Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

Hard to believe that the summer is considered over for most. It’s definitely over here in the interior, where the leaves are changing over in record numbers, and we wake to morning temps in the low 30s. Fortunately, our afternoons remain beautiful and warm (50s and 60s).  And we’re in our 2nd week (or is it 3rd?) of sunshine!

I didn’t welcome the month of September with much excitement. September 1st was the second anniversary of my mother’s passing, and remembering her was the first thing I did upon waking.  With her birthday coming on the 7th, this entire week has had a few sad moments.

My mother is always with me…

My mother lives inside my laughter. She’s crystallized in every tear drop.

She’s the place I came from, my first home. She’s the map I follow with every step that I take.

She’s my first love… and nothing on earth can separate us.

Not time, Not space, not even death will ever separate me from my mother. I carry her inside of me.

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The new bird feeder *condo* is attracting all sorts of feathered friends since we set it up. A woodpecker has returned to sample the suet, a pair of gray jays have been stopping by, and there is a large group of smaller grayish-brown birds who tend to eat the seeds falling on the ground, rather than flying up onto the feeders. Of course the boreal and black-capped chickadees are regular visitors.

Fortunately, the squirrel population has dissipated, and all but one have gone off to claim their own territory. That one remaining squirrel antagonizes the birds, and gathers up the seeds which have fallen on the deck or the ground. Despite the fact that he’s adept at climbing the pole, he spends most of his time on the ground - or sneaking a peek through the sliding glass doors.

I’m not a birder, so I use the internet to reference the birds I’m watching. I still don’t know what these small brownish-gray birds are. If anyone reading me can identify them, I’d be quite appreciative! Here’s a close-up photo of the bird I’m referring to:

(Edited to add: It’s a Dark Eyed Junco, thanks to my friend Kathy!)

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In this journal entry, I promise to make up for the lack of photos in my last entry. I’ve taken hundreds of photos over the past several days. Every single day, the landscape seems to change. Summer is fading away, and autumn is taking hold of the leaves at the tops of the birch trees. It’s truly a beautiful time of the year - I just wish it lasted longer (or better yet; came later).

A few days ago, I stepped out front with Sedona, and watched the trees gently waving in the morning air. A slight breeze was blowing, and a few golden leaves drifted down to the ground.  I turned in place, looking above me at the beautiful blue sky.  Hanging in the sky above one of my birch trees was the moon. It was bright in the morning sky, despite its half face. Since it has been awhile since I photographed the moon, I thought I’d give it a shot. The photo at left is the result. The image is cropped from it’s original size, but I like that you can see the craters. Someday I’d love to photograph the moon using a telescope.

On Sunday, Steve and I decided to go out to breakfast and then attend a movie. His choice was the movie “Tropic Thunder” - a comedic spoof about war movies, starring Ben Stiller among others.  While it wasn’t my first choice, I hoped it would warrant a few laughs.

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It’s been a few days since I’ve written here, and that’s only because I haven’t been doing much more than running errands and preparing some of my prints and notecards for The Stash. Until today, I hadn’t even taken any photographs, since I wrote last.

However, I do have some very good news to share here!

A few days ago, I received an email from a very generous and kind-hearted gentleman, who lives down on the Kenai Peninsula.  I will refer to him as John, because I don’t know if he wants me to post his name here.

In the email, John let me know that he had won a Denali Park Pass for Saturday 13th, and wouldn’t be able to go. And…               did I want it?!!!

Well, of course you know that I had a smile from ear to ear when I read that email.  I emailed John back and told him I was interested and was willing to pay him a fair price for it. I saw passes being sold on Craigslist just after the winners were announced, but some folks were asking a fortune for them.

John didn’t want any payment - citing “This is Alaska (where we help each other) not the Lower 48.” How wonderful is that?! I have been on cloud nine ever since. Yesterday, he emailed me to let me know it was on the way.  I will truly be dancing around the living room when the pass is actually in my hands.

Steve and I haven’t quite made up our mind yet, as to whether we’re going to go down the day before and get a room and then drive in early the next morning, or if we’re just going to do the entire drive in one day. It’s do-able in one day, even though it would be a lot of driving. Two hours to the park, another 8-12 to drive the road (depending on wildlife, etc.), and two hours home.

