Family Christmas Adventures on Prince of Wales

On the way up Sunnahae Mountain, Craig

December 27, Tuesday  We have pancakes for breakfast, yum.  Today is the only full day that we are all together.  Jared has been itching to tackle Sunnahae Mountain in Craig again, so we suit up and head out.  It's cold and snowy, but otherwise not bad weather.  This trail is steep, and only partially rebuilt.  Most of it is narrow, root-invested, and wet, making for muddy ground and slippery roots, walkways, and logs.  It's a beautiful hike through the forest and parallels a loud creek.  

This time, we make it a little farther than the last time up, and when Jared and I reach our limits, Brady and Faith continue up a bit more.  The views of Craig, the surrounding straits and islands, and the mountains are very cool.  We linger a bit and enjoy these views.  Next we start the hike back down, which, with the roots, notched-log walkways, and wet wooden stairs make the return trip more challenging.  We take our time, wisely, and have no major slips.

On the way down, on one of several wooden stairways.

Lucky I'd had my Wheaties for breakfast!  :-)

Brady and Faith, and snow-covered Craig in the background.

Henry and Kelli and Jared Fly Home

Today is December 28, 2011, Wednesday, the third very sad day I’ve had in the last five months:  I had to say goodbye to Henry and Kelli and Jared, again.  These days are terrible, like torture.  It's all I can do not to go with them.  As cramped as Henry was in our small house, almost running from this forbidden cabinet to that enticing doggy water bowl, and as loud as he was during the night with those erupting molars, I’d have them back in a New York minute.  He is growing so fast, learning so much each day, I hate missing out on his discoveries.  His Henry Hugs are the best, too.  Of course, this is a twisted way of saying how much we enjoy having them, how fun he is to take on hikes, show Christmas lights, look and listen for birds, watch him walking through the snow, and just enjoying life.   

Goodbyes as they leave Southeast Alaska always have extra issues about them, as today’s drive south to the Hollis Ferry terminal in the dark and rain, without windshield wipers, and the southern third of the drive in the slush, was a little nerve-wracking.  We got there in time, and hustled to get all of their luggage unloaded, into the terminal, and then through security.  Hugs, and they were out the door.  I hate this!  

Christmas 2011

Later, Kelli texted us the ferry was rocking, and she and Jared both sea sick.  Finally they arrived in Ketchikan, and next they had to walk the four blocks from the Prince of Wales ferry to the airport ferry, in light rain.  Why Ketchikan doesn’t do better for it’s tourists is beyond me.  They recovered quickly from their sea-sickness and boarded the plane, in first class.  Kelli texted us to say they sat down on the plane, she nursed Henry, and he promptly fell asleep.  He’s an excellent traveler!  Finally home, their trip took 17 hours!  You'd think they traveled to Taiwan or something!   

I made it back from the ferry landing to find Faith and Brady and Kathy all back in bed and sound to sleep!  The two nights Kathy and I spend on the pullout sofa were not pleasant.  It will be nice to be back in a real bed tonight. 

Today we had an excellent breakfast compliments of Faith.  I decided we are running a Bed and Breakfast:  we provide the bed, you provide the breakfast!  J  The snow was all washed away by the rain overnight, and the warmer temperature. 

Colder and Darker, and the Best Christmas Tree We've Ever Had!

Well, here I go again, failing my blog followers.  I'm blaming the much shorter days and the colder weather for keeping us all inside more, and hence not providing for good blogging material.  It's been averaging about ten degrees colder this visit than when Kelli and Jared and Henry were here in October.  The length of daylight is also much less.  Combine that with required naps of Henry and, well, honestly, some laziness on our part, and we have been spending more time in our nice little log house.

Kelli and Jared went out today, to do some shopping and sight-seeing.  Kelli says it was the longest they have been away from Henry since we left San Diego.  That's not good, but is:  at least they got a nice break.  I hope they don't have to wait until I come visit in February before they get another nice long time out together.  

It’s rainy and windy, but about 43 degrees, not bad.  Kathy started her vacation today, a very good thing.  Henry has caught a cold, poor baby.  It doesn’t really bother him much, except at night, as he has trouble breathing and sleeping.  Otherwise, he’s still pretty much the Energizer Baby!

Yesterday Jared took Henry to the Unnamed Restaurant to check it out and get some coffee.  He reported that the customers were all rough looking men, but all were nice to he and Henry.  The coffee was tolerable.  We haven’t eaten there yet, put off by it’s looks and rumor that all the cooking is done in the old school bus attached to the building.  Kathy heard they have the best burgers on the island though, so we are planning on doing take out.

Later Jared and Henry and I walked to the Klawock River Trail.  It was raining a bit, but the hood for the backpack Henry rides in works great, and Jared and I were prepared, too.  It was very quiet over there, compared to our last visits:  we scared up two flights of small ducks, and about four bald eagles, and that was it.  We walked along the shore down to the short waterfall, where the view upriver is better, across the large pond formed by the waterfall rocks.  No bear tracks this time. 

We went to Ruth Ann’s for dinner a earlier this week, and had a great time.  We all had halibut of one recipe or another, all delicious.  We took the petite serving size, so even had some room left over for excellent desert.  Our waitress was very good, too.  What a great dinner. 

We stopped by the Craig Library and Kelli got six books out, three for her and three for Henry. 

Looks like I’ll be flying to San Diego the end of February.  Gonzaga Bulldogs come to USD once a year for a basketball game, and Kelli and I haven't missed this game since she graduated.  

