Happy New Year

Well, the ball has dropped in Times' Square. Though the "live" broadcast hasn't shown that yet. So now it is twenty twelve. I still have a hard time with it being the 21st century. About fifty years ago I started being aware that I would live to see another century. Now it is Y year plus 12 and I am not quite used to it, yet.

We, of course, are at a wild and woolly New Year's Eve party dancing on the tables and drowning in champagne. I can barely hear my keyboard tapping over the revelry.

I want to take a moment to brag to our northern readers that we hit the low 70's today, with blue skies. I did a little yard cleanup and took the roof off the jeep. Well, I really only wanted to make sure that the bag I got for Christmas, designed specifically to contain the roof pieces, would actually do its job. Then I came inside to play on my new computer. Greg remoted in to install some programs and I am good to go. This is my first post using the new CPU. It looks like it is working just fine.

Happy Birthday, Peggie

You just can't stay married 41 years forgetting your wife's birthday.

So, Happy Birthday to Peggie.

Don't send a bunch of fat quarters this year, she still hasn't used all she got last year.

We just celebrated our first Christmas with Ariana. At 3, she is at the right age to get excited about Santa without being greedy. She is very concerned with turn-taking and fairness while we all open our gifts. Amazingly, she got what she asked for from Santa. She got to dress in her new princess outfit and her Rapunzel wig for the day.

We also got what we wanted, which was to have our children and and granddaughter here for the holiday.

Now we are ready for the new year. Bring on 2012. And please, pronounce it "twenty twelve."

Happy (belated) Birthday, Tomoko

We have a good excuse. We weren't home yesterday.

There was a death in Dave's family in Durango, so M&D wanted to go to the funeral. We were available to stay with mom, so that's where we have been. They drove back to Cottonwood in a snow storm, but didn't have any particular difficulty with slippery roads. Just poor visibility. Don and Karin came out for a visit, also. Their live-in trailer needed some work, as did his jeep, so they left the trailer with a good facility in Arkansas, and brought the jeep to a good facility in Cordes Junction. So theirs will be an indefinite stay while repairs are made. I think they should let the government know that they are now among the growing number of unemployed, homeless war veterans suffering through the hard times.

It is nice to see the entire state getting drenched this time of year. It bodes well for the spring wildflower extravaganza which we will actually be here to see this year. That is the plan.

Happy Birthday, Casey!

I can't believe my "baby" is already 26 years old!

Wait a minute, yes I can...26 wonderful years.

Happy Birthday, Casey. Have a great day and a wonderful year!

Brrr...it's cold!

We've had a few days of wind, rain and cold. Right now it's 39 degrees at 8:30 p.m. Just FYI--it's colder in Tucson than White Plains, New York. It's colder in Tucson than Mesa, Arizona. And it's colder in Tucson than Skagway, Alaska.  What in the heck is going on here?

My plants are all covered or moved to the patio or brought into the house. My vegetable garden has been sprouting but I seem to have a rabbit that keeps getting in the yard and helping himself to tiny, delicious leaves!

I remembered to take advantage of the cold temperatures and decided to run the self-cleaning cycle on my oven. It really heats up the house so I usually don't want to run it.

No follow up yet.

I am a good boy.
I called my primary care physician first thing Monday morning, just like I was supposed to. The appointment maker who answers the phone said I couldn't get in this week. Okay. So she (the doctor) will review the results sent over by the ER and call me for an appointment later. Good thing the emergency is over.
Casey came on Sunday and helped me string lights outside. I like to have somebody watching in case I fall off the roof. Note to others who are hanging lights: make sure you know which end will plug into the outlet when you are through. Otherwise, you might have to get back on the roof and undo everything and turn it all around. It took six strings to get around the garage. But it works out to twelve by the time you undo and redo the whole thing to get the plugs going the right way.
We also got the tree up and decorated. This is the artificial tree with lights already on it that we bought several years ago. Remember, it had white lights, so Peggie and I hand-painted each tiny bulb in red, green, orange, and blue. So now our house is all holidayee. Yippee.
We have had nice days, so Peggie has been dying fabric (you need sunshine for that) and I am in the middle of painting a door and fixing a book shelf. Something, maybe a little rabbit, has eaten the lettuce Peggie planted. Gardening is hard enough without Peter Rabbit. I could hire Br'er Fox, but he's an idiot. And he is in the wrong story. I guess I could change my name to MacGregor.

I am thankful for....a slow night at the ER.

When you are adventurers, as we are, you must beware of calm periods. Calm periods are when the adventure gods (demons?) are making plans.
During the calm period building up to Thanksgiving, we commented how glad we are that our family holiday gatherings are not drunken, violent, insult-trading, events as portrayed in so many TV shows and movies.
This period was so calm, I couldn't think of anything interesting to write about. (I just accidentally typed writhe about. hmmmm.)
Indeed, Thanksgiving was the usual enjoyment filled weekend at Margie's house. Margie has 7 grandchildren aged 3-10. Except when they are all there at the same time. Then, there are a dozen. Usually, there are no more than 6-8 adults present at these times, so doing the math, that often means that each adult has to watch 3 kids, and 6 or so are running around unsupervised in the back yard. These are always good times. We appreciate that Margie is willing to share her grandchildren with us.
On Black Friday the womenfolk, Peggie, Margie, Casey, Liz, and Vada, take a traditional get-out-of-the-house-and-leave-the-kids-with-the-men trip to Jerome. They don't need or want anything in Jerome. But it is 10 miles from children, so they go. We menfolk draw straws, arm wrestle, or flip coins to see who gets to take the older children on a hike down to the wash. The "older" children are all but the 3 year old. So Dustin, father of 3 of the "older" girls, and I left Dave with the young one, and headed to the wash. The goal was the carcass of a steer we first discovered a couple of years ago. All the children found a bone or two or three and carried them back up to the back yard, which now looks like an archaeological dig sight. The kids were all great. Only one hurt herself and had to cry all the way back, and only one was ready to be done with the hike at the halfway mark.
We have a busy weekend planned, so we drove home after dinner on Black Friday, intending to get an early start today. But the adventure gods had been watching and plotting.
About 30 minutes out of Tucson, a steel band about 3 inches wide tightened itself around my torso. Front, back, sides, all hurt. But I am nothing if not stoic, so I didn't say anything at that time. We stopped for gas, in order to start out today with a full tank. We got home and got in the hot tub to soak away the normal been-too-long-in-the-car aches. I got some temporary relief from the tight band. But, in bed, I could not get comfortable. It was late, I wanted to sleep. Finally, Peggie wondered what was wrong. So, still not wanting to complain, (stoic people don't complain) I explained about the band. After a while, she got up and looked up heart attack symptoms. That was inconclusive, so she took me to the ER at Northwest Hospital. She wasn't worried about me. She said she didn't want to wake up next to my dead body in the morning. She is sweet.
When you are 63 and you show up at the ER with chest pains, there is no waiting. In less than five minutes I was wired to an EKG and four different people had me give my name, birthdate, and describe my pain. The EKG showed no problem, so I could go home, right? Nope. The guy who had hooked me up showed up with a wheel chair and told me to get in. They would bring my wife back with me. They are keeping me? What for?
They rewired me to the heart monitor, which consisted of the finger clip, blood pressure cuff, and three electrodes on my chest. Then two different nurses tried four different veins to hook up an IV and to draw blood. I used to have good veins, but lately they always have a hard time getting one. By this time, Peggie is sitting in my room and correcting all my "understated" answers to family history questions. I forgot to mention my mother's condition, and my brother's, for example. The doctor and nurses were very informative. As the title of this post suggests, it was a slow night in the ER. So I got lots of attention. They gave me a very tasty (unpleasant) GI cocktail to rule out digestive issues. (I had been eating too much rich food for two days) They took me for a chest X-ray to see if I had a heart. They took me for ultrasound to see if my liver and gall bladder were in place. They took a second blood draw to double check the enzyme tests that can identify heart attack. They gave me a nitroglycerin pill, which would make the pain go away if it was a heart attack. It didn't. Because it wasn't a heart attack. So they gave me morphine to "make me comfortable" no matter what the cause.
Finally, at four this morning, they let me come home. They did not wheel me out. Peggie said, "It is aways a good thing when you can walk out of the hospital."
We don't know what caused the pain. So now I have to follow up with my primary and a cardiologist. There goes December. Appointments get in the way of retirement.
So now we will get our errands run this afternoon. Casey is coming to help me put up Christmas decorations tomorrow. I bet I go to bed early tonight. My sleep was interrupted last night.

