Excitement in Alaska

Fairbanks snow removal. We've received 45" of snow this year and they have removed the snow on our street twice. Vehicles pack down the powdery snow and (eventually) the city scrapes the snow loose from the street, then blows it into trucks that haul it away.

An ice sculpture titled "Next String" of three little hockey players looking over the boards, awaiting their turn.

Second place finisher of the Yukon Quest.


This "baby" moose and its mother hung out in the field across the road from work late this afternoon. Sure glad I had my camera in my briefcase!

First place finisher of Yukon Quest.

Yukon Quest first place winner.

Approaching the end of the 1000 mile journey.

Isn't the sleigh adorable. Yes, Alaskans have their children out in -3 weather. They are hardy folks!

I am pleased to report that Sony was able to repair my camera. I've been taking pictures like crazy with it, too, as you can see above. Words can't express how grateful to have "my" camera back. I'll let the photos do the talking.

The first and second place finishers in the Yukon Quest 1000 mile International Sled Dog Race arrived in Fairbanks this morning just before noon. I made it a point to be there with camera in tow. Here is some information about the dogs from the http://www.yukonquest.com/ website:

The original sled dogs were chosen for their size, brute strength and stamina, but modern sled dogs are generally mixed-breed (‘Alaskan’) huskies who have been bred for generations for their endurance, strength, speed, tough feet, good attitude and appetites, and most importantly their desire to pull in harness and their abilities to run well within a team.

Some kennels still concentrate solely on pure-bred sled dogs, typically Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes or Canadian or American Inuit Dogs, but the majority of modern sled dogs found in long-distance races are truthfully 'genetic mutts' and the name that is most commonly used to refer to them as a group today is 'Alaskan Huskies'.

These modern sled dogs come in many different shapes (or conformations), sizes and a wide variety of colorings; from as small as 35 pounds up to 70 pounds or more. Typically, the modern long-distance Alaskan Huskies weigh between 45 and 60 pounds. Mushers strive for a well balanced dog team that matches all dogs for both size (approximately the same) and gait (the walking, trotting or running speeds of the dogs as well as the 'transition speed' where a dog will switch from one gait to another) so that the entire dog team moves in similar a fashion which increases overall team efficiency. Mismatched teams (large and smaller dogs, different running styles and gaits) can also perform well in long-distance sled dog races, but usually mushers will try to build their teams from sled dogs of similar size, structure and gaits.

Modern Sled Dogs must have good feet. Good canine feet for long-distance sled dogs are typically closely spaced (i.e. toes not spread out or ‘splayed’) and tough (i.e. resistant to both wear and injury). While good feet can be bred for, all sled dogs competing in long-distance races must also be provided with excellent foot care by their mushers. Booties are often worn as a protective covering, this helps the dogs naturally tough feet to cover long distances without difficulties. Extreme cold and new snow can lead to trail conditions that are abrasive to the dogs’ feet and also add more friction to the trail, preventing the sleds from gliding easily. Booties for the dogs are a necessity under these kinds of trail conditions. Dogs sweat only through the mouths (panting) and feet, and not through pores of their skin like humans, so there is a constant need for mushers to balance the use of booties for protection with the dogs’ requirements for thermoregulation, or controlling their body temperatures, so mushers remove their dogs’ booties upon arrival at rest stops and when trail condition are good, teams may run without booties to allow their feet to have some breathing room.

Mushers are constantly inspecting their dogs feet all year long and throughout the race, and as a well known mushing expression says, “As go their feet, so go the dogs” meaning that everything rides on the feet of the dogs and even minor issues will lead to trouble if they are not dealt with quickly and effectively by the musher.

Modern sled dogs are canine athletes, and must be very fit to participate in races as demanding as the Yukon Quest. Any dogs that are even somewhat overweight will likely lead to unnecessary soreness as their joints and muscles cannot support the extra strain and effort the additional weight creates. Typically, the early pre-season training runs are very short distances and designed to get the sled dogs back into ‘running shape’ before the more serious training season begins.

Because these sled dogs are so athletic, many people seeing long-distance sled dogs for the first time are amazed by how small or thin they look; but in fact they are in excellent physical condition much like an Olympic marathon runner would ‘appear thin’ the day before their main race and compared to someone who never exercises, they would appear ‘too small’ at any time of year!

