Try and Try Again

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you again everyone for your thoughtfulness. It was so nice to reach the mailbox each and every day, to find another letter, card or package. You made my day extra special.

11 p.m. Sky on May 15, 2009

This package arrived from my younger brother Kyle, and his girlfriend Jana. It's a great Independence Day wall hanging and tea towel. I look forward to using it soon! And the other item is a cute keychain from Hess. THANK YOU!

Friday evening Brent took me out for pizza. There's a great place in town that opened up just a few weeks ago, I believe. Since the dining establishments are, uh, limited in Delta, we hit up Birch Brothers pizza. It was very good. We ate our pizza while Ches waited in the car. Then we loaded up and headed over to a friends to chat and get me out of the house for a while. It was great. Relaxing, filling and perfect.

Unfortunately, Saturday did not fair as well for us.

We had reserved a cabin on Lisa Lake for the weekend. I wish I had a picture, it is breathtaking. We trudged, tromped and plodded through tundra, moss, swamp, mud, water, you name it, to get there. On foot. Carrying everything two people and a dog would need for a weekend in the woods. Much to our dismay, when we neared the end of the trail it was impossible to reach the cabin. I could have cried. And nearly did. We back tracked, forged ahead, repeating this process numerous times over the period of about one and half hours. All in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, as I stood contemplating what items could easily be replaced and left in the woods, we decided to head for home.

We were both so disappointed. So. Disappointed. We were so close. How close? We could see everything, except that darn cabin. The boat, the water, the mountains. Us and nature. How divine does that sound?

Being hardheaded and determined not to let this minor (MAJOR) set back ruin our weekend, we headed home to regroup and find an alternate plan. Since it was so gorgeous we piled into the car and headed towards Donnelly campground south of Delta Jct. As our luck would have it, the cabin was taken. Since we don't have a tent, we officially scrapped the camping idea and decided to head home, once again, to try to find a plan. And we managed to find a nap in the process. LOL. It was a very trying morning. Very.

After a few moments rest, and a little stomping about we decided to pack up the grill, some fixings and head out to enjoy the mountains views and just hike, grill and relax before heading home for slumber.

We hiked and explored until we came to this resting spot. Here we sat, and listened as the wind rushed through the valleys and over the peaks. We listened to swans calling, ducks taking flight, and nature surrounded us.

Sunny snow-tipped Alaska Mountains

We just sat, and took in all the beauty and glory around us. We watched a bald eagle sit atop of the trees, swaying in the breeze. Here, if you look closely, you will see two caribou bucks grazing along the creek. They were happy to entertain us for the duration of our stay. We kept hoping for a moose, or perhaps a bear, but none were to be seen this day.

The view of the valley

After resting and relaxing in our own bed on Saturday evening, we headed out to this same spot on Sunday a.m. We did a short little hike, then plopped down in our new favorite spot to enjoy the view. This morning we saw a lone caribou make his way across the entire valley. He kept a wary eye on us.

When our souls were full we headed into town for brunch with Sid & MaryLou. They wanted to treat us, partly for my birthday, and partly for our care and help while Sid was on Shemya Island. We had great food and great company. After brunch we headed to their home, as MaryLou had a gift for me. She bought me a jade plant. I don't have much of a green thumb, so I'm a little worried about that. But a jade plant I have. It's said to bring luck to the household it graces. Bring on the luck!

Napping is our favorite weekend past time, as you may discover in this post alone. So Sunday was no different, we snuck some zzz's and then Brent and Sid headed out to hit the fishing holes. Success was had! Our freezer now holds rainbow trout and grayling. Ha! So we'll be grilling up some fish shortly.

Monday we made a very quick trip to Fairbanks. We had to go because I desperately needed a blow dryer, mine exploded on Friday. And Brent needed some items that we just couldn't find in town. So we made record time to and fro, and then dropped off the groceries and headed for the mountains. It was a glorious, albeit windy, day. We wandered the roads behind Donnelly Dome, and it is filled with dozens and dozens of lakes. We saw bison (with babies), moose, caribou, snow shoe hares galore, eagles, hawks and it was awesome! Why no pics? Hmph. I'm just learning to use my new camera, and operator error has caused me to lose some pics, or make them unuseable anyway. I'll see if I can rescue them in the coming days. If so, I'll post them.

