I'm back in Kansas City, taking my first day to relax and use my parents Showtime on Demand to catch up on The Tudors and organize photos. Later I'm going to try to pull some things off of other drives. In the meantime enjoy some Alaska photos, including from my trip to Kodiak.

( Year of Photos )

Thus ends the photos, for now.

Last week was one my one year anniversary of arriving in Alaska. Actually it was January 27th. And I've been working on this entry for that long. So I have lists for you, things I love about Anchorage/Alaska, things I'm learning to love, and things I miss and things I don't miss. I'll probably add more and more to these lists as they occur to me. I'll try to post the photos (which my mother waits for every Monday since it is my day off) either after this or tomorrow.

Things I Miss about Kansas City and The Lower 48 in General

• Thunderstorms
• Rain
• Barbeque
• Yoplait Light Flavor Strawberry-Orange-Sunrise
• Proximity to Family
• My Church
• My Friends
• Going to Royals games
• Boulevard Wheat
• A Whole List of Stores/Decent Shopping
• Sonic
• Fazoli's
• Olive Garden
• More than one library system in easy driving distance
• Decent fresh produce
• Squirrels
• fireflys in the summer
• Live theatre
• Junior League
• The ability to vacation in other states by jumping in the car for an hour or two

Things I Don't Miss About Kansas City

• Traffic
• Driving 45 minutes each way to work
• Hot humid summers
• Stress

Things I Love About Anchorage and Alaska in General

• Cross country skiing right outside my door
• A great community feeling
• Sushi (which they had in KC but I never ate)
• Fresh seafood
• A vast majority of outdoorsy people (who inspire me)
• Mountains everywhere I look
• The ocean and port (and whale watching!)
• Moose (and other wildlife)
• My church
• The friends I've made
• My awesome library and coworkers
• The huge military presence
• The amazing city park and trail system
• Pure wilderness is less than 20 minutes away, and you feel like you're a million miles from civilization
• A huge and diverse international population
• Learning about the native culture
• The culture/community of this state in general
  (so a lot of what I love about Alaska is turning out to be hard to put in words!)

Things I Am Learning To Love About Anchorage/Alaska

• The Cold (Embrace, buy awesome layers, don't hide from it)
• The huge military presence
• Quadrupling the amounts of lotions and moisturizers I use to deal with the cold
• Constant tourists
• Huge time difference from the rest of the country
• People always commenting on my accent

More to come as it occurs to me!

Winter is in full swing. We referred to it as a "warmer" day when it hit 17. And I'm stocking up again on my winter supplies. It's getting expensive. In no particular order here are some recent purchases and things I'm considering.

*New Parka I needed a new parka for skiing (cross country) and a more mobile one than my ankle length down coat. Definitely something warm needed. I found a columbia 3-in-1 parka (zip out lining) that retails for around $200. It's even pink and brown so very cool. I got a good deal at Costco on this parka, so cost: $150.

*Slippers My new place (which I love by the by) has stone floors on the first floor that are cold and covered with dog hair (even with constant vacumming). Both my roomies wear slippers and I knew I needed some. I was going to ask for some for xmas, but I found a cute pair at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (pink and super comfy), and I splurged. This will amaze my mom who spent years buying me slippers and trying to convince me to wear them. I never wore any she got me, but I love these (and need them more). Cost: around $16.

*Heated Linens The house is kept at around 67-69, totally reasonable for Alaska and perfectly comfortable. Except that when I slip between the covers, they're really cold. I would love a solution. Perhaps a heated blanket, but my roommate has a heated mattress pad and that is an awesome idea. Looked at them at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they're on the pricey side, $120ish for a Queen. Maybe for Christmas.

*Snow Tires I've tried just using my all wheel tires and four wheel drive but with my new neighborhood and the hills I now have, I need snow/studded tires. That is looking like that might cost up to $500. Grrr...

*New Hat I didn't need need this, but I got a cute new hat (also pink) for about $9.

*Shoe Clamps/Spikes Absolutely invaluable for climbing the hill to my stained glass class or parking lots in general. These are rubber things you slip over the soles of your shoes and they have little spikes that will give you traction in the snow/ice. I've already used my pair a bunch (and I'd never before seen anything like this when I lived in Kansas). Cost: $15-$20

*Gloves I have one really heavy duty pair of gloves (with my heavy duty hat and boots), but I would like another medium pair (fairly warm but not so bulky that I can't easily move my fingers) so that I can have a separate pair in each coat. (Easier for convenience sake).

*Heated seat cover I (quite sadly) don't have heated seats in my Jeep. Thus my roommate and I ventured to Wal-Mart to fix this. I got a heated seat that fits on top of the regular seat and plugs into my cigarette lighter and even does massage. Not strictly necessary, but it helps an incredible amount. Cost: $40.

So winter is expensive. And I'm sure I missed some. Fortunately when I was doing my budget, I forgot about my security deposit from my old place. I didn't need a security deposit for this place (this is the advantage of a more informal arrangement), and I get one back from the last place. I've got a (fairly flexibile) budget for the next few months that includes the new bedroom furniture, vacation (to Vegas tomorrow!), and Christmas gifts, but did not include the "income" from the deposit return. In my mind, I wrote the check and the money was gone, so getting it back is a bonus! I believe I will use that money for the snow tires, and the remainder for a gun (protection from bears and predators of the human persuasion) before politics changes so much that it is impossible (or too heavily taxed).

