Its All Over Now

GOOD BYE 2009!

Somewhere New

FishTaxi with a full tank of gas.

Happy Ho Ho

From the FishTaxi in Big Lake, Alaska.

Fun Jobs in Alaska

Handler for Iditarod Kennel -

Handler needed starting immediately through April. Feed, clean up after dogs, and do menial physical labor for no pay. Long hours. Work is primarily outside and very physical. Need to provide own outdoor clothing. Please, no wimps. This is (more than) full time, physical, outdoor work. Must be honest, hard working, have common sense, and work well with little supervision. Still sound like fun? It is, I swear! We provide; Private room and board in a beautiful house in a stunning location Opportunity to learn about dog care and training Opportunity to be involved with Iditarod Lots of time with wonderful dogs Pretty cool people to hang out with Oppportunity to learn to mush MUST BE CURRENTLY IN ALASKA - If you are not here and ready to get started, it's too late to move. Also need current drivers license.
Location: Talkeetna


wanted trapping partner -

trapping partner wanted.have trapps and snares..........leave phone # to reply..........subject == wanted trappin part
Location: houston
Compensation: will be fair


Handler needed for Anchorage musher -

Selling X-mas trees -


I'm glad to be working. I drive a lot and am looking forward to more daylight minutes. Almost hit a moose tonight in Houston. I slowed down because I was making a right and there he was darting across the dark highway. I saw a dead moose on Big Lake Rd last night on my way home. With all the deep snow the moose are on the plowed by-ways. Drivers should slow down even though the speed limit is 55 mph posted. That means in good conditions. Not dark and icy roads. Also, while I'm on the subject. Its rude to shine your brights on on-coming traffic on a two-lane highway. It blinds the driver coming in your direction. Those new metal halides and fog lights are cool, but please learn how to use them on a busy highway. I'm sure there is an off switch or some way you know they are on. Thank-you.

Snow Poppies

Gotta miss Valdez

Full story at Valdez shrugs as snowfall tops 6 feet

Alaska, Jackass Style

Mile 69 Fish Bus (Burger)

Next time you are heading down the George Parks Highway stop at Mile 69 Willow, Alaska. The speed limit slows down to 45 mph anyway.

Check out Debbie's expanded Burger Bus serving Bad Ass Coffee and an array of delicacies.

While you are there snap a picture of the Northern Lights. They are ON all the time!

I did!

Another Look

Noni, named after noni juice. My roomies boxer dog. Smarter than she looks.

Better Than Ice Cream

Well, I could be exaggerating.

The new Tropical Fusion Jello with Mandarin oranges with whipped cream topped high hits the sweet spot. You still make Jello the same with 2 cups hot water to dissolve and 2 cups of cold water and refrigerate. Simple and good!

Happy Landings

Kiss the ground you walk on.

Bird's Eye View

Photos by John Thun

Pronounced John Thun, like thunder, took these photos from his cousin's super cub. They flew around Hatcher Pass and the Matanuska Valley during these beautiful VFR flying conditions in Alaska right now. All the photos he took were great and I asked him to send me these two, with permission, to post on my blog. In the second photo there are people on the runway where the plane needed to land. The pilot buzzed them a couple times then proceeded to make a smooth landing.

Sunset Won Over

Thank-you readers for bearing with me so far this winter. Looking forward to Winter Solstice when the daylight starts getting longer. This was the sunset today. The bottom picture was taken (before the top picture) around 3:30 pm ADST looking towards Anchorage from the parking lot of Lowes. The top picture was taken at 4:20pm from the Mat-Su Lodge parking lot overlooking Wasilla Lake. Kept pulling over and taking pictures. The sunset was strikingly beautiful and kept changing every minute. I'm learning my way around The MatSu Valley. Google maps is my friend. Thinking about becoming a real estate agent.

New Captain Cook Book

Cook Inlet makes a good cook book.

Page One

Recipes

Index

Sushi
Soup
Casseroles
Smoked
Canned


Forward

Eat Alaska salmon.

Internet Radio Jukebox

Time Out Bar in Anchorage for Monday Night Football and buds.

The Look

Slow down, anticipate and watch out for wildlife.

Window Sunset

We topped out at a warm plus 8 degrees today. Beautiful day breaking out of the cold. Clouds made for a colorful sunset looking west towards Pt. MacKenzie.

Wasilla Wonder Woman

One-shot wonder This is a good hunting story. Congratulations Lisa on your clean kill.

Hands across the water

Hands across the sea.

