My strange life.

I met with a family last night that lets rooms in their mansion of a house. If they let me, I'll be moving in for a few months until Hollie makes it up. It's pricey for the Lower 48 at $550 a month but compared to $1000+ rent, its a steal. Especially since I will be gone for half of the next three months. I head back to SC to spend some quality time with Hollie during her Spring Break from USC and to catch up with the fellas and say 'hi'. In April I head to the DC area for 4 weeks for an Army leadership course. I'd leave all of my stuff in storage but what a pain to try to find a place the day I get back, hotels aren't cheap. Unfortunately, I haven't made any new friends close enough to ask to crash on their couch for more than a night or two. Guess that's just part of living someplace new. So anyway, this family lets out rooms. They are a couple with an 11 yr old daughter and 2 other roomies in like a 3500 sq ft house. Huge basement with a pool table, dart board, workout room, music studio. They also have some giant doggies. Mixed alaskans, probably 80 pounds or so and full of energy. The room is fairly nice and has a bathroom right next door to it including shower. They live out in the woods on some acreage too, good for walks once it warms a bit more. Basically, a good family home where I can leave my meager possessions for awhile. If they call back and agree to let me live there.
Forward to my upcoming vacay. i've enjoyed the cold, but I think I will bask in the warmth that is SC more than usual this trip. Such a contrast to the cold. Unless it starts raining a bunch which March can be prone to do.  I remember a St. patty's just a few years ago in 5Points downtown that blew in a torrential downpour and the temp dropped at least 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. It was miserably cold almost instantly. Not good when you aren't expecting it.

I took some pictures over the weekend, then the camera died. The charger and extra battery are in SC, which I will retrieve when I head down there in a week or so. Until then, pictures will have to come from the Iphone. Not ideal, but good enough will have to do.

Pics from snowmachine ride

This is the pond where the moose were hanging out.

Fresh tracks in the snow.

I still haven't christened the honey hole.

Love those evergreens  in the snow. They are really beautiful when the snow is clinging to their branches.

Blind as a squinty bat. i could probably use a shave too.

Old bear hunter stand. There are some empty bait barrels up the hill from here.

Snowmachine Thursday- Pictures to follow.

The weather was near perfect today. It was 25 degrees, no wind and the sun was out. We needed to take advantage of it to pack the trails to keep the new fallen snow around. What tends to happen here, since it is so dry, the snow that falls is crazy poweder, imagin down feathers that melt. It's that light. When the wind blows it blows away, unless it gets packed down and crunched together, then it tends to stick around and cover the rocks, branches, ice, dirt, whatever happens to be in the trail. We had about an inch or 2 of snow fall on Tuesday/Wednesday. So after our monthly birthday potluck, which consisted of cuban grilled sandwiches brought by Ms. Letty, our office peruvian and master cook, and cheesecake with alaskan blueberry sauce, we headed out on the trail for a few hours of trail packing. Three words- A Maze Ing. It was absolutely beautiful. Virgin trail. Fresh powder everywhere. We headed down to the river, saw a few open spots with water and crossed back over. We were looking for places to access trails since the river edge tends to be 3-4 feet up. Mark pointed at this ramp and I shot up it, hit the lip with the track, it launched my ass up in the air. I had a death grip on the steering wheel but without weight the ski refused to turn, I was headed for the trees and as I crashed down on the handlebars, I landed on the kill switch. The machine died and came to a halting stop as I crashed into a 2 foot pile of powder and disappeared. None worse for the wear and the machine received not even a scratch. Thanks for guardian angels and the such. Wooooo.
Everyone was laughing and I made a perfect powder angel, probably the best art work of my life.
We set out again and headed to the tent without incident. When we got to the top we jumped a covey of moose that exploded in every direction, there were about 6 or 7 of them, 3 or 4 calves and a couple cows. The calves starting bawling right away and they headed to the pond in the direction of the granite mountains. The scene was quintessential Alaska, moose running around, snow, spruce and mountains in the background.
From there we headed out into the flat lands and found the trail nearly perfect, wide sweeping curves and we rode it for a few miles jumping up to 50 or 60mph. Just flying. The hand heaters kept getting too hot on my bumblebee yeallow Ski-doo, other than that it was just a great ride and so fun. We went all the way down near Donnely Dome past the cordwood house and out onto the Jarvis creek, frozen solid. I did a few donuts on the ice with the snowmachine. It was sliding and spinning with no effort.
We hopped back on the trail headed back to the barn. The first part was great, going back on the trail of long sweepers then we headed into these crazy S curves. One after the other, left, right, left, right, left right. sliding from side to side like a motorcycle racer on a flat track got so tiring. I started having trouble keeping my speed through the right handers and the ski started pushing really hard in the right turns. I ran off trail a couple times in the really tight corners. My arms were dead. We finally hit the river and I topped out the Ski-doo with my bulk on it at around 65mph. All fresh snow.
We pulled in and parked the machines and I headed in to use the little boy's room and strip off my wet outer clothes. My pants had gotten soaked from the sweat and melting snow and had frozen solid on my butt. My wool just kept on keeping me warm. Thanks woolies. Taking off frozen pants had me laughing as I struggled to get them over my boots.. I was warm the whole time, I just started getting cold on my fatty parts while sitting here typing this.
It was a great afternoon but now I have to make up the hours, a small price to pay for being able to strike while the iron is hot. It's a shame to be working on such perfect days.

