missing the ferry

was not the worst thing that could have happened during dad's visit in september. unfortunately his week visit here was particularly grey and rainy. i didn't have much planned, but i did arrange for a ferry trip from whittier to valdez. we were going to ferry over with the car (dogs too), and mosey back to anchorage. i had a couple of campgrounds reserved and a tentative plan to visit mccarthy and kennicott. but, with my horrendous sense of direction and just poor planning, we missed the ferry by just minutes. in fact, it was still there when we finally got to it, but the gates were closed. begging doesn't get the gates opened, just so you know. i was pretty bummed, but dad of course was mellow and didn't seem too bothered. considering the weather, it may have been a blessing in disguise. rainy, cold camping isn't all that fun.

so, we had a pretty low key week around town. we took some nice drives, walked with the dogs, and relaxed at the house. dad joined some friends and i for live music one night and we did manage to get one last minute adventure.

we decided to go on a ridiculously expensive jetboat river trip. fast boat, big river, ginormous glacier. seems simple enough. it was supposed to be a 3 hour trip. instead, it lasted about 7. long story short, our boat captain nose dived us into a gravel bar. one dead satellite phone, iffy cell phone reception, lots of laughing, some worry, piggy back rides, failed winch efforts, state troopers preparing a rescue effort, a bonfire, an incredible sunset, a rescue boat fighting against getting stuck too, and finally a successful ride back to shore. best of all, a good story, and new friends. there was much about what went on that was less than ideal, but the group of people we shared the boat with were as good as it gets. bruce, lisa, barry, and alisha . . . you made it not only bearable, but actually pretty damn fun! so thanks again for that.

dad bought me an early birthday present . . . a canadian red cherry tree for the front yard and a ficus tree for the house. we didn't get around to planting the one outside, but i got it in the ground a few weeks later. i sure hope it survives the winter.

all and all a very nice week off work and visiting with dad. thanks again pop.

i was instantly hooked

when i started learning to knit this past winter. i absolutely love it. i love to be creative and i especially enjoy doing things with my hands. but, the biggest thing knitting actually provides is relaxation. it really is the most zen thing i do. its my time to be quiet, to meditate, to sink in to the rythym of the needles and my body. you can't help but be in the moment when you're knitting, so for me it helps me melt away the day and clear my thoughts. i get excited picking out new yarn and projects that i want to create for others. i had hopes to knit christmas presents for everyone, but i've definitely fallen short. i have made a scarf for a friend's birthday and i am very close to finishing a three more scarfs for christmas. i made a baby blanket for nikki's little one, lily, but it hasn't been finished yet and i've started making felted knit projects. i actually knit three pairs of these slippers but was scared to felt them for the longest time. i'm not sure why. i just kept thinking i would mess them up. but finally this weekend i tried felting one pair and they turned out amazing. despite the many mistakes, they turned out fantastic. and they are a perfect fit for mike. i'm going to add a leather sole and then pass them along. i can't wait to felt the other two pairs too. if there is something in particular that you'd like, let me know and i'll try to make it for you.

in search of a hot tub

but happily settled with a sauna.
erik and i decided to try and find a getaway cabin for an overnight trip last sunday that might have an outdoor hot tub. after way too much online searching and plenty of fruitless phone calls it became apparent that an outdoor hot tub in/around anchorage is pretty scarce in the winter. there are a few, but they are often booked. i did however find a cabin with a sauna and i must say it was just as nice, if not better. we left the little boys with a sitter and took just duke and rosco with us for the two hour drive to hope. stayed in a nice little cabin and took full advantage of the wood burning sauna.

when we got to hope the trees were bare and the roads were wet with rain. we went for a hike on the gull rock trail and just two hours later the ground and trees were covered with fluffy white snow. while on my backpacking trip with nolan this summer, he taught me to play chess. it always seemed too complicated for me and i just never really had the desire to learn. but, i'm glad i finally did because as with most anything the slightest bit competitive, i was hooked pretty quickly. i love fun competition. when nolan taught me i actually did pretty darn good. unfortunately i learned this weekend that it must have simply been 'beginner's luck'. erik demolished me over and over again. this of course only fired me up more and made me want to keep playing to redeem myself. poor erik eventually had to refuse. i think we played 6 games and i only won 2 and one of those games was nearly given to me because erik was so sick of playing. yikes. i had fun even as a loser.

it was so great to be outside in the elements. the snow flakes were huge and it was really beautiful to watch as the trail became a winter wonderland. gorgeous.

