Eagle River Nature Center

A beautiful November day and in the teens by the time we got closer to Anchorage, so we stopped at Eagle River Nature Center on the way back from Sheep Mountain.  We had a membership the first year we were here, then last year the snow was so good close by that we skied every weekend and didn't go out of our way to leave town as much. We renewed our membership today, since you have to pay to park anyway, and it's a great organization to support -- the trails are among the prettiest around.

About halfway through our trip down the highway, the hoar frost began -- this often happens in Anchorage, and is defined in Wikipedia as follows: "white frost or rime is the tiny solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air which occurs when the temperature of the surfaces is below freezing point. It occurs generally with clear skies."  It was stunning at the Nature Center especially, and the pictures don't do justice for the exquisite crystals that form over the grasses, on the ice, on the trees and even the tops of railings.  

We took a longer walk than we had intended, and the temperature was dropping by the time we got back.  It's a beautiful spot, and the trails are snow-packed, but not nearly enough snow to ski -- we ended with a trail along a pond that's frequented by beavers as evidenced by the very obvious gnawing of the trees in the pictures below!  

We've been here on skis a couple of times and this is probably the second time that we've hiked here -- we'll be back!  

Thanksgiving at Sheep Mountain

Our second Thanksgiving at Sheep Mountain Lodge with Mary and Lance Mearig was a big success -- not as much snow as last year, but the turkey and everything that accompanied it was at least as good!  We headed up there on Wednesday night and relaxed in the cabin with a jigsaw puzzle after fish stew and homemade bread and a wonderful salad with pomegranate seeds, candied pecans and goat cheese with leaf lettuce and arugala -- and a honey mustard dressing - really good!  Oh, and I played speed scrabble for the first time!

It was below zero overnight but balmy single digits during the day -- we took a long (uphill) walk in the morning after waffles and eggs, then more jigsaw puzzle (and food preparation) before Lance and Brian and I went for a pretty good ski - no tracked trails but enough snow to diagonal ski anyway.

Brian picked up a Nouveau Beaujolais, which doesn't usually make it to Alaska in time for Thanksgiving, and we had a mid-afternoon glass of wine while the turkey was finishing.  Dinner was great, as was the company!  Then more games - dominos this time.

We finished off with a chocolate torte that I made and then forgot to take a picture of!  Take my word for it - it was over the top - a flourless torte with a little cayenne and cinnamon topped with a bittersweet chocolate ganache and finished off with sliced almonds and dried mango.    And a walk after dinner in the cold, cold, cold before the other two couples went for the wood-fired sauna they'd built up over the evening -- Brian and I chickened out and went back to our cabin next door to finish our jigsaw puzzle!

Actually we had one going in both cabins, and they just finished theirs this morning (Friday) before we left -- one more ski on the way out, skate ski this time up the road a bit.

First Ski This Weekend!

Saturday was a trip to Hatcher's Pass, where we skied early in November two years ago, probably two or three times before the snow was good in Anchorage - last year though snow was early right by our house, and we began November 4th.  Yesterday was the 17th, and we thought we had waited long enough!  There weren't too many people out on Archangel Road at Hatcher's Pass (about an hour from our house), but we passed a few late afternoon, as we began skiing about 2:50 pm.  You can see that it's getting to be late in the pictures, as the sun is dropping behind the mountains, and it was probably relatively dark by 4:30.  We skied out about an hour (slow climb) then back in about 20 minutes!  It was about 13 degrees when we finished, so certainly cold enough!  A good start to the ski season, though they have minimal coverage, and it wasn't tracked.  The sun is setting behind us, and we could watch it skiing back in the cleft of the mountains.

We can drive home through Wasilla or Palmer, and we drove through Palmer to stop at Turkey Red, one of my favorite restaurants around -- I hadn't had dinner there, and when we arrived at 4:45, we were starving!  The baked brie with berries that we had to start with was creamy and delicious, and we ate every drop.  Then I had sesame-seared tuna appetizer and a salad, and Brian had mahi mahi with a cream sauce with shrimp, brown rice, and brussel sprouts!

Sunday was a lazy morning, then errands before a quicker ski - skating this time - at Goose Lake.  We went back and forth on a trail with barely enough snow for about 40 minutes then quit and went home to put groceries away and make dinner - Lance and Mary, our landlords, came home from a vacation in Hawaii tonight, and we picked them up and made dinner for them.  It's good to be out on the skis again - and hopefully there will be skiing at Sheep Mountain when we head up there Wednesday for Thanksgiving!  Taking games and puzzles just in case!