Modern sled dogs must also possess good fur, with an undercoat that insulates them from the cold temperatures where they live and run and an overcoat (also called a ‘guard hair coat’) that prevents the build-up of ice and snow in windy and cold conditions. With changing climatic conditions in the North, some years’ warmer weather can present challenges to these well-coated dogs, and mushers must take extra measures to prevent their heavier-coated dogs from overheating on warmer winter days.

Another important quality that musher looks for in their sled dog is how well they eat. From a young age, when the dogs are still pups, mushers will try to impart good eating habits with their dogs. Picky eaters tend to become more picky out on the trail or when weather conditions turn colder. Mushers look for dogs that eat with enthusiasm all the time, regardless of weather conditions of if they are tired. This way, their dogs eat well during training and on the race so that they can consume a sufficient amount of calories to be able to keep themselves warm while running and resting, even at extremely cold temperatures, and also be able to perform to their maximum abilities during the race. Just like people, if you are hungry, it’s more difficult to do what you can do than if you are well fed.

Finally, mushers look for sled dogs that love to run in harness, work well in a team with other sled dogs, and who get along well with the musher and have that ‘special bond’ that is at the core of great dog teams and their mushers. Although all the physical traits are necessary for sled dogs to be able to complete at the level of the Yukon Quest, it is often said that, “Attitude is Everything” and some dogs with lesser physical abilities, just like some less-talented human athletes, can often become superstars because of their tough mental attitude towards both life and the world of competition. The best modern sled dogs are well-bred, raised with care and love and are energetic and eager to please their musher.

Here's the article from the local newspaper regarding race events: www.newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/24/schnuelle-sets-record-yukon-quest-win-neff-only-4-/

As long as I'm referencing the Newsminer, here's what it has to say regarding Sarah Palin repaying the state for 9 trips taken with her children~

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/24/palin-pay-state-nearly-7000-9-trips-taken-children/

Thought you might be interested in seeing the "local" report on it as well as the many comments at the end of the article.

The next event we'll be enjoying is the 2009 World Ice Art Championships which is held in Fairbanks. You may want to check out their website: http://www.icealaska.com/ There are many events occurring February 24-March 22 at the Ice Championships...just may buy a season pass to take advantage of all it's offering. Yes...that means more photos to come!

Alaska Weather Explained

Update on the camera situation - I took some photos of ice sculptures in their beginning stages, planning on posting here. When I arrived home and transferred to my computer I learned that the camera setting was on video, so have a one second shot of the ice sculpture accompanied with roughly a minute or so of the sky, my feet, trees, etc. Those will not be posted.

I sent my video camera in to Sony and they inform me it is repaired and on its way back to me. Yipee! I've been under the weather (not feeling well) recently and haven't felt like taking photos so actually haven't suffered as much video camera withdrawal as I'd expected.

Here's a web posting I came across that was of interest to me, and perhaps to you as well~

In the words of Johnny Horton "when it's springtime in Alaska, it's forty below" - welcome to spring!

As far as I'm concerned, spring starts when we get near the vernal equinox in March. Most will disagree, citing that spring isn't here 'till the snow is gone.

In March the sun starts staying up long enough to warm the daytime temps- a great time for outdoor activities. It may still drop to 25 below at night, but usually will warm up to 20+ degrees during the day, and warmer (on a good day up to 40). This makes for a good solid snow base and solid ice, with good weather for activities during the day (but--there are always exceptions to the norm in Alaska, when it comes to weather). If you garden, this is the time to start seeds, and plan the garden.In recent years the March weather has been warm enought to make short work of many beautifully carved ice sculptures.

In April we're all anticipating bare ground, and warm weather following much thawing in March- only to have our parade snowed on by April showers- yes, our April showers are white! Sometimes right up till the first of May, and often 8-12 inches at a time! This can stomp ones spirit right into the ground- it's better if you just expect it!

May is the prize we have all anticipated after 6 or 7 months of snow and cold! There's mud, and a winters worth of trash everywhere, but we just can't help but be giddy! After we clean up the trash it's time to pull out the camping and fishing gear (or whatever gets your motor runnin').

The last half of May, and the first half of June can be some of the nicest weather all year, with dry sunny days, and temps in the upper 70s and 80s. In June comes the summer solstice, and hours upon glorious hours of sunshine! We don't let this escape us.

