It's all meat...

...and it's all mine!!!

and Beth's

Bike Commuting

Well, I've been meaning to write a full post about bike commuting for awhile now, but haven't gotten around to it in part because I didn't have any good pictures to go along with it. Then when I did get one picture I put it up as a mini post with a promise to write more later. But lets face it, I'll probably never get a bunch of good bike commuting pictures because I'm rarely, if ever, going to take the time to stop riding, dig out a camera and take a picture before I go on my way. And neither is Beth, and no stranger is going to stop and take off his or her gloves to take photos for us on a cold dark morning. So no good pictures, but what I do have are questions, so I guess I'll use that as the basis for a post. Actually, it's pretty much the same question from everybody, so this should be pretty easy...


"why ride?"


Its always some version of this. Sometimes the implication is that I'm stupid, sometimes that I must be really hardcore, sometimes a super-environmentalist and sometimes just insane. But it boils down to the question of why a person with a perfectly good car in their driveway would leave that car in the driveway and set off over snow and ice in total darkness at temperatures down to a few degrees below zero. It's actually not any of the reasons people assume, and although its probably easiest to refute the idea that I'm super tough or that I do this because of strong environmental convictions, hopefully I can argue that I'm not stupid or crazy either.

First, the environmental aspect. It's 6 miles, roundtrip, by car to drive to work, so thats a maximum of 30 miles a week. I'm not saying thats an inconsequential distance, but for someone who is willing to drive 160 miles roundtrip to go snowboarding, or over 200 for a weekend getaway (this coming Friday), its tough to cite environmental concern as the justification for biking to work.

As far as being really tough, unfortunately I'd say that the discomforts of biking are pretty minor - comparable, actually, to the discomforts of driving. So far this week, I've had one ride where I was cold on my forehead because I didn't have my hat pulled down far enough, and other than that I was either just fine or even too warm while riding. By comparison, it would have been a lot colder to sit motionless in the car for 5 minutes waiting for the engine to warm up. I guess that this works as my argument for not being stupid or insane, too, in that biking in the winter is actually a whole lot easier than it would seem.

For example, it seems like slipping tires would be a big problem and sudden crashes a constant risk. But for the most part traction is just as good as any dirt trail in the summer. Of course, for the few icy patches there are 294 steel studs in each tire, which are a luxury I don't have in the car. All in all, its more than enough for a surefooted ride.

Then there's the question of being cold, but again it turns out to be easier than I expected to stay warm. Here's what I wore Monday morning when it was a couple degrees below zero:

• thin ankle-length socks


• bike shoes with neoprene covers


• bike shorts


• windproof, non-insulated pants


• t-shirt


• long-sleeved athletic shirt


• light fleece jacket


• paper-thin flourescent yellow jacket for visibility


• thin hat with ear flaps to fit under bike helmet


• neck gaiter


• cheap leather mittens

Basically, the only extra layers on that list are the shoe covers, neck gaiter, bike shorts and reflective coat, but out of those things only the shoe covers are something I had to buy to stay warm while biking. In fact, I actually take off layers in the morning between walking Bella and leaving for work.

Darkness is the other potential problem, but except for a couple hundred feet of trail at our local park the route is lit 24 hours a day. On top of that I have my Day-Glo jacket and 2 blinking lights on my bike plus a headlight bright enough to light my way on unlit trails. Beth's got three flashing lights and a headlight so bright that sometimes I think she's a car behind me. So every car, truck, skier, dog-walker and moose can see us coming from a mile away.

