Barely settled, off again

Tomorrow we will leave for Bozeman, MT. We have not been there before, but the attraction is grandchildren. Originally, we were to babysit Julian while Tomoko rehearsed and performed. That is still the plan, but Greg and Ariana are also coming, so we get to see everybody. We will drive for two and a half days, spend five and a half with family, then find an interesting way to drive home. Perhaps Yellowstone will be open.
Then we will settle in for the winter. Mostly. No travel plans, but travel intentions.
Peggie has been hustling this week to get entered into an art show in December. That's done. Good luck to her.
I have almost caught up on back issues of all the magazines I get. No wonder I slept eleven hours last night.

Autumnal Equinox

Fall officially started last night at 10:29. In Skagway and Yukon the trees began celebrating early. In Tucson the thermometer didn't get the memo. Tomorrow there is a chance we will hit 100. That will be okay, since we were here over the summer and experienced some real heat.
The trip home was exhausting, because it was too long.
On the six hour ferry ride from Skagway to Juneau we got a pretty good whale viewing, with lots of fins and flukes splashing. The wind and rain kept us inside the entire time, though.
Next morning (Sat), we were at the airport at 5:30 for a 7:10 flight expecting long lines and delays at check-in and TSA. We were early enough to avoid any waits. But one of the bags was overweight and cost an extra $50. We had packed too carefully to be able to re-arrange stuff. Somehow our seat assignments were changed and we ended up in center seats. I changed with a guy and got the window next to Peggie, but she had a seat hog next to her on the aisle. That makes for a long flight to Seattle with a stay-aboard stop in Ketchikan. At Seattle we had to change airlines, which made for a long distance terminal change. Even with trains and moving sidewalks, it was a long trek.
The flight to Denver was less full, but we again had seat assignment changes and rode six rows apart. There is some interesting landscape between Seattle and Denver. Three wild fires are burning in Washingtion, Wyoming, and Colorado. We landed in Denver with the sunset. Had to change planes again. To a tiny one. Had to check carry-on because there is limited overhead storage. But we got to sit together. Much cloud cover and darkness on the last leg to Tucson, I got so confused about where we were that I initially thought Casa Grande was Albuquerque. At Tucson, our assigned gate was occupied, so we drove around for a while. Really. Like at a mall looking for parking. Isn't there somebody the pilots could talk to who knows of an opening? Apparently. After fifteen minutes we moved into a gate right next to our original one.
The Arizona Stagecoach driver who brought us home was great. He carried bags right into the house. I tipped him well. After 9:00. Looonng day.
Next morning, as we unpacked, we noticed TSA had opened and inspected two of our checked bags. One of them contained a bottle of gin, which they unwrapped, then rewrapped. They did not make a mess of anything, and they resealed everything.
Today, Peggie got a welcome-home massage, and I got a return-to-civilization haircut.
Last winter we spent time and money on our bathroom. Now, we really appreciate it.

Leaving Skagway. ..Again

There are four more days with cruise ships, but we are going home today. We catch the ferry to Juneau, spend the night, then fly to Tucson tomorrow.
The wind is blowing hard today and it rained all night. So, good time to leave.
The fall colors have been fantastic, but the peak has passed.
Only 76 black bears, but 19 browns, 4 caribou, and 7 moose.
The salmon run was terrible. The rain was four times normal.
We had two noticeable earthquakes, and a sunken ferry dock. Lately, two bears, one black, and one brown, have been seen in town. The first deer ever was photographed in town. We had a major mudslide on the highway and a minor derailment on the railroad.
But the most memorable experience of the season was Casey's visit.

no lights

I had the day off today, the prediction for northern lights last night was high, there was some open sky, so we got a jeep and drove 60 miles north to see the light show.
Didn't happen.
The moon was bright and made the clouds pretty, the big dipper was big, but it was cooold. We gave up after one a.m.and headed home. Nearer the border there was thick fog. We had to drive so slow we didn't get home until three.
The forecast still looks good, but I can't stay up two nights in a row, plus tomorrow I have to work.
Oh well.
Next week at this time we will be home.

busman's holiday

This year we have not been driving as much because we have to check out a jeep, not having our own vehicle. But now that fall colors are getting prettier, we decided to take a drive north for a look. It was raining steadily in Skagway as we left. At Carcross we took a snack and bathroom break and the rain stopped. We decided to see Marsh Lake which meant driving across the Tagish road for the first time in a year. Then we went West on the Alaska Highway for the first time ever. We had driven East on that stretch twice, but never West. Marsh Lake is bigger than we remembered and there is a dam on the river we were unaware of. I looked it up and found that it is pretty useless now. Anyway, we wound up making a loop and returning via the more familiar Whitehorse road.
No animals, but lots of beauty.

labor day

September is off to a wet start. It has been rainy for some time now, as expected in the rainy season. Peggie is back from Tucson so she rode with me to see the fall colors. This month we will see all the trees change and drop their leaves. It rained every minute and every mile (and kilometer) from start to finish. When there was a break in the clouds, we could see the"termination dust" on the mountains. In town the snow level was about 6000 feet, but up north it was nearer 3000 feet.
As I am writing this, the sky has partly cleared, the temp is about 52 and we are hunkered down for the night.