The last of June and July brings the afternoon thunderstorms, and showers (I love a good lightning show!!!).

In August comes cooler weather and usually some rain (and more fishing, and berry picking, and harvesting the garden, bird hunting- this is a very exciting time of year). the rain is often a blessing in its own right after a hot, dry summer, and often more forest fires than we would prefer.

Late Aug. and September is autumn (still plenty of good weather and one of the most beautiful times of the year- moose season, too!).

October starts winter all over again- sigh.

This morning it is -30 in Fairbanks. Feels more like -5 in Iowa, since we don't have any wind in Fairbanks and minimal humidity.

January 2009 photos

Momma and baby moose across the road from my work. Photographed from my office.

Snow and hoar frosted trees across the street from our home.

Closeup of tree by our home.
Moose in the field across the road from work. Photographed from my office.

Our tiny Christmas tree. We had 4 ornaments on it, as we left our big tree and ornaments back in Iowa.

Be sure to read below for text also posted today~

Life is Complicated

Okay, I realize my title isn't anything you haven't heard before or didn't know. Rather it's something that I've recently experienced...in too many ways recently. I'm one that easily goes with the flow when it comes to change, however could do with a bit less than I'm experiencing these days.

All of you have no doubt heard about the temperatures in Alaska. We had a good two weeks (if not more) of -40 F temperatures or below. Once the cold snap ended, our temps were +40 to +50 F for several days. It was amazing how quickly the landscape changed. Since our first snowfall in late September all the trees have been coated in show, and for the past month or so, accented with heavy hoar frost. On a recent warm day I went into a meeting one afternoon and when I came out of the meeting I was shocked to see that all of the trees and bushes were bare! It was such a transformation that I actually gasped upon seeing the change. Suddenly it came to me the most dramatic difference in the winter landscape in Iowa and Alaska. In Iowa the trees are rarely cloaked in snow, as the wind usually blows it off shortly after it's fallen, leaving the trees in all their bareness. Until today's snowfall, Alaska resembled winter in Iowa, with the ground snow covered contrasted by the dark trees and bushes.



I appreciated the break in the weather as all the ice on our vehicles melted and I was able to get the snow caked floor mats cleaned.

Speaking of snow, today was the first day we had snow in 2009. On the other hand, Iowa has been experiencing more than it's share of snow, with one friend commenting she has no more places to pile her shoveled snow. They have also been experiencing record low temps. To that I say, I love wintering in Alaska!


Other changes that have occurred are a bit more complicated than the weather. I keep trying to convince myself that they are changeable, unlike my power over the weather, however, it doesn't feel that way at the present.


My video/still camera remains powerless. I've tweaked it every way possible (different battery, charged it, kept if off charger for several days, cooled it down, warmed it up) and still nothing. I found the next model up of the Sony camera I own so purchased it Friday evening. I have a small still digital camera that I've been using, which I don't find nearly as comfortable, and, frankly, frustrates me. I got the camera home, began looking at the manual, and found that it is a video only camera. That was a waste of time. I remedied that by returning it to the store the next day. I've decided to send my broken Sony camera to Sony. If they can repair it for me I'll be charged, if they can't, I owe them nothing. With our minimal living here in Alaska I didn't have a box, so cut the top lid off of a Pizza Hut box and configured it to fit the camera. I hope to mail it off tomorrow and should hear back in 7-10 days if it can be repaired. I'd like you to do me a favor, if you will...call the prayer chain, please! Okay, now I'm showing the impact of this broken camera has inhibited my photography.


In my lost blog I told you that I'd purchased a memory chip for it so I could download photographs from my cell phone and post them here, but my laptop didn't recognize the them. I decided to shut my laptop off and reboot. Which I did. My laptop rebooted (unsuccessfully) for six hours last Sunday. I gave it a one week break, and tried it again today with no success. (Persistent, aren't I?) I was able to get a sheet that shows where the errors are, so I hand wrote all those down and will be contacting our landlord whose occupation is a computer repairperson.


With the laptop on the blink I tried to get the desktop computer working....it hasn't recognized the keyboard or mouse for some time. See what I mean....everything seems to be giving me fits recently! I was able to get the keyboard and mouse working, however it indicates memory card error with the cell phone memory chip. I had troubles installing the last print cartridge a while back, so we aren't doing much printing. I'll save that frustrating task for another day. I can't get the volume to work on it, either. That isn't such a big deal, but if you've ever tried to watch any video without sound, well, let's just say that's rather pointless.