Water- the stuff of life

It never really occurred to me how essential fresh clean water is really the cornerstone of life.  In Delta Junction, there is no 'city' water system. This means that everyone is either on well water or has to 'import' their water from somewhere else. I've lived in Illinois, Colorado, Washington, and South Carolina and travelled extensively throughout the lower 48 and water has never been such a concern as it is here. I mark this up to the fact that here water not stored underground freezes pretty solid for half the year making it hard to get to without some serios effort. This is why most peoples throughout history have chosen to live on lakes and rivers. That particular solution can be difficult here in that ice isn't that easy to drink. Go figure. And expending energy to melt the ice without electricity or petro fuels is time and calorie consuming. Think wood heat and a pot. Felling, sawing, splitting, hauling, and then fire building and maintaining, just to get a hot pot to sponge bath. This is a far cry from the normal, turn the knob and voila 'hot' water appears like magic. We are soooo pampered. Well since we have petro and electric, most homes up here are good to go. The question is, what if? What if the electric goes out for months? What if your well relies on it? Where will you get your water? What if Diesel or Propane jump to $5, $10 or more per gallon? What is affordable? What if supply runs low? Sure we have a processing plant for petrol 80 miles north at North Pole, but what happens when China starts paying top dollar, where will the American oil companies loyalties lie, with Americans, Alaskans, or the Chinese willing to pay absolute top dollar to keep their industry running?! I know which one I think they will be backing. Back to fresh water. Whenever you build in Delta Junction, the depth of the water table can be an issue.  If you are down on the flat, water is maybe 20' deep, not too bad except its called a delta for a reason, it lies between two rivers that can and do occassionally flood. But if you go up on one of the beautiful ridges with a killer view the water depths for  well drop to 200' or even 300'. This translates into a $30K price tag to get the liquid gold into your house. Not a small price to pay. Moreover, its delivery relies on electricity for the pumps. Dependency. Electricity junkies. All of us.

Tuesday

Ebb and Flow. No matter where we are we find comforting rhythms and begin routines. Whether it is backpacking, college, work, or living in Alaska. i have found my stride and other than not having a place to call my own yet, I have settled into a rhythm. Sure it breaks from time to time for stuff like Holidays or work that has to get done but overall my days are the same. I wake with the sun more or less. Shower. Brush my teeth. Put on my clothes. Head to breakfast. Then off to work. Work consists of my to do list and steadily working through it one task at a time. Even in Alaska the change isn't too profound, just better scenery and colder winters. I checked out the view today from where my new office window will be, let's just say its postcard quality, but alas when I see it I will be inside. For shame.
Would it be much different if I were living in a cabin without a job?! I'd still rise with the sun, brush my teeth, put on clothes, stoke the fire, make and eat breakfast then commense the daily chores. Not too much different, other than maybe being able to make more free time. I actually have a fair amount of free time right now in reality, just no one to spend it with, once Hollie gets here I expect a drastic change in our lives together. Plus it will be summer with crazy long days to fill with fun.
I promised Hollie that I wouldn't venture too far from relative safety alone, I am keeping my word so far, but am growing restless in this regard. I imagine soon, I may bundle up and head off into the hills for a long walk. I'll be sure to take my pistola and let somebody know where I'm headed. What's life without a little adventure?!!