A Tribute to Veterans

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=205649&page=1

Froggy Lake

Wasilla Lake this afternoon was covered in fog. (Not frogs)

We all woke up to a blanket of snow today! Yeah! About 5 inches and twas beautiful to see.

How to get a drift boat out of the river

Video taken May 29, 2009 on the Kasilof River by FishTaxi.

Alaska Fishing Lodge Jimmie Jack's Lodge Kenai, Alaska

Growing Boy

Is it Soup Yet?

This was a quick, easy and tasty soup I made tonight.

4 cups of water

2 Knorr Caldo de Tomate

(Tomato Bouillon)

The cubes are huge, 8 to a package. I see a lot of variations with this bouillon in the future. Made this soup with what I had on hand.

Bring cubes to a low boil to dissolve. Smelled good already and a spoonful told me I was in for a treat. I added a half a package of Buitoni Chicken & Prosciutto Tortelloni and lowered the flame to a simmer til el dente. A couple of handfuls or more of fresh spinach rounded out the soup to the bowl.

Hot and filling for a quick winter supper.

Close to Home

Anchorage Marine receives military honors

The U.S. Marine Corps performs plane-side military honors Monday for Cpl. Gregory M.W. Fleury, 23, as his body arrives at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Cpl. Fleury, a Service High graduate, was one of four Marines who died in a helicopter collision in Afghanistan Oct. 26.

This one hit me hard. Harder than all the rest. Semper Fi soldier. Your mother, family and friends are proud of their brave warrior. No words, actions or compromises on this day. Our world has grown smaller.

Fallen soldiers gallery

Moose Corridor

Location: Wasilla

Case number: 09-98087

Type: MVC-D

Text: On 10-31-2009, at approximately 1828 hours, Alaska State Troopers responded to the area of Plumley Road and Butte Road for a report of a motor vehicle collision. Investigation revealed that Ann F. Nelson, age53 of Palmer, was traveling eastbound on Plumley Road in her 2009 Hyundai Tuscon when she collided with a moose that ran into the roadway. No injuries were reported. Nelson was wearing her seat belt at the time of the collision. The vehicle is estimated to be a total loss.

Author: RLM1 Received Sunday, November 01, 2009 1:01 AM and posted Sunday, November 01, 2009 1:03 AM

Location: Delta Junction

Case number: 09-96072

Type: Motor Vehicle Accident-moose

Text: On 10-25-09 at approximately 0847 hrs, Troopers received a report that a calf moose was found dead along at mile 1394 Alaska Highway.

Investigation revealed that an unknown vehicle collided with the calfmoose.

The calf moose died on scene.

A charity was contacted to harvest the calf moose.

No further investigation.

Author: JGH1 Received Tuesday, October 27, 2009 8:27 AM and posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 8:47 AM

And bears too!

Location: Wasilla

Case number: 09-97469

Type: MVC-D

Text: On 10/29/09 at approximately 2000 hours, Alaska State Troopers responded to mile 50.5 of the Parks Hwy for a report of a motor vehicle collision with a bear. Investigation revealed that Trooper Gary Cox, 48of Palmer, struck a black bear while traveling eastbound on the Parks Hwy in his 2008 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car. A 1999 Dodge Dakota traveling westbound on the Parks Hwy driven by Wayne Turner, 46 of Houston, ran over the black bear that was now lying in the roadway. Following behind the Dodge Dakota, a 2000 Subaru Forester traveling westbound on the Parks Hwy driven by Abigail S. Sheppard, 34 of Houston, ran over the black bear as it lay in the roadway. All occupants in the vehicles reported wearing their seatbelts and reported no injuries. The patrol vehicle sustained approximately $600 in damage. No damage was sustained to the other vehicles involved.

Author: RJS5 Received Friday, October 30, 2009 7:30 PM and posted Friday, October 30, 2009 7:51 PM

Data compiled from the Alaska Public Information Office.

Kiss in the Parking Lot & Icy Lips

Been having a little car trouble lately. Has something to do with the battery connections. Pulled up into Fred's parking lot and went in and got beer and trash bags. Came out and snapped this pic of two vehicles kissing in the parking lot. Then my van didn't start. I opened the hood and banged on the battery cables. No juice.

Called a friend and he said he was in Palmer and could be there in 30 minutes. I was boxed in anyway and waited for whoever was next to me to move so theres was room for a jump. When they pulled out next to me I filled the space with shopping carts to block any incoming vehicles without jumper cables.

Then some kids pulled up and moved the shopping carts. I asked them not to park there because a friend was coming to give me a jump. Being Alaskan, they had jumper cables. And gave me a jump.