In the end, what it comes down to is the fact that biking to and from work is just a lot more pleasant than driving. I don't have to sit in a cold car waiting for it to warm up and I don't have to clear snow and ice off of the car in the pitch darkness. There's no traffic to worry about, and with their studded tires our bikes might even handle better in the winter conditions than our car does. By biking I get to stretch my legs out before I spend the day behind a desk. At the end of the day, biking gives me a chance to switch out of work mode as soon as I start pedaling, but when I drive I generally don't feel like I've left work behind until after I'm home. Seeing the occasional moose at the side of the trail is pretty cool, and yesterday on the way home I saw a fox sneaking across the frozen creek that runs alongside the trail (although apparently my sister saw a fox in DC the other day, which makes this a little less unique). At the end of the day I feel pretty good about having gotten some exercise and burning off some steam on the trails definitely seems to help me sleep better. All-in-all, I'd say I bike to work because I like the ride!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
turns out starting this post inspired me to try to get a couple pictures yesterday on the ride home:

Beth demonstrates the proper form for red cheeks and frozen eyelashes

a self-portrait while riding - if it were snowing my facemask wouldn't be so gross, but all that ice came from me

Beth (in front) and Bryn riding in front of me as we get close to home - the brightness of the reflective strips on Bryn's pants actually confused the camera and made the trail look a lot darker than it actually is

Backcountry Snowboarding - 12/23/2010

On Thursday Beth and I went out backcountry snowboarding with our friends Bryn and Louis. We were ready for some cold weather, but when we drove through a valley and the temperature suddenly dropped to -14 I was thinking of calling it quits. Fortunately, the temperature rose just as quickly as we climbed up the other side of the valley, and did so before I had the chance to give voice to my cowardice.

It was still right around zero when we left the cars, and I was more worried about Bella and Dash getting cold than I was about myself, mostly because Bella has been a sissy about having cold feet recently. But they were both fine all day until the very end, when I think they were so tired that keeping warm was more of a struggle. But thats getting ahead of myself. In the morning, it was easy to stay warm, since as soon as we left the car we started skinning our way straight uphill. In fact, we'd already stopped to take off some layers before we found ourselves bathed in sunshine, and it was probably for the best that the sun wasn't really adding any heat to the mix. This time of year its so great to get out in the sun, though, so we might as well have been on a beach somewhere.

With clear skies and bright sun, the highlight of the day was probably the amazing scenery. The snowboarding was a lot of fun, of course, but the surrounding mountains were just beautiful, and I kept stopping to snap more and more photos of the same peaks and ridges all day. Of course, all day is a pretty short time frame, so with the sun setting as we started back to the cars at the end of the day there was time for one last shot and then the camera had to get put away.

But I guess I shouldn't sell the snowboarding short. After reaching the top of our ridge around noon, we took a quick lunch break before making some turns down the back side of the ridge. Despite almost 3 weeks without snow there wasn't another ski or snowboard track in sight, although moose had made a mess of the powder at the very bottom of the run. We skinned back up to the top of the ridge and took our second run down the front side, where there were a good deal of tracks but the snow was probably still as good as anything in bounds after noon on a powder day. Of all things we ran into Beth's and Bryn's boss' boss at the top of the second run. Someone in his group was impressed with the fact that we'd made a run down the back side, but I think both of the ladies were a bit disappointed to have work catch up to them in the backcountry.

On a final note, it felt really good to get out and make some turns for the first time in a year and only the second time in 2 years. I had a ton of fun with the fact that I can go out and charge pretty hard right off the bat. I also loved the fact that my split board handled the chopped up snow on the last run like a champion. It brought back the feeling of riding my first Never Summer through that sort of snow for the first time - just great control and super steady underfoot.

Anyway, I can't wait to get back out again, even though I do hope its a bit warmer the next time. And a bit of fresh snow wouldn't hurt, either. Now here's the photos:

came really close to suggesting we turn around at 10:06, but seven

minutes later it wasn't so bad.

setting out from the car before the sun rises

above the surrounding peaks

the crew breaks into the sun for the first time of the day

happy to have some sunshine on our way up

Beth drops in at the top of run #1

heading back to the top for run #2

snow-covered mountains

beautiful scenery, all day

the sun was starting to set as we got back to the top

before our second run.

and a closing shot of Bella looking dignified...

Arriving at work

This is what I looked like when I got to work this morning:

It may not look like it, but I'm sweating uncontrollably under all that frost. It was -5 at the house this morning and my eyelashes froze together at one point, but the only part of me that felt cold was the exposed part of my forehead, because I let my hat ride a little too high.

