Because I can't get enough of boats

It seems likely that spring is finally ready to commit to Juneau.  I have thought that before, been really convinced, only to wake up to 3 inches of surprise snow in the morning. So, we'll see.

After a stormy start to the week, this weekend was incredible.  It was clear and warm (relatively), and even the northern lights were out (we didn't see them--apparently it was a good show).  It still gets dark at night, but we are gaining a couple of minutes of daylight each day.

Because we had such a great weather window, and because I have been anxious to get out of town lately, we decided to take a little mini-vacation on the ferry.  One of my goals this summer is

to try to do as many ferry day trips as I can, partially to expose a friend of ours (and myself) to the rest of southeast Alaska, and partially as a scouting mission for taking our own boat out, when it is ready.

Yesterday was our first trip of the year and we took the LeConte to Angoon and Tenakee.  For those of you following along at home, for the first leg of the trip we headed west from the ferry terminal, north around the tip of Admiralty Island, and south down Chatham Strait to Angoon.  It was a little rough in Chatham Strait, especially where it started to open up, but because we were traveling with the wind we were able to hang out on the back deck in shirt sleeves for that entire leg.  The ferry tends to travel too fast to see much wildlife, and the waves were white-capped all around us (which makes it harder to see the blows of humpback whales), but we saw several small groups of Dall's porpoises swimming next to the ferry and in its wake, as well as in the distance on their way to other locales.  It is really cool to see them swim just under the water near the boat.  According to the NMFS website, they can swim as fast as 30 knots for short distances.  We were also close enough to the coast of Admiralty that I was able to spot some deer grazing on the beach with my binoculars.

Looking back from the deck of the ferry.

The faint mountain in the middle of the shot is Lion's Head mountain at Berner's Bay, about 40 miles north of Juneau.  We were surprised to find that we were able to see it almost all of the way to Angoon.

Near the beginning of our trip Ernie was in the right place at the right time and he got the Alaskan flag from the ferry as they retired it due to wear.  So now we have an Alaskan flag that used to fly on the ferry!  It is about 3'x5', and it looks a lot bigger on our boat than it did on their flagpole.  It needs to be cleaned, and we need to figure out a way to fly it, but we will get it up there somehow, and in the meantime we have our little flag to fly.

The ferry terminal in Angoon is about 5 miles out of town, so we didn't get off of the boat.  It docks stern-to at that ramp, and maneuvering into position was very interesting to watch.  It probably didn't help that the tide was really low and they seemed to be training the new summer staff, but they got things squared away.  While waiting for everyone to load and unload, we saw a loon float by, still in winter plumage.

Angoon, far, far, away.  I don't remember why I didn't zoom in.

From Angoon, we angled across Chatham Strait to the northwest and headed for Tenakee, on Chichagof Island.  It took a little over two hours to get there, and since the wind was no longer in our favor, we watched from the solarium until we got to the more protected waters of Tenakee Inlet.  Across the inlet from the ferry dock we saw several humpback whales feeding, the first sighting of the summer.

A mountain on the south side of Tenakee Inlet.  I'm not sure of the name.

Tenakee is adorable!  It is a tiny little village full of hippies (I think), and only around 30 people live there through the winter.  It is tucked up in a little inlet and surrounded by mountains, just like anywhere else in southeast.  I would definitely like to go back and explore a little more, either as a ferry trip or on our own boat.  Plus, there are hot springs!

Coming in to Tenakee, north of the ferry terminal.

Tenakee from the ferry.  Since there are no cars in town, loading and unloading is done by four-wheelers, and it doesn't take long.  We were only there for 30 minutes.

The Tenakee boat harbor.  This could be of future interest to us.

From Tenakee we headed back to Auke Bay.  Because we had already seen everything once already, we watched from the solarium and then played rummy in the cafeteria and watched the sun set as we sailed home.

It was a good trip.

Winter Activities

Life in Juneau in the winter is pretty mellow, compared to the whirlwind pace of summer.
Still, there is a lot going on during the dark months, and I often feel busier during the winter than I do in summer.

Of course, one of my priorities is hockey, which fills up many of my winter nights.  It runs from September thru April, with a break for the holiday season.  We have some Sunday games, but mostly the games are on weeknights, starting at around 10 pm.  I'm not good, but I am getting better nearly every game, and it is more fun than I ever thought possible.  And I do score a goal every once in awhile.  Now I really need to learn to stop...

There are a ton of lectures and seminars that go on during the winter nights.  There are Fireside Chats at the glacier, and Wildlife Wednesdays, and Evenings at Egan, and Sailor Talks, and plays and music and many other events that don't even make it onto my radar.  We go to some of them, but there are many more that I would like to see but miss.

