Winter's Ending, Spring's Beginning!

Breakup is SO early this year . . . and we keep hiking!  Easter Weekend we went with Lance along Turnagain Arm, thinking it's south face would mean no snow and no mud!  And it was in pretty good shape, from McHugh toward Rabbit Lake.  We only had 4 hours so didn't make it to the end.  We saw 3 moose along the way, and it snowed part way through - it was a very windy day!

Judy and Lance at the top of Near Point 

We took a ride up to Wasilla for the Home Show because a tiny home that Brian worked on was on display.  Another one that he did a lot of work on was in Alaska Magazine this month with a big display about tiny homes.

And then went to Ptarmigan Peak on the way home - not enough time to climb to the top, but a really nice hike, nonetheless.  We needed Katoolahs here -- lots of stretches of snow and ice. This is the second time that we've gone partway with not enough time, so next time . . . going for the summit!!

Lots to do in the month of April, but the days are getting warmer and lighter all of the time.  Brian's getting the camper fixed up now so we'll be ready for our first trip of the year, and shrimping season starts in just a few days!

A little bit of winter in Fairbanks!

Mid-March we went to Fairbanks for the Arctic Science Summit Week - and for a little skiing!  Finally! It was gorgeous, in the mid to high teens, and sunny, with just a little bit of snow each day.  We never left the university trails, it was so good, and the best conditions over the last two years.

As we always do on these "spring break" trips to Fairbanks - this is our 3rd time - we went to the ice sculptures, first during the day and then back at night under the lights - they are more spectacular then!  This was the warmest year that we've gone - last year we took one picture, as neither of us wanted to take our hands out of gloves and mittens in the below zero weather!

It felt SO good to be cold again, like winter is supposed to be!  Before we left, we made a quick trip to REI, HooDoo Brewery for a "flight" tasting, hung out at Gulliver's Bookshop for a latte and leisure read while we waited for time to go to the airport. It's a quick flight home to Anchorage from Fairbanks.

Whoops! What happened to the last 4 months!

I had no idea that we hadn't added to our blog since the beginning of January!  Well, you know what we've been doing - hiking!  The weather here continued too mild through the winter to do anything else, and we were both busier than usual working.

Judy was one of judges for the Clark Middle School Junior Leader Fellows Public Speaking Contest 

Brian has been working on a tiny home for 2 1/2 months after completing work on 3 others, so he may just legitimately be a "tiny home expert" now!!

January - new Fat Tire Bike for Brian!  If there's not enough snow to ski, the snow bikes are having a heyday!  Many, many snow bikes here in Anchorage.

February - still no snow for skiing.  Winter hiking at South Fork Eagle River and Near Point trail.

And we could have been ice-skating - it looked like everyone else was mid-winter at Westchester Lagoon!

Still lamenting the lack of snow but doing the best we can under the circumstances!  :-)

A New Year in Anchorage

It's been a quiet Christmas but very enjoyable!  Brian's birthday is right before Christmas (Dec. 22), so Wednesday, the 23rd, we left in the afternoon and went up to Hatcher's Pass to stay in a bed and breakfast there for two nights.  A truly tiny cabin!!  But very cozy, lots of breakfast items in the refrigerator and a double hot plate and microwave - we managed a couple of very delicious meals!

We skied the day we got there, on Christmas Eve, and after checking out on Christmas Day, we skied again before heading home.  There was a beautiful full moon the first night, but it clouded over after that.  The snow was great, though, and I'm just sorry that we didn't get some more skiing in -- it was starting to rain pretty quickly after that and has been unseasonably warm even when it wasn't raining!  We stopped in to the Hatcher's Pass Lodge up at the top of the mountain, which we'd never done and had soup and/or hot toddies after skiing each day.  We skied mostly at Archangel Road.

It's been quiet since then . . . another jigsaw puzzle, a movie - Bridge of Spies - excellent - and a New Year's Eve celebration, as we do every year at Carl Robert's & Diane Schwenker's.  Note that the "Eiffel Tower" in the center of this picture is a gingerbread creation - and fantastic.  Diane had a very large and impressive writeup in the local newspaper this year about her yearly gingerbread "houses" - unique every year.

Diane has the most exquisite table on New Year's Eve that anyone could hope for!  We look forward to the food, the company, and the fireworks every year!  The winter season is the season for fireworks here, since it is light most of the night in July!

And it's almost over.  A highlight for the season was Brian's bike ride one night this week when he shared the trail with a fox. . . the fox was curious and playful and cooperated with Brian getting a very good picture in the circle of light from his headlamp.

And then, since there is no skiing currently, way too warm, we're finding new places (or old ski trail favorites) to walk on each day.  Praying for snow but all in all, a great start to the year!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.  To all of you who are not here in Anchorage with you, we miss you terribly and think of you and speak of you often!

Where Did Fall 2015 Go?

I was surprised to come back here and find out I hadn't posted anything in all of November and now nearly all of December.  What happened?!  I remember Thanksgiving . . . vaguely - and doing this puzzle, feverishly, to be able to finish in the weekend - it was a tough one!

