Daily Picture

Here was Tom's view driving back to work after lunch today.  Awesome.

Saturday Pictures

We didn't make it to the museum yesterday.  It was so COLD outside.  I could hardly stand it!  We went to Office Depot (got me some binding rings to craft with making mini albums) and the library. 

I took lots of pictures outside of the beautiful scenery.  Here they are:

This is a moose laying down behind the library parking lot.  He has some snow on his face and he is chewing on something.  Tom took the picture with my iPhone and he looks so far away, but he really was very close.

 

Look at this car!  We thought that was so funny.  I was wondering how long he must have been parked there to build up that snow on top, but Tom said, no he drove here like that.  What's really funny, when we got back home, we saw it in our parking lot.  LOL  So, I guess he really was driving around like that.

 

 

Here's a snow pile on one side of the parking lot.

 

I thought this was an awesome sight.  Tom and I couldn't figure out why the sun ray is going up. This was taken about 3:00 in afternoon.  It was looking like sunset.

Here's another snow pile.  That's what they do here.  They bulldoze the snow into one big pile when clearing parking lots.

I just thought this tree was beautiful.

Snowy tree lined street on the way to Office Depot.

And isn't this cool?  You can see the icicles forming on Tom's truck.  He also has icicles hanging under the bumper and wheel wells.  (Is wheel wells right?... You probably know what I mean.)

Brrrr

Today it's getting all the way up to 1!  Wooo-Whooo!  It's -2 right now.  Day 5 of the snow coming down.

The pictures above and below were taken at 9:25 this morning.  Sunrise isn't until 10:12 today and sunset today is at 3:41 this afternoon.

 

 

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the museum!  They have dolls and toys displays right now with carousel horses.... you know Bonnie is going to LOVE the carousel horses!!

Jingle Bells,

Janis

December Snow!

We are enjoying Alaska very much.  This is the 3rd day in a row that is has been snowing and snowing and snowing.  We are suppose to get 7 more inches by 4 o'clock this afternoon.  It's beautiful. 

This was Tom's view driving to work this morning.

 It's snowing so heavily today that it almost looks foggy outside because of the dense snow coming down.  We don't get much daylight these days.Sunrise is at 10:10 today and sunset is at 3:41 this afternoon.  When the air is filled with clouds and snow this heavy, it really doesn't get too bright outside.  It's like dusk all day long.

I posted on Facebook that if I were to lay down and make a snow angel now, I'd probably disappear for days.  My sister commented, "I'd like to see that! LOL" .  hahahahahaha

Here are 2 pictures Tom took after only being at work a few hours this morning.

Jingle Bells,

Janis

Still Loving The Snow!

It's snowed.  And then it's snowed.  It's still snowing.

I love it!

I haven't driven in it yet.  And may not.  Tom doesn't want me to drive in it.  I have no real desire to, so maybe I won't drive again until April?

I have spent many, many moments just sitting in the chair with a book and spending more time looking out the window than actually reading.

Not only is the snow mesmerizing to watch, but the people outside in it are a hoot!

The walkers, the walkers with dogs being dragged across the ice, the cars that can't start at the stop lights and spin, the other cars that act like there's no snow or ice on the roads and keep on going as if it's normal, the snow plows you see on the roads and the sidewalks...  It's all very entertaining.

This was Tom's view driving home from work yesterday at 4:00 pm.

Fun Playing In The Snow!

 

 

 

 

 

Snow On The Ground!

 

 

It started snowing very lightly yesterday afternoon and continued in through the night more heavily.  We woke up to snow on the roads and ground - so pretty.  Not a whole lot, maybe a couple of inches, but finally, some snow. :)

Yes, Bonnie and I will be out playing in it when it gets light outside - probably late morning.  :)

Weekend In Review

Nothing much to report from the North today.  We saw some very, very light snowflurries for about 10 minutes today.  Nothing to stick around.  Maybe it will snow this week.  Maybe.  Who knows?

Yesterday we didn't do any exploring like we have been doing.  Instead we stuck to home and went to see the 3D movie A Christmas Carol.

Today Tom was going to take a 20-mile walk, but instead we just chilled here at home.

It's 25 degrees here right now.  That sounds so cold.  But we are nice and cozy inside. :)

Maybe it will snow this week.  Maybe.  Who knows?

Update.....  it's snowing very, very lightly again.  I'm afraid if I stop looking out the window, it will stop.

Duck Feeding

 

 

Bonnie & I went across the bridge that spans the river to arrive at the lake behind our building so that we could feed the ducks this morning.

I just laughed out loud when we got there.  The lake is frozen solid. 

People have even tossed tree logs on it.  I guess either to see if they would break the ice and sink or maybe to see how far out it is frozen.  It doesn't look like it in the picture, but it's frozen all the way across.

I have a lot to learn about Alaska.  LOL

So we threw the bread in the woods by the lake.  I figure something will eat it:  birds, moose, bears, etc.