Landscaping

After lunch today, I decided to go for a joyride and check out some of the places I haven't yet. I drove down the ALCAN about 20 miles and drove past the Snowhook, a little lodge stop, then out to Mill Creek Lodge, then I spun around and headed out to Clearwater Lodge. Each place has a little bar and restaurant as well as camping, cabins, recreation areas, etc. The light on the mountains was constantly changing. i decided to snap a few shots and also look for a couple of the other places I've looked up online. I ran by the Ramnant Room, stopped by Delta Laundry and Wash, pulled into the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, pretty much everything was closed. I also went by another log cabin I'm looking to rent, this one is on the grid and really close to town. It looked alright but doesn't even have a wood stove and I think they'll likely want to much since it is brand new construction. Below are the landscape shots I got just driving around. A few have had the color changed to bring out the crazy rays of light that I couldn't translate with the camera.

Alaskan Cabin

Shot of the front door and library french doors.

Living room between front and back doors. bathroom down hallway, stairs and kitchen.

Shot to SW from upstairs patio off master.

Shot to due West off upstairs patio off master.

Bathroom fixtures. Low flush toilet.

Backdoor, hallway to bathroom, stairs.

Library. Notice deep window sills = insulation factor high.

Really deep.

Kitchen, front door, library.

Woodstove heat, open to loft space/bedroom above.

It's a very interesting place. But overall I don't think it's worth the money he is asking especially since it is off the grid but with lots of $ inputs; water, propane for generator/hot water/stove/refrigerator and oil heat to keep water tank from freezing and to keep pipes in bathroom/kitchen from freezing. The wood stove would help but the cost of propane/oil could be a scary variable for an owner with a sizable mortgage. Now if he would rent it to me for say $750 a month, I might be able to swing it or if he was willing to sell it for 1/3 his asking price, which is highly unlikely. So at this point, I'd say this property is not in my future, but who knows?!

Learning weekend

The next few days are very busy days for me.
Today- Meet the realtor down at the house to look inside and see the plat maps for the site. Discuss the electrical, heat and water systems. Then hit the gym. Black History month event at the office auditorium. Qalk through the CAC to see the progress. Drive out to Clearwater Lodge and check out there site for comparison to see what our competition in the area looks like.
Tomorrow- Try to get the laser engraver going at the Woodshop in the am. Then in the afternoon I am taking a class at University of Alaska Extension here in town on Solar electric systems.
Saturday- another class through U of A for energy efficient and sustainable building systems for Alaska. They are going to discuss insulations, windows, roofing systems, alternate energy systems, etc.
A lot of knowledge crammed into 12 hours of learning, I hope it's worthwhile.
At least I'm keeping busy and not sitting around the hotel room watching tv or playing Call of Duty.
It was pretty nice this morning, only 10 below and no wind. and Sunny, the sun gains 7 minutes a day. it's pretty cool, it is dawn like around 0730 right now. That means by March 1st it should be getting light around 630. Pretty cool. I'm looking forward to 21 hours of daylight. That'll be awesome.

Forty Below

I've learned some interesting things about the intense cold. Electronics do wierd things. The autostart on my car sometimes works at that temperature. The foam seat in the truck gets so cold it feels like styrofoam. The temperature changes between the inside and outside of the windshield makes it snow inside the car. Cold breezes literally slice through windows or low insulation walls. When you get too hot, if you open a window it only takes seconds to cool a place off. Tires form with flat spots, so its like driving on 4 flats until they beat themselves back into shape. Your car will not work sometimes when its too cold, so you drive from plug-in to plug-in to keep it warm or you keep your car running while you shop, eat, whatever. The other night I chose the restaurant I wanted to go to because I knew they had carplug ins on their building. You don't worry about fashion because you will be wearing your jacket, hat and mittens most of the time, indoors or out. Eyelashes can freeze together if your eyes water while skiing, snowboarding, or snowmaching when its very cold.  Wool socks are amazing. You can tell the difference right away between regular and wool socks. Static is crazy because the air dries out so much. I've had 3" lightning bolts jump from the light switch in my office and hit my finger. OUCH!! I'm sure there is more to learn, but I better learn quickly because the sunlight is growing everyday and before you know it, spring will be here.

Poking Fun

Emily, the marketing person, helps put out the Outdoor Recreation calendar for Fort Greely.

She thought she'd take a poke at me a little bit. You can see me in the pic below. I'm the new kid.