Last week winter arrived. It started last weekend (weekend before this most recent one, 11 days ago - Sunday). I had been admiring the fall colors (and took a picture of them that I need to post) and about an hour later the snow started to fall. The Sunday snow didn't stick. But the stuff that fell later that week did. On Thursday it snowed all day and it stuck and accumulated. I worked late that evening (til 8pm) and it was quite dark when I headed home. The side road by my library was pure ice. I fishtailed some on that road (nothing major, but enough to keep considering if I should be getting snow tires). It was cold, snowy, and dark. And I had my second panic moment since I moved here. It was something along the line of oh my heavens, I moved to Alaska, was that a monumentally stupid thing to do? What was I thinking? It's October 9th and it's snowing, and dark, can I handle this? I was starting to panic, but I took a deep breath, drove myself home, and drank some hot cocoa. I talked myself down. Remember you love Alaska, it's beautiful, you're making good friends, your church is a wonderful group, a family, this library is the best you've ever worked at in terms of staff support, you love it here, this is just a bad day. I was feeling much better my bed time and when I woke up in the morning, I was chipper again.

Since then, for the last week, it has snow almost every day. No huge accumulation, mostly it's been melting, but constantly snow somewhere in sight. Cleaned off my car a few times. I need the clamp covers for my shoes (explanation in dealing with snow in another post). It's pretty and fun. The roads are kinda treacherous since it is that snow/melt/freeze/melt/freeze/snow some more cycle that results in ice and black ice. I went to a thing on Monday morning and there was a car accident. An hour later, same intersection, accident is cleared up and a new one has taken its place. I've seen two other accidents this week. My storytimes have dropped from an average of 76 people (with 4 to 10 turned away, the room only holds 75 by firecode), to 25 to 35 this last week. Apparently they don't want to drive in the snow (come on people, you live in Anchorage!). I expect as winter continues and we get more adjusted to it, the numbers will come back up. People just weren't mentally ready for winter. I know I wasn't. But I am now, mostly. There's still some surprise when I see the snow, a vague sense of unreality, but it's fading.

My microwave got replaced. Actually I am impressed by how well I survived (for almost three weeks) without it. (And yes I realize that isn't that long). As Tim mentioned he does, I used a tea kettle for hot water, primarily for my morning oatmeal and for tea/cocoa. The stove and toaster oven covered everything else nicely. My only complaint is the toaster oven is not as good at all-the-way-through heating without drying out leftovers as a microwave. But all in all, life without a microwave is doable.

When I logged onto my bank's website, the intermediary screen before you get to your account was a letter from the bank president assuring me that in no way, shape or form will my bank fail. That was rather the opposite of reassuring. And a good indicator of the general state of our economy and the fear level of our citizens. I'm also so sick of this election that I'm avoiding watching The Daily Show/Colbert Report just because I can't deal with any more of it. ..lesigh..

There are other things I would like to post about and a ton of pictures to share, but now I will sleep.

Warning political ramblings ahead, nothing too icky, just one really really really frustrated citizen.

In Alaska we are electing both the congressman (one for the entire state) and a senator. Both our incumbents are republicans and crooks. Ted Stevens (senate) was actually indicted a couple of weeks before the primary. And Don Young (congress) is so close to being indicted (under investigation) he can already smell the court room. Both of them faced challenges in the primary from their own party. I'm registered republican; I'm fairly conservative (yes Elizabeth, we know this), and I voted against both of them in the primary.

On August 26th, Ted Stevens (actually indicted!) won his primary handily with something like 64% of the vote. Don Young was in a neck and neck race with the lieutenant governor Sean Parnell. They've been counting absentees, etc., for the last month. Last night, trailing by a mere 300 votes, Sean Parnell conceded. The race was close enough that the state would have paid for a recount. Everyone is commending Parnell for fiscal responsibility, not wasting the taxpayers money on a recount. However I wonder how much he's betting on getting to be governor in a few weeks.

And that brings us nicely to the presidential election. Don't like McCain, never have, can't imagine I ever really well. Not terribly fond of Obama either. Biden is more of the same old story as every other politician (he looks a bit like an aged Ken doll goes to Washington in his blandness). And while there are things I could like about Palin, I'm not totally sold on her either.

So four major offices, eight candidates, and not even one that gets me excited. Not one! Now I am not a naive fool, I know politics often means choosing the lesser of two evils. But even one person who I thought was at least a chance of a positive influence? Is that too much to ask? None of those people will come even close to representing me should they be elected. I've not missed a single election (minor or major) since I turned 18. And yet I am seriously contemplating staying at home with a glass of wine and a good book on election day. Perhaps a nice dystopian scifi adventure. It would suit my mood.

Oh and aargh! Happy talk like a pirate day me mateys!

I haven't updated in quite a while, and I have had a lot of fun exploring Alaska. I've done a ton of cool stuff this summer. I thought I'd start with the State Fair I went to a few weekends ago. We bought tickets for the Charlie Daniels Band concert which included Fair admission. Watched a couple of other shows, including a fun folksy group that sang old timey songs. I bought a few random things, a really neat tea pot set, a gift or two. Oh and there was amazing food. So much amazing food. We saw neat exhibits of crafts, plants, and all sorts of amazing things. Our fair isn't as big as many of the states in the lower 48, but it is a big deal up here, almost everyone goes. I ran into a lot of people I know. It's fantastic how much of a home and a community this place already feels like to me.

