WTF???

dear blogger,
why do you have to go and do such things when i am just feeling like i've (finally) accomplished "basic blogging 101"?
why do you have to go and eat my pictures, although you make it look like you've held space for them with those annoying little yellow boxes? are you planning on giving them back after i just spent 10 more minutes refinding the precise photos i wanted to share so now i can really look like a blogging failure with 2 of every photo?
i hope not.
i have been contemplating wordpress you know.
now straighten up and fly right.

happy anniversary baby

its hard to believe that one year ago we were pulling into palmer with 2 vehicles, 4 animals and a tiny load of essentials to last until the moving truck arrived.

jeff made the drive with my brother corey and his girl cullen leaving fort collins on july 26th.
corey and cullen braved the subaru, 2 cats and each other for the 6 day trek. (coincidently jeff and i solidified our relationship with a road trip to alaska in 1996).











jeff drove the pathfinder with the dogs while pulling the trailer with the "essential alaska"
snowblower and 6 rubber maid containers stuffed full of immediate needs, or at least what i considered at the time to be needed.
jade and i got off easy, simply dealing with emotional friends (many of whom still havent forgiven us for the exodus), cleaning and tieing up loose ends at the riverhouse. we boarded an airplane and met jeff at the end of his trip, muscles tight, both of us in awe at what we had just done.

its hard to believe its been a year.
in many ways, it has gone by very fast. we have been lonely at times, as we were used to being social. we lived in a busy spot on that beautiful river, which meant there was always someone stopping in unexpectedly.
now, we go for days on end without the telephone ringing.

we have come to depend on one another in a manner that has improved our relationship. we no longer bicker about the small stuff. who would we talk to then?
in many ways we are still finding our way around our little corner of alaska. and this isnt such a bad thing.

today was a picture perfect summer day. mid 70s, blue skies with clouds threatening rain but not producing until we were home happily munching dinner.

we visited the matanuska glacier located about 60 miles from palmer. it is an active glacier (melting) and advances at about 1 foot per day. it is approximately 24 miles long and 4 miles wide a the terminus. it averages approximately 2 miles in width.
the matanuska glacier is a valley glacier, whereas the majority of glaciers in alaska today are smaller alpine glaciers which hang off mountain slopes.

here are some photos. the color shots are unedited. true glacial blue as captured by my camera.

rewind

it has been brought to my attention that i missed blogging about a weekend with a dear friend.

over memorial day my friend leslie boarded a plane and came to alaska for a long weekend to see us and to celebrate her (insert any number below 39 here) birthday.

leslie and i have known one other since i was a baby "adult" in my early twenties and where she found herself moving in next door to me in a cabin situated on 4000 privately held acres in one of the most beautiful spots in colorado. she moved into the tiny abode which attached to mine and began unloading a little red truck. (? hmmmm. did you have the truck then??) i helped her move in boxes. as the months went by and i started her fires in the crappy old, oil barrel woodstove and we smoked up the house with all sorts of smells, and we ate ( i cooked) and we hiked, and pretended we were artists, and we became the greatest of friends.over the years we have both experienced relationships that have come and gone, as relationships do. and through all those experiences, our friendship too, has ebbed and flowed. there have been times when we have not been as close to each other as we once were. but it seems now, the tide has turned and we are closer to our old selves and have rekindled our friendship again.
and for this i am grateful.

the birthday celebration consisted of simply visiting, hanging out, drinking tequila, (how much tequila have we consumed these many years?) and seeing a small slice of this wonderful state. we took a boat ride and stayed overnight on fox island and it was peaceful and beautiful. we cruised out to see glaciers which are so amazing, so blue and larger than photos could ever convey. we sighted many whale tales and experienced a little magic when hearing them talk off the back of the boat.
it was a nearly perfect weekend aside from the sea sickness and the fact that it was just too short.

so, heres to a friendship that has survived the ups and downs, coming out the other side right side up.


all photos shown taken by leslie b., altered by me and photoshop.

