more from roadie to Denali

 debating another little jaunt to try and see as much fall as i can.  there is always the Denali Highway....which may be good, but cold.  perhaps i'll just call and see if i can get a warm place to stay with the dogs either in the hostel up north or in Valdez.  either would be cool.

 i never know and i often change my mind.

 love the fall colors though...that is for sure and since if you stay in one place fall is super short, i always find it's best to travel to fall.

 i'm an autumn chaser!!

 Denali is for sure peaking this week.  my friend was just there and slept over night in a tent...brr!! i think slept is a stretch...sounds like she woke up a lot and didn't get as solid a sleep as hoped.  it's worth it for these amazing  colors though.

 i worked the last 3 nights.  first in Renal Care and then the next two in ACC.  got a work out in ACC.  my first night i started with 2 very busy patients, part way through i was asked to give up my two and take a very sick patient that needed the CRRT ( a slow dialysis that runs over 24 hours) so off i went.  thankfully, i tend to neurotically keep up with my charting.

 that patient kept my hoping all night.  got her through that night and again the next night when i got the same patient back from OR in a state.  Hospitals do not like deaths in their OR's.  the ICU's often get patients that are in the process of actively dying.  this gal looked pretty dang near it...but we all did our thing and in the morning she seemed to be slowly improving...not that that means too much in an ICU.

 rainy days the past few days.  while i slept the mystery dog pee'd again.  i had hoped that by just closing off the office door this habit would cease, but this time the hall carpet got it...GRR!! so frustrating.  don't even know which dog it is.  part of me thinks Rio because she hates going outside and the volume of urine is pretty impressive..i'm just not sure Blossom is capable of that amount.  i don't want to rule out Blossom though as i have no proof either way?  i would like it to stop though. it's quite annoying.

 thought i don't like pee in the office, the floor is easier to clean up...

 did get a massage today.  walked Blossom at U-Lake and then went right to the massage...i'm thinking this is the other reason to suspect Rio.  she was home alone.  don't know when Blossom would have had the chance.

 these are at a little shop called Wal-Mikes in Trapper Creek.  have always thought it would be fun to take a look around at all their old stuff.

 didn't find anything i could live without.  i went in the store and when i turned around there was this tiny dog-like creature in front of me.  it was a tiny dog with huge bat like ears.  too small to be a cat, but what was it?  i'm sure the proprietors appreciated me commenting that my Mastiff had larger poops than that dog.

 the bear head above has seen better days.

 old stuff is cool though.

 the bad news seems to continue.  another reporter was beheaded by ISIS....should just call them LICE. as it turns out this poor guy had kept it secret that he had dual citizenship...Israel.  Israel is not a large place but they have no problem going after those who try to go after them...not sure what they will do and haven't heard any reaction from them on this really

 a rescue at Lake Clark went badly as a guy on the ground was hit by a rock kicked up by the helicopter.  those things are deadly.

 a battle between state and feds in wildlife management...goes back generations apparently.  the feds seem to be against predator control programs.  the state seems to want to protect those who live remotely and want to hunt game and want enough game for them to hunt...they don't want to compete with predatory animals.

 on a side note..the article also mentioned how "Teddy Bears" came into being.  apparently Teddy Roosevelt was hunting and some assistants cornered and tied a black bear to a tree and brought Roosevelt over to shoot it.  he refused  as he felt this was terribly unsportsmanlike...i agree.  news spread  of a President who wouldn't shoot a bear...a political cartoon making fun of the President spurred a company to produce and sell "teddy" bears...and the rest is history...

 the big state news this week is the surprise pairing of Walker-Mallott.  neither had a chance of beating Parnell on their own so they have joined forces.  The Democrats will not have a candidate for Governor.  Walker is undeclared as of this week after previously being a Republican.  Mallott was the Democrat Governor candidate...they are both now undeclared independents.  the Democratic party and many others have given their blessing.  the combo will run as non-partisan and inclusive.  i suspect many will be watching this.  could this be the beginning of a more moderate voice finally?  we shall see.  Parnell and his jerk of a running mate, our not so beloved city mayor Sullivan are looking a wee bit anxious when just the week before it looked like an easy race.  it is now a bit more interesting.

 add to that the close contest for senate with Begich battling the carpet bagger, Sullivan.  the two sullivans are not related by the way...except that they are both seeming to be equally heinous in my opinion.

