Sheep Creek

While I think of my blog often, I don't get on here very much anymore!  I posted a lot of pictures for my overnight trip up to the glacier on Facebook, but I still haven't posted any pictures of my weekly trip to Gold Rush Summer Camp. These are a bit old - from early June (can't believe how fast the summer has gone by) - so there's not as much snow up there now.  I'll have to try and snag some more photo's next time I'm up to do an early season and late season comparison.

They do hot chocolate, cookies, and history of dog sledding in the tents.

The big stars - our puppies!

You can just see the cart in this photo below.

If the younger Harry Potter had an office...

...it would be like ours under the stairs at TEMSCO. :)  As promised, I wanted to post a few pictures of the work place for everyone.

Aaron, being the ever incredible hubby, brightened up the place with some flowers.  Of course I, being the ever addict and sucker for coffee, brightened the office up with a new Keurig.

While we do spend a lot of time here, we spend an equal amount of time over in dispatch and out on the ramp.   

Some of our awesome helicopters that fly everyone up and down from dog camp on the glacier.

Yup, lots of dog food, water, etc. goes into these every day!  Aaron does most of the big lifting, but I am noticing an increase in my shoulder size still so I think I claim my share of lifting. 

 Inside is a lot of fun with cool old photo's from dog sledding and the glacier plus a griz and a mountain goat.

Below are some of the Neo's our guests get to wear on their glacier adventures. 

I still need to get up to dog camp so I can post those pictures, but I figured the office was a good place to start.  Next blog will probably be the summer dog camp south of Juneau!

Trip to the City

A random day off in the middle of the week made me think perhaps I should try and get a little culture!  Decided to buy some bus tokens and take a trip to downtown Juneau.  Hit up the museum which had some very cool exhibits about World War II in Alaska.  There was a lot of local history as well, and some bears and wolves of course.

Next up was a walk around to see some of the locals celebrating native art and culture.  Lots of folks dressed up in traditional clothing, dancing, and music.

It seemed a bit crowded for me, and I'm not big into going to things like that by myself.  So I started wondering up the street and looking for some more history.

This is the Russian Orthodox church...a rather small, quiet spot above downtown Juneau.  I had a few minutes all by myself before some other tourists walked in and it was amazing.

Even though it was just a c.d. there were some monks singing with the door open and a slight drizzle outside and all of these amazing old icons and paintings - it was incredibly calming a great place for an afternoon prayer.

 Not sure what to say about most of these, but I really wished that I could have visited it with Grandma King and dad.

The inside of the church was very small, just a round room.  There couldn't be room for more than 10-15 people.

The paintings were beautiful and full of tiny details that captured my imagination.  If other people wouldn't have wondered in, I probably would have just sat there and contemplated life for a bit.

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The building isn't in the best condition with foundation issues, etc.  I left a small donation and bought a few things from their gift shop.  The bell can't be attached to building, but is set up outside up a small walkway from the church.   

The streets felt a bit like just walking about on the stair master, and I don't think these pictures do them justice. :)

I found a little bakery on the way back to bus and popped in to have a latte and a spinach bagel with lox salmon cream cheese.

The Mt Roberts Tramway still looks like an awesome trip up to the peaks, so that might be my next day off adventure.  Last Sunday I took the puppies to the beach, but my hands were too full to take pictures.  There is still so much left to do and many blogs that I hope to post and share all the amazing things that Juneau has to offer!

Pure Alaskan

For some reason, maybe it's because currently my job and world revolve around them, I don't think you can get much more Alaskan than Alaskan Huskies.

We got to puppy sit a bit last week, which was as enjoyable as I'd imagined...and probably the smelliest thing I've ever encountered.  Who knew such cute little bundles could also create the most rank little piles? :)

It was a good experience, since I was considering sneaking one into our back little room (Sammy had a ball with them, Harley growled every time they got too close) but the smelliness won me over to be content with our 2 grown up, house trained "pups".

