7/30 - 7/31/09 No Thrilling News Here

We're back in Anchorage getting ready for our friend, Dianne to visit. We're cleaning, cleaning and cleaning some more. We've been doing surface stuff since we've been in Alaska with all this dust but now we're doing big time cleaning. This dust has got to go. We're doing windows, shampooing rugs, washing everything, straightening closets and drawer and getting rid of stuff in general that we've been toting around with us and haven't used.

You just have to take time every once in awhile to take a few days and really do a thorough deep cleaning. I hate it, but it has to be done. I'm looking at it like early fall housekeeping.

At least it isn't raining! We've actually seen the sun for a few days in a row now and can be outside without a jacket. Not shorts & T's by any means, but nice outside all the same.

Emails have been sailing back and forth between Dianne and I about what she likes to eat, what she absolutely won't eat (eggs) and how she takes her coffee and all those sort of little things its nice to know if someone is going to live with you for two weeks. I'm sure as long as she leaves my Pepsi's and M & M's alone we'll do just fine.

Well, I told ya, not thrilling news from this front. We've got some fun things planned for the next two weeks and there will be lots of photo ops so I'll be sharing a lot more in the next days.

Gotta run! Later!

7/29/2009 What Is THAT????

We had plans of going to Whittier. We changed those plans due to weather. It was going to be a dry camping time for us in Whittier and with the rain predicted Bob just didn't want to have to deal with going out to keep putting gas in the generator so we had electricity, and he wasn't going to fishing, so we figured what was the point? So here we are in Anchorage. We're back on the Army Post.

Here we have full hook ups and all the conveniences we could possibly want. It works for ME us.

Once again the day started out gray and drizzly.

The further we drove north the better it looked.

We took notice that in this section of Alaska one could travel by roadway, railway or by sea....all side by side.

We saw glimpses of BLUE SKIES! Then we saw this big, bright, yellow thing in the sky! We didn't know if we should go run and hide or what! Then it registered, it was that thing we haven't seen in a quite awhile. The sun!

It didn't take us long to get to Anchorage as we were only about a hundred miles away to begin with. The Ft. Richardson FamCamp doesn't take reservations so we drove in with a hope of them having an opening. Luckily, they did.

After getting set up we decided to go to the Iditorad Dining Facility on the air base next door. (The two bases are connected and we can go back and forth freely) What a good meal we had! Neither one of us had eaten anything so far today so we went with good appetites. We each had the BBQ pork chop, two veggies, corn bread, salad bar, drinks and dessert for a total of $13.68 for the two of us. The meal was tasty, the salad bar fresh and the surroundings very nice! We'll be going back there again so I'll take the camera next time.

As I mentioned we are connected to an Air Force Base so this was a common sight. It appears they are flying so low because they are! We are close to the runway.

The sun doing its darndest to come back out again!

So it was a moving day but we just didn't move to where we thought we were going. It happens.

7/26 - 7/28/2009 The Last Few Days....

What a nice birthday I had! So many birthday wishes through email, Facebook, snail mail, the phone and let's not forget the in person one. Somehow Bob manages to always get the PERFECT cards for birthdays and anniversaries. Being in Alaska there isn't a Hallmark store on every corner and he even had a hard time finding a store in this small town that sold cards at all. Thank heavens for the local HARDWARE store! I do think this is the first time he ever bought me a card in a store of that type. I asked why even looked there and he replied, "I saw them when I went in there to see if they had the gas regulator and thought I'd better get one while I can."

We haven't had the best of weather this past week. It's been drizzly, cold and breezy for the most part. Doesn't really make you want to go out and take pictures, or sightsee, or explore or much of anything for that matter. So we really haven't done much these past few days.

We did get a short break in the drizzle yesterday and got out while we could. We took a ride to nowhere. A lookout over the river we followed.

Then we came back to the lodge and sat in the lounge for awhile and had some beers and sodas. I've already told you that we are in the RV park associated with the Princess Cruise Line organization. This is such a top notch operation. I would recommend anyone to stay here in the RV park, the hotel or one of the cabins.

We were out on the deck of the lodge for awhile.

Our view from the deck. Now is this a view or what?

We're going to be moving tomorrow to Whittier. This will make us that much closer to Anchorage where we'll pick up our friend Dianne at the airport on Monday. I can't wait to see her! We plan to be in Whittier just two days so that we can spend a few in Anchorage getting ready for Dianne's arrival. I want to get all the laundry done, shopping out of the way and make sure she has room for the all the clothes she is sure to bring and won't wear. I just know she is packing her entire closet!

