back from Valdez...

 again loads of pictures to work through so these are just a snippet taken with the cell phone.  i really need to clear up the space on the phone.  take it to costco and get a few cd's made of all the pics/video's so i can delete them from the phone . it keeps telling me i have no space anymore. 

 a few are from a walk to Arctic Valley with friends the day before i left for Valdez. 

 always so pretty up there with the views.  hard to imagine in that valley below one man was killed and another mauled by a bear.  it's still out there by the way.  last i heard. 

 so my plans had changed due to the costochondritis.  i had already arranged a pet sitter so i decided i may as well make some new plans and do a few things i would never do because i always have the dogs when I'm here. 

 it was a beautiful drive out of course, which always means it takes much longer since i stop everywhere and take photos.  nice without the dogs as anytime you stop, they assume they are going to get out and play...makes you just take pics from inside the car rather than really get out all the time as they just get too hyped up.  that is Matanuska Glacier above. 

 i took the time to stop there, pay the small fee and wander around.  it has receded quite a bit since last i paid that fee a few years back. fun to wander around.  i stayed in the campground i usually stay at but i stayed in one of the cute little cabins they have that are dog free.

 it looks pretty small, but it had a full bed, small kitchenette, toilet/shower and all the amenities one would want.  pretty sweet! liked the little plug in heater as it really warmed up the place.  as i headed towards Thompson pass the weather looked worse.  fog/rain.  above was shot on the glacier, Valdez Glacier

 this is pups on the Arctic Valley hike.  some lady got a major flat tire.  air was flying out of it.  that road is worse than most other roads I've driven in AK so far. 

 my first adventure the next day was a short kayak across Valdez Lake, a landing on Valdez Glacier and then a hike on the glacier, followed by the little paddle back across the lake.  we paddled slowly around all the ice on the lake, taking photos. 

 figured it would be minimally strenuous on the ribs. i did start to feel it slightly part way back to the shore so i think it was a good choice.  slight increased discomfort that night but i did not have the bad break through pain I'd had the last paddle so it must be healing....as long as i continue to not do too much.  this little excursion really looked like fun when i have seen others go out on it.  not too spendy and the guide i ended up with was super fun.  she grew up in Valdez...great as most Alaskan guides you run across are up here for the summer between college semesters.

 i was a bit anxious, not surprising, when they told us that morning we would land on the glacier and we had to be careful as it was a drop into 300 feet water at the edge of the glacier.  would our landing area collapse under us, calve?  thankfully it didn't. 

 we were also on inflatable kayaks that were sit atops.  that was new experience as well.  strange but perfect for the situation. 

 as we landed we discovered that there were steps made of ice at the lip of the glacier edge...who knows, those could have been an inch thick and buckled under our weight or 50 foot thick.  ultimately we landed and took off safely. 

 that is our landing spot.  glacier covered in shale type rocks. 

 views on the way down.  Mount Drum.

 me on the glacier.  that shale is a bit deceiving.  right below it is ice.  oddly we all did fine in our xtra tuff boots (or similar).  we did climb one hill of ice/shale and at one point i had the shale slide out under my feet, which leaves you with just ice.  not much of a way to stop your slide or get back up on the ice.  the guide took my camera and water until i could get myself back up and on top of the hill.  no crevasse rescues required that day.

 my fellow paddlers getting ready to load into kayak.  he is checking the ice step with his paddle. 

 it was cloudy but still really flat calm water.  no wind made for a sweet paddle, which was perfect for me.

 if you have never done this, i would highly recommend it.  great day out there.

 there are our boats headed back to town.

 strange to be without the pups.  they seemed to have done well though.  i was tired at the end of both days. woke way too early in excitement for the days activity

 looking up the glacier.  we could walk quite a ways.  a few sketchy bits but overall, it felt super safe. 

 cruised around the old main part of town.  after the earthquake and tsunami of '64 they moved town.  32 lives were lost in the tsunami so it seemed smart to shift where town was for future safety.

