around ketchikan...

so i thought i would put in a few more pictures from ketchikan that i scanned. above is mufasa...before he became thin and old. poor cat. he sure was a handsome cat...still is. he weighed over 18 pounds at one point and carried it well as he is very tall, now he's more like 10 pounds.

next is the required fishing picture. okay so this is me a few years younger. that is a cod on the line.

ward lake is above. great little hike around the lake and the place for ice skating in the winter. there are a few picnic huts too. below is just another lovely sunset.

creek street above. that is the picture that everyone who stops in ketchikan on thier cruise probably takes. these little places used to house the hookers in the day. always a pretty place though. now lots of little shops. my favorite was a nice opal store. i love opals. opals, diamonds and emeralds. those are my favorite gems. ketchikan is a port town and there are tons of gem stores. most of which close in the winter months and the owners and jewels head to the carribean to sell the stuff.

just pictures from various hikes and rambles...

the trails around ketchikan are often boardwalk. there is a great deal of delicate muskeg...i guess that is what it is called. it's very spongy and when it gets stomped on it just becomes a muddy mess. the boardwalks protect the fauna of the region.

perseverence lake was always a favorite hike of mine. it was all boardwalk to this lake below. i think there were over 1300 steps on the trail so a good work out. the lake on at the end was a beautiful site. as i was leaving they were continuing the trail on up to a great vista. i used to bushwhack my way to the mountain above the lake now you can take the trail. i really need to get back and visit my old trails again.

i lived on the water for several of the years i lived in ketchikan, which was wonderful. i woke up to the sound of eagles chittering away and looked out to the ocean. doesn't get much better than that. i loved to watch the various boats pass by. this is a barge. this is how many of the supplies arrive in alaska. those boxes are called containers and each one is really large. they set boats, cars and rv's on top of the boxes to give you an idea of how big these things are. occasionally you hear of a container just dropping off in rough weather.

happy solstice and happy fathers day. we just returned from a walk up blueberry hill. it's a great place to look out over anchorage. it's where you grab the trail to flat top which is the trail one must hit if you live here. it's well traveled. a bit windy up there today so i just did the blueberry hill loop. solstice is great as you can start a hike at 9:30 pm as i did tonight and have total daylight.

earlier i took the dogs to the dog park. i woke up late and it was a bit cloudy and dank out. the mama and her baby moose were there. i took some trails behind the park. not sure exactly where they go, i was a bit lost. i think they are connected to the pacific university and are used in the winter for skiing. cross country is huge here.

i also went to rei and bought a yakima car top storage thingee. now if i can just keep from slamming it in some parking garage or something...hehe.

good night...

misty fjords...

for 6 years i lived in ketchikan, alaska. it was a cool and fun place to live. part of me still longs to live in small town alaska again. i do enjoy the convenience of a bigger city. anchorage is over 250,000 people so having grown up in the big city of los angeles..really that still feels pretty small. ketchikan and southeast alaska in general are beautiful...when it isn't raining that is. actually, i love the rain and found it all quite amazing. there were so many rainbows and when the sun finally found a way to pop out...it was spectacular.
totem poles are so southeast alaska. i found i was forgetting the names of trails from 7 years ago that i frequented each day. i could tell which trail it was by the pictures...but the names...must be part of this lovely aging process.
a friend from ketchikan was in town these past few days. she actually has lived in homer for over 10 years now. alaska is a vast space, but also a small place. you cross paths with people.
the above totem house is at totem bight park. lots of tourists stop here as part of their cruise ship tour, this picture is taken in the winter. not many tourists come to ketchikan that time of year.
anyway, was thinking of ketchikan seeing my friend cathy and thought i'd scan a few more pictures.
cathy is headed back to homer, but we stopped for a little mini meal and chat before they headed off. she also got to meet up with scott, another friend from ketchikan that later moved here and worked with me at prov and now is living in cordova. he's in town this week working at the hospital across town.
the totems are beautiful and quite a sight to see anytime of year. i had another picture, but i guess it didn't get saved. i'll have to try again later. the totems all tell stories. i'm never good with details so i can't recall how one knows the stories, but always interesting.

