Rachel's Rants

Happy Holidays 2011

2012-01-04T19:27:00.000-09:00

Happy post-holiday season!! Wasn't it exhausting? Now the days are getting longer and the...well, it's going to take a little more time for them to get warmer, but everyday brings us closer. I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of -25 F and colder.

At any rate, I had a pretty fabulous holiday season. The holidays for me start with Thanksgiving, which was spent with friends at Mette, Max, and Kieran's house. Max kept us warm that day

while Mette made a beautiful, yummy turkey!

There was a ton of food, but Mette's double oven (eat your heart out, Sue) did a great job of keeping everything warm

while Jeremy carved the bird.

That's where the Thanksgiving pictures end. I ate so much delicious food I couldn't move after dinner. It was uncomfortable to sit; it was uncomfortable to stand; it was uncomfortable to lay down; it was uncomfortable to lay down with legs propped up, and it was uncomfortable to take pictures. Sorry. Don't worry though, I recovered eventually.

We all know what comes after Thanksgiving...Christmas!!

I know what you're thinking, but I did not set the Christmas tree up right in front of the door. Well, I did, but it's a door I don't use.

Anyway, you may already know that the town of North Pole is about 15 miles southeast of Fairbanks. I was lucky enough to tag along on Lola's visit to the big house. No, not prison, Santa's house, complete with backyard reindeer. This popular guy is the real deal.

Christmas Day was spent holding a tiny fork near a tiny pot...

talking and laughing with friends

and listening to the Kieran and Lola's Spectacular Christmas Carol Event.

Two parties on Christmas Eve followed by Christmas Day festivities had left me pretty tired, but the holidays were still rolling with Kieran's Birthday on New Year's Eve. No pictures from there because I was using Mette's camera that day, but the construction themed party was a huge hit. Somehow I even managed to stay up for midnight this year. Whew! Now it's just back to work with less parties.

Happy Holidays to all. Best wishes for 2012!

It's Cold, Record Cold

2011-11-17T12:09:00.006-09:00

The title says it all...it's cold, record cold. The lowest temperature of the season, -41 F, was recorded this morning.

Click here for the details.

In other headlines: Alaska man charged with attacking snowplow with an ax

Um, no comment.

Subaru Salt Lick

2011-11-03T19:39:00.002-08:00

Do I still update this blog? I'll try to do better. Perhaps I should start by taking more pictures!

A few weeks ago I woke up on a Saturday morning and walked down the stairs to find this guy staring at me through a downstairs window.

He had his nose right up near the glass, and I could tell it was cold outside because I could see his breath as he exhaled. As he was walking away, I realized that he was with his mom. They were grazing behind the house for a while, even visiting the fire pit before knocking a flowerpot off the porch railing to chomp down whatever was left growing inside.

Now there's snow on the ground, and they're back to find more food. They woke me the last two mornings by...well, I don't know what they're doing. It sounds like someone is knocking on the side of the house.

Yesterday they were standing next to my car for a while, but I didn't think much of it. I just went about my normal morning routine. Later that same afternoon I noticed a strange pattern on the passenger door of my car where the dirt had been rubbed off. Everything here is frozen, so it wasn't that water splashed on to the car. What could cause such a pattern?

A moose tongue! That's what! It seems they were using my Subaru as a salt lick.

A New Car!!

2011-04-11T19:28:00.003-08:00

I suppose the picture says it all, although it doesn't show the highly coveted heated seats!!

I flew down to Anchorage and purchased a 2011 Subaru Impreza that I had negotiated over the internet. The car had 5 miles on the odometer when I picked it up and later that day, ended up in my driveway with 384 miles on the odometer. Not a bad first day...aside from the brand new chip in the windshield I got around mile 200 thanks to a flying rock.

Aurora Watch 2011

2011-03-10T23:19:00.003-09:00

The last couple of nights have been a dream for aurora enthusiasts. The lights have been out relatively early (~10pm), and the temperatures have been warm enough to endure standing outside to watch the colors swirling above. There was one problem I found…walking around on my porch in the dark while looking up at the sky instead of where I’m going can wind up being a little painful, but I won’t bore you with those details.

I couldn’t decide on one picture, so I offer several. That’s why you check this thing, right? For the pictures? I’m pretty sure it isn’t for the witty commentary, but if you’re looking to broaden your knowledge base, I may have a little tidbit for you. While looking up at the sky I started wondering what Native Alaskan lore says about the northern lights. I found a few different reports on the internet, all with a similar theme: ancestry. Some say the lights represent the souls of their ancestors, others that they are a bridge for the spirits to use on their way to the heavens, and yet another reports that the lights symbolize torches carried by ancestors who act as guides for people on their way to the after life. Other stories say that the motion of the lights represents the spirits dancing, drumming, and game playing. Whatever the case may be, I think it’s a beautiful idea to reflect on one’s ancestors while enjoying the quiet of the night and the beauty of the lights. Perhaps I’ll try it myself next time.

I'm Back...With Ice

2011-03-07T19:13:00.000-09:00

I’m back!! Although my break from blogging wasn’t intentional, I suppose I enjoyed it. Rather than fill the time gap, I’m just going to start from the present and keep moving forward. It was a great winter, but in my mind we really turned a real corner this past weekend. It was sunny and 20 degrees, which is an extremely welcome change after a long, dark winter. My mood has lifted, and it’s hard to stay inside.

On Sunday I went to the ice park with Mette, Kieran, and Lola. The ice park is the sight of the world ice art championships and takes place every year here in Fairbanks. If you want to learn more, you can go to www.icealaska.com. Having said that, I will now mention that we didn’t stroll through any of the sculptures. I guess we'll have to do that next time. Instead, we went straight to the kid’s section of the park where, among other things, there are tons of ice slides!!

First Kieran and Lola checked out the igloo…

…and then we hit one of our first slides, which was a giant halibut!

Here’s a video of the action:

We slid down a few other slides before arriving at the BIG slides!

If you’re wondering what sliding down this race track is like, I took a video of Lola and I riding a sled down…yes, I’m the one screaming, not Lola!

Kieran showed us all how to crawl through the ice tunnel

and then we hit a few more slides before nap time.

What a fun, fantastic morning!!

The rest of the day wasn’t nearly as exciting and consisted of shoveling snow off the porch and strapping on snowshoes to make a new packed trail out of the yard after a big snow storm a couple of weeks ago that gave us about as much snow in a week as we saw all of last winter! I think I’m finally finished with all of the shoveling from that one, but if we get another big snowfall, I have no idea where I’m going to be able to dump the snow. Surely I can come up with something!

And Now A Belated July...Some Day I'll Catch Up

2010-07-31T21:15:00.012-08:00

July, oh July. I warn you now that this entry is chock full of pictures, so it may take a little while to load in your web browser.

This year July took me back to Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska, for work. We had nice weather, but it was chilly because of the wind. Luckily we had lots of extra hands to make the work go faster! Many times it is only Hank and I setting up each field site, but this summer we were lucky enough to have Andy, a summer intern, and our MMS COTR Warren. Andy took lots of pictures because it was his first time north of the Arctic Circle, so I’m going to pilfer some of his work for this blog entry.

A storm had blown a little bit of sea ice back onshore in the Barrow region a day or two before we got there, but that didn’t matter to us. Just made it all the more scenic to work on the Barrow beach.

When in Barrow, we work in old Naval Arctic Research Laboratory facilities now owned by the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC), who help us with field site logistics. One of our main staging buildings is the BASC Theatre. Named the theatre because when the Navy was there, this Quonset hut served as…what else? A theatre.

I know what you’re dying to find out next. The outside is so fabulous; you’re wondering what it looks like inside the theatre!! Well, you’re in luck. I have pictures of that too!

The bright red, shiny area in the picture above is our reflective safety tape so that snow machines traveling down the beach in the dark of winter don’t have any accidents. It probably goes without saying that it’s great to have a warm, inside area to assemble everything before we carry it out to the beach for installation.

Part of the finished assembly…

After the work was finished in Barrow (quickly thanks to our extra helpers!), we took a drive north as far as the road goes. Now is probably a good time to mention our rental vehicle, which was complete with a custom bumper and pinwheel on the antenna.

Oh, and what you can’t see in the picture is that this baby had absolutely NO power steering. Not sure if that was a ‘feature’ or lack of fluid, but for at least the next week after returning home I was turning the steering wheel on my personal car WAY too hard around corners because it was so easy compared to the rental car.

At any rate, it worked, and not far from where we set up our antennas on the beach, lies the Barrow Whalers football field.

The field is nestled cozily between the Arctic Coast and a nearby lagoon, which you see the background of the picture. The home field advantage definitely has to include the challenge of the Arctic wind, both on body temperature and throwing trajectories.

We continued further north to the boat launch, past many hunting cabins, and the local Barrow palm trees…

OK, enough sight seeing, back to work! It was time to head to Wainwright to do it all again. It’s kind of like the instructions on a shampoo bottle: lather, rinse, repeat. We got on the plane to Wainwright the afternoon after landing in Barrow minus Warren, who had to return to his regular job in Anchorage.

Era Alaska is a great company that serves many of the villages in Alaska. The only part I don’t like is that they ask you how much you weigh when you check in.

Anywho, we got a great view of Barrow as we took off…

…and soon after we landed in Wainwright, which is a much, much smaller community.

There aren’t many pictures of our installation in Wainwright, probably because Andy had more work to do with Warren gone, and Hank and I took pictures a year ago, so we figured we would leave the documentation to our excited intern Andy. There were fewer pictures of the setup in Wainwright when compared to Barrow, but Andy didn’t disappoint. As soon as we landed, we were all anxious to get to work. I was obviously no exception.

Our set up in Wainwright is a little different than in Barrow because we’re on a tundra bluff rather than a sand/gravel beach. This is actually much preferred because we’re sure the ground beneath our antennae isn’t going to shift over time and during storms.

Soon enough, we had everything set up outside.

Needless to say, we were all happy as Hank has illustrated.

The climax is always after we have the antennas set up outside and flip on the power switch inside. Luckily, this was a well behaved site where we were able to high five after turning things on rather than scratch our heads, as often happens.

In Wainwright we set up our electronics inside of a Conex rather than a former theatre.

Happy with a successful installation, we decided to take a stroll on the beach back to the Olgoonik hotel.

Unfortunately, we were quickly met with no beach to walk. Beach erosion has taken control of coastal Wainwright.

Soon enough it was bye, bye, Wainwright. We’ll see you again soon!!

Back in Barrow we had a few hours to kill before our flight to Fairbanks, so we made sure everything we set up there was still standing…it was. Yea!! We made a quick stop at the local Napa, where you can buy harpoons for all of your subsistence hunting needs.

One last dinner north of the Arctic Circle, and then it was time to get to back to the airport after a successful trip. Thanks for the help this summer, Andy!!

I was anxious to return to the Fairbanks summer as opposed to the Arctic summer, and didn’t delay checking out the progress in my porch garden when I returned from Barrow. There were strawberries ready for picking...

...and broccoli heads getting bigger and bigger.

Peppers were beginning to ripen,

and the flowers were looking great too!

Every year in July, the Fairbanks community celebrates Golden Days, which is to remember the first gold discovery near here by Felix Pedro in 1902. The largest parade in the state was held on a Saturday morning, so I rounded up the troops to go watch…my troops being friends with kids. Carrie and Thea were out of town, but I managed to convince Sue, Lola, Mette, and Kieran to head downtown for the festivities.

There were the usual parade entries such as fire trucks

and in an election year, many politicians, such as Alaska Governor Sean Parnell.

But there were also a few uniquely Alaskan entries including quintessential Alaskan jalopies

and dance hall girls.

After the parade, Sue and Lola headed home, while Mette, Kieran, and I went to the firehouse for free lunch and trucks to climb on. The fire house was open for business, and we didn't delay in taking advantage of the unlocked doors to check it all out.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski got a private tour, and after she was finished came out to meet her constituents. I took a picture of her while she was talking to a couple of women and then went back to finishing lunch when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, and it was Lisa Murkowski herself! She smiled and said, “You can’t take a picture of me unless you’re in it.” So of course, Mette grabbed the camera, and I grabbed Kieran, and we posed for a quick pic with Lisa while others stood in line waiting to talk to her.

She struck me as a truly warm, genuine person. You just never know what's going to happen at Golden Days!

A Belated May and June

2010-06-30T21:11:00.011-08:00

May and June just FLEW by, as have all of the months lately. I think it’s the sunlight. It makes it hard to sit inside at the computer and update your blog.

May started with a canoe trip down the Clearwater River and taking out at the Clearwater Lake. With a few friends, we left a very cloudy, rainy Fairbanks and were delighted to find brighter weather on the river. It was a nice, relaxing day.