Bloody Basin

Brother Don is in Cottonwood this week getting some repairs done on his jeep. Apparently a mechanic in Cordes Junction is the only one in the country who could, or would, do the repair. So I kept the week open so I could join him in some back country adventures if it got repaired in time.

It didn't.

But we don't let things like that stop us. On Tuesday I headed up to Cottonwood in my jeep. We selected a destination and took off on Wednesday. Bloody Basin is a section of central Arizona where few people live. The name derives from either: a) the frequent battles between settlers and Indians; b) the slaughter of a flock of sheep by annoyed cowboys; c) the reddish hue of the rocks and soil found in the basin. Depends on what source you believe.
At any rate, there is a Sheep Bridge across the Verde River at the bottom of the basin. There is a road from the Interstate to the bridge. There are a lot of "roads" going over hills, and into canyons, going we know not where. And, that is the motivation. We don't like knowing not.

It is deer hunting season, and we encountered numerous deer hunters. We saw no deer. The hunters we spoke with saw no deer. But we saw javelinas. Usually, if you see javelinas it is dark or semi-dark, and you see one family group. This was broad daylight, and we saw several groups. We didn't think to count until too late.
But we estimate about 20 in the space of a few
hundred yards of well shaded creek bottom.

Then we got to the bridge. While we were exploring the area, I saw this saguaro who demonstrated his kindred spirit. Apparently, he has always wondered what was over that hill. Finally, after 150 years or so, he just decided to climb over the rocks for a look.

When we left, he was still searching for that foothold. Good luck.

Broadcasters' curse?

Adventures abound!
On Monday, Peggie's group had a wonderful time couching. So much so that they have scheduled two more days to continue later this month.
On Tuesday I spent the middle of the day at the Jeep dealer getting the latest recall taken care of. We now have a new gas tank that should end the regurgitating of gasoline at every fillup. Then our new squad of Wildcats defeated yet another pre-season rival. They looked some better, but not yet good enough for the regular season, which will tip off next week anyway, ready or not.
On Wednesday Peggie had her entire art group over for the semi-regular critique session. It is a show and tell with feedback. Again, a good time was had by all. In typical husband fashion, I vacated the premises for the "hen party" (my neighbors words, not mine) since they were planning to be all over the house.
This morning, the "adventures" continued with the hacked email we all got from Peggie. If you haven't opened yours yet, don't. Delete it unread.
Then Peggie and I went to a mid-day showing of the new version of Footloose. That is just retirement luxury.

Oh, in case you don't know....the broadcasters' curse is when a sports broadcaster says something like "No team has ever come back from a six point deficit to win." Immediately followed by that very thing happening.

One week, sans adventures

This week has been without adventure. The biggest excitement was the discovery of a baby cottontail in the yard. He was here for at least two days. Made me feel better about the snake. How long can a baby rabbit survive if there is a snake? Now, no rabbit. I think it is because we don't have rabbit food in our yard. Not because the snake (who is GONE!) ate the rabbit. Yeah, that is what I think.
Peggie has been spending time in her studio, getting ready for her embellishments group. The group is five artists who take turns hosting learning events. Peggie is going to teach them couching techniques on Monday. I am pretty good at couching myself. But usually I prefer chairing. Our couch is not in a good location for reading, and the TV is in the other room. So chairing is my preference. If you want to know what kind of couching techniques Peggie is teaching, you will have to ask her. Apparently couching is easier if you have a couching foot, but Peggie doesn't, and she has adapted. Anyway, she has rearranged tables so she can get five people in the studio at once. I guess couching can be done at a table.
Okay, so that is it for now. We are excited that Wildcat basketball has started. They don't have a point guard yet, and they lost their first exhibition game. They will get better. Repeat. They will get better.

half a million acres burned

While we were in Skagway, we heard that the White Mountains were burning. We checked web news accounts and talked with tourists familiar with the area who had recent news. But, really, one must see things for oneself, what? We decided to do just that. Our favorite camping area might be so much ash.

We decided to leave Friday morning, and packed an overnight bag just in case we decided to stay the night somewhere. We took I-10 east to US 191, then to Safford, Clifton, and Morenci, where we had lunch. The price of copper has had a positive effect there, as we noticed new housing had gone in south of Clifton. Folks at the restaurant said that Freeport McMoran is planning for more immediate growth. Good jobs. Good for everybody.

We headed on up 191 and as always the scenery is breathtaking. The first half dozen vehicles we saw were parked. It is hunting season. As we got higher into the mountains we saw more and more campsites in use. Near Blue Vista and Hannagan's Meadow we started seeing burned areas. The subsequent summer rains had provided for green grass to cover the ground in the burned areas, leaving the stark contrast with the black trunks of trees. Except for Escudilla Mountain, the area near Alpine didn't look too bad. Nutrioso looked lots better than we thought it would. We decided to spend the night in Springerville so we could explore further today.

 We headed out to Big Lake. Again, there are large burned areas, but surprisingly, amazing really, there are also lots of live trees. The fire appeared to have run around aimlessly. The campgrounds around Big Lake are fine, but the area south of there, including the West Fork of the Black River are closed off. There is a map at the Forest Service office in Springerville showing half a dozen closed areas.




 We went to the Big Lake fire lookout tower. On the way we found some very nice, unburned, areas to camp. But the tower itself suffered. The wooden structure atop the metal frame burned completely. The metal chairs, table, refrigerator, and other detritus are piled within the metal legs of the tower, right where they fell when the cabin burned. The cinder block bathroom at ground level is completely undamaged. The railroad tie steps up the hill are about half burned. Anyway, we continued to Greer. That was scary. The fire came right down to the river's edge on the east side of town. We saw no damage from the fire in town. However, due to the lack of growth on the mountain side, the Little Colorado appears to have threatened several buildings. Sand bags and plastic covered hay bales are still in place. We had already seen many areas where monsoon swollen streams had jumped long established banks. It looks like this will be a problem for some time to come. New yellow warning signs are everywhere warning of flashfloods, erosion, and falling trees.

Maybe because the grasses are back, even under the pines where they normally wouldn't grow; maybe because much of the area was not burned at all; maybe because we don't have a home or business there; we were pleased that the damage wasn't as bad as we had feared it would be. Many great camping areas are still available, both in and out of campgrounds.

As we walked around today we saw elk tracks everywhere. The forest is full of deer hunters. There is a "bear country" warning poster at the campground at Big Lake. In two days we saw not one animal larger than a squirrel. I did hear an elk calling. But nothing in sight. I hope some of those hunters have better luck.

YIKES!!!

I just cleaned the keyboard because I was having a hard time getting things typed. This entry is a test to see if everything works like it is supposed to.
The title is referring to the snake skin I found in the yard. The trouble with shed snakeskin is the difficulty in determining the type of snake that shed it. Most kinds are fine. They keep the rodent population in check. Rattlesnakes do, too. But with the attendant danger to us human-types. One of the joys of tromping the wilds of Alaska and NW Canada is the total absence of snakes. Normally, I could tromp the civilized parts of my yard without regard to snakes, also. But, then, when you find absolute proof of the presence of reptiles, precautions are called for. I don't like it. Not in my yard. We live in the middle of a massive housing development. In the middle. Not on the edge. Snakes should get run over, grabbed by a kid, chewed by a dog, or just scared off before they get to our yard. We have lots of great hiding places for snakes. Yikes!
The keyboard has passed the test.
Now, if only I could be sure the snake has passed my yard....

Peggie is FIRST!!!!

