Stories of the Last Frontier

Walking the Dike Trail

2012-04-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

This last week we have had glorious weather here in Juneau. People are walking, jogging, biking everywhere I turn. With the sun out we have joined the people in enjoying the outdoors.

The Dike Trail is down the street from us and that makes it convenient to go for walks and run our dog Rosco. That's my son running in the field, not our dog. But you probably figured that out.

The mountains in the background are on Douglas Island. When the tide is low you could swear that you could just walk over. I hear there are some deep mud areas that if you tried you could get your boots swallowed.

Can you believe that this is the mouth to the Gastineau Channel which leads to the ocean. This tree, which is huge, finally lost hold of it's sandy foundation and toppled over.

Behind the home's (bottom) is the Mendenhall Glacier. The photograph doesn't give you the feeling of it's immense size. It is amazing!

This is the view from the beginning of the trail. One day my son will want to walk further down and we can share the rest of the trail. But for now he likes to stop here and run in the sand and play on the fallen tree.

Snowball's at the Mendenhall Glacier

2012-03-05T06:01:00.000-09:00

As the Pastor began his sermon the entire congregation watched the sun shine spread across the snow laden tree's. I should explain that behind the Pastor are these great expansive windows so everyone could enjoy the excitement of the possibility of a sunny day. Pastor Dye mentioned the sun shine and a member of the congregation said "shhhhh". Laughter was in every pew. Pastor Dye mentioned, in a fun way, that we could put superstition aside in the Lords house. More laughter.

While this video is a little long, maybe a little boring, this is how we tried to catch the sun at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Mini Snow Pile Sledding

2012-01-28T10:21:00.000-09:00

Yesterday the sun peeked through the typical Juneau haze which made for a great day to play outside. After Oliver played on his snow pile we took our friend, Little J (16 months) out on his adorable little sled. It was chilly and so nice to get out in the sun. This snow pile has been created by shoveling the driveway. It's a pretty good size pile don't you think! Talk about a good workout ( :

A Heavy Snow

2012-01-27T05:35:00.001-09:00

I woke up to one foot of snow this morning! With more snow falling. This is at 7am this morning. My boys had to get up early to clear the snow berm that the street cleaners threw up. It was huge! The site of that was actually what made me get the kids out of bed to start clearing. When I saw these two people walking by the house and realized that I couldn’t see their legs; I knew that I better go out and check to see how high the snow was.

The entire family started shoveling. Definitely a invigorating morning.

I Shot an AR 15!

2011-11-07T07:14:00.001-09:00

I am not what you might consider a gun person or for that matter an outdoorsy person either. But where I live it seems like everyone has a gun. At least the people I know. And it is highly recommended to have one.

Yesterday, me and my two older sons went with some friends to the outdoor gun range in 35 degree weather to experience the different weapons. You know, get a feel for them. I mention the temperature because my finger's were extremely stiff from the cold and it was a little embarrassing when using the rifle.

Here are the guns I tried out: I started out with the hand guns. I liken them to Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear because of there size. I believe it was the Mama Bear size I liked best which was a Glock 22 I think. The weight was mid range, it was easy to fire and I hit the target. I kind of hit the target.

Your probably wondering "why would you want a gun?". For me personally I want to have a gun so that I can go on a hike with out worrying to much about bears. And I want to learn to be self sufficient. Meaning that I want to go hunting. I have many friends who hunt and use the meat all year. Same with those fisherman out here in Alaska. That is also something I want to do, fish.

The fun gun that I don't foresee ever needing to use is the automatic riffle. It was a breeze. Heavy but not to heavy that I couldn't hold it easily. Easy to shoot. I was a little concerned that the bullets would just fly all over the place. Good news. They don't. I enjoyed shooting that gun.

The one gun that I really wanted to try was the revolver but we had the wrong bullets. That is the one I think I would buy first. My friend said that I could use it to protect myself and hunt small game. Good for hikes and if your small plane crash's you have a good survival tool.

Feel free to comment about the weapons. Which is your favorite for bear hunting?