Jingle, Jingle

Janis

Moon

Moon at 8:55 a.m. out our front window.  So pretty.

Sunset today is at 4:51 p.m.  That's so odd.

Have a great day!

Wolverene Point - Tom's Sunday Hike

Temperature in the teens.  Deep snow.  Quick elevation climb.  Majestic views.  These are the things that keep Tom hiking every weekend.  Here's a quote from Tom from yesterday:

15 degrees. Snow on the ground. 10 miles and 3800' elevation gain in front of me. Can it possibly get any better?

For those of you who don't live in areas where snow and ice are typical (and we are learning so much), these are shoe chains with sharp metal spikes on them for walking / climbing in ice and snow.

 

Tom said some areas were deeper than this he had to walk through on his climb.  I think snowshoes may be a purchase in the near future.

What a handsome man!  Yes, that is ice in his beard and he hasn't even gotten to the top yet.

Here Tom is at the peak looking straight down the other side.  Wouldn't want to go down this way.  Ouch.

This is a bridge over a frozen (mostly) river.  The water level on the right is higher than the water level on the left because of how the water froze.  He said you could actually hear it gurgling a little.

Southwest View

East View

West View toward Anchorage

Here's a quote from Tom while he was resting at the top and eating a snack:

This is simply majestic, and the Fruit Loops just make it better.

It took him 4 hours to hike up, but only 1.5 to come down.  He loves hikes like this.  Can't wait to see what's on the adventure list for next weekend. :)

Halloween Winter Wonderland

We decided yesterday for our Saturday trip we were going to go to Seward (2 hours away) and visit "Exit Glacier".

Once we got about an hour away from home, the landscape was covered with snow and beautiful views.

Upon arrive at Exit Glacier, the road was closed due to winter weather.  We were disappointed, but had enjoyed the scenery on the trip, so it was still worth the travel.

We rode around the town of Seward some and enjoyed some of the turn offs to park and view and picture take.

We stopped at one park and just walked and played in the snow.  We were a bunch of little kids laughing and crunching snow under our feet.

We had a very late lunch once we got back to Anchorage at the Sea Galley.  Good food, good service.



Then we did our weekly grocery shopping and came home to watch the Gamecock football game (we lost).

Our plan was to take Bonnie out to the Zoo where they were having trick-or-treating for the kids.  But although she is feeling better from when she had that sore throat a week or so ago, when she spends any time outside in the cold, her cough starts back up.  After playing in the snow today and hearing the poor darling cough again and again, I decided a trip to the zoo to walk around outside in weather that was in the teens was a bad idea.  So we just stayed home.

IN OTHER NEWS...

On Friday, Bonnie and I took my car to Jiffy Lube to get an emissions test which is required before I can obtain Alaska license plates.  It passed (whew), but we ended up waiting in the lobby for 25 minutes which was BORING.

We left there and went to the highway department, got a number, and started filling out forms for new tags for my car, register my car, and for me to get an Alaskan driver's license.  The number we pulled was 152, and they were currently serving 132.  Oh boy, another wait ahead.  I was hoping Bonnie was going to be good and not get restless and loud and yank on me telling me she wants to go eat or go home.

Bonnie was very good.  She did say she wanted to eat, and I told her we would as soon as we were done here.

Anyone applying for an Alaskan driver's license from another state, has to take the written test.  I was so nervous.  As soon as you answer 16 questions correctly, the test is over.  If you miss more than 4, you have to try again the next day.

Can you believe I missed the first 2 questions?  My heart pounded the rest of the time.  I was so worried I wasn't going to pass.  The very first question was what was the minimum requirements for insurance in all 3 categories.  I had no idea.  Tom handles all of the insurance stuff.  I made a complete guess, and it was wrong.  I did end up passing though.  The first 2 questions I had missed were the only questions I missed.  Oh, Thank You God.

What I thought was cool, they had a place for Bonnie to sit at a desk right beside where I was taking the test and her TV screen showed cartoons. 

So we had to wait again, then sat back down to finish all the paperwork to get our tags.

After all that was done, we didn't leave until 3:00.  We were both STARVING.

We went to Sicily's Pizza - a first for us - ordered some mozzarella sticks and an extra large pizza with sausage, pepperoni and steak to go.

By the time we got home to eat, it was about 3:45.  And that pizza was the best I've EVER had.  Of course, it could be just because I was so hungry.  Tom had some for supper too and we still had tons of pizza left over.

So, I guess it's official... I'm an Alaskan now.... right....?

IN OTHER NEWS...

Tom is doing his solo, strenuous hiking today. He is off to Wolverine Peak.  He just sent a message saying it was 15 degrees, snow on the ground, 10 miles and 3800' elevation gain in front of him.  He's like a kid in a candy store.

I'll post pics and his story later on after he gets back and tells me all about it.

I hope everyone had a safe Halloween.  Enjoy this day.

Hugs,
Janis