I've been meaning to do a full post about bike commuting in the winter, so I'll still do that sometime, but I thought I'd share this shot now.

Winter in Alaska (part 2 of 3) - It's the Little Things

I know it's pretty cliche to say that its the little things that matter, but the truth is that cliches are like onions - they've got a lot of layers to them (get it? it's another cliche!). So I don't mind saying that when it comes to getting through a winter in Alaska, it's the little things that matter.

Like, first of all, there are the little things that will make you miserable if you don't do them. So make sure you bundle up before you go outside, because there's a big difference between taking the dog for a walk when it's 5 degrees out when you've got long underwear on and when you're just wearing a pair of slacks. And it doesn't just apply to things like walking the dog - there's no reason not to be wearing that long underwear under your slacks all day at work, since it was cold in the morning on the way in, cold at lunch, cold when you went to get coffee and cold on the way home. Come to think of it, pretty much everything in this category has to do with wearing enough clothes, but I guess that just shows how important dressing appropriately really is.

Second, there are the little things to do that will make things a little nicer, keep you a little more sane and generally stave off cabin fever. To me the most important thing here is to keep getting outside. You may not want to be outside all day like in the summertime, but getting out for a half hour to ski, walk the dog, ice skate or even bike to work instead of driving really keeps the walls from closing in. Then, when you get home you can take a nice hot shower, put on that long underwear we talked about and enjoy the heat from a roaring fire in the woodstove. All of those thing feel pretty sweet on a cold, dark day. Some other nice things are cooking a really good meal (kitchens are warm!) and then eating it with plenty of wine. The trick is basically to first convince yourself that its not so bad to go outside and then once you're back to believe that being cozy inside your house is the best thing ever (without regretting that you went outside in the first place.

Third are the little things about winter up here that are really great. The way that snow sticks to trees for days or even weeks after a snowstorm or icy fog is beautiful, the steam and smoke rising from a thousand chimneys on a cold, clear, still morning belongs in a postcard, and with the sun rising and setting at such a low angle there are beautiful sunrises and sunsets every clear day that last for over an hour. Watching Bella play in the snow is an absolute treat, and watching her curl up for a nap in front of a warm fire afterwards is about the cutest thing in the world. When it stays so cold and the sun is so weak, snow never turns to slush, so your feet never get soaked with icy water and the world stays white and bright without turning grey after a few hours. There are groomed ski trails and zambonied skating rinks all around town, with local kids and adults enjoying them every day despite the weather. Backcountry skiing is a short drive away, with snowshoeing even closer. Neighbors stop by to warm up and share a bottle of wine. People decorate for the holidays, because its so much nicer to come home to a house lit up by Christmas lights, so neighborhoods have a cheery glow. The case of beer that lives on the back step is always cold. Moose come into the city for the winter and can be spotted several times a week. On dark weekend mornings it's always easy to sleep in, and on dark weekday mornings, this is a city that cares about its coffee, so whether you're buying beans or brewed you'll have a mug of something warm, tasty and strong. The Iditarod goes a block from my house (the freaking Iditarod!!!), and so do the world sprint sled dog championships. Basically, there's a lot going on here that couldn't happen anywhere else, and sometimes there's nothing better than to just soak it all in.*

* As long as you're wearing that long underwear.

Trophy Time!!!

Both of you (all three on a good day!) already know that last year at the office Christmas party I drank too much egg-nog and knocked over the tree was transfixed by one impossibly large present at the gift exchange. "It's shaped just like a trophy," I thought, "but it can't possibly be a 4-foot-high trophy. So what on Earth could it be? I must find out!" It was a trophy, and despite my best efforts to give it away (for the past year, virtually everyone who has come into the house has been declared champion of something and offered the trophy) the trophy sat in our living room.

