Monday, June 19th - A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Again, time has gotten away from me. I was without wheels for an entire week, because the bolt that the mechanic needed did not come until Tuesday afternoon. Thank goodness for fantastic friends. (Thanks, again, Rachael!)

I discovered something interesting about my canine furkid, Sedona. A few weeks ago, while doing our daily walk, a man who was on the running trail asked me if Sedona was an Elkhound. I had heard of the Elkhound breed, but had no clue what characteristics an Elkhound had.

When we adopted Sedona, she was only a puppy. We were told that she was part Chow (which is evident by the black marbled tongue she has) and part German Shepherd. She did resemble a shepherd with her face markings, so we assumed the veterinarian was correct. As the years passed, when someone asked us what kind of dog she was, we'd say she was a Shepherd/Chow mix.

But that man's question intrigued me, and as soon as I got home, I did some research on Elkhounds. While some of the photos only bore a slight resemblance to Sedona, others looked just like her. The photo at left has an inset of a photo I found on the internet. I am convinced that she is indeed, part Elkhound. I joked with some friends that it was a shock for my poor girl to find out her father wasn't German, but instead was Norwegian. *grin*

Some very shocking news was reported this past week. You may recall my journal entry announcing the passing of Pamela Joy - the owner and creator of the Alaska Living Group. (If you're interested in reading that entry, CLICK HERE and scroll down to September 23rd.) The members of the Alaska Living Group were of such great assistance to Steve and I when we were planning to move to Alaska, and I continue to read and participate in the group. Last week, Pamela's son was arrested and charged with her murder. (You can read the news story here) It is all so very sad.

On Saturday, I did another long road trip. This time I went with my friend, Dianne. We drove 425 miles roundtrip part way up the Dalton Highway - also known as the "Haul Road". I found the information below on the Wikipedia website.

Dianne and I drove the mostly gravel road all the way to Gobblers Knob (milemarker 132) - which is 17 miles past the Arctic Circle, and which provides beautiful sweeping views of the Brooks Range. That area also holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature in the United States, which was -80F. While it certainly wasn't that cold, it was definitely chillier there than at other stops along the way. The photo at left shows some of the steep grades you'll find along the Haul Road. The steepest grade is 12%.

We left Fairbanks at 7am and began our drive north. We decided to take Dianne's car because she gets excellent gas mileage. After my experience driving Steve's truck on the Denali Highway, I certainly didn't want a repeat. It was nice being the passenger this time.

The Elliott Highway (which leads to the Dalton Hwy), is paved the entire way. It winds through spruce-covered wilderness and goes up and over the rolling hills surrounding Fairbanks. The views from some of the higher viewpoints are beautiful. From several areas, you can even see Murphy Dome off in the distance. We drove through some light rain and clouds, and even saw a rainbow early on in our trip.

About 75 miles or so down the road, the Dalton turns off. If you continue on the Elliott, you'd end up at Manley Hot Springs, passing Minto flats along the way. That's the route that Steve and I drove back in April when he was home on R&R. It's been three years since I drove on the Dalton with Steve, and Dianne has never driven it, so we were looking forward to our adventure.

General Store - Joy, AK

One of the first places we stopped was the Wildwood General Store in Joy, Alaska - which is about 50 miles from Fairbanks. There was a tour bus parked in the lot, and tourists were wandering through the rustic building looking at souvenirs. Around to the side of the building were the outhouses. As we got out of the car, we overheard a tourist - when looking at the outhouses - say, "You really have to be rugged to live in Alaska". It made Dianne and I wonder if we would be considered rugged, since we've used our share of outhouses.

When we reached the road sign indicating the turn for Livengood, we decided to go check it out. Neither of us had ever been there, and we were in an adventurous mood.

Livengood History: Gold was discovered on July 24, 1914, on Livengood Creek by N.R. Hudson and Jay Livengood. The village was founded near their claim as a mining camp during the winter of 1914-15, when hundreds of people came into the district. A post office was established in 1915 and was discontinued in 1957.

Fourteen percent of the population is Alaska Native or part Native. A large number of the 31 homes in Livengood are seasonally occupied.

I'm going to assume that the homes in Livengood are up on a hill looking down on the 'town'. Dianne and I drove part way up a sloped road, and passed some broken down and abandoned homes, but only saw one house that looked livable. It was eerily quiet, so we cut our side trip short and headed back to the Dalton where there was the comfort of some traffic. On the way, we saw fireweed blooming on the side of the road. Fireweed generally blooms in July and August. Seeing it early may not be a good thing. Some say early blooming fireweed means an early winter. (Summer just got here. I don't even want to think about winter!)