the next day the snow stopped, but was still sitting softly on everything around. unlike the day before the sun was out in all her glory creating a blanket of glistening snow. you'd think there were diamonds on the ground. we took another nice hike on resurrection trail before heading home. it was fantastic. the boys rolled and played, while erik and i were kicking up powdery snow with every step we took. good stuff.

p.s. i think i am going to build a sauna in the backyard.

p.s.s. could i be any more pale? sheesh. tells you what kind of summer we've had.

i can smell dryer sheets

perhaps because i'm down the hall from the laundry mat. you know i don't think i've ever typed those words and as i do, i can't help but wonder if that is the way its spelled. is it "laundry mat" or "laundromat". what's with the "mat" anyway? what does that even mean? anyway . . . i'm totally digressing from the point of this post so let me get back on track.

i'm sitting in my new office in the village of mcgrath and it shares a building with the city offices, laundry mat, state troopers, health clinic, and community board room/court room. its a nice little office and although it doesn't have any windows it does have a skylight and its cozy and warm. this will be my new station at least once per quarter and potentially more often than that. the travel schedule here is very flexible and is based simply on the need of the community. between my physical visits here, i will be doing "telemedicine", which is esentially video conferencing . . . or virtual therapy (sort of).

when a colleague of mine recently resigned, the one and only village travel assignment that is available (for the southcentral region) came open again and i jumped at the chance. although i did tire of the frequent travel that i did to the villages in the nome area, i do miss it now that i'm gone. i also know that the opportunity to immerse in another part of alaska is very unique and i know how lucky i am. so i plan to take full advantage of the personal and professional opportunity. i'm looking forward to learning about this community and hopefully getting the chance to make a difference in someone's (hopefully many one's) lives.

in addition to mcgrath, i will also be covering the villages of nikolai and takotna (both are less than 20 air miles away, but are not connected by roads). i will be based in mcgrath, but will take day trips to the other villages when the need arises. its funny that mcgrath is even considered a village actually. so far, i would liken it to a very mini nome.

since landing here this morning, i have learned that there is quite the array of amenities here including: 1 lodge, 1 b&b, 1 bunk house, 2 restaurants, 3 bars, museum, bahai spiritual center, catholic church, interent broadband company, and an espresso shop. there are also several companies including full service construction, lumber supplier, snow removal, fuel, wild game processing, and 3 locally owned airlines (as well as the larger carrier, pen-air). there is 1 school for pre-K to 12, as well as an extension station for university of alaska fairbanks. there is even local television and radio stations. it is a clean community that has a lot of beautiful homes
(versus the functional shack like structures of most villages), grassy yards, and even trees. my favorite find today is "malone's mossy meadows farm". they have farm fresh eggs, custom furniture, chemical-free vegetables, crafts, goat milk soap, and lumber. seems to me that malone might just be living a dream. i took a nice walk this morning and every single person who passed by in their car, on their 4-wheeler, or on their bicycle raised their hand up to wave to me. the population is about 350 people year round. however, in the summer, that number can get up as high as 1,000 with visitors, fisherman, and hunters. only about 50% of the community is alaska native.

my next appointment is going to be here any moment, so this is all for now. tomorrow i'll go to nikolai for half the day and then be back in mcgrath for the afternoon. i won't be going to takotna this time. home on thursday mid morning and off work the rest of the day . . . not a bad perk for a couple of nights in the "village". i have my usual day off on friday and this weekend an added day off on monday. 4 1/2 days . . . nice. seems like i should do something fun an exciting, but actually i'm just looking forward to staying home, going for a hike with duke, and knitting . . . on second thought, maybe a road trip is in order?? hmm. we'll see?

another doctor

it doesn't look like the doctors i saw in san fran about reconstruction are going to work out. no need for details. insurance companies suck sometimes. 'nuff said. but, i have found another doctor, this time in seattle. i'm heading down for a consult at the end of the month, so please keep your fingers crossed for me.

i had the chance to add on a couple of little trips around this doctor's appointment. i'll be seeing mom in weiser the weekend before. dillon and cerra are coming up too. then after the apppointment i'm heading to st. paul, minnesota to see the pam, steve, and ella (remember they came to hawaii with mike and i last year?). might as well make lemonade, right?

a house boy

is a beautiful thing. i'm pretty lucky to have found one of my very own. ha. i'm kidding. really, i actually just have a roommate that is bartering for his rent. he works on my endless list of house projects, he teaches me what he can, and he helps me out with the heavy lifting. he also cooks, plays scrabble with me, and has become a friend. we seem to have dropped into one another's lives at just the right time and so far our arrangement is pretty great.


meet nile. . .