On the positive side, I was able to get the desktop to recognize the memory card from the small digital camera, and plan on posting some photos from it here. On the negative side, I don't have the same photo editing software on the desktop as I used on the laptop and find myself challenged to brighten and crop photos.

The other night on my way home from work I came around the corner and right next to the road stood a mother moose and her baby munching away on the trees. I had my camera in my briefcase, so rapidly pulled over to the side of the road, threw my van into park, turned on my emergency flashers and grabbed for my camera. Wouldn't you know, that suddenly some bright, colored lights were flashing all around and a big 'ol spotlight was shining inside my vehicle. Great - a cop! My first thought was am I doing something illegal? Figuring I was, I shut off my emergency flashers and began to creep ahead, all the while looking out the window at the moose. What a PERFECT shot I was giving up. The policeman pulled up next to me, rolled down his window, and hollered 'you aren't having car trouble, are you?' at which point both moose bolted into the trees. Exasperated I informed the police that I wasn't having car problems, and off he went. So much for that photo op. My apologies to all of you.

I feel a need to also apologize for the format of my recent posts. You will have to trust me that I have placed paragraph breaks between paragraphs, since none have been showing. I've tried everything possible to correct this, but, obviously, haven't found the solution. I am going to post photos separate from this post and see if that makes a difference. (Post Note - I tried posting the photos separately, and it worked fine, and this appears to show paragraph breaks. Success!)

Last night Nate and I attended a birthday party for Clarence, a co-worker of ours. Clarence is an excellent musician and performed with several of his buddies. They performed at Pike's Landing, a place that is familiar to a lot of tourists. He looked so nice in his suit and tie. It continues to amaze me that people like him who live in dry cabins (no running water) can look so nice. Guess it's all in perception and adaptation, kind of like the pizza box converted to mailer. I am okay with improvising on the box, but draw the line when it comes to running water.


Thanks to all of you who have been sending e-mails to us. It's so good to reconnect with our loved ones back in the Midwest.

OK Christmas & websites of interest

Grandpa Skeeter and Alexis

Below:

Almost all of the family:

Sam, Marla, Sally, Mike, Skeeter, Marcia

Jill and Judah (Stephen, Charissa and Alexis just happen to be in the small photo to the right of Sam.

Here are a couple more photos from the Christma trip to Oklahoma.

I continue to be plighted by camera difficulties. I bought a memory card for my cell phone and took quite a few photos with it, and now when I insert the memory card into my laptop it isn't recognized. hmm

There has been a LOT of ice fog in Fairbanks this past week, as well as cold temps -40's. Nate and I have decided to delete the minus or below when we talk about the temperature. Saying that with the temperature makes it seem all that much colder.

I have hoped all week that the ice fog would lift. I'm told that it goes along with the cold temps and the vehicle exhaust and chimney smoke, etc., and once the temp warms up it will lift. Driving in the ice fog, in my opinion, is very dangerous, as the roads are frequently glazed by invisible ice, as well as vehicle exhaust lingers in the air, often blocking one's view...in addition to the reduced visibility due to the ice fog.

Our cars have also "collected" ice fog on them. It resembles very, very fine powder. Windshield wipers don't remove it, it needs to be brushed off.

Our bodies are doing okay with the weather - probably because we spend most of the time indoors. Our vehicles, on the other hand, seem to have noticed the colder temps. Daily we have square tires to deal with, in addition to various other maladies, including brick hard seats, doors that don't want to open or shut easily, squeals from the engine before actually starting, sliding side doors not sliding, etc. It's actually kind of amusing to see what will be different each day.

Nate and I will be going for dinner shortly at The Turtle Club in nearby Fox, so I will give you some websites of interest you may enjoy.

Web cam at Barrow, Alaska - way, way north of us. I hope to visit there some day

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/snowice/sea-lake-ice/barrow_webcam.html

Check out this energentic dog. Not sure the location where it was filmed, but definitely amazing.

http://www.dogwork.com/dogsnow/

Click here: YouTube - Alaska Research

Info regarding the road to Barrow.

http://fairbanks-alaska.com/dalton-highway.htm

Weather webcam in Fairbanks

http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam

What's there to do in Fairbanks? Check it out below~

http://fairbanks-alaska.com/faq.htm

And the most hilarious Christmas Wish Video I've ever seen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FvBO_DxeNw

Iowa Vacation

Great Grandpa Skeeter, 81, and Avery, 5 months.