Here are additional photos that I shot while in Joy and the surrounding area:

Dianne

Wildwood General Store

View from Store

Fireweed

The Haul Rd was in pretty good shape considering it's gravel for much of the drive. Making the drive on a Saturday is easier than making it during the week, because the truck traffic isn't as heavy. There are stretches of roadway that are very narrow, with soft shoulders. The few times we had a truck come at us and had to move over, we were thankful that Dianne's car is a small one.

The first big 'landmark' on the Dalton Hwy is the E.L. Patton Yukon River Bridge at milemarker 56. It is 2290 feet long and carries the pipeline across the river as well. Once you cross it (coming from Fairbanks) there is a BLM visitor center on the right side of the road, and a hotel/restaurant/gift shop on the left. We stopped at the visitor center - which was closed - to use an outhouse (very clean) before taking a short walk to an overlook where we could see the bridge from the river bank. There were several species of wildflowers blooming, and the mosquitoes weren't quite as voracious.

We crossed the road to check out the restaurant and gift shop. This particular facility was in the news last March. A very large grizzly bear broke into the restaurant during the winter (it's closed in winter) and decided to hibernate there. He destroyed the inside of the place, and pulled the t-shirts and sweatshirts off the racks to make a bed. (You can read the story here) The owner was checking on the place and saw the busted window which was also marked with urine and feces (to warn off other bears) and knew there was probably a bear inside. Unfortunately, the bear had to be killed.

We both got a chuckle out of the table full of t-shirts and sweatshirts that were salvaged after a good laundering. These articles of clothing, which once served as bedding for the grizzly, are folded and stacked under a sign that says "Bearly Worn". We stretched our legs for a little while and then continued our journey to the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic Circle is the invisible circle of latitude on the earth's surface at 66°33' north, marking the southern limit of the area where the sun does not rise on the winter solstice or set on the summer solstice - a geographic ring crowning the globe. Here in Alaska, there is a sign and a few informational boards about the circle. There is also a campground and several outhouses. And during our visit, there were millions and trillions of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes. were so heavy, that I only managed to shoot one photograph of Dianne and I posed in front of the sign. Our faces are scrunched up because the buggers were trying to get in our mouths and in our noses. I'm not fond of this photo at all - but it's the only one I have. I had to have some proof that we made it to the circle. *grin* (As you can see, my "Steve Doll" went with me on the trip)

We decided to drive an additional 17 miles to Gobblers Knob, after reading that it was a great vantage point for seeing the Brooks Range. It was chilly there (and no mosquitoes.!), so we spent about 15 minutes taking photos and appreciating the sweeping views of the surrounding land and mountains.

The drive back was relatively uneventful. We only stopped for a handful of photos along the way and made good time. We had to stop at the Yukon River Hotel/Restaurant to get some gas ($3.53/gallon) in order to make it back to Fairbanks. We got back into town around 8pm - a 13 hour day of driving. But what fun we had! And now some more photos from the drive:

Happy belated Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, and mentors who read me. I hope you had a wonderful day spent with those who love you most. Father's Day was tough for me this year, as it also was the tenth anniversary of my father's passing. I can't believe it's been ten years since he left this earth. I feel like he just left us. I feel him around me all the time... perhaps he hasn't left me at all.

Before I end this entry, I want to share some good news with you all....

Steve is on his way home!!! He was selected to come home with the advance party, and if all goes well he should be arriving within the next 48 hours - maybe less! Of course schedules change all the time, so nothing is carved in stone... but the last time I heard from him, everything was going as scheduled and he was safe. And that's all that matters.

I haven't felt comfortable 'shouting it from the rooftops'. Only a handful of people know locally. (Of course, if they're reading this, they'll know now.) I've been feeling a great amount of guilt over Steve's early return. My friends' husbands will not be returning until the end of July or beginning of August....

So I've been keeping my excitement to myself - but of course sharing it with Steve. He's so ready to come home. And I am so ready to have him home! I will give him the welcome he deserves. I will be waiting with a huge smile on my face. I will take him in my arms and hold him, and tell him how proud I am of him. He is the love of my life, and he deserves a hero's welcome.

He'll be working really hard after he gets home. It's not like he's coming home and going on vacation. He'll get 72 hours off to catch up on sleep, 'regroup', etc - before going off to work again. He has a lot to do to help facilitate the return of the rest of the brigade. But he'll be home. And he'll be safe. And I'll have him next to me when I close my eyes at night.

I have butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of our reunion. I can't wait to be wrapped in his arms again.