It's Squirt's Birthday

Yes - 13 years ago today - a great thing happened.

Squirt arrived into this world destined to make me a very happy dog lover.

He is reaching his napping years - wait - he has been there for quite a while now. A 20 minute walk suits him just fine and a daily squirrel chase keeps him young. He is losing his hearing but then so is Robert. :)

There is no doubt in my mind life has been much better with him and I am thankful for that.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

Humidity arrived!

I stepped outside this morning and couldn't breathe. Yes - it was a balmy 68 degrees and 118% humidity but not raining. And just look at the calendar...it's only January!

I knew this would happen...therefore we bought a tread mill for the really warm, muggy months.

The first one delivered to our house was busted. The second one arrived Monday night. We took the crate off moving the smaller parts to the upstairs combination guest / weight room.

Last night's goal was to carry the deck upstairs.

Well - THAT was way easier said than done!

It had to weigh 250lbs and you could only grip it in an awkward way and it had to go through doors on it's side. My arms are now a lovely shade of splotchy purple and brown due to the bruises.

By the time we got it to the base of the stairs, I was almost in tears and quickly rethinking this whole treadmill thing. There was NO way I was going to be able to get it up the stairs.

Luckily, our master bedroom has an alcove we were going to put furniture in. Now it houses the treadmill. (Just look at the money we saved with that maneuver! Plus we will be able to actually use the guest bedroom as a guest bedroom!)

Tonight's chore is to finish putting it together...after we carry everything back downstairs. Maybe by Sunday I'll be ready to try it. After all, we don't want to rush into these things!!! :)

Welcome to 2010!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve! We did the standard stay at home again this year. I had forgotten what it was like in Houston on New Year's Eve. The firework mortars finally stopped about 2:30am this morning.

We have been off the last week and have done tons of work around the house. We have 2 boxes in the garage to unpack today and we will be officially finished. We are donating 12 boxes of goodies tomorrow and every flat surface on the 2nd floor has a stein on it. Thus the next big item to handle...where to put all of the steins. Never a dull moment here.

The ducks in our neighborhood now recognize the green feed cup used to poor out their kibble on the drive. I would like to think they recognize me and my voice but I get a lot more attention when I am carrying food. Squirt watches the ducks but normally leaves them alone. We have one goose that will chase him and he really doesn't like that.

May the new decade be even better than the last for you!

Merry Christmas to All!

OH the trials of living in Texas. OK - it's not just Texas. We will call it the South.

I had forgotten the joy of bugs. It didn't take long to remember.

We had the bug man spray before our stuff got here. Once our stuff arrived, I hand washed every dish in the house because the dishwasher was busted (which took 6 weeks to fix). Then I found little bugs in the silverware drawer.

SO I drug it all out, washed every dish and eating utensil in that cabinet again, called the bug people, drenched that half of the kitchen in bug poison and have been happy since.

Well - until Monday. That's when the fire ants showed up on the pantry floor. Sure enough, there is a little tiny pin hole they were coming through. Luckily, they were on a suicide mission and died once they reached the light. Very luckily, they never got off the floor and up onto the upper shelves with the food.

Regardless, we called the bug man, drenched the house again inside and outside with liquid bug poison and granules. Next step once everything dries (which is a challenge with our humidity) we will caulk that and no more bugs in the pantry.

AND THEN - I left my good tennis shoes out in the rain last night. Guess I'll get new ones at the after Christmas sales next week.

Even though there is a lot of griping above...I am still very thankful. I have a roof over my head, plenty to eat and a loving family.

And cooler weather today.

I pray you are in similar circumstances.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Oh to find time again to blog...

I know...I know...I'm behind! I haven't taken time to discuss the unpacking. Such as finding the rat trap in with the kitchen dishes. Or the broken dishwasher..etc. (I feel like I have gone back in time. Just guess how long it has been since I had to dishes by hand EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!) Or the lost 6ft wooden ladder and Robert's missing wet suit.

We have most rooms except for the office ready to go. And then we start the garage.

I will get back to it one of these days!!!

Oh how I miss our goods

Like the bed...and table...and cooking utensils.

When moving with the comapny, your goods always lag behind you. Anwhere from 2-3 days to 4-6 wseeks. We are in that second cagtegory now.

Currently, we have the same air mattres we used when moving to Alaska. I remember in Alaska it worked OK. We tested it before we left. Bought it back with us in the meat wagon.

