Spring continues

to assert itself in Anchorage, although I wouldn't say for sure that summer is just around the corner.  The Chugiak mountains still have snow on their peaks and the temperature is only reaching the 60's.  There were many days of clouds but now the skies around Anchorage are blue and sunny.  But the wind - oh my! the wind!  Not gale force, and certainly not a tornado, but gusty and cool.  My co-workers tell me this is very unusual.  No rain or any type of precipitation in well over a month now.  Which brings us to a surprisingly active wildfire threat.  When the image of Alaska is predominantly cold with ice and snow, who thinks of wildfires?  But the threat is real and there have all ready been a few small blazes within the community.





View from the off-leash dog park

  Alaska also continues to be a land of extremes.  While the temperature here has been struggling to get into the 60's, in Fairbanks the temp has all ready been in the 70's.  Of course, on the north slope I'm not sure they have gotten about freezing!

The clothing worn by the professional women I work with also seems to reflect the extremes in temperatures.  On any given day, now that the snow has melted, there will be someone wearing sandals next to someone wearing boots.  And now that it has warmed up, boots may be worn under dresses with no tights or nylons.  I think boots are probably a fashion accessory no matter the season here.  Unless they are Uggs.  Uggs are only worn on the coldest of cold days, no matter what fashionable color they are.  And they do come in many colors!

Gardening is apparently very popular here.  There are multiple nurseries and everywhere there are starter plants for flowers and veggies.  I bought one of those topsy-turvy things for tomatoes... I'll let you know how it works out.  I think it has something to do with the 18 hours of sunlight we have that makes everyone want to go outside.  Personally, I find it disconcerting.  The dark of winter did not phase me, but looking outside at 10 PM and seeing bright sunlight is not conducive to sleep for me.  It's worse than working night shift and trying to nap during the day.

We took the dogs to the off-leash park down the road.  The park isn't fenced, so Rosey does not get the opportunity to go off-leash.  But Riley does, and we found a pond where he and a few of his buddies got to play.

 

Jake and I went to Kincaid Park last night for a walk with the dogs. I hadn't been there since there was still snow and mud on the ground, making for a miserable and short walk.  This time the ground is mostly dry, and in areas where it isn't shaded, it was very comfortable to walk.  But in the shade, it quickly cools off.  The parking lot was full, and we were lucky to find a spot.  We went to explore what I think is a visitor center, and found this:

Well, we weren't there to play disc golf anyway.

So we headed out in no particular direction.  The open expanse is Turnagain Arm.





I think the thing in the forefront is used as a warming station in the winter.  There is a lot of cross-country skiing that goes on in this park during the winter.  Many groomed and lighted paths.
We live about 4 miles down that road.

 

Kinkaid Park was used as a military base for missles during the cold war.  I think I like the current usage better.

So as Jake and I were walking, and walking, and walking.... we came upon a signpost with a map.  As we were trying to decipher the way between "you are here" and where we want to go, I heard a rustling.  I didn't think much of it until I heard big bad Rosey start to growl.  I looked down at her and all 14 lbs of her was on edge and she was growling away at a moose that was looking at us from about 25 feet away.  It was walking down a crosspath.  Apparently, they also like to use the trail system.  Now I admit, I would rather have a moose meet us in the woods rather than a bear, but moose have been known to attack and seriously injure people.  This isn't a great time of year to meet moose what with calving season and all, but this moose was solo and it apparently wanted to get away from us as quickly as we wanted to get away from it.  "Let's keep walking, Mom" said Jake, so we walked up the trail, keeping one eye on the moose and the other on any tree that might be big enough to duck behind, and the moose watched us as it continued the other way down the crosspath.  Big bad Rosey saved us from the moose, and I'm not sure Riley even knew it was there.

As we got closer to the parking lot, I stood on a walking bridge that gives great views of the park.  I was really amazed at the number of people utilizing the park.  There were soccer games going on, people playing disc golf (I don't know if the bear got to play or not), walkers, runners, a whole group of people doing power walks, dogs, kids... everything you want in parks.  It reminded me more of everyone utilizing Central Park in NYC, but this is just one park in Anchorage, a city of 270,000 people and many many many parks.  I think people in Alaska just really like the outdoors.  And when I look at the cars I see bike racks and kayaks and canoes.  And there is a huge increase in the number of people biking to work since the snow melted.  I really enjoy that about the city - but I do hope it warms up by just another 10 degrees!

I probably won't have much to say for awhile.  Jake and I fly back to Wisconsin June 4th where we get to stay and visit for just a few days.  The plan is to leave WI on June 8th and drive back to Alaska.  We are bringing back my Jeep and towing a small trailer.  I am planning on 10 days to get us there, but have a few extra if we need it.  Mapquest tells me that with my planned stop to Mt. Rushmore it's about a 3,600 mile drive. We plan on camping most of it, but I told Jake if the weather is bad I'm getting a hotel.  I don't HAVE to be miserable.  I think this will be quite the adventure for the two of us.  And probably one of the last big trips he and I will have like this.  He is growing up so fast.  Anyone got any suggestions for Must See places along the way?

Anyway, it's 8:30, and the sun is still high in the sky.  I need to take the dogs for a walk around the block.  No park tonight, maybe in a day or two.

See you in a few weeks!

Differences I have noticed...

In Wisconsin the squirrels are constantly in the bird feeder, running across the roof, throwing acorns out of the trees... in Alaska I haven't seen a single squirrel.

Every other place I have lived in for the past 30 years has had Canadian Geese that live in the area all year round.  I didn't even realize they weren't here until they showed up last week.  Apparently, their return is a sure sign of spring.  Same with the seagulls.  There have been no seagulls in the area all winter, but they returned a few weeks ago.

The lakes are still frozen, but the ice is thin and no one should be out on it at this point.  Most of the snow around town is gone, and I think the big ski resort to our south, Aleyeska, has finally closed for the season.  The weather remains dry although we did have a few sprinkles this past week.  The temperature makes it up into the 50's during the day, but when I get up in the morning there is frequently a light layer of frost on the windshield.   The grass is still brown, but I think I saw a few buds on the neighbors bushes today.  The landscapers were out at work, clearing up the winter debris.  Here is a moose who is appreciating all of their hard work. 

These pictures are taken right by the front lobby.  Every time a moose comes near the lobby someone has to go and turn off the automatic doors to prevent the moose from coming into the hospital.  The Security Guard also goes out with an air horn and uses it to scare them away from the building.  It makes getting to and from the car a little challenging.  On this particular day, we opted to use the back door at the far end of the building and not interrupt this gal while she was eating.

As I mentioned previously, we were flying to a different hospital this past week.  Here is the plane we flew on.

My travel companions listening to our wonderful pilot



This is it!  Seats about 9 people including the pilot

 The plane flew at about 500 feet giving us a really great view of the landscape.  The day was a little grey, but not to windy.  Which is a good thing since I tend to suffer from pretty severe motion sickness!  I never leave home without my dramamine!   One thing that really struck me was that the land is covered in lakes.  Our pilot, who has been flying in Alaska for about 10 years said that there are about a million little lakes in Alaska.  So here are some pictures from the trip:

My lovely co-worker

headphones were necessary to hear each other



Anchorage



Kenai River

If you look close, you can see snow-capped mountains. They blend in with the clouds.

Lakes lakes and more lakes

Not much else going on at this point.  It is 9 PM and the sun is shining like it was 1 PM.  The neighbor kids are out playing and laughing.  They are also wearing shorts and sandals.  It's only 52 degrees out and I am holding out for warmer weather. 

Until next week!