Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

I received a phone call from Michele, letting me know she got to the Minneapolis AP early enough to be put on an earlier flight. Now she’ll get to AK at 2:30pm rather than 5:30pm. This is excellent news, but means I need to hurry up and get myself ready to leave here in 3 hours!

I won’t be online for the next week, while I’m giving Michele the whirlwind tour of Alaska.  There will be much to write about and many photos to share when the week is over.

SQUEEEEEE! I’m so very excited about seeing my childhood friend again, after so many years!

Send us good vibes that the weather is beautiful while she’s visiting.

And one more IMPORTANT thing to share: STEVE CAUGHT A KING SALMON THIS MORNING!!! He called to tell me the good news, and it’s so good to hear the happiness in his voice.  It’s going to be a great day.

Until next time…

Cooper Lake is reached by driving 12 miles on Snug Harbor Road, just off of the Sterling Highway. The road goes to gravel eventually, and some areas are in rutted and potholed condition, so the going can be slow.

Yesterday afternoon was overcast, with intermittent light rain, and there was definitely a chill in the air. We were in no hurry, and had no schedule, so a drive to the lake was a perfect diversion on an otherwise lazy day.

Along the way, we passed roadside hills strewn with brilliant bluish-purple lupine. I love lupine and wish it was growing wild in my own backyard. As the road climbed, we began seeing other wildflowers and plants, as well as quite a few little squirrels (babies?) who ran back and forth across the road. Twice, a male grosbeak flew across the road in front of us, but I didn’t have time to swap out my regular lens for a zoom, so I missed a photo of him. (more…)

Yesterday, I got out of bed with Steve at 3:50am when the alarm went off. I had a second alarm set for 6:30am, but decided to pour myself a huge mug of coffee and start my day anyway.

Steve left a little after 4am, to make his way down the Sterling Hwy to Soldotna for his fishing trip, and I leashed up Sedona and took her for a walk. There’s nothing like a peaceful morning walk, when you’re most likely the only one awake.

It was cloudy and sprinkling a little bit of rain, but I saw a smudge of blue sky peeking through off in the distance. I hoped it was a sign that we’d have a beautiful day - and it was!

I left the camper at 8:30am, and headed in the wrong direction. I thought I knew where Alaska Horsemen was located, but obviously my brain wasn’t working too well. A quick phone call got me turned around and headed in the right direction before I went too far out of my way. (more…)

I’ve got a wireless signal here, although I don’t know why. From what the proprietors told us, there was wireless available through a local ‘pay per use’ service, and I was more than willing to use it. I logged on - waiting to see the screen where it asks for your credit card number, and there wasn’t one. Needless to say, I’m taking advantage of my good fortune to update this journal.

Steve and I left Soldotna yesterday at noon, and stopped at Fred Meyer to top off our gas tanks ($4.61/gallon with our store discount card). He continued onward, and I ran into the store to pick up a few things that we needed. I let him know that I planned to take Skilak Lake Road, off of the Sterling Highway, so I could grab a few photos of Skilak Lake. Skilak Lake Road starts and ends on the Sterling Hwy, but adds a few extra miles to the route. It’s also a gravel road, with 35mph speed limits - when the road is in good condition.

As soon as I turned onto the road, there was a huge flashing traffic sign warning of “Rough road ahead”. They weren’t kidding! While some areas were in good enough condition to nudge my speed up to 30mph, a huge portion of the road was so deeply rutted and pot-holed, that I crept along at 15-20mph to keep from losing my undercarriage or getting a flat tire. (more…)

Steve and I just got back from hiking the long trail near the visitor center at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge here in Soldotna. We walked about 3 miles altogether. I am so glad I was wearing my long fleece jacket with the hood, because even though we drowned ourselves in DEET, the mosquitoes were totally obnoxious.

The first part of the trail (a nature walk - about a mile) is covered in a thick layer of wood mulch, which makes it a bit bouncy, but eliminates the need to watch out for tree roots, etc. The Centennial Trail (2.2 miles) is just a regular loop trail cut through the forest, and attaches to the shorter nature walk. Once we got deep into the trees, and broke a sweat, the mosquitoes swarmed us. It was just awful!

I only stopped to take photos about a half dozen times. Every time I stopped, I had dozens of the stinging pests land on me - trying to get in my mouth, up my nose and in my eyes. As long as we kept moving, we kept them off of us for the most part. (I’ll share photos at a later time)

We were both a little nervous about being in the woods by ourselves. At this time of year especially, encounters with cow moose and calves, & bears and cubs are a big possibility. I did my part of talking non-stop and making a lot of noise, while Steve laughed at me and told me I was making enough of a ruckus for both of us. The wind was at our back - another good thing - as our scent would have blown towards any wildlife and warned them of our presence. We saw moose hoof prints (little ones too!), but no bear scat. That was a relief.