I know that we had one brief period of time that we skied!  Four glorious days in November with a good snowfall - then it rained, an unusual amount for here.  I just know that was supposed to be snow!  Now we have a tiny bit on the ground, but only enough to ski on for die-hards who have junk skis they don't mind scraping.  We're waiting!  Here's a picture, though, of us out skiing with Lance & Mary.

First Snow November 2015

In early December, we took our first trip to Costa Rica as a part of a conference for me - the Year End Vacation Course for Landmark Wisdom Course Area.  That was fabulous . . . and hot and humid . . . and a pretty intense week.  We came home with even bigger lives and promises for living a full and productive life and with visions of white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, a sustainable ecosystem, and the beautiful and warm people of Costa Rica. Oh, and we also took a trail ride (on horses) one afternoon while we were there.  That was fun and a good way to see more of the terrain, which ranged from rolling hills and grassy fields to tropical dry forest to beaches.  There are a LOT of volcanoes in Costa Rica, and this was the northwest corner in the Guanacaste region - a beautiful beach that I didn't see much of, but I made it into the ocean one day for about 10 minutes! One of the things that I enjoyed most about the trip was coming away with a typical expression there - Pura Vida!  Used for hello, goodbye, responding to "How are you?," Pure Vida means literally "pure life." I came back with the vision that it doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as my life is an expression of THAT!  

Sunset at Dreams Las Mareas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica 

Our Afternoon Trail Ride 

 It also turns out that Anchorage, Alaska is a LONG, LONG way from Costa Rica!  Two days each way, overnighting in Atlanta.  3 1/2 hours to Seattle, 5 1/2 hours to Atlanta, then 4 to Liberia, Costa Rica.  And the same thing in reverse after an hour and 40 minute bus ride back and forth to the resort!  But it was worth it.

So there was nearly a week here to get back into being able to stay awake at night, and I'm still not back on my Alaska time schedule!  And now it's Christmas!  We just made plans to stay at the Hatcher's Pass Bed & Breakfast  (http://hatcherpassbb.com) in their "Sourdough Cabin" on Wednesday and Thursday, coming home on Christmas Day.  That is about an hour from here, and the only place right now with reliably great snow for cross-country skiing!  They were already booked starting Christmas night, so we'll get up on Christmas Day, check out, ski for a bit and head home for Christmas night - maybe a movie! More next week on the Christmas adventure.  For now, packages are sent east and south as of yesterday, Christmas cards mailed the day before, and our potted "Christmas tree" is now up on a table instead of the floor - that signifies it is now a Christmas tree!  We could use a few more decorations!  And maybe some Christmas cookies! That will be the next project.

Moving into Fall and a trip back East

October 10 was a big day in the Manley family - Scott got married!  We had a quick trip back east for the wedding, meaning we left Anchorage Tuesday night, got to my mother's in Sauquoit (Utica, NY) in time for dinner on Wednesday, traveled on Friday 2 1/2 hours to the wedding location by car, back to my mother's on Sunday afternoon, and flew back on Monday, arriving early morning on Tuesday in Anchorage and back to work.  Whew!

Brian and Scott at my mom's pre-wedding

Tarah with her Dad 

Scott and Tarah - the happy couple! 

The yummy end to a yummy meal! Both are cheesecake! 

The wedding was spectacular, a small gathering on Tarah's family's farm in upstate New York, where they raise beef cattle (Belted Galloways), goats, chickens, Manx cats, and there are horses too!  The wedding was outdoors, which is brave for October, but it was a beautiful day, the caterers and food were wonderful, and Scott and Tarah had very personal touches that made their wedding unique and memorable.  We stayed at a bed and breakfast with many of the other wedding guests, and we had a great time.  Best wishes for a long and lasting marriage for Scott and Tarah!

Brian has continued to work on a "tiny home" in Big Lake, and our Chinook RV has ended up being more of a work vehicle, as he can travel up there for several days at a time and stay in the RV to work. He's enjoying both the RV and the Tiny Home construction!

We brought my favorite apples back from New York in my suitcase, Macouns, and I'm totally into apples this month.  I've made applesauce twice and enjoying trying different apples - though I'm sticking with Macouns as my favorite!  It's a great time of year for eating as we move into a different season, different vegetables, and almost a different palate preference - roasting vegetables, the carrots and potatoes emerge as colorful and wonderfully seasonal - I love the variety of potatoes here, and I don't even eat potatoes much - purple, pink, creamy, white - and the different colors of carrots.  

A Rainy September and early October

September made up for August in rain this year, but we still managed a few good "outings" - one in our "new" RV - a 1977 Chinook with just enough room for two people!  We took it out one weekend to Eklutna Lake and did a couple of hikes - one just a bit around the lake on a very fall-looking day with a truly golden carpet of birch leaves!  The second day hike was Twin Peaks with some great pictures up and down. (This was actually 10/3 when I looked up the date!)

Early in September we took Kakwik out overnight on Prince William Sound for our 19th wedding anniversary on a beautiful still weekend - a little overcast and drizzly at times but sunny in the end and great for kayaking and blueberry picking.

Brian had a busy September working - on two different tiny homes!  And I was busy back in the semester at school.