Brimming with Candy

2011-11-03T19:28:00.000-08:00

You know that kids are so adaptable. Especially when it comes to obtaining handful's of candy. See, in Juneau it rains and it rains. Sometimes it has been snowing and raining enough that on Halloween you can ice skate to each house. This does not stop the kids even though the temperature's are in the 30's.

As my usual I put on my long quilted coat, my Bogs with wool socks, warm scarf, and my trusty gloves. My son however was concerned that his coat would cover up his costume. We explained that his glow in the dark skeleton costume would be visible as long as he kept it open. He had to wear his sneakers instead of rain boots because they are black and match. Out we went into the dark rainy night.

We started our walk down the street to the "hot" candy district. This is the street that almost every neighbor participates. The streets were pretty quite. The first house gave a huge handful of candy. My husband and I were happy. More to share of course. Turning the corner on the next street there were kids and cars abound. Looking at the cars and realizing that parents were driving the kids down the streets made us feel a little dumb. Oh yea, and a umbrella, of course. Can you believe we didn't bring one? So now we felt really dumb.

My sons little plastic pumpkin was filling up. That was exciting because I thought that meant meant we could go home. However, Daddy continued to say "how about that house?" and "that one there". I think he was more into candy then my son was. Yet we continued the door to door chant TRICK OR TREAT!

Finally my son was wet and cold enough to retreat to the warmth of our home. His plastic pumpkin was filled to the rim. We were all very content at the amount of candy contained. Like a bunch of hungry sugar fiends we ran into the house, turned on the TV and watched my son pour his candy out onto the floor. I eyed some of my favorites. My sons was so good about sharing his candy. He even saved some for the next day. I love that boy.

I hope you all enjoyed the benefits of walking door to door for candy with your kids because we sure did.

Panning for Gold

2011-08-08T15:08:00.002-08:00

Yesterday, Sunday, was a great day in Juneau. A rare sunny afternoon when everyone drops what they are doing to go outside and play. We went panning for gold.
One of the purposes of this blog are to encourage me to get out of the house and experience Juneau. So just like everyone else I went outside to play. We all jumped in the car and drove up to the Perseverance Trail. We weren’t the only people with this idea because the mountain road looked like a city street. Cars all lined up.
My husband had as stroll down to Gold Creek.
We ran across the rail cars that moved the men around the mines. Not far from there is where we started panning.
It is great when your kids can teach you what they know. My sons taught me how to pan. How to swish. All about the white sand and the black sand. More then I ever was curious about.

I bet your wondering if we found gold. We did. My husband said that they are gold flakes. I said that after a year we should have a whole once. You know that wouldn’t be too bad. Gold prices are pretty good right now.
It was another fun family afternoon. This is something I think I could get into.

Dedicated Boy Scouts

2011-08-05T18:12:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time there was a dedicated Boy Scout Troop who had some young members that needed to move up in rank. The soon to be Eagle Scouts decided that they would join these Boy Scouts and work side by side to encourage the younger members of Troop 247.

On this rainy gray July day in Juneau they all met at Rotary Park to run the mile and complete other various physical challenges.

Sit-ups on cold wet asphalt

Running the mile

How many push-ups?

I can't say admire these young men but I sure am proud of them. How much will they push themselves in the next couple of weeks? I just hope it's not raining : \

4th of July Parade

2011-07-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

This was the first time we ventured to the downtown parade in Juneau. We used to live on Douglas Island and would watch the Douglas parade and then head over to Saviko Park for the "after the parade" fun. Now that we live in the valley things are a little different.

Having lived in larger communities I had expected tons of people fighting for the best spot to see the parade. Not so here which made me very happy. We arrived at 8am to drop off my son (he was in the parade). I was going to set up our chairs then when I saw that the streets were empty. There were a few folks that were setting up for 4th of July family parties but other then that it was quite.

Juneau's Civil Air Patrol Honor Guard ~ From Left Airman First Class Peterson (my son)

Incredible Vintage Car

Gov. Parnell and his wife, Sandy

It was great. We set up our seats at 9ish but we really didn't need to get out there until 10am to get the best seats. These were the best seats that I have ever had, anywhere. One of the highlights for the kids is the endless candy that get thrown to them. All the kids come with bags in hand.