Tuesday we finally ventured out to find a Christmas tree.  Someone told me I just needed to visit the Forest Service office and get a free permit, but the lady at the desk told me I didn’t need one, that we could just pick any reasonable tree on the Tongass and it was mine.  So, we drove down to the 20-mile Spur Trail on the road to the ferry landing at Hollis.  We turned up the dirt road to the trailhead, and soon ran into snow about six inches deep.  Luckily someone had been up the road before us, so left a nice set of double tracks.  It was still slippery driving.  The road slopes up gently, so the snow got a little deeper as we drove.  We were also fighting the coming darkness, so didn’t have unlimited time.  We stopped about half way to the trailhead, concerned about both deepening snow and dwindling daylight. 

Bundling up, we walked up and down the road, looking for the ideal tree.  We already knew we were looking fo a small spruce, the most Christmas-like of the evergreens that grow on Prince of Wales.  Finally we found one, and I pulled out my new pruning saw and we had our Christmas tree!  We strapped it to the top of the car, and slipped and slid our way down the road and back to the highway.   Once home, we cut off some lower branches, attached the tree stand, and into the house it went.  Only then did we realize we had a very sparse tree, oops.  Oh well, we will decorate it up and celebrate its story and it will be our best Christmas tree ever!

We had an excellent dinner at Ruth Ann's Restaurant on Tuesday night.  I would not have gone back to this place, due to the very poor service and high prices the last time we ate there, but Kathy wanted to give them another try.  We had an excellent waitress, and a delicious meal.  We all had halibut dinners, and all were really good.

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Kelli, Jared and Henry Arrive!

Saturday turned out to be a nice day, despite a trying last night.  The sky was partially cloudy, which means partially clear, and not so cold.  Henry had a tough night, which means we all had a tough night, since we all sleep in the same room/loft.  Kathy took a turn trying to get him back to sleep.  This was after Kelli had nursed him and Jared did his best.  

We were all tired, and so missed our wake-up time, and so Jared and Henry and I missed our Christmas Bird Count event.  Up finally, and next was the Klawock Christmas Bazaar.  Jared and I and Henry got ready for a hike, and we all drove over to the bazaar.  We men had to go in and have a look around, and found some nice things.  We left then and walked around the adjacent Totem Park, which has more totem poles than any other place in Alaska.  The weather was nice, the water surrounding Klawock still and glassy.  


Kelli and Kathy finished up, and drove us to the ballfield, where they would drop us off and then go shopping.  We found 70 Canada Geese grazing on the ballfield grass.  We walked down to the field and they moved off to the other end.  We tried not to harass them as we walked to the shore, but they decided we were too close, and half of them lifted off.  A few more steps and the other half took flight and flew right over us, quite a site.  

We walked down to the shore and along it.  We found most of a skeleton of a five-point buck, and wondered what the story was behind this deer.  It was picked clean, nothing but bone and a very soft hide.  The tide was out, so we walked farther along the shore, then up into the little park.  From there we walked up the street to the Craig-Klawock Highway, north and over the causeway, and up Hemlock Road and home.  Jared and Henry went down for a nap.  An hour later, Kelli and Kathy returned with pizza.  

In the evening, we minus Kathy and Lakota went out for a walk, and ended up at the Klawock Shopping Center.  We were all bundled up, and all needed a long walk, especially Quinlan, so this worked out well.  It turned out to be colder than we thought, 33 degrees, yikes.  We looked at the nice Klawock City Christmas tree, all lit up with lights, and a nice size.

Henry at the POWER Christmas Concert

Henry and Grandma at the POWER Christmas Concert

Friday, they finally came over, on the 9:15 AM Cessna, right on time.  It was so wonderful to see them all again!  Henry took right to me, a wonderful feeling!  He is just the apple of his grandfather's eye.  I can't begin to express how much I love him!  There is still snow on the ground in places, despite the warming up and some rain.  Their unplanned stay in Ketchikan had worked out well, and Jared even declared he'd had the best halibut of his life for dinner the night before.  We packed lunch and drove to SEARHC and shared it with Kathy.  She got to show off Henry. and we had a good time.  

We drove over to Craig, next, and to the Library to get some books.  Henry was out by now, and I stayed in the car.  Next to the Craig $$ Store, where even there the diapers were crazy expensive.  Back home and Henry went down for a nap.  He was still sleeping a little after five when Kathy called for a ride home, so I called in an order for four cheeseburgers and fries to Kim's Corner, waited a bit, picked up Kathy, picked up dinner, and came home.  After eating, we drove to the 12th Annual POWER Christmas Benefit Concert at the Craig High School, and enjoyed the bell-ringers and singers.  

Dixon Entrance Strikes a Christmas Blow

Well, we sit here watching TV, while Kelli and Jared and Henry cool their jets in the Best Western Motel in Ketchikan.  Their Cessna shuttle to our Prince of Whales Island was scrubbed:  winds of 40 to 50 mph and snow in the Dixon Entrance to the Alexander Archipelago made the flight unsafe.  Bummer.  Oh well, part of the adventure, I suppose.  Henry cooperated again by sleeping most of the flight.  Luckily they have been told the weather tomorrow will be much better, so they are booked on the 9:15 AM flight.  So, no Henry until tomorrow.