Justin dodging Brittany's fire after extinguishing altar candles.

Rear of Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, Sioux City, Iowa.

View to the north of Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, Sioux City, Iowa.

Windmill towers which generate electricity.

Daisy

Nate, his daughter, and granddaughter.

Christmas decor in Nate's daughter's new home.

Boys and Girls Home of Nebraska @ South Sioux City.

My son's hockey game.

Brittany










Bumper crop of corn in Iowa.

The weather this weekend is brutally cold, so we spent all day today (as well as New Year's Day) snug and warm at home. Further, with only about 4 hours of daylight (which hasn't been very light recently due to the ice fog) we find we can stay home and be very content.When purchasing groceries earlier this week I bought a 17 lb. turkey which I baked today. Gave us a nice meal, lots of leftovers as well as several hours of heat which kept us toasty today. One of my missions for this weekend was to see if I could get the video/still camera to work. I've kept it plugged in all week, checking several times daily to see if the battery has charged or if it is working off of electricity. Nothing.

Another mission was to see if I could get the photos on the memory stick onto my computer. Well, I had success with that, as you can see.

Holidays = Holidaze

Forgive me for not posting for over a month. I was busy getting things lined up for a ten day visit back to Iowa for a between-the-holidays visit. We were able to get one Alaska Arlines ticket for regular price and a companion fare for $50 and figured it would do us well to take advantage of the savings.

We took a taxi the 4 miles from our home to the airport on December 2 at 10:30 p.m. for the pricey sum of $21.75 (yikes!) to catch our flight through Seattle and on to Minneapolis where we rented a car and drove to my parents farm (where I grew up and my dad was born) near Lake Park, Iowa.

The next weeks were spent putting many, many miles on the rental car, traveling from Lake Park to Sioux City to Lake Park to Sioux City, to Des Moines to Sioux City. We were able to take in several annual holiday events including the annual Sioux City Boys and Girls Home Christmas party at Buffalo Alice's, Christmas party and children's Christmas pageant at our home church, Trimble United Methodist Church, as well as traveling to Grace Corner for her holiday open house in her new Bed and Breakfast. We didn't tell a lot of people we would be coming back to Iowa, as we didn't want people to feel obligated about seeing us. Needless to say there were a lot of folks surprised to see us.

We stopped at our house in Sioux City to see how we felt being in it. Diane has it decorated with a combination of her and our items creating a homey atmosphere. We visited with her at the kitchen table for probably an hour, and I found myself feeling pressured. Pressured that I should be doing something, as that was my normal mode while living in that house. It made me realize that in Alaska I live a much, much more relaxed lifestyle, totally non-pressured.

Nathan returned the rental car to Minneapolis and flew home Dec. 15. My parents had planned on my son, Sam, driving them to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit my one and only sibling, Marla, for Christmas and expressed how nice it would be for me to accompany them. Thus I purchased a return flight home for December 26 from Tulsa and extended my stay. So much for the saving on air fare for the trip. Also so much for the guaranteed white Christmas I had been expecting to spend in Alaska.

After Nate left for Alaksa I spent more time between Lake Park and Sioux City, as well as traveling to Storm Lake to Santa's Castle. It is chock full of animated displays and oh so magical. Back in the 1980's we took Sam and Camilla to the Castle, so it holds memories for me. Brittany had never seen Santa's Castle, nor had her mom, Anna, mom's fancee Jonathan, or Jonathan's mom, Nancy, so we piled into my rental PT Cruiser and made the trip. In true child fashion Brittany made a quick trip through the Castle. I asked her who would be accompanying her through for her repeat walk-through, and one by one she chose each of us. She made a total of 5 trips through the Castle and I'm sure saw something different on each trip.

Nancy bought me a "No Place Like Home" Christmas ornament there...it goes along very nicely with our two ornaments on our tree. We purchased a gold Alaska ornament and a tiny pair of moose hide mittens trimmed with fur created by a crafter from North Pole, Alaska. Prior to having those we put a photo of Nate's granddaughter, Allysa, on our 3' rummage sale find Christmas tree. Another reason we like it so well is that it was the right size to fit into our luggage (small).