As much as I love the sweets the fact that it didn't rain and the sun peaked out from the gray made my day! The weather was cool, about 50's-60's. All in all, it was an enjoyable afternoon. Next year we will head over to the island and watch the soap box derby.

Fun at the Beach!

2011-05-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

Juneau,Alaska
Spring at Auke Village

This weekend we and a couple families from our homeschool program enjoyed low tide at Auke Village or lovingly know as Auke Rec.

Days with low tides are enjoyed by both kids and parents. Everyone picks up a bucket, rubber boots, and a shovel. It's great when the kids get there. they come running down the path with buckets all excited about the morning. We get a fire started, put the goodies on the picnic table and get dragged down to the water for the hunt.

I just noticed how well my little boy has adjusted to the chilly weather. He is wearing a t-shirt and it must have been in the 50's with a drizzle. I wore a jacket.

The beach was covered with muscles and seaweed. Every time I would take a step I felt like I was destroying a muscles life. It was unavoidable.

Muscles on the beach.

There were so many interesting creatures to see both on the beach and in the waters. There were porpoises fishing for something probably a school of fish (duh). Did you know that hermit crabs are very alien looking? I had no idea that the end that is in the shell was the way it was. I'm not even sure how to describe it.

The "Alien" hermit crab without his shell

See how it resembles a snail shell but it's soft and wormy looking. Weird.

It was a great beach day, great company, great fire, and those pesky crows. That's another posting.
When was the last time you were at the beach?

Metal Festival (is that what they call music?)

2011-05-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last night was fantastic! Our young family friend is a dynamic man. I first met him when he was stage managing Mikado. I remember him making an impression on me because he here was a high school student working with and managing an adult production.

Now here he is producing, probably Juneau's first, Metal Festival. And it rocked! That says alot for someone who has never, even when I was young(er), liked metal. There had to have been from 50 to 70 young people there along with several overseeing parents.

Hopefully in the next few days I'll have photos to post because my son was the videoographer. We will surly miss our friend when he heads out to my home, California, to go to Camp Pendleton for Marine boot camp. Serving our country.

Watch out California because here he comes!

Favorite Coffee Stops

2011-05-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

Well, we thought today was going to be a rainy day but the sun managed to sneak out. I love to see the sun here in Juneau. When the sun shines it makes you want to get out of the house even if it's to run errands.

Of course, you need a cup of coffee to get you out of those rainy day moods and bring in the sunshine. I actually needed two cups of coffee. I started at Vintage Fare in the Nugget Mall. They always have a experimental coffee drink. I think todays was called Banana Split. I didn't try it. I bought my usual soy latte with sugar free caramel. It sounds like I'm on a diet. Nope. Just getting older.

Then later in the day it was time to stop and get another cup of coffee. This time I went to Thibbs drive-thru. They are on Vanguard. They always ask me how I want my drink. And I always have great conversations there. Very brief but always good.

Heat My House!

2011-05-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a long while. Partially because I have been so frustrated with heating the house we are renting. Can you imagine paying $700 to pay for home heating? Some people are paying even more. That's is outrageous to me. When I lived in the Florida Keys I paid less to keep cold.

Of course it is due to the rising costs of oil. Right now a gallon of gas is $4.14 at the local Fred Meyers. I know that gas is at $4.25 in Lake Forest, California. Crazy!

The break down was $400 for electric and $465 for oil last month. We are applying for heating assistance through the State of Alaska. The deadline ended in April. The other option is a program called RurAL CAP. They will come to your home and evaluate it's energy efficiency. Depending on many variables they can help you weatherize your home.

We started thinking the best option for us was to relocate ourselves. That is a whole other story.

RurAL CAP

State of Alaska Heating Assistance

Gotta be tough, Xtratuf!