above was a morning picture while out boat camping. a boyfriend at the time had a live-a-board boat and we occasionally took it out for fishing/camping adventures. this one morning was just so flat calm and peaceful. not sure you ever capture landscape...how do you take something so big and translate it on film. some can, occasionally i get lucky. so i love that this picture showed the tranquility of the morning.
i recall the tranquility changed later in the trip and i nearly smashed that boat into a million pieces along with possibly killing us all in an afternoon of bad weather heading back to ketchikan. the water and wind were sucking us into a big island/rock and i couldn't pull hard enough at the wheel to get us out. luckily, we were saved at the last minute (not by my hand) and i never drove that boat again. i guess it does give one a feeling of how difficult it can be to handle those boats in rough seas.

the rest of these pictures are in misty fjords national park. i was lucky to be able to visit it the place several times. my first kayak trip was out to walker cove. i believe that was also my friend scotts first kayak trek. after we'd finished our paddle the boat came to pick us all up and it was so lovely out it was decided to just go ahead and make the journey back to ketchikan by going around the back side of the island that ketchikan is on. that island is called revillagigedo island.

i also was able to hop on board a few float planes and see misty fjords from the sky. i love a good float plane ride. my parents came up one summer and we all went on a trip out. i think my father especially enjoyed his adventure. i didn't connect with my dad much growing up. as i've gotten older i've come to see that my dad really was a brilliant father, where he lacked for me was in his "daddy" skills. a father provides for his family, doesn't drink away or gamble away the money he works hard to earn. a father is an example of responsibility. he gave up his life as it were so that he could support and provide for his family of 7 kids. we never went hungry, we were never without a roof over our heads. we were safe.

there were times, many, when i really would have liked it if he'd been able to be a "daddy" to me. a "daddy" cherishes his kids and is fun and silly and always treats you like you shine. i guess that seems silly now, but it would have been nice to hear words like "i love you" from the man who provided. it would have been nice to see him relax more and have fun.

so for all the times we struggled, my move to alaska and before that south dakota brought us closer. i know he was excited to see me venture out even as he was disappointed that the path i chose was not the one that they had wanted for me. we finally had something to talk about on the phone.

i remember the day he stood on the float on some remote lake in alaska...wow...you could tell he was on top of the world in the moment. such pristine beauty. finally, we understood each other for a moment.

after i moved to alaska my dad bought me binoculars. such thought had never gone into a gift for me before. i wish he could have been healthier and able to do more on that trip up. the parkinsons was already making life difficult for him. the picture below as taken as we stood on the float on that remote lake in misty.

below are back to flying in misty.

i loved how you can see the lake above with the water fall dropping away. when i kayak i don't get that vantage ever and it's pretty dang amazing. you can see the wing got in the picture...as is the case in many of my float plane pictures. they tend to keep tipping the plane and turning so you can see misty from all angles.

below is a picture headed into misty. the little island at the bottom of the picture is actually a volcanic plug. the rest of the mountain top has eroded away. it's called eddystone rock. i have pictures of if from boats which i'll have to scan in one of these days.

below is taken from the kayak in walker cove of misty. those cliffs go straight up and there isn't any place to stop for several miles at times. it was a pretty amazing place to first paddle.

i guess it's officially solstice. it gets cloudy and rainy off and on, but then every day seems to clear up and it's beautiful out. i actually prefer a few clouds over a cloudless sky. they really make the landscape pop. i've had a few nice walks. went with friend jill to buggy kincaid. and up to prospect heights with kelly. i'm looking forward to upcoming trips. kelly and i are going to drive the denali highway. my brother, tom, gave me a gift card to rei for my birthday. i really could use one of those thule? car topper things for these road trips. he'd mentioned those cool new soft ones, but i'm in bear country so that won't work.