 lots of pretty flowers in the area, not much left to see of the old town. they do have photo's placed where stuff was.

 above you can see our kayaks sitting on the edge of the glacier.  if it calved and our boats fell in we'd be screwed but at least we had no concerns for the tide coming in and taking them i guess.

 lupine all over, so beautiful!

 this is me on the next days excursion.  an 8 hour boat trek past Columbia Glacier and on to this glacier, Meares.  beautiful and relaxing. i  could not have relaxed if I'd left the dogs in the car back in Valdez. 

 these are from the kayak trek.  more of some ice caves we entered and the boat on the edge of the ice.

 lupine in town at the harbor

 these are all jumbled...that is how they load from the phone. 

 on the way out to Valdez i spotted 7 moose on or near the road.  on the way home my final tally was 11 moose.  one section really ramped up the numbers. seems there are always a lot of them in that area.  i took my time.  i didn't leave Valdez last night until around 7pm and it's like a 5 hour drive back.  again i stopped when i felt like it to stretch a bit, enjoy views or take photo's. 

 i also saw a fox and a porcupine on the way back. 

 keystone canyon never disappoints.  the big waterfalls and rock formations.

 lots of wildflowers along the roadside.  i really hadn't noticed the columbine on the way in.  not sure if that was because the weather was looking more sketchy and i was tired and just booking or if they just have bloomed in the days since i arrived.  both are possible.

 i haven't even began to look at the photo's i took. still have to unpack the gear. should take off again for a few days or just do some fun day trips...maybe Seward, Talkeetna....so many things to see and do up here.  love, love, love it.

 at Meares Glacier.  nothing out there but our boat and the seals and birds.  i think the face is nearly 1/2 mile wide i think or more...can't recall.

 a little photo op spot.

 my first moose sighting on the way back from Valdez. 

 more flowers on the side of a road in old Valdez.

 the rest are from portage area and the wildlife conservation center on the way to Homer a few weeks ago or last week?  not sure.

 moose is getting his rack back.

 little grooming porcupine.

 they are really cute in their own way

 and of course, the bears.

 several baby bison which were fairly close to the road there.

 well, i better get moving.  lots to do today.  did get the yard mowed though so that was a start.  we just hit the dog park.  off to look at pictures...

grateful for:  A.  safe travels, moose on road and not on car.  B.  beautiful scenery and wildlife and those who fight to protect it for the future C.  to live here in the most beautiful place on earth....well, from what I've seen anyway.  :-) 

part two...

 i'm on call for the moment.  i didn't sleep well so i was cool with saying yes to an on call.  i think i just took a mini nap so that could help if/when that phone rings.  there are little water falls along the seward highway and i had fun stopping and trying to get some photo's there.  like the black and whites.

 cruised over to portage lake, just to have a look see. folks seem to be safely playing out there still.  saw a few walkers headed out to the glacier, but mostly these ski-sailors.

 there were quite a few out there.  a few more way far back and tracks all over from them.

 one night of work under my belt.  was over in PCU last night.  sweet little patients so i can't complain.  that place can keep you busy.

 this is that coyote i ran across along the seward highway. always a cool sighting!!

 was thinking about PEAT, which is an early intervention team.  anyway, it occurred to me working out on PCU now a few times that in a way having this PEAT crew takes away some of the power of the regular staff workers.  they are seemingly no longer believed regarding their patients as now everything needs to be run through the PEAT team.

 when i had one case of a patient doing poorly a few weeks back, it was mentioned that i should have let the Dr i called know i was an ICU nurse.  i felt i shouldn't "pull rank" as it were.  when i work PCU i'm a PCU nurse, when i work ER i'm an ER nurse.  the Dr's no longer will just trust you though, they will only take action once you have involved the PEAT nurse.