We set the alarm clock Sunday night. Peggie had to be at the courthouse Monday morning for jury duty. Her working theory was to arrive a few minutes late so her name wouldn't be too high on the sign-in sheet. HaHa.
There were about fifty people in the room. First name called? Peggie Thomas. In the court room...first name called? Peggie Thomas. First person selected to serve on a jury? Peggie Thomas. It was a six member jury and they finished the trial that afternoon. So not too bad. We wonder why she has been selected about twice as often as I have to report, and why she has been on juries and I never have. Weird. I am not complaining.
Interesting side note: five of the six were involved in education, and all six of them had postponed duty from the summer. (Peggie got her notice while we were in Skagway)
We set the alarm clock Monday night. Bill had to go for a pre-annual physical blood draw Tuesday morning. I was out of there minus two tubes of blood in less than ten minutes. Best part is that I was back home at my normal non-alarm-clock time to fix breakfast. You can't breakfast before the blood draw. And I drink my coffee black, so a quick cup before blood is okay.
We won't need to set an alarm again in the forseeable future. Yes, we can foresee the future. We have a crystal ball. Honest. And isn't it redundant to foresee the future? What else could you foresee? And why are TV stations now doing a "futurecast" of the weather? Did they forget what "forecast" means? A real value would be if they could "futurecast" the sports. Then we could win some bets, huh?
No. The crystal ball is NOT helpful with the lottery. Worthless hunk of glass.

follow up to the ongoing..

The filler hose for the truck (it is a '96 model) had to come from California, so it took two days to fix. It has a 26 gallon tank, and took 25.04 gallons. Plenty of fumes left.
The cabinet door is attached, but the wood strip is warped, so the door hangs open an inch or so. The water leak was at one of the valves, not underground, so it is temporarily fixed by shutting off the valve.
The jeep is empty except for the amethyst. Peggie is making headway in her studio and has all her fabric properly stored. The BBQ was very good, and I didn't get sauce on my shirt. The spa is full and hot. We could have used it last night, but we forgot. So tonight we will soak our cares away. Except we have no cares. We are careless.
The next few days will be busy, busy, busy. We see k.d. lang tonight at Centennial Hall; Monday, Peggie has to go to the courthouse for jury duty at 07:30. On Tuesday, I have to get blood drawn at 07:30. I guess I will have to plug in the alarm clock and get it set. So much for careless.

Never let us forget..."adventures" is in the title.

Getting ready for dinner last night, Peggie opened the cabinet....and one of the shelves fell. No breakage, but the cabinet door had pulled the frame away, allowing the shelf to fall. We had to empty two of the shelves until I can reattach the frame. Thought I would get to it today. But...
We decided to go get the truck out of storage so we would have both vehicles to use, and to save the storage charge. So after enjoying the second and third cups of coffee, we headed out. I could combine the trip with getting my hair cut because the barber college is very near the storage lot. I reattached the battery cable and the truck started with just a few cranks. The gas light was on, so we went to get gas at the nearest c-store. I put the pump handle in, and began to fill the tank. Except the gas was going on the ground under the truck. Huh?
We had already concluded that someone had siphoned the tank dry because we wouldn't have stored it empty, and there was a coil of plastic tubing in the truck bed. So I looked under the truck to discover that the clamp on the filler hose was gone. The "someone" had apparently found it easier to get the fuel out by detaching the hose. The clamp was loose and slid down the hose, so I put it back in place and tightened it. Then restarted the fueling process. OOOPS! Gas still going on the ground. So on closer inspection, I discovered that the "someone" (that's a nicer name than I was thinking) had cut a hole in the hose. So now I can't fill the tank, don't know if I have enough gas to get to the shop, so I have to call a tow truck. Well, we have insurance for that. Luckily we are in the middle of a fairly large metro area so the tow truck only took 70 minutes to reach us. Last year in the middle of nowwhere we got a tow just as fast.
But Peggie had her book to read (so she could wait while I got my hair cut) and I can watch people. So we hung out at the c-store for 70 minutes. And I had a new haircut so I looked GOOD while we waited.
So we have been home for two days. So far I have to find and fix a leak in the water line, repair the cabinet, and get the truck fixed (well, I have to go pick it up from the shop). Peggie went to quilt guild tonight and she gets her hair cut tomorrow.
So then we will both be looking GOOD.
I have to decide whether to get the spa ready (to stall on the other chores) or get on with fixing things.
And at some point we have to do some heavy grocery shopping so we can eat healthy again.
But tomorrow we get to try out a new, and reportedly good, BBQ restaurant. I better not get sauce on by shirt.

We have air conditioning and we have gas (not that kind)

We had a great visit with family in Cottonwood and stopped by to see friends in Lake Montezuma on the way home. It was a great visit too and we pulled up to our house around 7:00 p.m. We pulled out our overnight bags and toured the house. Everything looks okay. We plugged in the refrigerator and plugged in lights, etc. Of course I turned on the air conditioner and then turned it off as the house was getting warmer. No big surprise there and I have a window air conditioner in the bedroom so I knew it would be comfortable to sleep. Have we mentioned we LOVE OUR BED!!!! Not so crazy about the air conditioner and its ongoing problems.

This morning Bill went to McDonald's and brought breakfast home while I called the air conditioning people. The guy arrived about 30 minutes later and started working on the system. While he was here the gas guy came out and we soon had hot water and gas to the stove. Window shades came up, blinds opened, and plywood came out of the windows in the back part of the house. The neighbor lady arrived to tell us about the water leak outside (explains our sky-high water bills). Waste Management will bring us a new trash can tomorrow and start collection on Thursday. Comcast (Xfinity now?) said we would have phone, cable, internet tomorrow. When the phone rang a few hours later (yes, a solicitation call) I decided to see if I had internet--YES! A few dead bugs and smears on the counter had us put in a call for the bug man. A call to Farmers Insurance will get the truck's insurance upgraded so we can go pick it up from storage. We had dropped all but comprehensive since it was in storage for six months.

After the service people were gone and a few things were unpacked it was time to go out for Mexican food at our favorite restaurant, stop by the grocery store (light shopping), go to the post office (closed due to Columbus Day--who knew--we're retired!) go to the bank which was open (so I can pay the neighbor lady who watched the house)and then come home and do some more unpacking. No photos of unpacking because we're pretty much finished and didn't think to take photos. We unloaded (ahem...that was Bill) the jeep slowly and put things away (that was both os us) before we brought in more. Part of unpacking is finding the things we put away into cupboards (coffee pot, dish drainer and all the normal clutter of everyday living). Things that go into the studio are in the studio but not unpacked--that's fun, not work so I'll do that in the days ahead. I did take pictures of the studio before I started bringing things in because it will probably never ever ever be that clean, empty, sterile, and put away again.

We're both excited not to come home and deal with getting estimates for floor, ceilings, painting, etc. and all the sorting, cleaning and packing that went with the remodeling last year. I did find myself saying things like "I need to clean out my closet this winter or "we" need to .....this winter." and we both laughed because we're retired and if it doesn't get done this winter there is always next summer or the following winter or....

In the meantime, I have quilt guild tomorrow night with Aimee and Becky and Bill plans to get his hair cut.

And, in case you're wondering, the great big very large geode is sitting in the back of the jeep and it doesn't seem to be weighing it down at all....

We are home!

Too hard to post from my phone. It's GREAT to be home!

Moab on steroids!

You have seen pictures of what our jeep looks like while we move from Skagway to Tucson. The load pretty much mashes the rear shock absorbers into uselessness. So not the best of off-road vehicles with which to challenge the slickrocks of Moab.

So we hire a pro. A pro with a Hummer.

We figure that a pro knows the best places to go to show off the area. And with the scenery being the prime attraction, I'd rather ride and look at distant rocks than drive and see only the rocks in the road. I have watched plenty of YouTube videos of jeeps rolling off the rocks in Moab. Not a pretty picture. Not an experience I want to have. So when our driver asked for a volunteer to stand aside and photograph the experience, I jumped at it.

You should know that this is a re-enactment. We had already gone over this obstacle once. That is Peggie in the high seat at the rear. It was the altitude that took her breath away. We are accustomed to sea level only.

The tour was absolutely amazing. Our guide/driver, Tom, knew a lot about the area and obviously loved his job. We got to see real dinosaur tracks and actually stand on the same ground once traveled by these ancient beasts. That is kind of humbling. A lot of sand has piled up since then. And eroded away, again.