And of course the story is best told in photos. I have a picture of the 914 pound pumpkin, but I don't like how I look in it so I'm not sharing. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few.
( click here for pictorial storytelling )

That's not many pictures considering the large amount of fun we had. But it will do for now. Stay tuned for more pictures of summer fun.

Since Friday I have been inundated with IMs, emails, texts, facebook and lj mesages, and such asking me about Sarah Palin. Two things occur to me, 1. I have way too many ways to be contacted and 2. I am the only one people know who lives in Alaska. Thus I have decided to send out a mass email/blog post/message with the "alaskan reaction to Sarah Palin's choice as VP" that I have been asked for. Fortunately, I have recently been authorized to speak for the entire state and thus can answer the questions.

First question I've gotten a lot, what is the Alaskan reaction. The news broke on Friday morning here; most of us either woke up to it, or heard it on the way to work (me). Everyone was completely shocked up here. No one from Alaska has ever gotten very far in National politics (there was a secretary of the Interior under Nixon and that is about it). Up here there is a tendency to feel like less a full fledged member of the Union and more like the red-headed stepchild. So for Alaskans this is huge. Everyone was shocked and excited, but mostly shocked. Mostly there is a "well this won't be boring at least" attitude. I was at the State Fair on Saturday (914 pound pumpkin - very cool!) and there was a tshirt booth already selling McCain/Palin tshirts (they must have started printing them the instant they heard); the shirts sold out by midafternoon. I saw tons of people wearing them. The Republican Women booth was selling bumper stickers and they had people lined up to buy them. For many people, they are so excited about having someone on a national ticket, and someone so Alaskan, they're jumping up and down with joy.

Second question I've been asked, what should we know about her. Her family is very all Alaskan, and most of this is coming out in the media. Her husband is a former Army sniper, injured in Iraq, as well as a commercial fisherman, and an oil worker up on the North Slope, and a pilot. The only common profession/lifestyle he is missing is miner/Alaskan native. Husband also competes in the Iron Dog competition (which is exactly as funny as it sounds - I'd love to see that get national media attention). She also has an oldest son about to deploy to Iraq. And a pregnant teenage daughter. Also both common in Alaska. Three teenagers came into my library in the last two weeks alone either pregnant or with a new baby on their hip, two of the three were Alaskan Native, but that is another rant. I haven't been out with friends and coworkers since the news about her daughter broke, so I can't really give the reaction to that. She's been a pretty good governor. She used her veto to slash the budget, but she left library funding untouched (my priority).

Alaskan politics are rife with tolerated corruption (see Ted Stevens who is actually indicted, and got 67% of his party's vote in the primary, or Don Young who is about to be indicted and is leading by 150 votes for his party's nomination in that same primary, it's enough to make a girl give up entirely). However, Palin has done a lot to bring that to the light, particularly in regards to our last governor. Of course there is the question of if she got that trooper fired to protect her sister who was getting divorced (to be fair, if someone hurt my sister, and I had it in my power to get her husban fired, as much as I'd love him, I'd be sorely tempted because she is my sister). That's still under investigation, but people up here seem to believe it and not care too much (see the tolerated corruption).

Side note: A few weeks ago, she came to my library to film an endorsement ad for Sean Parnell (running against Don Young in the primary for the Republican nomination for Congress, current Lieutenant Governor). All librarians got an email if we'd be working that Saturday. She walked around introducing herself to people. She didn't make it back to Youth Services, but she waved at me. Thoughts: she's really pretty (runner up for Miss Alaska).

So that is what I know about it, and how people are reacting (provided those people are those who live in Anchorage and go to church with me or come to the library). In my personal opinion, it is pretty cool that which ever way this goes, we'll either have a woman or an African American in the executive office. That's pretty nice as far as history goes.

Here is a little on screen message, that one would only see in Alaska.
"Breaking news: The Anchorage Police are warning the public to stay away from Bicentennial Park. A woman was attacked by a bear this afternoon. The police will be combing the area with their guns drawn."

This is funny to me. Very funny. I repeated it to a friend who was concerned about the danger posed by bear. I think the greater danger will be the trigger happy police.

I've also done a lot of sewing this weekend. I bought a pair of pants about a year ago that fit me just awfully. (I have no idea what I was thinking because everything that could go wrong with them on my body, does.) It was either throw them away or give them away. So I chose option number three, remake them. I made them into a skirt. It was my first attempt at clothing transformation, and I was not using a pattern. I don't love it, but I like it a great deal.

( pictures under here )

So I haven't posted in two weeks, and it has been a doozy of a two weeks. It included a trip to Seattle, and my parents coming up here. Thus I will give you the details in a bulleted list format that allows me some laxity in chronological order.

• Went to Seattle to see my sister get graduated from University of Washington. She is now the proud processor of a bachelor's degree in math. Go Susan! Graduation was a bit of a spectacle though.
  
• While in Seattle with my whole family, we went to a winery tour. Drank lots of yummy wine. And we saw a beautiful peacock at full spread. He was showing off for some lady friends and it was quite impressive.
  
