Cosmos at the Farmer's Market. There's a big market near downtown
that all the tourists go to-- lots of crafts and souveniers and
gifts... but the locals know of another (much smaller) farmer's
market. Picked up some green beans, potatoes and cukes today. Was
hoping for fruit but not much is grown up here (saw some apples
though). Alissa and I walked here in the morning and then got
pedicures! Fun day!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
farmer's market
office view
So, this picture doesn't do it justice... but now that the hot, hazy,
smokey days of summer are ending the air has been crystal clear--
allowing for a great view of Denali lately. I can see the crags and
ridges... and the light changes now too (it gets dark!) so the sky
varies between cyan and cobalt throughout the the day and casts
shadows on the mountians and buildings. Very pretty. Oh, and that's
a C-17. They're huge!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
toes, chena river
Look at Jen's straight toes! (also, I appear to have the opposite
problem, too many flip flops?)
No Bad Days tribute take 2
of course I take pictures of everything... I got a palm tree lid from
there two times and they were the best days ever.
Monday, August 17, 2009
No more No Bad Days
Is this sad or what? My favorite coffee cabin place closed! It was
called "No Bad Days." It was my favorite for a few reasons: 1) they
served Kaladi Bros. coffee which is Alaskan and delicious and 2) they
served your coffee with one of those disposable travel lids that you
can open and close AND they always drew on them. Sometimes just a
design but SOMETIMES a palm tree and always "No Bad Days." At first I
thought it was corny, but it really did make my day! So it was a sad
day when I pulled up one rainy morning to a sign informing me that
they had closed. :-( (No Bad Days had some bad days? There's a joke
in there somewhere)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
the end
It was so nice to have Jen and Adriane visit! I love playing tour
guide! Now back to regular blogging...
waterfall
Jen's last day in town is when we went up Hatcher Pass. It was so
pretty! This is the waterfall downstream of Summit Lake (there are a
lot of Summit Lakes in this state!).
Exit Glacier
Jen and I hiked up alongside Exit Glacier. Nice hike, pretty scenes.
I think you're usually able to actually TOUCH this one but it was
closed off for various reasons. Also, why do glaciers always have to
be backlit! Makes for terrible photo options!
jellyfish
jellyfish, too! I was stoked to be able to take pictures of them,
even though it's a little grainy.
babies
King salmon smolt. The Sea Life Center does a lot of research and
stuff and it was pretty cool to see.
halibut
After Adriane left, Jen and I went down to Seward to take in the
Alaska Sea Life Center. It was pretty cool. We saw some little
halibut!
a picture for you
Matanuska Glacier. We tried to get down there to hike to it but found
the price of admission a little steep. Paying to hike? No thanks!
(oh, and build a proper retaining wall!)
waterfall
we climbed up next to Horsetail Falls and were able to get out almost
right under it! (and we didn't even get wet!) So fun!
breathe it in...
I love the colors in this one. Thompson Pass again, you can see the
road in the right middle.
Thompson Pass
It was a little hazy at Thompson Pass (it was a hot day!) but it was
still spectacular!
glacier!
Adriane at Worthington Glacier. We hiked up pretty far but weren't
wearing proper footwear. :-\ Pretty fun to explore though!
reds
Red salmon in the Copper River near Summit Lake. These fish have
escaped countless dipnets and gill nets to make a 300 mile journey up
the river to spawn. Judging by their colors, these guys are about
done. Not so good eating at this point.
road warriors
Jen and I at the end of the Alaska Highway just a few (17?) months too
late! We didn't drive this way when I moved up here-- we went to
Anchorage first.
moose
we saw a moose on the way to the hot springs! I can always count on
seeing moose on Chena Hot Springs Road. This gal was rooting around
for something delicious on the bottom of the pond and we had to wait
for her to pop her head out to take pictures!
Rosebud Campground
We camped out on Chena Hot Springs Road. Just a stones throw away
from the Chena River. It was very pretty but visibility wasn't so
good. The hot springs still felt GREAT!
Creamer's
The next stop was Fairbanks. It was SO smoky from the wild fires and
the bees and wasps are at their highest numbers in 10 years. The
sandhill cranes were at Creamer's Field.
Denali
So Jen and Adriane were visiting the first week of August. We drove
all over! We spent 2 nights camping in Denali National Park. The
first day we took the bus tour. It was beautiful and we saw a lot of
animals but Denali was not out! The next day we saw the sled dog
kennel and went to the gift shop, where we heard Denali was out! So
we drove out the road (you can only go to mile 15) and THERE IT WAS!
Perfect day!
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
update!
Jen, Adriane and I have been exploring Alaska the last few days!
We're back to the home base though and someone has to go back to work! (me!)
This picture was taken at the Toklat River in Denali National Park
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