2011-01-11T06:12:00.000-09:00

Before I moved to Alaska I had lived in Oahu, Hawaii and had given up all my winter shoes including any type of snow boot. Our families intention was never to leave the islands. The warm islands. Then we ended up in this chilly, wet island of sorts. I had no idea what I should wear on my feet so I came with sandals, and tennis shoes. Needless to say, one of my first shopping missions was to buy shoes.

Not knowing were to go, my first stop was this place called Fred Meyers. It is like a Super Wal-Mart but with name brand clothing like Sketchers and Columbia. I searched the shelves of shoes and really didn't see anything I thought would work. Primarily because in September, when we moved here, it isn't snowing. It's raining. And when It's sunny it is wet. My tennis shoes worked out for awhile but the rain was starting to get to me because every walk we went on meant a gaggle of children with soaked shoes and me. That's when I started asking "What kind of shoes do people wear here?" The answer: Xtratuf®

What are these boots called Xtratuf®? Just the most popular boot in Alaska. Everyone wears them. Little kids, moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas, everyone. These are rubber boots. Not boots lined with with warm sheepskin. Just a rubber boots. In fact they are so popular that Governor Parnell's and Lt. Governor Treadwell welcoming inauguration is called "Tuxes to Xtratufs". That's one popular boot.

So, why aren't we wearing sheepskin boots? Because it rains. It rains a lot. Now, that's not to say you won't see other boots running around but Xtratufs are the house staple. Very much like a loaf of a bread.

Finding a Family Pet in Juneau Alaska

2010-12-28T04:53:00.000-09:00

What I thought would be an easy trip to the humane society, became a huge shopping project. See, I am from a large community, Orange County California, and getting a dog was easy. The newspaper was full of them, the humane society was full of them. You could even grab a puppy at the front of your local grocery store. Not so in Juneau Alaska.

As of right now in our local paper there is one dog for sale. In the Orange County Register there are pages of adorable puppies for sale. At the Gastineau Humane Society there are two dogs up for adoption and one in the city of Haines. Which by the way, you can't drive to. You take the ferry. That's another story.

Your probably wondering why we didn't adopt. The dogs at the shelter were older and not known for being kid friendly. We did see one that we adored but he was on his last leg. Having a pet die wasn't something we wanted the kids to experience yet. We checked the web site diligently but we couldn't find a dog that would fit our family. Did I forget to mention we have two cats. That also played a major part in finding a family dog.

"What did we do?" your wondering. We did like everyone else in this day of technology. We shopped on the internet. Not only was the internet a great way to research the right dog for our family but it made it easy to locate the family dog that we thought would fit our family. Which of course was in the lower 48, not a ferry ride.

Because I was not the one to locate our new family addition I had to ask how he found our puppy. He was able to answer me in about 3 seconds. Here's the poop: He was researching Boxer's and as he scrolled down the page there were ads for dog breeders and he clicked on the ad. There you go. How easy was that.

The hard part or should I say, the most expensive part was getting our new puppy here to Juneau, Alaska. Chance would have it that the breeder had already flown out some puppies to Alaska so she new exactly how to get him here. Do you want to know how much? It was $450 just for his flight out here. This was a far cry from the $100 or so dollars I was planning to spend.

I'll have to say something that was simple down south was a bit trickier here. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

Morning Moonlight

2008-09-18T16:50:00.001-08:00

Awaking, bright and early as usual, I could see from my kitchen window the moon light in the sky. For most that is nothing that could cause any sort of excitement. But for me and my family living in Juneau, Alaska, being able to see the moon lighting the sky is pretty special.

The clouds stretch across the morning sky revealing that rare light. For us it is a possible sign of a sunny day. And that is exciting.

I have heard that the last three summers have been rare in the amount of rain that has fallen. This summer the sun brightened our lives only a few days. I can count the days on one hand. This season it is hard to muddle through these gray days. Even the trees are turning.

By noon are wood deck was drying with only the corners appearing wet. I was able to enjoy walking to my mail box without a rain jacket and in sandals. It was around 50 to 60 degrees and it felt warm! Crazy, I know.

All in all, when the clouds float away and the mountains are visible it is a sight to see. All the rain and the clouds are okay ~ well, kind of.