fun days off....

just dropped my friend carla off at the airport for the next leg of her journey. it all worked out for her to come up and join me on a road trip to denali and the denali highway. we had a great time. weather was mixed at times. i'll add those pictures in hopefully within the week. will put in these from the other days she was here. last time she was up here we also did a road trip. that time she helped me move from ketchikan to anchorage. my move and our roadtrip occurred during sept 11, 2001 events. we were in skagway when we got the news and then headed to the yukon territory and whitehorse. at the border we were told another hijacked plane was headed to whitehorse. the community center was cleared out and the poor korean jet, who just got lines crossed, had been brought down with fighter jet escorts and the pilot taken off at gunpoint. the city was quiet. luckily, our road trip together exactly 10 years later was pleasant and uneventful.

yesterday was a day of rainbows. we had mixed weather all day, but overall we had mostly sunshine when we joined tanya at powerline trail out glen alps trailhead way. thought we'd check and see if the rutting moose were about. they congregate there in late sept/oct. none spotted that day. but we did see several fabulous rainbows. we were just happy that the blue hole in the sky was mostly above us. always a treat!

tanya was kind enough to take a few pictures of carla and i. have no idea what we were laughing at in this, but we all had a great day out hiking. we went to the bridge that leads to hidden lakes. if we'd had more time and energy we would have completed the trail. tanya needed to get back and so we let the pups play in the creek and headed back.

carla and i headed out to girdwood for lunch and just to drive the seward highway, which is always beautiful. it was way windy that day as well. turnigan arm can get windy and it was surely more than the usual that day. we snuck in to girdwood and ate at chair 5 before returning home. we split a hamburger and also fish and chips. the halibut was better than the burger in my opinion.

the fall colours are coming on fast in our area as well. not nearly as far along as further north in alaska as you'll see in a few days. still many hikes i want to squeeze in before the summer is totally gone and the snow comes. carla did give me a long list of movies to add to my netflix list. we watched a few movies this week. both had denzel washington in them and neither had been seen by me anyway. one was a war movie with meg ryan, the other a movie about corrupt cops, a drug seller that dared to compete with the mob and an honest cop that caught them all. also a good movie. you'd think i could remember the titles. i'm sleepy though so it will come to me later.

also finished the book i was reading, "rowing to latitude". they have paddled to some amazing places, but they also seem to fly by the seat of thier pants. one day i suspect they will not return from one of thier trips. if they had let that fear rule them, they would have missed some amazing treks. hard to know...how careful should you be? adventurerers often die young, but they also lead rich and full lives. some of the stuff seemed a bit crazy and stupid. there are calculated risks and there are just risks.

the dogs had a blast running around. the sunny spot today seemed to be in kincaid. we did the loop out of jodphur. by the time the day was done, it had become a spectacular day. carla and i headed downtown so she could see this cool shop i like. it happens to be right by a restaurant i love. we had a late lunch, early dinner. her birthday dinner. i am a horrible friend and totally forgot that her actual birthday was sept 10th. there we were, together on the road all day and i didn't even say happy birthday. totally slipped my mind. we both got the herb crusted halibut which is always fabulous. we were at the glacier brewhouse by the way. that place can be packed but at 3-4 pm we had no trouble getting a nice table. will have to remember that for next time. we then headed to the native hospital to look at the crafts, they have amazing displays of native art scattered throughout the hospital. the craft store is awesome as well, but they have short hours. if we'd have thought we would have headed there before kincaid. oh well.

no rainbows today, but we had so many great ones yesteray we were satisfied.

carla insisted on cooking for me monday night. we had a totally low key day. after we drove the denali highway we were left with a choice. camp out in the tent all night or drive back to anchorage. we didn't get to the campground at paxson lake until close to 8pm. the sun had dipped before the horizon a bit. it was going to be a cold one. carla was willing to tent it, but i knew she'd be miserable and that the dogs and i probably would be as well. we all decided to just drive. sadly, there was construction on the richardson that delayed us and then i drove very slow as we had a few moose try to jump in front of the car. in glennallen we stopped for gas and saw some northern lights. those lights went all the way across the horizon, it was pretty impressive. not much traffic on the road at that hour, but the oncoming headlights blind you momentarily and after i got my vision back at one point i saw this huge rack from a moose headed up the side of the road at me. a near miss.