• After trying and trying to find a restaurant after graduation with less than a three hour wait for dinner, anything not big and chainy, not that there is anything wrong with those restaurants, we just wanted something more special. But we also were very hungry. And we eventually ended up at... Olive Garden. Oh well, it was good.
  
• Mom and Dad left early Sunday morning to catch a train to Vancouver and their Alaskan cruise. John left a little later for Kansas City, leaving Susan and I there to play.
  
• Susan and I shopped, and I enjoyed the variety of stores not available here. I got some clothes, shoes, and kick-butt sunglasses.
  
• One of things about being in Seattle with my sister was the chance to see the Sex and the City movie with her. We'd waited to see it with each other. It was a ton of fun. I didn't love every minute, but it was good. Definitely a movie for the fans.
  
• Also in Seattle was my friend Jeff. Jeff is a friend from library school who now lives in Texas. He was in Seattle to go to a library conference. We met up, saw the space needle, and ate dinner.
  
• It turns out I like guacamole and sour cream. I have always thought I disliked them and requested them off of tex-mex or Mexican food. Or I scraped them off. I tried them, and I liked them. Very much. Coolness. I would make my own guac except produce is ridiculously expensive up here. I will end up doing it some time though.
  
• Came home Monday evening from Seattle. Proceeded to work my butt off Tuesday through Saturday. I also cleaned frantically Saturday night and was up a bit later than intended. That made my early departure on Sunday a bit more painful.
  
• Left early Sunday morning to drive to Seward (2+ hours south of Anchorage) to pick parents up from cruise boat. I used my super cool coffee cup that plugs into the cigarette lighter and thus I had warm coffee the entire drive. It was a pretty drive, but also very windy around cliffs and it was raining so I was focused very much on not going off the side of the road. Picked up Mom and Dad no problem.
  
• We did some stuff in Seward. Ate lunch at a little diner that was sadly out of caribou burgers, went to a quilt store, etc.
  
• We went and explored Exit Glacier and they we took an "ididaride". In an Ididaride we explored a kennel of a family of Iditarod racers. We took a ride in a wagon behind a team of dogs. Our lead dog was a three time Iditarod finisher. Then we learned about the equipment at the Iditarod and got to play with some adorable puppies.
  
• Took mom and dad on the long drive back to Anchorage. Got back to Anchorage, explored the city a teensy bit, picked up some of mom and dad's lost luggage from the cruise, etc.
  
• Monday morning we headed to Denali in hopes of seeing Mount McKinley. It was rainy the entire time so we couldn't see the mountain, however it was a really nice bus tour we took. (They only let you drive in so far into the park.) Saw lots of pretty stuff.
  
• The Denali trip was a birthday gift from my parents. It was great. My actual bday was rather a bust. I worked and one of my last patrons of the day was a complete jerk who cursed me out and called me names. It happens. We also celebrated my bday and father's day as well as Susan's graduation in Seattle. And both Denali and Seattle were awesome.
  
• We stayed in Talkeetna at an adorable Bed and Breakfast. I slept in a loft.
  
• Drove back Tuesday morning in time to have lunch at my apartment and for me to work the afternoon while parents played around. We picked up a halibut pizza from Moose's Tooth (an Alaskan specialty) and ate dinner at my place while parents packed. Drove them to the airport and came home and collapsed.
  
• While I worked the rest of the week, I collapsed each day. After sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night for five nights I am beginning to feel normal again. Those two weeks really and totally took it out of me.
  

Perhaps I really didn't need a list to tell that story. But I like lists so I used one.

Two weekends ago, I joined the church here in Anchorage. I'd been visiting for a few weeks. Initially I wasn't sure, but the more I went, the more I liked the church. The people are wonderfully friendly. I'm starting to meet more people my age who would be good to hang out with. (with whom it would be nice to spend time - if I want to avoid ending in a preposition.) Joining the church was super simple, just tell them, fill out a card, and they make an announcement during worship service. That Sunday was the monthly welcome/farewell potluck dinner. It is a huge military town, and so there are people who leave on a regular basis hence the farewell part. The potluck was a great deal of fun. Anchorage has a very large international community. In some ways it was a very traditional potluck, with many dishes you would find in any church potluck in the Midwest and the South. However, there was also hand rolled (and absolutely delicious) sushi, another Japanese dish, and other fun international delicacies. Of course since my denomination is primarily prevalent in the South, there was regular ice tea and an equal sized container labelled "Sweet Tea". A fantastic combination of down home and international, and the people are the same wonderful menagerie. I am really enjoying it.

And of course it is also very Alaskan. I was given a "welcome to Alaska" basket by the women of the church this week. It featured many homemade items (Alaskans are very crafty people, partially in defense against the long winters). There was homemade jam, a quilted hot pad, and a jar of what seems to be preserved salmon (undoubtedly caught by one of the church's men and preserved by his wife). There were also a number of maps and info about Alaska. The church has been so welcoming and wonderful. I'm going to play cards with some people tonight. At church after lunch last week, I was recruited to teach 1st grade Bible Class (formerly known in my world at least as Sunday School) over the summer.

Now I must go to work. It seems to be snowing. Well in a way. It's snow/rain, melting as it comes into contact with the ground. We had had just beautiful weather for the last, upper forties, I had been wearing just a light jacket. April snow. How fun. It's still above freezing, and we need the moisture.