I'm hoping this weather is getting all the rain out of its system so that we at least have dry weather while Dianne is here. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Next stop, Whittier.

An afterthought: Some time ago I wrote about www.restaurant.com . This is a site that you can get $25.00 gift certificates for $10.00. Put in your city/state or zip code and see what restaurants are in your area that are participating. You can change the distance in miles that you are willing to travel for even more choices. I would recommend that before you print out the certificate that you call the restaurant to make sure they are still in the program. If they have new owners they may not be. Make sure to read the whole description of the restaurant for any stipulations, some have them, most don't. For instance, alchohol may not be included in the certificate.

7/27/2009 73,000????

When I signed on this morning the counter was at 73,060. I guess whoever it was didn't notice.

Before I get the next entry written and posted it's a possibility that the counter is going to turn.

So, if you turn it to 73,000 please leave a comment letting us know it was you, how you found our blog and whatever else you want to say.

Thanks!

Snookie

7/26/2009 Today I Was Born..A Buncha Years Ago

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ME-EEEE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

7/25/2009 Bob is a Happy Camper..er..Fisherman!

Bob is absolutely on Cloud Nine! He made arrangements for a half day fishing trip with Alaska River Adventure's located in Cooper's Landing for today. He took care of getting his license yesterday and watched the clock all morning and early afternoon since he didn't have to leave until 1:15 for his two o'clock trip.

Dressed warmly, license in pocket, camera in a Baggie, out the door he went. I wished him good luck and thought about what I was going to do to pass the time.

I decided to bake Bob a chocolate cake. He works so hard around here keeping everything in good working order that I thought I'd show my appreciation by baking him a treat. Take it from me, baking a cake in a toaster oven is NOT like baking in a full size "real" oven. I made this cake just like I have every other cake these past 29 years. Nothing different, no "new" ingredients, everything was just the same. Two layers with icing in between. The. Same. So why, WHY, did these two cake layers come out not much thicker than a pancake? Granted, a thick pancake but a pancake all the same! Do you know how much icing you have left over when that happens? And just what does one do with a leftover quarter container of icing? Chocolate icing. Creamy chocolate icing. Delicious, creamy, chocolate icing. Delicious, creamy, chocolate icing that was screaming, "EAT ME SNOOKIE, EAT ME!" What would YOU do? Aha! I thought so. The exact same thing I would do! So,,,,I ate it.

The cake wasn't all that much to look at but I'm happy to say that Bob gave it two thumbs up on taste.

I had a nice long talk with my mom this afternoon. I caught up on all the news from home and I gave her details on what we've been up to.

I spent some time writing some long overdue emails and worked on my "farm" on Facebook for awhile. I even got a little reading in today. A relaxing day for sure.

Five hours later my water warrior came home grinning from ear to ear. This is why.

This was his first time fly fishing and it took him a little while to get the hang of things but as you can see, HE DID!

He was taken to the river in a raft and given boots to wear and he stood in the river with, literally, hundreds of sockeye salmon. The reds are running! He had on polarized sun glasses and could see into the river, kinda like Superman and his x-ray vision only Bob was looking at swimming fish. He said they were so thick one could just reach in and grab one. Of course that would take away the thrill of fishing for one and besides its against the law. Same fish, more scenery.

He was so happy when he came home and it was contagious! I don't know who smiled more, me or him.

Oh what the heck, one more picture!

So we both had a great day! We hope you did too.

7/23 - 7/24/2009 A Move for the Quinn's

On Thursday we didn't do much of anything. It was just down right crummy outside. That's right. Crummy. No other way to put it. Gray and drizzling. Damp and cold. A good day to stay inside. So we did, for the most part. I think Bob was going a little stir crazy there for awhile so he got out the ol' waterproof jacket with hood and walked over to see what the fisherman were doing. Of course it was during this time that Dan, Lin and Darlene stopped in. Isn't that always the way? Dan and Lin whipped out their camera's to show me the pictures they took of the moose that visited their yard after we left. We had been hearing about their neighborhood moose but didn't see them once in the week we spent there. We were beginning to wonder if the moose weren't just figments of their imaginations.

Thursday evening brought nothing more than taking our borrowed movies back to our neighbors and letting them know we were moving on. Gordon and Jane are certainly one couple we hope to run into again while we're here in Alaska and beyond.

Friday didn't dawn any brighter as far as the skies were concerned.

I took one last picture of our view.