And that brings us to today. I worked on unpacking and cleaning, since we did nothing the entire weekend that was household related. I cleaned windows and floors, and I'm STILL waiting for the phone to ring.

On another note, please think of my brother, Brent, who is recovering from his tangle with a chain saw over the weekend. I know it involves his foot, 4 hours in the E.R. and some stitches, hoping you heal soon! And to my sister-in-law Sara, who lost her beloved aunt to cancer yesterday afternoon.

Hoping you are enjoying spring as much as we are!! Happy day!

Oh Give Me A Home...

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here. Friday started a wonderful weekend by settling in the upper 60's. Since it was such a nice day I decided to take advantage of the weather and run into Delta to do a little shopping. I needed to pick up some things to get in the mail, and maybe one or two things for myself, too.

When I got home we grilled some pizzas and then settled in to watch a movie and decompress from the week. However, I had to catch a snapshot of this lovely moon hanging out nice and early above the trees. This photo was taken at about 8:30 p.m.

Saturday morning we had planned to head out to Fairbanks. Somewhere between the alarm clock and my rising from bed, Brent decided he didn't want to go along. So I got him settled, and I headed for the city to get my shop on. I scoured last minute closing sales at Gottschalk's, and then just hit the old stand by's. My main goal was to find hiking shoes, but I managed to space that mission all together. It wasn't on the list! Grrr.

After dinner Saturday evening we all piled into the Envoy and took a drive to survey water levels in the Delta area. I have to say that I'm very surprised at how fast the water is dissipating. While gravel roadways, like our driveway, are still challenging and mucky, they continue to improve daily. Hopefully soon I won't need to wear my boots to get to the mailbox.

On our drive we came upon this herd of bison. Okay, it's not a wild herd, so we knew that they'd be there, but I thought the mountains made a picturesque backdrop for this kept herd just outside of Delta. This farm also has elk, but they were too far back for me to snap a picture of.

When we got tired of driving we drove down Tanana Loop Ext. to the Bluff Cabin trail. While it was very wet, and pulsing with mosquitoes, we braved it and walked about a mile dow the trail. Unfortunately the skeets got the best of us, and we decided to wait until the trail dried out a bit.

All was not lost, however, Ches got a little chase in. She spotted a hare before we could stop her and they were both off to the races. Fortunately, for the hare, he was small enough to navigate under neath the brush, and Ches soon had to give up her chase.

Sunday morning we woke to what promised to be another glorious day. While there was plenty to do we put on our walking shoes and walked right out on the dishes and vacuuming. There's plenty of time for that Monday. While we had a lovely stroll down our local road, the neighbors pig decided to pay us a visit and take inventory of everything we, and our next door neighbors, had to offer. Luckily the owners spotted her and got "Ham" put away before we returned.

In the afternoon we were still feeling antsy and couldn't bear being locked indoors on such a lovely day. So we packed up and headed out to the Gerstle River again. When we got there I was amazed at how low the river was. Not only was it shallow, but some of the fingers had disappeared completely. We wandered out across the damp sand where water had stood only days, maybe hours, before. We picked rocks, threw sticks and soaked up the sun.

As always there were a lot of perfect pictures just waiting there for the taking. We spotted hoof prints, likely caribou and some moose, along the way. There were fresh traces of birds, as well as their footprints in the sand. We found unique rocks, a nickel- shiny and new, and before we knew it we stumbled on a tent that all of us managed to ignore. We didn't see sign of people, but I'm sure they were off exploring.

Ches, our water dog, had a great day retrieving sticks, wading in icy water, and just exploring. She nibbled on dead trees, why I don't know, and ran circles around us. You would never know that she's nearly 10 years old. Well, except for her slow moving body in the morning after. We have been giving her joint relief supplements and that seems to help, but she just pushes herself to the max. She's so much fun to watch, she just loves exploring every place we take her.

I couldn't resist this shot. It's of the drying river bed where the water has rippled the sand as it passed on its way to a new home. There were little spots like these all over, and I thought they were very fun.

