More pics

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday's spring event left a good six inches on the ground. Layne's commute was about 20 min. longer. He said most of it was caused by the traffic on the Anchorage side. Landon and Grayson went out for a few minutes last night. He was barely out of the house last week when we had all the 50 degree weather but was ready to go yesterday during the snow. I will post a few pictures of their fun in the snow. He claims this is his first snow angel. I will add more photos of the view from the house as the cloudlayer burns off this morning. It is suppose to be in the 40s again the next couple of days so this heavy wet snow won't last long.

Is it really the end of April?

Yesterday was the end of our near record highs; we have switched to near record lows. The difference between the normal temperature and the record temperatures is usually 10 degrees or less so it really isn't that big of a switch. The highs today were in the 30's; which isn't too bad and it has been snowing since about 8:30am. We have about 4 inches here, Layne said Anchorage had eight (he is on his way home, so I will add details of the commute later).

Two moose were out and about this morning, but again out of lens range.

Old baldy was gone when we openned our eyes this morning. This afternoon however, he has been replaced with the immature bald eagle. So I have spent a little time this afternoon setting up the tripod and watching him. We are referring to all the eagles as "he" but in reality I am sure at least one of them is a "she."

Landon is getting cabin fever today, despite the fact that they hooked up the DTV in the snow and slush. It is hard to tell what he will be like next winter...at least he will be in school! I finally got a picture of Grayson's teeth to share.

Our New Friends....

Conversations in our house are now centered out the back window. Last night, Layne bounded up the stairs at 9:45pm yelling, "MOOSE!" Unfortunately, he was out of the camera's quality range but spring has definately sprung.

First off, the spiders in our house are no longer our enemies. We have started the bombardment of mosquitoes outside...I think they can sting through denim too. They make Texas mosquitioes look small. So I guess the bad insect theory is true; we are surrounded by water so it makes sense.

After a day of continually sticking Grayson on the floor to observe the pair of immature bald eagles fighting; Layne came home from his first day of work to report that there had been a high speed police chase on the highway on his way to work. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the guy crossed the highway behind Layne and not in front.

Tonight we were blessed by the appearance of a bald eagle (and a few more flybys of the immature eagle). I have had my eye on him for almost three hours and he has not moved from our backyard. It is now after 10 and too late to shoot pictures as the sun is setting. If you have never seen one up close they are way cool to look at. Just amazing. I've decided he was drawn to the house by our dinner music, Johnny Cash. If he spends the night, I am hoping to catch a sunrise picture of him tomorrow am...I will post if we are that lucky.

All these pictures are taken from in the house or on the back deck. If these pictures don't convince you to visit nothing will!

We're Home!

Well, we finally are starting to get settled in our new home. Layne and the boys are out hiking for a few hours so I can get caught up on the blog. It looks like we might see 50 degrees today. The boys are happy to be back on schedule and to have slept in their own bed for a week. We got internet access this week but have another two weeks to wait on Direct TV. No cable service is available.

Some things are a little like stepping back in time 20 years, but mostly in a good way. Recycling is not encouraged. The landfill will only recycle cardboard and aluminum cans; we did find another place that looks like they take most everything.

With the exception of the moose photos, all other photos were taken at the house. Our neighbors said a couple of moose came up the bluff about two weeks ago and ran behind the houses, but we have not seen one directly from the house, except way off in the distance on the flats. The house is beautiful and has some really nice features; including a cool ceiling fan in the family room, ankle lighting on the stairs, and lots of much needed storage space. We have made other discoveries like the downstairs is wired for surround sound. Our favorite aspect of course is the views from the windows and the wildlife that creeps by. The camera will always have to be on the ready. We have at least two bald eagles, one immature that have a nest nearby. The immature is usually seen hanging out just off the bluff.

Another change for us will be getting use to living around an Air Force base. The hospital was amazing and actually didn't appear to be busy, except the pharmacy. They have a huge saltwater tank in the pediatric clinic. Landon's favorite feature was the moose that was eating in the hospital parking lot. Grayson has a Dr's appt on Tuesday so we will go check out his weight gain and work on getting him caught up on shots. He has been very busy crawling all over the house and growing teeth. He has four in now....which is about 1/week this last month. Yikes!

Made it to Wasilla!

After a snowy last 40 miles (Anchorage forecasted to get a foot of snow today) and a moose sighting, we have finally made it to Wasilla!! Our driving and ferry distance combined was just over 7,500 miles since we left Lemoore four months ago!! We passed the Matanuska glacier today. The picture was taken looking out the car window. We are staying at a hotel on a Lake Lucille tonight....looking out the window you can see the gazebo at the lake's edge and a snowy field beyond, which is actually the lake.

We pick up the keys to our house tomorrow, and the movers deliver all our stuff on Friday! I added pictures to yesterday's blog too.
Thanks for all your prayers! We will send out contact information once we get established and will add a post with pics of the house when our internet gets hooked up.

Roughing it in Canada

Today's drive had a dry start that quickly became slushy and bumpy. We rounded Sheep's Mountain (and saw Dall sheep); stopped for brunch and waited for the roads to clear. The rise in temperature from 17 to 25 appeared to do the trick! We were not impressed with Canadian road management and are well aquainted with frostheaves, pavement cracks, and chuck holes. Prices for gas/snacks seemed extreme and they do not have clean, easy access rest stops. Yet we made it through with only a ding on the windshield from a piece of gravel flung from a truck, so we are not complaining. It's good to be an American!

Once we cleared US customs as we left Canada and entered Alaska, the road was suddenly much better maintained and our drive was much smoother, the people nicer and the gas cheaper (again, it's good to be American!). We are spending the night in Tok, AK, with about 300 miles left to go. The hospitality here is great and so was the restaurant.

Wildlife today was two bald eagles, Dall sheep, and snowshoe hares.

Oh Canada, Oh Canada...

Well, we got off the boat today and ended our three day tour of the Inside Passage. (There are two posts for today so don't forget to look at the previous post after you visit this one) We are glad to finally be almost to our destination. Apparently, we will be sticking with using the Milepost magazine and road maps as our car's nav system is only for the contiguous 48 states and we need a different DVD for Canada/Alaska.

Once again, we were wow'd with the scenery. After leaving Haines, AK, we drove through Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Even though it was off season, we still managed to spy a half dozen birds as we drove by. Crossing the border was a very smooth transition and we were stunned with the Canadian Rockies. Most of the drives was through a Canadian National park. We only drove a short distance today and most of the ground (but not the road) was snow covered. No moose or bears yet, but we will do our best to get a shot should we encounter one. Tomorrow we will clear US customs and return to Alaska (we had to cross British Columbia and the Yukon Territory of Canada to get from the Southeastern panhandle of Alaska where the ferry let us off to the main portion of Alaska).

When we checked the news tonight we saw that there had been a snow slide in one of the passes we drove through in WA state. There was a 10 mile back up as a few cars hit the slide. We definately have been blessed with a great trip thus far. We are tired and ready to be settled again but cannot complain about the journey. Only a little over 600 miles until we reach our new home.