a good spray.  this made the bear back off and he was able to get to safety.  a float plane trip later and he got treated in Kodiak for his wounds.

 Blossom woke me up last night around 4am...i dragged myself up and out to let her outside.  she did nothing and i saw no northern lights despite noting some clearing.  before i returned to bed...i went to the office here and indeed there were some urine soaked towels.  so i think it's more clear that Blossom is the mystery voider.  have been putting towels in the spot so at least so far clean up has been much easier.  not happy with this trend though.

 people are harvesting their gardens in prep for winter.  my neighbor brought me over some broccoli and carrots while i was doing my sticker thing.  there are a few garden plots around town.  great to see so many of our new residents...refugees, out growing and learning to garden.  this city is a major melting pot, which i have always loved.  i think there are nearly 200 languages spoken in the school system here.

 it would be really difficult to learn a new language...still some people get really down on people who move here and haven't gotten their english down yet.  i'm amazed by how many of them are able to learn to communicate though.  some of them speak several languages.

 loved the reds in these

 especially in contrast to these white balls.

 can't recall what these are, but it just looked kinda cool.

 i have never ridden the bus in Denali National Park...it's a not dogs allowed thing and i always have dogs and would never want to leave them in the car for hours on end as i ride the bus.  i had no idea that several of those drivers return year after year.  it does look to be a tricky drive.  i recall driving that road on the lottery several years back and my fear of heights kicking in several times.  having a regular car pass could be terrifying let alone a big bus.

 the road lottery was this weekend.  they allow i think about 300 regular vehicles through each day.  i forgot to sign up but had taken the days off in preparation.  looks like the fall colors were awesome this year.  you never know.

 another lake along the way on the Denali Highway.

 soon i would be on the Richardson Highway headed back towards home.

 tons more fall pics from this trip to go though.  should take me past the brown days before the snow hits...well, maybe, you never know when winter will come to stay. one does feel obligated to be out and about on summer days.  don't want to waste those days...it's almost a relief when winter comes and you can relax and just live your life again.

that is enough for one day though.  thankful for's for today.... 1.  finding my way back today when i got a bit mixed up on the way to the dunes 2.  patience with Rio on a skinny trail with a good drop off, i always get stressed out there with her 3. getting stuff done...it's little stuff that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but it does feel good to check off those to do things.