I can't tell you how many pictures of kids were taken on this tree stump that washed up on shore. It seemed every time I looked out the window at our view, which was ALOT, that some little person was perched on it and mom was heard saying, "SAY CHEESE".

I wonder what the job of this boat is. I can't make out what kind of equipment its carrying.

While Bob was taking care of dumping our tanks I walked around and took notice of this building that I hadn't paid much attention to prior to today, its the laundry room. I wonder how the practice of hanging things on it started.

It seems that these are probably things that were left in the campground, left on the beach or maybe even things that washed up on shore. There's quite a few fishing poles! With the exception of the toilets of course. I can't even imagine the story behind them, but they do make nice planters!

There is a smaller shed like building on the grounds and I couldn't help but notice this old fisherman's creel.

There are lots of little kids in the campground and I have to wonder how smart of an idea this is.

Sharp and rusty. Now there's a tetanus shot waiting to happen!

We finally got on the road around noon. Once again we don't have too far to go. We're headed to Cooper's Landing about eighty five miles or so north.

Traffic on the way south was really heavy. Lots of RV's and trailer-ed boats. I think we're glad we're moving on, it was just going to be way too crowded.

Here's some scenery we had on the way. It just keeps getting better and better. I wish the color of the water could really show through on these photos, but its nowhere near what we actually saw.

We're staying in this campground for the next three days for sure, maybe longer.

There is a Kenai Princess Lodge on the same grounds and it is all associated with the Princess Cruise Lines. That said, you can imagine that this RV park is top notch....at a reasonable cost thank heavens! Here we are parked in our space. Our fifth wheel is on the left, big white thing in the lower third, center, of the picture.

Bob didn't waste any time in getting a river boat fishing trip scheduled through an outfit down the street. We checked out how the fishermen are doing and learned that the river is loaded with red salmon. I'm hoping he has a good day tomorrow.

Before I close this I want to send a Happy Birthday out to my friend Gail. Hope you have a great day Gail!

I hate it when Gail has a birthday. It means mine is just two days later. At least she's older than me!

7/22/2009 Come On SUN!

We need to see the sun! Cloudy days, day after day, is not a good thing. We need to feel the sun warm our skin, to give a different hue to our surroundings, to make things bright! We need the sun! TODAY!

Well, it didn't happen but at least it wasn't raining. It was just a cloudy and overcast day. It looked like it trying to come out but it didn't quite make it. Maybe tomorrow. (Taken from the kitchen window)

We went for a ride just to get out of the house. We stopped down by the waterfront to see what the fishermen were doing. I couldn't help but notice the seagulls.

Boat going out of the harbor.

We took a ride through the business section of Homer and turned right. Here's the views from there.

That bright section, just barely left of center is a huge glacier.

Another view of glacier, taken just up the road.

Some pictures taken on the way back.

Its this thin five mile strip of land that is known as the Spit.

We stopped at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center to pass some time. What a nice surprise this was.

Our first stop was this....

It was set up much like a science room in Any School USA. There were eight stations and each table had someone there to explain what was going on there.

For example we stopped at this one table where a man sat with a computer showing where earthquakes had taken place over the past 40 years in any section of the world. Each dot represents an earthquake and depending on the size and color of the dot determines the magnitude of the quake. We had him focus on the Mid-Atlantic states and not even a handful of teeny tiny dots showed up....but then we knew that anyway.

Another station showed how volcanoes erupted by mixing baking soda and vinegar. That station just made me want a salad.

Another station had the kids make a volcano out of paper-mache.

I was most taken with the aquariums around the room.

Done here, we moved on to other areas of the visitor center.

There was a mock up of a cabin of years gone by and the "man" in the doorway gave a talk on what life was like in the life of a trapper.

A closer look of the "man" in the doorway. I think these things are called holograms.

This is a jacket made from Arctic Seal intestines and sewn together with grass. Uh, I'll stick with my hoodie from Gap, thank you very much.

More scenes from the center.

We watched a short movie about the boat in this picture below. It is a floating laboratory that studies the ocean, the birds and the wildlife in the Aleutian Islands. It is here that the health of oceans the world over is determined.

There was some beautiful metal work that was done around the building. Here the elevator was surrounded some of this handiwork.

A wall sculpture...so intricate.

Done inside we took a walk on the trail.

It looks like its the end of the season for this plant.

Yet, it looks like the beginning of the new life for this one.

We got home and had the roast and fixin's that had been cooking all day in the crock pot. Evening time brought TV and computer time.

This was our day.