We have decided to return to the area at a future time.

Portland

The ferry arrived in Bellingham at about 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning. We were the first car on in Skagway and we were the last car off in Bellingham. We called my friend Maria on Bainbridge Island and caught another ferry to go and see her. There was an art show, The Mapping Experience, she had told me about and we wanted to see it. After a short visit we headed to Tacoma for another show of quilts at The American Art Co. She had a couple pieces in the show and I was able to see work of some other artists that I've only seen in books. In Bill's words, it was "beyond belief"! The individual pieces were great as well as the way the pieces were hung. It was very inspiring. Tomorrow we plan on visiting a gallery in downtown Portland where we hope to see some work by Trisha Hassler who is combining fiber and metal.

Pendleton, Oregon is next on our list of places to see. We have Skagway friends who have a house there and we'd like to know more about Pendleton. From there, we'll head to Moab and some jeeping--not ours; it's kind of packed!

Stay tuned. I'm sure there are more adventures in the making.

Saying goodbye on a beautiful day!

The weather in Skagway could not possibly be better. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, we're running around in short sleeves finishing up the last few things. The season is over and it's time to close up the town. Dirty Girls Gardening was busy removing plants from business planters and storing the containers for the winter. Guys were up in cherry pickers taking down the flags from the street poles. The gas station/laundromat, grocery store, hardware store have gone to winter hours, restaurants are closed, most of the summer workers we know have left town. Maria and Lynn have been busy finishing up any inventory work at 7th Heaven, the off site storage as there is no heat and it gets quite cold in there.
We have cleaned the apartment and loaded the jeep. Okay, I cleaned; Bill loaded. The jeep is quite heavy in the rear; it must be getting older, eh? Actually, someone put a 200 pound geode in the back and stacked 100 pounds of fabric on top of it. We have our drift wood, our rust, our rocks, our rust, our core samples, our rust, our caribou antler, our rust, our wooden box, our rust and a few other odds and ends, some rusty, some not.

Now the hem is in - time to clean up the scraps!

In Bill's enthusiasm he didn't realize that the hem was just pinned but definitely not sewn! I had to work on Friday and some this morning. At about 10:30 the hem was finished and it was time to go get a cinnamon roll in celebration.

Bill spent lots of time problem solving and drawing pictures to see that everything will fit in/on the jeep. He just said to me, "Well, I don't think it's going to be a quiet ride but it will all fit." That's okay, we've got the iPod so we'll just turn the music up. We have beautiful rocks, the caribou antler, a wonderful assortment of rust, some new fabric (really?) and a few odds and ends we left up here last year.

We (mostly Bill) did some partying last night, tonight we have dinner with a group then we go play cards with another group. Tomorrow laundry and cleaning and partying with some others--I'm not sure if it's a group or not. Monday we'll wash sheets and towels, and hang out. Some friends left at 4:00 a.m. today; others are leaving tomorrow; others are staying here for the winter.

We'll start out with jackets, scarves, multiple shirts and hopefully be in t-shirts and cool pants in about 10 days. We're hoping to stay with a friend in the Seattle area and go to a few fiber art shows, check out Oregon some more and I don't know what else. I've been kind of busy.

Retirement--new adventures--retirement--new adventures...we'll see what happens next.

The hem is in!

Right now, Peggie is finishing up her last day. I have already finished mine.
It started out as a typical Skagway day. The wind sounded as if it would demolish the town at any moment. The hard little not-quite-ice raindrops pelted down. I had to drive a bus to Whitehorse for winter storage. I met my two fellow drivers at 7:30 ish. Our ride back wanted to depart Whitehorse at noon. That is eleven Skagway time. Allowing two and a half hours for the drive gave us an hour to spare. Except....Raymie needed to put gas in her bus. Except...the one and only gas station in town had decided not to open until 10:00am. We decided she might make it on half a tank, and we could re-evaluate in Carcross. Off we go. On the way up we saw a moose in the road, a bear crossing the road, and a bear eating beside the road. We decided a few gallons of Canadian gas wouldn't hurt our chances of arriving safely in Whitehorse on time. So a quick stop. Except....Raymie is female. So a restroom visit was also necessary. Meantime, Shawn, who is male, had stopped to "chat" with Deena. She is "the pretty one" at Canada Customs. We didn't know where he was by now.
Arriving at Whitehorse Motors was a joke. They are constructing some additions. The city is "improving" one of two access streets. Finding a parking spot was a challenge. Finding an entrance into the building was a challenge. Finding the service department meant running a maze of small back rooms. As our one hour cushion quickly deflated, I called our ride. All good. He picked us up at noon, and we took off. As in, he is a Yukoner. So we took off without regard to minor things like posted speed limits. We arrived in Skagway in under two hours. A record for me. I was happy at every curve not to see a moose in the road.
Speaking of records, here are my final talleys for wildlife sightings:
black bears 108 (60 in the month of June, alone)
brown bears 9
moose 15
caribou 17
lynx 2 (one cub)
wolf 2
When we leave we will have been here 148 days, so that is one sighting per day with five left over.
Animals I did not count, but are also fun to see: mountain goats, dall sheep, porcupines, harbor seals, and bald eagles. Oh, and coyotes.
Now we will hope to see some sea mammals on the ferry ride south. And we are leaving just in time and by the right form of transport. The snow level is now firmly established below 5000ft.

What is this?

We are not sure what we saw. I think it is a lynx kitten (cub), but the ear tufts seem to be missing. It was dark. (Yes, it gets dark here now.) We spotted it by the shine in its eyes from the headlights. It sat in the grass the whole time. It didn't seem alarmed by our presence and gave itself a bit of a bath, like a cat does. We are having a hard time matching the photo to photos of other likely animals. So everybody please have a go at it, and tell us what you think.




Aside from that, we were running quickly up to Montana Mountain after work to pick up the fabric that Lynn was rusting on the old equipment Peggie used earlier this summer. On the way up we saw three moose by the road. They went into the woods when we stopped, but they were back out by the road eating when we came back. According to Bill's Official Rules of Wildlife Sighting we saw six moose, because a) we were going in the opposite direction, and b)more than an hour had passed.



The day before, Sunday, we had gone to place the fabric, and took a side trip (gasp!) up Jubilee Mountain where we got the best view of a small porcupine and a good sighting of a bear eating roadkill.

Beyond the attic

I am no connoisseur of woods. But there is something attractive about some woods. Especially old wood. Friday night we got a tour through an old building in the midst of restoration/remodeling. The exterior is being restored using original 100+ year old planking. The available woods then were sitka spruce and lodgepole pine. Doors and windows are originals and/or replicas, including the hardware. The ground floor is being divided into three retail spaces that will feature the old woods in flooring, shelves and cabinets. The upstairs is being remodeled into apartments with many interesting angles and nooks and will also feature accents of old wood. Right now the back room and any open space is taken up with stacks, piles and boxes of old wood. The old wood has appealing smell, look and feel that is absent in the newer wood.
The tour included the attic, plus a bonus trip out onto the roof. Being on the roof, invisible behind false fronts and roof peaks to passersby three floors below, able to see and hear the goings on the streets, able to gaze at the sky illuminated by the soon-to-rise moon, clouds scudding swiftly inland, stars and airliners blinking in and out of view is magical.
We came back down, literally and metaphorically, and continued our journey to the Pizza Station (there is a story behind the Pizza Station that I can tell better in person). There was a concert (?) fund raiser to benefit the Skagway High School girls basketball team (who will attempt to three-peat as state champs this year). The coach is a man I speak with almost every day at work, so we had to go. The Rev. Neal Down was playing, so we had to go. Besides Rev.'s guitar there was a base and a saxaphone. Blues are even better with a base and sax than with just a guitar.
The place was crowded but we found a table with a man sitting alone who graciously agreed to share with us. During a break in the music we discovered he was living in Haines but was a transplant from Long Island. He grew up on the salt water there and works on the water here. He spoke about the water the way I was just talking about wood.
On the four block walk home we talked about the bears raiding trash cans in the alleys. It felt like whistling past the graveyard. But it is reassuring to be aware, since that is the first step to being safe. It is annoying that we have to worry about such things just because a number of idiots can't do a simple thing like secure their trash. Don't even get me started on that.

