My Mom is visiting for four days so I won't be blogging--there's lots to fit into four days here! On our way to Seward in the morning, then we'll try to fit in Girdwood, Willow, Talkeetna etc. etc....Meanwhile, here is a King Cove pup enjoying some sun this summer.

Another sad but entertaining sign for a missing cat in Valdez:

Missing. Girl, very nice cat. You may pick up. All gray with whight chest and spoted paws. Dose not like dogs.

Ouzel!

I found this beautiful fluff ball running down the road while I was driving home last night. I pulled over and called to her, and she wagged her tail and ran right over and jumped into my car. The phone number on her tag was out of service so I brought her home and fed her some turkey bacon and she drank lots of water. There was an email address on her tag, too, so we loaded back into the car and drove to the wireless place where I sent the owner an email while she dozed in the back seat. By the time I closed my computer, the owner had called back and was extremely grateful to get Ouzel back. Of course, I was sad to see Ouzel go! The owner thinks she's part Irish Wolfhound and part Chesapeake Bay Retriever...what a brilliant combo!! The profile shot is not great but it demonstrates the full fluffiness factor.

Here are Bridal Veils and Horse Tail Falls just outside of Valdez. It was pouring rain when I stopped by, but I couldn't resist taking a stroll through the trees to check out Horse Tail Falls up close. Bridal Veils looks pretty different than it looked in February.

More cuteness from the fair. The goat was my favorite of all, he just leaned his chin on my hand for optimum scratches.

chasing jet planes in the sky

I enjoy reading the bulletin boards of gas stations or stores in small towns. There are usually some interesting posts from colorful local characters. Here is one I found in McCarthy in the local diner. It's sad but I love his little tribute:
"On Saturday 12-2-06, Sadie Dog died. We was got by a wolf when she was walking to town. She went down twice. She came up twice. She fought hard. She was an old dog. She was a good dog. Sadie dog is now chasing jet planes in the sky. Get the sons of bitches, Sadie Dog!"

I found a little cave at the base of the Root Glacier. Probably not the safest thing to do, but I checked it out--quickly. It was really cool in there and it would have been fun to hang out and eat lunch, but after all those small plane trips and grizzly enounters I made it through this summer, it would be a shame to get crushed by a glacier...

I took the 1 1/2 mile hike from Kennicott to the Root Glacier. I took these pictures standing on the glacier. One is looking back down the glacial moraine towards Kennicott, and the other is looking up the Root Glacier towards the Kennicott Glacier. I wished I had had crampons, but still maneuvered pretty well!

Here is a pic taken from the very top of the Kennicott mill building of the power plant building. On the right you can see the beginning of the Root Glacier, which is about 1 1/2 miles away. In front of it is the huge glacial moraine that fills the whole valley.

Congratulations!

Babouche has reached Greenland! The Northwest Passage--4500 miles--has been crossed without an engine in 3 months and 21 days! And they used my picture of Sebastian in the announcement! http://www.babouche-expe.eu/home.html

I've wanted to visit Kennicott since the first time I saw a postcard picture of the mill when I first came out here. It's an old copper mining town that ceased operation in 1936. The mines have been bulldozed in but the mill remains and as you can see it's quite an architectural masterpiece. Kennicott is located in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and getting to it and the neighboring town of McCarthy is an adventure in itself--it's not far but the last 63 miles is on a gravel road and the town itself is not accessible by car. You have to park and cross two footbridges to get there. That's probably just the way the locals like it, even though it's probably a bit inconvenient to have to park in a parking lot outside of town and walk in. I bet if Bolinas could find a way to be accessible only by footbridge, they'd do it!

How do you pick just one glacier pic? There are a couple of people in the picture on the top, which gives some sense of the massive size of the glacier.

Since I was in the "neighborhood," I stopped by the Worthington Glacier, which is right off the Richardson Highway. As you can see, it's pretty hard to miss from the road and you can walk right up to it. I hiked up to the glacier and then took the picture of the lake from a small ice cave right next to the glacier. I later heard there was a rockslide a few days earlier right where the cave is. It's starting to become Fall here in AK--prettiest two weeks of the whole year!

fluffy

More fluffy cuteness from the Alaska State Fair.

Nice outfit!

I think this is what the sheep must wear post-shear. I love the bright color and his big belly outline.

Two calves...I didn't touch the white one because he was busy eating, but the black one's muzzle was SO soft, cool and smooth! I especially love the white one's crooked tail and huge eyes!

I went to the Alaska State Fair this weekend, and literally spent hours in the farm exhibit! There were so many cuddly, cute and beautiful creatures and you can pet most of them! Here is a pig who gave birth two days earlier. I overheard her owner saying she is a wonderful mother.

I've been showing a bunch of Minto work pics, here's some to show the fun side of working on a big lake! Our boss Mike has wanted to bring waterskis out for the last ten years and finally did it this year! Also, Haley got to do some tubing, which I think we enjoyed watching more than she enjoyed doing! Actually, she was a really good sport about it and might have even had fun!