We stopped for lunch at an old cabin near the confluence of the Clearwater and Tanana Rivers.

The cabin has been named an archeological site, and although it is privately owned, the owners allow people to explore as long as they don’t abuse the site. It even has an outhouse!

The only rough part of the trip is paddling upstream when you turn off to go up to the lake. Whew! We started sweating and had to shed layers of clothing just to keep from overheating while we aggressively paddled.

The rest of the month was filled with birthdays and weddings as well as planter boxes!! Thea turned two…

Sue gained another year…

Steve and Lauren tied the knot…

Pam and Ricky got married as well, but I forgot my camera. Major bummer because they got married on a rock so high in altitude that we were literally in the clouds!

My free time was spent planning and fabricating planter boxes for the porch. In Fairbanks it isn’t advised to plant anything before June 1, so I spent many a weekend thinking about plants and fabricating boxes. I’m kind of proud of how they turned out.

June was another month of fun with lots of camping! The highlight was Chickenstock, which is a music festival in Chicken, Alaska. Natalie and I jumped in the car at lunchtime on Friday and headed east to Chicken. Neither of us had been to Chickenstock before, but who couldn’t have fun in a town named Chicken? It didn’t disappoint. We joined some friends and camped out at the Chicken Gold Camp where the festival was held.

The stage is setup on the back of two old trucks…

…which at times held quite a few band members.

Everyone in town really got in to the spirit, and when the chickens came out, everyone did the chicken dance.

It rained off and on all wekend, sometimes harder than others. At one point, Natalie decided it was definitely time to wear a tarp to stay warm and dry.

It was a great facility full of fun, friendly people.

If you're wondering what kind of dancing skills you have to have to hang at Chickenstock, I'll let the video below speak for itself...

And to top it all off, I have another new nephew, Hudson. Can't wait to meet you, little guy!

A Belated March and April

2010-04-30T16:56:00.003-08:00

Much has happened in Alaska since my last entry. We’ve gone from dark to light and snow to no snow. Trust me, that is a BIG deal. Big enough to bring us out of our houses squinting and baring pale, white flesh to the sun...Where did I put my sunglasses last November?...Hmm, my fleece jacket has a receipt in the pocket from October 2009. I guess that’s when I wore it last.

Yes, when temperatures begin to rise in March, we all begin to be a little more social and spirits lift. This year treated us to quite a few nights with spectacular displays of the Northern Lights, which found me on my porch experimenting with how to take pictures of the lights dancing across the sky. My first attempts occurred on St. Patrick's Day (or should I say night?).

With St. Patrick's Day being on a Wednesday, the McEnteers didn't have their traditional party until Saturday. When I first moved to Alaska, there were always more dogs than people at the parties, but that is quickly changing. It seems now that there are often more kids than dogs!! In one of the cutest pictures I've ever taken, Kieran and Lola demonstrated what is meant by 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish' although as far as I know, neither of them are Irish.

Althea, however, has the Irish McEnteer blood but is obviously a cowgirl at heart as she attempted to ride her mother around the house.

There was still snow on the ground in March, as the snowshoe hare that appeared to be living under my porch can attest.

Sunlight and temperatures hovering below freezing equal perfect conditions for the ice park. Every year Fairbanks, Alaska, hosts the World Ice Art Championships, an extremely popular event for anyone within a hundred miles or so. I didn't make it to the park until the last weekend before it closed, so many of the ice carvings had melted or broken before I got there, but I did some browsing anyway.

Fortunately, the carvings weren't really the point of my trip. I went with Mette and Kieran to have some F-U-N. We started with the ice maze, which apparently is thrilling to run around with wild abandon, but you have to watch your step because those inside corners sure are slippery!!

After the maze we hit the ice slides!

This is definitely where the action is! It seems most kids in town have a season pass and are there pretty much every day for as long as the ice lasts. Kieran and I took a turn, and although it looks like he is in pain, trust me, the little guy will jump up again and again to run to the top of the slide for another turn.

I caught one more aurora display before March ended...

...and before we celebrated Melissa's 30th birthday at a cabin near Chena Hot Springs complete with lots of smiling faces and a giant bonfire to keep us warm.

April began, and the good times kept rolling. A few months earlier I had polled a few friends and asked when they wanted to have the next 'Girl Cabin'. April 3rd seemed to be the best date, so we made it happen.

What we didn't realize when we made the reservation was that it was also Easter weekend. Thus, Easter morning was spent at Hunt Memorial Cabin, where we couldn't get the stove to light, so we went home hungry. Luckily, I was in charge of bringing breakfast, so I was still fortunate enough to have bacon and eggs when I got home. Sorry, ladies!

A couple of nights around April 5th brought the best aurora displays of the season. There was a buzz around town and articles in the newspaper about how wonderful the auroral activity had been.

The rest of April flew by without a camera, but the snow kept melting, and the sun was setting later and later each day, lessening chances of seeing the aurora unless you wanted to set your alarm for 3am...sorry, not happening.

Adding Daylight

2010-02-07T21:39:00.006-09:00

Most of January wasn't all that exciting. I got sick one week. I guess cold and dark would the best way to describe it, but we were gaining daylight every day. I woke up one morning to -17F temperatures outside and a broken heater inside. That was one of the coldest days we had had all winter at my house, where it is warmer than it is in town, so it figured that the heater would have picked that day to go kaput. Luckily it was a Sunday morning, and my landlord wasn't busy, so he came right over to fix it. It never got colder than 45F in the house, so I was grateful. It could have been far worse.

Speaking of heat, I got the fuel tank filled in January. $1,317.71 later I shouldn't have to worry about fuel again for quite a while.

February became more active with increasing temperatures and even more daylight hours. I rented the Chena River Cabin the weekend of the Yukon Quest.

The Yukon Quest is similar to the Iditarod (~1000 miles), but it is less commercial and is billed as the toughest sled dog race in the world. The race alternates start/finish lines every year between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon. This year the start was in Fairbanks, and my friend Paige was mushing in a shorter version of the race that covered the first 300 miles of the trail. What better reason did we need to stand out in the middle of the woods next to the trail cheering on the mushers? In years past, we had already seen the start of the race on the river downtown, so we were looking for a new angle on things (so to speak).

I found out where the trail went, rented the cabin, and invited people to come on out and cheer on the dog teams. The trail was about a mile or two from the cabin, so it wasn't that big of a deal to travel back and forth. We started at the cabins with two snowmachines hauling sleds full of firewood, lawn chairs, beer, water, snacks, and a few passengers and headed out to our viewing point.

Melissa was appropriately dressed for the cold in fur(ish?) hat and gloves along with rainbow scarf.

We arrived at the trail without a clue if any mushers had gone by yet or not, nor whether they would be showing up soon or not. Good thing the weather was nice outside for the wait.

I think it took about forty minutes for the first musher to come by, Brent Sass, and we later found out that he was indeed the first musher past our location that day, so I'm glad we didn't go out there any earlier.

It was socializing time between dog teams, catching up with people we hadn't seen in a while and trying to guess how many dog teams had already gone by and which ones they were and who would be the next musher to pass through.

I'm sure we were quite a surprise when a musher did go by. So much for running dogs in the peaceful wilderness without any one around but the trees. It quickly became too dark to take pictures. I didn't want to use the flash for fear of scaring some dogs off the trail. I did manage to get a couple of low light pictures of a few teams coming by. I think this is Gerry Willomitzer...

...and I know this next one is Sonny Lindner.

After it got dark, we went back to the cabin for dinner and to continue the party.

Turns out Thea likes Mint Milanos...

...and Ellie was able to make it up from Delta!

We headed back out to the trail around 10:00pm to see our friend Paige and whoever else was on the trail. It didn't take long after we were out there for her to come by and stop for a brief cheer and words of encouragement before heading on down the trail. After cheering on a few more mushers, it was time to head back to the cabin and go to sleep. Here are Natalie, me, and Kate piled into one of the snow machine sleds for the ride back (Thanks for the picture, Ellie.).

I'm not sure how we'll top that one in 2012!

Little K's Birthday

2010-01-01T20:49:00.003-09:00

New Year's found me being crafty. Crafts are not my strong suit. I'm about as good at crafts as I am about updating this blog, so you know it must have been a special occasion if I was diving into the craft world. Indeed it was a special occasion...my little buddy Kieran's second birthday! Knowing that he will fully remember the entire event for the rest of his life, I decided to make an Elmo pinata. Someone should have told me before hand how long it would take. After Googling how to make an Elmo pinata, my first attempt ended with a half flour and water pasted, newspaper covered balloon popping in my downstairs living area. Wow does that paste fly! There were little white drops all over the place.

My second attempt was much more successful, and I was a little slower and gentler on the balloon. Once the balloon was covered and dried a few times...

...I made the accessories, which included the eyes and nose.

Luckily everything went together pretty quickly and easily, and I think it turned out well considering my lack of crafty talent.

The birthday party was lot of fun. There were plenty of kids running around and tons of balloons for them to run and jump with. They were all pretty excited about cake time. (Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn't only the kids excited about that part.) Kieran did a great job blowing out his candles.

Soon after getting hyped up on sugar, it was pinata time! Woo hoo!!

Everyone got a turn at swinging the bat before the pinata busted open with toys and fruit snacks littering the floor. At this point, the kids didn't know what to do. They were a little worried about Elmo who now had a gaping hole in head, but they soon noticed the booty on the floor and began scrambling for goodies

Someone should have told Lola's dad that the pinata was not for wearing. There's always one embarssing dad at every party, right?

It was my first New Year's Eve ushered in with a two year old's birthday party, but I have to say that it was just as fun as all those without kids and cake. Hmmm, sounds like I'm getting old.

Finally...A New Blog Entry

2009-12-29T20:45:00.007-09:00

OK, so I'm WAY behind on updating ye ol' blog, but think of it this way...instead of getting many little updates, you get a big juicy entry full of tremendous wit and fabulous pictures. Surely that's worth the wait.

Let's go back in time to early December. Remember the field sites with the antennas we set up in Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska? Well, the ocean had frozen over by early December, so there wasn't any more information to collect on ocean currents with our instruments. Our permits require us to remove our field sites until the ice breaks up again, so we headed north to do just that...take everything down. Did you catch that we headed north from our already northern locale in December? Do you know what happens to the sun as you travel north? Sun? What sun? Sometimes you just do what you have to do, so we suited up and hit the 'beach' in Barrow. Yes, it was dark, but the temperatures and wind really weren't that bad. It helps to be wearing several layers and head lamps, which we were. Here are a few scenes from the trip to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

The dark, snowy beach in Barrow before we took down the antenna

Ice buildup on one of the antennas we took down

There was some digging in the snow to try and find everything we needed access to

and some laying in the snow to get access to things we needed to get to. Hank definitely doesn't look like he minds or is being tortured in any way.

By the time we got to Wainwright, the skies cleared up a bit and we were able to catch some of the mid-day light. The frozen Arctic Ocean is in the background of the next few pictures. It's interesting how it can look as if the boundary between land and water doesn't even exist.

There was a lot less snow to clear because the wind blows most of it away from the bluff where we put our field site.

Well, it didn't blow all of the snow away. There was still plenty of digging to find our anchor points.

Here is the only picture of myself that isn't tremendously blurry; however it is rather flashy.

It wasn't all sunshine in Wainwright, it didn't take long before everything went dark.

Moving on to Christmastime, I had a fabulous time with family. Somehow the days just seems to fly by faster and faster during my visits, which is a shame because I already have an extra person to visit in my little super-cute, super-sweet nephew Parker.

I normally attend three large family gatherings when I go home for the holidays, and although it seems like a lot to do when it's all packed into two days, it's always a lot of fun. I've started to notice a lot of similarities between the three family gatherings. No matter where you are, Christmas is a time when every surface starts to look like a good seat and you think twice about getting up if you want your seat back when you return.

Christmas is a time when people don't mind crowding around a table even though it means that everyone's drink is on the same table and that you're looking everywhere later for the cup that is yours.

It seems there is always someone the kids like to hang on (and someone who gets a little tired if you noticed Nettie on the right hand side of the picture below)

and as soon as someone young picks up a new musical instrument, we all sing along to a Christmas concert. (Good job, Sarah!)

Another thing that is always the same from year to year is that everyone tries to take group photos. You need a picture of all of the great-grandchildren, one of all the grandchildren, one of the aunts and uncles, one of the in-laws, one of the great-grandchildren with grandma, one of all the grandchildren with grandma, one with all of the aunts and uncles with grandma, one of everyone with grandma (aside from that one cousin's boyfriend who is stuck taking every single picture of everyone with each person's camera). You know the drill. Most of the time, everyone gets set, but there are at least five people taking the same picture at the same time, and the seven or more people in the picture are all looking at a different camera, so you get back to Alaska, and you have 39 different attempts at group pictures and in not one of them is everyone looking at your camera and smiling at the same time. Next year...repeat. Is this a Midwestern thing or does it happen everywhere? Aggravating isn't it, but every year you still have the hope that you will get that one picture where everyone is smiling and looking. Funny thing is, I love it. Every bit of it. It wouldn't be the holidays without it.