As this winter approached, I decided to give it away at the office Christmas party, where re-gifting is a valued tradition, but nobody was going to open the giant trophy-shaped present this time around, so I had to get creative. So I took the trophy apart and rebuilt it with hinges and locks so that I could fit it into a 2-foot high box. Here's how it works:

So I wrapped it up and snuck it into work, where I hid it in an empty cubicle. Then I printed a document asking whoever found the printout to find the gift and add it to the pile. This way, nobody would know it was from me, since it was still a waaaay oversized present and people were sort of expecting me to try to regift the trophy. I guess I got away with it because somebody got fooled:

opening the mystery gift...

Everybody loves the hinge action!

Liz couldn't believe she got fooled.

But I think this picture captures her true ambivalence about the trophy. Meanwhile, over her shoulder I think I spy a plan hatching...

A gift theft! Somebody actually knew what they were getting and wanted in - he says he's got big plans for sprucing it up to re-gift next year.

Winter in Alaska (part 1 of...)

Alaska is a pretty unique place year-round. I mean, the fact that the sun is up past bedtime for like 4 straight months in the summer takes some getting used to. But most people can deal with the idea of some extra sunshine and that’s why it’s the winter in Alaska that really sets the place apart. Since I mentioned daylight already, lets start there.

Sunrise today was at 10:08 AM and sunset will be at 3:40 PM. During the 5 hours, 32 minutes and 4 seconds that the sun will be in the sky*, it will make it 5.7° above the horizon. This means that at noon a 5’9” tall person will have a shadow 57 feet long, and that to get out of the shadow of a 50 foot tall tree you would have to stand over 500 feet from its base. Given that there are plenty of trees everywhere, this means that at ground level there is basically no such thing as direct sunlight. The good news here is that we’re not missing much. Sunny conditions this time of year produce up to about 15 W/m2 of solar radiation, compared to nearly 500 W/m2 in a place like Washington, DC. But then again, don’t forget how reflective snow is. With snow on the ground you can actually see in the woods at night and during the day it can be positively blinding. And we’ve got that going for almost 5 more months.

high noon in the Alaskan winter

So it’s dark and it’s snowy, but what’s it like outside? Well, here’s the current 7-day forecast for Anchorage:

You’ll notice that there’s no snow in the forecast – at least falling snow, since the blowing and drifting varieties make a couple of appearances – which isn’t that atypical. We’re on the dry side of the mountains here in Anchorage, with an average annual snowfall of about 70”, spread out over about 6 months. Not that were a desert, but that averages out to the equivalent of around 1” of water a month.

You’ll also see that while the current temperatures are typical – right around the mid-teens – we’re expecting a shot of arctic air tonight through the weekend. Those high temperatures as low as -10° tomorrow are going to be no fun at all. And Bella might have to learn to walk herself if it’s -15° outside the next couple of nights.

So that’s what it’s like here in the winter. Sounds miserable, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. In the next couple of posts I’ll try to explain what its like to live here and why its not actually all that bad.

Finally, a post

Well, I haven't put anything up here for awhile, and there's a pretty good reason for it. You see, a few weeks ago I asked Beth to marry me. At first I didn't want to write about it before I told everybody who needed to know, and then I just kept putting it off. But I couldn't really write about anything else first, right? So I was stuck.

Well not anymore. I wrote about it, so now I can write about anything I want again. Ha!.

Oh, yeah. If you were wondering, she said yes.

It begins...

Tomatoes

This was a tough year for gardening up here, between nasty weather, hungry moose and busy gardeners, so we ended up not getting as much fresh produce as we expected. Given that the growing season ended well over a month ago, it was only that much more surprising when I went into my office at the start of last week and saw a bright red tomato there on the vine. What's more, within a couple of days it had some friends (who says you can't have fresh produce in Anchorage this time of year). Check it out:

I also love the fact that the tomato plant has a big loop-de-loop in it from when it collapsed back in August:

