Trip to Denali

Seth's Trip to Crow Pass for Pack Rafting

Rally against Sarah Palin

This morning here is the great scene we stumbled on.

Fall in Alaska

This fall has really flown by and now that the snow is creeping down the mountain we are getting ready for a fantastic winter. This weekend Seth and I headed to Denali for work and enjoyed the fall colors. Last weekend we harvested big time and I have made apple pies, carrot soup and lots of fresh salads! So fun to have local produce, even if only for three weeks.On Sunday last week Seth and two friends hiked up Crow Pass and pak rafted down, lots of snow we all had dinner together afterwards. Today on the way back from the farmer's market we found the anti- Sarah Palin rally and had a blast. Turns out all our neighbors were there with great signs and we all made plans to meet back on Oct. 4th for the big Obama rally. Tomorrow Seth and Bonnie decorate their bicycles and make signs for next weeks really big rally.

Since the computer went kaput.......

Lost Lake trail run with Ashely in Seward, Grandma's birthday, drive to McCarthy and Kennicott mine.

Ashley ran the 16 mile race with 600 people while Seth and I hiked the opposite way and cheered her on, our athlete did really, really well so I guess her training crew should feel proud. That was one of the most beautiful trails I have been on in Alaska.

A few weekends ago we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's compound for Grandma's 83 birthday celebration. She put on the shirt I gave her but has admitted it is now in the rag bin, at least I tried. It was nice to see all the cousins and Danis who lives in California was an excellent mix to the day as her family was on a visit.

We than floated down the Galkanna river with Brandon in a canoe, oh my. The reason you will see no pictures is we fell out of the boat three times within the first two hours of the trip and on one of those spills I barely caught the camera as it floated down the river. We saw Moose swimming across the river, beavers, caribou, eagles and lots of giant dead King Salmon. It was a gorgeous trip and with a less full canoe and less people in the canoe the trip would be a dream. I must saw roasting steaks over a fire on a stick with blue cheese for dinner was great, a real testosterone show steak on a stick, whiskey and wet socks.

This last weekend we drove to McCarthy with Aunt Bonnie, 8 hours each way but the colors were great and nice to get out of Anchorage. McCarthy is a funny little town, town being too large a word, maybe outcropping would be better. The old copper mine was neat and who would guess the weather was fantastic, we laid on the glacier and napped, here in Anchorage one could guess.. it was ugly clouds and rain.

Last but not least because of the Palin disaster Alaska is no longer a swing state and so our fantastic Obama campaign worker Melanie is leaving next week, she will be missed although I imagine I count the number of times I actually saw her on two hands. They work the Obama kids hard so I hope they can turn someone else's state around, we'll just keep being embarrassed by our right wing wack job with large hair.

SNOW IN JULY

Yesterday the city of Anchorage woke-up to snow!! That is right more than termination dust on the mountains, and the bigger problem it is staying!2 days and counting!

This has been the worst summer most people can seem to remember, some think we are just spoiled from above normal temperatures in the last two summers, two weeks of rain is no friend of mine! Riding a bike in rain boots, pants and jacket not to mention gloves! Stink.

Sun was reported being seen if only briefly

Well, this weekend we begged for sun and had it for about 25 minutes I believe. Seth, Ash and I headed to the Van Hemert's cabin for a little R&R. We brought 3 dogs and a very full car but had lots of fun. Ashley and I eked out a little suntan time on the floating dock, Seth set-up the mini sailboat and held a one man regatta, setting no time records. Geronimo followed us everywhere in the water, flailing in the water, jumping in awesome belly flops off the dock and came to check on us girls on the floating dock every 15 minutes, all this means that yes, again his tail is broken, that is right, no movement, not even a wag, as Ashley says,"He just has no sense of self preservation."

I on the other hand didn't break anything, it being my birthday on Saturday woke-up to good friends, Ashley's lovely German pancakes and wonderful presents oh my!

Thursday night ball and pie

This Thursday Ashley and Seth did some tricky planning had a little birthday for me, Bonnie. Delicious halibut, steak, salad and veggies, lots of beer and tasty raspberry margaritas. After dinner we headed to the park for some kickball and than home for rhubarb pie, it was a really great time! We head off now to the Van Hemert's cabin tonight, the fish counts are very low on the Kasilof so no dip netting this weekend.