petra is on the cover of alaska magazine. i started reading the article. who is petra? she is a 15 year old who was mauled by a grizzley bear a few miles from my house. she's doing quite well. those scars will start some conversations over the course of her life. how many people can say they've been mauled by a grizzley and lived to tell about it. i'll pass if give the option, as i'm sure she would as well. (i mean skip the attack, not the living part).

i'm off for a few days. will have to try and do some day tripping around here. we'll see what turns up. i also have some stuff to do...did get the massive amounts of recyling in and attempted to trade in some books that i recieved as gifts. actually 2 friends gave me the same book, and i've already read it. kinda funny really. it was a really good book.."like water for elephants". i'll have a load of books that i should take to our big used book store, tidal wave books. i guess you can trade them in for credit. i'll have to check on that.

some work drama. my first night back i worked in peds icu...but we only had peds patients back there so not too rough..tonsils and diarrhea. pretty exciting. then they floated me back to icu thurs as they are crazy. it was a little drama as the house supervisors decided that they no longer need to check with me to see if it's okay to float out of turn. i like knowing where i'm going and besides i think it's good for them to be reminded that i do this, but i'm not really required to do it. the house supervisors said that the two managers had made the decision. i was pretty annoyed. my adult icu manager was in being charge and we ended up having a little talk later, which went well. i think everyone feels badly for the hell that the idiot cardiac surgeon put me through. this just sort of topped the week. she said no conversation took place. i had two vented patients but neither was too stressful. for my ot shift i was moved to the east side and it was crazy busy over there. we all worked well together and had nice doctors to work with. in the am we got a dude that was bike vs suv. he went through the windshield with no helmet. he had quite a bit of alcohol on board....don't drink and bike!

no residents for a week or two, rumor was that one of them had the swine flu so they were all quaranteened. mostly swine flu seems to be a bad flu. i'm not too worried, but i do hate wearing those awful n95 masks.

letterman ticked off our govenor. i saw the show and found it pretty funny actually. she really didn't do anything but improve his ratings. obama ticked off peta. killing a fly...whatever! can't these people find better things to freak about.

two climbing docs were roped together and fell to thier deaths, in searching for a missing denali hiker..or was it them. i can't recall...anyway, they found the bodies of two japanese climbers from last year. they will stay put.

i stupidly put blossoms frisbee on the roof of the element as i loaded up the dogs. i realized this as i was out to dinner, then i went to borders, and two pet stores (rio needs her glucosamine treats) and thought i'd swing by the dog park...as if...well, there it was on the road leading into the dog park. strange that it would still be there after several hours,but i was all happy...as was blossom.

i have rambled more than usual. hope i do not bore...off so sleep and finish a movie from netflix "happy go lucky" which so far doesn't impress....

it's 2am and this is "dark" in alaska...

as you can see it isn't really dark. this is looking north and up north it is not dark for a few months. the sun doesn't set at all. from anchorage we can look north and still see the light that is there...you can look south into the darkness of night. at midnight you can set up camp and read by the ambient light inside your tent.



just finished watching my netflix for the week. great documentary type movie and just wanted to write a blurb before i really sleep. the movie was called "blindsight". a blind woman from germany went to tibet and started a place for the blind children. apparently if you are blind in that part of the world it is believed that you did a bad thing in your previous life or that you have been cursed or have evil or bad spirits in you. people a blind person meets on the streets are often unkind to them, calling them names and such.


this german woman hears of and contacts erik weihenmayer who was the first blind person to summit everest. it is decided that he will come with guides to take 6 tibetin blind teens up a mountain near everest called lhakfa ri. this mountain is at 23,000 feet so no small feat for anyone. that elevation can have a deadly impact.