barefoot backpacking

is the bomb! if you want to try it for yourself, i'm not sure that there is a better spot to do it than coyote gulch. its in the glen canyon recreation area of escalante, utah. nolan and i experienced it first hand this summer. among other amazing things about this backpacking trip, the time spent tromping along barefoot, in the soft, sandy, shallow river bed was such a wonderful feeling.

during the first week in august nolan and i had our first backpacking trip together. its amazing that in all the times we've travelled, we've never done something like this before. we both agreed that this, by far, was the best vacation we've ever had!!! we're looking ahead and planning to make backpacking (at least) an annual thing. i can hardly wait for where we're going to explore next year.

southern utah has been a special place for me since highschool. as a senior i was part of a "survival" course in escalante, utah. it has been locked in my heart since. its an incredible, magical place and is easily one of my favorite places to be!!! nolan absolutely shares this love.

i hiked coyote gulch about 6 years ago and have always wanted to go back because it was just so amazing. 300-400 foot red rock canyon walls shooting up alongside you as you follow the trickle of a river bed . . . it just doesn't get better.

the quick run down of our trip . . . i arrived in salt lake and spent one night there to visit with dillon and cerra and gather a few last minute supplies. nolan and i then drove down to southern utah, about 5-6 hours from his house if i remember right. we started hiking at sunset and went until it was pretty dark. the next 4 days we averaged about 5 miles a day, so there was lots of time to sleep in, relax around camp in the mornings, take long lunches, have pitstops to play in the water (or more importantly to pump our drinking water), and just to really enjoy ourselves. when we found a natural spring we thought we had found heaven. i remember it from when i was there before, but it definitely didn't take away any of my enthusiasm for it this time. after conserving luke warm filtered water from a silty riverbed the crisp, clear, cold water from the spring was quite possibly the most incredible thing i've ever tasted (or poured over my body).

the weather was sunny, hot, overcast at times, and rainy one night. it was a nice combination. we took lots of pictures and appreciated every step we took. it was great to be there with someone that was as awe struck as i. sometimes we would just stop in our tracks and scream out loud, laugh deliriously, or throw our hands up in the air at the unexplainable beauty we were in.

its so lush and green you wouldn't even know you're in the desert. there are endless "perfect" camping spots along the way, incredible natural arches, and about a million tiny frogs and lizards. the canyon walls provide some shade from the heat and the water keeps the air fresh and cool. its a place that takes my breath away just thinking of it. being there truly nourishes my soul.

returning to this hike with my brother was simply the best. for so many reasons, there could absolutely be no two people who are better backpacking buds than he and i. we just mesh together so well. it helps that we're great friends who love eachother, but beyond that we're just similar people who so often share the same simple pleasures, sense of humor, etc. i never feel more me than when i'm near him.

nolan and i are both trying to become healthier by losing weight and becoming more active and part of planning this trip was to set in motion a turn toward making our vacations together active ones. if we were both in better shape we may have covered a little more ground, but truthfully probably not much more. our pace was less determined by our capabilities, and moreso by just the kind of people we are. we both take a lot of joy from just being in nature and the way in which we both like to just relax and soak it all in is definitely something that isn't likely to change no matter what shape we're in. slow and steady fits us well.

i really wouldn't change anything about this trip, but if i could i might just add to it. specifically a few more days. the longer i can be tucked up in that canyon the better. its such a freeing experience to have only that which you can carry. it breaks it all down and brings you back in touch with the simplicty that is so often lost in the day to day life. i absolutely love it.

thanks again noley for a fantastic time and a memory that will be with me forever.

a special note to you nolan . . . jacob hamblin arch - woo woo!!

and i can't forget to share my romy inspired haiku for this trip . . .

never have i felt

more free and able to be

at peace and just me

after backpacking, i got one more day/night in salt lake and got to see alethea and her family, as well as spend some time with my cousins. i have some great pics of lee and her gorgeous babies, but they got stuck on my brothers computer. i'll get them eventually. these cute boys are just a few of my cousins.

then i got another quick stop in idaho on my way home. mom was working so i didn't see her, but i did get to visit with with my boise family (jim, nikki, emmett, their newest edition, lily, and brian). brian took us out in his boat for a nice afternoon on the water, and i also got to reconnect with my old girlfriend, amy too. i'll get those pictures up another day.

i know its been a while since i've posted, but i have some catch up posts waiting in the wind. this is the first of a few more to come. the weather has definitely taken a turn (it snowed today!) which means i will likely find more time to get on the computer. i know i know, you can hardly stand the anticipation . . .

hope you're well . . .