Something happened in the transfer.

Yes. It developed a slow leak.

Each night, I fill it with air (thank you Lord for the automatic airpump incorporated into the bed).

Each morning we are sleeping on the floor when we get up.

I would guess a minimum of two more weeks of this.

We did purchase a new love seat and recliner. I may be sleeping there soon!

Setting up a new house and wildlife pictures.

I always forget what it takes to set up a house when your stuff is 3 weeks behind you. We have no pots, pans, cleaning supplies, food, etc. and need to get by on minimal stuff so we don't accumulate too much extra stuff.

Trust me...we already have too much extra stuff.

We have made two runs to Target, sent Squirt off for a grooming session at PetSmart (he wasn't happy), grocery store (the produce is SO good!), got internet, cable, phones, new cell phones, Bed Bath and Beyond and still need to hit the furniture store and lumber yard.

Our house has a 3 car garage and we aren't sure all of the garage stuff will fit. It was hard getting the trailer and two cars in last night for Halloween. (See - too much extra stuff.)

I forgot to mention, we finally got a sturdy canvas tarp for the last two days of the drive. The previous three tarps had ripped to shreds and ripped open a box of stuff on the trailer. We left a path of powdered laundry soap and kitchen matches across Wyoming and Nebraska...

It is nice having a pool again. Temps here have been 75-80 the last two days with clear sunny skies. Very hot for a former Alaskan.

As promised in the title...here are some pics from our trip:

Sheep at Stone Mountain in Canada...Maybe they're Stone Sheep???


Caribou in the middle of the road...


Squirt after 5 long days navigating and guarding the car and trailer!

Happy Anniversary Robert!

Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary. It has flown by. We have crossed the country twice and had numerous adventures. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Looking forward to another 50!

More Trip Moments

Yesterday we had great weather for driving. A little cool in the morning but 4WD wasn't required and good temps all day.

No...

Yesterday's issue was a local redneck who was passing in a no passing zone on a blind hill and when he (yes - it was a "he") crested the hill I had a decision to make. Do I want to go over the cliff (no guardrails) or do we try and survive a head on collision. Luckily, the VW bus the redneck was passing realized what was about to happen and ran off the road giving said redneck room to get back on his side of the road. BTW - I went with head on collision because it was a really high cliff.

I was a little shaken by the episode.

Today's weather was a little dicey coming from Kamloops to Osoyoos, Canada where we went through customs. There was a little black ice and snow/slush on the road but we put it in 4WD and made it just fine.

Customs / Immigration went well. After answering 200 questions (what, where, when, why, how far, any horns, any new dog food, any firearms, any purchases in Canada, opening the doors, opening the hatch, etc.) it looked like we were good to go. Then the customs agent asked one last question...what's in the meat wagon?

Well, cleaning supplies, emergency supplies, 2000 rounds of ammo.

After the agent picked his jaw up off of the ground about the amount of ammo we had (which you can carry up to 5000 rounds), he decided to call it in. He told his superior we were moving from Alaska to Texas and had ammo. I was waiting for the superior to say - Alaska to Texas with only 2000 rounds??? That's not enough - search them. Anyway, they let us go without further waiting or searches.

I am sorry to say we will probably be replacing our windshield. After three winters on Alaska roads (where they use gravel instead of salt for ice) and driving the Alcan twice (where they use gravel instead of salt), we have approximately 3279 chips in the windshield. Several nice new ones from this trip. I'm just glad we didn't replace it prior to the trip.

In case you are curious, the most we paid for gas on the trip so far was somewhere around the Yukon Territory and British Columbia Canada territory line. It was $6.20 a gallon. It was an $82 fill up.

I don't think I'll add up how much we spent on gas. I'm just glad to see it under $3.00 a gallon!

AlCan Challenges

Day 1...Anchorage to Tok

On a bright note - the moose stopped by at Sheep Mountain to wave good-bye - what a nice send off - and totally unexpected!

Back to day one challenges...Gale force winds going through the Mat-Su valley. Snow on the road at Glennallen making it a little slick and leaving cell service 60 hours. (Yes - I had withdrawals. However, Robert had a much worse case.) Snow falling at the Canadian Border where we spent the night. We had to get gas about ever 175 miles. (Pulling the trailer through the mountains uses LOTS of gas.)