Great hike

I guess that usually, or at least in the "olden days," Anchorage would have snow by now. But it didn't happen last year and it hasn't happened this year, so maybe snow free Halloweens are what people should start expecting up here. So to make use of the good weather Bella and I grabbed Louis and Dash from across the alley and headed off to hike up Wolverine Peak, right at the edge of town. What follows is a photographic chronicle of our adventures:

I think its a rule that if you go for a hike around Anchorage and Denali is visible you have to take way too many shots of it even though you already have 60 such photos and it will never look as impressive in the picture as it does at the time. So let's get this out of the way early:

That was pretty easy, right? Back to the hike. All of the leaves have been off of the trees for several weeks now, which really opened up all the views. On top of that, the Devils Club and Cow Parsnip have both died way back, so the brambles and thick underbrush are much less of a problem. At the bottom of the hike we crossed a number of meadows like this, with tall, dormant grasses, a few trees and a glimpse of our destination.
More of the same, but this shows you just how nice the day was becoming. Cool at first but bright sunshine after the forecast was for nothing but clouds.

There's Wolverine Peak for the first time. The plan is to hike up to the knob on the far right, follow the ridge that ascends from right-to-left below the snowline and then traverse back across the ridge to the right to get to the top.

Here we are a little further up the trail, waiting for Dash to come back from chasing rabbits. That's downtown Anchorage in the background.
Near the top, with a bit of snow on the ground, Bella decided to check out the view down into the valley of the North Fork of Campbell Creek. It looks really cliffy, but aside from the top couple feet its actually a steep but steady slope straight down at least a thousand feet to the creek.
Here Bella models her Halti. There was another dog at the summit, so I decided to leash her up just in case, but she was pretty good.
I don't think Louis dropped his snack ever, but if he had the pups were ready. You'd think we never fed them.
No, Louis! The view's that way!
The head of the North Fork of Campbell Creek. That's Williwaw Lake in the center, and the mountain on the far right is Williwaw Peak. Nobody knows who Willy Waw was, but he picked some pretty stuff to name. Looking at this view just made me want to keep hiking to see what was on the far side of that ridge.
Here we are just after starting back down the mountain, with town in the distance. If you look closely, the white building along the water directly above the snow patch in the foreground is where Beth works. If you click the photo to zoom in you can also see a lake about halfway between the snow in the foreground and Beth's building. That's Goose Lake and it's only about a quarter mile from our house. What a great way to spend a sunny Saturday in late October!

The backyard

Once we got the siding project "done" (okay, so technically there's still some work to do, but nothing that absolutely can't wait), I guess I was pretty eager to get to work in the backyard. Last year we moved in just before the start of winter, so the only thing I managed to do outside was to plant some tulip and daffodil bulbs. When spring (finally!) came, it was great to see them start sprouting while the rest of the yard was still covered in snow. Then when the flowers started blooming they were such a nice splash of color after a long winter of white, greys and browns.

But that was all Beth and I got to do last fall, and as the snow melted in the rest of the yard it revealed all sorts of branches, unraked leaves, trash, hoses, a swinging chair canopy, rocks, fence posts, a pot filled with small animal skulls (!), lost tools, utensils, fishing lures, shoes and other assorted crap that was left behind by the old owners. As busy as we were this summer, we didn't get to do too much to fix this up*, and we even ended up adding a bunch of extra branches, logs and construction debris to the mess.

* Although when I think about it, we did put in a fair bit of work. Beth spent about 3 days raking, we cleaned up the trash, built raised garden beds and planter boxes, filled in low spots with topsoil, planted grass seed, trimmed trees on our own and hired a service to cut down 7 full trees. Its just that with our siding project and the rotten midsummer weather we never got caught up.

So anyway, by the time we were done siding I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about making the yard look nice. Here's what I did about it:

Task #1: Plant bulbs along the front of the house

Beth and I did this one together after work one day. I raked leaves over the top as insulation, and now we just need to hope there's no windstorm before snow falls. I should also not that part of the reason we had to replant is that we not only trampled the old flowers during our window and siding adventures, but we also dug up all of this dirt while burying blueboard. So some of the old bulbs got smashed, split or buried 2 feet deep. Anyway, here's photo evidence (at least of the raking part).