Now, the only thing that could create any problems would be weather-related. It’s not uncommon to get snow in mid-September, and with the higher elevations in the park, snow would cause a road closure. Last year, winners were turned away on two occasions I believe.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

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I have been fairly busy since we got home from Valdez.  We’ve had a few occasions of rain, and it brought thunder with it. I just love the sound of thunder, particularly at night as I’m falling asleep. And nothing beats the clean smell of the air just as rain begins to fall.

We’ve also had gloriously sunny days, today being one of them. A few days ago, we even climbed into the mid 70s, or maybe higher. Mostly it’s been in the 60s, with a slight breeze - which is just perfect.

We’re seeing more and more changes in the landscape as we make our way through August. On the way home from Valdez, Steve and I saw some golden patches in the aspens and birch trees. Nothing too extensive yet, but definitely a sign of things to come. The berries of the dwarf dogwood are a rich red now, and contrasted with the green leaves, they remind me of Christmas holly.  The leaves on the prickly rose bushes are starting to turn orangey-red, while the rose hips seem to get bigger and juicier looking every day. Autumn will be here before we know it.

Steve and I stopped several times on our drive back from Valdez last Wednesday. We woke that morning to light rain, and a thick fog laying low over the marsh. It was quite beautiful, and a fine send-off for our trip home. Here are the photos I took on the drive home, along the Richardson Hwy:

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We didn’t win again this year. *sigh*

We’re both very disappointed, especially because Steve is off the entire week surrounding the Road Lottery weekend. It would have been great to drive into Wonder Lake and enjoy the landscape and wildlife. We’ll try again next year.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. If the weather cooperates (this means if it doesn’t snow in mid-September), we’re considering an ‘end of season’ trip to Cordova.

Cordova can only be reached via plane, boat, or ferry. The Alaska Marine Highway (Ferry System) has a “fast ferry” from Valdez to Cordova that only takes 3 hours. The fare for both of us to travel to and from Cordova with Steve’s truck is about $376. We could save a few dollars by taking my car, but there are some areas we’d like to explore which are definitely off-road. Steve’s truck would be a necessity for that.

Here’s a map showing where Cordova is in relation to Valdez:

Cordova is known for its Copper River red salmon, but I don’t know if there will still be good fishing in mid-September.  The one thing we do want to see is the “Million Dollar Bridge” and Child’s Glacier. Child’s Glacier is about 50 miles out the highway from Cordova - at the road’s end.

There’s nothing carved in stone in regards to this trip. It will be a spur of the moment decision, based on weather here in the interior, how far we’ve advanced into autumn, and our feelings about not only a long drive to Valdez, but spending the money to continue on to Cordova.

We might just decide to drive the Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell instead. Or not.

Last year, in mid September, we were already seeing temperatures at the freezing level, and snow in the higher elevations. When that happens, staying home is usually the most desirable option.

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I wanted to let you all know that my brother Mike has returned to work, and things at his job aren’t the best. There is talk of layoffs, which doesn’t bother him as much as losing his benefits. Mike is a super smart guy, so this could be an opportunity for him to find something that he can put his whole heart into; something he loves to do.

Coming home to a quiet house has been tough. I think about him at night, imagining how hard it is to walk into his house and not find Lisa there with a smile, as she prepares dinner for the family. In a recent email he wrote that he was thankful for frozen pizza, although he did marinate some meat the other day and was planning to cook a ‘real’ meal. I wish I lived closer and could cook a few meals for them - even though my kitchen skills are severely lacking and wouldn’t come anywhere close to matching Lisa’s.

So many changes, on top of their sorrow. I wish them all strength.

Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue. ~John Muir

Steve and I spent yesterday on a Stan Stephens catamaran (a very large catamaran), cruising out to Columbia and Meares glaciers, and enjoying the many sights along the way. It was a perfect day for cruising, with abundant sunshine, encounters with wildlife, and spectacular scenery.