Squirt mostly slept in his bed.

Day 2...Tok to Watson Lake

Woke to snow on the roads. Made it through customs. Found the gale force winds again. (We are going into winter - WHY are the winds blowing from the south?) Squirt slept most of the day on my lap or in his bed. Ended the day in ice fog and 32 - 33 degrees. Got here after 12 hours or so. Glad we have the 4WD but how much gas are we using?

Day 3...Watson Lake to Dawson Creek
Started the day in freezing rain - luckily that only went on for about 150 miles before it warmed up enough to help the roads. Spent most of the day in 40's t0 50 degree weather. Fish is still frozen. Squirt slept on my lap the entire time I wasn't driving. He got sick. Doing his laundry now. Based on the prices in Canada, I certainly hope the dollar is doing well against the Loonie. We saw caribou, sheep and several buffalo on the road. Once again, we did see a moose but it was dead on the side of the road. (We have never seen a live moose in Canada...) Robert thought about taking the rack off of the moose except for the jail time that would be associated with it. (That and the rack wasn't that big. :) ) Good GRIEF we are going through the gas.

Our second running of the AlCan highway was successful. I had forgotten how absolutely beautiful the drive is. The mountains are exquisite and the wildlife sightings special. It is even better when you have the entire road to yourself. So what if it is slick here and there. It is worth making the run in the fall.

Squirt however is pretty sure we took a wrong turn.

Our last day in Anchorage - but we will be back!

Yep...they took container #1 away yesterday and now container #2 has arrived. We should be done by mid-day here. Don't know if we will leave tonight or tomorrow.

It sure has been fun and we will miss living here. Houston, of course will have new adventures and I do plan to keep writing and not change the name of the blog.

We don't know where we will go from Houston but we do know someday we will be back in Alaska with a cabin on 50 acres or so. Just have to find the right 50 acres!

We lost our neighborhood moose calf this morning…

Since Robert was home and the packers were there, I decided to go to work this morning. About mid morning, Robert called and said, “Hey, I just met the ADF&G representative!” (ADF&G being Alaska Department of Fish & Game.)

Of course I said – “What’s up?”

Well…I guess the packers were ready to work on the long rifles and Robert had to go downstairs and open the gun safe. He then left them and went back to the kitchen to work. Pretty soon he heard…

Ka…BOOM!!!

OK. Think about the situation. He just opened the gun safe, turned it over to people that normally don’t use guns and heard a gunshot. That would freak me out.

He ran downstairs, opened the garage and asked if everyone was OK. The crew chief said they were fine and the noise came from outside. WHEW!

So, Robert went outside and there stood the rep with a gun in his hands. Sadly, he had to put down our neighborhood moose calf today because someone had hit it with a car and broke one of his legs.

What a sad way to leave the neighborhood. Hopefully she will have twins next year!

Packing day #1

Has started...4 more to go!

It finally happened!

After three long years of waiting patently (OK maybe not so patiently)...a moose is bedded down in our yard right outside our living room window.

I put Squirt out for one last run and heard the tell tale crunching of brush next door. Sure enough, a moose was stripping the branches of our neighbor's trees. I went to the end of the deck, sat down on the chair (dripping w/ rain water) to see what would happen next.

She was a little unsure about us - after all - just last week the Great White Hunter Dog of the North had charged and she had to defend herself from the 12.7 lb Whirlwind of Destruction and she could tell he was out again.

BUT safely confined to the deck.

She eventually snorted, hopped the decorative log fence and laid down.

We decided to leave her in peace and watch her inside.

It makes me wonder if she was one of the calves raised in the neighborhood over the last couple of years. Maybe even the one I saw when it was only 5 hours old our first Spring (born across the street from our house). It would be so cool if she came back to have a calf here next Spring...

Countdown...

5 days to pack off...

11 days to getting in the car and driving south...

Winds are blowing like crazy now...our for sale sign has tipped over as well as one of our planters.

The other day, we were sitting on the back porch eating dinner and Robert said "look at how low that eagle is flying!"

Sure enough, I looked up and saw a big bird headed right for us. You could hear his wings flap. Only it wasn't an eagle. It was a raven with a biscuit stuck on it's beak camouflaging itself as an eagle.

I'm really going to miss this place - well - except the ravens!

Squirt - Protector Extraordinaire

With the house on the market and a showing today, Squirt and I had to get up and get it all pretty - make it look as good as we can for a quick sell. One of the required items is to sweep the leaves off of the deck.