This is a completely random feature wherein I introduce you to some Alaska words. Today's entry is Suicide Fishing Run.

suicide fishing run - n., where someone (let's be honest a man) gets off work in Anchorage on an evening in the summer, drives down to the Kenai, about a 3.5 or 4 hour drive, fishes all night (remember in the summer we have almost complete daylight so "night" is pretty light), and then drives home in the early morning to make it to work the next day. This apparently works better on the buddy system as one of you can drive down while the other sleeps and you reverse it for the trip back up. Apparently this is not uncommon behavior for Alaskan men.

I've been behind on posting, so I give you the Alaska vocab, slang, jargon, and lingo I've learned since my arrival.

a big dump - n. a large amount of snow, usually in one sitting, has nothing to do with the bathroom like I thought at first
Example I've heard: We're hoping for one more big dump to extend the ski season.

the Lower 48 - Proper noun, capitalized. This is the 48 contiguous states (ie everything but Alaska and Hawaii)
Example I've heard: Elizabeth just moved here from the Lower 48.

the Outside - Proper noun, capitalized. Anywhere not Alaska. This is used by longer term Alaskans. This is very indicative of their attitude up here. The rest of the country/world seems not to care about Alaskans. Watch CNN headline news, we're not on the ticker, neither is our time zone. We almost never make the news. There are some amazing stories I've heard from post-9/11 days. As a result Alaskans have a very frontier-independent attitude and everywhere else is the Outside.
Example I've heard: I'm trying to get Outside this summer to go shopping.

the Interior - Proper noun, capitalized. The inside part of the state of Alaska. Large parts of it are hard to get too and very much less settled than the parts along the shore. Fairbanks is technically in the Interior, but is one of the larger cities and is considered to be sort of the gateway to the smaller less accessible communities.
Example: We're going hunting in the Interior.

the Bush - Proper noun, capitalized. All the wilderness areas of Alaska. Many of these communities can only be reached by plane, seaplane, or boat (in the summer). Sometimes by roads. They usually make it in only a few times a year to a bigger city (ie Anchorage or Juneau). Thus Bush ordering is available. Most people in these communities depend upon planes for supplies. (Which caused some serious problems in the days immediately after 9/11 when all planes were grounded.) Schools are small or non-existent (the state runs a satellite program for kids). Some really rugged types live out on their own in cabins, no real communities, and mainly hunt and fish for their existence. Alaska is one of the only states that allows sustenance hunting and fishing for their residents on special lands and most public lands. (I'm allowed to harvest a ton of meat/fish as a resident, even as a non-rural resident.) Rural residents eat on average a pound of wild meat a week (or day, can't remember, looked up the stats last week and forgot them, it's one of the two). And that was a long and rambling definition.
Example: signs posted all over in stores Bush shipping available

break-up aka Spring Break-Up aka Spring Thaw - n. Usually just called break-up, it is in the Spring when everything melts. In Kansas City where I am from, we would get snow/ice have it a week maybe two, and then it would warm and stuff would melt. This does not happen here. The snow/ice stays around for months until it finally melts. They grade the snow in the parking lots and many of the roads so there is up to 6 or 7 inches (literally) of packed snow/ice on all surfaces. It melts, or at least the top layer does, but it freezes either because it dropped temp at night or because the layer below caused it to refreeze. Then you have a layer of very slippery ice on top of everything instead of snow/cut up stuff with good traction. My car does okay in it. I do not. It is so dangerous to walk. My apartment parking lot was a disaster zone. I was taking baby steps across a store parking lot and laughing with another woman as we tried desperately not to wipe out, no traction, nothing to grab, very treacherous. They sell these things that slip over your shoes and have grippers (they look like arctic explorer gear) for you. I heard a rumor the city is giving them to employees, but nothing has panned out. After the melt and form really bad ice (seriously like walking on fresh zamboni'd ice rinks), then you get the swamp, mush. I have rubber boots (very awesome rubber boots I got for Christmas) that I have been wearing every day and carrying my shoes in my bag so I don't get mush all over my shoes/socks/jeans and be wet all day. Actually we're getting close to being done with break-up. For now at least.
No example really

There are more and I will get to them in a future update. Hello from the slightly less frozen North!

I went to the Iditarod yesterday. They do a leg through Anchorage that is ceremonial, doesn't count for the musher's time and then a re-start up north of the city the next day. Instead of going downtown for the start where the crowd is huge, five or eight people thick and you're behind a fence far from the doggies, I slept in, walked to the end of my parking lot and watched the part of the race that went right by. That's right part of the Iditarod goes within 50 feet of my front door! How cool is that? It was a great place to watch, the dogs went so close I could have reached out and touched them. And it was cool to see how they handled coming down the hill.

It was cold so I didn't watch all the teams. They start at 10am. The teams start at 2 minute intervals. There were a record 96 teams! I watched the first dozen or so teams. They were still coming by when I went to work at 12:30, it goes to nearly 2pm.

Of course I took some pictures. Though after a while I stopped taking pictures because quite frankly the dog teams are started looking alike. You don't need 100 pictures of dogs and teams.

Go here to see lots of fun pictures

Photos on my flickr account in general

Below the cut is my favorite picture from the race and a video I took. I actually tried to take a couple of videos, the quality isn't great, but there you go.

