Back in Central New York

You might think we didn't go out and play this past weekend, since we didn't post any winter wonderland pictures -- but now we're back playing in Central New York!  Brian skied on Sunday at Osceola, the only place here with sufficient snow right now -- hopefully that will change with a snowstorm predicted for Christmas night or the day after.  We'll ski at Osceola again tomorrow.  Judy's making "felted" hats and mittens for Christmas -- we'll post pictures in a few days.  You make GIANT mittens and then shrink them in the washer down to a very dense "felt" that is warm and toasty -- so far the hats are two big -- they need another turn through the washer!
It's great to be back and seeing all of you CNY people!  We love being here too, and then our thoughts, of course, turn to -- SAILING!  Planning now for June-Aug.  Happy Holidays!  

Brian Skis ALL WEEKEND!!

Judy was in Seattle Thurs-Sat night, but Brian got some skiing in -- Friday on the Coastal Trail past the lagoon and out to Earthquake Park, a part of Anchorage that fell into the water in the 1964 Earthquake.  The trail had just been groomed, and he skate skied it.  Then he went up to his friend Carl's and worked on waxing skis.  Saturday he skied classical on fresh snow as it snowed overnight, and they take care of grooming the trails before anybody touches the roads!  He went in the evening and skied again, skate skied on the trails close to our house and ran into a drunk that on the return trip had curled up on the trail to go to sleep -- in the single digits.  Brian skied by and then called 911 -- there have been several people already who have been found dead in the city after drinking and then going to sleep outside.  He was at the airport at midnight to pick Judy up and we saw another inebriate coming home -- a Santa Claus trying to make it across  6 lanes of traffic who could barely stand up -- hope he made it!

Sunday was cold and clear!  We went to the Campbell Creek trails on the southeast side of the city, and the temperature (showing on our dash) went from 12 degrees to 5 degrees on the way over!  As soon as we started out (with just a little face showing!),  we ran into the moose that you see here in the pictures, almost right on the trail.  It was close enough this time that we weren't feeling like we could ski past her, but just as we turned around to go back and find another trail, she moved off to the side a little bit, and several of us scooted by!  You often get a little line at both ends trying to decide what to do.  People often have dogs too -- have you heard of "skijouring?"  I don't think we've had a picture of that yet -- being pulled by a dog while on skis.  It was another gorgeous day with fresh snow on the trees -- Brian picked this trail because they have mushing trails that intersect our trail, and he was hoping to see a dog team -- no luck that day. 


We finished the day with a party at one of the faculty's houses that Judy works with -- we were the oldest ones there, but a good outdoor group of people to talk too!  New ways of fishing, kayaking, finding out all of the places to go -- even the ones you have to fly into!  We're leaving on Wednesday night late to fly back to New York for the holidays -- so hope to see most of you while we're there! 

Living in Bear Country Talk Tonight

Went to a MeetUp Pot-luck dinner tonight with a speaker afterwards from the Fish & Game Club, talking about living with bears within the municipality.  Brown bears and black bears are not only outside of the city on the trails but also sometimes within the city due to salmon streams running throughout.  It was a pretty interesting talk -- and good company -- and we came home and turned on the television to find a show about the Adirondacks, beginning with the 90 mile canoe race, then the 46 high peaks and on to other Adirondack activities!  There are definitely similarities.  Brian says he is now going to go and buy bear spray for us, which most people carry spring through fall for hiking, biking, etc.  Of course, the bears are hunkered down now but we hear they wake up about mid-April, just waiting for those little moose calves to be born!  We saw moose tracks on the way into this business tonight where the talk took place, and they have plastic "sandwich" signs that they set out saying "Caution, Moose Sighting" like the signs that they put out in public bathrooms when they are cleaning or when the floors are wet!  This is on one of the busiest streets in town! 

Back Country Ski from Peter's Creek Trailhead

Of course we started at the bakery again for the most delicious scones (rasberry with lemon zest) and coffee.  We woke up at 8:50 am, it's still dark, and had promised to meet people to ski at 9:45, about 40 minutes away.  We were meeting a MeetUp group to go to a trail that we were unable to find on our own a week ago - it wound up the mountain enough to get to the trailhead that we're unlikely to go back if it has snowed much without a 4 wheel drive or chains!  From the start, we headed up and up and up - a lot of climbing!  It was a beautiful day, and one of the people with us was ski-jouring -- being pulled by a dog in harness while on skis - big sport around here.  Eventually the other 3 people added skins to their skis to make it up the rest of the way, and we decided to turn around and take another loop back!  We still had a 3 hour ski, which felt like plenty by the time we got back, and some great downhill on the way!  Now it's another trip to REI on Monday to check out the price of skins!  You have to have the right equipment to play, wherever you are!  It's skins or dogs, and we choose skins! 

Skiing on the Chester Creek Trail Near the Apt.

Skied diagonal today on the trail just a few minutes from our house.  We got fresh snow last night, just an inch or so, but the temperature warmed up into the low 20s.  It's been unusually cold here this week and was down below zero at one point!  Today was sunny and the multi-use trail was in good shape for bikers, walkers AND skiers!  We can ski all of the way to Judy's office, which includes going through tunnels under roads that the municipality shovels snow into and skiing over a bridge over a major highway to get there.  On the way back, and you'll see from our pictures that we're skiing with another couple -- our landlords, Mary and Lance Mearig, we had company on the trail -- a moose!  She was pretty content with whatever she was finding to eat under the snow, but we did wait a while to make sure, and two bikers were waiting on the other side!  We skied on within 10 feet of the moose!  You never know when you're going to see one. 

Last night we went to the "Wild & Scenic" Film Festival put on by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council -- short films intended to raise consciousness about environmental issues - it was entertaining.  Before that we went to the Snow Goose Restaurant for drinks, which is a micro-brewery, and tried the Gold Rush Ale and the FishOn IPA.  We were wimpy about the cold this week, and we're going to have to toughen up.  When we drove home Wednesday with it 1 degree out, we still saw people riding their bikes home on the trails.  Their bikes!!!  Flying back to NY one week from Thursday -- really from Wednesday, as we leave 12:30 am early Thursday morning.  Hope to see many of you over the holidays!