1 YEAR! (February 13-14, 2010)

On Sunday we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. To celebrate, we went down to Homer on Saturday. We pulled off at an overlook to take in a beautiful view of the Homer Spit, the mountains, and Mount Augustine (an active volcano). From the distance it is a faint white mound coming out of the ocean. We spent late morning and early afternoon on the Homer Spit watching the Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles are very common to the Spit in the winter, scavenging off of fish. About half of the buildings, lampposts, and logs had eagles perched on them. While walking along the docks on the Spit we spotted a sea otter going for what it seemed like a leisurely swim. It seemed so relaxed and carefree.

After visiting the Spit, we headed up the bluff to the Carl E. Wynn Nature Center. The bluff rises about 1200 feet above the Spit. By the water there was little to no snow. On the bluff there was about four feet. We were able to do some hiking while at the nature center but the deep snow made it a bit of a challenge. At one point we decided to cut off trail and Jon sank into the snow up to his waist. It was gorgeous and fresh, prefect for snowballs! On our way down the bluff we stopped in and ate at Fat Olives Restaurant, a cute little Italian Restaurant with some unique and delicious pizza to end our day in Homer.

On Sunday we did a low key hiking through the National Wildlife Refuge. The weather was very warm this weekend reaching about 40 degrees both days with plenty of sun.

Snow! Snow! Snow! (February 6-7, 2010)

This past week we had parent/teacher conferences at school. We are already halfway through 3rd quarter, hard to believe. Each day the sun stays out a little longer and each day brings us closer to summer!

Well, this weekend brought us some much needed snow. After about 2 ½ months of little to no snow, this weekend brought us about 4 or 5 inches! The consistency right now is not very good for cross country skiing, much too sticky, but on Sunday we were able to enjoy a hike on our snowshoes. We revisited Egumen Lake Trail, where earlier this winter we spotted a number of snowshoe hares. On this journey we spotted two, one of which we got a picture of from a distance. With the fresh snow we have also seen a lot more active moose than normal. We spotted many this weekend near the roads snacking on various shrubs. There were a number of cow moose still with their calves; it’s nice to see that so many young ones have made it.

In 33 days we will see Mark and Kelly!

Maroon, Gold, and a New Way Home (January 30-31, 2010)

We headed up to Anchorage on Saturday to take in a hockey game, the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. We have been looking forward to this adventure since September when we first ordered the tickets. The drive up was beautiful; snow covered mountains, the Kenai and Russian rivers still flowing with that aqua tint, and chunks of ice floating in the large body of water known as Turnagain Arm. There were so many chunks of ice, the water was so still, and our surroundings displayed a grayish hue such that it caused the Arm to look like a barren wasteland. It was also very foggy along portions of the drive. Because the fog was so low, we often couldn’t see the bottom of the mountains, only the tops. At one point our clear windshield fogged up nearly all the way in a matter of seconds. It was bit scary, but we immediately rolled the windows down and turned on the defrost. The mountain temperature must have suddenly dropped.

We stayed at a Ramada near downtown Anchorage allowing us to walk around and take in some sites. There is a park in the middle of downtown filled with ice sculptures, a skating rink, and an area for curling. It reminded me a lot of Rice Park in downtown St. Paul, but smaller. We also went to the Alaska Glacier Brewhouse for a late lunch where I experience my first Cajun meal, a Cajun Alaskan Rockfish sandwich. The fish variety up here really is amazing. On our way back to our hotel we stumbled across the street corner where the Iditarod begins every year. Jon and I are excited to be attending that this March.

On Saturday evening we headed out to the hockey game and started to have some issues with our Buick LeSabre. The accelerator was down but not much acceleration was really happening…in any gear. We both knew all too well what it was having experienced the same thing back in May with the Buick, it was the transmission. Amazingly enough we were able to get to the ice arena, where just as we were about to park, it killed on us completely. So, we pushed it into a parking spot and went in to enjoy the game. Unfortunately the Gophers played a descent 1st period and got lazy during the 2nd and 3rd. Anchorage won 2-1. We cabbed it back to the hotel and called for a towing. On Sunday we made the decision to dispose of it.

