My Last Hurrah in Alaska: Weekend Trip to Anchorage and Girdwood

Quya, Meredith, Chad, and Melissa visit an ice sculpture.

We're not really 200 lbs. We are just wearing arctic parkas. 

Chad & Melissa!

the sun never sets in the summer

This was a gift given to me a few months ago. I absolutely love it.

Current Stats:

Today's Temperature: -25 F (-32 C)
Wind Speed: East 5 mph
Wind Chill: -40 F (-40 C)
Sunrise: 11:09 A.M.
Sunset: 4:13 P.M.

Quyanaqpak, Father, for...

a fun 20 minutes babysitting my neighbors' adorable daughters

Quya chilling out for a change

sunshine, sunshine, sunshine

the light at the end of the tunnel

kirratchiaq | sunny weather (=happy happy joy joy!)

Not sure how this picture happened above, but my panorama shot caught Quya running. She's got a twin! Looks real too. Crazy. I don't think I could handle two Quyas.

I think the mosaics on the corners are beautiful.

I walked Quya across the lagoon today. I felt like my face was going to fall off. It was so cold.

Frozen lagoon. Quya's shadow.

Current Stats:
Time: 2:12 P.M.
Temperature: 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C)
Wind Speed: E 10 mph
Wind Chill: -16 degrees F (-27 degrees C)
Sunrise: 10:27 A.M.
Sunset: 3:58 P.M.

Quyanaqpak, Father, for...

sunshine, sunshine, sunshine

an extra hour of sleep this weekend

cinnamon and orange brewing on the stove

being able to do five loads of laundry at once

fun Halloween night with Melissa

ina | to stay somewhere and enjoy yourself

A beautiful day to be alone.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining. Heck, it was freaking summer time. Okay, just because the sun is shining doesn't mean it's summer, and the litmus test for that is the temperature. It's been cold lately... not utterly cold, just cold. On Friday it was -4ish, yesterday was 5-above-ish, and today it's 9-ish.

Yesterday though... was beautiful. It was a metaphorical summer.
It was a beautiful day to be alone.

I stayed in. Worked. Read. Thought. Cooked. 

Yep, a beautiful day to be alone.

Early September. (I know, it's a clever title.)

September seems to be a time of drastic change for us on the Slope. A few weeks ago, things looked like this:

This is my apartment building in case you were wondering. 

 Beautiful sunny morning as I walked to school...

Every dumpster has something written on it. Maybe one day I'll go around town and snap a shot of each dumpster and create a collection.

For some reason, I really like this building. It looks like it might topple over.

Hey, guys, don't drive into the ocean, okay?

Jellyfish on the beach.

When it's sunny, I go walking on the beach. I was letting Quya off the leash to see if she would stick close to me, but um... yeah, she doesn't. So, she's going to stay on the leash from now on. 

So, most dogs in Barrow, as well as the villages, are chained up to fences, porches, or boats. Needless to say, they are grumpy and often aggressive. Every now and then, I find a chained-up dog who has retained its sweetness.

Unfortunately, our only Mexican restaurant burned down in early September. Not to be mean or anything, but it's not that big of a loss. Too expensive and poor quality of food...in my humble opinion, of course.

Doesn't she look like she's meditating? 

Quya loves walking on the beach, but lately there have been bear sightings... so we have been sticking close to home.

Okay, so that was early September....

Late September looks more like WINTER.

More on that next time.

I'll try to be better about posting. 

It's a sunshiny day at the top of the world!

I love the lagoons in Barrow. There are two that separate the town into two sections: Barrow side and Browerville. I used to live in Browerville, but I moved to a new apartment last May and now live "downtown," I guess you could say. Hah.

And now for the ocean...

The above picture is a little misleading. The beach is a straight line, not curved. I think I went too fast when I did the panorama shot. Still, awesome picture.

Friday's sunshine was gorgeous. I let Quya off the leash and let her run on the beach. She was happy as a clam.