The recent highlights: 

• a Sailor's Talk about a Juneau couple that bought a boat in Turkey and spent five years cruising around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.  Rough life.

• a Fireside Chat about the recent magnitude 7.5 earthquake not too far from Juneau, and the potential tsunami danger in our area.  The good news is that we are unlikely to be in much danger from an event that is far away.  The bad news is that if there is an event that does effect us,we likely won't have time to react.  We did feel this earthquake because our friends were housesitting and we were hanging out with them.  It takes four boat people sitting around in a living room during an earthquake a very long time to figure out that something is wrong.

•  the film Chasing Ice.  It chronicles a really ambitious project to film glacial retreat around the world through time-lapse photography over several years.  It is a bit depressing, but beautiful.  I didn't find the film to be as preachy as the websites are, and I would highly recommend it.  One of the glaciers featured was the nearby Mendenhall, which has receded quite a bit over the last several years.

Other winter projects include:  designing an independent energy system for the boat (mostly solar, maybe some wind), learning Tibetan (more complicated than I thought), knitting, perusing seed catalogs, and reading. 

I have made more of an effort to carry my camera around with me, but Juneau hasn't been very photogenic of late.  The local weather has mostly been cold rain, and it hasn't been a great snow year, so we haven't been out in it too much.  The days are getting noticeably longer, and soon there will be more playing outside. 

Hiiiiiii!!!!

The other day (okay, maybe a couple of weeks ago), I had the thought, "I should start a blog".

Which was immediately followed by me remembering that actually, I did do have a blog.

So maybe I will start writing in it again.

I don't have too much to say, as life is pretty mellow right now (as it should be), but that works out, because after my long absence I doubt that too many people will notice either way.

It kinda takes the pressure off...

And then I could write about life in this magical place, and post recipes of things I invent to eat, and pictures of things that I like.  It would be like a giant art project.

I need to start carrying my camera everywhere I go anyway.  This point was hammered home this morning when I saw a family of river otters on the dock. While I was trying to figure out how to work the camera on my phone (no success), they jumped into the water and swam away. 

Since I don't yet carry my camera with me, I will share a couple of the last pictures that I took, from our Christmas trip to John Muir cabin.  We spiked up with friends on Christmas morning, after a breakfast of sugary monkey bread (no monkeys), and they headed back down while we stayed the night.  It was cold, about 0F, but we have been colder (Peterson Lake, 2010).  We decorated with glow sticks and played games all night.  The sunrise over Douglas was amazing.

The view out the back window.  A beautiful bluebird day!

View from the front porch.

The cabin itself.  My favorite!

Update--with links, but no pictures

Last week it was like summer came overnight to Juneau, at least at my house in the valley.  I hear that town has been ice-free for much longer.  Which is not to say that it is ice-free here, but I no longer park my car in a snowbank, and there is enough open water on the pond for the ducks to swim pathetically along the edges.
The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and things were starting to grow.  I rode my bike downtown to meet Ernie after work, and it was warm and beautiful.
Also, last week was Folk Fest, which I have been looking forward to for about ten years or so.  The music is good (mostly), and the people watching can't be beat, at least not in Juneau (unless you prefer the Eurotrash from the cruise ships).  I went for three nights, and I loved it.  The atmosphere there is so much different than it is at music festivals in Oregon (there were less hippies, actually), and there is an interesting mix of really good musicians, and 6 year olds that are on stage for the first time ever.

This weekend it feels a little less like summer, but it is above freezing, and it hasn't snowed in about three days.  The bears are awake, and the leaves on the blueberries are budding.  And there is already an obscene amount of daylight, even if it is diffuse.

I have spent most of this day making a mess.  Not because I like to make messes, but because that's what I do.  Besides, I cleaned the whole house last week, and this will be a nice surprise (or not) for Ernie when he comes home from studying.

First of all, the planting:
Two weeks ago I started my first seeds.  I used a heat mat, and everything germinated in just a few days.  I also learned a valuable lesson about starting broccoli seeds using a heat mat (leggy seedlings).  Along with broccoli I planted kale, cabbage, swiss chard, parsley, cilantro, basil, peppers, mexican sour gherkins, oregano, thyme, and pak choi.  I'm gonna wait on the zucchini.
Many of these things had to be thinned and repotted today, which is done on the kitchen counter since we have nowhere else to work.  And I planted more broccoli and some onions.  And I planted radishes, spinach, lettuce, arugula, and mustard greens in my cold frame.
All of this gardening is very exciting, except that I don't have a place to put most of the plants.  To further complicate things, when I went over to my friend's house last night (to celebrate Good Friday by watching Jesus Christ Superstar--wow), her mom had a ton of seeds started in the windowsill (cause she has, you know, a yard) and started telling me which ones I could have when they were ready.  Some of you may know that even though I don't eat tomatoes, I have trouble passing up free tomato plants.  Or any other plants, really.
So now I have to find a place to put everything, and we don't know where we will live this summer, or even if we will have a yard.  I guess I had better call the community garden on Monday, and see if there are any plots available.  Cause I have more seeds...

