Mamas & Babies

Every year we see a few mama moose with their babies here in our neighborhood. Tonight on my way home these two were on our road and then slipped into the woods out of sight. This little guy is brand new. I saw another mom with a baby this size last week crossing the highway, he got scared by the cars and layed down on the side of the road while his mom paced for a few minutes. I thought he might be hurt but as soon as the cars passed he got up and followed her into the trees... It's summer in Alaska. Long days, flowers sprouting up, green everywhere. The boys even went fishing today with Andy. We are eating some salmon tonight but it's from the freezer :0) Happy summer to you all.

Alaskan Biker Chics Ride Snowmachines

It felt like we were biker chics headed out for a nice Sunday Morning ride. But it's Easter, Winter and Alaska so we were actually getting on our snowmachines to ride off into the Alaskan wilderness, from her driveway. It was a gorgeous ride that reminded me alot of Colorado where I learned to ride snowmachines. Just two girls on their hogs in the woods. We followed a well worn trail, almost a wilderness highway, that winds up hills, through the forest, over frozen lakes and swamps then up a big hill to an open space and full circle view. It was overcast so Denali and the mountain range were not visible but all of the "close" mountains were. We stopped for a snack and photos at "the boulder" before heading even further up the hill then down into a ravine (that by next week may not even have snow in it) and back out to the view point. At our furthest point up this mountain we were only a little over 10 miles from my friends house, that's trail miles of course, as the crow flies we were probably alot closer. (So don't worry Mom, yes it's the Alaskan wilderness but in this day and age of cell phones we had plenty of rescuers just a few miles away! :0) We may make Easter a last chance yearly ride tradition just for the girls! Because it was obvious winter is coming to an end this was my last winter adventure for the year. There is already no snow on our road and I have also had to retire my dog sled for the season. On to the craziness of summer, stay tuned for updates on that...

Nooks & Crannies

Aahh... Winter in Alaska. Everything is white and cold, fresh and cool, clean and crisp. I love finding new trails or areas to explore up here and winter is a great time to do it. We can now walk, ride or slide over the lakes, rivers, streams and swamps that abound in this beautiful state. I call these places I come across the Nooks & Crannies of Alaska. A new view or trail can show you things and places you have never seen or known about. Of course up here you also need to be prepared, you can't just walk off into the Alaskan Wilderness alone or unknown (well you can but it's a bad idea). Most often you don't even have to share the wide open space with anyone else. Just watch for wildlife and keep your distance if you do see anything. You never know what you'll run into and we are enjoying their backyard afterall. The lakes are really fun this time of year to play on. Some people ski and some snowshoe but the trails often go around the inside perimeter of the lake, places you can't get to on foot any other time of year. Dog sledding is also big up here and I took my little one out this week, there is just about enough snow to start using it again, stay tuned for photos or video! Happy Holidays everyone, hope you all have a chance to play in the snow this winter...