June 4th - Turning Calendar Pages, Road Trippin' with my Gal Pal, and June Snow

As I type this, there is snow falling from the sky. Yes, you read that correctly. It is June 4th and it is snowing. The joys of living in the Last Frontier! I'm giggling about it, because I know it's not going to stick around for 8 more months. In fact, it has already stopped and I see blue skies peeking through. Now if only the temperatures would climb out of the 30s. It's currently 39F. We should be back on track with warm weather by the end of this week, according to Weather Underground.

The 172nd SBCT lost two soldiers in the last five days. Specialist Jeremy M. Loveless, 25, of Estacada Oregon, was killed on Memorial Day while exiting his vehicle in the Mosul, Iraq, area. Jeremy leaves behind a wife and a 4-year-old daughter. On Wednesday, Sgt. Benjamin E. Mejia, 25, of Salem, Mass., died on FOB Marez, Iraq, of non-combat related causes. Sgt. Mejia was working out when he collapsed. Attempts to revive him failed. We are in the final weeks of this deployment. Redeployment can't come fast enough.

I've been out enjoying the warm weather we've been having (except for today!). There are tight buds on the wild rosebushes that line the walking path behind my house. I came upon several species of wildflowers while out hiking with Sedona a few days ago. I also stopped to enjoy and photograph the bees making their way from dandelion to dandelion.

I've seen many bumblebees while out in the woods. If you look closely enough, you can see that their faces are covered with yellow pollen. I don't get too close, as I'm phobic of just about every insect, but I find bumblebees fascinating with their fat bodies, and lovely stripes. I was quite surprised when I came upon a Red-Tailed Bumblebee, and managed to snap a photo of him before he took off for more pollen-laden dandelions. I read that females have all black bodies, and only males have yellow stripes. I learn something new everyday.

We have several types of wildflowers blooming now. Soon, there will be many more flowers - dotting the roadsides, bringing color to the fields, and bringing back all of the summer beauty I have come to love in Alaska. Last year, I photographed every wildflower I stumbled upon. I intend to do the same this year. I've also been in search of butterflies. The Green Commas and Mourning Cloaks have been abundant, and lately I've been seeing some Swallowtails. The other day, while photographing some Narcissus Flowered Anemones, I came upon a couple of Northern Blue butterflies enjoying the nectar of the flowers. They flit around quite quickly, taking off and landing in the blink of an eye, so I spent a good 20 minutes following them with the lens of my camera trying to capture them. Most of the time, I don't know what I've managed to capture until I get home and download my photos. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had frozen a flying Northern Blue in flight. I wish his wings would have been outstretched, but I'm happy with the photo I snapped.

	So sweet, so sweet the roses in their blowing, So sweet the daffodils, so fair to see; So blithe and gay the humming-bird a going From flower to flower, a-hunting with the bee. - Nora Perry -

Yesterday, Rachael and I took a very long road trip from Fairbanks, down to Cantwell on the Parks Highway, across to Paxson on the Denali Highway, and then back to Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway. The drive is about 450 miles. We did it in 11.5 hours. Normally a 450 mile trip on open highway would take the average person about 7-9 hours. But what makes this loop different is that 110 miles of it is on a gravel/dirt road. Since the road was just plowed and graded a few weeks ago, it's in decent shape. Despite the condition of the road, the going is slow. There are portions that are riddled with potholes and washboard ruts. And other portions go through such exquisite surroundings, that you'd be a fool not to slow down and drink it all in. And at other times, you're driving slow to appreciate the gait of a moose as she runs along beside you, or to watch caribou grazing in the open tundra. This is not a drive to challenge a person with how quickly they can get from Point A to Point B. This is a drive meant to assault the sense of sight with glorious colors and textures. The road moves through various types of terrain. From grassy hills that roll off to glaciated mountains to rocky overhangs that perch high above ponds and rivers below. You have to see it to believe it.

We started our morning early. I set my alarm for 5am, so that I'd have time to finish packing up the truck and have the necessary caffeine fortification. I had planned this drive for days and hoped I remembered everything. No one in their right mind makes a trip to the remote parts of Alaska without thinking about the possibility of an emergency - or at the very least, a breakdown or flat tire. I had 15 gallons of water, blankets, two sleeping bags, food, a CB radio, tools, spare tires, 15 gallons of gas, bungee cords and rope, candles and a lighter and matches, and winter outergear and extra socks. I also had a first aid kit. I know it may sound a bit ridiculous to some of you, but here in Alaska, it can snow in June (hence the opening paragraph of this entry). It has also been getting very cold at night. In fact a frost warning has been issued for the past couple of nights and gardeners have been scrambling to cover their plants. I'm so glad I haven't found the time to transplant my sunflowers yet.