 

These little guys actually made getting pictures rather difficult.  They never sat still unless they were being held or in their crate or box.

 

And, Husky or no, all puppies love shoe strings!

 

Sammy enjoyed playing with the little guys, though I think she was happy when they went to "work" up on the glacier, too.

Hard to believe in just a year those little guys will be the big, tough, real deal Huskies like these fellas.  I think if anyone needs a new weight loss plan, it should be to eat and run like mushing dogs.  They have a special high protein, low carb diet and there is no fat on these dogs!  Poor Harley and Sammy look a little out of place around them. :)  But then again, so do I next to most of the mushers we're working with!

With that thought, I'll finish this blog and my bowl of ice cream.  Another reason I like it here?  Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita then in any other place...is that true?  I don't know, but a musher told me that and it just gave me yet another reason to like Alaska. 

Poor Mans Cruise

We were chosen to ride the ferry up to Haines to pick up some of our dogs for the tours.  And by some I mean around 200.

The Marine Highway, referred to the locals as the poor mans cruise, was a nice afternoon trip up the inlet.  It's been rainy, chilly, and rather cloudy in Juneau the week or so.  
  

Not sure what glacier this is, but just caught it through the clouds.

For those in the lower 48, they have a Solarium on the top of the ferry that is open and has heaters that blow warm air out.  You can lounge in a lawn chair and watch the scenery off the back of the ferry - GREAT way to travel.  I managed to see two whales spout in just an hour - a first for me!

Once we got to Haines, we were greeted by some sea lions!

There were LOTS of birds around!  But, as usually, my bird photo's didn't turn out too hot.  

Haines is a pretty little spot that reminds me a little spots in Wyoming.  It was a nice break to run up and grab the dogs, though I have say sleeping on the ferry isn't too enjoyable.  Again, learning lots!  Next time we'll bring sleeping bags and camp out on on the solarium!

Rain and fog

So, for a lot of folks the title might make you think it's a bad thing...and I still have a long time yet to go, so I might get sick of it soon enough...but I am actually digging the weather around here.  It's a nice, cool temperature basically all the time.  The older I get, the more I realize I don't really like the heat.  I love long sleeved T's and warm sweaters, and it seems like this is basically the standard choice around here.  And if the sun pokes through, it does warm up nicely when you get a workin', which we've done a bit of this week!

Right now it's raining outside, falling peacefully.  It will most likely rain all night long.  This is awesome and somehow calming while I drink my tea and post some new photos.

We took the dogs out a few mornings ago, and realized that I've only been taking fair weather pictures, and I don't know why.  It is beautiful even when it's rainy and overcast, so I'm going to try and capture this other side of Juneau as well. These photo's are definitely not that side, but they're nice and foggy!  When the clouds roll in, you can smell the brine - a new experience for me.  I'm starting to think this coastal living is alright!

I have a lot of similar photo's, but I'm in love with these.  It was so calm and breathtaking when I took these, and they turned out perfect!

And my loving partner in crime, holding the puppies while I snap a few shots.   He got up extra early just to come with me - what a sweet fella I snagged!

Seeing it all the time never takes away just how amazing the Mendenhall is, and I can't stop myself from taking more pictures.

FINALLY caught some bird action, but I was a bit disappointed in how far away these look!  They were a perfect little couple, dozing and floating along in the early morning fog. Mallards, I believe, but I'll let the professionals correct me if I'm wrong.

I have also realized my lack of being able to catch birds might be slightly due to the fact that we have two dogs with us at all times.  Sammy is especially bad at "birding"...she would rather go meet them then snap photo's!

Spring is definitely on its way, and things are starting to bud out!

There were a completely different set and type of ducks in this pond...but Sammy combined with my slow reflexes only caught the ripples they left after they flew away.

Just another beautiful day in Alaska!  Since work is kicking off, probably won't be posting as often but I'll try and get something on here when I do have time.  It's too much fun not to share with everyone!