HJ is in the house...well was!!

 she is headed home again.  always fun when i get a visit from family...well anyone.  it does get me out and about.  so i hit Talkeetna and Seward for a little boat trip this weekend.  lots of fun!!

 the weather was great and the big mountain was obliging.  living this far north i often am the relative that hasn't been met yet.  so i met HJ's husband finally.  i think they've been married for 3-4 years?  not sure.

 this is a river. i had no idea what a river really was living in California.  the "rivers" there would be called creeks here.

 we crossed the bridge.  of course, i had both dogs with me, i drove up after i slept a bit, having worked the 3 nights before.  had to go slow on this walkway with Rio and then it was Blossom that made me most nervous in the end.  there was a small section that was maybe a few feet that had an opening in the rail..she looked about to make a dive into the water below!!  my stomach still turns a bit thinking about it.  i yanked on her leash right at the right moment and she was prevented from a disaster!! when it comes to water that dog loses any common sense.  not really sure dogs have common sense.  hmm.

 my niece!!  many of my nieces and nephews are all grown up now. so strange to re meet them as adults but lots of fun too.  my siblings have raised some good folks.

 rust on the bridge.  there was a lot of dust blowing about that day.  we ate there and then returned back to Anchorage.  with the late day light hours it was a late dinner and a late night getting back.  don't think they slept hardly at all this weekend.  we had debated a trek to Denali yesterday but that would have been a long drive. would have been great...but a long, long drive.

 work..i did half a night in picu then moved to ER for holds, next night i was in peds all night and then my last night it was icu.

 i had good intentions today to hit the gym.  i think i'm a bit beat though so i have been running and dancing in my house to get to my 10,000 steps.  was trying to do extra to make up for days i was short..my average is just below 10,000 for the week, not bad but lots to do. still have pictures from the wide angle to check out.

 the summer has begun.  the one hotel is full in Barrow..dang my procrastination.  i will call in the morning and make sure that is true for sure and then i'll have to book the other hotel or ask about a third hotel.

 vegged a bit tonight, i'd left the Kardashian show on the tv for Rio and apparently those play all the time. so it was background noise as i did laundry and loaded pictures.  much ado about Bruce Jenner transistioning to female.

 seems odd at this late time in his life but there are many out there, especially from certain generations who had little freedom to explore or express themselves as they really felt so i do find it a plausible thing.  not sure i'd want to do it with all the publicity but it may help a few folks out there i guess. does bring up the conversation which is probably good.

 the little mountains dwarfed by the big mountain.

 had a conversation at the Double Musky over dinner with HJ and her hubby about Mormons, gays, marriages...sounds like there are girls in the church who are marrying boys who are gay.  the mormon church doesn't accept gay marriage...i guess this is a way for them to live as mormons, they marry a best friend and have and raise kids together.  the girl is aware of their being gay but the guy doesn't act on it?  not sure how well that would really work.

 my take was that we all have to live true to who we are.  when you don't it will catch up to you.  you will either be miserable living this life that isn't really who you are or you will hurt the ones who are around you...or both.  i'm all about really figuring yourself out more before tying the knot with someone else.

 sad to think of these people all giving up on a sex life.  cuddling is great but sex...well, don't need to explain that to anyone who has had a positive experience.  sadly these young girls who would be marrying their best friends who happen to be gay would be young and virgins.  they have no idea what sex life they are giving up.  i think a healthy sex life can get a couple through a lot of rough patches.  who would want to be having sex with a guy knowing he's doing it while fantasizing that you are a dude.

 the bottom line imho is that many of these sham friendship marriages are headed for disaster, if not in a few years then like bruce jenner many years down the road. either way, there is pain to be had for all involved.  better to just explore the truth of who you are and live true to that person that resides inside.

 sunset on the way home from Talkeetna.

 i've just seen far too many people make those choices only to figure out they were not the best choices down the road.  religion can be a funny thing.  the rules don't always fit the lives that are trying to live them.

 i can be social to a degree, not sure i'm great at it.  it was fun having family around to chat with and do stuff with.  i am sleepy though, when folks are here you want to get them out to see everything and so it's go, go ,go!! Lena saved the pups saturday by stopping by.  always feel guilty leaving them behind for a day...especially since they love hitting the beach in Seward.  decided it was too pretty a day to skip the boat trip. i knew also it would be a great opportunity to spend time with HJ and her guy.

 totally warm for us up here but to HJ it was pretty chilly still.  i always have extra layers for borrowing so they dug into my winter stash.

 the big mountain from Willow, almost home...okay not really.  nice to have the day light out for those long drives.

 and to be out late enough to see sunsets.

 mosquitos are making themselves known.  they saw no moose coming back but i was behind them as i fed and walked the pups before heading back to Anchorage.  i saw 4 moose driving back.

 some cool cars as i drove to Seward.  they had left earlier to do a dog sled tour.  must be some old car club as there were several.

 pretty amazing that these cars are still out there and drivable.

 HJ bundled up on the boat.

 as it turned out their first moose sighting came as we returned from this boat trip.  there was a moose swimming in Resurrection Bay and being followed by 4-5 sea lions. pictures will follow.  i can't say that i've ever seen that before and the captain of the boat said he's only seen a moose swimming out there twice in 22 years.  a super fun sightings.  craziness.

 it started raining a few minutes before i got to Seward but it quickly turned clear and beautiful

 all bundled up for the ride.

 it was a tour that took us out to fox island for a lunch before heading out for more boating.  food was good and it was nice to wander around.  they were throwing rocks and they i got them started making cairns with these cool flat alaskan rocks!

 the house got cleaned...well cleaned enough and a new carpet got put in.  it was a bigger area rug than i'd had before which i think Rio will totally love.  the laminate floor can be a bit slick for her.  i set the old carpet out overnight but there were no takers. it looked like rain so i put it in the car and donated it another day.  i had been worried about getting the new carpet inside the house but all rolled up i found i could carry it no problem.  unrolling it in the living room and spreading it out turned out to be the surprising challenge.

 i ate way too much crap today.  easy to get your eating all messed up taking a week off of your usual routine.  will have to turn over a new leaf tomorrow.

 met them at Glacier Brewhouse today for lunch, then met my friend TO at Westchester Lagoon for a walk.  Rio stayed home. after that errands.

 yesterday they went to church so i slept in then we headed to Bear Tooth for food then off to walk Windy and watch for the bore tide.

 we caught the bore tide then kept jumping in the car and driving to the next pull out and catching the bore tide again and again.  we were watching the paddle boarders and seeing who stayed on til the next stop.  it was a good sized bore tide these past few days.  no luck on the beluga's yesterday though.

 i cooked them dinner then we went out moose spotting.  we saw a few.  at kincaid there was one on the top of a building.  it was a grass covered roof on a slope but still funny to see the moose up there on the top of the building.  it was a week of strange moose sightings apparently.

 our boat trip was really beautiful, pretty calm seas.  not many whale sightings but they seemed happy with the porpoise, sea lions, mountain goats, birds and seal...oh and otter too. not to mention the swimming moose which was silly.

 just some sweet scenery

 hopefully i'll get a long nights rest and start fresh again tomorrow. i'm back to work on wednesday...i also have to do my BLS.  need to find the paper i printed out proving i did the class though.  hotel, dr appointment, find paper...that is goals for tomorrow!!

 bundled on the bough!!  let her borrow my skhoop.

 thought this was cute of her.

grateful for:  A.  clear skies and a safe boat trip, always great to share the beauty of Alaska and not have anyone get sea sick.  B.  a weekend of fun with family C.  living here...it's always showing me something amazing