Not to be overshadowed by Christmas, I have a grandmother that turned 90 on New Year's Day. Unfortunately I had to fly back to Alaska before New Year's, but that didn't mean we couldn't celebrate. Mom and I had her over for dinner, cake and just a general good time while the snow fell outside. Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!! I'll definitely be there for 100.

This begs the question...Since I wasn't able to attend Grandma's birthday, what DID I do for New Years? I'm kidding of course with that last sentence, but if you want to know, you'll have to wait until the next entry because I'm tired of typing.

To be continued...

The Rest of October

2009-11-01T19:41:00.007-09:00

The latter half of October brought the snow that will stick around for the rest of the winter. It was in the newspaper not too long ago that Fairbanks is one of the few places that is always 100% guaranteed to have a white Christmas. Somehow when the snow starts falling and the skies get darker and darker, life becomes more social because everyone isn't running in quite as many directions as we do in the summer.

This winter season brought the first ever Sauerkraut Throwdown!! This is a little friendly competition in which one must have grown their own cabbage and then make their own kraut...not so complicated, right? I was honored to be an official judge for the competition.

It was hard to pick a clear winner as we judged each of the krauts on appearance, aroma, taste, and texture. In the end, I would say that all of the competitors were winners although we did have to pick first, second, and third. Congratulations!!

October also brings the start of the hockey season. What would winter be without going to one of the UAF Nanook hockey games?

Between the second and third periods, there is a competition where people throw these tiny frisbee-like things and try to get them into a bin at center ice.

I can't remember what you win if you get one in, but I assume it's a good prize. Speaking of winning, the Nanooks did manage to win that night, putting everyone in a good mood for the ride home.

The end of October is pretty obvious when you look around and see plenty of people in costumes roaming the streets. This year was no exception. My friend Steve had his annual Halloween party, and yet again the costumes did not disappoint. I went as a Death Panel. Get it? It's a play on words!

Even our snacks were festive! Check out the ham skull.

Not everything was gross or scary, there were bee keepers

Sesame Street characters

Linda Richmond from SNL

Yukon Cornelius

A Banana

Injured Hockey Player with Monty Python knight

Me and Pie

and a Mombie and gypsy made the drive from Delta Junction!

This is always a great time of year filled fun activites and lots of laughter!!

A Visit From Mom : Part 2

2009-10-21T21:49:00.000-08:00

After a good night's sleep in Destruction Bay, we continued our journey to Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory. We started out the day driving along Kluane Lake, the largest lake in the Yukon, and soon came upon the aptly named Sheep Mountain. There were sheep all over the mountainside. Too bad we forgot the binoculars!

A few more miles down the road, it started to snow, and it didn't look like it was going to stop. The forecasts on the radio were calling for 2 to 4 centimeters. Centimeters? How much is that? The snow was coming down fast, which made the driving a little more challenging. Luckily I had my winter tires on the car. We almost stopped in Haines Junction rather than continuing on to Whitehorse because of the snow, but we decided to charge on and try our luck. In the end, we were glad we did because we made it to Whitehorse without any trouble.

Our first stop was the visitor's center where we learned that pretty much everything was closed for the season. Apparently you aren't supposed to visit after September. The theme for our trip was quickly and easily defined as "CLOSED". You may recall this word being used in the previous entry as well. The good thing was that the visitor's center did have a list of the things that were actually open in October, although it seemed many things were only open one day a week and during limited hours.

Over the next couple of days, we took in the sites. There were things that you can see no matter what time of year, such as the log skyscrapers

the many murals on building around town, this is a mural, not real storefronts

They may not have let us in the old log church museum because it was closed for the season, but they couldn't stop us from walking by and taking pictures.

One of the few places that actually had an open sign the window was the MacBride Museum of Yukon History. They had exhibits on everything from wildlife to mining, to transportation, to lifestyles, to artifacts...nearly anything you could think of. There was a good explanation on how the permafrost slowed down the miners. The exhibit read: 'Miners hauled firewood to their claims and painstakingly thawed the frozen ground with a series of fires. The average rate of descent was one to two feet per day, and bedrock lay from 5 to 25 feet down.' Here's the display showing how the miners would lower down buckets with small fires to melt the permafrost.

We stopped to pop our faces into a photo opportunity to play Soapy Smith and the Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman who caught him.

After the museum, we headed to the Yukon Brewing Company.

We sampled some of their beers and then got a tour of the behind-the-scenes equipment.

In addition to bottling their beer, they also can it. We got a demo of how they manually can their beverages.

We took in a walk along the Yukon River one afternoon

during which we saw a bald eagle

and ended up at the SS Klondike (yet another attraction with a CLOSED sign in the window).

In adding to our 'World's Largest' list we made sure to go and see the World's Largest Weathervane, a converted Douglas DC-3.

Outside of our hotel was a giant wooden Mountie. World's largest? I don't know, but it certainly seems like it could be.

Soon enough our time in Whitehorse was over, and it was time to head back to Fairbanks. Since it wasn't snowing on the way back, we actually got to see the town of Haines Junction without blinding snow. Low and behold there was another Quonset hut church, Our Lady of the Way Catholic Church.

We also got to see the Village Monument, aka The Muffin. I believe the picture speaks for itself.

The beautiful drive back afforded the same gorgeous views but from a different angle.

Life slowed down a bit once we returned to Fairbanks. We ran a few more errands, had lunch with Dianna, and dabbled in the pumpkin arts.

It was a fabulous visit! I wish they could happen more often.

A Visit From Mom: Part 1

2009-10-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

We had our first snowfall on September 22 this year. It was pretty brief and didn't stick around all that long as temperatures quickly moved above freezing.

This was all well and good because my mother was coming for a visit, and I figured snow probably wasn't the first thing she wanted to see as her flight descended into Fairbanks. Instead, after a well-deserved night of sleep, she was greeted by a beautiful sunrise.

Our first day was spent running around town doing errands and such before we left on a little road trip to Whitehorse, Canada, and it ended with a phone call from my friend Dianna to let us know the Northern Lights were out! It was cold outside, but we went out on the porch to watch and heard an owl hooting from a nearby tree.

Day two brought another brilliant sunrise, and we were ready to hit the road.

We weren't sure what our destination was that night, but we were shooting for the Kluane Lake area. We figured we would play it by ear and see whatever there was to see along the way, pulling over to take in the scenery and take pictures of whatever we saw. After cruising through North Pole, Alaska, we were greeted by fighter jets taking off from Eielson Air Force base that attacked our ear drums and nearly blew the car off the road.

We ended up at the Knotty Shop, which was closed, but we still walked around the frozen grass to see the burl logs and animals on the grounds.

We continued to follow the Tanana River down the Alaska Highway during a beautiful sunny day with gorgeous views that were never ending. It seemed every five minutes one of us was saying, "Oh look! Isn't that pretty?"

It didn't take long to get to the USA/Canada border at Beaver Creek, Yukon.

In Beaver Creek we saw our first Quonset hut church of the trip, Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.

The Milepost says that it was built in 1961 from a salvaged hut that was used during the construction of the Alaska Highway.

A little further down the road, at the base of the St. Elias Mountains we saw a beautiful half-frozen pond inhabited with swans migrating south. It was so gorgeous, and they were honking so loudly, we had to stop and take in the view for a while.

Soon enough the sun was almost down, and it was time to stop for the night in Destruction Bay, but just a few miles before the Talbot Arm Motel, we took in the World's Largest Gold Pan! How many people can say that?

September Field Work

2009-09-15T07:33:00.002-08:00

In early September, I was in Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska, for field work. We set up two field sites to monitor the ocean currents in the Chukchi Sea. You may remember from an earlier blog post that Barrow is the northernmost city in the United States. I put together a picture slideshow for our web site at work, so instead of duplicating my efforts, I thought I would just link to it.

Click here to go to the pictures.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-07T20:29:00.003-08:00

Labor Day weekend brought a road trip to Anchorage, which included beautiful fall colors and bright sunny skies. Mette and I hit the open road for a long weekend with plans to relax, shop, and eat turkey legs at the State Fair in Palmer.

First stop...Palmer, Alaska, where we just beat the after work crowds on Friday afternoon. We perused the giant vegetables, which are always a crowd pleaser.

This year's highlights included a 594 pound pumpkin

a giant 82.9 pound rutabaga

and a new world record 125.9 pound cabbage!

However, as I already stated, vegetables were not our goal. We were looking for slow-roasted fall off the bone turkey legs. We had already sampled the if-you-don't-have-anything-nice-to-say-don't-say-anything-at-all turkey legs at the fair in Delta Junction, and the rather average turkey legs at the Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, but neither hit the spot, so after cruising the vegetables, we headed to 'Gobbler's Grill'.

Yum! Their legs were SO wonderful we figured we could turn around and head back to Fairbanks and call it a successful trip; however we still had three more days ahead of us, so it was on to Anchorage for a weekend of shopping. We did manage to fit in some time for relaxing at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. where we had a gorgeous view from our room.

But all good things must come to an end, and the gorgeous drive back to Fairbanks and a return to fall after summer-like conditions in Anchorage was welcome.

Yes, it was a wonderful weekend and a turkey leg that we won't soon forget!

Hiatus Over

2009-08-31T20:52:00.006-08:00

The hiatus is over. I put it off as long as I could, but it's the last day in August, and I'm back! It was good while it lasted, but it's time once again to pick up the camera and document life as I know it.

Let's see, what have we missed? Well, I was hardly home this summer, which is why I took a break from the blog in the first place. It was a time full of field work, deadlines, and somewhere in there I managed to pack up all of my belonging and move into a new place. When I did manage to keep my butt in Fairbanks, it was so smoky from nearby forest fires that I wished that I was still out of town. However, the summer wasn't all work and misery…I did become a Godmother to my new nephew Parker Thomas! What a cute little sweetie he is. Not that I'm biased or anything.

Now I fear it is already autumn here in Fairbanks. There are some yellow leaves on the trees and a crisp feeling in the air. It's time to put away the old flip-flops and stuff my toes into socks and shoes. Sigh.

I already have two trips lined up in the next week or two, so stay tuned for new pictures!

In the meantime, here's a short, gappy pictorial view of my summer:

Wainwright, Alaska

Clearwater River Float

Upper Chena River

One last view of Redoubt

New place!

Prince William Sound

Raspberries

Forest Fires

Ash on the Car that was Falling From the Sky...

Parker's Baptism

Girl Cabin Trip

Rhubarb

Hiatus

2009-07-05T16:04:00.003-08:00

I'm obviously taking a break from updating the blog. It wasn't planned, but that is how it has happened. Check back again in August when, hopefully, I'll have a chance to make some updates. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth!

Kenai: Take Two

2009-04-19T19:23:00.004-08:00

Less than a week later, I was catching a 6:00am flight out of Fairbanks and a gorgeous morning view of Turnagin Arm,

only to return to Kenai to do some troubleshooting with the field equipment and to establish a more robust internet connection with our field sites via satellite.

Even though the trip involved yet another Saturday spent working in the field, I did manage to return to Fairbanks in time for the annual beer scramble on Sunday! Yes, it was time once again for a bunch of crazy adults to enjoy a great brunch and dig through the snow looking for beer.

Some took the digging a little more literally than others...

Never let it be said that life is boring.

Life's Been Busy

2009-04-12T22:46:00.004-08:00

As if life hasn't been busy enough, in the month after my last entry, two friends had babies, multiple ski races occurred, the ski season ended, final reports were due at work, a visit from an out-of-town friend was super welcome, and my NCAA basketball bracket took me on an emotional roller coaster, but that was March...

After all of that, I had to leave town rather unexpectedly to monitor ocean surface currents in Cook Inlet. I know that may not seem busy nor exciting, but it is for me. A volcano in Alaska, Mt. Redoubt, has been causing some trouble.

For a while Redoubt was cancelling a lot of flights and showering ash on people in south central Alaska. More recently things have quieted down a bit, but originally there was a chance of oil spilling into Cook Inlet from storage tanks at the base of the volcano, so people like me wanted to make sure we knew where any spill would directed and when, in order to help expedite a cleanup during such a disaster. To accomplish this goal, we set up three different field sites around Cook Inlet, Alaska, one in Kenai, one on an offshore platform named Osprey, and one in Kasilof.

The first setup was on the beach north of Kenai, a town which is known for great fishing.

