Meltdown

Things are heating up in Alaska. And not in a good way. While the lower 48 is bundling up amidst a “polar vortex,” we’re breaking record high winter temperatures. We’ve had almost 2 weeks worth of rain and 40+ degree weather, and there is no forecasted cool down in sight. The snow is melting, the rivers are thawing, and most winter activities have become impossible.

Sure, its been nice to experience such a mild winter for us first-timers. On the other hand, we all really, really miss the snow. All that’s left from a few solid feet are some slushy patches here and there. There is bare ground everywhere. In January. In Alaska. It’s thrown everything out of whack.

For starters, the conditions outside are horrible. All that melting snow is causing avalanches and flooding all over the place. And the roads are a slippery mess; a mix of underlying ice with slush on top makes it nearly impossible to gain any traction. Especially when you drive a Ford Focus /-:

There is no longer enough snow to go snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or really any winter activity for that matter. Even the annual Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race has been cancelled. This year would have been its 30^th anniversary. And the race was supposed to start just 6 miles from our place. Boooooo.

“It’s official the T200 has been canceled.  We just don’t have the snow and way to much water in the hills to put together a quality race. We’ve looked at all possible options and with the 10 day forecast (trust me we’ve looked at them all) we feel this is the right decision.”

-Tami Murray, race director

Another sad story - The city of Soldotna put up these amazing ice sculptures all over town for the Peninsula Winter Games. I took photos of two of them right when they were set out last week, but they melted so quickly that there were only puddles left at the start of the Winter Games this Saturday. 

Then there is the worry around town that the warm temperatures and lack of snow will cause the bears to come out of hibernation (they usually sleep till end of March or early April). It's already happened in the hills of Nevada. And when bears can't find food in the wild, they head to the nearest town to look for it. Bad news bears.

UPDATE 1/27/14: I saw on the news this morning that 2 black bears were spotted a few miles out of town ):

Hopefully this warm spell doesn't last too much longer. Alaska should be white, not wet, in January. When you finish reading this, please get up and do a brief snowdance for us up here. We need it. 

Winter Playtime

Before living in Alaska, I had always imagined winter here as a time when people hole up in their cabins and huddle around a fire eating moose meat. In fact, the opposite is true. Now that the lakes are frozen and there is a good layer of snow accumulation on the ground, this whole town hast turned into one big winter playground. No matter how cold it gets, we always see people out riding snowmachines, sledding, ice skating, ice fishing, snowshoeing, and so on. So today we decided to join the fun.

It was a toasty 19 degrees this morning when we met up with our friends to try our legs at some cross country skiing. There are some world-renowned nordic ski trails just 5 minutes north of town, so we wasted no time in hitting the slopes.

Our friends are seasoned cross country skiers, but Brandon and I were definitely a little clumsy to start. What's great about xc-skiing, though, is that it's farily easy to pick up on. We were pushing up and tumbling cruising down steep hills in no time. 

It was a beautiful day, too. Light snowfall, hardly any people on the trails, and wildlife everywhere.

Those are ALL bald eagles in the trees! We counted about 20.

Photo-bombing the snuggling moose

Since Brandon and I are both lifelong snowboarders, we never thought we'd enjoy being on skis as much as we did today. But I have to admit, it was a blast. We loved the fact that we had to earn the thrill of the downhill glide rather than just riding a chair up. There were crowds to deal with, no expensive lift tickets to buy, and no pressure of a time limit. Just the four of us in the winter wilderness. Definitely a nice change of pace.

PS. I finally figured out how to add a "follow" function to the page! Enter your email into the box at the top right if you want to be notified about new posts (:

Home for the Holidays

One of the great things about being a traveling PT is getting time off every 3 months between assignments. As it worked out this year, our contracts ended in mid-December; just in time to enjoy a grown-up Christmas break. Since we spent last year in New Mexico, we headed to Oregon this year for the holidays.

In true Dodean fashion, we hit the ground running as soon as we arrived. First order of business- finding the perfect tree to kick off the season. 

Bringing a little New Mexico to Oregon with luminarias

Once the tree was trimmed and the halls were decked, we settled into a daily routine of friends, family, and food:

We squeezed in a snowboarding trip

Brandon's first time boarding at Mt Hood

Enjoyed plenty of family time

Dinner at Timberline Lodge

Had some fierce game nights

Us girls took a day trip to the casino, did LOTS of cookie-making and pastry-baking, and took as many walks together as our restless legs desired

The boys had some quality time too. They got together for their annual sausage-making fest and initiated Brandon into the carnatz club. And then watched a lot of basketball. 

The laborers

The office work. Reserved only for seasoned veterans

Brandon learns the ropes of making carnatz

Smokin' em

Then to cap off our trip, we spent New Years at a beach house in Girabaldi. 

New Years day nap for all

We couldn't count our blessings this season if we tried, and feel quite grateful to have had this time to spend with loved ones. Our only regret:

Canasta Champions

I guess we have to let them win once in a while. 

It was an amazing holiday, we made it back safely to Alaska, and now we are getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. Happy New Year all!!