( pictures and video )

And my attempt at video:
Go here I can't figure out how to embed it

This weekend was a blast. On Sunday I went to Fur Rondy (short for Fur Rendezvous) it is an annual winter festival here in Anchorage. I went to a number of events, and it was a fantastic time. I took lots of pictures, and loaded them on a flicr account so they're easier for you all to see.

Fur Rondy 2008 pictures

First I went down to the World Championship Sled Dog Races. These are shorter races than the Iditarod (that I will go to next week) and so the dogs are shorter hair and smaller than the husky types. Lots of German pointer types in the mix. They do a 25 mile loop around the city on this snow/ice lane that they build in the middle of the street; it takes them 90 minutes to 115 minutes. Actually they go by my house (and kept me up most of the night building the silly thing with their trucks with the beep-beep back up alarms that started at 11pm and were still going at 8:30am when I went to work - I got maybe 3 hours of sleep that night), but I decided to go to the start and see all the activities around there. They are sled dog races and not dog sled races because the dogs are racing not the sleds. (So sled is modifying the dog, not the other way around.) They do three races, over three days, and this was day three. They'd started with teams as many as 18 dogs and most were down because the track was in such good condition they were going too fast to be controlled. Also interesting to me, there is no "whoa" command, they just use a brake. And additionally, they only use verbal commands, no whips. It was so cool to watch and those dogs were super excited.

While the dogs were out on the city track, there was a skijor demonstration. In skijor you tie a rope around your waist (fancy special rope) and onto a harness on your dog. And your dog "pulls" you as you cross country ski. It looked like so much fun. Any size dog can do it, so long as the dog keeps the road taunt. Most of the ones who do it to race do so with larger dogs. No more than two dogs though or you're mushing.

Then I walked around and saw the port, and the carnival and other fun things. Later I watched the dog teams come back to the finish line. Two came in at the same time, which is interesting to see them head to head. Next I wondered around some more and ate a reindeer hot dog (presumably one too slow for the run). It's a big street festival with street vendors. The Miss Alaska and Fur Rendezvous princesses wondered by. As well as the Keystone cops who will put you in Fur Rondy jail if you're not wearing your (collectible) Fur Rondy pin.

Next there was the best event of all - the Running of the Reindeer! Carrie's dad especially asked if I did this. In the past few years I gather that participation and profibility of Fur Rondy has lagged. So they were looking for a new event to raise turn out. And since Spain has Running with the Bulls - why not do it Alaska style? A morning D.J. came up with the idea (natch) and 1000 people (500 men and 500 women) signed up to run with the reindeer. First they paraded the reindeer for the crowd to see. Than they did a version of skijor where the reindeer pulled the skiiers (who mainly fell and got tangled in their ropes). Not only had they never done this before, they didn't know of anyone who had done it. No one knew how the reindeer would react. Would they run? Stand still? Be more interested in the crowd on the side than the runners? Freak out and attack people? The D.J. did a good job of entertaining the crowd. The women went first since no one knew if the reindeer would attack. There were 500 women and about 12 reindeer. And man did those reindeer run! They really went for it. It was really funny, just fabulous. When the men ran with the reindeer, I saw one guy fall and (it looked to me) be directly in the path of the reindeer who maneuvered around him. No one seemed hurt (other than a few falls) and the reindeer seemed to go out of their way to not hurt people. People were in incredible costumes, a few of the guys were running basically naked. All sorts of fun costumes. Huge crowd. Great event. I hope they do it next year. I might even consider running (it's like six blocks). I was sort of back and my camera was almost dead, so I didn't get many pictures. Here's a video though from the news.

Running of the Reindeer

I keep meaning to update more and more, but I always seem to be too tired. So here are bits and pieces of my life in Anchorage, things I've learned and observed, and a commitment to try to update at least every other day...

• It got up to 40 degrees yesterday and 38 today. We had rain instead of snow. It felt unbelievably balmy.
  
• All our good weather came at a price, the top layer of snow melted (and was added to by rain) but the bottom layer didn't melt. And some of the rain/snow refroze into an ice layer. All the parking lots were unbelievably treacherous. The cars seemed fine, but all the people were walking very very very carefully. We were laughing about how we looked like a bunch of old ladies. I have an entire entry on driving in Anchorage to write later. It is a truly unique experience.
  
• The monkey has a name. Sort of. I finally realized he's definitely more of a boy monkey. But Marcel will forever be associated with Friends so I am going with either Max or Marty. Probably Max. We'll see for sure how I feel tomorrow morning.
  
• I had a three day weekend due to the holiday. However I work Tues through Sat, so my normal day off is Monday, so I got to take Tuesday as a holiday.
  
• I was really productive this weekend. I ran a lot of errands and got some more housekeeping type things so my apartment is more homey. There is more to tell, later entry.
  
• I bought skis! And enrolled in a ski class! Which was cancelled. Later entry about that too.
  
• Did you know Alaska is really earthquake prone? I saw this thing in a documentary since I arrived here about the "big one" in the 1930s that was worse than the 1989 San Francisco quake. I had no idea there were so many earthquakes here. There are earthquake supplies at the library and we had training on what to do during it. My supervisor also repeated and gave me some advice. She can remember two (admittedly small) earthquakes in the last six months. This is both very exciting to me (I've always wanted to be in a small quake) and scary.
  
• The Alaska Railroad is supposed to be really cool and they have a beer train. Fantastic!
  