the movie is very interesting in that the group doesn't summit, but get to camp right before the summit. there is some heated debate about whether to send 3 weaker kids back and allow the 3 kids that can to go ahead and summit to do so. the german girl kind of gets accused of being overprotective. really though she is wise. she knows it's not about the summit, it's about the journey. she felt it was about them all working as a team and staying together. how often you hear similar words. even one of the western guides is trying to explain at one point to the other western guides that to summit is really a western idea....that people in the region of everest don't really have goals of summiting everest. it's just not important to them. it's interesting to watch as they get closer to the summit these guides seem to lose sight of the goal. i mean that they probably let thier own desire to summit cloud the bigger picture. the kids become very upset and feel like failures at the idea that the 3 must turn back. in the end it is decided that the next day they will all return down together without summiting. the whole mood changes in the camp and everyone can relax and really enjoy the amazing place that they are at and what they have accomplished.

too often we lose sight of the real goals when we set our sights on something. the blind german spoke of all that she was sensing. especially being blind she said she needs to just stop and listen and take it all in. feel the ice, listen to the bells on the yaks. in the end i think the guides learned some lessons that they never expected, that sometimes it's okay to allow yourself to fail at something. that thru failure you may actaully succeed. those kids all accomplished something that those around them had little faith that they could and they all went on to be successful in thier lives. one girl got some training in england and now she is running the school for those blind kids. how awesome is that!!

so often you go into something thinking you are helping someone when actually you are the one who gains the most. i love movies such as this. i'm a people watcher and it's always fun to see how people click, especially at high altitude when your brain is so much less able to function. people get emotional at such elevation. i'd recommend this lovely movie to all...
.

most docs are nice...some are total jerks!!

was pretty sleepy between shifts. last week i did get out with kelly in campbell for a walk with the pups. weather continues decent with periods of light rain. the clouds roll through and we seem to get sunshine almost every day. it's great. the yard needs the water anyway. though i enjoy working in the garden, my garden still looks like not much has been done. the lawn is starting to grow in. will be great by the time fall comes and then it all begins again. the flowers here are just local wildflowers growing at the dog park in this case.

so these are the baby moose that hang with thier mom at the dog park. they are growing week by week. fun to watch them each week. so adorable. mom is pretty watchful over them and she is more than willing to give the dogs a little warning charge if they get too close. i really wish people would be more careful. no dog should get close enough to make her nervous. i know it's an off leash park, but everyone talks and warns you of where the mom and her baby are this day or that day. love the dog park..it's just a wonderful place and in generally the people are great. anytime i go i see people who are pretty regular and have become dog park friends.

i think rio looks pretty dang big until she runs into this dog. this dane is the longest legged dane i've ever run into. he's 3 years old and pretty spunky. the two had fun playing.

just finished up with 4 nights of work. i really worked those shifts....earned my money and then some. it can be challenging. it got a bit overwhelming at times. i had a very sick post open heart for 4 nights and always with a second patient as well. two of those nights i also had another post open heart. i had pacer/rhythm issues with both patients. unfortunately the second open heart was done by the group with the nasty doctor. he belittles and bullies every chance he gets. he's just impossible. generally he's pissed not about the care of the patients (which i suspect he cares little about) but instead he's ticked about how you have contacted him. i had to call him on night 3 twice. the first call to let him know that the patients urine output was minimal and that her pacer wires weren't working and she was in a junctional rhythm. this means that the pacer of the heart is coming from somewhere very different than normal. he asked about her blood pressure and it was stable, though this patient lives with a very high blood pressure so this was much lower for her, but normal for most.

i was given orders and thought i was in the clear when this jerk says, "so, are you unable to read?". even though i had called his office and the charge and contacted him just the way he wants to not get pissed he accused me of not contacting him in his preferred method, his home phone. as i had called this exact number...well i just explained that i had called his office and our charge and this was his preferred way to be gotten ahold of and this was his home phone...he just muttered something about being tired and hung up. i was stunned...nothing i could ever do was going to make a situation where i wouldn't get the brunt of it from this idiot. in the morning i had to call him again to tell him that the urine didn't improve and the rhythm remained unchanged. i said something about the two being related and he just said that he didn't think they were. this was the very first time he didn't attack me on the phone....but..........