It snowed today!  It looked like it might keep up, but later it turned to rain, which washed some of the snow away.  Snow is beautiful, so white and clean, smoothing out all surfaces and looking like a fresh blanket.  Rain comes along and beats it up, makes it look ratty.  Rain freezes, too, bad news.  As careful as we are, we've both gone down once.  We may yet end up buying the cleat contraptions they sell in the grocery store to put on shoes.  They look very goofy, but they must sell, and it would be better than breaking something a bone!

The temperature has been colder this week.  We've actually had clear skies, too.  

All our Christmas presents have arrived, except one, with a week to go, so that's looking good. 


The Klawock Town Christmas Tree was lit up tonight.  We were planning on going, and taking the McCannell's, but changed our mind and did a little more cleanup in preparation for our guests.  Tomorrow night is the big Craig Christmas Show, which should be really fun.


I finally found out the status of the Lance Armstrong Elliptical we ordered.  I had no luck getting in touch with anyone at the company, until today.  Kathy and I both are desperate to get back into regular exercise routines.  We fixed the issue, and so it's shipping tomorrow.  Great! 

Prince of Whales Island

I haven't confirmed if she did it on purpose or not, but someone has re-named our island, and the new name makes much more sense.  With so many whales, and five different kinds, what a great name!

Cold again today, with a little bit of snow, but it wasn't sticking.  Later it turned to 'freezing fog.'  I had to scrape the windshield this morning, and in the evening, maybe a first.  Wish we had a nice garage.  I went out for a walk, something I need to do more often.  It was about 32 degrees and fog was rolling in across the water.  Even with my gloves on, my hands were freezing unless they were in my coat pockets.  It was already getting dark, not the bet time to walk, but better than not walking at all.  We've had no luck with the new elliptical we ordered:  they won't even return our calls.  We so need this to get here!  Brady says the success rate of home exercise equipment is very low, but we are both highly motivated!

So far the online vendors and US Mail are working for us, with a little more than ten days to Christmas.  We are keeping our fingers crossed our luck holds.  

SEARHC had a family counseling candidate here for interviews.  Kathy surprised me by bringing him by the house during a tour of Klawock.  He and a co-worker of Kathy's were very impressed.  We do have to pinch ourselves sometimes, at how lucky we were to get this cute place.  

The Christmas lights are up in Craig, up and down main street.  The Klawock Christmas Tree gets lit on Thursday, just after Kelli and Jared and Henry arrive.  Friday evening is the Craig Holiday Show, which will be fun.  Saturday we will venture out into the Tongass to find our tree and cut it down.  This will be a first, freshest cut tree ever!  

I'm still working with Cigna, who believes the right and proper charge for a crown is $250.  Even the supervisor I'm working with acknowledges this is ridiculously low.  We are on our fourth day of telephone calls, though, so not sure how successful I'm going to be in getting it changed.  

Fair Weather, Poor Cashflow, :-(

We had another very relaxing weekend, with very little rain, just cold. We spent time preparing for the arrival of Kelli and Jared and Henry this Thursday! We are very excited. It doesn't look like we'll have snow to great them, but hopefully we'll get some by Christmas.

Friday night we went to the Klawock Head Start Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. The Head Start facility is just a block down the road from us. The dinner was average, the kids very entertaining, the company nice and the cause was great. We had to sit in very small chairs, but it was fun seeing the classroom and all the colors and projects of the kids. We met some new people, and of course, Kathy saw one of her clients.

Sunday we went to the POWER Thrift Store volunteers Holiday Party. This was at the Craig Youth Center, right across the street from the Thrift Store. It was a small group, so conversation was easy. The ED was there, and the two people I volunteer with on Wednesdays. There were also two people we had previously met but didn't realize they also volunteer at POWER, including our immediate neighbor. We learned a little bit more about some of the island people. This was a gift exchange, just for fun, in which we were to wrap things we'd found at the Thrift Store. Kathy opened a Disney flannel all-in-one pajama with booties, but it was kid sized, so not very useful.  I got a Dave Barry book. I've never read one of his, so guess it's my opportunity.  I gave a set of books, one on living in the desert and the other Into Thin Air, about a fatal climb up Mt. Everest. I figured both would make you feel warmer, one way or another.

When I worked at Glacier National Park in Montana many, many years ago, I remember hearing my first radio commercial for crop-dusting, and thinking “I’m not in San Diego any more!” Now in Alaska, the near-constant news and talk about harvesting salmon or halibut or lingcod or crabs or geoduck clams or even sea cucumbers, and secondly the intense attention to the cruise industry, all remind me I’m in a place far from San Diego.  Ketchikan is excited that one of several cruise lines is adding a third boat to its 2013 schedule. I just found out a friend is taking an Alaska cruise next year, cool! We are planning a trip to Ketchikan to meet up with he and his wife in May, when their boat drops anchor.

We still don’t have a way to get cash without paying one or two service charges. We tried the local credit union, but they have only one ATM on the island, and it operates on a dial-up connection to the mainland. Half the time it's out of order. It's very disappointing, as we would like to support it. The major grocery store here, Alaska Commercial, or AC, doesn’t offer cash back, ugh. That’s how I got all our cash in San Diego, cash back at Ralphs. California Coast Credit Union will refund their service charge, but we still get charged by the bank or company that owns the ATM, even at the local credit union ATM!! I had far less trouble in Europe!

The price of gasoline dropped eight cents a gallon, WOOHOO! It’s now $4.46.

The power failed on Friday, for about 50 minutes, for no obvious reason. The skies were clear, there was no wind, and it wasn't particularly cold.  Strange. Luckily we have many windows in our house, so I could at least read.  I think I mentioned Craig has an excellent library with a continuous stream of new books, plus I usually come home from volunteering at the Thrift Store with two or three interesting books.  