"Northern Exposure" got it right.

All teachers know who I mean. The rest of you do, too. Just from a different perspective. There is the child/student who is different. So different that they could be in that "Sesame Street" segment, "One of these things is not like the others" and the others could all be same age, same gender, same hair color, etc. But this one is different. The other kids are not nice to her/him. They tease, ridicule, humiliate. She/he says strange things, wears strange clothes, talks about strange ideas. Somehow you know you are supposed to be the one person who is kind, accepting, encouraging, but you, too, find it hard to like this person. You want to. You try to. You chastise the others for their behavior. Okay, you have someone (or several) in mind.
She was playing the accordian and singing at open mic night at The Bonanza Bar on Monday night. If you watch the "American Idol" auditions you suddenly understand how so many untalented people try out on that show. It was painful. It was humorous(in that mean kid way) but we all politely applauded each song. Each song full of lyrics telling of strange ideas. Each song full of mistakes and embarassed corrections on the keys.
Then a young man took the mic with his acoustic guitar. He sang some familiar folky type songs, then got into his "original" material. He was better than competent on the guitar, but he got all nasally with his voice. His girlfriend was in the audience singing along softly with every song, harmonizing beautifully in what she thought was a soft voice nobody could hear. I encouraged her to get on stage. So she did. She sang lead and he harmonized beautifully with her. Then him again. Then several of us ganged up on her and convinced her to sing again. So she did.
Then they relinquished the stage to a thirty-something guy who borrowed the kid's guitar and did some blues tunes. Then we discovered he was playing there the following night, alone. Okay, plans for tomorrow.
Then this guy, Jeff Caldwell, started jamming with Rev. Neal Down, the host for the evening, and the reason we were there. The Rev. can really play guitar. Really play.
At some point in the evening somebody came in and said the Northern Lights were on. So we went outside for awhile to see them. Then we went back in and listened to the music some more. At one point I looked around the bar. There was a bartender, two musicians and four of us in the audience. It was after midnight, everybody else had left. The folksy kid left his guitar for Jeff to play. We looked at each other. I said, "I can't believe we are sitting in a bar in Skagway, Alaska listening to two great musicians jamming" and the bar is almost empty. I mean, I know we have been coming up here for three years, but the reality of sitting in a bar in Skagway, Alaska was mindboggling. It is just one of those things we never actually thought we would ever be doing.
"Northern Exposure" got a lot of things right about Alaska and Alaskans. So did "Men in Trees." This place is something else.

broken record

Records are..records are..records are..records are..scree records are meant to be broken. So I broke mine. On our way back from Mineral Mountain we saw Torval, the Russian circus bear, then today, on tour, we saw another bear. So I am at 105 and still trying to count more.
What? Oh. Torval is short for Tormented Valley where this particular black bear has been seen. I have seen him no less than six times in the same general area. What? Oh. Torval sounds like a Russian name so I just think of him as the Russian circus bear. What's so strange about that? You know the whole reason we name rivers and mountains and so on is so we know which one we are talking about, right? So I name bears. And I make up past lives for them, but just as a mnemonic device. I am not weird. Ask Peggie why one of the bears is named Kobe. (Oh never mind. It's cause he lives at Black Lake...so he is a black Laker.
I don't know why I write to you people.

We have a playdate!

Yes, we played yesterday. We drove up to Mineral Mountain. The day was beautiful--blue skies and lots of sunshine! It was enough to make us homesick for blue skies and sunshine! Now, if I could just have all-the-time temperatures in the high 60's...

Today dawned crisp, cold and bright! Yes, we have sunshine again! I walked across the street for my appointment with the chiropractor; the boardwalks were slippery so I had more evidence that it was cold! I went outside later and saw the "clouds" forming off the top of the jeep and some of the buildings so I grabbed my camera and put together a quick album for your viewing enjoyment!

Now...we have to go play! The sun is shining!

Changing my tours

The latest edition of the Skagway News came out yesterday. In the days from Aug 22 to Sep 4 our little town police department was very busy. There were 6 calls to help people locked out of their cars and ....get this...24 reports of bears in town. Twenty four reports of bears in town. How many do you suppose went unreported because they came in the night. During that same period of time, I saw only four bears on my tours. Since bear sightings prompt better tipping, I have decided to run my tours thru the town's alleys with particular attention to trash cans and only at night.
Now if I can just get those cruise ships to adjust their port times.....

How can this be!?

It's like "all done but the hem"! And the hem must be hand stitched.
We leave on the 26th. That's 18 days, but I only have 10 more days of tours. The reality sets in. Now there is WORK to be done to get ready to go. We have to pack to ship some stuff. We have to pack what we will take with us. There is no space in our tiny apartment to blue tape off a Jeep-sized area. Auugh! What will fit? Somebody aquired a 200 lb. ROCK. Where does it go? Somebody else acquired a five foot wooden box. Will it even fit? We will abandon the small, inexpensive propane grill. We will abandon our lovable, comfortable, but old and breaking-down folding lawn chairs. The folding drying rack? Give it up. It is bulky and easily replaced. But we have these lovely glass balls that we created ourselves. We have some commemorative cups. Too fragile to mail? Aside from mounting it on the roof or hood like a redneck Texan, where do you put a caribou antler? We have a freezer half full of frozen fish to eat. We have bottles of wine and booze we have to drink. Itch a durrdee jhob, buut shumbuddy haz to doo it :}
I took today off to get the car serviced in Whitehorse. It was a beautiful day for the drive. Fall colors are nearly at peak. On the way home I took a detour by staying on the Alaska Hiway to Jake's Corner, then to Carcross via the Tagish cutoff. It added some variation to the drive. The Tagish cutoff is the longest unstraightened portion of the Alcan that is still in daily use. And I got to cross the Yukon River again on the old steel girder bridge. Haven't been on that one since '95. The only animals I saw were some mountain goats. I am now tied with last year's 103 for black bear sightings. I will beat that in the coming days.
Oh, I almost forgot the big news: it is finally raining! We had a nearly 12 hour drought while the sun brutally teased us around some fast moving clouds. The boardwalks were barely damp and many of the puddles were almost dry. I had to turn off the windshield wipers for most of the drive. I only hope they haven't dried out.

Just a sneak peek--we went out to see beauty yesterday!

We're just enjoying a typical balmy afternoon, eh?

Smalltown, AK....or anywhere else.

It's September. That statement fills a room here. It is an excuse for strange behavior. It is an explanation for an attitude. It means rain and cold. It is a cry for help.
College students have left to return to their studies. Employers are short-handed. Their response? Close up for the season, or go to winter hours. Either way, a major inconvenience for those of us who are still working full days and hours. One example: last Friday I got a call from the girl who works at the gas station/laundromat saying that they were going to start closing at 5 instead of 7 beginning right now. Problem: we do our laundry after work (5 o'clock) on Friday. Problem: I return from my tour at 5:30 and need to gas up for the next day.
Sign on our door a few weeks ago---"Outsiders have been using our dumpster."
It goes on to explain that a lock has been placed on the dumpster and gives us the combination. But that first sentence reads like the tag-line on a Stephen King novel. Beware those despicable "outsiders." Makes us glad to be one of "us."
But last night was the flip side. The good contained in a small, tight community. A local musician needs a hip replacement. So a local bar (which will close next week since most employees are gone) held a benefit auction. The items were all donated by people and businesses (which are really just the people who own them) so a great deal of value in labor and lost income has already been put in the pot. Then those same people bid on each other's items. A homemade apple pie went for $1300.00, and as two people were bidding, the decision was made to bake two pies for $1300 each!
A helicopter ride into the mountains, an all day salmon fishing charter, several dinners at restaurants, a party train up the White Pass for 40 of your best friends. On and on. My estimate for the money raised is well over $15,000. Value of the donated items probably more than that.
During the silent auction that preceded the callout auction, I made the last bid on a piece of amethyst that is the size of a large bathroom sink. It weighs about 200 lbs. It will make a fine occasional table with a piece of glass on it. Value? $1000 to $1500. My bid? $175 SCORE!!
But, remember it's September. That post Peggie made about sunshine is history. And a brief history it was. Rain is falling. And even Maria has to agree that this is actually rain. By now, I think we have had rain for three straight years.
It's September.