it wasn't over. that night i said i would work in the adult icu again instead of working in the peds icu which had no patients really. i almost said....as long as i don't get this idiots patients. but i was thinking my open heart patient i'd had all week before this lady would be put on the continuous dialysis and i'd be taking care of him that night. instead when i get to work i've been moved across the unit to 2 totally new patients. i knew the idiot cardiac surgeon probably went nuts and insisted i not take care of her, but the other cardiac dude and i have always gotten along so i though..omg what happened today??? apparently, the idiot doc claimed i never told him about the rhythm issues all night and that the fact that i charted what we had spoken of was of no consequence. he claimed i'd falsified the charting. if that isnt' the most annoying/irritating thing ever!!! personally, i think this is strange and paranoid behaviour and wonder if maybe the idiot is headed towards a mental breakdown. people at work say he's lost a great deal of weight and just looks sickly. he's not well liked by all....everyone hates calling him as he's so unpredictable.

the charges were really just trying to move me to give me an easy night and so i was relieved that the other cardiac group hadn't complained. i went ahead and took that patient back again along with another one.

luckily, i have some great and supportive co-workers..nurses are great people. we've all been there with jerk docs. when you are a nurse, you end up putting up with some level of crap from a few docs. most docs are fine. i've had some pretty strange and irritating encounters in my almost 17 years of nursing. can't believe it's been that long. flo and i had a blast between all the stress working together. she'd brought in squirt guns and we'd attack passersby and each other in order to relieve our stresses. one time in a moment of feeling overwhelmed..i squirted myself. we busted up.

had to vent after that week...

flowers, snow and a bear...

above are wild rose...saw them on the drive up to artic valley for my hike today. first took blossom and rio on a walk in the bog and neighborhoods around me. the mosquito's were a bit thick in the bog which is to be expected this time of year. i had a light spray plus by clip on mosquito repellant thingee. it's actually helpful i think. they grazed by me but didn't bite me. rio wasn't quite as lucky, though she doesn't seem to itch for days like i do. she does a roll on the ground occasionally and then forgets about it. perhaps other mammals aren't as badly impacted. i must say my mom always swore she never was bitten by a mosquito though even if she was in a swarm.
yesterday was a relaxing day. i walked the dogs around here, layed about in the sunshine reading and waited for the dryer repair guy. once all the pet hair was cleaned out the dryer worked again. a miracle!! so then i had to begin to re-hair it as the laundry was piling up. now i've noticed that my caulking job is still not working on the shower door. drat!! see why i hire people for this stuff!!

these are just more pictures of wildflowers. they aren't in full blooms yet up there on the mountains, but headed that way. by july the wildflowers will be amazing. i'm exited to be in the aleutians for that awesome flower time. just amazing how many varieties you can find and how quickly they grow each year really.

artic valley is a downhill ski place run by volunteers in the winter i believe. it was originally set up by the military for thier people i believe. i think they wanted to keep the armed servicemen of alaska happy living in this weather and darkness. the military has actually been pretty good about allowing public use on military land. as you drive up the dirt road to this trail, you pass by the golfing set up as well. the road signs say 25 mph unless troops present then 10 mph. i thought that was amusing. i forgot that there is a different fee for use of this trail system that goes to the upkeep of the skiing. i have my state parks pass which covers all of the chugach....except here and the eagle river nature center. so i had to find change in the car to cover my expense. there are several trails at the ski place. today i took the one that goes up the valley to a view above.

it only took me a half hour to get to the top from there you can head either direction along the ridge...up of course. i just went a ways to check out the views. this is just at the top. from here you are looking at eagle river area. the valley in the rear leads to the eagle river nature center and the near one leads to the trail that my friend kelly and i took the other week to eagle lake. below you can see the lakes that are the destination for eagle lake/symphony lakes trail. we didn't make it that far the other week. i've never actually been to the lakes...there is a section of rocks to cross and i'm fine with it and i'm sure blossom would be fine, but i freak out with the dogs that they will hurt themselves so i tend to turn back. wimp...i know.