 I stay up to date on home news by subscribing to the U-T online, and trading emails with my fellow community activists.  They have collected over 3,000 signatures on a petition to try and convince the CVS Corporation to allow a Fresh And Easy Grocery store to move into the little shopping center in Serra Mesa.  CVS's contract gives them veto power over any new stores that would compete with them.  Serra Mesa has needed a grocery store for years, and the shopping center is suffering from a serious decline in traffic, resulting in about eight empty storefronts.   We so need that grocery store.  Hopefully CVS will get the message and change their mind.  


Two developments at Civita had open houses on Saturday.  Civita is the huge new development on Friars Road.  When it is completed, it will add over 4,700 homes to Mission Valley!  It's huge, but is also bringing new parks and a village-type square.  


Well, I feel like my postings are not as entertaining as they once were.  I guess the rose if off the bloom, with us settling into this island life.  Or, I'm bored:  I did volunteer for another organization, so that will help keep me busy.  I may yet get elected to the board of one group, too, even though I'm brand new here.  I'm sure it won't be so boring after the boy, the daughter, and the future son-in-law arrive!  


I hope everyone is warm, has their Christmas shopping done or nearly so, and is enjoying the season. 

Sunny Days, Snowy Mountains, and Missed Birthdays

It's only when the sun shines that I realize how infrequent this happens, here on the Island of Clouds and Rain.  Today was one of those days, not a cloud in the sky all day long.  Quinlan and I went for a long walk, up the road to the highway, then east a bit to the side road and the Klawock Cemetery.  It was great to be outside and stretching our legs.  I let Quinlan off the leash, which he loves.  He takes off, but never goes too far away.  There are plenty of deer tracks and scat, and he gets his nose right down on the ground to follow their paths.  The jays were squawking, the eagles were calling, the ravens talking.  Ravens have many calls and other sounds, much more than I knew before moving here.   

There must be another cemetery, judging by the small number of burial sites, but this is the official city cemetery.  I walk from headstone to headstone, reading the names and dates of life.  Many mention service in World War II.  Several are really nice granite ones, but not all of them.  There are some simple wooden crosses, and some gravesites with no marker at all.

It never got above 37 degrees.  The puddles were all iced over, thick enough ice so that tapping them with my boot made a sound like breaking glass.  As I write this at 8:15 PM, it's down to 27 degrees, yikes.  


Kathy took the car to work this morning.  She is really enjoying her job, as apparently are her clients appreciating her counseling:  she has had several new clients referred from existing ones.  

Snow-covered mountains above the Klawock River.  I took this from the Craig-Klawock Road, in Klawock and a five minute walk from SEARHC, where Kathy works. 

This picture is from the opposite side of the Craig-Klawock Road from where the picture above was taken.  The white house is our landlords, and our house is in the trees right above it.  The water is an ocean inlet. 

On our way to Craig this weekend, we were on the edge of the city and noticed a man standing by the side of the road.  As we got closer, we could see he was holding a bow.  As we got closer, we saw he had a good sized dead buck at his feet.  There was no car anywhere in the area; hunting is not allowed within city limits, which he clearly was, so what was his story?  Wish we knew.  He surely stood out like a sore thumb.

One of our favorite new TV shows is Alaska State Troopers on the National Geographic channel.  It's like cops, only not as cheesy.  We figure it's another resource for learning about our new state.  

We missed grand nephew Joaquin Anderson's first birthday party, sadly.  It's amazing to think he's already a year old!  We'll miss nephew Stephen's 21st birthday party this Saturday, too.  It's even more amazing to think little Stephen is 21!  Happy Birthday, Stephen!

Warming Trend in AK, while San Diego 'freezes?!'

 Happy Monday!  It's warmed up here, and it's not raining.  We got nearly all our Christmas cards written and mailed.  We have Kelli to thank for the best Christmas cards we've ever had, by far!  It will be fun having both Kelli and Brady and their families here for Christmas.  We are all looking forward to a White Christmas, and taking a family picture in the snow for next years Christmas cards.  

View to the north along the Craig-Klawock Road, Klawock Inlet of Pacific Ocean.

Looking south along Craig-Klawock Road.  This stretch of about two miles is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever seen.

It's Sunday evening.  The sky is overcast, but it hasn't rained all day, a refreshing change.  The temperature today has varied only between 39 and 41 degrees.  I write this to lay the foundation for the picture below.  This morning around 10:30 AM in San Diego, it was 55 degrees.  

Cassie, Cecil (nearly hidden), Naomi, Bill, and Dawn, enjoying coffee at Rebecca's Coffeehouse, South Park.

Hilarious!  They are dressed like they're in Alaska, for pete's sake!  

After the phone conversation with my friends, we were off to St. John's Catholic Church.  We really enjoy Father J.P.'s masses, plus the church is literally around the corner from our house.  After church, we took a tour of Craig, looking to do some Christmas shopping, but the stores were all closed.  Imagine that, a Sunday after Black Friday, and the stores aren't open.  Try to find one of those in California!

Next we took the dogs on a walk to Cemetery Island.  It's been a long time since we did this, due to Lakota's torn ACL, and the bad weather.  Today, we could not resist.  The 41 degrees almost felt warm.  The trail, as usual, was nearly deserted.  The bald eagles were calling, and one lit on the top of the great snag near the Veteran's flagpole, a favorite roost for them.  We watched three pickup trucks loading chunks of tree trunks off the shoreline:  the Park and Rec Department must have been culling some damaged trees.  