Life’s a kick. We cabbed it to the airport Sunday afternoon, were immediately able to get on a flight back down to Kenai carrying, I kid you not, our bag of food (consisting of a 48 pack of granola bars, bananas, muffins, and a loaf of bread), motor oil, a shovel, and an ice scraper. Thank goodness we were in Alaska, we probably could have gotten on with a gun if we wanted to. What could we do? We had to clean our car out. So, despite the downers this past weekend, we were able to have a good time and even laugh at the situation.

Mark and Kelly…37 days!

Tustumena 200 (January 23, 2010)

On Saturday morning we went to the Tustumena 200, a 200 mile dogsled race and the only Iditarod qualifier on the Kenai Peninsula. Twenty-eight mushers participated in the race from all over the country and world. There were participants from Belgium, Spain, France, New Zealand, and Australia. Men and women in there early 20s to late 70s took part in the race. The dogs were very eager to start, jumping up and down and barking non-stop. Only until they were actually running did the barking end. It is quite clear when looking at these animals that this is what they are meant to do and they truly love every minute of it. An Alaskan and world known musher, Jeff King, won the race on Sunday.

43 days until Mark and Kelly come to Alaska!

Funky Lichens and Fungi

Waiting On Snow (January 9 - 17, 2010)

We already find ourselves two weeks back into school since Christmas break. During that time we have gotten back into the groove of winter hiking and cross country skiing. I must admit after two weeks off from skiing, my legs were a bit sore after my first day back on them. Jon’s muscles seemed just fine. On January 9 we headed back to one of our favorite spots, Captain Cook State Park near the town of Nikiski. It had been a few months since we were last there and we were curious to see what the inlet looked like this time of year. We observed many large ice chunks, but nothing too massive. It was a brisk day, so after walking on the beach we opted to take the wooded route back. Just as we were about to get on trail, we spotted a ruffed grouse. This was the first ruffed grouse we had seen in Alaska. Although very popular to Minnesota, it is typically the spruce grouse that you see in Alaska. After watching the female grouse for quite sometime, her male counterpart showed up. We decided to stock the two with camera in hand for quite sometime. The snow, although not extremely deep was at that consistency where it held you up for a fraction of a second and just when you though you were light enough for it to hold you, you sank through. I call it tiring snow. By the end of the hike I was completely exhausted.

We had a few nice skis this week which allowed us some wildlife viewing and hearing. On Wednesday night while we were skiing on the Tsalteshi Trails we had a snowshoe hare cross the path right in front of us. Minutes later a Bard Owl made itself know with its classic “Who Cooks for You?” call.

This past Saturday we hiked through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, many funky looking lichen and fungi were to be seen. If it wasn’t for our friend Joe Walewski, we probably wouldn’t take as much interest in these slow growers as we do now. Thanks!

3-4 inches of snow have been in the forecast the past few days but we have seen very little of that. I was able to capture of few flakes with my 8th grade science class on Thursday. We fossilized the snowflakes using acrylic spray, allowing us to look at them under microscopes the following day. But more snow is definitely needed.

Countdown to our next visitors, Mark and Kelly…54 days!

Back In Alaska

On December 17th we walked outside the municipal airport in Kenai and up the stairs of the 19 passenger plain we were flying on from Kenai to Anchorage. The flight was all of 20 minutes. Then we boarded our 6 hour flight back home to Minnesota where we spent almost 2 full weeks visiting and relaxing with our families. We spent time in Minnetonka, Duluth, Cokato and Hinckley. Some of the activities we took in while home were: Holidazzle, Bentlyville light display in Duluth, The Three Musketeers play, snow football, snowmobiling, Christmas Snowstorm, Edgewater Water Park in Duluth, walking the dogs, ice skating, sledding, quinzhee building and card/board games.
When we got home about half the snow pack had disappeared due to mid 30s weather while we were away. Saturday, the 2nd of January, we went for a hike along the Kenai River. Again, the color of the water was breathtaking, and the sunset views from the cliffs above the river made for some beautiful pictures. We also came across a lot of moose tracks, which is not uncommon, but that day we saw the biggest tracks we have seen since moving up here.

Until Next Time,

Rochelle and Jonathan