more from the highway...

 late to sleep, late to wake up.  still i think i tried to make the most of my day today.  it was raining again, but sleeping in did help as by the time i got out there for my walk the rain had stopped.  loved this shot above....hard not to get some lovely shots on a day like i had.

 today i took Blossom to North Bivouac for a loop, then i grabbed a subway sandwich and headed to Potters...no swans yet.  nice place to eat lunch.  it was late but all i'd had all day was some toast.

 watched a few tedtalks before getting my day started.  always love those.  so many different voices out there and it's just a great way to hear short talks that you would never hear otherwise.

 one was by the son of a terrorist.  his father was involved in the bombing of the world trade center...the first one.  He is not a terrorist, he was just a kid growing up in the USA and was bullied a bit....he met the right people and he learned that the dogma he had been taught by his terrorist father was only one view, that there were many other ways to see this world.

 another was a son and father from Sweden.  they were pretty funny actually.  basically showing that we all assume the worst because that is what is put out there.  they seem to be saying that the world isn't as bad as it seems.  good to hear on a day when yet another innocent person was beheaded by this crazy group in the middle east.  it seems pretty dire at the time.

 my first caribou sighting out there.

 got my laps in today as well. do enjoy swimming, though that pool felt a wee  bit chilly at first, they must have just filled it. i mix it up a bit and do some treading of water.  uses different muscles.  after my swim i had to get gas and the sunset was looking like it might be nice so i headed to look for moose and check out the sunset.  it was worth the look.

 then a trip to the hospital to see a friend....hope she is able to get home soon.  fever tonight, never good after surgery.

 my brother has an article for sale on Amazon i guess.  i have not purchased it.  of course, today i had to laugh to myself...with a few of my siblings all i need to do is give them a call and i will hear all their opinions for free..why the hell would i pay to read it?

 was in the same parking lot that i was at today several weeks back.  i'd done one of my usual loops. when i returned to the parking lot there was a truck with 3 guys leaning on it gasping and trying to catch their breath.  they looked to be maybe late 20's, early 30's and they had obviously been biking. as i walked past i hear the one guy finally able to breath enough to speak say, "did you see that 80 year old guy fly past us?  that's fucking bullshit!!".  it cracked me up..they'd been so bested by some retiree no doubt..shouldn't count out the elders in the community.  many of those retiree's now spend their free time biking/hiking/working out...they are pretty fit!!

 it was a bit tricky getting home from visiting my friend at the hospital.  UAA (local university right next door to my hospital) has built a big arena and they worked out a deal with the hospital so that they can use two of the parking garages that the night shift frequently uses anytime they have events...meaning we can no longer park in our own parking garages on the days there are events...seems pretty ridiculous to me.  so now we all have to park in the remaining garage.  as i was leaving the event let out so i couldn't even go my normal route home, i had to loop around the other direction and get onto Northern Lights...then at Boniface i had to turn back down to Tudor as they are doing road work on Northern Lights.

 plan tonight is to get to bed at a more reasonable time.  i'll mentally work on these letters for WARIS and write them out tomorrow.

 decided while swimming today one thing i love about swimming is all the reflections at the pool.  they are everywhere...it's so relaxing.  as you can see, i love reflections!!

 also love Black and White's.

 and pretty fall leaves.  lots on the walk today.  did see a few moose out there by the airport and the sunset was pretty sweet, i just stayed a few minutes.  looks like it got better and better.

 apparently 4 years ago a Mormon Missionary who was volunteering at the Musk Ox farm in Palmer got head butted and 2 years after the event sued.  he was asking for 200K and got 10K...that makes me think the judge wasn't overly impressed with his efforts in this suit. the musk ox farm is a non-profit and the guy never even mentioned to them that this incident had happened until they got word of the lawsuit two years later.  he even played football a few weeks after the incident.  sounds a bit fishy to me...or should i say it smells musky?

 the forest service will close 10 cabins in the Tongass National Forest after this summer.  sad to see these buildings abandoned.  hope they at least do the maintenance on them...i suspect they won't. seems so wasteful.

 a guy in Palmer burned down his own home, which he had totally paid off.  seems like a sad case...clearly there is something very wrong with this guy. his father said he just hasn't been acting right of late.  hopefully they get him help.

 in another sad case a guy called the police in Eagle River i think to say he wanted to turn himself in, he had just killed his girlfriend.  the girls body was in the car with the guy in the parking lot where he called from.  he claims he has forgotten much of what happened. the world is full of crazy people.

 so sad for her family...just tragic.

 always love all the colors on that highway. would love to get up and hit some great fall colors on the Dalton highway.  would be awesome.  hit and miss though as you can really get caught in a big snow storm up there anytime.  we had freezing rain when we drove through Atigan pass...and that was mid August.

 patchwork...

 actually looked like Fairbanks may be clouding up like we are.  i haven't seen much for pictures posted on facebook of these northern lights...so far maybe the entire state is covered in clouds.  i'll peek out again before i crash.  we get blue skies during the days but then the clouds roll right back in.  supposed to be amazing aurora opportunities.  oh well.  sleep is calling me anyway.

 more reflections....so amazing out there.

 then i saw this group of caribou.  did see some hunters who seemed to be watching them.

 just a few more days until they announce the  amount of this years pfd's.  i need to get on that list.  when i looked we were too late to be added on.

 probably have to have that actual 501(3)(c) to enroll.  they have pick/click and give where people can donate some of their pfd to various charities.

 in October i need to sign up for our business license.  think i have everything else done.  just still waiting.

 they don't seem to stressed, obviously unaware they are being watched by hunters.

 was hoping to get to Maclaron summit but the sun was starting to set and i found this pull out by this lake so i settled in for the night.

 i think a few more cars drove past after i settled in but then nobody was out on the roads after that.  nice and quite...no bears, peaceful.  i didn't take any benedryl like i had last year.  no help waking up foggy and seeing a bear head in the window.

 big full moon, it looked clear but quickly clouded up...no chance of northern lights out there that night.

 it was peaceful right by the water there though.  got some reading it.  tough to sleep with the dogs in the cramped car, so more reading than sleeping no doubt.

 love that last light of the day though.  so pretty.

 and the pinks come out once the sun is behind the mountains.

 bet  that Denali mountain sunset was nice that night too.

 did squeeze in a lot today, so hopefully i can get an earlier start tomorrow.

thankful for.... a) peaceful sleep.  i've got a comfortable and safe place to rest each day.  b) ted talks...so fun to hear all those different voices and opinions.  great that we live in a country where we can speak freely  c) beautiful sunsets. good night