I will be going to Napa tomorrow and getting new battery cables and maybe a new battery. Can't be dead in the water in the winter anywhere.

Ice on the lips of Wasilla Lake.

Toy Weapon

"Drive it like you stole it" below the back windshield. Wasilla garners a whole new catagory for cool cars, trucks and all the gear. Snapped this pic at the stoplight on the Parks Hwy & Main Street. To the right crosses the Alaska Railroad tracks onto Knik-Goose Bay Road. I will have to venture out that way sometime. Come along for the ride.

My new ride

Hairs Up in a Bun

Whipping winds causing one foot plus waves on Wasilla Lake. No wonder buns are so popular around here. Constant winds off the Matanuska Glacier whirling around. Whats a girl to do?

Finger Lake

Finger Lake is off of Bogard Road in Wassila. Stopped by there today on my way back from a job to reminess the time years ago I fell into Finger Lake. It was early spring and there was still ice floating around. I was on a little blow up raft that had a big leak and there was water on the bottom so I sat on the edge to not get my butt wet. I was tied off to some friends in a canoe and we were heading to the island in the middle of the lake to bbq. A little wave and a little wind tipped me over backwards into the cold lake. Luckily, a friend in the canoe, held the raft upright when I came shooting up out of the water and I knew how to swim to shore. So much for not getting my butt wet at Finger Lake.

Winter Wheat & Acorn Squash

I made Acorn Squash tonight the way my mom likes to make it. Baked with sausage in the middle. A good meal in itself.

My roommate's son made himself a Dagwood sandwich instead. If you haven't tried Oroweats Winter Wheat bread it is really good. Small sized loaf so the "soon to be a Marine" made his a triple decker. With Wasabi Horseradish. He's tough.

Twisted

My analyst told me

That I was right out of my head

The way he described it

He said Id be better off dead than alive

I didnt listen to his jive

I knew all along

That he was all wrong

And I knew that he thought

I was crazy but Im not

Oh no

My analyst told me

That I was right out of my head

He said Id need treatment

But Im not that easily led

He said I was the type

That was most inclined

When out of his sight

To be out of my mind

And he thought I was nuts

No more ifs or ands or buts

They say as a child

I appeared a little bit wild

With all my crazy ideas

But I knew what was happening

I knew I was a genius...

Whats so strange when you know

That youre a wizard at three

I knew that this was meant to be

Now I heard little children

Were supposed to sleep tight

Thats why I got drank a fifth of vodka one night

My parents got frantic

Didnt know what to do

But I saw some crazy scenes

Before I came to

Now do you think I was crazy

I may have been only three

But I was swinging

They all laugh at angry young men

They all laugh at edison

And also at einstein

So why should I feel sorry

If they just couldnt understand

The idiomatic logic

That went on in my head

I had a brain

It was insane

Oh they used to laugh at me

When I refused to ride

On all those double decker buses

All because there was no driver on the top

My analyst told me

That I was right out of my head

But I said dear doctor

I think that its you instead

Because I have got a thing

Thats unique and new

To prove it

Ill have

The last laugh on you

cause instead of one head...

I got two

And you know two heads are better than one.

~Joni Mitchell "Twisted"

Early Jack O' Lanterns

These nice folks allowed me to take this picture. They carved these pumpkins around the first of October. After the warm fall we had the poor Jack O' Lanterns went droopy fast.

Man on Morgan

This Wasilla cowboy can roll his cigarette with one hand while riding a horse.

Goodbye Beer Stein

Going to miss you. Hope I can find as nice of stein as you were. Five years was long enough I guess. Once you started leaking you had to go.

Captain Tanner and my beer stein in its better days. Here is a close up at Sunrise at Lake Louise .

RIP beer stein.

Carter Park

On Lake Lucille today.

Nice weather for the mallards to stop and enjoy the sunshine on their way south.

Patrick Dean & Janssen Barnes

Scammed me good. The studio apartment I rented from them turned out to be the apartment they were renting and were behind on their rent. Patrick Dean took my first months rent and deposit, gave me the key and skipped out. Janssen Barnes stood by meekly while her con artist boyfriend took on the persona of the actual owner. Who was out of town helping a friend put on a roof. I realized I'd been scammed a couple hours after I'd cleaned the place and was moving in when my first visitor arrived. Another gal ready to move in. Turns out Patrick Dean and Janssen Barnes scammed 2 other people besides me and the owner.

Just putting this out there so nobody else gets scammed by these two scumbags.

Sud Ball

I've heard about these things. Rumor has it they fall out of the sky from over flying jet waste.

Not too far from this "sud ball " was a rose hip almost ready to seed.