at that point i decided i'd take a wee nap in a turn out. i crawled in the back with the dogs, carla bundled up in the front seat and we tried to sleep. hard to get comfy and it was a bit chilly but i did eventually fall asleep for a good 45 minutes. woke at two am and drove slowly back to anchorage. i think we arrived about 5 am after having another moose try to jump out in front of us and even an owl that was eating carion on the road flapped off in front of the car. on the richardson we saw a fox on the side of the trail. more animal sightings after the denali than on it.

we crashed that morning and it was raining all day anyway. i think we may have just walked the bog. today we walked up patterson as it was so nice out. rio also got walked in the bog this morning. great to veg out monday and carla made a great salad and that tasty lasagna. we ate those leftovers these past two nights late in the evening.

moose sighting in girdwood the other day on thier bike trail. due to all the hunting action along the denali highway we saw all our moose and caribou in the form of heads on the top of 4 wheelers post harvest of meat. i am not anti hunting, but it is sad to see all those heads headed back on the highway. wanted to see a few live ones. we got that yesterday and today again. i drove to beer can lake after we'd walked jodphur just to let blossom wash off and cool off. on that little road into the lake we saw a mama moose with 2 babies, one was crossing in front of us...and then right around the corner we saw a nice bull moose. the bigger the antlers are not a sign of age but more a sign of health. we looked it up later. i'm always confused. they do shed thier antlers after the rut sometime and then regrow them in the spring. they must consume a great deal of calcium for this and it only takes about 3 months for the antlers to grow in. pretty amazing growth rate. before the rut they rub thier antlers against trees to remove the velvet and prepare for battle. the moose we saw today was doing just that.

this last rainbow of the day tuesday was on the turnigan arm.

we also were able to watch the show on the tapes done by jackie kennedy onasis just 4 months after jfk was killed. it was interesting. she was pretty candid in her opinions, especially about certain people. definitely a woman of that time in her stand by your man attitude. she seems to have evolved in the years past kennedy.

the sunrise i woke to this morning, maybe about 7:30 am. getting later and later.

rio and blossom on the couch this morning. carla kept threatening to smuggle pogi, my cat out with her luggage. she was quite taken with him. she had no plans on smuggling the dogs however. she has a pit bull at home whom she thought farted and snored a great deal...post rio she will never complain again about her pit bull. she thinks the rescue place should give me some sort of award for taking in rio and giving her such a good home. rio really is a sweetie though. despite her gaseous outbursts and room shaking snores.

a few from kincaid today. below is mr bull moose. his rack is less than impressive. the bull that nearly ran into us on the road had a much more impressive rack.

here he is rubbing off what may be left of the velvet.

the rest are pictures i took of the displays at the native hospital. they really have some great stuff, if you go you must ride the elevator to the top floor and then walk the stairs back down as there little displays along the staircase.

above are baskets weaved with grasses. often seen in the coastal communities and in the aleutians. below are my favorite baleen baskets. these are painstakingly made using the baleen of whales.

i think the baleen baskets are more prevalent along the north and western shores of alaska.

this cool basket was actually made from salmon skin. don't remember noticing this one before.

this next display is of a jacket. they used to make thier rainproof jacket out of seal gut or walrus gut, whatever was available. looks pretty cool and i guess it was quite effective.

off to bed and to begin a new book. i think i'll read one of my kindle books. it's been awhile. will post more pictures later....

just a shortie

very excited for my weekend trek to denali and the denali highway. hoping for decent weather and amazing fall colours. hopefully, next week we can get a few awesome hikes in. must hit hanging valley for sure! will be great to get up on the tundra on the highway. mcclaren is a favorite on that one. happy that my guest room, which is newly remodeled...and nearly finished, will get some use! my friend carla is coming! yippee! have two nights booked, haven't heard back on the third night yet. may just head back though, just get in late. good to get back and hit those hiking trails!
the above fall colours are from a stroll at university lake the other day. today lena joined me out in campbell airstrip.

got almost all my errands done from my list. got the oil changed and now have 2 headlights. safer for my roadie! took the dogs right from the trail. they are best in waiting rooms bit tired. the jiffy lube guys are always chill about me bringing the dogs. they even lay down in stay while i did stuff 10 feet away at the desk, twice! i love having trained dogs! can you sense a bit of pride coming through. such good girls!! of course, i felt a little bad as some lady came in, gave us a look and was heard telling the staff that she was allergic to dogs. anchorage is pretty dog friendly though. oh well.

