Moose

 So almost every day we see the same mom and baby moose in our yard.  We are trying to adjust Finn to these critters.  He is learning not to bark constantly at them.  I hope he knows not to chase them.

Fur Rendezvous

 We headed into Anchorage for the Fur Rondy.  It is a 10 day festival that celebrates the trappers of the past who would come to town to trade furs, resupply and party.  Well not much has changed.  We missed the sled dog races but we did see the "Outhouse Races!"  We had some drinks at Glacier Brewing and dinner at Humpys.  It was a great day.

 Ice sculpture garden

 Outhouse Race Vehicle

Sidekick! Hi-ya!!

LOL so we bought a '97 Suzuki sidekick which with gas prices being around $3.50/gal was necessary cause the GMC is bleeding us dry being our only mode of transport.  Anywho true story, we go get the thing in Anchorage and it's a piece of work but we could both see the total character in it so we took it. It's got so much window space you feel like you're driving in a Jetson space car! Oh and it came with 30 vintage vinyl records! no not really vintage, but still a random story. So, we got the thing all the way back to Wasilla and literally it died. Jay spent 2 days working on the thing and finally got it kickin! It's runnin great and lookin sharp. Let's hope it stays that way!!

See the resemblance???

WE HAVE INTERNET!! YAY!!

So we got internet today, finally. No more hiding in parking lots with free wi fi or buying big macs just to get the wi fi there too LOL. So I'm testing this out and posting some pics I wanted to the other day but ran out of power. Oh and I have Monday off for President's Day. Holler for working at a normal company with floating holidays.

heh heh, beaver, heh heh. yea I've been drinking. didn't I mention the 3-day weekend??

the previous renters were clearly awesome as well. they posted this sign of a frontiersman and his dog in the front yard that says "No Tresspassing. Alaska" we love it of course

cool Alaskan ice phenomenon. a stalactite creates a stalagmite. really it has nothing to do with Alaska but let's pretend.

getting blown. whoa I should probably call it a night...well after the glug of course!!

Moose in the yard

took this picture from the front door

One month since we left Vermont!

I know, I can't believe it either!! One month since we had that great party, started this sick blog and ventured on the most awesome journey across North America. Thanks to all who helped us on our way and supported us through this trip! So I completed my first week of work, not as much fun as sitting in a truck with our lives strapped to our back trekking to Alaska, but it pays the bills LOL. Otherwise Jay and I are still making the most of our time up here. Friday we discovered a new brewery opened up in town so we hit that up . The bartender was a bit of a spaz and forgot to put our order in but the food was still good when it finally got to us. Oh and the to-go beers are 22oz at $3.50...double holler. Yesterday we went on a neat little nature walk down the Lil' Susitna River, always keeping an eye out for moose and today we tried to do some ice skating but it was pretty windy. The weather has still otherwise been really good, we did get some snow though! Thanks for the camera, Erin and Dana, below are some shots I took with it. Still learning all the features :-) Well hope everyone is doing swell, Miss you!!! Oh and Happy Valentine's Day!

Edge of the Frontier weekend

We headed out to Mike and Merts Deshka River lodge on Friday night.  It was a 5 mile snowmachine ride and at 4 miles Finn decided that he had enough running next to the sleds and turned around.  we had to hold onto him the rest of the way.  we had a great view of Denali and even got to see the Northern lights...needless to say it was a great night.  then next day we had to head back to town and Finn knew he did not want to run at all, so as we passed teams of sled dogs training for the Iditarod (which goes right past the lodge) Finn was sitting comfy in the trailer sled getting pulled back to the landing.

Pics of our new place

 it is only half painted on the outside but the inside is all redone.  Amanda has done a great job cleaning and unpacking. this place is going to be the best place we have ever lived.

WE GOT A HOME!! YAY!!!

Yup all that finger crossing paid off and we moved into our new place yesterday! We love it. It's a 2 story house with 2 bedrooms, a big yard and a washer/dryer. People who know me know the washer/dryer is a revelation because I usually cart my laundry to some Asian-tino establishment that rips me off and smells bad to boot so this is exciting. We were so excited yeasterday when we got the call that we were approved that we packed up the lil' Peak Inn pretty quick. I was so excited that just minutes before we were about to hit the road I locked the keys in the truck!! With the pets!!!! IDIOT!!! But Jay was cool as a clam and was like "Hey we got On Star!" Literally all we had to do was call them and they remote unlocked the truck. So cool. Funny though the On Star automated system started like this "Please select your emergency from the following list 1) have you locked your keys in the car...." I didn't need to hear the other options, but, hello, shouldn't #1 be "Are you pinned between your trunk and the grill of a semi truck?" And if you are, can you really be dialing on an automated system??!!!! So then I select #1 and that takes me to another list that goes like this "ok, have you 1) locked your pets in the vehicle..." Again I didn't need to go to #2 but WTF?? If I didn't have living things in the car would that have changed the level of service I got?? Such a weird experience but very helpful in the end. So where was I, oh yea the new place. We're still way unpacking so we're gonna get pics up once stuff is kinda in place. Oh and we dropped the Uhaul off today too. I told the lady we had "trouble" with the trailer and she cut the late fees down by half which was nice. Hey what's a little white lie when you're looking at $120 savings! See ya!