Now we’re back at the camper and relaxing. Steve’s watching a movie (we packed DVDs for rainy days and down time), and in a little while he’s going to grill some steak for dinner. He didn’t catch a salmon yesterday, but the niece of the guide caught one, and after taking a small fillet out of it, she gave the rest to Steve (about 25lbs!). That was so incredibly nice of her! Steve is happy, even though he didn’t reel it in himself. By the way, his fishing trip scheduled for today was canceled due to muddy water. He’s rescheduled it for Saturday, so he’ll have to drive back down here on Saturday and Tuesday. I think I’ll have him take my car to save on gas consumption.

We leave Soldotna tomorrow, but only have about a 50 mile drive, so we’re going to sleep in, do some laundry, and have a nice breakfast here in the camper, before breaking camp and heading north. I love Cooper Landing’s beauty, but there aren’t many amenities there. I think we’ll stop at Fred Meyers here and replenish our produce supply. We’re definitely topping off both gas tanks here - despite the $4.64/gallon gouge.

I am so excited about Michele and Maddie’s arrival on Tuesday! I can’t wait to see them. It’s going to be so great to have a girlfriend to hang out with! Don’t get me wrong - I love my honey! - but all he talks about is fish, fish, fish! Maybe if I grew gills, I’d garner more attention.

I don’t know what (if any) internet access I’ll have from this point on, so this could be my last entry until the end of the month - or even the beginning of July.

Thank you to those of you taking the time to comment to my blog! I love hearing from you!

Until next time…

Steve’s fishing today (guided King Salmon trip) and I was going to go off exploring with Sedona, but instead decided to download and resize photos I’ve taken over the last couple of days. He’s fishing again tomorrow, and I may take the opportunity to do a little walking with Sedona in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge - which our campground is adjacent to.

The drive from Fairbanks to Palmer (our first stop) passed quickly. We made good time, and made the usual stops along the way to stretch our legs, walk Sedona, and enjoy a lunch break. I love pulling a camper behind us, as it’s nice to have a bathroom at our disposal, as well as a fully stocked refrigerator with food, snacks and drinks. This makes it possible to pull off anywhere we please, even if there are no facilities available. (more…)

I just wanted to pop in here and leave a brief entry before we take off on our camping trip. I joked with a friend that we were looking forward to leaving some of this heat behind and enjoying some cooler weather. It’s been warm here in the Interior; today we reached nearly 75F. (All of you dealing with 100+, humor me, OK?)

Seriously though… 75F is almost uncomfortable. We don’t have AC in our homes here, and if I don’t lower the blinds and pull the lined drapes, it can warm up in the house pretty quickly. Don’t forget the sun is shining all day long, which means even more heat. Fortunately, sleeping weather is just perfect - 40s and 50s overnight. (more…)

I woke to drizzling rain yesterday morning, which put a damper (pun intended) on my plans to go walking with my friend Laura again. I had quite a few errands to tend to anyway, so I got an early start on them. I took Sedona with me for company, especially since PetCo was on my list of places to go.

I had to deliver some First Communion prints to a couple of people, so I drove up on Fort Wainwright first. As i headed towards the front gate, on my way off post, I passed by the old Bassett Army Community Hospital. I was amazed at how far they have come in tearing it down. In fact, as I drove by I could hear the wrecking ball smashing into the one remaining tall portion of the structure. For those readers who used to be stationed here at Fort Wainwright - you just wouldn’t believe how many changes have been made just in the last year or so! (more…)

I’ve been following Jane’s blog, ever since I dropped off my photo prints at her new store. I was unable to attend the grand opening event this past Friday, but was quite pleased to read her entry, and view the photos she posted of the store.

The transformation is amazing! They really worked their behinds off, to get everything in order for the opening. When I was there on Wednesday, there were still boxes of artisan handiwork on the floor, curtains needed to be hung, and a beautiful tree was being painted on a wall. Now it looks like a warm and inviting shop, with everything displayed in a perfect place. I’m very excited for Jane, Rachael & Laura, and wish them much success in their new endeavor. Check out their blog entry about the grand opening!

Here is a photo that Jane said I could share here with all of you. I just love the way she has all of my prints grouped together. The yellow wall really makes them stand out nicely. It all looks so cheerful! (If you click on the photo, it will enlarge even more, so you can get a little closer look at the prints on display.)

If you live local, I hope you’ll stop by and check out all the beautiful and artful creations at The Stash. Fairbanks is full of many talented people!

It’s so nice to be getting comments to my new journal. Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to comment here, or email me privately, with lovely thoughts and encouragement!

It is truly summer in Alaska now. Yesterday, the temperature rose to above 70F, and the sun was high and bright in the sky. My friend Laura and I made plans to walk at Chena Lakes. Laura used to live in Fairbanks, when she was attending, and then working at, UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks). She met her husband here; his parents still live here. Laura and her husband - and her brand new baby Ada - now live in the Boston area. They’re in town visiting family, and Laura had some free time. I was looking forward to meeting little Ada, as well as getting out and stretching my legs. (more…)