Then, the cooking:
I also tried to make tofu for the first time.  I realize that the idea of making your own tofu doesn't thrill most of you, but these days it is the closest thing to cheesemaking that I can do.  And I needed a fix.  (There was actually a posting on the local craigslist a couple of days ago for a milk goat.  I really, really wanted it, but moving is hard enough with two cats.  Especially if we move onto a boat.  Ernie is not sure we need a boat goat.)  Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the tofu failed, but mostly because plain soymilk still has sugar and vanilla in it.  While that could make a good dessert tofu, I'm not sure it is the flavor profile that I want with my broccoli.  Oh well.
The next thing on my agenda, as soon as I get done typing to you, is to make some habanero hot sauce.  There are two reasons for this.  Reason the first, I am down to my last tablespoon of Aardvark sauce, and there is no one on the schedule to come visit us from Portland and bring me more.  This is fine, for now, because again our lease is up at the end of June, and we don't know where we will be living or what the guest accommodations will be like.  I'm not saying I need a hot sauce care package, or anything like that, just the ability to create a replacement.  The second reason is, I find it impossible to get a decent burrito in this town.  Yes, it has been almost 10 months since I have been to ChaChaCha, or anywhere similar.  Since I can make my own rice, and beans, and even tortillas if I want, I have decided that what I really miss about burritos is the red and green sauce in little squeeze bottles.  So I shall make my own, starting with this http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/condiments/habanero-hot-sauce/.
There might be additional mess involved in the process.  Just hopefully not pepper juice in my eye.

After that, I want to start a new knitting project.  http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTseascape.html.  I have wanted to start it for weeks though, and haven't yet, so I may not have built up the activation energy.  We'll see.

Also, I bought a new coffee mug today at the UAS pottery sale.  I accidentally dropped my favorite owl mug down the stairs a few weeks ago (sorry Meagan!) and although it appeared to have survived, I found that coffee was slowly seeping out the sides, which was a problem.  I found myself browsing the squid mugs on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/skybirdarts?ref=pr_shop_more), which are far too expensive to put coffee in, so I decided to get a mug that was handmade locally (and not $45).  Maybe next time there will be a picture of this mug.  Maybe next time there will be a picture of something at least.  Congratulations if you made it this far with no images to distract you.

So that's what has been going on, at least recently.  Ice skating is over, but the good hiking season hasn't started yet, so it's all about the home life.  Tomorrow we are going over to have Easter dinner with friends, and between now and then there is lots of candy to eat.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring everyone!

UPDATE:  I have finished making the habanero hot sauce, and it is incredible!  So spicy!  So delicious!  And yes Matt, I am sweating.

Almost out of hibernation....

Soon I will start writing real posts again.  Probably.
Here's a quick one for you:

Spring is slowly making its way here.
It's sunny, and above freezing, so the snow pack is melting off.  Cautiously.
There is much more daylight than there once was.
The tour buses are out in circulation, and dangerous with new drivers.  I even saw an RV today, but I think it is here for Gold Medal.
I have traded my down coat for my green fleece hoody, though I haven't put the down coat in the closet.
Nothing is growing yet, and the cats still don't want to play outside.

That's pretty much the news.

It's not that we haven't been doing anything bloggable, but if I had gotten around to writing a new post before this, is would have gone something like this:

Hockey, hockey, hockey.  Hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey.  Should I play womens's league or D league (the "D" is for awesome, btw)?  Hockey, hockey hockey.
Hockey
Hockey, hockey.
(I'm thinking about playing hockey next year.  Maybe it is time to learn the rules (and how to stop).)

Finally. . .

Hello.  Hello.
It has been awhile, I know, but not because I haven't been writing blog posts.  Just because I haven't been posting them.

Things are good here.  Quiet, but that is nice.  We are headed into the slump, the beginning of the time when winter seems to last forever, and even I start planning imaginary vacations to Hawaii or Mexico.
Except, I guess, I do have a honeymoon to accomplish, so maybe it is not entirely fantastic.
Hmmm.