It was chilly, but the snow was melting, so things were definitely moving in the right direction. I got to enjoy the weather while walking around the beach with a GPS, VHF radio, and an antenna in a backpack. This is the way we calibrate our field instruments.

The beach access was a little sketchy, but luckily I made it both down and up.

The next day we were flown in a helicopter out to an oil platform to set up another field site.

It was my first helicopter ride, and the take off and landing were pretty cool, but other than that, it was (thankfully) uneventful. I think the most strange part for me is that you don't taxi down a runway, but rather just go directly up or down.

At any rate, in about ten or fifteen minutes, the ride was over as we landed on the platform:

Being on an oil platform was another first for me, but once you forgot about where you were, I thought it was just like being on a research ship with lots of stairways and floors and doors to various hallways, so that you had to kind of learn your way around the lay of the land.

After we finished setting putting everything together and setting it up

the tide began to come in, bringing a lot of ice with it which made it feel like we were the ones moving rather than the other way around. (The orange pod is an escape capsule for the platform, although I'm not sure how well it would aid in an escape if it is dropped onto an ice floe rather than the water's surface.)

I didn't take many pictures at the third site we set up other than the one of Mt. Redoubt above. I suppose by that time I was tired of taking pictures, and really just tired in general. Toward the end of any trip, I'm really just ready to sleep in my own bed and return to my regular routine. We returned from this one exhausted and by driving the nine hours back to Fairbanks on Easter Sunday.

How much snow?

2009-03-12T20:39:00.001-08:00

A lot of people have been asking me lately how much snow we have on the ground in Fairbanks. Well, here's my answer. About this much,

What's Been Going On?

2009-02-17T19:24:00.007-09:00

So, it's Tuesday evening, and I was sitting here thinking...hmmm, what should I do? And then it came to me! Hey, I have a blog!! Don't I? I haven't updated it in a while, but I bet it's still active, and when I checked, it was! OK, it hasn't been that long, but from all the people who have been harassing me about updating it, you would think it has been. I guess it's hard to make your life seem exciting when it's cold and dark outside, but that is rapidly changing with about nine hours of daylight greeting us this time of year.

I realized that I never mentioned the holidays other than to say that I didn't get out of Alaska to visit my family for Christmas. I do however have a few pictures from Thanksgiving, which was celebrated at Carrie and Duff's house this year. It was a warm, inviting setting complete with a long table,

tons of food,

and lots of friends.

I also had a great Christmas, but I didn't use the old camera much, so I don't have a whole lot to show for it. Carrie and Duff had a rockin' Christmas Eve party, and then a wonderful Christmas was spent in Delta at Jeff and Ellie's feasting on their homegrown pig. Then it turned really, really cold out (-40) from December 27 through January 12 but broke with a record high temperature of 52 degrees Fahrenheit, which was very welcomed and deserved.

What else have I been up to? I went to Kieran's 1st birthday party, complete with an out of town grandparent and plenty of little girlfriends running around.

New Years was bitterly cold, but we still managed to get our butts outside and enjoy a fantastic fireworks display at the stroke of midnight.

Since I missed visiting family over Christmas, a late January trip had to do as a stand in. Little did I know there would be a four inch ice storm with five inches of snow to follow. We were stuck in the house for a couple of days, but I suppose that is what a vacation is all about, relaxing. I tried to take a picture of the yard covered in a deep sheet of ice, but I'm not sure how well it turned out. Use your imaginations...see the shiny surface??

The trip wasn't all spent in isolation, I was able to visit some people, and Mom invited her side of the family over to visit. It was great to see everyone, and to see all of the great projects Mom has finished in the last year. Attendees demanded a showing, and she didn't disappoint. Various sewing projects were displayed,

while the crowd oohed and aahed.

Back in Alaska, this past weekend brought another baby shower. This time the guest of honor was Cashell. I think Thea is excited to have another little friend coming in to the world.

Yes, true to tradition, there were plenty of games,

and super cute gifts (Great job on the booties, Lauren!).

Unfortunately I didn't get a very good picture of pregnant Cashell. Hopefully this one will suffice until I take a better one.

Well, that's all for now. We've been doing the same ski races this winter as we have the past couple of years. I'll try to get some pictures up from those in the near future.

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

2009-01-05T20:06:00.003-09:00

What do people in Fairbanks, Alaska, do when the temperatures have been hovering near -40 degrees for a week and a half?

Apparently they drink hot chocolate. Who knew? Maybe I should stock up. Stay warm!

Stuck but not Stranded

2008-12-23T17:04:00.002-09:00

Well, it wasn't in my plans to be in Alaska for Christmas, but that's how it has turned out. You can't control Mother Nature!

I'm just glad my flight got cancelled before I got out of Alaska because I could have easily gotten stuck in the Seattle airport for the 25th. Yikes!

Chick Here for Fairbanks Daily News Miner Article

Happy holidays to all!!

Tolovana Pilgrimage

2008-12-17T17:58:00.008-09:00

Every December, about fifteen friends make the trip from Fairbanks to Tolovana Hot Springs, but this year was different. New babies and people on vacations left us with only four of 'the gang' going this year, plus three other people we know who just happened to be going the same weekend, which was a welcome surprise.

If you do it right, every trip to Tolovana begins with breakfast at the Hilltop Truck Stop where the menu includes such items as the Train Wreck (which Jeremy tackled with some help from Tom), the Breaker Breaker Breakfast, and the Trucker's Special. Ah yes, after breakfast at Hilltop, you won't have to worry about eating lunch, which is nice because it is an eleven mile trail in to the hot springs and can require a bit of effort to get there.

Usually the parking lot at the trailhead is super windy, but we lucked out with just a slight breeze and pretty good temperatures.

Jeremy and Tom mushed in,

Dianna handled the snow machine with giant gear sled in tow, and I trotted around on my own two feet with a sled for the downhills.

These downhills aren't just downhills. They are sometimes STEEP, which just adds to the fun.

The sled on the snow machine had a little bit of trouble with some soft snow on the way in, but other than that, things went pretty well. Tom took my picture upon arrival, and I was surprised to see that I wasn't even all that frosty.

From there on out, we enjoyed four days and three nights of eating, relaxing, exploring a bit, and soaking in the hot tub under mostly clear skies and temperatures that I think remained above zero. What a life! Good food. Good friends. No email. No cell phone. No plumbing. No electricity. It was great!

The cabin...

The view from the cabin...

The 'Upper' Tub...

Checking out the Airstrip...

Visits from Emma, Brian, and Emily helped to break up the day.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back home. The trip out was beautiful with gorgeous views of the White Mountains, Alaska Range, Denali, and the Minto Flats.

Of course, it wouldn't be a complete trip to Tolovana without just a little bit of drama...on the way home, a flat tire on the snowmachine trailer rounded out the trip.

Sea Ice Workshop in Barrow

2008-11-21T18:35:00.007-09:00

Mid-November took me to Barrow (place to hunt snowy owls), Alaska, the farthest north town in the United States and one that I had never been to before. I, along with a few other people, gave a tutorial to representatives from various coastal Alaska communities on how to access scientific information about sea ice on the internet. The workshop was a success, and I was happy to have finally visited the town of Barrow because we may set up a field site there next summer.

The workshop was held at the Barrow Global Climate Change Research Facility, whose doors were just opened last year, and it was a great place to host a meeting with plenty of computers and high-speed internet access.

The signs labeling the rooms were given in English, brail, and Inupiaq.

I'm thinking about taking an Inupiaq class in the spring, but I'm not sure how well I would do. We'll see how it goes. The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium provided lodging in a Quonset hut onsite.

After the meeting was over, I got to drive up and down the coastline a little bit. It looked just like you would expect the Arctic Ocean to look this time of year...frozen.

Another treat for me was the opportunity to see the last sunset of the year for Barrow. Goodbye from Barrow until the spring, old friend. Makes me glad I live just below the Arctic Circle.

Halloween

2008-11-02T19:32:00.005-09:00

Steve Springer hosted his 10th annual Halloween party on November 1, and as always, the costumes didn't disappoint. In this posting, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves:

The monks...

I went as Joe Six Pack.

Georgina the illegal alien...

Marla the penguin...

Karen the queen and Hank the witch doctor...

Party host Michael Jackson...

And what respectable Alaskan Halloween party would be complete without a Sarah Palin?

Paige the crazy sweater lady and Cody as Ali G...

Cashell the Care Bear and Tim the gnome...

Max, Kieran, and Mette straight out of The Wizard of Oz...

Carrie and Duff as Olive Oil and Popeye...

There was even a band, Steve Brown and the Bailers, and they dressed up too!

Another Work Trip

2008-10-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

Another trip to Red Dog Mine to check up on the equipment that we installed presented quite a different season than the one we left it in. It was now winter, and lucky for my sometimes touristy nature, the Western Artic Caribou herd was migrating through Cape Krusenstern National Monument. This wasn't the ideal situation for our driver, who wanted to get to dinner on time rather than wait for caribou to cross the road, and it probably didn't help that I was taking pictures from the back seat,

but fortunately there was a small gap in the action after only a couple of minutes, so none of us went hungry.

Everything at our field site was quiet and calm. All ships have to be south of Bering Strait before November 1st due to sea ice, so this place really slows down in the winter time.

Just a day or two before we got there, a big storm threw chunks of ice up onto the beach, which made for some pretty trecherous beach combing. Glad I missed that one!

Oh yeah, we did some work too, but soon enough it was time to head back home. On the return flight, we were afforded excellent views of Denali and Mt. Foraker from the west-southwest, which was a new angle for me.

Playing With the Queen of Hearts

2008-10-28T21:50:00.002-08:00

Sometimes, there's not a whole lot that goes on in an Alaskan town when the temperatures start to drop, the amount of daylight begins to dwindle, and everyone waits for more snow to fall, so you can imagine my excitement when I read in the newspaper on Friday that Juice Newton was going to be giving a concert in Fairbanks on Monday night. Juice Newton! She is one of my all-time favorites, so I knew I had to go.

Juice was only one of the acts that night. Gary Puckett (yes, of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap) was also playing. It was a fund raiser for the Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers. Playing in the local hockey arena, the crowd was a little sparse. Poor advertising? I don't know, but the fact that I didn't find out about it until three days before makes me think...yes. At any rate, showing up ten minutes before the show was plenty of time for my friend Ellen (who was lucky enough to be in town from Delta Junction) and me to find seats in the fifth row. We could have even sat in the second row, but that seemed awfully close.

Juice was great! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but oh well. Playing acoustic with a couple of fellow band members, Juice had a great sense of humor, could still carry a tune, and just generally rocked the house. Highly entertaining! I even got her autograph between bands:

When Gary Puckett took the stage, I realized why Ellen and I were pretty much the youngest people in the crowd. Let's see...how do I put this. I guess I'll just say that I don't think I really appreciate music from the late 60s and felt that I needed to leave a little early. Maybe I would have liked him more if I was in a lounge in Las Vegas, and he was opening for Wayne Newton or something. Who knows?

First Snow

2008-09-27T23:21:00.002-08:00

Well, it isn't the greatest picture, but it proves the title of this entry. It's winter.

Back to Red Dog

2008-09-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

We returned to Red Dog Mine to set up our field equipment, which will monitor the waves offshore until the ice moves in. Knowing that it was late September, I was a little nervous about how cold it would be, but it was about the same weather as in Fairbanks. Actually the weather at Red Dog was gorgeous, with clear skies and no wind. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Here a picture of me (white hard hat, looking like Cousin It) and Oceana running cable down a trench.

Getting there on a Monday and leaving on Wednesday was just the right amount of time to get all of our work done and do a few extra equipment tests to boot. If only every installation would go so smoothly. No wait, then we might be out of a job, but anyway…

It was nice to work in the sunshine and to have a chance at seeing the green flash at sunset over the Chukchi Sea.

We didn’t see the flash, but our surroundings were certainly beautiful enough to give us plenty of other sights to enjoy.

Some caribou ran across the tundra during our drive back to the airstrip. No pictures of those, but the plane coming to pick us up was a great sight as well. It was only three days, but it’s always nice to return home.

It's All Downhill From Here

2008-09-19T09:17:00.002-08:00

I went out to my car this morning, same as every morning, and, same as every cold morning lately, the windshield was covered in a heavy dew. One flick of the windshield wipers. Nothing happened. The dew stayed, and all I heard was a dull scraping sound. Another flick of the windshield wipers, and the exact same scene replayed itself. Could it be?...Was my fear becoming reality?...No...Surely not. However, sure enough. The windshield was covered in frost for the first time this season. Luckily I'm lazy enough that my ice scraper was still in the trunk from last spring. I guess it's time to move it to the back seat. It's all downhill from here.