We cut short our walk, not wanting to push Lakota too far.  They both miss these nice walks, but she is still injured.  She is loosing weight, a very good thing.  It was nice to stretch our legs, too, and take in the fresh breeze of the ocean inlet.  


Friday, another weekend coming, yippee!

The weather will be decent, no wind like yesterday.  

I've finally gotten into the habit of wearing my rain boots.  I resisted for too long, and ended up with damp, cold feet.  Partly to avoid that, and partly because it's so easy to slip my feet into the boots, with no hassle of shoelaces, I've finally come around.  Then it's the nice warm overcoat, and usually a hat:  any breeze at all has a chilling effect on my too-near hairless skull.  Lately I've even been using nice warm gloves, too.  Then it's leash up the dogs.  They don't like this, and it still seems strange, but the police station is about two blocks away, one of them lives in a house even closer to us, and they've warned Kathy twice about leashing the dogs, blah. 

Daylight Dwindling, Rising Utilties, and Animal Leaves Us

Brady asked me what time the sun came up in Klawock, so here is a snapshot comparison between San Diego and Klawock, taken at 8:15 AM Wednesday the 30th:

Temperature:  58.8 °F        Feels Like 59.0 °F

Sunrise / Set

6:31 AM / 4:42 PM

Temperature:  33 °F        Feels Like 33 °F

Sunrise / Set

7:54 AM / 3:27 PM

San Diego still has about 10 hours of daylight, while we have just 7.5 hours.    


I finally figured out what we are paying for electricity.  The last bill for our San Diego house crossed over from summer rates to winter rates, but overall, a kilowatt cost 13.8 cents, while in Klawock, we pay 25.2 cents, 82% more.  At least we aren't getting any electricity from nuclear power, oil or coal.  It's all certified green hydro.

Speaking of oil, we've been in our log house about seven weeks, and never received a bill for our heating oil.  I called the company to ask about this, and they said our balance was zero.  Okay, maybe we are sipping it, which would be great.  Twenty minutes later, however, the oil truck showed up.  I said howdy and asked, "Is this a coincidence, or the result of my phone call?"  The driver said it was the result of my phone call.  They told him to stop delivering when the previous renter left, and never told him to start back up.  Luckily, it only took 50 gallons to fill the tank, which the driver told me holds 110 gallons, so we weren't at risk of running out.  I'm told the cost is about $4.80 per gallon, so that fill cost about $240.  That's for about two months of use, but even so, that means $120 for oil, $45 for electricity, and $106 for propane each month.  Welcome to Alaska, and where can I buy a nice wood stove and two cords of wood?!

Waterfalls on the Craig-Klawock Highway, along the Klawock Inlet.

 I had my permanent crown installed on Tuesday, the first of two.  Check out this picture, out the window from the dentist chair:  

Sunnahae Mountain, Craig.

Brady and Faith had to put down their beloved cat, Animal.  He developed a wheeze, and they were working with the vet to treat the symptoms and figure out what was wrong.  He would respond, then decline.  An x-ray on Wednesday showed an enlarged heart, very serious.  They made the tough decision to put him down.  Animal was part of their family for about three years.  Our thoughts are with you, Brady and Faith.

Don't Mess with Snowbanks

I've seen it twice now, a carcass, no, a skeleton, by the side of the road, picked completely clean, ravens and a few bald eagles still hanging around.  These are bright orange-yellow, for some reason.  They must be deer, as nothing else on the island has rib cages that big.  It makes sense that it's a deer by the side of the road, too.  I'll have to stop and take a picture next time I see one.  You really have to see it to believe it.  Winter hasn't even officially begun, either, so I'm guessing there will be a few more opportunities for pictures.

I found out 'four wheel drive' does not mean go anywhere and do anything.  Right on our own driveway, I got stuck this morning, trying to get Kathy to work.  Kathy was near panic attack as I slipped and slid and finally came to a dead stop.  Hey, I didn't hit any trees or stumps or the house!  I had to get the shovel and work it for 20 minutes to get it out, then shovel a path through the small snowbank at the head of the driveway, created by the snowplow as he cleared the road.  Okay, now I know better.  Shovel first, drive second.  

It's been years, longer than a decade, since we had to park a car outside, so we are a little spoiled.  Wouldn't you know it would have to be in a northern climate, where a garage would really come in handy, that we have to learn to do without a garage?  It would be very nice not to have to scrape ice off the windows and snow off the car, before pulling away.  

Kelli and Jared and Henry are coming for Christmas!  We were hoping, but since they were just here, we weren't sure they could swing it.  This is a happy surprise!  They will come early in December, and then be here for the first two days of Brady and Faith's visit, so that will be fun.  As much as we'd like to have them all here together a longer time, this way no one will have to stay someplace else.  We will have a crowded house for those two days, but it will be nothing but fun.  We can hardly wait!

I picked Kathy up at lunch at we went to the TruValue store to look for Christmas lights  (somehow, we brought NONE of our Christmas decorations with us!  We are still baffled by how this happened.).  We are liking our TruValue store.  It has lots of stuff, and good prices.  

While we were there, I saw something I haven't seen in over a decade.  There it was, a common product, right out in the open, no cage and key!  Whoa, this is crazy!  I can just reach out and pick up a can of spray paint?!  I don't have to find a clerk?!  You won't find this in San Diego, folks!