love to say agressive beavers when i'm at the dog park with a bit of an accent. too fun! not that i think i do the best accents, but lucky for me dogs have no idea what you say, they just enjoy how you say it.

met with some friends for dinner tonight. congrats to linda for signing on her new house!! we went to the spenard roadhouse, food was pretty good, but the company was better.

picked up my paddle and got it hung up here in the office. i think it turned out very cool! sweet! love southeast art and am so excited to have a bit of it here at home! should have bought more when i lived down there, but that just means i'll have to plan more trips down there so i can buy more art!!

tried to work on getting these hung up. kinda have to wait until the daybed gets delivered and set up. wanted to put them in a big square in the middle, not sure if that will put them too close to the ceiling or not. could stagger them or line them out. need a level and i keep thinking i have one...where, where where? really need to re-organize the garage once it's all cleared of the post flooring crap. would like to try a pool party out there again this winter. haven't done a pool party since quinton left. he was my sure thing. you always want one friend who you know will show up so you don't feel like a loser! one that will show up and have fun even if nobody else shows up. miss that guy!

tonight watched another movie i replaced from my vhs stockpile..."he loves me,he loves me not" with audry tautou. she plays a good crazy person. i had gotten reward points on my amazon card which i still have more points to play with. so i ended up replacing all these vhs for nothing. i like nothing. free! so i can replace more with the leftover points i have.

not sure why, but my cats over the years have all loved snuggling up in the bass drum. they seem happy to have this new sleeping place...of course, that all changes when i sit down to play em. haven't gotten the beat back. drumming isn't easy. all 4 limbs must do something different...takes concentration. anyway....above is ms breezy chatterbug in the bass drum. she's probably still there!

have missed that movie...

a movie i have always liked came out on dvd. haven't watched it for so long, great to finally see it again. it didn't make much at the box office. it was dwarfed by the success of "thelma and louise" in it's day. the movie has always had this simple message that i seem to need to hear over and over again. the movie, "leaving normal". two women who have never been good at making good choices happen onto each other in normal, wyoming. they head north to alaska. the one is full of expectations of what she'll find there, the other, has no expectations whatsoever. it's easy to plan and hope and expect, but it's mostly better to let life take you where it will. you get where you need to go, you meet who you need to meet and you become who you need to be. i know i'm in the right place. the road to get here hasn't always been an easy one. have i met the right people yet, not sure...people are harder to read than places. expectations are harder to let go of when it comes to people over places. i know i've met alot of people i really like, many i care about. seems like good timing for me that this movie became available. maybe i've met the right people but can't let go of my expectations of them. sometimes when you think you are alone, you are not.

leftover bits of gustavus....

obviously, i take way too many photographs...but i like em! just worked a few nights. got off early, but ended up sleeping in late today. after four nights, you just gotta catch up a bit on the sleep. the adult icu was the usual busy shifts, but nothing too out of the ordinary. not too many patients there, but the ones that are there are sick. several poor folks didn't make it through the weekend. the icu can be a sad place at times. death is just part of our job. i'm not immune to it, but i have learned to seperate myself emotionally from my work. probably too well at times. emotionally cutting myself off has probably become too easy in my day to day life as well...occupational hazard.

that is one of the best reasons for taking off into the outdoors. when you work with death and drama and trauma, you must step back and refuel your soul. walking out in nature is my way of letting go of it all and replacing the sad and negative with the beautiful and positive.

not sure if i'm getting better with people or worse. it's always been easy for me to escape into my little world, it's peaceful and quiet. nature is a huge part of my world. the dogs are as well, photography, music, reading. planning the next alaskan adventure is as well. this summer is wrapping up. didn't do as many long hikes as i'd like, you never do everything you want in a short alaskan summer. fall is always a favorite too so i'm looking forward to getting out and enjoying the beauty of this coming season. denali is already peaking in the colours, will have to head north soon or i'll miss it all.

these were taken from the little plane that val and i took from gustavus to juneau. scott took the same flight, but a few hours before us. we caught up with him again at the juneau airport, some delay getting off to cordova for him. it was a beautiful day and we got to fly through the pass. not sure what pass that was, but apparently it can be dangerous to fly through there with clouds and fog...you could hit one of these mountains. we had a beautiful day and a lovely flight!

this was taken leaving gustavus...you can see our bed and breakfast down there. they took good care of us there at the blue heron.