The Last Few Weeks

2008-09-06T19:31:00.010-08:00

After returning to Alaska from my southern tour, I wanted nothing more than to stick around Fairbanks for a while and to keep my feet on the ground; however, it was only a few days before I boarded a plane for Colorado. I had a meeting in Keystone and seized the opportunity to visit my cousin Cori in Denver. Unfortunately we were only able to catch up for one evening, and I didn't take any pictures, but it was great to see her again. (Thanks for the great hospitality, Cori!) Soon enough I was in beautiful Keystone, Colorado, where the weather was perfect. I left the window of my hotel room open 24 hours a day and enjoyed the sun and beautiful views during breaks from the meeting.

A few days later, I was back in the Denver airport, yet again returning to Fairbanks. Coincidentally, my friend Carrie's sister Rachel and her daughter Claire were on the same flights as I was. Rachel lives in Colorado and was heading to Alaska to visit Carrie. What are the chances?

Since there were visitors in Fairbanks, a little entertaining was in order. Carrie and Thea, Rachel and Claire, and I headed out to Mt. Prindle to hike up the Quartz Creek Trail and pick some blueberries!

There weren't a whole lot of blueberries to be had, but the view from the trail was gorgeous.

The only wildlife we saw were some grouse hanging out on the hilltop, but it was a sighting none the less.

Since there weren't many blueberries to be had this year, thanks to a few weeks straight of rain, I still had the berry picking bug. It didn't take long when I got a tip that the raspberries at Pearl Creek Farms were great this year (Thanks, Andy!), so I headed on over there and picked a gallon of raspberries in short order. Mette and Kieran joined me for a bit because who can resist raspberries? Yum!

The only other annual tradition that needed to be fulfilled before the snow starts to fly was attending the demolition derby with Carrie. This year Thea was able to enjoy being a 'red-neck-for-a-day' with us, and now you can too thanks to the following video.

Diversified fun is a must!

A Georgia Surprise!

2008-08-16T18:17:00.004-08:00

Earlier this year, my mother's side of the family began to plan an August trip to the beach. I was disappointed because I wasn't going to be able to make it. I was supposed to be on the Arctic coast to start a new field project. HOWEVER, in late June, I found out that an Italian drilling company had erected a drill rig on our field site, quickly squashing any work plans, so I went ahead and made plans to join the family on Tybee Island, Georgia. The only caveat here is that I decided not to tell them I was coming. I've never done a long-distance surprise, and I was excited to try and pull it off.

They arrived on Saturday, but I didn't arrive until Tuesday. When I got there, the surprise was on me. I found the house, but they weren't home! I looked for them on the beach but couldn't find them anywhere, so I decided to go to lunch and then try again. After lunch, I found a still empty house. Turns out they went to Savannah for the day, but luckily it was too hot for comfort, and they returned sooner than later.

Surprise!!

It was so much fun, and the surprise went off without a hitch. No one had any idea that I might show up to join in on the vacation fun. Mission Accomplished.

Of course, we spent a lot of time hanging out on the beach, although the heat index was 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Yikes!! That's pretty warm for an Alaskan girl. I had to be sure and stay in the water so that I didn't melt.

Other time was spent hanging out with family...

...and we worked in a ladies trip to Savannah where we toured Bull Street in the heat. (Ha! That rhymed.)

We were lucky enough to be on Tybee Island the same week that Squirty the sea turtle was released back into the wild. He was rescued as a hatchling and raised for two years by the Burton 4-H Center. We paraded down to the Tybee Island pier to watch the big event.

It seems we weren't the only ones on the island who wanted to see Squirty off, but luckily we were early enough to get a great view from the pier and a nice breezy spot.

After the turtle excitement we headed back to the house...

and celebrated my birthday that evening by making party hats! What could be better?

Before I knew it, it was time for everyone to leave. I had a great time with the family and can't wait to see them all again for the holidays. It was especially nice to have the opportunity to spend time with the kids that I usually only see for an afternoon on holidays. I got a chance to learn their lively, cheerful personalities.

I said goodbye, but I wasn't ready to end my trip just yet. You can't fly all that way and not make the most of your time. From Tybee Island, I headed to South Carolina where I spent a couple of days with a very pregnant Shawncee, and then I headed to North Carolina to visit Susan and her family for a couple more days. It was the first week of the Summer Olympics, and after the days in the sun at the beach, hanging out with friends over dinner and Olympic action was the perfect form of entertainment.

While in North Carolina, I enjoyed a reprieve from the heat and hiked the Cox Mountain and Fanny's Ford Trails in Eno River State Park, which is an impressive little haven in the middle of populated area.

There were deer everywhere! Good thing they aren't in Alaska. They would probably be getting shot from airplanes. ;) (Those of you not from Alaska probably won't understand that final comment. Sorry!)

It was a great vacation, but as always, it's nice to be home!

Dawson City Music Festival

2008-07-21T20:03:00.001-08:00

OK, this is going to be a long, picture-rich entry that will hopefully help to satisfy the many of you who have pointed out what a slacker I have been with my blog. Sorry! I always hate to disappoint my fans. ;)

About 15 hours after returning from Red Dog, I was on my way to the Dawson City Music Festival in Canda. Many friends from Alaska were going and had already left town, but I met up with Jeremy and Dianna in Tok on Thursday night to complete the drive over the Top of the World Highway on Friday. The festival started on Friday and went through Sunday night. We weren't sure how long it would take because the Top of the World Highway is a dirt/rock road that is only open in the summer. One thing we were in agreement on is that we wanted to stop in Chicken, Alaska, on the way. Who couldn't stop in a town named Chicken? First order of business was to find a bathroom so in the Chicken Poop we went.

Next order of business was the gift shop to buy some Chicken paraphenilia, where they had an air compressor, so we solved a small drama with my car tire running low on air, and we also found a list of facts about Chicken:

Not quite ready to leave we stopped in the Chicken Saloon to have a drink amongst I don't even know how many hats hanging from the walls and ceiling.

Our next and last stop was getting our pictures taken in the Chicken cut-outs. Chicken mushing!!

Back to the highway, which was rainy, and therefore muddy. Too bad because it seemed like the drive had high potential for gorgeous views on a less cloudy day.

In no time at all, we were at the border crossing, which we all made it through without any problems. Whew! Not that we were worried, but somehow crossing a border always makes me a little nervous.

In Canada, the roads improved, and we rolled into Dawson City by late afternoon. Well, almost. To get to Dawson City from Alaska, you have to take a ferry across the Yukon River.

The ferry doesn't hold too many vehicles...

...and there were a lot of people coming to town for the music festival, so we had to wait in line for a while. Those RVs took up WAY too much valuable car and truck space on each ferry crossing.

After crossing, we set up camp at Guggieville, which is kind of like a KOA campground. We knew there were gong to be lots of people and decided to go with the insurance of a reserved camp site, which Guggieville offered. The site left a lot to be desired, but we weren't there much, so it didn't really matter.

After setting up camp, we headed to the festival to see what was happening. It didn't take us long to find fellow Fairbanksans and a few other friends from Delta Junction.

It was raining, and we knew the forecast wasn't the best, but you never know if you can trust the forecast, right? Unfortunately, it was right this time. It rained the ENTIRE weekend. Ugh! We all quickly adjusted though, and all of the music was indoors, so it wasn't so bad. I thought I would throw in a few band shots for those of you who are into that sort of thing:

Snailhouse and Bell Orchestre

Justin Rutledge and Basia Bulat

Done Gone String Band

During the day, there were three venues around town that had bands playing, and then at night everyone gathered at the Dawson City baseball field to see the evening shows under the big top, which was set up in the outfield.

The infield contained the beer garden and was more like a giant pond filled with drunk people.

The festival ended Sunday Night with all of the singers on stage at once for a grand finale.

On Monday morning it was time to get in the car and head back to Fairbanks. Tom and Melissa were celebrating their anniversary and extended their return trip by canoeing the Yukon River to Eagle, Alaska.

We gave them a mini send-off and then hit the road. After three days of music which didn't end until about 2:00am, it was hard to spend the whole day in the car on Monday driving back to Fairbanks, but it helped that the weather was much-improved. Once again we made it through what has to be the most desolate U.S. border crossing...

...and returned to the winding, dirt roads of Alaska.

My favorite views on the way back were of the Forty Mile River.

Hopefully that's a float trip that can be lined up for the future!

Red Dog Mine: Work on Day 2 and a Wolf on Day 3

2008-07-16T20:22:00.003-08:00

Work commenced on Tuesday morning. We were looking for a place to mount our antennas, which would be out of the way of the ship loading operations at the dock. In order to do that, we had to go and check out the end of the dock. The only way out there is along the conveyor belt that transports the zinc and lead to the ships. The conveyor belt is housed in a long grey ramping corridor that reaches out to the ships.

Before entering the conveyor belt walkway, we had to don safety glasses, hard hats, life jackets, and dust masks to ensure our safety along the narrow walkway and when we exited a few meters above the surface of the water.

After a bit of time and effort looking for a good spot for our antennas, we decided to head back and discuss our options, which weren't all that great. Simply enough, on our way back to the dorms, we passed a conex that would perfectly house our electronics. After we inquired about it, it turns out it is even half empty. Mission Accomplished!!

With our work completed, we could continue being tourists. They showed us around the rest of the port facilites, including the two largest buildings in Alaska, which were similar to airplane hangers and house all of the lead and zinc that is mined over the winter.

Every year, as soon as the sea ice breaks up (usually early July) and ships can reach the port, the buildings begin to empty as the zinc and lead are tranported along the approximately mile long conveyor belt to the ships.

When it was time to leave, we boarded the transport bus to travel back to the mine and the runway. Along the way we were treated by a wolf sighting! Ah yes, another benefit of working in Alaska.

Red Dog Mine

2008-07-14T20:28:00.002-08:00

Monday morning was spent in Kotzebue before catching the chartered flight to Red Dog Mine, where we were to scout out a potential new field site for mapping ocean surface currents. As the pilot loaded our luggage in to the nose of the plane,

I was thinking it was kind of sad to leave Kotzebue so quickly. We barely had time to get our bearings. It would have been neat to hang out a little while longer, so hopefully there will be a next time. One last glance as we took off, and it was goodbye for now, Kotzebue.

A short flight over the tundra and through a mountain pass

delivered us to Red Dog Mine, which I believe is the largest zinc mine in the world.

The mine is about fifty miles away from their port facility, where we were going to stay, so we still had a little bit of traveling ahead of us. The man who drove us to the port was super nice and took the five of us on a little tour of the facility before we were whisked away. Here are Oceana, me, Hank, Larry, and David posing in front of the mine.

The pit could definitely swallow up pretty much anything in sight and is in the middle of a gorgeous setting. Do you see the bulldozer in the bottom left hand corner of the following image? (You may have to click on the image to blow it up)

Well, here it is on the road when you're right next to it. Notice the size of the driver in relation to the tires. Hopefully that gives you some sort of idea how big the mine is.

Getting to the port from the mine required passing the tailings pond and proceeding across the tundra and more hills to the coast.

Along the way, there were giant snow fences to keep the road from being completely drifted over and unnavigable in the winter.

We arrived at the port just in time for dinner and to get a good night's sleep. Is this work? It seems more like a vacation so far...

Kotzebue

2008-07-13T21:30:00.006-08:00

A long day of traveling began with flying from Fairbanks to Anchorage. The best part of any flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage is the potential to catch a glimpse of Denali along the way, and this one didn't disappoint. The peaks of both Denali and Mount Foraker were visible above the clouds, causing everyone to crowd the windows on the right.

After a long layover in Anchorage, we flew to Kotzebue, Alaska, where it was 61 degrees. 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and it was above 60 degrees! Who could ask for anything better?

After getting a bite to eat, we took a stroll around town. Many villages in northwestern Alaska are threatened by coastal erosion, and Kotzebue is no exception. Walking along Kotzebue Sound, the coast is reinforced with concrete.

The trash bins are elevated to keep out any animals and to keep the trash bags from blowing away (Thanks, tundratantrum!).

According to literature at the hotel Nullagvik, Kotzebue is Alaska's largest Eskimo village. Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue landed at present-day Kotzebue in 1816(!) and found a large, well-established settlement - the home of the Inupiat Eskimos - bustling with subsistence hunting and fishing activity. This was the regional center for trade in northwest Alaska. Many of these subsistence practices persist. We came upon a small shelter on the beach where someone was drying fish and game meat.