 Ebola continues to spiral out of control it seems.  hopefully the cdc is learning much with the victims that have been brought back to the states and will push through.  it's not totally out of the realm of possibilities for it to show up in US hospitals soon....it's really just a matter of time. i don't relish putting my life at risk...seems a pretty brutal way to go.  i also know that treatment in the states would probably mean a much lower death rate. those nations and people on the front line of this disease are no doubt doing the best they can with what they have, but it's gotta be tough.

 it's so funny how rapidly mushrooms change...you can see the same sort of shroom in these pics at different stages.  often this change occurs in a matter of a few hours.

 dead salmon are everywhere. i stopped in Wasilla to let the dogs stretch. i was going to let Blossom swim but there were dead salmon everywhere!! that stench is a tough one to be rid of...so much to Blossom's dismay i wouldn't let her in...of course, a couple were cannoodling on this little dock and next thing i know the up and jumped into the water.  yuck...that is disgusting with all those dead fish.

 loved these at Byers lake..this dead fish was at Byers as well. the fall colours  against the shallow waters of the lakes edge.

 one of the nurses i worked with in RCU is native.  a conversation was started by the third nurse who began making fun of non-profits and what a scam they were.  before he went too far i tried to let him know that i was in the process of creating a non-profit.  figured the mention would make him change the path of his conversation...it didn't.

 eventually the other nurse helped him out by asking me about this non-profit.  so i began to work my way into my speech.  neither of them had heard of Round Island or the Walrus Islands, but it did start a conversation about Walrus.  the Natives like to eat walrus and so it was interesting to have this random conversation.  they call it "black meat". it's apparently black.  from the sounds of it it is pretty chewy and oily.  i suspect i would hurl if i ever tried it but food is what you get used to.

 when the natives take a walrus the meat is shared with relatives all over Alaska, who cherish the chance to eat this native delicacy.  love the color in the leaves below against the water.

 different conversations come up in the wee hours of the night when life slows down on floors...that rarely happens in the ICU or the ER here though.

 the paper had some absolutely beautiful photo's of some folks surfing out at Umnak Island. it's out in the Aleutians.  the photo's were by a photographer from Surfer Magazine who recently traveled out there for a shoot for the mag.  isolated but spectacular views.

 so many random thoughts tonight...i'm back reading my papers.  always fun.  i like to store them up to ingest more when i have time...that is usually when i'm sitting at the desk.

 knee report....good day overall.  i was good about wearing my brace at work this week, no major spasms and last night i tried aleve rather than ibuprofen which i think worked better..or at least lasted longer.  could be i was just way to busy to notice my knee too much.  i do have my yoga disc out and hope to do some pretty pathetic yoga moves before hitting the sack.  i don't hold out much hope for a stellar performance but you got to start somewhere.

 in perspectives there was discussion about mothers who get their child taken away from them only to just get pregnant, have a baby and then freely take that child home....with each child they have a chance to re-prove that they suck as parents.  i've often said if you come in with drugs in your system to deliver, you have already proven you are not in any position to parent and they should just take the kid..but it would be wrong to test all mothers for drugs before delivery i guess.  the system doesn't always work great...that is for sure.

 debated hitting the rodeo tonight, but after my walk and massage i was good for the day...laundry and blog.

 hurrah for a teacher in Atqasuk...a village up north.  he recently moved there and noticed the trash...he immediately took action and began prepping and painting the trash containers in the town...soon he had all sorts of local kids involved with the painting and art of the big cans. then he noticed all the recyclable cans that were being dumped and he took charge of that...so now a new recycling program is beginning with the help of the students in town!! hurrah for the students...what a great lesson for them to learn.

 laws have been softened again to allow more vets from the lower 48 to be able to head north and work in remote villages on spay and neuter clinics.  these clinics are set up where ever they can be...kitchens, tribal courtrooms, police stations...the hope is that the large stray populations can be lessened.

 i like reading about a few good things going on out there.  too much negative stuff in the news.  great to hear that there are still a lot of folks out there trying to do good in this world.

 would be nice to see some more great fall colours.  i never seem to get enough of them.

 when i got to this part of Denali...the rain was beating down.  a walk was not to happen.

 fed the pups in the pouring rain and then headed back out.

 rain turned to snow again

 from my friends pictures...this didn't melt off but more snow came through the week and it looks like a winter wonderland right now.  the road lottery is coming up next weekend. that is when they open the road up to some 300-400 cars/day to drive as far back on the road as the weather will allow...not sure how far back that will be this year. you just never know.  winter comes when it's ready and stays as long as it pleases...this is Alaska.

 still i enjoyed the fall colors against the snowy back drop.

 me with my driving glasses on. i do better in darker situations with them...otherwise i never wear glasses except reading glasses.

 the park entrance.

 my cute puppies snuggled up together.

 back at Byers Lake..

 really liked this one as well.  didn't make much of a dent in my pile of news papers...too much interesting stuff out there.

grateful for-1.  massage therapist that isn't afraid to really attack my knots...thanks Jillian.  2. rain when i'm working...i sleep so great.  3.  ice cream...it really is tasty