Snowmachine pics of me

That's me in the front there on the red ski. You can't see my mukluks down in the snow.

You can see the red and frozen part of my face from riding. Anything not covered up with cloth gets a bit of frost nip, kind of like a mild sunburn. It fades pretty quickly once you warm up though.

Read these three posts together

The blog was being a pain. So I had to break all of the pics into 3 posts.

I ran down to the house again this morning just to see how the weather was down there and see it with fresh snow in the area. I was not diappointed. It was beautiful. Animal prints, large and small, all over the place. It's crazy the areas moose can walk through with their tall bodies and long articulating legs. I saw prints that looked like they emerged from nowhere, when in reality the moose just walked over and through trees and branches everywhere.

Here's a close-up detail of the upstairs logs of the house. You can see that they are tongue and groove to make a tight seal to keep out drafts. They even used a rubber spacer on the ends to ensure that no air could get through.

Looking from the front door, out through the back doors to the backyard. you can see the granite step area. The walls downstairs are 2-3 feet thick so every doorway and windowsill is 2 feet deep. The doors have granite tiles decorating them. The windows 1" tongue and groove.

Here's another shot off the front porch downstairs. There is a deck above this one that I haven't been able to get to yet. I imagine the extra height clears the trees and you can see the entire Alaska range running towards Denali some 150 miles distant. Can't wait to see it when it is clear.

keep going

Fresh caribou prints through the snow.

'

Backside of the house. The oil tank has about 350 gallons of oil in it. Probably $1000 worth of oil for the oil heater.

Wood shed. This is where the children would go for whoopings, behind the wood shed.

Check out that moose print. Glove for comparison. Emily just told me this is actually snowshoe hare. i think she's full of it but now we have the controversy.

Storage shed for yard stuff. Gardening anyone. Or just for keeping Hollie's extra crap :)

Backyard. The trees back here burnt about 10 years ago, but a bunch of bramble and briars are growing in now. Great for planting a berry field.

View to the west from the side of the house. Nothing but trees, hills with trees and more trees.

House in the woods

Here's the driveway covered in snow, notice no tracks whatsoever. When I pulled in off the highway, I cut it a little close and hung the left side in the ditch, which has no packed snow. I had to dig out a runway to get unstuck. Luckily I put the shovel in just the other day.

Here's the driveway the other direction.

You can see the cordwood construction well. The sun was full on shining and we were hovering around 0 degrees. Warm in the sun without a breeze.

Here' the west side of the house. See the satelitte dishy up there. They repaired it with duct tape. One of the trifecta of redneck repair jobs; glue, tape and wire.

The upstairs and garage are traditional log building. Here's the corner of the garage.

Here's the view off the lower front porch.

Wind generator.

Solar panels sitting in full sun!

Tent in the woods

We had an after lunch ride today. We headed out to the office in the woods.

The wind was blowing and it was snowing lightly. I ran with my visor down a littl etoo long, it fogged up and froze, so I rode with it open and froze my eyelashes together.

The other folks on the trip were from CRTC, the Cold Regions Test Center, here on Greely. They get issued bunny boots, Carhartt insulated coveralls, killer gloves, a fleece balaclava and a ton of handwarmers. Lucky dogs. All the good gear on Sammy's nickel.

We cruised for about an hour and ended up at the tent in the woods.

The tent is apparantly the second office. Almost no one knows where it is. It's right around where an old bear hunting camp used to sit.

It even has a spacious outhouse. Probably not the warmest place to drop trou.

We fired up the woodstove, got out of the wind, and the laughter started right away. Shortly before we got here, one of the guys took a corner a bit close and hit a tree. Since these guys all work together they were razzing him pretty hard. Cell phones worked up here too, the young lady in the picture got a call from work. Damn that technology.

Ah, warmth and hot chocolate. I defrosted my helmet by the fire. Thes second half of hte ride was a blast, I could actually see where I was going with my visor down.

Here is the CRTC crew outside the tent.

Still squinty. Notice the mittens are attached.

Here's a shot of the trail ahead of me. Pretty stuff. The snow was so light and fluffy. Pure powder. Makes the snowmachine slide all over the place. I stepped off the trail at one point and sunk up past my knees.

Here's the crew on the trail, waiting for the tail end to catch up.

It was a blast just cruising through the timber. We hit the frozen river at one point and were up to like 60-65mph. Just flying.