• Before I got here I thought it was just a joke/stereotype that Alaskans call the rest of the country/world the "outside", but they do. Anywhere not Alaska is "The Outside" and people talk about how they take advantage of air miles to "go outside". It amuses me.
  
• There are lots and lots of military people here. They're super polite. I'm working on a cub scout tour being organized by Lieutenant Commander Dad. Talking to him on the phone cracks me up.
  
• Alaska has only one representative in the House (Congress). His commercials call him the "Representative for All Alaska". I don't know why but that always makes me laugh.
  
• If Alaska were a country, it would be the 19th biggest country.
  
• Alaska doesn't have counties, just boroughs. The city of Anchorage (my employer which goes by the "muni") provides all the services usually provided by a county and a city (water, power, etc...) This makes it a huge entity.
  
• A lot of the kids I see wear these really cute "Alaska Grown" shirts.
  
• Real Alaskans think Anchorage is too urbanized in the last few years (especially with the big box stores everything from Bed Bath and Beyond to Wal-Mart to the Target that is opening).
  
• Every store you go into has a sign with information about Bush ordering.
  

More to come, I hope some of these tidbits were interesting.

I will try to write more tomorrow in an actual post, but for now here are some pictures. Mainly these are from my apartment, but I have been exploring.

( this is my view... )

So that is a little slice of my life...

Yesterday (Monday) was my first day at my new job. When I left for work it was -14 (Fahrenheit). that is very cold. My hands hurt within a few minutes of me being outside, even with gloves. It hurts to breathe. I had to keep reminding myself that I wanted this, I wanted to move here. When I hear all the Alaskans talk about how it is too cold to be out doing this, then I feel better. Or at least I feel like less of a wimp. Apparently they have one or two super cold snaps like this a winter but then they pass. I'm hopeful that this passes soon. I'd love to get out and explore more, but it is just so cold. And gas mileage is awful because the engine is too cold.

The first half of the first day of work was mainly just orientations and such. As I met all my new coworkers they all greeted me enthusiastically. It seems like it will be a great place to work. I've been really blessed and enjoyed the last couple of places I've worked too. Everyone knew who I was and for the most part that I had driven the Alaska highway (also known as the Alcan) to get up here, in January. They were all amazed at this. Really amazed. (I know there were no other people, it was us and the big rigs, the trucks that weren't big rigs were construction guys working on the road.) When all the Alaskans and other Notherners are amazed that you're making this trip, then it may not be the wisest idea. My boss was wondering if she should have been more warning when she talked to me before I drove it. However there wasn't really any other good way to get there. And we did it. It was sketchy at times, but it worked out okay.

I observed storytimes today. It's funny how you can have exact same rhyme and everyone does it from a little bit to a lot differently. Also today was -15 when I went to work and -1 when I came home. Brrr.... Beautiful sun, beautiful mountains, you would have no idea how cold it was outside.

Catherine commented how productive my week (up through Wednesday) has been. Well it's taken a downward spiral as I've allowed weeks of stress, adrenaline, and overwork to catch up with me. Thursday I went to Jiffy Lube for the oil change and Emission Test. It was perhaps one of the worst Jiffy Lubes customer-service-wise I have ever seen. I'm extremely disappointed and am doubtful that I will go there again. Then I got my car tagged. However Alaska is a front and rear license plate state while Kansas is not. So I need to find someone to mount my front license (I don't even have holes, just little indentations). I stopped by one place and they suggested the Jeep dealer. In the meantime the back tag is in place and the front tag is on my front dash. Other than that I've been relaxing in my apartment, doing a minimum of unpacking, picked up the last of my grocery run, and calling it good. I really need to get the rest of the place unpacked, but I've been enjoying lounging, reading, watching the one tv channel I get too much. Technically I get free cable with my apartment, but I have to wait until Saturday when the cable guy comes with the box so it will work. Then he should also make the internet work. That will be a big relief. But except for the lack of a front car tag, I've done everything necessary to be a real Alaskan resident. It is kind of fun. I'm still adjusting to a lot of things, especially parking on snow packed lots, and I'll try to blog more about them later, probably this weekend when I get the internet back.

It's real. I'm here in Alaska. I have the drivers license, address, change of address forms, car tags, apartment, etc to prove it. It still feels unreal and unbelievable. In the mornings I wake up expecting to be back in Kansas, but I'm not. (Clue predictable You're not in kansas anymore joke). Unbelievable but so exciting.

It seems amazing that I only arrived Saturday Night in Anchorage. I've already accomplished (and learned) quite a bit. In no super-particular order, but rather a lazy roundabout order here it goes:

Sunday:
• Looked at apartments
  
• Learned about local stores, found some good deals on some necessities
  
• Found a very nice vet
  
• Realized almost everything is closed, including apartment complexes, on Sunday
  Monday
  
• Boarded cat at vet so she wouldn't be in the way during moving or in the hotel
  
• Looked at more apartments, called lots of them
  
• Called supervisor
  
• Realized I can't do anything else without an address
  
• Priced various items I would need
  
• Bought (on an amazing deal) a set of pots and pans and (incredibly marked down) dishes - both of which I hadn't had room to bring with me
  
• Chose an apartment
  
• Went to apartment, signed lease, paid depost, etc.
  
