Ice Road

Sunday drive takes on a whole new meaning when out in the Alaskan bush in winter. Today, after stopping for groceries, my buddy Tim and I veered down a boat ramp and onto the Kuskokwim River for a little toodling on to the next village downriver called Napaskiak. The weather was great....a balmy 8 below zero! The river is the main mode of transportation between villages by boat in summer, and by snow machine or truck in winter when the ice is over 5 feet thick.


Tim in the Jeep



Standing down river in the middle of the road. Yes, it actually feels warm compared to the minus 20 with minus 47 windchill we had this morning.


The road heading toward Standard Oil


Traffic!


The dock at Standard Oil where the tankers come in.


Getting passed by a snow machine (we were dawdling). Looks like they went shopping in Bethel and are heading home.


Tugboat out off the river for the winter.


Road marker. You can see the reflective tape stuck in the middle of the tree. There are lots of trees, sticks and orange thingies with reflectors marking the ice road this year. Apparently that is not the case every year. Lots of travelers get lost on the river every winter...and the local search and rescue has to go find them. Getting lost in sub-zero weather can be rather perilous. Perhaps they got tired of fetching the lost folks and put up markers this year! I can imagine the difficulty navigating at night or during a snow storm.


Hauling wood home. Many village houses are heated with wood.


These sticks found up and down the river mark whitefish nets. These were located near the village of Oscarville.

Big ole crack in the ice


Pausing momentarily at a crack in the road. Below is another view of the crack across the road.

Texas Tamales on the Tundra

A very, very nice surprise arrived today at my post office box from my great friend Skipper.......the quintessential Texan. Texas tamales!! Having lived in Texas....I became quite addicted to these little critters. I can't believe I'm going to have tamales all the way out here! Whodathunkit?

They arrived safely covered by the Texas state flag. The tamales taste better that way.

Not sure how long these were in the mail, but it takes several days to a week for things to get here from anywhere. But these tamales arrived still frozen solid in this heavy duty cooler.

Definitely a Tundra Tamale party coming soon! YUMMY! There's enough to feed a whole village!

Thirty Glorious Degree's and Grilling Out

The weather has been just gorgeous.....sunny, blue skies and 30's. Feels a whole lot like summer (no foolin!), and seemed like the perfect day to BBQ. Went to the local Alaska Supply Co and after some searching, they found a nice little hibachi grill.....for 12 bucks! Also bought some tri tip steaks, and as luck had it, the meat was also on sale. Once I got all the loot home, it was time to assemble the grill. My buddy Tim kindly put the eighty seven zillion pieces of the grill together while I marinaded the steaks and sliced up some steak fries for the oven.

Tim...happy cuz the grill's finally together and he know's he's getting MEAT!

Firing up the little hibachi.

Got a little happy with the lighter fluid... :)

Ahhhh....this is the life.....couple Cubans....glass of wine and steaks on the barbie!

The steaks were tender and delicious.....Tim brought over a big pitcher of sweet tea and we stuffed ourselves silly. Life is good!!

New Power Suit

Had to attend a staff meeting today. At my old job this would have required a specific sort of meeting attire.....suit......dress shoes......uncomfortable stuff! Today I am dressed in my new job meeting attire......a clean pair of flannel lined carhartts and chippewa boots. Ahhhhhhhhh, I love my new job! :)

Moose Fried Rice

My friend Pauline was heating up her lunch. It smelled delicious, so I asked what she was eating. "Moose fried rice," she said, like duh. Should have known! She thought I was crazy taking a picture of her lunch! But I did get a bite.....yummy!

Tundra Guitar Studio

Now that I'm settled in, I made productive use of my Sunday by setting up my little guitar studio. Scott Kritzer (Portland, OR) is on the computer screen delivering my e-lesson. Scott has been my teacher since 2006 through a combination of distance and IRL lessons.
I've had an on again off again relationship with my guitar over the past 8 years or so, I started to ask myself what if. What if I actually practiced more than once in a blue moon again??? So, I'm going to find out. I have myself on a 5 day a week practice schedule.....great way to get some consistency in my playing......prepare for an upcoming performance.....and to ward off the Alaskan winter blues!
And yes....for you classical guitar aficionados....those are Segovia scales on the music stand. Let the pain begin.......

Check out Scott Kritzer at www.scottkritzer.com! (Shameless plug)

The Great White Blizzard 2009

Now that I can think about this storm without pulling all my hair out, I thought I'd post some of the pictures that I took. Three days without power and water was tough....and cold. One thing we had no shortage of was snow. We melted bucket after bucket to flush toilets, wash dishes and wash us! I learned that living in the mountains is not without its hazards. The "city" does not come and scrape your roads. If you have good neighbors with heavy equipment, you're golden. If not, they'll have to come up and find you in the Spring! Lucky for us we've got good neighbors with oversized tonka toys.

All in all, the inconvenience and discomfort was balanced by the beauty of the snowy mountains. Reminded me of scenes from Cold Mountain....which is not far from here.

Click on the pics for a full sized view. All pics shot from the safety of my porch!

Early in the storm....

Later, we thought it might never stop. Unfortunately the snow was very heavy and there were lots and lots of broken trees.....the worst of which blocked roads and took out power lines.

Goin nowhere!

By nightfall we had over 1 1/2 feet

Diggin in to the back door

Fire on the mountain. Dawn day two. Sometimes it pays to get up really early.

By afternoon.....blue skies!

.........the 'new' fridge.....the kind that doesn't require electricity.