By 7:15am, Rachael and I were on the road - along with our furkids Sedona, Stryker, and Tank. (Sedona and Stryker at left; Tank at right) We decided to take our pups with us to save the cost of kenneling them for two days. The kennel would have kept them overnight since we didn't expect to get home until later in the evening. At $12/pup/day - that was an additional $24 ($48 for Rachael) we didn't want to part with. The price of gas alone was going to be an expense.

All the way to Cantwell, we drove through rain. Sometimes it was steady, and sometimes it was only a drizzle. I kept my eye on the outside temperature gauge and was worried when it steadily got colder. At one point it was reading 38F just north of the entrance to Denali National Park. Visibility wasn't the best. We couldn't see the tops of the mountains in that part of the state. That was a huge disappointment, but we decided to continue on anyway, hoping the weather would improve as we made our way to Paxson. We have learned that the weather here can vary by just driving 20 miles.

I stopped to top off the gas tank in Cantwell ($3.54/gallon) and asked the clerks if they had heard any reports about problems on the Denali Highway. One of the gals said she had driven in the day before to mile 75 and all was well. We were off.

I really wish it would have been a clear, sunny day. I was remembering when Steve and I did the trip last June. The views then were incredible and I wanted to share them with Rachael. Only about 5 or 10 miles into our drive, we saw a moose cow on the side of the road nibbling on some bushes. Even when we stopped the truck and rolled down the window, she stayed put - allowing us to get some nice photos of her beautiful face. We stayed for a few minutes, until she finally crossed the road in front of us and ran into the bushes on the other side.

We saw several more moose and had two sightings of caribou. In addition, we saw swans and a few ground squirrels. Other than that, wildlife sightings were at a minimum. The scenery, however, was magnificent - even though it was an overcast and drizzly day. We stopped at a cafe at mile 82, to use the restroom facilities. Facilities are very few and far between on this route. We were both very impressed by the cleanliness of the restroom, considering it was out in the middle of nowhere. (Funny how the small things can excite a person when you're driving across miles of vast wilderness!)

I estimate that it took us about 5 hours to drive 135 miles. While I managed to get my speed up to about 40-45mph at times, for the most part, we averaged between 25-30mph to avoid blowing tires in potholes, or losing pieces of the undercarriage on all the ripples and washboard. But it was well worth it! I look forward to doing it again with Steve when he gets home.

As we got close to Paxson, and the Richardson Highway, the clouds dissipated and blue skies shown through. And then... SUNSHINE! We both wished the sun would have come out many miles back, but delighted in it anyway. That is, until we looked in the direction we were heading and saw ominous clouds shrouding the mountain tops. I knew those clouds meant trouble - in the form of heavy rain or even *gasp* snow. But we were on the final stretch, with only 150 miles to go, and I was confident we'd be OK. At least we were on a more well-traveled highway and there would be more vehicles passing us if anything happened and we needed assistance.

Just as we made our way past the always gorgeous Rainbow Mountains, the snow came. Slight flurries at first, and then heavier and blowing mightily. Almost blizzard conditions at times. The truck was being blown all over the highway with the wind gusts. It was a bit of a 'white-knuckler' for a time, but the closer we got to Fairbanks, the better the weather got. It wasn't until we reached the area around Eielson Air Force Base, that we saw blue skies once again shining through the clouds. We pulled into Fairbanks at about 6:45pm. We were both exhausted, and so were our furbabies. It was a long day, but a marvelous one. I just love 'road tripping' in Alaska! And now on with the photos:

A Swan Pair	Swans enjoy the scenery	Sedona scopes out a hill	A moose right in front of us
One of many rivers/streams	Glaciated mountains	Denali Highway Landscape	Running back to the truck
Another river/creek	Our "Hubby Dolls"	"Steve" and "James"	Ominous clouds
Caribou	A Cache at mile 82	The cafe at mile 82	Arctic Cat Flowerpot
Denali landscape	Glacier (Gulkana perhaps)	Moose in the brambles	Arctic Ground Squirrel
Denali Highway Pano		Denali Highway Pano
Denali Highway Pano		Rainbow Mountains north of Paxson

MOM: Mom is back in the hospital. She was admitted on Monday (Memorial Day) due to severe hydration. We thought that she'd be given some fluids via IV and then released, but the doctors decided to keep her there. She had her second treatment with Avastin yesterday, and managed to get down some food, but not much. She's outputting more liquids than she's taking in - which is not a good thing. I've called her everyday to see how she is and to offer some emotional support. She's in good hands right now and all we can do is continue to pray for her recovery. There is much more going on in regards to her health, family matters, and other issues, but I can not/will not share them here. Thank you to all of you who continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.