Lining the perimeter of many buildings in Kotzebue, as well as many other structures in Alaska, are thermal siphons. The way I understand it, thermal siphons draw heat from the ground, helping to keep the permafrost frozen. Here are some thermal siphons outside of our hotel:

Busy Week

2008-07-12T18:10:00.004-08:00

I have a busy week ahead. I found out yesterday that I'm leaving tomorrow to scope out a potential research site for the University at Red Dog Mine. To get there, we have to fly through Anchorage and Kotzebue, where we'll spend Sunday night. Then on Monday we will continue on to Red Dog Mine where we'll stay until Wednesday, when we return to Fairbanks, again via Anchorage. On Thursday I leave Fairbanks to attend the Dawson City Music Festival just across the border in Canada until the following Monday. Needless to say, it will be a busy week, but hopefully it will make for some good blogging! Talk to you on the flip side.

(Click on the map below to see where the mine and Dawson City are located.)

Fourth of July Fun

2008-07-06T20:06:00.004-08:00

One of the best things about Fourth of July is that I get a four-day weekend. My employer is kind enough to always give us two days of vacation rather than one. Thank you very much, UA. Don't get me wrong. I love my job, but it's always nice to have some vacation time.

This year it was also a treat to have four days of sunny, eighty degree weather without any smoke from forest fires. Woo hoo! It was like solstice weekend all over again. Similar to independence celebrators throughout the country a cookout was on the list of things to do. However, unlike the Lower 48, fireworks posed a bit of a problem.

Mette and Max were gracious enough to be the Fourth of July hosts for those of us who stuck around town for the weekend.

It was great because we could all help break in their new deck and enjoy the sun. I showed up a little bit early and got some time in with Kieran before he fell asleep.

Soon our fellow patriots arrived and the feast began.

After eating, of course fireworks were in order. This poses a problem because the sun was still shining even though it was nearly midnight.

We had sparklers and poppers, but not all of the sparklers would light and burn optimally, which visibly disappointed Dianna.

Mette and Max sure know how to throw a party and how to celebrate a sleeping baby!

Enjoying the Midnight Sun

2008-06-22T20:06:00.001-08:00

Summer in Fairbanks, Alaska, is definitely a treat. The sun up 24 hours a day, which is always appreciated after the long, cold winters. It's no wonder the town has a huge festival to celebrate.

It is complete with bands,

vendors, and plenty of food stands,

not to mention 80 degree temperatures and some of the best people watching of the year.

Another favorite event is the Midnight Sun Run, with nearly 4,000 participants running or walking 10 kilometers through town, beginning at 10:00pm. Costumes are encouraged, so Hank and Marla went for it!

Other friends opted for the 'free' midnight sun t-shirts that were given out when you paid your entry fee,

and then there were those of us who just watched the parade of people go by from the sidelines.

It's hard not to smile when you're havin' fun in the sun, especially at midnight!

Another baby!

2008-05-25T16:59:00.003-08:00

Memorial Day not only brought outdoor fun, it also brought a new member to our group. Althea Meghan was born Saturday night, bringing more joy to everyone.

Of course her birth prompted Mette and I to head to the hospital Sunday morning to sneak a peek at the new family. They're doing great, and we were so excited to meet little Thea!

I'm sure Carrie's going to be a great mom.

Memorial Day Weekend Canoe Trip

2008-05-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

Memorial Day weekend usually always includes a cookout...check. Another thing that's always fun to do is to enjoy being outside. A canoe trip down the Upper Chena with some friends was just the thing to fit the bill.

We put in Saturday morning and quickly came across many obstacles. There were several log jams to portage around...

...and many shallow areas forced us to walk the canoes rather than ride in them.

Luckily we got all of the obstacles out of the way at the beginning, which only made the rest of the river that much nicer and the smiles that much bigger.

Mother's Day Trip to Denali (One Day Early)

2008-05-10T20:41:00.007-08:00

It's that time of year when everyone wants to be outside and soak in some sunshine because we haven't been able to enjoy the outdoors with skin exposed in quite some time! Yes, this is the time of year, when the palest skin you've ever seen begins being shown. It's a wonder we don't all blind each other just walking down the steet, and for many, it's the favorite time of year.

To catch up on our Vitamin D, I decided to take Mette and Kieran to Denali National Park for some Mother's Day fun in the sun because Max was out of town for work and because the Park Road was open to private vehicles for the first 30 miles. (As you may or may not know, for most of the open road season, the Park Road is closed to private vehicles and you may only drive through the park on one of the Denali buses. They don't want anybody having an accident while looking at the scenery, hitting any wildlife, or messing anything else up.)

Although pretty hazy, the mountain was visible if you looked close. Can you see it in this picture? You may have to click on the picture to blow it up to get a better look.

We saw some people we knew, Kevin and Andi, shortly after entering the park, so we stopped to talk.

While hanging out talking, a man pulled up and pointed out a mama grizzly bear with her two cubs walking around by the river below us. The five of us obviously weren't very good at sighting wildlife, so we were glad to check bears off of our list early in the day. Of course, it was a lot more fun to watch them through the binoculars since you could barely see them with the naked eye.

ZOOMED IN (again you might have to click on the picture to see the bears better)

On the way to Mile 30, the only animal of note, aside from the bears, was a ptarmagin, unless you count the other birds we saw, but I wasn't looking up. Mile 30 marks Teklanika River, where we turned around and headed back to the park entrance.

On the way back out of the park, we added another animal to our list, an Arctic Ground Squirrel. OK, it's a good thing the guy pointed the bears out because obviously the rest of our animal sightings were less than thrilling, unless of course you count the moose running toward the highway while we were driving back to Fairbanks. Luckily he was smart enough to turn around and head back into the spruce trees.

Water Walk and Run 5K

2008-05-07T20:04:00.003-08:00

Luckily, by the time I returned from California, most of the snow had melted and I was greeted with sunny, sixty degree weather. In other words, it was time for the summer activities to finally begin!!

Although I normally get together with some friends on to walk after work on Thursdays, it was time to participate in a community activity, so Carrie, Dianna, Melissa, Mette, and I signed up for the Golden Heart Utilites 5K. This one took place after work on a Wednesday, so we all met up a block from the start and got ready for the 'race'.

The 5K was fun, and we finished by walking across the finish line in less than an hour, so it was an evening well spent. There was quite the crowd at the finish line, and rightfully so for there were free hot dogs...

...and a clown to entertain everyone.

As you can see from the clown picure, Kieran joined us as well in his Chariot stroller. For those of you who were wondering, he's getting cuter every day!

Training in California

2008-05-03T20:12:00.004-08:00

I was in Santa Cruz, California, for a week of training. It was extra exciting to get out of Fairbabnks because the snow just won't go away!! It snowed another three or four inches while I was in California and has been logged as the third snowiest April on record.

Long Marine Lab UCSC was the location of our training. A lot of time was spent on computers, but we also got to be outside a bit.

There was a small beach in front of the lab, but it was pretty windy outside and was a little bit chilly to be hanging out in the sun. However, flip flops were definitely a welcome change for my feet. The only thing I didn't know was that there would be ticks and stinging nettles to plague my bare toes.

I quickly learned to put on closed toed shoes and socks when we were working in the field next to the lab. Here's a picture of Jeremy doing a walking antenna calibration, but I like to think that he's playing one of the three kings and bringing a gift to baby Jesus.

In addition to learning a lot, we also had a lot of fun. The training host company, CODAR, entertained us with a cook-out as well as a couple of dinners out on the town.

After training ended on Friday afternoon, I took the rest of the day to casually drive up Highway 1 to San Francisco. There were tons of beaches to explore. All you had to do was navigate your way down the cliffs!

Remember how I mentioned above that it was windy? Well, these wind surfers were definitely taking advantage of it. I've never seen so many wind surfers packed in to one area. It's a wonder they didn't get all tangled together, but something tells me this wasn't their first time.

And of course, what beach drive would be complete without a lighthouse?

Beer Scramble 2008

2008-04-13T18:17:00.002-08:00

Yes, it was the weekend for Beer Scramble 2008! Some of you may remember Beer Scramble 2007. If you don't, you're probably wondering what in the world a beer scramble is. I know I was.

Every year, my friends Tom and Melissa have people over one Sunday in April for brunch and then a beer scramble. Essentially what happens is that Tom hides beers in their yard, someone yells go, and then we all scramble to find the beer. This year they were buried in the snow, so there were a lot of boots kicking through the powder.

Until someone would yell, "Found one!", at which point we would all stop looking and stare at that person for a few seconds before continuing the search.

I didn't find any, but since Carrie is pregnant, she was nice enough to share hers with me. :)

Baby Shower For Carrie

2008-04-12T21:52:00.002-08:00

Yes, another baby shower, but I think it will be the last one for a while. (Although, you never know. It seems there's something in the water up here.) It was great fun yet again, as we all fawned over the cute, adorable, tiny gifts.

In addition to presents, games were on the docket. We all brought baby pictures of ourselves, hung them on the fridge, and then we had to guess who was who. Some people's pictures were pretty easy to figure out, and others were nearly impossible!

Also going on was the baby food game, where you try different jars and guess which flavors they are. A mom usually ends up winning this one every time.

The big gift of the day was a Kinder Shuttle so that the new baby will be able to be pulled behind a skiier in the winter. This model is the Cadillac of baby sleds.

Not only was it a baby shower for Carrie, it was also her birthday, so there were multiple reasons to celebrate!

Basketball, Of Course

2008-04-07T20:26:00.007-08:00

We had an office basketball pool. It's kind of like pulling teeth to get people to enter around here because Fairbanks isn't really into the some of the more common sports that I've experienced in the Lower 48. People here appear to be extremely knowledgeable about skiing and hockey, but put a test in front of them on basketball or football, and I'm afraid that many would fail. It's rather shocking to me, but many people would pick a bracket up off of the table at work and say, "What's this?" After you would tell them, they would inquire, "How do you fill it out?" Who knew these people would need a lesson in how to fill out NCAA basketball brackets!!

It was for this reason that I thought that maybe for the first time in my life, I would have a good chance at winning the old office basketball pool. In former offices, I was one of many, but here at UAF I was one of four last year and one of nine this year. (Mind you there are many more than nine people in the office.) These are much higher chances of winning than I've ever experienced.

As part of the fun, I invited everyone over to my place for the championship game because we had a pretty tight race going. The game started at 5:00pm our time, so we all had to leave work a little early to try and catch the tip off. Nobody complained about leaving work early, but Lola definitely had something to say about basketball brackets after the game ended.

Maybe she was extra mad/jealous because her dad received a giant check for winning.

Yes, Andy may have won, crushing my dreams in the process, but I did manage to get second place. There's always next year, right?

Paige and Cody Got Hitched!

2008-03-22T21:53:00.002-08:00

This weekend I went to Paige and Cody's wedding, which took place at the Ice Hotel at Chena Hot Springs. This was my first ever themed wedding, and everyone was to wear retro ski gear. Of course, I guess it was my first ever wedding in an ice hotel as well, so there were multiple firsts. I got my outift on eBay for $9.99, of course the shipping to Alaska pretty much doubles the cost, but that is beside the point.

Paige had our friend Carrie convert a white ski suit into a wedding dress for the big day...

The cermony only took a few short minutes, and then everyone bellied up to the ice bar to enjoy appletinis served in ice glasses.

Here I am with the groom, Cody...

Here's a shot with the girls...

From left to right, Lisa, myself, and Dianna. Dianna definitely got the award for the best 80s hair!

I'm sure that none of us will ever attend another wedding like that one. Too bad. It was a blast!

Busy busy busy

2008-03-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

Since my last update, things have been super busy! I went to a baby shower for my friend Georgina, babysat for Elias a couple of times, participated in yet another ski race, went to Florida for the 2008 Ocean Sciences meeting, got stuck in a snow storm, visited family in Indiana, almost missed my plane, returned to Alaska, got sick, and then topping it all off, Georgina had a new baby girl. Whew! It makes me tired again just thinking about it.

Here are some pictures from along the way. It seems all of the pictures are of kids, not sure how that happened. I think it's just because everyone around me seems to have them now, and they're all so darn cute!

I met Nettie for the first time...

...played Memory with the kids...

...found out that kids love taking pillows off of the couch and putting them in the middle of the living room floor no matter if they're in Alaska...

...or Indiana...

...and last but not least, little Julia Margaret, five days old.

Tanana River Rally

2008-02-23T19:56:00.000-09:00

Another ski race took place, this time on the Tanana River with warm (+20 degree) temperatures and lots o' people, forty racers to be precise (not everyone is pictured here).

I spent more time taking pictures of people than skiing, so I didn't finish the course, but everyone else did. Somehow I have become the official photographer, which is fun, but one of these days I'm going to have to put down the camera and finish a race. As I believe I've said before, for every drink you have on the trail, you get minutes subtracted from your time. This is rather hard to manage while you're skiing but Melissa demonstrates here:

It is for this reason that I decided to make a homemade beer helmet so that I could have a beer (or two) and still be able to move on down the trail.