above is blossom at the ridgeline on todays hike. she found a patch of leftover snow and made use of it. those dogs would be perfectly happy if it was winter all year i think. they sure love the snow! that was the only patch we could get to easily.

there are always loads of these cute prairie dogs ( i think that is what it is). it took blossom awhile to figure out what was making the noise, but once she spotted one and then figured out about all the little holes...the chase was on. i opted to keep her on a leash for much of the walk. she has the extender leash so that still gives her 25 feet stretch to explore. i just was worried with her running around chasing prairie dogs that she'd break a leg in one of the zillion holes that were out there. those things are quick so it's doubtful she'd ever have a chance of catching one. i did get a picture of ones butt quite clearly as it headed back in the hole...i found it amusing.

on the drive home from artic valley i spotted a smallish black bear feasting on roadside dandilions. it was a really cute bear and allowed me to take several pictures before he decided to get anxious and bolt.

he's quite cute though, don't you think??

last night i watched "speak" again and could watch it again. something about that movie. the angst...i cry everytime, but it's not a bad cry, it's just a really good movie which i really think brings the emotions to life. i got a package from amazon with more reading material for this summer of sun (i hope). also got a package my brother sent of stuff from them sorting through mom's stuff. always fun to get stuff like that as i really had no idea what had been set aside for me. some of it was obviously stuff i'd given to her, poems i'd written for mothers day, a music box from alaska with "it's a small world" as the song. we used to ride that ride over and over together at disneyland when i was a kid. she was obviously just as adverse to fast rides as me so we made a good pair...or did i become adverse because she only took me on it's a small world. whatever, it's a great little song.

so ends another day of excitement in the life and times of betsy...

it's midnight and it's darker inside than out...

planted my raised flower beds in the last week or so. my friend scott made these. i like to plant lettuce in these and then just go out in the evenings and take some leaves for a fresh salad that evening. you can see that the lettuce is already growing. it's absolutely amazing how quickly things grow here. one day i will take pictures every 12 hours and you will be shocked. you literally can watch the grass grow....and not be bored. i still have many patches of lawn to repair. i usually finally get a nice lawn in time for fall to come and kill it all off.
the picture below is taken at midnight from inside the house. as you can see it's much darker in than out. it's 1am now and it just looks like dusk...it never gets totally dark. just another alaskan thing you would have to experience yourself. i love driving down northern lights blvd (which runs east/west) and looking north to the light and south to darkness. the other 3 pictures were taken outside at midnight as well.

above is my lettuce begining to grow. below is the project i worked on a bit this evening, besides just the usual planting and weeding. my friend, scott, who made the raised beds also made me an outdoor cat run. there is a screened in section that i add in the summers. it looks a bit of a mess as blossom went through the side and the top as a puppy so the screen was traded out for sturdier chicken wire, the repairs don't look too pretty and the mosquitos can find thier way into the house easier with the chicken wire. oh well. pogi does enjoy getting his feet in the dirt and grass and chasing the bugs in his little green patch. he went out immediatly when i opened the hatch to the cage. my neighbor was putting her little girls to bed last week and asked if i was getting chickens as she saw this big thing in the yard. no chickens...just a happy cat.

below is the moose picture i meant to put in yesterday. can't believe i can't recall from 3 minutes which picture i already loaded. i'm getting sleepy again so i'll bid farewell before such silliness occurs today.

of course, it take so long to load these pictures lately...strange...some days they totally load in minutes other days, not so much. just watched a horribly, dark,strange movie that i wouldn't recommend to anyone. "cries and whispers". just odd and ridiculous. who knows what i was thinking putting that one on netflix. oh well.