Sunday in Anchorage

Our usual morning, coffee and papers in bed -- not quite the maid serving but Judy the maid -- and then a walk down to the trail and Westchester Lagoon.  Just 3 or 4 blocks from our house, though, we saw a big bull moose just lying down in somebody's yard, presiding over the happenings in the neighborhood.  We had to walk back home for the camera - we never get tired of seeing moose right downtown - and on the way we talked to people walking their dogs who lived there who said she had to open the door and look out to see what the noise was, and there was the moose, right in her face -- he'd been eating the pumpkins by the front door!

We continued on down by the lagoon and then were sorry that we hadn't brought our skates since it was a bright, sunny morning, and people were out on the lagoon skating, shoveling for a hockey game, lacing up for a family skate, dogs were running, and you'll notice in the picture, a bike and a baby carriage out on the ice!  

 We both had things that we had to do for the afternoon but we had a later evening movie at the Bear's Tooth Theatre Pub -- a little booth we reserved the day before with a "Popeye" pizza and beer while we watched - "Trouble with the Curve."  All in all, not a bad day -- but we're already a week later than last year for skiing!

A Sponto Trip to Seward!

First weekend back home - 2 days actually - and I read a Facebook post about a fundraiser at SeaLife Alaska in Seward, 2 1/2 hours away - a wine and beer tasting with silent auction.  I saw it at noon, and by 1:00 we were packed and on the road, stopping for a hike at Johnson Pass along the way!  We drove through a little snow, a little drizzle, and finally clear skies before arriving at Hotel Seward.

The drive south along the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Seward is worth it in itself, and the hike was fun but flatter than we had expected.  We had forgotten to take our guide book with us, and we only had 1 1/2 hours to spare, so we went out about 45 minutes or so then turned around.

The Hotel Seward is just 2 blocks from the SeaLife Center.

It was originally built in the early 1900s as Seward’s Best Hotel.  Since it was so close, we could safely sample the beers from a number of microbreweries from around Alaska, vote on the 3 outstanding seafood appetizers (smoked halibut mini-tacos were our choice!), and then vote again on the desserts (below).  It was a tough decision!

We met some friends there who had originally posted the Facebook announcement and also came home with way too many things from the silent auction!  Including a "Puffin Encounter" for me the next time we go back, a float trip down the Kenai River, and two kayaking trips in Prince William Sound.

Home the next day with another stop for hiking, this time from Bird Creek with a seemingly vertical climb right from the road!  We didn't go to the top, constrained again by time, but we'll go back there - it was a great workout!

What a weekend!  Did we mention that we love our lives here in Alaska?!

Hunting for Deer on Naked Island

Brian and Carl "went a-hunting" in mid-October, but they came home empty-handed.  It was a different way of going hunting, since they crossed Prince William Sound to Naked Island, supposedly home to small and tasty deer -- they said the deep snow and cold last year decimated the population, as there were few signs this year.  Although they had thought they might fish on the way back, it was a very rough day with small craft warnings, so they headed back as directly as possible.  I think it was a cold trip, but Kakwik has a heater, and they had enough provisions to last at least a week in case weather socked them in for awhile!  In fact, they didn't leave until 5 at night the day they prepared to take off, because there was a blizzard! The sky cleared about 1/2 hour into the trip enough for them to see blue sky ahead!


Right after Brian got back, I went to Whistler, British Columbia for 9 days for a Leadership Conference with Werner Erhard, Michael Jensen, Steve Zaffron, and Kari Granger.  We had beautiful accomodations and long but very effective days focused on an ontological and phenomenological model for the effective exercise of leadership -- leadership as when being a leader, all possible ways of being are available to you, and when exercising leadership, all possible actions are open to you.  It was beyond great!  And our suites were exquisite!  My roommate and I, in the little bit of time we were actually in our rooms had a suite with separate bedrooms, each with their own baths, another den and half bath, big great room with gas fireplace also with a big dining table and open to full kitchen and a laundry room.

The conference was held at the Nita Lake Lodge, and a trail around the lake led about 4k later to Whistler Village, which you might remember from the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The entire area is gorgeous, of course, though little snow yet and mostly 35-40 degrees and gray while I was there.

It looks just like Alaska, doesn't it?  It was very similar!  And lastly, I got to meet wonderful people, beginning on the 3 hour ride up to Whistler from the Vancouver airport!  Bob from Denver, Peter from California, Deidre, also California, Richard from London, Haley and her husband whose name I've forgotten from Texas, my roommate Cari from New England, we had a great time together, and a couple of nights we had wine and pizza in one of our suites!  Early to the airport on the 1st of November to go back home, we kept running into each other at the airport -- Rich and Noreen had a last cup of coffee with Richard and Peter and I before I had to run for the plane!

What a great group!  And, it was wonderful to get home to Brian and to Alaska!