Task #2: Winterized the raised berry beds:

In order to protect our berry bushes from cold weather and foraging moose, they needed to get covered, too. Plenty of leaves in the backyard, but the trick was avoiding dog poop. Fortunately Bella likes to pick just a few predictable spots, so I just avoided those areas.

Task #3: Mow the backyard

I'll start this out by saying that I think throwing leaves away in trash bags is about the dumbest thing in the world. Trust me, leaves don't need to end up in a landfill. But our compost bin is nearly full and in the spring it will have to fit all of the leaves from the last couple of pictures. So instead of composting, I mowed the lawn even though the grass is pretty much dormant by now. By mowing the lawn (and by lawn I guess I really mean leaves), I'm basically just shredding all of the leaves and twigs so they can compost in place and in the spring the new grass should just grow around and through the chopped-up leaves. I got the idea from the gardening column in the local paper, which recommends this as a natural way to fertilize the lawn, and honestly it took a lot less effort than raking would have.

Task #4: Cut down broken tree

Although I clearly don't like this sort of job (Note: not true), I was ready for it even though it cropped up unexpectedly. After a recent windstorm snapped a fully mature birch tree in half 20 feet off the ground, I figured it was best to take the rest of the tree down myself rather than letting it smash our shed, or the fence, or Bella, or one of us. I cut off the still-dangling top and all of the branches with our extendable pruning saw, then had to figure out how to get the trunk down without crushing any of the things that I was trying to protect in the first place. I opted for tying a rope around the very top of the tree and looping the rope over the base of a branch of a nearby tree. After cutting most of the way through the trunk I pulled the rope tight, leaning the broken tree into the living one, an

d tied it off. This held the trunk up while I sawed the rest of the way through, and then I was able to use the rope to gradually lower it to the ground. Later, I dug around the stump and used a chainsaw to cut it off nearly at ground level. All-in-all it went quite smoothly, with the notable exception of Beth's hammer ("Stanley") having to spend a cold and lonely night hung up in a tree branch.

Task #5: Get rid of all the sticks, roots, branches, stumps, twigs, etc. that won't be used in our wood stove this winter

Between pruning trees last spring, getting rid of brush to build our garden, our recent windstorm, digging up roots while burying blueboard insulation, some construction debris, wood that was down when we moved in and whatever other sources, we had some pretty big piles of branches in our yard as well as a scattering of random branches. All this led to a 2-day bonfire to get rid of it all. I hope our neighbors can forgive me for day 2, when I dumped a box of wet leaves and dirt onto a raging fire leading to 3 hours of a massive smoke cloud settling over the neighborhood. My bad everybody. I didn't want to compost it because of nails and other construction debris that were mixed in, and for some reason I was actually convinced that it would burn easily. I guess you win some and you lose some, right? Anyway, after the bonfire (and another two days before the coals were totally out) the yard was a much cleaner place.

Task #6: Dump run

Because you can't burn everything, and because Beth has the good sense to not even try, there was a whole lotta construction debris that needed to be taken to the dump. So last Saturday Beth and I jam-packed Chris' trailer with junk, but there was still more. So we put a tarp in the trunk of the Camry and loaded it up with junk, too, which took care of nearly everything. Finally, we strapped our old dining room window to the roof and took it all up to the landfill in Eagle River. With a net weight of nearly 1500 pounds it was by far our biggest dump run - equal to the first two runs combined!

