Hatcher's Pass Snowshoe Day 4/12/08

Beautiful spring day, perfect for seeing anchorage from the rear-view mirror. Headed to Hatcher Pass with Richard and Marti. We saw some high marking tracks and set the goal of making it higher. Getting up wasn't bad, but we had some fun negotiating the steep downhill. Sliding and snowshoeing mostly. Perfect weather, clear views. Fun had by all. Here we are ready to head out.




















Richard and Marti


























Thank GOD winter is over. Sunshine, bring it on!!





















here we are all sweaty and worn out and back on the multi-use autobahn.

bear Valley Spring Hike in 15" of fresh snow

April 10th and tons of fresh powder at the trailhead high up in Bear Valley
above Stork Park. Couldn't have done it without snowshoes and poles.
Beautiful blue skies and views of Ptarmigan and North Suicide Peak.
And all after a day's work. Sun is setting around 9 p.m. now.



















Here are we are - junie moon and I - big splurgers, yah righ!



















This is the Toshi fan club, not such great views but we had fun &couldn't find room at the Tap Root Cafe afterwards.

View from the backyard bog

I forgot to take pictures during the Balinese housewarming party, my
bad. Weather got warmer in late March and then a spring snow shower
brought us a clean, white look again around April 5th. Here's the view
this month from the bog.

Spring equinox almost here 08

A bit of the Chugach from Baxter Bog. I hope to take a photo every week from this same spot and somehow put them together to show the changing seasons.

Facing south - wow, this will really look different in July with leaves on the trees. Mid-March and some songbirds are returning back, even some optimistic geese. Still chilly, but at least there are no mosquitos.

here's the livingroom. it's as finished as it's ever gonna get unless I decide to paint a wall. Right now I just want to NOT do any more home improving at least until next winter.

March outing and kitchen remodel

Today was a great day for a hike and some snowshoeing. here's the Meetup folks - we started at Prospect and went up the Wolverine Trail and towards Near Point. It got blowy and snowy after a few hours. Karen and I were on snowshoes, Rick on skis with skins. Very nice springish hike/ski conditions.
Alas, the endless kitchen remodel is done. hallelujah! here's the pot rack dripping with shiny copper. Doug and crew, Reeve and Todd, Pamela all did a great job. It will be fun to get back to some cooking again.

Thieves, arghhhhh

I was given the opportunity to drive my car around this last weekend with two windows intact. Someone liberated the other ones and removed some worldly possessions from my car. Driving around in 8 degree temps with windows smashed out was....er, memorable!

Kitchen Remodel is a happenin thing

All the former cabinets are gone, sink is out for the time being, and new cabinets are getting installed this week. Woops, some shelves are wrong size, so new ones coming. Breakfast bar is framed in. It's looking good. Okay, so the toaster is in the bathroom and there's no sink or microwave, but it'll all be back soon.

There's now a BIG opening where there was a pass through, and this will let the sun come through and allow a view of the mountains from the kitchen! There's a stainless steel pot rack ready to get installed above the pass through once the counters are on, and the walls are finished and textured. You can see the new cabinets around the microwave; problem is microwave can't open now cause the hinge butts up against the cabinet, so that's gotta get moved one more time.

Alaska Ski for Women - Feb 3, 2008

Happy Hikers decided to become the energizer bunnies for a good
fund-raising and all-round hillarious women's event. We decked out
with bunny ears, drums, pink tops. All the layers helped us stay warm
at below zero degrees. I heard there were 25 of us in all including kiddos.

Bruce and Cindy were the other rabble-rousers that organized
us all and the logistics.

Alaska Ski for Women - Feb 3, 2008

A good time was had by all and there were no equipment

malfunctions or frostbitten digits that I know of.

Some of the other teams were hilarious and very creatively
designed. This one even had classical music playing.

This was my last day of work staffing the Governor's Council on
Disabilities & Special Education. While I've enjoyed being staff
photographer among other duties, it was treat for me to get photo'd
with Governor Sarah Palin. My new job in state government starts
in two days! No rest for the wicked.

Jan 20th - it got really warm - up to 30 degrees. Sally, Keith, Rich and I skiied out at Kincaid Park.
We stopped to find the woodpecker nearby and got someone to snap this.

January 08 winter fun

On a Saturday I joined some friends snowshoeing by Glacier Creek from Girdwood Elementary School. We thought that the creek was frozen solid, but au contraire! Here's some negotiating about turning back.


For a moment there was blue sky, but it mostly snowed all day.

The fun part was guessing who'd fall in to the frozen creek.

Several did, so after a couple hours of fun we headed for Chair 5 in Girdwood for some food and conversation.

Bali Trip - Christmas 2007 for Judith & Ruth (Ibu Ben and Madey Rut)

We had a fabulous trip around Bali complete with lots of people, trekking, swimming, elephant riding, eating and being out in the tropical downpour. These pictures are in no particular order, just a sample of what we saw and did. Hope you enjoy it!

Here we were riding an elephant.



















Entrance to our Artini Cottage 2 in Ubud,
our base camp for our trip around Bali.

Infamously stinky durian (also stinks the same in Thailand)
sections of jackfruit, and the red delicious rambutan (lichee).
It was fabulous to be back in Indonesia.

























It does take effort to bargain for every little thing you
purchase. It's a game though and you just gotta do it.



















Ruth and I saw Bali with around 10 other travellers signed
up with IntrepidTravel.com out of Australia.
We're walking the main Ubud highway here.