• Began to move things into apartment for about one hour
  
• Collapsed into hotel room
  Tuesday
  
• Checked out of hotel
  
• Moved some stuff into apartment
  
• Got an Alaskan Drivers license (required before I begin work)
  
• Found out I need an emissions test before tagging my vehicle
  
• Went to Sams club and Wal-mart (ugh) to get some food and other basic house supplies
  
• Got the rest of the stuff unloaded from car
  
• Collapsed
  
• Drove Mom to airport (at midnight)
  Wednesday - Today
  
• Went to HR with drivers license to do paperwork
  
• Got fingerprinted for background check
  
• Went to library to meet future coworkers
  
• Got Alaskan Cell Phone (through AT&T)
  
• Sprung cat from vet's office
  
• Introduced cat to new apartment
  
• Called power company to transfer account
  
• Called cable company - cable is included in my apartment, but I need internet and I need the box to make the cable work
  
• Forgot to eat lunch
  
• Made grocery list for those things not available at sams club
  
• Went to library to use wireless
  

Okay so I'm hungry. I have food to eat without going to the grocery store and if I wait until tomorrow, it will be less busy in the daytime (hopefully). My apartment is nice - I like it a lot. It's furnished which is a huge help. The only problem is it is too hot (funny problem for Alaska in January). I just can't make it less hot. Tomorrow is the Jeep's oil change (as I just drove over 3000 miles to get here) and emission test and then I tag it. Then I suppose I'll be official. I start work on Monday. More later when hopefully I rejoin and reconnect to the world. I've only read your blogs sporadically, maybe I'll catch up. We'll see.

God Bless!

7 days, 71:52 hours of driving, 6 states, 5 provinces, temp range -33 to +32

After being in Anchorage for 3.5 days, I can tell you about our final leg of the journey up to here.
Saturday, our last day, began in Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory, Canada. It was really cold as we were up and packing the car. We took a later start to wait a bit on the sun. Little did we know how cold would it be all day long. Packing the car, I came into the hotel room just gasping for breath. Mom asked what was wrong and I had to confess that the air was so cold it was hurting my lungs to breathe it. The temperatures would continue to fall the rest of the day. The lowest we saw was -33 (Fahrenheit), but most of the day we hovered around -23. We were really excited when we drew closer to Anchorage and found temperatures climbing above zero. However the weather was clear - no blowing snow.

The road kept getting rougher and narrower, but it was clear skies and no blowing snow, so we persisted. We learned about frost heaves which cause the road to buckle and be really rough, not to mention have huge bumps that could launch you airborne. They're easy to spot because the highway-taking-care-of-people flag them with sticks and orange ribbon. Mom was pretty scared when we saw a sign that said "leaving 911 service area". I didn't have the heart to tell her that most of the miles we had driven were out of cell phone range or probably didn't have much 911 service to begin with. However there was internet and cable everywhere on the journey (everyone had satellite dishes). Of course we could also go 2 hours without seeing another vehicle.

We crossed the border into the United States at 12:45pm (AK time) on Saturday. While we love international travel, we were so happy to have this symbol that our journey was almost over, we practically cried. Question and Answer with the border guard:
Border Guard: What was the purpose of your visit to Canada?
Me: To drive through to get to Alaska.
BG: Did you buy anything other than fuel for the vehicle while in Canada?
Me: thinking: He probably means things we would carry over with us, not things we consumed there like food or lodging. Well the only thing I'm carrying over is one (small individual) bottle of diet pepsi that I'm halfway through drinking, I don't think that counts... No.
BG: Are you bringing any animals with you?
Me: Just one pet cat.
BG: Does the cat have all its shots?
Me: Yes, do you need to see the health certificate?
BG: No, if you have it, that's fine.
Me: thinking: Why the hell did I waste an hour at the vets and $44 to get the certificate if no one is going to ask to see it, but just take my word?

But they let us back in the US after a few more questions and looking at my vehicle's title and bill of sale (since I'd lost the temporary tag).

The last stretch was just beautiful. And we suspect the part coming into Anchorage was beautiful, but we couldn't see it due to darkness (night). The road would wind between sheer mountain cliffs and around others. Just incredible. At one point Mom yelled MOOSE!. (At least we got her to stop just yelling - ANIMAL!) The road had no shoulder, so the trees were maybe 8 feet from the road, and the moose was perhaps four feet from the cars. I veered slightly to the center (going down a hill, around a curve, on a slick road, stopping was not a good option) in case Ms. Moose decided to go for a walk, but she patiently stood on the side of the road and watched us drive by.

I'm in Anchorage. I dropped the cat off at a vet's to be boarded since the hotel is not cat-friendly and it is easier to move in without her underfoot. I have a new place to live. I'll have to write more about all that, and upload more pictures later on. I started a little move in last night, but not much and spent the night at the hotel. Today is move in more day, get Alaska drivers license day (required before starting work), so on and so forth. Mom leaves tonight. I'll be at my new place - not sure yet about internet, but I can always take myself to the library with free wireless.

Thank you all for your prayers and support during this trip. We know God was guiding us or we could never have made it safely. The scenery was an amazing reminder of His glory and power. At one point Mom and I were so overwhelmed by the beauty that all we could do is sing one of my favorite hymns: This is my Father's World and so I leave you (for now) with those lyrics as they just sum up what I saw on this trip.

This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The beauty of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.