Sibling Rivalry

Sweet kayaking gear

I hadn't planned on blogging about my sister and her husband coming to visit, but they said if I didn't then they wouldn't come back for Fur Rondy in February. Empty threat or not, their visit was awesome, and I don't want to risk Tracy and Brian not coming back. Tray and Brian came a few weeks after my parents left. Our big challenge with our second set of guests was not repeating too many activities. We made a trip to Seward, but did not stay over night or take a cruise, we got pizza from the Moose's Tooth, but got it to go, and we went souvenir shopping and made sure Tray and Brian got different items. Aside from sharing some of the same information about Alaska, the trip similarities end there.

Starting the Loop District

Black Bear from the train

We took the train down to Seward instead of driving. Aside from having to be at the train station at 5 am, it was a great idea. It was such a relief to be able to pay attention to the scenery along the Turnagain Arm instead of oncoming traffic. Although a much longer ride, the views were fantastic. We saw Beluga Whales feeding on Salmon out in the Cook Inlet on the way down. The rear of each train car had an area where you could lean out for unobstructed views of the passing scenery.

A view of Trail glacier from the train

After arriving in Seward we started walking to the Sea Life Center. Kelly and I had been in the building a number of times, but never got around to actually going through. It's a good thing we did, we saw a baby Walrus the center was nursing back to health. We saw all sorts of fish, birds and other marine mammals. 

Chubby little fella

Brian refused to get any closer to the bird

Taking in the sights

We ate dinner in Seward and then boarded the train for the trip home. The sunset was brilliant as we joined back up with the Seward Highway. We were lucky enough to see more Beluga Whales on the way home. Unfortunately, they were too far out and surfaced too briefly to photograph. The sunset was much better for photographing.

I should sell this one to the Alaska Railroad

The next day we got up and made out way to Whittier to go kayaking. The drive to Whittier requires a trip through the Whittier tunnel - the only toll road in Alaska - a one lane 2 mile long tunnel that is also used by the Alaska Railroad. Tunnel traffic follows a set schedule, but rarely runs on time. We waited about 30 minutes past our scheduled time.

Entrance to the tunnel

After passing into Whittier it immediately started pouring rain. Luckily, the rain let up the time time we got into the kayaks, but the sun never did come out. Our guide said we might see some sea otter, black leg kittiwakes, salmon, bald eagles, and maybe a bear along the shore. We saw plenty of black leg kittiwakes (seagulls), lots of salmon, and two bald eagles. I saw some drift wood that I thought was a sea otter. We were out on the water for almost three hours, and paddled a few miles. It was an awesome day, made even better by Tracy and Brian treating us to kayaking.

Setting out

Taking a break

Bald Eagles on the hillside

We did spend some time indoors - mostly drinking Alaskan beer. We took Tray and Brian on a tour of Midnight Sun Brewery and picked up some of our favorite beers from around the state. Tray and Brian ventured out on their own a bit to visit the Alaska Zoo and check out downtown Anchorage. There was a lot we did, and a lot we didn't. We'll take some time in February to do what we missed, but we'll mostly be busy enjoying Fur Rondy events - dogsled races, fireworks, snowball fights, snow shoe softball and ice hockey. Looking forward to their next visit.

Seward: The Gateway to Alaska

New Addition

Meet Chuck

Two weeks ago, after nearly 4 years about talking about adopting a dog, we finally adopted a dog. Although we hadn't really planned to adopt at this point in the year, we could resist once we met Chuck. The original plan was to wait for spring and avoid walks in -20 degree weather or during blinding snow. It would've been nice...Unlike Kelly and me, Chuck loves the snow and cold. He's a mix of German Shepard and Alaskan Husky. The Husky in him loves jumping into snow drifts and sticking his head into snow piles.

He loves to smash the ball into the snow and then try to find it

Like most adopted dogs, Chuck has his set of issues. When he came home two weeks ago, he wouldn't let us touch his paws. He's terrified of the vacuum cleaner - he can't even look at it. He's also confused and intimidated by the air vents. We've seen some separation anxiety build over the last week, he gets really worked up when we leave for work. Thankfully he isn't a chewer, doesn't bark much, and has excellent bladder control. He's torn up a bit of the molding near the front door, but that's an easy fix.

Chuck has one blue eye and one brown eye

Chuck is about 1.5 years old and still has a lot of puppy in him. He has the standard giant sized paws for a German Shepard and clomps around on them. When coming downstairs in our house he often goes too fast and ends up running to the front door. When he gets excited and runs around on the hardwood floors he usually ends up sliding all over. He's generally just a goofy dog, he fits in perfectly.

The stress of having a new dog and rearranging our schedules aside, it's been a great first two weeks with Chuck. We're working on training him. He responds well to treats when training, but we need to start moving him away from treats every time. We can touch his paws now, but he's still not comfortable enough with us to let us apply moisturizer to keep his pads from drying out and cracking. Hopefully we can get him used to us coming and going soon. Obedience classes on on the horizon, along with learning how to skijor. Next time we talk about Chuck, we'll be calling him Ellsworth, in honor of one of our favorite Deadwood characters.

Someday

Winter Recess

It's been a good long while since my last post. The run up to the end of the year got pretty crazy. Kelly and I celebrated Christmas in Anchorage a week before the real thing. We spent Christmas, New Years, and the first week of January back on the East Coast. It was a marathon trip, but we caught up on the sorely needed family and friend time.

Kelly's mom's coolest decoration.

I've never felt so popular as this trip home. I guess it's true that absence makes the heart grow founder. Everyone wanted to hang out (I suspect with Kelly, but I'll take what I can get). Operating from a base at my sister's house we made almost daily trips to see family and friends. Our visits took us to 8 different states (if you count layovers in Chicago, Illinois and buying beer in Maryland). We caught up with mentors, former coworkers and friends we haven't seen since our wedding - a lifetime ago in May, 2011.

My sister got a sweet Flyers hat for Christmas

 There's nothing quite like Christmas at home. Although there was no snow, and certainly no mountains, it was great to be Levittown. When we got back up to Anchorage, we quickly caught up on the snow we've missed. Stay tuned for an update on our snowy winter.

Bubbling Away

Every once in a while Anchorage gets serious about snow removal. That was the pile in the middle of our cul-de-sac

Sorry for the gaps in posts that seem to keep popping up. It's cold and dark almost all the time now (the sun is out for 6hrs everyday, but it's a half-hearted effort). Consequently, we haven't been doing much outside of working and watching tv. Last week, however, we had some of our new friends over for a home brewing session. Kelly and I were the only ones who had brewed before, leaving us to be the experts on the process. A scary proposition if you're familiar with my homebrew "success."

A Dunkel kit ready to go.

Sanitizing - the most boring, but most important step.

We got started once everyone arrived. There's not much that's exciting about the brewing process - it's just standing around watching the water boil. Most of the process involved drinking beer and sharing recommendations for places to eat and drink around Anchorage. We came up with quite a list, I should've written them down.

"I know I know the name of that place..."

Just finished steeping the grain

Once we finished steeping the grains, we added the malts and boiled for an hour. After the boil cooled the wort, pitched the yeast, and racked it to the fermenter. Two days after racking, our yeast really took off. Thanks in part to prior experience, I knew we could have foamy beer shoot out of the air lock on top of the fermenter. I took the precaution of covering it with a trash bag - good thing too. It foamed for almost two days. As long as I add the right amount of sugar when we bottle, we should have a pretty good brew. Stay tuned.

Grains after steeping. One of our friends made a nice loaf of spent grain bread

Swaddled the beer in the remnants of my Beaker costume to keep it warm.