Task #7: Cut, split, stack and cover firewood

This is the part that makes me feel all Alaskan and manly. I think I even grew a beard while I was splitting wood. Anyway, here's what I was dealing with:

• Logs from the trunks of 7 trees we had cut in early summer
• Logs I collected last fall that had never been cut or split
• Logs from the tree that just got blown over
• A stack of the bigger branches that were pruned in the spring
• Logs from several smaller trees that we cut down ourselves last winter/spring

Anyway, this took a couple of days even though I had started splitting some of the wood in August. But thanks to some gorgeous weather (the state high temperature of 56 degrees was set at Merril Field, which is where our neighborhood of Airport Heights gets its name) and a state holiday (hooray for Alaska Day!!) I was finally able to finish this up last Monday. Now we've got a couple cords of wood ready to go for the winter. Here's our backup stack:

Task #8: Plant grass seed

It turns out that right before the first snow is actually I great time to put down grass seed, so that it starts to germinate as soon as the snow starts really melting in Spring. I haven't actually done this one yet, but I'm ready to go once snow is in the forecast and I've thought about it enough that I feel good writing it here.

Task #9: Final Tidying

This is just tying up the loose ends: coiling ropes, folding tarps, storing things for the winter and just generally cleaning up. I'm already looking forward to next spring when the snow melts and we can go straight to enjoying our beautiful backyard. Not that we won't enjoy it over the winter, but the thought of long summer evenings out there is a big part of why we bought the place.

Parents visit - Part 2

On the Saturday morning of my parents' visit, we (Beth and I, my parents, Bella, our friend Bryn and her dog Dash) made a leisurely getaway around 11 AM to head north of town for a quick canoeing and camping trip. It was an overcast and chilly morning, with a bit of wind thrown into the mix by the time we reached Nancy Lake State Park. From the trailhead it was a 3 mile hike in to Red Shirt Lake, where our canoes were waiting, and by the time we pushed off from shore there was hardly a cloud left in the sky.

Despite the good omen of the weather, I was pretty nervous as we set off in the canoe for the simple reason that this was Bella's first time in such a tippable boat. She did just fine, despite a really tempting fly-by from a dragonfly where she thought about making a lunge, probably because she was just as nervous about her maiden voyage as I was. In the end, after only about 10 uneventful minutes we were pulling ashore.

Home for the night was a small (~200 feet across) island with a rustic (amenities include wooden sleeping platform and table!) cabin looking southwest across the lake. It was the perfect place to let the dogs run amok, which they were more than willing to do. That left us two-leggers to enjoy a beautiful, sunny and warm afternoon however we wanted.

Not surprisingly, we based our entertainments around food, drink and a cheery campfire (which was also a welcome source of warmth as the evening wound down). Sunset in late September was still nearly 8PM, so we were able to prepare dinner at a leisurely pace while sipping from a variety of wines (carried in our brand new Platypus PlatyReserve wine reservoirs - YUM!). The main course was Spaghetti with Parmesan and Bacon - a favorite new recipe that I highly recommend - with a dessert of baked apples filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. It was all delicious, even according to my mom who had uncharacteristically assured us that she would not be enjoying the pasta recipe.

Sleep was restless, especially with two dogs who each interpreted the other's every move as an invitation to play, not to mention Dash's attempt to French Kiss me in my sleep (note: this was only unsuccessful because I had the misfortune of waking up a millisecond before Dash licked my tongue, not because Dash in any way failed to take advantage of me). It also got really chilly in the cabin by the time morning rolled around, although I may have been the only one who needed to add extra layers overnight.

{Dash, you saucy dog, you}

In the morning my mom rekindled the campfire, my dad made a ton of pancakes, Beth and Bryn got water and I... well surely I must have done something. I probably kept the dogs out of trouble. It was a beautiful morning, and when a few snowflakes drifted down on us they seemed so out of place with the mostly sunny skies that I thought they were just ash from the fire. We took our time packing up, with some folks taking the opportunity to head out in canoes to explore the lake a bit before we headed out.

We left our island a bit before noon and were back to the cars a little after one. The weather turned nasty on the drive home, and when we stopped for a late lunch on a detour into Palmer it was raw, windy and dark. There was snow on the mountains and reports that it was snowing hard (but not sticking) in Anchorage. But by the time we got home the sun was out and shining off of the newly frosted peaks. Quite the view from our cozy living room. I'm guessing we celebrated our safe return with a hearty dinner and some wine. I know Bella celebrated by sleeping from about 5 in the evening straight through to morning.