 just strange how a thing turns out, not as you expect.  i further surmised that in the end it could turn out that this PEAT team could ultimately slow care and transfers  if a nurse is not listened to and does not immediately involve a PEAT nurse.

 it's just a trend.  it's not just happening in other places, it's happening in the ICU as well.  the latest edict was that nurses there must consult with the charge nurse about an open heart patient before contacting one of the cardiac surgeons.  we can't be trusted...or have we just given over that power without knowing it.

 of course, i do find it funny that there are intensivists in the ICU and the open heart guys have not said to call them first...they still want control.  hospital politics....always entertaining.

 i do miss the days when you just called the doctor and made your case.  that also came at a cost.  many of these nurses now don't have the experience of having to call a doctor with a negative personality.  they deal with the same doctors most of the time through hospitalists and intensivists.  so it's all a bit gentler and kinder...it's a soft generation coming up.

 i know that sounds mean, but it just seems like our society is protected in many ways and therefore less able to handle some of the less pleasant aspects of life.  sorry, the one above loaded sideways, but it was a favorite so i left it in.

 each generation is softer than the last.  the late baby boomers were the first of the softies i guess.  maybe not.  overall, most of us have our basic needs met and so our lives are soft in comparison to many others we share this earth with.  i'm not complaining, i like having a warm place to sleep, food to eat, clean water to drink and indoor plumbing.

 my house in many ways is pretty small in comparison to others in these United States, but i know in many parts of the world this would be considered quite the house.  several families would happily share these walls for the electricity, plumbing and warmth.  it's not infested with creatures and though there is crime in Anchorage, it's not at a level where you live in a panic state all the time wondering when not if.

 soon all the ice and snow will be gone except for the higher elevations and the glaciers.

 today was super warm...by spring standards.  probably what kept me from sleeping well.  all the neighbors and their kids and dogs were out there enjoying the day.

 little rainbow in the small waterfall.

 a few from the hike at potters.

 today after i got the on call i zipped out to do a loop in the bog.  it's pretty slushy out there.  no moose sighted.

 the bears will soon be coming out.  a few sightings here and there.  mostly south of town.

 rio smells the moose down there in the gully

 my friend got worse and seems to be slowly improving again.  after so many ups and downs it's hard to allow myself hope for her.  i keep her and her family in my prayers but i have a hard time being as optimistic as the other folks on facebook seem to be.  not that i don't hope for her survival, just that it's been so long and i work in medicine and i worry about her outcome.

 at some point you just pray for peace and you say...thy will be done.  none of it is in our power.  not even sure there is a power.  i think we all like to think there is some entity out there who has some control of all the madness, but  i suspect the truth is, even if there is, our lives are mostly lived without intervention.  i think the best you can do is hope and accept what comes.

 guess i tend to see all these comments on the power of prayer and i have to wonder...did a God really intervene today and last week and the week before but still has left her to battle this over and over again for months on end?  it just isn't that simple.  it's hard to know what to say for me some days.  i know what her husband wants and needs  to hear and in the end that is what i find to say...

 i know nothing more than anyone else though.  it is always baffling.  why some get such trials in life while others seem to skate through.  i'm whatever scrap of religion that makes sense of things in the moment and it's changing all the time.  if thinking as a Christian helps today, i think as a Christian, if thinking as a Buddhist helps, then i think as a Buddhist...

 everyone has answers but none of them really do.  we, as humans, just like to believe we have answers. we also love to believe we have the right answers. it's much more honest to admit that we don't though. that there may be a power or there may not be.  i tend to live without a rope to hold on to.  it does give my brain some room to explore though.

 and after a rain, sometimes you get to see a rainbow...i hope that is true for my friend.

grateful fors 1.  sunshine that is more warm than cold 2.. watching dogs sleep.  they are so totally at peace in sleep, dreaming and snoring.  it always relaxes me.  3.. having a job where just by my kindness i can make a huge impact on a strangers life.  one that is never really noticed outwardly, but from which i have received many internal blessings.