It was about 8:30 and grey this morning due to the rain (making leaf sweeping even more of a challenge) and I let Squirt out the gate on the deck into the yard and started sweeping.

I didn't know there was a moose munching on the birch right around the corner. Squirt did however.

Since living here, I've come to discover, moose have an incredible ability to camouflage themselves. We have a new paper delivery person and you never know what door the paper will be at in the morning. Not 5 minutes before putting him in the yard, I had stepped out the front door looking for the paper. I had to be about 6 feet from the moose's nose. She didn't say a thing, didn't move, stopped eating and hid behind our birch tree. That's probably when Squirt saw her first.

Squirt didn't say anything either.

As I said, Squirt went into the yard and I was sweeping. The next thing I hear is Squirt barking, something heavy stomping on the ground and low, deep, grumbling, growling noises.

Isn't it interesting what you think about when in a crisis. Over the last 3 years, we have seen moose in the yard 30-40 times.

I have never seen a bear in our yard but I know they have wondered through and that was my first thought.

Oh NO - Squirt surprised a bear. What am I going to do?

Then I saw it was a moose.

Then I thought, what am I going to do?

(BTW - there were probably some expletives intermixed between the "what am I going to do" statements but no need to re-create that!)

I have never heard a moose make that type of noise before. Normally they don't vocalize unless it is during rut and they sound different then. This must have been a defensive sound. I'm sure the moose would feel good knowing I initially thought of bears when hearing her.

Anyway, Squirt had run up behind the moose, started barking and the moose had turned and started grumbling and stomping. Luckily, Squirt was fast enough to get away from her hooves. He ran across the yard and the moose looked at me and turned back to munching on the tree again.

Of course, Squirt wouldn't come to me. He was too busy strutting around the yard marking territory.

Both considered it a win.

However, when we saw momma and baby later this afternoon (pictures above - not the same moose from this morning - I know because these two were watching our escapades from their bedding spot across the street) Squirt opted to keep quiet.

Maybe Squirt learned an important lesson today. (I doubt it!)

What a beautiful weekend!

We found a house last week in Houston - YEA!

We spent the weekend fixing this one up to put on the market (anyone want to move to Alaska - we have a great house for sale!).

It was 65 Saturday.

We saw a pod of Belugas Friday!

We saw 3 moose Saturday in the neighborhood!

We saw 2 sheep and an eagle Sunday (not in the neighborhood). However, we did see 2 moose in the neighborhood!

Little nippy on Sunday.

TERMINATION DUST ON MONDAY MORNING!!!!

And it just marched right down the mountains Monday night. None in the yard yet. It was supposed to hold off 4 more weeks! Someone apparently didn't get the message!!

Thank You Karma!!!

We lost the bid on the last house and found a better one closer to the office! I feel much better about this now!

Back to Houston

As many of you may know by now, we are not moving to the Middle East but instead, back to Houston, TX. We recently went there looking for and bidding on a house. We found a very nice one, way far from work so the commute won't be pretty (uglier for Robert than me). But it is only 3 years old, has a pool and 3 car garage.

We drove around our old stomping grounds, checking out how much has changed and the answer is LOTS. Some good, some still to be determined.

Of course, all of the driving around, the people, the cars, the stoplights, malls, shops, restaurants, etc. made me realize once again how very hard it will be to leave Alaska - the weather, wildlife, native art, skiing, hiking, ATV riding, scenery and overall grandness - it's a perfect package. We have enjoyed it so much and do plan on moving back in retirement if not sooner. We will have a couple more Alaskan adventures...selling our house and driving back to Houston - this time in the winter.

Of course Houston will also have adventures and I plan to continue to write about them. I have also decided not to change the blog name - just my bio. I was actually called a "local" not to long ago by a "local". I'm no longer a Cheechako...now a Sourdough! :)

2009 State Fair - Really Big Veggies!

I love seeing these things at the fair...

...A 14lb puff ball mushroom...


...Really tall sunflowers (see the one almost touching the roof??)...


...A 22lb radish - a new Alaska record...


...A 146lb watermelon...


...A 125.9lb world record cabbage


...A 594lb pumpkin - note the new world record white rutabaga weighing in at 82lbs and the red beet weighing in at 24lbs...


...And a big kale for decoration...