We were very excited to see Gary and Shari's new home near Des Moines, Iowa in a new housing project in the country. They posted construction photos on a website, so it was fun to see the finished product. It is a very, very nice home. We are both happy for them and Allysa to have such a nice home to enjoy. We don't get to see them often, so cherish the time we do spend with them. I am fairly new to the family (6 years) yet feel totally comfortable whenever we're together. I appreciate them making me feel so welcomed.

They gave us a book that was as if it was hand selected just for me. Well, okay, it was; my point is there isn't a more perfect book they could have chosen. It's Dewey The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. Dewey looks so much like our cat Peaches, that we left with Nancy in Sioux City. The library where Dewey lived was Spencer, Iowa, only 40 some miles from where I grew up and where we often shopped. I carried the book with me throughout my long journey back to Fairbanks and enjoyed reading it. I was really delighted to see a display of best sellers at the Hudson store in O'Hare Airport in Chicago which included Dewey. How cool is that?

I was able to enjoy watching Sam play 3 hockey games in Sioux City at the IBP Ice Arena and one in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Sioux Center arena had a total of three observers in the stands, and Sam's team wasn't the winning team, however I enjoyed watching him (and cleaning out my purse during breaks between periods). When we left Sioux Center several inches of snow had fallen and the wind was blowing a gale. Fortunately we had Sam's 4-wheel drive pick-up to trudge through the 8" of snow on the highways back to Sioux City. He did a great job keeping us on the road even though frequently we couldn't see any lines on the highway. He averaged 20-40 mph, so we didn't break any speed records, but he does get my nod for safety.

The weather while we were in Iowa was typical Iowa. It got down to zero, even a little below, snowed frequently, as much as 7" in one snowfall, and the wind blew as if it were making some sort of statement. I read that statement to be 'I'd rather be experiencing a Fairbanks, Alaska winter'.

Monday, Dec. 22 I was able to visit Ed Brown, former Sunday School co-teacher of mine at Trimble, in the hospital, and Damon and Amy's newborn baby, Parker James, and his pre-school aged siblings, Carson and Kenzie. Around 2 p.m. mom and dad met Sam and I and we were off to Tulsa.

We sent December 23-26 in Tulsa where the breezes blew and the temperatures warmed. We were blessed to spend our time with my sister and her husband, Mike; their son and his family, Stephen, Charissa, Alexis age 6 and Avery 5 months who live in Tulsa; and their daughter and husband, Jill and Judah, from New York City. Christmas day we spent with Charissa's father and Mike's parents. A few years back Marla and Mike added on to their home, creating the perfect place for our family to spread out and enjoy the holiday.

Friday, December 26 when I left Tulsa it was in the mid 70's. Due to weather creating air traffic snarls in Chicago my planned 2 p.m. departure left Tulsa at 4:30 p.m. This, of course, caused me to miss my connecting flight in Chicago. I spent a few hours in the Chicago Airport before traveling on to Seattle where I had a layover from 1 am - 6 am. Prior to leaving Chicago airport personnel set out about 200 cots for travelers. These cots were 2-3" apart (max) from each other and I wondered how in the world anyone would get up and walk between them should the need (bathroom) arise. I secretly hoped tho, that Seattle would have some kind of cot set-up.

Seattle airport was quiet and cot-less. I slept most of the flight from Chicago to Seattle so stayed awake and read and did some people watching.

Seattle flight took me to Anchorage where I had a short layover, then (finally) on to Fairbanks.

I arrived home to my beloved husband some 24 hours and 100 degree temperature difference from when I left Tulsa.

Fairbanks looks as beautiful as I recall, maybe even moreso. Nate and I have decided that we know the temps are in the minus region, but to make us feel "warmer" we won't refer to it as minus, rather now the temp is 36. Check out the News Miner web cam at http://www.newsminer.com/arcticcam/ for what Fairbanks looks like.

I believe I've gotten caught up with my sleep as I slept from 4 p.m. Saturday - 7 a.m. Sunday and again 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. today. It will feel really strange to wake up to an alarm tomorrow morning and not see the sun until around 10 a.m. after having spent so much time in 10 hours of daylight per day rather than 5 hours of daylight as is the case in Alaska now. One good thing...the days have begun to get longer, by about 2 minutes per day, and will continue to do so until June 21.

