Suess's Alaskan Adventure: September 2006

Time to Put Away the Lawn Furniture Dear!

So Double Gulp...Winter seems to have arrived. Fall was going along just beautifully, a bit chilly for September (well an east coast September) then boom. "Possibility of snow in higher elevations Friday night and Saturday" Granted this prediction came from the same people who would predict sun in August...'three days of rain, two days of sun'. Get to the two days where it was suppossed to be sunny and lo and behold, 'three days of rain, two days of sun'. Anyone up on this August's weather in Alaska knows we had 23 days straight of rain.

So the weather prediction was taken with a grain of salt right up until the time came to drive home....have we mentioned we live three miles straight up? So turns out the 'higher elevations' meant us and it was happily snowing big flakes when we got home...no big deal right. Freak snow showers happen all the time...well, this snow shower just kept right on snow showering until the middle of the night...and we have a good few inches. Suddenly it starts to become a bit clearer that we have "Moved to Alaska".

Dog paws were suddenly being wiped regularly again and it has become clear that the lawn furniture on the deck may no longer be needed (though a couple chairs might be nice for northern light viewing (sure to commence soon at 5pm as the light is decreasing by 7min a day) Did we mention it is becoming clear that we did, in fact, "Move to Alaska"? Oh, and the snow tires happily sitting rimless in the shed, just might need to be 'rimmed' and 'mounted' soon. Something SHE was planning on attempting in her auto maintenance class next week. And...when in August snow shovels started appearing in all the big home stores, just maybe they should have bought one instead of putting it off to a more reasonable time like October! The adventure continues...

Flashback to Sept 24'th

Since SHE is running behind again, we'll take a trip back to the excitement of last weekend! SHE was shocked by me....but give me a break, what does she expect, I'm a BIRDDOG...at least the Pointer/Lab mix they always explain me as indicates this. Anyway, I begged and whined and ran laps along the fence, but they wouldn't give in....no nose up chicken butt or teeth around chicken neck for me (well at least not yet:-) Grizzly seemed confused by my excitement but he faithfully got excited and ran when I did...I don't think he can imagine the fun as much as I can of some squeaky, feathery body to play with...hmmmmm, wonder how far those feathers would fly!

SHE and HE keep visiting these chickens and getting little white, green and brown balls out. They never throw them for us though. Just bring them inside. What useless animals if they can't play and can't even produce 'playable' balls! I thought we were going to be invaded by another dog when they arrived home. After all they carried a dog crate into the yard, but it was these squacky, feathery things inside. They said the chickens had flown in all the way from Kotzebue and must be tired. Migratory chickens for our latest household addition. What next?

GULP!

A long day

Once again two weeks has passed. She couldn't stand to sit more last Sunday, but we'll back date this and cheat if we can:-) Saturday HE and SHE abanndoned us for a very long day. They were excited when they got back at 11:00pm. Talked about seeing thirteen grizzlies. Not sure what the excitement was about, they could have stayed home and looked at the same Grizzly all day just like I did! They mentioned seeing Denali too, and a very long bus ride with alot of other new people. Someone had won the 'lottery' so they were able to ride all the way to the end of the road in Denali park. They never thought it would be so long...90 miles there, 90 miles in the park, 90 miles back. But oops, apparently 180 miles in the park and it was 35 mph with lots to stop and see....like 30 grizzlies.

One mom, cub and yearling that walked right across the road between lots of parked cars. (Yes, very touristy we agree, but SHE hopes that's the last SHE'll see of them in her tenure in Alaska...at least that close up) There were lots of moose too. Why they needed to leave us behind for that too is beyond us, we've been seeing one almost every other day right in the side yard. One even ate the flowers in the flower bed. They got to see a wolf too, when SHE finally located it in the binoculars SHE saw it pooping (need I mention again, they could have seen that posture right in their own backyard too!) Sunday was spent trimming raspberry plants and spreading horse poop around the bottoms. SHE's hoping for a crop next year in her own back yard.

House is warmed!

Two weekends passed, missed a post and realized how much has passed in that time! We went on a great hike to Angel Rocks with a group of other newbies to the University. Had great weather and will let pictures speak for themselves. HE and SHE soaked with the others in the Chena Hotsprings...we weren't invited:-( A week passed, fall is really arriving. The view is turning a beautiful gold. SHE's putting a picture of us in the driveway, the light was beautiful. Whenever you come to visit maybe this is what you'll see. We had lots of visitors...and even a dog...last night. Grizzly wasn't too sure about the other dog at first, but he soon loosened up. SHE can't believe she forgot to take pictures of all the guests at our 'house warming'. House always felt warm enough to us but you never know. It was also a late bday party for HE...something about his 6'th 29'th whatever that is. There were at least 30 pairs of pant legs to smell, what fun:-) SHE started conversations with a few about starting the 'farthest north SnB'...at least SHE doesn't think one exists yet! SHE hasn't followed the lawsuit so decided to play it safe and not write the full name. Getting sued would be such a bummer:-) Though maybe they wouldn't bother with us...we hear there's alot of guns in Alaska! Today we went on a short walk, but SHE insisted on stopping alot to pick these little red berries. We also had to wait while HE returned a chainsaw that had a screw loose...don't think it was HE anyway that had the screw loose! HE spent some of the afternoon using his new, improved toy. Now they're lazing around enjoying the quiet evening...interrupted only by an occasional Grizzly, watching the sun sink below the horizon at the unbelievable hour of 8:00. Gulp...what does the winter have in store for us! Pictures to follow...