The day before the cruise (Sunday) was a wet one, with rain falling from the time we woke, until later in the afternoon. But when the clouds finally cleared, and the rain stopped falling, we did as so many others - we went out for a nice walk around town.

Some of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. That was surprising, as I assumed that since it was the tourist season, they’d be open. Remember the days when nothing was open on Sunday?

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Yesterday, we woke to sunshine again, but it didn’t last all day unfortunately. Around 4pm, the rain came. And it came in buckets. The temperature dropped too, and we had to kick on the heat in the camper.

Steve went fishing yesterday morning (again, plenty of pinks but no silvers). When he got back, we leashed up Sedona and went for a walk on the Dock Point Trail. It’s less than a mile, but has a steep climb at the beginning. My glutes were burning, that’s for sure.

The Dock Point Trail winds through some pretty vegetation, and there are two overlooks with views of Valdez Bay. The last time I was on this trail, was when I learned that my mom had passed. Those memories came flooding back strongly. Hard to believe she’ll be gone two years on Sept 1st.

Here are photos I took from the Dock Point Trail:

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We have been having the most splendid weather here in Valdez! Sunshine has been abundant, and yesterday we passed 60F. We are both loving it, after so many days of rain in Fairbanks.

I finally resized the photos I took both on the drive down, and yesterday on our adventure around town.  What’s been a little strange is actually having darkness at night. We don’t have to plug up the skylight in the camper to sleep. While the days are still fairly long (dark comes around 10pm), seeing the night sky reminds me that in a month or two, we’ll be seeing A LOT of the night sky.

When the sun surprised us by peeking out between the clouds, we did as most everyone in town did - we went out to enjoy it! Our walk took us down to the marina, where we watched fishermen unload and clean their catch. We meandered along for almost two hours before coming back to the camper for the evening and much needed sleep.

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As you’ve guessed, we’ve got WiFi here at the campground. This makes me so happy! We always stay here at Bayside RV Park, and I guess they finally had wireless internet put in. The last time I was here, I managed to piggy back on the Totem Inn’s WiFi, but it was slow as molasses. This connection is quite good.

We left Fairbanks under dreary skies. By the time we hit Delta Junction - and stopped for a bite to eat at Buffalo Diner - the rain was really coming down hard. We expected that we’d be vacationing under rainy skies, so we were prepared for it with raingear, warm clothes, etc.

The scenery, even under dismal grey skies, was beautiful as always. We only made a couple of stops along the way for photos and to stretch our legs. We really couldn’t wait to get to Valdez and set up the camper and just relax.

Rain was falling as we set up camp, and a chill settled into our bones. The first thing we did, after getting out of our wet clothes, was turn on the heat.

We opted for sandwiches for dinner. It was already past 6pm, and neither of us wanted to cook. As we were eating, a glow came in the window. Could it be? Was the SUN actually out?!

We quickly finished our sandwiches, leashed up Sedona and took off walking towards the marina. Everyone had the same idea, and the marina area was crowded with both fisherman and visitors to Valdez. We watched a few anglers clean their catch, as hundreds of gulls circled overhead waiting for the *guts* to be dumped.

The sunshine colored the tops of the mountains a brilliant green where the light bounced off the lush bushes and trees. The sky was full of fluffy clouds; white cottonballs in a sea of blue. It was a beautiful evening.

While out, we stopped at the Stan Stephens office and booked a wildlife/glacier cruise for Monday. We’re doing the long tour that goes to Columbia and Meares Glacier. I will be thrilled if the sun shines that day, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

We came back to the camper at 9pm. The sun was just dipping behind the mountains, and the sky was growing darker.  By the time we went to bed at 11pm, the skies looked black. It’s been months since I’ve seen a dark night sky. We didn’t even have to plug up the skylight with cardboard to sleep.

Steve slept in this morning, but I was up at 7am.  We’re going fishing in a few minutes (actually he’s going fishing, and I’m going to keep him company). After he gets some fishing out of his system, we’re going to drive the Mineral Creek Trail. Steve will go back out fishing tonight, while I work on photos I’ll take today.

I have a lot of photos to post in my next entry - both of our drive down, and photos from today.

Right now the sun is shining and we’re not going to waste it!

Later…