had a rather enjoyable day. each year they have a frisbee catching contest thing for dogs. blossom is a pretty dang good catcher so i wanted to put her in just to see what we'd do. she was totally well behaved and caught all but the first throw i believe....and that was my fault. i had an inkling of the rules, but understood this game much better the second round. she and i both did better the next run through. those herders are much quicker and can jump much higher...plus it was a very hot day by alaskan standards and blossom has alot of coat. we won a toy in the raffle, but otherwise i'd say we were just "also rans". it was fun and i quite enjoyed watching all the dogs. rio even had fun. they had puddle pools and she had a blast stepping into each pool and splashing about. very funny. she fills the entire puddle pool. blossom tends to lay down in those as well so she got cooled off on several occasions. there were some people with super sized lenses taking pictures before the event took place. blossom did some great practice leaps....so maybe she'll be in the paper just for her cuteness. some friends came out to support us and took pictures so hopefully i'll get a few of those to post soon.

i took the pups to the dog park afterwards as a reward for putting up with lounging at the park so much. they always love the dog park. a group of regulars gave rio her treats and reported that one of the regulars, an older dog with a knee issue of late, is going to get fitted for her brace tomorrow. hurray rio..helping dogs across alaska. sounds like the specialty clinic does this fairly regular now as they are able to just cast and get measurements immediately. i waited for the kit from orthopets.com so the process was much slower...sorry for the change. the pictures just loaded and so i of course, can't recall the font i selected. do you see a pattern of short term memory loss here. of course, it's really no different than it was for me years ago so i'm not too worried yet. the good thing about losing your memory is that you have no idea you've lost it really, cause you forget. right? anyway, i think it's cool that rio's brace and my insistence on it is benefiting other area dogs.

the rest of the afternoon was spent in the yard so i was out in the glorious alaskan sun all day!! i have the alaskan tan to prove it!

spring babies....

went to the dog park again today and those baby moose are still there chilling with their mom...obviously, mom feels safer around a plethora of dogs than one bear. she's pretty smart. they were hanging out in the creek by the bridge when i ran into them. it was so fun watching those babies in the water. they were just enjoying themselves. totally carefree. of course, mom was keeping watch. they eventually moved on and we did as well.

after the dog park we headed downtown to the annual oceans festival. good training for the dogs to be around such mayhem. they have several booths, including food. lots of people and dogs hanging out and there was music as well. such a pretty day for it. hopefully, i get blossom signed up tomorrow for her frisbee thing and the weather holds. rio and blossom were really good at the festival. they loved all the extra pettings and attention they got. rio had some pulling around all the food smells, expected i suppose. lots of temptations. they settled in though and lay about totally relaxed despite all going on around them. proud dog owner moments!!

had to run a few more errands, take a quick shower and head off to a bachelorette/shower for a friend at work, melissa. we started at don joses ( a pretty lousy mexican restaurant if you ask me, they don't even have thier liquor license except for beer and wine so no margarita's) then moved onto the snowgoose ( a much better restaurant and bar with a deck and a view). they all were headed to f-street(which is good as well). i'm just not into the whole bar hopping around town. i did enjoy a lovely "tom collins" at snow goose. haven't had one of those for several years. just a nice drink. now i'm home listening to music on the ipod. i just got one of those dockers with speaker. a patient had had this one and i liked it so when i got those gift cards for amazon and the camera bits didn't work out i bought this and the books, which i still excitedly await!! so far i'm liking this docking station. it's compact and has decent sound. on tonights play list, simon and garfunkle and sarah mclachlan. good music.

worked last night on peds. no patients in the peds icu. so it was a pleasant night. i had some time to look at different b&b's for kodiak. hopefully i can get a decent one and don't procrastinate here too much more. i want to rent a car for my days there and cruise as many roads and little beaches as i can. i'd also like to check into a kayak one day. will check prices and times. could be fun if weather is decent. i was on call the night before. obviously pretty slow. it was a bit cloudy so i chilled much of day with a book. i love lazy days.

well, i'll get ready for bed while i wait these few pictures to load. i'm quite sleepy.