California and rainy Prince of Wales that I've come across!  Crazy, right?!

Snowy Thanksgiving Weekend, and the Christmas Bazaar

Sunday, and time for church, at least for me.  I try the Presbyterian Church today. 

I’m not inspired with the pastor, and I only recognize one person in the assembly.  I’m not feeling it.  I enjoy the message of the sermon, if not the sermon, and decide not to stay for lunch. 

Saturday, and the long-awaited Craig Holiday Bazaar.  Our windshield wipers are working, thankfully, so off we go.  (There is still plenty of snow on the ground and slush on the roads.)  We are anxious to see the island crafts and buy some Christmas decorations and gifts.  We park across the street, and very carefully negotiate the slippery street and parking lot, both of us managing to stay upright.  The city gym is packed with tables and shoppers.  One person on the island is very creative, using her pictures for greeting cards, and doing beautiful glassware.  Our favorite bakery is there, too, and we get some cinnamon buns and apple-sourdough bread, yum.  We see our landlord’s son, who is also named Doug, and meet his wife; we see my POWER Thrift Store volunteer friends, we see the Pt St Nick Fish Hatchery person, and buy a raffle ticket from her to support the hatchery; we see the Prince of Wales Marathon table and buy four raffle tickets to win a roundtrip on Alaska Airlines, and get Kathy a fun Bling Ring (she later makes a little girl’s day by giving it to her. J); we see the everywhere volunteer and leader Victoria, and we see Kathy’s boss and his wife; and we see Craig High School students selling raffle tickets to support a state-wide art presentation coming to the island.  We find some nice Christmas decorations and a gift or two.  It’s a fun time, a big and festive event on the island. 

We had fun last night trying to knock snow off our roof.  Some had already fallen on its own, built up at the bottom near the eves in a big drift.  I got some to fall, but it was too high up to get a got shot.  Later, we heard what sounded like thunder, and knew it was the rest of the snow avalanching off.  We have a pretty steep roof, too, and the snow still accumulates.  This is all a new experience for us.  So far I’ve been successful at driving through the drifts that the snowplow creates at the head of our driveway, but I’m not sure it’s good for the car to charge these things.  I’m going to start using the snow shovel to clear a path.  

Ravens at the Craig Harbor.  There were about ten of them, hanging around, waiting for scraps.  See the weather coming in, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

 There are no signs for tire chains, surprising me.  The explanation is that this is Alaska, land of independence, and Alaskans don’t take kindly to being told what to do, so the government limits laws, leaving it up to the individual to properly equip his or her car, at least for winter driving conditions.  It’s also rue for building codes:  there are none, at least on the island.  Of course, if one is borrowing money from a bank, the lender will have their own requirements, but these are not the same as building codes.

A sunny but snowy day, at the Craig Post Office.  I took this picture from Annie Betty's, where I was having a hot chocolate while the wiper motor was getting fixed. 

 Kathy is having spotty success getting the hours of supervised counseling she needs to gain her certification.  It’s a good day if three of six clients with appointments actually show up.  For this and another monetary reason, looks like we will be hear closer to three years.  This bothers me a little:  I’ve met more than one Islander who tells me to be careful:  “We came here for two years, 17 years ago!”  There are certainly a few things about home I could learn to live without, such as traffic and crime for starters, but I don’t think I can live without the good things, such as family and friends and sunshine, for starters!

Sometimes I have the urge to look down on the ruralness of our new home:  the lack of culture, the second class credit union, the occasional electrical blackouts, the very slow speed limits, and a few other issues.   Even as I think this way, it strikes me as petty.  Not having a job and regular exercise plays into these feelings, I know.  We are working on the second issue, trying to buy an elliptical, but running into the combination of Alaska and island hassles.

I love the habit of people waving at each other as they drive, or pass pedestrians.  This is very common, whether they recognize you or not.  How cool is that?!

The birds don’t seem to realize it’s colder and snowy.  The ravens fly and call as much as ever (they have many different calls), and so do the bald eagles.  There are blue jays around.  Seagulls, maybe, are fewer.

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving.  We missed family, of course, but made the best of it.  

POW-WA, POWCAC, and the Value of Carpooling

Today I went to my third meeting of the Prince of Wales Watershed Association, or POW-WA.  Organizations having to do with island-wide issues normally move meetings around the island, so this time we met in Hollis, at their new Fire Station.  One of the volunteers gave us a tour, and he told us he had done something this morning he had never done in his 70 odd years, and this was to put tire chains on inside a building, on a solid flat surface, and could even do so with the rollup door down to preserve the heat!  They love their new building!

I carpooled to the meeting with someone who has not only lived on the island for 17 years, she has also been extremely active, serving on or with many organizations, so brought me up to date on recent history of the island.  This was even more valuable than the gas I saved, and she wouldn't even take my money for gas.  

Hollis is about 35 minutes from Klawock and to the east, and the closer we got to Hollis, the worse the road conditions got.This group is just beginning, so our time is spent on forming bylaws, which we almost have finalized, and other preliminary issues.  One today was whether we need a logo, and how we should go about getting one.  All agreed the organization did need one, and we tossed around some ideas on having a contest, etc.

Random Picture Insert:  When we first arrived on the island, we headed for South Thorne Bay, and the log house we thought we would be living in.  We followed the owner 25 minutes down a gravel road, and just before we arrived at this house, we see this car, just off the road.  It was part of the reason we decided against staying at this house.