These pictures will reflect us doing a lot of negotiating, how to play the game "Pickle" and how to get the deaf dog out of the middle of the field.

Booze and Bottle Rockets

We went to Bob and Diane's Cabin at Watana Lake for Indipendence Day and for a mini family reunion. Even in Alaska this is a remote isolated cabin. The three days that we were there we saw only one plane, the one that dropped us off. The flight is over an hour north from anchorage over the Talkeetna Mountains near the upper Susitna River. We were in the company of swallows that nested in the eaves of the cabin, caribou, wolves and loons, of and of course arctic grayling.

Fishing will never be the same. If we went three or four casts without a fish it was definately time to move spots.

On the 4th we had 80 degree temps blue skys and in honor of our fuel rich state dumped gasoline in to the lake. latter around the fire after a giant gourmet meal of encheladas we had a great time launching bottle rockets in to the lake. Bob snuck the last 15 rockets into the flames, we all hurled ourselfs behind sheds and old snowgo's hidding from the blasts and reports that followed.



Forrest and I went on a hike up Mt. Watana. in direct view of the cabin so that all could keep tabs on us and yell cat calls to us from the lake. From the top of Mt. Watana we had views to denali, the eastern alaska range, and the alpine plateaus below.




After we a quick refereshing swim in the lake we headed off to the kosina river, all thirteen of us on our own mini migration. Bob calls it the Death March or the Ho Chi Minh trail, following caribou trails throught the tundra to the final 500' plunge to the river valley below, we renamed it the Bo Fe Man Trail (Bob Fejes Man). Hotdogs and a fire on the river were a great idea until we had to crawl back out of the canyon and almost lost Katie and Erin to the tube sausage syndrome.

The Garden

Bonnies pumpkins never grew since may so we had to think of anouther plan for the dirt paths that we created in the front yard and that all the neighbors have been woundering what we would do with and when. I took over one of the beds and mulched it with newspaper, compost and straw. Didn't look the best but was better than pure dirt. eventually we brought back lots of monks hood from Harlod and Junes farm and filled up one of the beds with tall leafy monsk hood. We also came home with 300+ pounds of compost to cover the other bed. Bonnie went around town to all of the perennial sales and scored lots of perrenials. Now everything is looking just great. Lots of green leafy plants and since summer is about three (maybe 4) weeks late we might have flowers blooming sometime soon. All I have to do now is sneak in wildflower seeds so that next year we have beds thick with plants. Not what Bonnie wants.

We brought back three bags of blueberries from the mountains and planted them in a corner of the yard where mostly moss grows. Hopefully they survive and we have a little berry patch. at least they will remind me of the mountains even if they don't fruit.

While you were gone..........

While you were gone......... a girl goes on a week vacation and while on this vacation she gets a call, "You will like the house, it is half the size it used to be." The girl replies, "You didn't rip down that wall did you?" Crazed lunatic on the other end leads her on with, "You'll find out when you get home." These pictures will put your mind at ease, they did for me when I realized he re-finished the living room floor- 50 years old and put in new wood floor in the spare bedroom- be gone gold shag carpet!! Girl is lucky.

Mom and Bons in D.C

A week in the Washington D.C area with Mom and Larry for a little bit was a blast. The weather was perfect, Virgina turns out to be beautiful and the architecture was amazing. Mom and I did some serious walking, hit lots of museums, and all the big sites, even met Larry Craig and Trent lot, wowza. Highlights included the canal float, the night bike tour around the capital, tour of the capital, and all the great eating, our favorite little Greek spot especially. Thanks for inviting me along Mom and Larry, it was really a memorial able time.

Weekend success?

With Bonnie on summer break and Seth not working on Mondays, this weekend was excellent. Trips to the farmers market, gardening and a moderately botched hike. Went with Jessie and Forrest to Girdwood to hike up Crow Pass and thought Seth and I would spend the night. Once up we found ourselves in howling wind, whiteout conditions following large fresh bear prints and not finding any cabin. After a brief period I called off the search and we had bloody marries and steak at The Double Musky. Now we dogsit everyone favorite deaf, albino thin skinned English bulldog sort of, Geronimo.

Big Race

Twilight 12K last night, Seth and 200 good friends ran through Government hill while Ashley, Scott and Bonnie drank beer and cheered them on. Garden flowers are pretty but not blooming except for the Rose Tree of China due to temps in the low 50's.