First Annual(?) Moose Hunt Begins

Squirt and I have been left to our own devices this weekend. I arrived back from from Prudhoe last night in time to help get Robert ready to leave at 10:45pm to meet up with buddies for the first annual moose hunt north of Denali. I recently asked Robert when he last went hunting and he thought it was in about 1992....for birds. I'm really glad he is going with a couple of guys who go a little more regularly.

And by the way....who knew moose hunting could be so expensive??

So far we have invested in an ATV, meat wagon and 14 ft trailer (OK - that isn't just for moose hunting), brand new skinning knife with 3 different blades, range finder, spotting scope, backpack, meat sacks, rifle, rifle case, shotgun case, 3 different hitches, trailer wheel, tie downs, electric bear fence and a water filtration system. I am sure I have left the list short but you get the idea. Like the tomatoes mentioned in earlier blogs, this first moose will be very expensive per pound. I hope he gets one - then we will be set for fish and game for the winter. (I wonder if the freezer is big enough - thank goodness we are sharing!) I just wish I would have had time to take pictures of all of the new toys in the daylight before he took off as they will never be as clean again. However, one of the many great things to come out of this...we had to clean the garage to get the new toys in. :)

Of course, nothing has changed with regards to Robert leaving. Something always happens that would be much easier to deal with if there were two of us. This time, we had a horrible wind storm last night that did a number on all of our hanging baskets and planters. I was out at 4am (in the rain) trying to get them safely tucked away after hearing one of them fall. Unfortunately, the wind whipped around after I went back to bed and sent one of our flower baskets into the street. I found it at 8am this morning (in the rain), tucked it away with all of the other plants in a different spot. I had to leave the house for the morning and upon returning after noon was able to hang them back up (in the rain - looks like a pattern). The baskets are looking pretty bad. And to top it off, the tomato plant fell over just when it was starting to seriously produce. Luckily it didn't look too mangled.

On a brighter note, one year ago today, September 8th, 2006, Robert, Squirt and I pulled in to Anchorage to start our Alaskan adventures. Glancing back over the year of posts, I'd say we had some great times and we look forward to the coming year!

Especially if there is moose chili, moose sausage, moose jerky, mooseroni involved!