Sunshine!

Is that sunshine streaming in my windows?

I believe it is!

Yep!

It's been a beautiful day.

It was raining when we went to bed last night and we woke up to termination dust on the mountains this morning. Bill has been seeing it up on the summit but this is the first dusting for Skagway. It is September 1, after all.

And the winner is....

Peggie from Tucson, Arizona.

Yes, I am a winner (in so many ways) but that's what I read when I read Karen Stiehl Osborn's blog this morning. And this is what I won...

I've had this book on my Amazon wish list since I first started reading some of the reviews. I must keep up with my fellow artists, you know. Actually, I have Vol. 1 and enjoyed it a lot. I like finding out what other fiber artists are doing and many of them have blogs where they'll discuss their work, their inspiration, their techniques, etc. I really enjoy a variety of blogs.

For a couple weeks now different artists have been reviewing this book and taking turns giving copies away. To enter, one leaves a comment. I left a comment and voila...the book will soon be coming my way.

I'm ready for inspiration as I trade in my retail job for my artist job...just a few more weeks.

Beringia

This weekend we made a pilgrimage to Whitehorse to worship at the Shrine of the Fully Stocked Supermarket. Some things are available there, but not in Skagway (SURPRISE). Some things are cheaper there than in Skagway (SHOCK). And it is a nice drive. The fall colors are coming along in earnest now. We saw fresh snow on the tallest peaks.
We visited the Beringia Interpretive Center in Whitehorse. Beringia is the name given to the area of Siberia, the Bering Sea (aka land bridge), Alaska, and Yukon that was ice free in the last great ice age, 50,000 to 10,000 years ago. The center displays plants and animals that lived in the area then, and explains how the animals and people moved across the open lands, called steppes. There were no trees in Beringia. It was cold and dry.
I picked up a booklet called Yukon Wildlife Viewing Guide. (Gee, that's what I thought I was.) There was only one interesting piece of information in it that I didn't already know. The following list of wildlife:
reptiles 0
amphibians 4
fishes 36
dragonflies 40
mammals 68
butterflies 91
birds 227
large moths 286
spiders 327
mosses 400+
vascular plants 1,219
insects 6,000+

These are species, not absolute numbers (duh) but I wondered how many of the insects are blood suckers, and why dragonflies, butterflies, and large(?) moths are separate from insects.
The most interesting animals we saw were a baby porcupine and a short-tailed weasel that tried to get under my tires, but he missed.
It was, however, a pretty good week for me with tourists. We saw five moose and a bear this week. Last year, I didn't see five moose all summer (as far as I recall). But I am now at 10 this summer. I am at an even 100 black bears, 8 grizzlies, 17 caribou, 1 lynx, and 1 wolf. And we still have a WHOLE MONTH to go. We will board the ferry four weeks from tomorrow.
I saw the 8th grizzly this morning. He is a very large, very efficient fish catcher who hangs out at the mouth of Nelson Creek. I think he is the same one that was in that spot last year. I say he, because he was not accompanied by cubs this year or last, and it seems that a she would have had cubs at least one of the seasons.
The harbor seals are also feasting on fish both in the harbor and in Dyea. There are more than a dozen bald eagles in Dyea. The juveniles are getting their white heads and tails, but haven't yet lost the mottled feathers on their bodies. They look like a 14 year old boy sounds with his squeaky voice.
Well, thats the news from the north for now.

Rocks, Rust, Bruises, and Fall Colors

We arrived safely back in Skagway last night around 8:30. It was dark enough for our headlights to light up the highway reflectors. (Headlights are required in Yukon at all times)
I found a few pretty rocks, but left a lot of them on the mountain. We found the assay office at one of the mines. They had piles of core samples dumped on the ground. Some of them were "pretty."
Also, there is still a LOT of rust on the mountain, eventhough Lynn now has that particular bug, too. Bruising won't show up until today. Bonus: we found a caribou antler.

The fall colors on the mountain were amazing. The ground-covering tundra plants at high altitude are all shades of red, orange, and yellow, with just enough green remaining to add contrast. The fireweed is still magenta, but the leaves are turning red on many of them, as well.
Along the way, we spotted a moose in the same beaver pond where we had seen one previously. She did not stick around, as she became aware of us while we were still some distance off.

Later we watched eight caribou trot across the tundra.

We encountered four Canadians on quads who were friendly enough to tell us the names of the mines and describe the road as "bouldery" as it continued to the next site. They looked askance at the jeep and said we had done well to get where we were. HuH! The jeep had not even worked up a sweat to get where we were.
On our way out we saw a group of 10 mountain goats browsing on a steep slope.
The weather was mostly overcast, but not raining. The winds made it cold enough to wear coats and wish for gloves. But it was pleasant for all that. When we arrived back in Skagway, we found it still raining. I will not be surprised if today's ships include a large wooden boat about 300 cubits in length.

Noah, is that you?

I honestly couldn't say how long it has been raining. I know it was not last Sunday when I got stuck in Dyea. But for at least month since then it has been non-stop. Both rivers are fast, full, and muddy. There are too many waterfalls to count up in the canyon. We commented to each other a few days ago that it was looking like dusk, and it was only 6:30! The foot bridge in Dyea almost washed away when the creek took out the bank at one end. The animals are pairing up and forming a line at the harbor. Okay, I think you get the idea.
There is, of course, a silver lining. Yesterday the sun broke through in spots in Carcross. Today we will go there so Peggie can see the beginning fall colors. We will go up Montana Mountain if it is not enshrouded in clouds. Peggie's co-worker, Lynn, wants to go four wheeling. Whee! Not that I need an excuse, but I will take this one gladly. I promise not to gather more than a hundred pounds of pretty rocks. Peggie promises not to collect every piece of rusty metal. Lynn promises not to complain about the bruising she gets bouncing around in a Jeep.
Pack a picnic. Today we will beat the Hum Drums!

Happy Birthday, me.

I know, you all forgot my birthday. Except Mom. She sent me a nice card. I guess the rest of the gifts are "in the mail." Well, 63 is not a significant year. Our culture seems to honor only those years divisible by 5. Except 21.
I feel fortunate to have reached this particular day. On Friday the wheels came off my bus. Almost. Five of the eight lug bolts sheared off inside the wheel. I pulled off the road thinking it was a flat tire. The outside wheel and tire were leaning at a crazy angle. I quickly realized that it could not be made safe with the equipment at hand, so we started waving down cars and getting all the passengers back to town to catch their ships. We were most fortunate to have the ATA jeep tour arrive. They took half the load. The bus was towed to Whitehorse, where it awaits the end of a three day holiday before it can be repaired.
Sunday I went looking for grizzlies in Dyea. Found one. So I went down the road to the edge of the water to get a closer look. In an attempt to park on a high spot, I became high centered in the grass covered sand. The tide was coming in. (we could hear the cellos from "Jaws") I knew the water would not reach our high spot, but the way out would be under water for a few hours. We called for assistance from someone with a four wheel drive truck. He arrived, yanked us off the berm and we got out with dry wheels...just in time.
Excitement=the cure for the humdrums.

The Hum Drums of August

Teachers will know what Hum Drums are. They arrive every year in April, along with state testing. Spring break is over. Memorial Day is far away. The school year will never end.
In Skagway, in August, the residents, both permanent and seasonal, are ready for the "stupid tourists" to go away. In May, we all know that tourists will say and do stupid things. These have been chronicled here and in other writing (think Heard on the Wind) in the past. This is humorous in May. Even in June. And partway through July. But in August the modifier is moved. Tourists say and do stupid things in the beginning. By now, stupidtourists becomes one thought, one word. The homicide rate increases as we all (visualize) running down a stupidtourist, or strangling a stupidtourist, or letting a stupidtourist "slip" from a zipline.
The bar business picks up after the stupidtourists have sailed away for the day. Conversation starters become "when are you leaving?", "what are you doing this winter?" Student workers are actually packing and leaving. The retireds and the nomads pick up the slack. Shop managers try to find someone, anyone, to take extra shifts. Food and bar servers begin to pack in the tips.
We are planning our route home. Ferry tickets are bought. We are figuring what to abandon, what to mail, and what we can pack in the Jeep. We seem to have acquired things.
We will return to sunny Arizona. It has been overcast now forever. It rained all night last night. The Hum Drums are here. We march to their beat.