The news of the day is that we finally got ice skates!
I have wanted a pair all winter, and today we were walking around at the glacier and went out on the ice (cause everybody else was doing it...) and I decided that I must have some skates.  Now.
So I informed Ernie of my decision, and told him that there was a free pair of skates in it for him, and we drove straight to Play It Again Sports in Lemon Creek.
The very nice salesman helped us pick out some pond/hockey skates and fit them properly (there almost wasn't a pair left that fit Ernie, but I found the last size 11's in the bottom of a pile--I was not to be derailed), and within minutes we were skated.

Sadly, the guy who sharpens the skates does not work on the days when people are most likely to buy them, so we left with our blades dull.
The other salesguy seemed to think that it would be hilarious to watch us skate without our blades sharpened, but we figured it would be hilarious whether or not we had dull blades, considering neither of us have skated in over a decade.

We stopped at home to change our clothes, and headed right back out to Skater's cabin on Mendenhall Lake.  We were hoping that there would be no one to watch us, but on a sunny, cold, day like today, there were a lot of people on the ice.  Oh well.
So we strapped on our stiff new hockey skates, and gave it a try.

Skating is awesome!!!!!!!!

It took a little bit of time to get used to the feeling, but soon we were flying across the ice like we knew what we were doing.  Until one of our skates hit a crack and got stuck, that is.  But we would just pull our foot up and keep going.  We both fell a few times, but it didn't really hurt (we were wearing our puffy coats), and we would just slide across the ice.
Skating is so fast and fun, and a great way to get out in the sun during the winter.  Of course, we still have a ton of room for improvement (especially in the backwards skating department), but it should just get better and better.
And maybe next year I can play hockey.  I hear the girls can be quite aggressive.

Here I am, gracefully figure skating on the lake (before I bought my ice skates)

Happy 2011!!!

All over the webbers, people are putting together recaps of the year 2010, and outlining their goals for next year.  Although I have not been blogging for an entire year yet, I thought I would share my thoughts on 2010 as well.

2010 started out a little on the rough side for us.  I was still unemployed, and Ernie was in school, so we had very little money coming in.  But we had just enough to make it.  I started teaching Human Anatomy and Physiology at Portland Community College, and although I was working, I made less while teaching than I got from unemployment.  Teaching was an incredible challenge for me, but I learned a ton, and I am happy for the experience.  I'm sure that it built some character.

At the same time, I also kept my eyes (wide) open for jobs in Alaska.  We were planning on moving to the Anchorage area, or if we got really lucky, Homer.  In May, with perfect timing, a job was advertised in Juneau, one that I knew I had a serious chance at getting because, well, I had worked with the same group before.  We had to sit down and decide if we could move back to Juneau and truly be happy, especially Ernie, who grew up here.  Juneau is in a beautiful location on the inside passage, with lots of recreational opportunity, but it isn't in all ways perfect.  It is also small and isolated and expensive and a little weird.  Luckily we are both a little weird, and I got the job, and three weeks later we were headed up the highway towards our new home.
I don't mean to imply, however, that one can drive to Juneau.  We took two and a half days to drive from Portland, Oregon to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia in what was the longest and most stressful road trip of my life.  We left our families and everything we had known for the last ten years, and took a brand new (used--life history unknown) truck and two cats, and headed north.  At that time we didn't have anywhere to go once we got here.  But like everything else about our return to Alaska, things worked out better than we could have imagined.

After our arrival and our move into a house, we spent the summer enjoying the copious amounts of daylight and amazing surroundings, and aspiring to get our life in order.  I was working were I worked when we left Juneau, Ernie got a job at the place he was working at when we left, and the wheel of ka rolls ever on.  I picked lots of blueberries, and we went hiking and kayaking and camping.

This fall and winter have been largely quiet and relaxing.  Ernie is attending school and is busy in the evenings, and I use my many powers to keep myself well-entertained.  We have been able to get out on the weekends and enjoy the snow and ice that have surrounded us so far.  We closed out the year with a bonfire on the beach with a couple of close friends, a glass of delicious champagne, and a platter of brownies.  Ahhhh.

2010 has ended well, and we are very happy with our life.  We are hopeful for a good 2011, for ourselves and all of you.

And now I have some resolutions for the new year, or at least some ideas.  I want to:

                                            Buy something big (a house, property, and/or a sailboat)
                                            Go on at least one multi-day kayaking trip through the inside passage
                                            Explore the area in an ever-widening circle
                                            Write more
                                            Take better care of myself
                                            Get involved with the local community somehow

We wish you all peace, joy, and happiness in 2011!