my friend carla called from california today. always great to hear from her. as it turns out her trip to patagonia is getting cancelled and she is going to fly up here and join me on a little road trip north. she's not been to denali so she was excited that i had next week off and was heading to denali and the denali highway. i think the highway will be a surprise for her, but will be fun to have her along. so today was spent somewhat getting ready to have a visitor. my guest room is nearly done and today i purchased a new day bed. should be delivered thursday and ready for a guest to arrive thursday night...in the nick of time. so off to walmart to purchase some sheets for a twin. will buy the trundle for the day bed at another time, for now this will do. i'm getting the 5x7 frames filled up so i can hang those up as well. not sure i'll get those up in time, but one can hope.

will be so fun to have a visitor. my to do list is growing. tomorrow will be a busy day. want to call and see if the pool is ready for swimmers...i'm ready to swim!

our juneau to anchorage connection was on alaska air's 7-30-salmon! it's all painted with a big salmon on the outside and the overhead bins are also painted with various sea life pictures. very cool..such an honor.

auke bay in juneau. the ferry is in town...well a ferry is in town. there were 3 docked there the day we took off from juneau to gustavus.

just another in flight view of glaciers. the views quickly left as we left southeast alaska...rain. lots of rain these past bits of summer.

so these are a bit scattered. this is me in the little plane below. i think it's a piper cherokee? first time i've had to climb on a wing to board a plane. tiny little bugger! it held the pilot plus 4 passengers.

before we left gustavus, we got served a tasty breakfast and val got her bug bits worked on by deb, our B&B host. she does it all!!!

was happy to get home, but also happy we didn't rush it back the night we got back from kayaking. we had a great meal at the gustavus inn, arranged for us by deb! and then we took a walk back to the gustavus dock to enjoy the sunset.

the fairweather range was visible and it was a beautiful sunset.

these are kayak racks.

here is bob, tanya and scott at the inn. well fed and satisfied. the men folk were happy to skip the walk but we prevailed.

still feel a bit like i'm in the land of misfit toys in my life somedays. today was one of those days. will be great to have carla come out and to take a road trip. very excited!

she is my first guest this year. trying to think if i had any guests last year? hmm... i think it's been awhile. now my guest room will be ready...!!

watched a pbs show on wolverines last night when i got home from work. that was after 1am sometime. it was really a good show. lots of wonderful footage of the ellusive wolverine. they are amazing in the snow. they are undaunted by the large mountains that are in their territories and often climb them in thier daily search for food. the one biologist has studied them for her whole career and has only run across them in the wild 3-4 times. that's looking for them. their paws are huge and have large, round claws adapted for ice and climbing. anyway, amazing animals that we know relatively little about. a guy in haines has successfully bred them at his rescue place and hand raised a pair which are like pets almost as they have so bonded with him.

almost hated to leave my patients last night. great kids, great parents. it's rare that you run across normal and intact families it seems. i know that seems a horrible thing to say, but so many families are dysfunctional. plus they were both just peds patients...was a lovely and relaxing night for me!

gustavus has a 9 hole golf course. i think bob took this one for a friend who loves golf, but i don't remember now.

the guys both liked the old vehicles on the golf course. they are pretty cool looking out there in the fields.

scott wanted to take this one out for a test drive, but i think it had a bum light.

my car currently has a bum light. a perdiddle we would have called it growing up. gotta get that fixed before i drive it up north.

soon it will be time for tire changeover as well. the outdoor chores will also build up until all i gotta worry about all winter is keeping up with the dog poop.

liked the moon over the golf course.

was a great last night in gustavus!

pretty pink lupine.

we ate out at the gustavus inn. they serve the meal homestyle. the food is great and award winning as well. gustavus is a small town but the food never disappointed us.

i'm not in the know about the food, but apparently, this is a presitgious award.

deb and pete from the B&B joined us for our last meal. we all had a great evening. alex, erica and sandra had all taken off before dinner for anchorage. poor guys really missed a great meal!

the king salmon was fab!

their salad fixings came from thier gardens. all the veggies did. while we waited to be seated we were given chips and kelp salsa. nummy! the flowers were edible in the salad as well.

the parting shot. this is actually our guide, monica, attempting to back the truck with the trailer down the long B&B driveway. she was taking sandra, alex and erica to the airport...i think they were nearly late. i can't judge her as i have tried to back up things with trailers and i just can't get it through my brain. it seems so simple, but still...impossible. another great summer and another great summer trip. will be back with some wonderful fall pictures...weather permitting. :-)