Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

It has been raining for two days. Nothing really heavy. Mostly sprinkles, with only a few heavier periods thrown into the mix. I love spring rain. I’ve missed the rain.

I’ve always been a fan of rain - as long as it doesn’t go on, and on, and on. If it lasts too long, the gray skies can get me a little down.  But a couple of days here and there are fine with me. Especially in the spring. April showers and all…

It appears as if the birds love the rain too. My feeders have been very active lately. The redpolls, juncos, and chickadees have been eating their fill. A pair of downy woodpeckers come by several times a day. The squirrel has returned too. But the best bird sighting I’ve had over the last two days?

A robin!!!

More proof that spring has sprung!

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Steve and I received a disappointing phone call last night from an Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system) representative regarding our trip to Kodiak. It seems that the ferry system changed the schedule to include a cruise leg that will go out to the Aleutian Islands. While we’d still be able to depart for Kodiak as scheduled, we wouldn’t be able to return to Homer from Kodiak until 6 days after the original return date. This totally ruined all chances of getting to Kodiak, as we just don’t have time in our schedule to accommodate that change (Steve has to return to work). We’re really sad about the change.

The ferry refunded our money in full, and thank goodness the B&B we had booked for our stay in Kodiak also refunded our money in full.  Many thanks to Darlene at A Smiling Bear B&B for understanding our predicament.  You’ll have our business when we plan a future trip to Kodiak. Perhaps next summer if all goes well. We were both looking forward to meeting you and exploring your beautiful island.

This morning, we were back at the drawing board, figuring out what we were going to do with the days at the front end of our July vacation. Because we wanted to visit a new place, we decided that this would be as good a time as ever to travel to Cordova. We booked our ferry trip and our hotel this morning. Now we just have to book the RV park in Valdez for the days leading up to the ferry trip, and find a place to leave our camper parked while we’re in Cordova. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to leave it parked at the Valdez Ferry Terminal.

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Yesterday, I had a wonderful meet-up with Deanna and Brian Short (and their two daughters). I first *met* Deanna and Brian at the Nordale pullout on April 6th, while photographing the northern lights. We conversed in the dark, discussing camera settings, etc. and discovered that both Brian and Steve work at the mine and are on the same rotation. What are the odds of that happening? Today, we met at Pioneer Park to discuss cameras and settings and the possibility of getting together for future camera outings. I also offered them suggestions as to things to see and do within a day’s drive of Fairbanks, or even a weekend trip. They’re really nice folks and conversation flowed easily. I’m happy we met and I hope to get together again soon.

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I saw 69F yesterday! There are tiny buds on the birch trees. The ice tripod tripped in Nenana at 9:06am this morning. I wonder how many people held the winning ticket for guessing the precise time? The pot is $279,000 and some change. Not bad for an accurate guess! It will be interesting to see how many folks will share in the pot. Or maybe only one person had the exact guess? That would be a windfall!

The ice on the Chena River will go out soon. I hope I’m able to photograph it this year. I’d like to video it too. It’s all a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  Once the ice lets go, it only takes about an hour to come rushing downriver. It’s an amazing thing to witness.

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Happy 31st Birthday to my eldest son Chris (April 23rd). I forgot to mention it here, but I didn’t forget his special day with a phone call and singing the Happy Birthday song. Also Happy Birthday to my nephew Sean, who turns 18 today! Hard to believe he’s graduating HS in a month. My SIL was pregnant with him at our wedding. Time sure does fly!

Until next time…

(WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!)

How wonderful it is to be home! While we had a fabulous time in Seward, it’s so nice to be back in Fairbanks where the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the temperature has been at 60F. We no longer have any snow left in our yard, Steve has blown the leaves covering the lawn into the woods, and I saw teeny tiny little buds on the prickly rose bushes this morning. It won’t be long before we’ll have pink flowers blooming all over the place!

I took so many photos on our getaway to Anchorage and Seward, and it took me several days to go through them, resize them, and get them ready to share with you all.

FAIRBANKS TO ANCHORAGE

The drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage was long, but not as long as it is when we’re towing the camper. It’s amazing how much slower we have to go with that attached to the back of the truck. We made good time getting to Anchorage: about 6 hours.

Since we’ve driven this route so many times, I didn’t take very many photos. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and use the facilities, and that’s the only time I pulled my camera out.

As we got closer to Anchorage, the clouds became darker and more ominous. Soon, snow flurries were drifting from the sky. By the time we got on the outskirts of Anchorage (Eagle River area), it was really coming down. We hoped this wasn’t a preview of our upcoming weekend.

We checked into our room in Guest Lodging on Elmendorf AFB. Staying on base is an affordable option for military personnel. In the off season (non-summer), you can make a reservation 2 weeks in advance, and there’s almost always room available, unless there’s something big going on.  In the summer months, you can only call 3 days in advance, which makes planning more difficult.

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