FISH ON!

so i mentioned a while back that there are some rather funny things to remember when doing a general assessment on a patient who happens to reside in alaska. one being; someone who complains of arm or shoulder pain should be immediately asked if he/she has recently been halibut fishing. i now, will never forget this little pearl as i have halibut arm, and shoulder.

this weekend we were the fortunate guests of heather, todd and elaina who welcomed us on board their boat and re-introduced us to fishing in alaska. mother nature couldnt have cooperated better with calm seas and sunny skies. it was truly a spectacular day.

the silver salmon are running now in resurrection bay (outside of seward) and initially they werent too interested in what we were serving up, so we moved into deeper water and set up halibut gear. halibut are bottom feeders, fish that blend right in with the topography of the rocks and sand. they look like someone wasnt paying attention when designing them as they are all mixed up with weird eyes misplaced and cockeyed on top of their heads, but they are my favorite fish to eat. they are hearty, yet flaky, they are versatile and not too overpoweringly "fishy".

now, i have no technique at all when it comes to ocean fishing. basically, i dont know what the hell i am doing. thankfully we had 2 very patient teachers who showed us the way. no sooner did i drop my weighted line, sending it down a mere 250 feet to sit on the bottom, did i get a hit. being a stream trout fisher woman, i simply began reeling. it soon became apparent that that technique wasnt going to work at all. you must (just like i had seen somewhere on some silly fishing show) puuulllllll, then reel, puuulllllll, then reel with a big rocking motion, and, without falling overboard. lucky for me, the halibut we caught, (the regulation 2 per person) were what todd affectionately called "chicken fish" meaning pretty small, between 10-15 pounds. but because of their shape, being rather flat and wide, they are nonetheless, somewhat of a challenge to bring up from a depth of 200+ feet. - hence the halibut arm and shoulder today.

after limiting out on halibut we moved back into the combat fishing zone searching for salmon. when salmon fishing, you again drop you line which is weighted to a depth of around 20-25 feet depending on what the little fish radar says the fish are hanging out at. then, you engage the motor to barely moving and troll around until you get a hit. we managed to bring on board 7 silvers and one pink salmon. a fruitful day and now i can no longer complain about having no fish in the freezer this winter. jeff diligently spent all evening vacumpacking the steaks and now we are set for several months of fish eating. yummy.

this aint no store bought salmon baby!!

vacation

well, its been a wonderful week in my home town....

now the house is quiet and the pooches and cats are sleeping soundly with both eyes closed as they are no longer worrying about being run over by kids with stomping feed or adults with sloshing wine glasses.

we have just wrapped up a weeks worth of pure playing and sight seeing here in our new home state with our good friends the morris's and we had a fantastic time. we packed in the quintessential mini-tour of alaska, giving them a fast but furious taste of what this great state has to offer.
our tour itinerary went something like this:

day one: we headed off to hatchers pass in the rain and drizzle. we had a day hike through the clouds to gold cord lake. the kids (3, 4 and 7) were troopers and made it up the slick rocks to summit in the clouds just in time to see a small opening of sunshine while we refueled for the walk down.








day two: we headed to girdwood to the forest festival and to hear new monsoon. yeah! some familiar live music, sun, hula hoops, and people (hippies galore) having lots of fun. i got to meet a fellow blogger judy who was there with her beautiful artwork.
we took the tram to the top of the mountain and the views were truly amazing. what a beautiful day we had. we ended with dinner at jack sprats yum.
day three: we headed for homer to stay at waterman creek guest house. we hung around looking at the amazing views of kachemak bay while feasting and running around. fine dining, fine wine, fine views. we had tired and (slightly) cooperative kids after such a long car ride. homer is abundant with lupine bigger than any of us has ever seen.
day four: bishops beach for rock skipping and seaweed collecting. wellies are fun, and eagles are cool and plentiful here. jen and i escaped to the homer day spa for the most incredible 2 hours of pampering. oh my god. homer will never be the same for me. (or my wallet). what a delight. more good food, and did i mention more wine?