Little did I know that as soon as I sucked on one of the tubes, I would start a siphon essentially turning my beer helmet into a beer bong. Who knew these things could be so complicated? Don't worry though, I quickly learned how to combat the siphoning and make it into a practical, useful $3 item, and I'll have another chance to use it this coming weekend at our last race of the season.

After the race, we had our traditional pot luck with lots of good food and good friends.

Susie's Diner

2008-02-16T22:55:00.004-09:00

Mette, Max, Kieran, and I went to eat at Susie's Diner (aka Andy and Sue's house) one night.

This was to be the scene of Kieran and Lola's first date. Somehow they failed to really notice each other. Maybe they just felt shy? Kieran showed off his dad Max's perfect swaddle...

and Lola showed off her beautiful smile, but somehow they never quite managed to lock eyes.

Maybe they need another month. Thanks Andy and Sue! We had a great time!

Yukon Quest

2008-02-10T15:56:00.000-09:00

Saturday afternoon was not only filled with cold temperatures, but it was also filled with excitement. Yes, it would take more than -30 below temps to keep Fairbanksans inside while the Yukon Quest was starting on the Chena River. Hundreds of people braved the cold to cheer on the 24 dog mushers who began their 1,000 mile adventure to Whitehorse.

Bill Cotter's dogs were dressed in blue (except for those two in black coats up front)...

Paul Geoffrion was dressed for the weather...

Lance Mackey won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod last year and is looking to defend his title...

People were lined up along the starting chute...

and all of the way down the Chena River to cheer on the mushers!!

Here they come!!

Too Cold To Blog

2008-02-08T10:28:00.001-09:00

I've been working at home until lunchtime this week because it has been taking that long to get above -40 degrees F. I feel bad for the ravens because they look SUPER cold. One of them has been hanging out on the hood of my car just above where my battery is to keep warm. He's no dummy!

Cold continues: No warming in sight
By Mary Beth Smetzer
Published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Friday, February 8, 2008

The Candamar Classic

2008-01-29T21:28:00.000-09:00

Well, it was 42 degrees below zero when I woke up Saturday morning. It was the kind of morning where you wake up and think, "What a great day to be cozy, stay inside under a blanket, and read a book." However, the Candamar Classic race was scheduled for 1:00 that afternoon, meaning that there was no book reading to be done. There was a race to attend!

Before I left the house, I decided I wasn't going to actually go out on skiis in temperatures that cold but that I would go a little ways down the race route on foot and take pictures. I figured there would be about five people die hard enough to brave the cold temperatures, but boy was I wrong. About 30 people showed up, ready to go! Good times! It sort of made me wish I had brought my skiis...almost.

Hanging out at Carrie's

2008-01-15T21:18:00.000-09:00

This past weekend, Duff was out of town, so Carrie invited the ladies over for a craft/gift night. It was super cold outside, so we were all glad to hang out in a warm house with good friends.

Lauren spun wool...

I iced a cake...

Tamara and Angie knitted...

and poor Dianna, who didn't even have time to change out of her camo after a long day, got pampered by getting her toenails painted.

Anything goes at these parties!!

2008-01-15T20:09:00.000-09:00

The rest of my time has been spent hanging out with Little Kieran. Oh, and Mette too.

2008

2008-01-01T21:15:00.000-09:00

This was my first time ushering in a new year from Alaska, and it certainly did not disappoint. Jeremy and Dianna were kind enough to open their home to the masses and subject it to the uncertain destruction of New Year's party. Little did they know, Tom and Melissa were going to bring Drinko...

Yes, it is like Plinko on the 'Price is Right', only you drop chips down the pegs and have to drink whichever shot you land on. For a game found in your local housewares department, Drinko was highly entertaining to say the least.

At the stroke of midnight, we were all outside around a bonfire enjoying a spectacular fireworks show. Since we have 24 hours of daylight on the 4th of July, the tradition is that fireworks are saved until New Year's. We were all issued sparklers to wave as fireworks exploded high in the sky.

Afterward, we shared our resolutions around the fire as well as lots of smiles.

In case you were wondering, I believe the worst damage incurred from Drinko were the headaches the next morning.

He's Here!

2007-12-31T18:31:00.000-09:00

There's a new member of the group here in Fairbanks. Mette and Max gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on New Year's Eve. After waiting as long as he could to make his grand entrance, he's a cutie and definitely a keeper!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-22T19:55:00.000-09:00

Merry Christmas to everyone near and far!! I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.

Special thanks to Mette and Max for cutting down my little Christmas tree. Maybe putting 400 lights on a black spruce wasn't the best idea to keep the limbs from sagging, but it works for me. I love my little tree!

PS I'm still working on getting out Christmas cards. Don't hold your breath, but hopefully they're coming. I believe that they will be New Year cards rather than Christmas cards.

Flat Stanley

2007-12-21T19:39:00.000-09:00

When I returned from my Thanksgiving vacation, I found Flat Stanley in my mailbox. Flat Stanley was sent to me by my cousin Carly for a little vacation of his own. (Carly is pictured here between Sarah and Ali.)

Flat Stanley was here for one of the coldest times of the year. It was even -43 degrees Fahrenheit one day. We still managed to get out a little bit though. We went dog mushing, visited some reindeer, and saw a polar bear ice sculpture.

All are proof that it's not always dark in the winter and that you can still get out and about when you feel like your nose might fall off from the cold. Thanks for sending him, Carly! He is now on his way to our cousin Abby in Minnesota.

It's Cold!

2007-12-18T11:40:00.000-09:00

It's 30 degrees below zero today. This is definitely going to be my coldest Christmas ever!

Here's an article from today's newspaper:

Winter chill puts a frosty bite into Fairbanks’ warmer-than-normal weather
By Tim Mowry
Staff Writer
Published December 18, 2007

Old Ridge Rondy

2007-12-17T18:38:00.001-09:00

This past weekend brought another ski race in our friendly series. This one was called the Old Ridge Rendezvous and took place just up the road in Ester, Alaska. 29 people showed up for this one.

There were ski jorers...

...mushers...

...and skiiers. I, per usual, took a long time to go the seven miles around the course and as a result became covered in frost by the end of the race. Believe it or not, I wasn't cold although temperatures did hover around -9 degrees for the duration of the race. Winter is certainly here!

Black Friday

2007-11-23T20:41:00.000-09:00

As we all know, the day after Thanksgiving is a day for many Americans to get up before the crack of dawn and try to get to stores earlier than the early bird to get the best deals. Somehow, I don't think of that as a whole lot of fun. Instead, I joined some of the women on my mother's side of the family for a day in French Lick; where, although we did do some shopping, we didn't have to get up early to do it, and there weren't any crowds to fight either.

When we got hungry, we went to the French Lick Winery for some lunch and wine tasting before hitting a couple more stores.

Making a day of it, we visiting the newly remodeled/restored West Baden hotel, which contains mineral hot springs and a host of other activities. We were there on the day of their tree lighting ceremony, but it wasn't in our plan to stay until it got dark, so we took in the grandeur before the tree was lit. It was beautiful all the same.

After West Baden, we went to the French Lick Resort Casino also newly remodeled and only about a mile down the road. After everyone lost money in the casino, we walked around the hotel to see the new modifications and, unscheduled, ran into Santa Claus. What a great day! Maybe we can do that again next year.

Now I know that several of you may be asking. What?! Where?! If I'm not mistaken, Al Capone hung out in French Lick in the 20s before Larry Bird brought fame to the small town in the late 1900s. So what do you mean..what...where? French Lick, that's what and where.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T20:13:00.000-09:00

I hadn’t spent Thanksgiving with my family for six years, so I figured I was due. I took some vacation time and decided to have some R and R with the fam. Boy am I glad I did! It was a wonderful trip, although it was definitely busy. With three Thanksgiving celebrations to attend in one day, it was a good thing I rented a car.

Thanksgiving started out at Heather and Ryan’s house, where Donna was hosting my step family.

It was quite a spread, but unfortunately, I soon had to race off to eat again with my mother’s family at my aunt Lori’s house. I arrived there just in time to get in the back of the food line. Right off the bat, while I was still eating, it was time to crown the Cornucopia Queen/King. This is a tradition started by my cousin Laura who thought that we needed a tradition. Each year, someone is crowned with a decorated, wicker cornucopia, and then the next year they get to crown their successor. Thanks for picking me, David!! What an honor!

After all of that, I still had one more family to visit, my dad’s side of the family. We all met up at Susie and Ken’s house, where the theme was babies. There were three approximately one month old little ones to keep everyone entertained. Mark and Jamie brought their twins, Davin and Hayley (hope I spelled those two right), and Kenny and Chris brought their new little one, Kate, whose hair had a way of standing straight up. It was great!

Nothing can beat spending the holidays with family, especially when you get to see them after being away for a while. I definitely treasure the time I spent with them over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Nichols Oil Slick Run

2007-11-17T18:33:00.000-09:00

Well, it’s winter, and that means that once again, it’s time to begin our series of fun races. Maybe you remember them from last year. Any non-motorized form of transport is allowed. If you have dogs helping to pull you along the trail, you get a time penalty, but for every drink (alcoholic) you have on the trail, you get a bonus. Our first race was along the oil pipeline and was an out and back seven miles long. I am super slow on cross-country skis and was just trying to finish before it got too dark to see the trail, which thankfully I did.

The funny thing is that this all started out as a few people having a good time, but apparently word has spread about how fun it is because we had 33 people show up for the pipeline race! 33! It was hard to find a place to park.

After the race there is always a pot luck, prizes for the winners, and good times for all. For more pictures from our race series, you can check out our web site www.racehardplayhard.com.

A Baby Shower for Mette

2007-11-11T10:19:00.000-09:00

Geez, I haven't updated this thing in a long time. Sorry about that. It's not that nothing has happened; it's just that I've been so darn busy. Anyway, on November 10th, I hosted a baby shower for Mette, who had the fabulous idea of having a dinner party, setting up a burrito bar, and letting everyone have at it.

After eating and socializing, the present opening began. Talk about a lot of packages! There were twenty people at the shower, and several gifts were sent from out of town. It was a presentpalooza, and of course, everything was super-cute.

We played the string game to see who could most accurately guess Mette's circumference...

...and the night was topped off with chocolate fondue. The party ended with many happy but tired guests and tons of new items for the little guy.

The Girls Get Together in Delta

2007-11-04T19:08:00.000-09:00

Shiway was in Delta Junction visiting with Ellie while they're husbands were moose hunting, so it seemed like as good a reason as ever to visit. Julie, Mette, and I headed down to Delta Junciton to visit and check on the growth of little Wyatt, which is always a pleasure!

Mette is about ready to pop one out herself, so she took some time out with Ellie's 'Parents' magazine.

It's always fun to hang out with the girls on a cold, snowy day.

Halloween!

2007-10-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, I was Britney Spears. I kind of felt bad because I wouldn't want anyone dressing up like me for Halloween if I was down on my luck, but come on, it's funny! Here's me posing as her mug shot. Yes, that's supposed to look like I had a shaved head.

A lot of my friends had great costumes this year. If you'd like to see more, click here.

Mom's Visit: Days 5, 6, 7, and then there was Day 8

2007-10-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

Our time in Anchorage was filled with shopping, shopping, and more shopping along with a couple of movies and taking my car into the shop to get some warranty work done on it. It seems that antifreeze was leaking onto my timing belt, which made the timing belt rather iffy to drive around on, so we took it easy on the car and tried to stay more sedentary while we were in Anchorage. Nevertheless, we managed to make our way ALL around the city.

Mom's flight left on Tuesday, but my car wasn't done until Wednesday, when I drove back to Fairbanks. There was beautiful weather my entire drive back. I took so many pictures of Denali that my camera battery died two thirds of the way on my trip! Here are a few of my favorites:

Mom's Visit: Days 3 and 4

2007-10-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

On day 3 we woke up in the cabin to a crisp clear morning. After cleaning up and repacking everything into the car, we were on our way back to Fairbanks, dutifully watching for moose along the way. It didn't take long before Mom yelled, "Moose!" Sure enough, a momma and baby were grazing in the forest along the road. After several visits to Alaska, Mom was finally able to cross 'seeing a moose' off of her list. Somehow on her previous trips she had been more of a moose repellant than attractant. Of course, I have no pictures of the moose, but if I get some later I'll add them to this entry.

On the way back to town, we stopped again to feed the sled dogs. Somehow the time was passing rather quickly, but we rounded out the day by carving Jack-O-Lanterns! Fun fun fun!

Day 4 was Saturday. Mom's flight was leaving from Anchorage on Tuesday moning, and after looking at the weather forecast, which predited a snow storm, it seemed that Saturday would be the best day to head to Anchorage, so we packed up and drove six hours south.