You probably notice that there aren't any photos with this posting. Well, folks, I have some technical problems going on now, which seem to be complicating as the days go by. Here's the brief synopsis:
1. The day we left Fairbanks I put a water bottle in my briefcase.
2. Upon arriving at home I noticed the water bottle had leaked in my briefcase onto my video/still camera.
3. I did everything possible to dry out the camera which obviously wasn't working.
4. Checked the camera every possible chance on the flight home and it had begun working again. Yippee!!!!
5. Took over 700 photos on the camera through December 24.
6. December 25 the camera was totally dead...and wouldn't charge (and remains that way).
7. Decided today to look at the photos I took which are on my camera's memory stick. When I insert the Card Reader my computer doesn't register that it's been inserted.

Therefore no photos today. Possibly in the near future things will change.

I'm still trying to readjust to being home and mentally preparing for going back to work tomorrow. Never in my adult life have I been on vacation for 22 consecutive days. I am so appreciative to Letha and Blanche for their extra efforts in taking care of job duties, for Carla approving my leave extension and for Boys and Girls Home my vacation benefits.

Alaska Mtn Range as seen from Camilla's office.

Dogsled taking a ride (sans dogs)

Nathan and I assisted timing a skijoring competition.

Fairbanks Ice Dogs - Look fierce, huh?

Rounding the last curve, heading to the finish line....and I'm ready with the stop watch.

Skijorers had one, two, or three dogs. We assumed they'd all be huskies, however none were huskies. They were all breeds and all yippy before the competition.

The ceiling of the ice arena is mirrored - permitting visibility of areas that might otherwise be blocked. Pretty cool, huh? (Yes, pun intended.)

Pickup with dog kennels used for transporting skijoring dogs.

A beautiful drive down the highway.

The trees and bushes have been very frosty - and gorgeous.

The view out of my office window. There's never any wind of any strength, so smoke goes nearly straight up. Yup - just like pictures of Alaska of smoke coming out of chimneys.

Sunset over Denali as viewed from my office window. Had to put this one in to make my sister really, really jealous :-)

We're continuing to enjoy Fairbanks and all it has to offer. The snow is like no other I've regularly seen before. When it comes down it is all sparkly, and it stays sparkly. The weather never gets warm enough to melt the snow, which apparently results in it continuing to sparkle.

Further the frost and snow on trees (and everywhere else for that matter) never melts either, making them look so picturesque day in and day out. Small rock is used on the roads for better traction (no salt). The fact that the snow alongside the roads and streets doesn't melt keeps it continually clean.

The thermometer has headed down, with this morning being around -20 F. Again, there isn't any wind, so it didn't really feel that cold. I didn't wear anything on my head (no hat) to work and back and my head stayed perfectly warm. I do notice that more and more co-workers are plugging their cars in at work. Previously it was only those of us from the lower 48 that were plugging in.

We enjoyed volunteering for the skijoring competition. It gave me a chance to wear my Alaska gear (big klunky, warm boots, Columbia jacket, thick gloves, and gator I made) and even though it was 10 degrees, + 10 that is, it wasn't cold at all. The most uncomfortable thing was going indoors to receive instructions and our glasses fogging over to the point we were blinded and being so bundled up it was nearly impossible to take them off!

The photo above of Nate and a bear were taken at the University of Alaska museum. I attended a film there one evening that pertained to subsistence living. It was interesting to see how hard those people work to eat and make a living.

I have taken over 1100 photos since leaving Sioux City in July. Today marks 4 months since I arrived in Fairbanks. Hard to believe it's been that long. Things have really changed, too, as when we first arrived we had about 2 hours of dark, and now we have about 18 hours of darkness. It seems odd to be going to work in the dark and for the sun to go down before 4 p.m. Not that I'm getting anxious, but the other night I took a look of weather records on the internet the other night and saw that on my April 23 birthday I can expect the sun to come up at 4:45 a.m. and set at 9 p.m.

Alaska Living November 6, 2008

Sunset view from my office.

Alaska couple enjoying life. I think her pigtail braids are cute, Nate admires the gentleman's ponytail.

Sunrise as viewed from the office.

Frosty view over Chena River.

These photos were taken in Fairbanks on a 10 degree F afternoon. All are of the Chena River or Pioneer Park.

Cabin in Pioneer Park.