day five: sea kayaking at petersons bay for the morris's (sans children). they saw sea otters and puffins galore. kids, jeff and i explored the pratt museum, which is very cool indeed. we walked in the woods and hung out at the harbor snacking on pizza while waiting for jen and andy to return.
day six: piled back in the mini van, we were seward bound. we love seward, you all know this by now. we also love the jacobys who always invite us in and treat us right. lydia was so kind to let us all invade and play in her domain. we had dinner at the salmon bake and the whole "porch" to ourselves with our noisy brood.
day seven: jeff, jen and andy went cruising with kenai fiords tours and captain rich out to aialik bay and glacier. the grownups had fun while leslie and i gave thanks to those who care for kids for a living. we dont know how you do it!
day eight: sea kayaking for jeff, jade and i with kayak adventures worldwide . what a beautiful, calm day we had in resurrection bay. the water was truly glass- like. we loved our guide "wolfy" who was mellow and easy and also a panic fan. (how did we manage that?) jade did great in the 3 seater kayak and thought the whole thing was pretty cool. we had a snack on waterfall beach and headed back. day eight was packed as then, the morris's and kids all boarded the alaska railroad coastal train and headed back to anchorage at 6 pm. while jeff and i drove in peace and solitude and ate a decadent dinner at orso. we had king crab, scallops and rockfish, and spinich and arugula salad. and wine, did i mention wine?
we picked up our tired friends at the train station just in time for the sun to slowly sink into the horizon (blazing with sunglasses at 10:20 pm) and headed back to palmer.
whew. tired yet?
day nine: oh why not? how about catching the last of the talkeetna moose dropping festival? what time do they drop that moose, anyhow?
there was ice ax ale at the west rib tavern, yummy. we took the long route home over willow fishhook back down hatchers pass past independence mine. WOW. the views were outstanding.
back at the palmer house we had some dinner, packed up the kids and suitcases and took off for the airport where i left 4 tired, but happy friends who boarded the red-eye bound for denver.

pretty good week, eh?
hey guys, thanks for making the journey to see us. we had a blast!!
see you next in akumal?

now, who's next?? come on up. we'll make it worth your while.

independance day hike

well rainy, cool weather be damned! we just dont care. we'll pull out the yellow slickers and boots and have fun anyway.the 60 degree day is making me a bit wistful for the heat of the poudre canyon about now. but, this hike today was magnificent!! and helped me to feel a bit less sorry for myself.gold cord lake, which i have posted about previously was the destination. independence gold mine and state park is just up the road from here, and offers some amazing hikes with very easy access. j-man likes this hike because he can hike it up and down without too much trouble.

hope ya'll are having a great july 4th. be safe out there.

update

so much sunlight, so little summer!

a friend of mine commented recently, "only 8 more weeks of summer left around here". my god, what kind of anxiety provoking comment is that?!

we just jetted off to colorado for a marvelous weekend with 10,000 of our closest friends. red rocks amphitheatre was groovin' with 3 days of widespread panic and 95 degree weather. yowwwouch!! what a blast to see everyone and to hear some real live music.

we also got up to the riverhouse- which is looking amazing thanks to our new tennant, diana- who is loving the heck out of it. what a relief it is to have her there. a girls night happening took place at camp falbo, (many thanks for the hospitality falbos) river flowing past, flowers blooming, and lots of good food and drink (notice the cocktail in every shot.... )
life is good. it was great fun to see everyone. WE MISSED YOU KELLIE!

life in the new pad is slowly getting un packed. we still have one giant wall of windows to figure out which color to paint. its going to require renting scaffolding to get all the way up there so this is probably what is contributing to our indecisiveness. the place is starting to feel like 'alaska home'.

the weather here has been knock out beautiful, although it is a rainy sunday today. we are looking forward to the arrival of the morriss on friday for 10 days. we've got a trip down south to homer and seward planned, i am sure we'll hit the reindeer farm and muskox for the kiddos, (shown here at the denver zoo), conquer bodenberg butte, j wants to climb pioneer or government peak with andy.
we've got some unpacking to do before they get here. this rainy day might help out.

clinic activity has been dominated by allergy and asthma as the birch pollen is at an all time high. overall, we arent seeing the daily numbers we did in the fall and winter. seems people are out busy and having fun under the midnight sun.
now get outside and play!
cheers!