We have been enjoying the warmer weather. I honestly think the sun feels warmer here. I don't even know if that's possible, but it definitely feels true. The warmer weather has brought out the winged friends in herds. Mosquitoes, flies, song birds, robins, geese, swans, and this morning we saw the most beautiful crane. Much to my dismay he was flying much too high for me to even think about snapping his picture.

While we have had 60's and 70's this past week, for the coming week we are supposed to cool a bit into the 50's. While it's not as warm, I'm looking forward to an equally beautiful week.

I also have to note that it's nearly midnight and there's still a winking of light outside. Oh, isn't summer grand?

Have a happy day!

Fun-filled Weekend

Saturday morning started out not-so-great. Nothing major, my patience with the pups was just wearing thin. And, I was tired of being stuck in the house. When Brent got home we decided to flee this popsicle stand and get out of town to do a little hiking/exploring. Since Willie is not-so-keen on traveling via vehicle quite yet, Ches got to sit in the passenger seat, and she thought she was super special. Which she is.

This is Donnelly Dome. Brent plans to reach the top of this mountain some time this summer. It's larger than it looks, I promise. Much larger. Since there is still snow, we decided to just visit some of the foot paths at the bottom of the Dome.

We decided to check out Donnelly Creek Recreation area to see how much snow had melted, and how deep the creek was. It was nice walking but there wasn't a lot of challenge, or much to see. We did see this cute little cabin. It is just big enough for a stove and a full-size bed. I think we might put one out back for a guest house. Wanna come visit? :)

This is part of Donnelly Creek. It still has some ice, but the water was flowing pretty good in the area closest to the road. Ooh, not long now...

This is the area where we were actually walking. It was pretty easy going, except for the snow. It's patchy, but the areas that have snow are still deep in some spots. It was a nice hike, we saw a hare, lots of moose nuggets on which Willie made himself a snack, and at the end as we were leaving we spotted a very fresh dropping of bear scat. Good thing we were heading out. It was a beautiful day, the temp hovered around 46 degrees and as you can see the sun was magnificent. Ooh, spring in Alaska is nice...so far.

As we were heading back to Delta we came upon this herd of caribou. They have the goofiest run, you really have to see it to appreciate it, but it's hilarious. There were about a dozen, but these are the only animals that stuck out in the open, the rest headed for the trees. So I snapped a few pics of them. They are very pretty animals.

As you can see here Willie was beat! That was a lot of hiking for that little guy. He crashed on the floor behind the drivers seat and slept the whole way home. A very peaceful ride home.

Sunday morning we woke to another nice day. The temps were slightly lower in the low 40's. We had planned to drive to a lake outside of Delta towards Tok but since Willie kept us up most of the night, and isn't the world's best traveler we decided to head out to the same area we were on Saturday and check out a couple other paths.

We hit our first path which led to a lake that Brent was determined to see. We came upon a couple of drop offs early on and I was ready to throw in the towel, but Brent was not. So we stumbled around until we found a walkable path downward.

Just as we hit a field near the lake Brent stopped short and told me to back up slowly. I followed his orders which staring straight into the face of a big ole moose watching from a stand of trees about 65 yards from us. I backed up slowly, as Brent tried to reign in the pooches as we continued to back up the path. Finally the moose retreated and continued to watch us from a safe distance until we looked up and he was gone. Thank goodness.

With that over we decided to forego our trip to the lake, as that was the direction that Mr. Moose had headed off in. So we decided to wander around the field. As we were crossing a large patch of snow we noticed some very large, very fresh bear prints. And we high tailed it back to the car.

On our new way up the hill we let the kids root around in a couple of caribou carcasses, which Willie thought was the best thing ever. Ches was rather uninterested, and just continued to sniff the ground in hopes of a hare to chase.

After we left the first path we headed up to a nice, leisurely trail which had a lot of snow. We walked up and down the rolling hills, and the pups loved it. LOVED it. All in all a nice day. On our way home we stopped to fill on gas and pick up fixings for dinner at the IGA.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on ESPN, reading The Shell Seekers, and periodically napping. A very good day indeed.

Have a happy day!