Mom's Visit: Day 2

2007-10-11T18:47:00.000-08:00

Day 2 actually brought sunny skies and plenty of activity. After getting up early to get the snow tires put on the car, we packed up everything we would need for an overnight trip in a cabin without electricity and without running water. In the Chena River State Recreation Area, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has some cabins available for rent, and that was where we were to spent Thursday night, at the North Fork Cabin. The internet said that it slept eight people, so there was sure to be enough room.

On the way to the cabin, we had to stop and feed Carrie and Duff's sled dogs, but I didn't get any pictures of that. Mom has plenty in her camera though because she was taking pictures while I did all of the work! I think there were 13 dogs in all, although I'm unsure of that number.

Anyway, on to the cabin, where we arrived in the late afternoon.

It was plenty big, and there was tons of fire wood to keep us warm. Mom unpacked the car while I split a log or two and started a small fire in the wood stove to begin the warming up process. It wasn't a big production yet though because we were on our way to tour the ice hotel at Chena Hot Springs, which was only about ten miles away. We had to be sure and make it in time for the last tour of the day. The ice hotel is kept at 19 degrees Fahrenheit, which wreaks havoc on camera batteries, but I did manage to get one picture before my battery putzed out.

No, that toilet doesn't really work, it is simply a piece of art, but it's comical all the same. After being out in the cold, it was nice to return to the cabin and try to warm up by the wood stove although I kept the door to the stove open a little too long, which made it a little smoky inside.

We rounded out the evening with a couple of games of Yahtzee next to the lantern.

Mom's Visit: Day 1

2007-10-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

My mother was brave enough to visit Alaska when the sun isn't out 24 hours a day, which meant that she would have an opportunity to see the Northern Lights as well as some snow. There wasn't too much white stuff around for her arrival, so it didn't provide any challenges, but rather the snow added a little character to her visit.

After getting in late, I woke Mom up saying that the skies were clear out and that we should head down to Denali to see the tallest mountain in North America. It's only about a 90 mile drive, so we put together a lunch and headed south.

Unfortunately, the further south we went, the cloudier the skies became, and the snow started to fall. By then, we were too far into our trip to turn around, so we continued. None the less, it was pretty, so we stopped to take many pictures in the snow. One of the Alaska railroad tressle...

...one of the Nenana River Canyon, which was freezing before our very eyes...

and many more before stopping in the Park to buy postcards of the mountain we weren't able to see because it was enshrouded in clouds. The Park Ranger who helped us suggested headed just a few more miles south to see if the weather was any different on the other side of the range. Smart lady!

Continuing south to Cantwell afforded us the opportunity to view sunny skies and see the top of Denali (even if it was obscured just slightly by a few wisps of clouds) as well as the rest of the Alaska Range while we stopped on the roadside to eat our lunch. We experienced many kinds of weather on that first day and ended it by having Mette over for dinner to tell her about our day's adventure.

PS No, that last picture is not Denali but is a picture of the Alaska Range and the view from our lunch spot.

Maybe My Last Trip

2007-09-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I have taken what was quite possibly my last trip to Nanwalek and Anchor Point. Our field sites are slated to be removed in November, and that isn't a trip that I am a part of. I celebrate with a picture of the plane coming to pick me up one last time from Nanwalek.

Now, what you see leaning on the 'airport' (The airport is the blue building, which is actually just a shelter to keep you and your belongings dry while you wait.) is a sasquatch. Some people reported seeing him roaming around nearby...

Christmas?!

2007-09-20T13:01:00.001-08:00

I just got back from the store, and their Christmas displays are already up. They're even selling all of their Christmas merchandise already! What month is it? Has the entire country gone as crazy as Alaska?

La Jolla, California

2007-09-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

I had a meeting this past week at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. It was nice to enjoy the sun one last time this year, and there was plenty of it! This was my first visit to Southern California, but it was just as quintessential as one would expect, with sunny skies every day and palm trees lining the streets. It seemed it was almost a requirement to own a surfboard, although there were a lot of stingrays in the water. The best part was that the walk between my hotel and our meeting place was all along the beach, so it was actually a treat not to have a rental car! Now I'm back in Fairbanks, and although there are still some leaves on the trees, I had to get out the ice scraper this morning because the car windows were all frosted in. Sigh. The fall colors are absolutely beautiful, but in the back of my mind, I'm wondering how much a ticket would be back to La Jolla...

Fish Weir

2007-09-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Yet again, I went to Anchor Point to tend to our fickle field site. I wasn't super excited to go because I was headed to a meeting in San Diego just a couple of days later, but I guess that's just how it goes. As I was crossing the Anchor River, I noticed the fish weir and thought it might make for an interesting blog picture, so here it is:

For those of you who don't know what a fish weir is, it basically forces all of the water coming up the river to flow through a particular channel or channels. In these channels are fish counters so that, in this case, you know how many salmon are swimming upstream.

Labor Day

2007-09-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

I spent Labor Day picking cranberries up on Wickersham Dome, where it was a beautiful day with above average temperatures. Sure beats sitting in an office without any windows!

Do you know what this next picture is?

That's the beginning of fall. The leaves here are quickly turning yellow, and there is chill in the air. Goodbye, Summer 2007. You were the prettiest one yet!

Crash 'Em Up

2007-08-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Carrie asked me this past week if I wanted to go to the Demolition Derby. My answer was immediately yes, although I wasn't sure why. So we rode our bikes to the dirt track in town and watched a bunch of cars crash into each other until only one was still in motion. It's fun to play Redneck!

Replies to Recent Comments

2007-08-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

Sharon: I found a TON of berries when I went picking WITHOUT Carrie. I'm thinking maybe she's a jinx. (Hopefully she doesn't read my blog because I haven't exactly told her that in person yet.) Thanks for the tip about Delta berries though. I certainly wouldn't mind a little road trip to Delta.

Mary: Enough with the short jokes! Just kidding. Being in Homer again reminded me of when you were visiting Alaska, and we all went to Homer when the sun was shining! That is certainly a great memory.

Robin: The halibut tastes great, but I didn't even try to eat it all in one sitting. I have a bunch more in the freezer to last me through the next few months. I think I ended up with about 30 pounds of meat.

I hope everyone is doing well! You're all welcome to visit. Well, most of you anyway.

The Gardens

2007-08-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

Mette and I went to the UAF Gardens over lunch. It was a record high temperature day when we hit 82 degrees. The sun was blazing! We saw flowers...

...fruits...

...and, in true Alaska fashion, a cabbage bigger than my head!

Just For The Halibut

2007-08-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

After all of the work was finished, Tom, Jeremy, and I went halibut fishing in Cook Inlet. Guess who caught the biggest fish.

Across The Bay

2007-08-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

The flight over to Nanwalek on Tuesday afforded beautiful views along Kachemak Bay,

and things were looking lush in Nanwalek as another beautiful day was ripe for enjoying.

Sometimes our field work is way too much like a vacation rather than work, but not all of the time. I've just been extremely lucky.

On The Road Again

2007-08-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I have not had to travel to Homer for the last couple of months, but it was time to return once again to download data from our field sites and make sure that all of the equipment was still in good working condition. Monday was spent in airports and on planes before visiting our field site at Anchor Point.

Jeremy and I were met with gorgeous weather after leaving a cloudy Fairbanks. A field of fireweed about as tall as I am had grown at our site since the last time I was there...

...the volcanoes across Cook Inlet were fully visible (This one being Mount Redoubt, but there are two others that were out at well.)...

...and the Homer Spit was lookin' good.

Birthdays and Berries!

2007-08-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

Today Carrie and I went to pick blueberries!! We didn't find very many, which seems to be an annual tradition for us, but we had a great time chatting it up in the woods.

Carrie gave me a Alaska Berry Picker for my birthday, which is kind of like a bear claw with a container attached to it, so it was only appropriate that we give it a try. We both agreed that it gets a thumbs up! Definitely a time saver over picking by hand.

Yup, speaking of my birthday and berries, all of my best girlfriends surprised me with dinner and a party with a blueberry ice cream cake. They're the best! At work, they made me wear a silly hat, so needless to say, I had a great time gaining a whole year in one day. Thanks to everyone for your best wishes and generous nature.

Harry Potter and the Indigo Girls

2007-08-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well, not a whole lot has been going on in my life lately other than reading Harry Potter Books 6 and 7, although I did manage to go to a concert this weekend. The Indigo Girls came to Fairbanks on Saturday night and rocked The Blue Loon to a sold out crowd!

PS No pictures were allowed during the show, so if anyone asks, I didn't take this one.

July Wedding

2007-07-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Following any good Bachelorette Party is a wedding of course, and what a beautiful day it was for Melissa and Tom to get married!

A reception was held at the Taste of Alaska Lodge where flowers were blooming, and people were soaking in the sun.

There was even a guest appearance by a moose. (No picture because, per usual, I didn't get my camera out in time.) I asked Melissa and Tom how much they paid that moose to come walking up to the reception, but they wouldn't tell me.

What wedding would be complete without dancing? Well, actually I guess that depends on your religion, but this wedding certainly wasn't one where you could keep your feet still!

Bachelorette Party!

2007-07-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Yup, it was a girl party at the Upper Chatnika campground to celebrate Melissa's last weekend as a single woman.

Fun, fun, fun!! We played a few games, which I won't go into detail about, nor should I probably share most of the pictures...

...the traditional Bridal Run that has become so famous among the bridal parties was performed, gifts were opened...

...and we just generally had a great time eating and hanging out until the wee hours of the morning.

You Know You're In Alaska When...

2007-07-03T20:42:00.001-08:00

You know you’re in Alaska when the forecast for overnight is mostly sunny.

Truly, that's the forecast tonight. I can't make this stuff up, people.

Have a Safe and Happy Fourth!!

Happy Birthday, Dianna!!

2007-06-30T23:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my friend Jeremy hosted a birthday party for his wife Dianna who has been out of town training with the Army in Fort Bliss, Texas. Needless to say, it was 'Bliss'tering hot in Texas, so she was glad to be back in Alaska, although it hasn't exactly been cool here. No matter because everyone had a great time celebrating Dianna's Birthday at a mid-summer cook-out.

And of course, no party would be complete without a tickle monster named Elyse!

Thanks again, Jeremy and Dianna.

Midnight Sun Run

2007-06-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

One of the most popular ways in town to celebrate the Summer Solstice is to attend the Midnight Sun Run. This is a 10K race that weaves through the western side of Fairbanks. Some racers wear costumes, and some spectators bring all of their living room furniture out into thier yards to be comfortable while they watch the race go by their houses. Pretty much anything goes.

The lazy group (aka support crew) consisting of Duff, Tim, Mette, and myself rode bikes along the race route, while Carrie and Max competed in the race by running.

Carrie and Max both finished in under an hour. So fast that the three of us on bikes had a hard time keeping up!

Happy Solstice!!!

2007-06-22T01:30:00.000-08:00

Well, we will only have less sunlight per day from now until late December. That's right, the Summer Solstice is past, but not without a celebration of its importance here in Alaska.

Solstice began for me by attending the Solstice Festival in Downtown Fairbanks. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but I will do my best to document it through the art of word. Let me try to sum it up here...shirtless men, tattoos, pregnant women, long lines, not-as-many-tourists-as-years-past, good music, good food, and TONS of strollers, which all-in-all, makes for some fun and great people watching.

Upon arrival at the festival, I met my friend Carrie, and together we checked the schedule of events. We had about 30 minutes before we had to meet Duff, so we decided to listen to 'Northern River', a bluegrass band. We made our way to where they were supposed to be performing but instead found on stage several women in black tank tops and camouflage pants prowling about as if they were in the final act of 'Little Miss Sunshine.' Not exactly the performance we were expecting, so instead we decided to browse the food and vendor stands while we waited for Duff.

It was a good night strolling around town, and don't worry...we did get to see 'Northern River' in the end.

June 22, 2007, 1:15 AM

Moose

2007-06-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

Any self-respecting blogger in Alaska has to include a token moose picture, and I felt that I was inadequate in my last entry. After all, the only thing you can see is its backside. Somehow I always have a hard time getting my camera out fast enough to a get any pictures that are more than back ends. However, I had to return to Nanwalek for some field work again (Yes, you read that right, AGAIN!), and I ran into this little guy while walking to the Homer airport.

The Upper Chena

2007-06-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went on a canoe trip with some friends on the Upper Chena River which is east of Fairbanks. We started out on a sunny day with 80 degree temperatures, but somehow, during the course of the day, it started to rain.

Steve told us that the trip was only going to take four hours, but it ended up being more like six and half. Good thing I had good canoe partners. I shared a canoe with Carrie and her mother who was visiting from Colorado.

Of course, no canoe trip is complete without a moose sighting.