Montana Mountain Photo Album #1 has been added

Last Saturday Jeff, PJ, Bill and I headed up Montana Mountain. It was beautiful. Check out the photos and I think you'll agree.

On Sunday, Bill and I headed back up there because the road kept going beyond Big Thing Mine and we had to see where it went. That will be Montana Mountain Photo Album #2 about heading to the Conrad mine.

This weekend I worked on a quilt and Bill spent his time at Dyea looking for bears. He found one grizzley and watched a group set up for a wedding and reception out on the flats. They were using fireweed and yarrow for bouquets. Good idea.

I'll show the quilt I was working on in a few weeks. I want to finish it first.

Meaning is in context.

I am now fascinated with Montana Mountain. As in when were the mines operating? When were the roads put in? Etc.
I knew about the Venus mine and Conrad City....I thought.
I found a book titled "Fractured Veins and Broken Dreams" by Murray Lundberg, who became so fascinated that he researched through all kinds of archival records and wrote the book. Sweet. I just have to read the book. The Skagway library has a copy numbered 805 of 1000 and is signed by the author. I learned a lot I didn't know I wanted to learn, and got some of the answers I wanted, as well.
While reading (I gobbled it up in just two evenings) I was struck by one term in particular that would be humorous if read out of context. The term is outside.
"In June 1906, Arthur Sibbitt built this lovely cabin (photo above) of sawed logs in Conrad, and shortly after went outside and got married." "....spent the winter outside, but returned in the spring." "Colonel Conrad was outside seeking additional money..."
In context, outside means anywhere but the Yukon, especially someplace civilized.
But by itself, one wonders if brides were growing on the trees, if it was too crowded inside, and money was also growing on trees outside.

There are mountains everywhere!

On Saturday we were planning a trip up Mineral Mountain to the "top of the world" where we went last year. But it was socked in by clouds. So we decided to try Montana Mountain. It was clear. We were with Jeff and PJ (from Payson) and we wanted to climb.
I had recently discovered the way around the slide/washout to go higher on the mountain. We went 10 miles in, until we reached one of the old (1905) mines. We did not go into the shaft. We all grew up knowing better. Anyway, the shaft was clogged by a snow drift. You will have to wait until we have time to post photos. We saw five caribou. Two of them were lying on a snowfield to avoid bugs, just like you see on those nature shows.
Well, we ran out of time, but the "road" continued around another ridge, so I decided to go back on Sunday. Peggie decided to forego sewing and came along. We made it another four miles, to another mine sight. Valuable minerals seem to be available in the most unavailable locations. Well, the views from up there are fantastic. Mountains beyond mountains forever. Lakes between the mountains. And this time we saw a grizzly and cub, but no caribou.
Watch our photo albums, I promise to get around to posting some pictures.
More importantly, though.....we still did not reach the end of the road. What is around the next ridge?

Happy Birthday, Don

I went out to Dyea looking for bears last night and nobody got stuck in the mud. In fact, Don is the only person I know who ever got stuck out there.

Anyway, I lucked out, and saw the first fishing bear of the season. My friends who work at the dog camp out there have been telling me for a week that the bears are in.

This little guy was very efficient for the first half hour. There is a channel behind him that makes a sharp bend and he is very good at catching fish in the corner. Once he crossed that sand bar into more open water, he was less successful. He eventually wandered downstream, across the bridge I am standing on to take this picture. Then it was getting late, so I went home.

H A, B&P, Vol II

We're back from Haines.
We met the ferry early (6:00am) and had a smooth ride over.
We went straight to The Bamboo Room for breakfast. Despite it's fancy name, it is a diner-type place with good breakfasts. Then we went out to the Chilkoot River and Lake to see if any grizzlies were there. Lots of fisherpersons, but no bears. As many spectators as fishers. We went back several times, and spent time spectating, but no bears. One sow with two cubs left just as we drove by, but we missed them. We, of course, went to the local quilt shop, and tried to go to the Hammer Museum, but it was closed. We checked into our B&B where we watched the three ships from Skagway sail past on their way to the next port.
Our hosts prepared a good breakfast, regaled us with tales of life in Haines, and we headed out. The road was uncrowded and in good shape (only 21 km of construction) but NO wildlife. Oh, except for a pair of trumpeter swans in the same pond where we saw them last year. The fireweed was in spectacular form on several stretches of road. We stopped in Whitehorse for some groceries and ran into one of our neighbors in the store. After we got back here, she knocked on our door. She had locked herself out! We assisted her, got her back in, then she and I went looking for bears in Dyea. Again, no luck. The salmon are plentiful, though.
So, today is our actual anniversary. It is raining already and we both have to work.
And that's the way it is; 41 years and counting.

Happy Anniversery, Bill & Peggie: Vol. I

Tonight we had a little celebration with friends.
It started like this:
We decided to go to Haines this weekend to celebrate our anniversery because we both have to work on Monday. (our actual date is July 25, for those who don't track such things)
Earlier this week I got a call from a couple we met this year on the trail to Lower Dewey Lake asking if we wanted to meet for drinks. We already had a dinner date, so I suggested we meet tonight, instead, to toast our anniversery. Fine. Then I realized that we hadn't seen Jeff and PJ recently (since we were at their anniversery party) so I called and invited them to join us. Good, so far.
Oh, slight backtrack; Dennis is the bartender across the street who we met last year when we called The Bistro our backyard place and went there more or less regularly. So we were planning to go tonight to kick off the celebratory weekend. OK back on track.
Yesterday, one of the jewelry store people we met at the beginning of the season ran into me on the street. She was on her way to the airport to leave. She was not having a good time here. So I stopped into the jewelry store to see how the rest were doing, and one of them, our neighbor at the apartment lamented that we haven't seen each other for a while, so I suggested she join us at The Bistro. Along with another coworker who was in on the conversation. So they came.
Then as I was walking past the library on my way home from work tonight I ran into Lynn (aka Atlin from our card playing buddies from year one) and she said how she missed seeing us so I told her she and hubby Robert should join us, so they did, too. Then, another couple we met and have had multiple contacts with over this summer came by and joined our group, too. Then a young lady who met Peggie at the quilt shop last year, and who became our favorite waitress at the BrewCo was walking by, so she stopped in for a while, also.
So, this is why we are having such a good time here. We celebrated our anniversery with friends from years one, two, and three. From Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, St. Thomas, California, and Arizona. From twenty-something to sixty-something. Most of them did not know each other before tonight. Peggie and I had a great time. We think everybody else did, too. The conversations moved randomly around the tables and now more people know more people than they did before.
And tomorrow, when we get on the ferry, four of them are also getting on the ferry, with Juneau as their destination. We discussed just partying all night. But, really, let's be real, we are too old for that kind of foolishness.
In fact, it is too late to be up writing.
Good night.

We better make hay!

We are losing daylight at the rate of 4 minutes per day. We are down to seventeen and a half hours already. We went out to Dyea at 8:30 last night because the salmon are starting up the creek and we hoped to see some bears. No luck on the bears. But on the way home through the woods (yes, and over the river, but no Grandma's house) we really noticed that our headlights were on. Also the reflective road signs actually reflected.
On Saturday I went with two others to go gold panning in a creek known to have some gold. We had a wonderful time. We did not find "color" though. Then we went further up Montana Mountain than I had been before. We found a road around the big washout. It was getting late, so we did not go to the end of the road. That is for another day. Anyway, I had my camera set wrong and ruined my pictures, so have to go back to get good ones. There is something (awesome? can't think of the word) about being above timberline.
We are looking forward to this weekend. We will celebrate our anniversery in Haines. We are ferrying over on Saturday morning and driving that beautiful road back on Sunday.

We will just have to go more often.