This is a good group of people, and there is no better way to join a new community than to get volunteer and get involved.  This being my third meeting of this group, I'm finally remembering names and faces.  

Next, as part of the POWCAC meeting, there was a potluck lunch, which was delicious.  POWCAC stand for Prince of Wales Community Action Committee, and as the chair told me, is a poor man's county government.  Alaska doesn't have counties though, it has boroughs.  Because it is so huge in size and has relatively few residents compared to it's size, much of it doesn't fall within a borough, which I think is the strangest thing about government in Alaska.  

Alaska is not divided into counties, as most of the other U.S. states, but it is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's 16 boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough.  The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own.  Whereas many U.S. states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Alaska uses only two tiers—state/borough. Areas in the Unorganized Borough are administered directly by the state government. Currently 57.71% of Alaska's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population.

 So, POWCAC works on island-wide issues.  One hot topic currently is the exploration of two mines on the southern tip of the island.  There are no roads leading anywhere near these mines, and so all supplies, etc., are barged or boated out of Ketchikan.  If these mines prove out, POW would not be able to capitalize on new jobs to providing supplies.  POWCAC today passed a resolution asking the state government and the Tongass National Forest to work with it to build a new road to service those mines.  POW is suffering greatly from a lack of jobs, which results in people either working somewhere on the mainland during the week and returning for the weekend, or moving off the island altogether.  

The temperature has dropped enough that it's snowing again.  Snow is much better than slush, which is what you get when the temperature warms up and it rains on snow.  The snow turns dirty gray, it melts during the day and freezes overnight, making walking and driving a challenge, so not nearly as fun as snow.  

 

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Sunday evening, watching the nice warm AMA Music Awards.  I love watching the stars, seeing the performances, hearing the best of todays music!  It's 9:00 PM, and the temp has risen to 34 degrees, from 27 this morning.  It's overcast,  but not snowing.  

We got some culture this afternoon, a play put on by the local theatre group:  Alaska, The Secret of Yonder Mountain.  It was campy but fun.  

Yesterday I had a good opportunity to check out the bad weather capabilities and performance of the Subaru, and me.  I drove to Craig, on the state highway, which was plowed, and still too cold for any icy conditions.  Then I drove out Pt. St. Nick Road, which was not plowed.  I wondered what the law says about chains, but no one else had them on.  The car performed fine, and so did I, taking it easy.  The only real issue I had was when I tried a few panic stops in the snow, and the ABM (?) took over, pumping the brakes automatically.  I've never liked this feature, but it worked okay.  I also discovered a new "idiot light:"  when I punched the accelerator hard to break the tires lose, a couple of times a red light lit up on the dash, showing a car skidding.  Good to know.

There were two kids on ATV's driving the road, doing power slides, drifting, having a blast.  It looked like a lot of fun.  

Friday morning, and It's 27 degrees outside as I write this post.  I thought maybe that was a new low for me, but Bellingham WA gets that low, and lower.  We lived in Bellingham 32 years ago.  Today, here we are, even farther from 'home.'  For many reasons, Klawock makes Bellingham look so much more attractive as a place to live, beginning with the fact that it is so much closer to home, and has none of the logistic challenges we have here on the island.

Kelli is so good about sending us pictures of Henry.  She texts these to once or twice a day.  He is getting so big, and mobile.  I called her yesterday when she sent a picture of him walking at Murray Ridge Park.  She said he was having a great time, a stick in each hand, wandering around.  Two older boys came to the park, and he sat right down between them and watched their every move.  Often he is talking, too, and we would love to hear what his 14 month old thoughts are, he seems so serious in his 'talking.'  I miss him so much!  I took him to that park often, and loved holding him as we walked around it.  He's too big for that now, but it would be just as fun seeing him walk on his own.   Henry loves being outdoors, exploring, walking, talking, hearing the birds and getting fresh air.  Jared has even back-packed him up Cowles Mountain several times!  

Brady and Faith have their reservations for a Christmas visit!  They will be here for eight days.  Brady is looking forward to a white Christmas, and he may just one!  

Thanks goodness we don't get weather like this:  

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Alaska's second-largest city is used to cold weather, but few residents expected record-breaking cold this early in the season.  A temperature of 41 degrees below zero - the first 40 below temperature of the season - was recorded at Fairbanks International Airport. The National Weather Service in Fairbanks says that broke the old record of 39 below set in 1969.

We are lucky to have a progressive power company serving us here on the island.  Alaska Power & Telephone is employee-owned, for starters.  The rest of this post details other successful efforts they are making to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.

Have a good week everyone, and a Happy Thanksgiving!  Thanks for following this blog on our Alaska Adventure. 

Alaska Energy Systems

Alaska's electric energy infrastructure differs in many ways from that in the rest of the United States. Most consumers in the Lower 48 states are linked to an extensive electrical energy grid through transmission and distribution lines.

Alaska does not have a vast infrastructure of transmission interties that span the horizons throughout the rest of the North American continent. Alaska also lacks an extensive interconnected road system to link our many cities, towns and villages. The absence of transmission lines to share cheap power among communities and a road system to transport fuel to remote areas has a profound impact on our members' efforts to bring affordable and reliable power to consumers.

Most electric power in Alaska comes from fossil fuels, natural gas or diesel fuel. However, some alternative energy sources are already in use. More than 50 hydroelectric power plants supply Alaska communities, from the six-megawatt Power Creek plant serving 2,700 Cordova area residents to the 126-megawatt Bradley Lake plant near Homer that generates power for Alaskans from the Kenai Peninsula to Fairbanks.