On Sunday, we went to Montana Mountain and saw that moose in the previous post. Yesterday after work we went back to pick up the fabric Peggie was rusting. On the way, we saw a wolf! He was that dark brown color we see on a lot of bears. At first we thought is was a bear, until we got closer. He was into the woods before we could get the cameras out.


Comment on Casey's efficient apartment manager: It is obvious she doesn't live in Skagway.


I have to apologize to Neptune. I forgot to post Happy Birthday on Tuesday. As I am sure you all know, Neptune has completed it's first orbit of the sun since its discovery 165 Earth years ago. So in Neptunian time it is one year old. We don't count the first four and a half billion years because we didn't witness all of them. The USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL all refuse to deliver cards or gifts.

Best moose sighting, yet!

This is a beaver pond on the north side of Montana Mountain. Don may recognize it from his jeep adventure tours.
We had gone there to rust-dye some fabric on that old compressor's engine parts that are lying all about. (see previous post) We had been there last year, but never got back to do the rust-dying. I knew about the pond, so I walked over there as Peggie was laying fabric. Even though I was hoping for a wildlife sighting, I neglected to take my camera. When I saw this young fellow, I had to go back to the jeep. Peggie was ready to come look, also. We were able to watch him eating for over twenty minutes. He was unaware of us. A couple of beavers were busy in the pond, and several ducks were also around. Our original view point was 100 yards away, but we were able to move around and get within 50 yards. His antlers are less than a foot long, and felted. He was eating from the bottom of the pond, completely submerging his head. While he had his head in the water, we felt safe to move around. Finally, he moved into the forest.

How's this for an idyllic vacation spot?

We had a great time. We'll tell you more soon.

Happy Birthday, Margie

It may not be polite to discuss a woman's age, but since you are my little sister I'm going for it.
60. Don't tell Mom, she may think she has to be old if her youngest is 60. The big 6-0.
Side note to Margie's children and grandchildren: she is 60 now, so you have to be very quiet and very nice to her. Help her do things like blow out birthday candles. Don't place the cake directly under the smoke alarm. Share the candles as they come out of the cake, when there are this many, (60) you lose a LOT of frosting if you don't lick the candles.
Be sure to call Dick and invite him to the party. He is 65 now, and probably can't remember things like his sister's birthday. You can probably fool him into thinking it is his birthday.

Follow-up report

The fireworks were amazing. We stood on the waterbreak at the small boat harbor. The fireworks were launched from a tug about 300 yards out. They fired a steady stream for a full half hour. ( a full half....) Then a second launch point on the dock joined in for the last 15 minutes and doubled our pleasure. It was cold and windy. And a bit surreal to see snow in the background of July 4th fireworks.
I did get to see the parade. It started an hour before my tour. It was shorter than usual (I am suggesting that usual is what we have seen the last two years) perhaps because many would-be participants had to work. Traffic was totally disrupted and I had to walk my passengers several blocks to get on the bus.
I checked with customs and they confirmed the killing of Friendly.
I checked with Spirit Lake and they confirmed that the RCGB I saw was their bothersome bruin. He had been relocated to Bennett which is 27 miles away and across the lake. So he had walked the 27 miles, but not crossed the lake.
I had great people on the tour. One couple insisted that I call them so they can have us to dinner when we visit San Francisco on our way home. The woman is a 70 year old Chinese American who went horseback riding for the first time in her life. She is a self described city girl and was nervous just being in such wide open country, much less on horseback. The man is an avid hunter/fisherman who promises to prepare some kind of wild game when we visit.

There is such a thing as TOO friendly.

Peggie and I went for a Sunday drive today. We encountered police (RCMP and Conservation) hightailing it south with lights and sirens. We were curious, as we had seen no emergency on our way north. We didn't know what the Conservation vehicle was until later. On our way back to town we observed two Mounties with rifles walking along the road. I put two and two together. This was the same curve in the road where I have, on numerous occasions, both this year and last, seen a bear I named Friendly. Why? Because he approaches vehicles in a very friendly way.
This is bad for the bear. Somebody who should have known better has fed this bear from a car window. Probably more than one somebody. Fools. Now the Mounties or Conservation officer will shoot the bear. Not its fault. We asked at Customs and, sure enough, somebody reported an aggressive bear. Well, at least it hasn't hurt anyone, yet.

Tonight we get our Independence Day fireworks at the harbor. Tomorrow, I will be driving to Yukon, so will miss the parade. Shucks. I like the parade. Anyway, Happy Birthday USA.

RCGB

On Thursday, I saw a new sight.
First, it was the first grizzly sighting I've had this year. Second, the bear was in a "non-grizzly" location. ie: not where anyone ever sees a grizzly. Third, it had on a radio collar!
Yep. Normal in that it was busily eating leftover dandelions, but wearing a radio collar. Questions arise. Why is it being monitored? Was it relocated as a problem somewhere else? At Spirit Lake, where we are taking our horseback riders this year, they recently had a grizzly relocated because it kept trying to get at the horses. I will have to talk with them to get a description of the bear.
Anyway, it was a different thing to see.
Of course, there is the remote possibility that this was a radio controlled animatronic device being operated by somebody hiding in the woods. (Pun intended, I couldn't help it.)

Oh, I forgot to post this yesterday, so Happy Birthday, Dick, a day late.

Comments Anyone?

I think I have fixed the comments problem that Blogger has been experiencing so if you've been having difficulty leaving a comment try it out. We miss hearing from you.

I read about the solution on a blog I read on a semi-regular basis. A simple change in the comment setting to "pop up window" seems to fix the problem. So if you've been missing comments on your blog, try the solution.

Happy Birthday, Becky!

Another year already? Amazing!

Have a great day and a great year.

New road!

Those of you who follow us (that would be all of you, duh) know that we like to go on new roads. Not newly constructed roads per se, but roads on which we have never been. Around here, that is difficult, as there is only one road. Sort of. There is also the railroad.
We have been on the railroad as far as the White Pass summit. Today we got to ride all the way to Carcross, which is currently the end of the line. And it was free.
So once we crossed the summit, we were on new road. But it wasn't totally new road until we passed Log Cabin, because the highway parallels the railroad to there. The tracks go to Lake Bennett where a community existed during the gold rush for a brief time. Now there is a church, a private residence, and the train station, where they also serve a meal. We were allowed an hour and forty five minutes to eat and take a walking tour of the old town site. There are a lot of pieces of rusty metal and broken glass littering the area, dating from the gold rush. The church is standing, but not open. While we were there a float plane landed on the lake. That was fun to watch.
Then the rails follow the shore of the lake for 27 miles into Carcross. This is all country that you can't see by automobile.
Today was chilly and threatening rain in Skagway. Sunny and pleasant in Bennett. When we arrived in Carcross we were amazed to see two kite boarders on the lake (which is about forty degrees) but even more surprised to see 30 or so people on the beach and half a dozen in the water. The temp was about 80, so it was summer in Carcross. Brrrrr.
We then got a (free again) bus ride back to Skagway.

New wildlife sighting

So, today I am taking a tour to Carcross, and a bus is stopped in the road ahead of me right after the customs at Fraser. Bear sighting. Cool. Actually two together, cooler still. Drive on. Around the next curve, two busses off the road, everybody out with binoculars. Something exciting, but at a safe distance. We stop. Moose swimming the lake! Are you kidding!? None of us (drivers) has ever seen that before. Super cool. I get one looooong distance picture before I start sharing my binoculars with passengers to ensure they are getting a good look. Time to go. The day goes on as normal, blah, blah.
I get back home and I'm sharing my photo with Peggie (who is doing laundry) at the gas station when in comes one of the other drivers who was there. She says it was a caribou. What?!
I check out the picture. (I will share it later, 'cause I can't do pictures from here....FRUSTRATING) It is a caribou.....SO WHAT? I've never seen a caribou swim the lake before either. So I am still stoked about it. According to the internet, caribou don't like to swim. Moose do. It was an honest mistake. Besides we (drivers) have never seen moose or caribou anywhere near there before.
THIS is why I still love doing this job.

Just a quick observation. Sunrise is about 3:30 am. Sunset is about 10:30 pm. Dark? Who knows? I am not awake for it.