Recognized as one of the most progressive utilities in Alaska, the keys to AP&T's continued success lay primarily in its willingness to promote and develop long term reliable energy and communication solutions while capitalizing on the innovation and technical expertise of its skilled and dedicated employees.

We maintain systems on windswept mountaintops and storm-battered islands. Our power and telecommunications lines cross rainforest, taiga and tundra. We operate facilities in places that are among the wettest, driest, windiest, coldest and most remote regions on earth. We live and work in Alaska.

June 22, 2010

SOLSTICE ON THE YUKON USHERS THE DAWN OF IN‐STREAM HYDROKINETIC ENERGY FOR AP&T IN EAGLE ALASKA

On June 21st, Alaska Power & Telephone Company, (AP&T) is poised to take an historic plunge in the Yukon River near the towns of Eagle and Eagle Village this week with the cutting edge deployment of Alaska’s first 25‐Kilowatt low‐impact hydrokinetic river turbine. The first of its type to be placed into commercial service, the in‐stream turbine, manufactured by New Energy Corp., is a 4‐blade vertical axis unit mounted on a floating platform. The slow spinning turbine (22 rpm max) produces no emissions, requires no dam and poses very little risk to marine life.

The native town of Eagle Village will likely become the first in America to become powered solely by a renewable river‐turbine hydrokinetic energy source. “One of the primary objectives of this project is the continued displacement of fossil fuel based energy within our company portfolio,” noted Ben Beste, AP&T’s lead project engineer. “In fifteen short years we’ve transitioned from 98 percent carbon‐based generation to a 70 percent renewable‐based platform.” If expanded, the project could displace up to 57,000 gallons of diesel generation fuel annually for the approximately 200 residents of the two Yukon River communities.

 Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Black Bear Lake Project becomes the first hydropower facility to earn LIHI certification in Alaska and the twenty-second nationwide.

PORTLAND, ME – (December 19, 2006) —The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced that at their December 14, 2006 meeting they certified the Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project as Low Impact. The Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project is a 4.5 Mw hydro project at Black Bear Lake on Prince of Wales Island, Tongass National Forest, Alaska. The Project is located about 8.6 miles east of Klawock. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Power and Telephone (APT), and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Total project costs were approximately $10 Million.

The Black Bear Lake Project meets LIHI's eight environmentally rigorous Low Impact criteria addressing river flows, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed health, endangered species protection, cultural resources, recreation use and access, and whether or not the dam itself has been recommended for removal. The Black Bear Lake Project became the first hydropower facility to earn LIHI certification in Alaska and the twenty-second nationwide.

The lake's spill elevation is 1687 feet msl, with a surface size of 215 acres. The lake is used as a reservoir, rather than using a dam, which is accomplished by using a siphon.. A siphon, which is set up on the crest of land at the edge of the lake, is used initially to draw water out of the lake. Once the siphon is established, water passes through both an HDPE and steel penstock to the valve house where flow can be turned on or shut off without losing the siphon. The valve house also has a bypass pipe for bypassing flows to the creek when additional water is needed in the anadromous reach below the powerhouse. When the valve is opened at the valve house, the water flows through approximately 4,900 feet of pipe, some of which is buried and other above ground, to the powerhouse and the turbine.

The water is pressurized by the amount of head the project has (i.e. 1,500 foot drop in elevation) and the small nozzle (needle) the water must pass through as it strikes the runner (a series of spoon-like protuberances on a wheel) in the turbine, which in turn turns the generator creating electricity.

The electricity then goes to the substation where a step-up transformer adjusts the current to the voltage that is wanted on the electrical grid,in this case 34.5 kV. Switchgear in the powerhouse is located in the office where the operations are monitored and adjusted to meet load demand. Operations are also set up to monitor them from a remote location (i.e. one or more of our central offices).

As mentioned, there are rainbow trout in the lake that were stocked there in the 50's. ADF&G had been concerned that the Project's annual drawdowns may be impacting the trout's sustainability by dewatering their spawning beds. Population surveys were conducted for 7 years and a habitat survey was conducted in 2002.

The Black Bear Lake Hydro Project consists of the following features:

(1). A 215 acre reservoir (Black Bear Lake) at elevation 1,687 with storage capacity of 3,200 acre feet

(2). A 600-foot-long Siphon, 30-inch-diameter HDPE penstock with a vacuum pump assembly and structure at the high point elevation of 1,695 msl.

(3). A 30-inch HDPE penstock with a total length of 4,900-feet (820-feet buried intake and siphon, 1,930-feet supported on concrete saddles, and 2,150-feet buried to the powerhouse).

(4). A 44-foot by 67-foot powerhouse with two horizontal Twin-Jet Pelton turbines operating with a gross head of 1,490-feet

(5). A 4.5-mile long 34.5 kV overhead transmission line

No New Snow Today, But Still Plenty of Snow!

Parking Lot at Klawock Heeyna Mall.  The car tracks lead to the covered pickup area.

It's so beautiful here!  No new snow today, but a high of 33 preserved what had fallen earlier this week.  It was fun to go out this morning and find the bear tracks and follow them up the road.  They are very obvious, with the toes showing.  The dogs were growling in the middle of last night, so must have heard or smelled it.  I wonder if s/he knows it's trash pickup day, and so follows the road checking trash cans for food.  Ours are bungied shut, and most people keep them in a little shed to keep the bears from making a mess.

I usually drive down the road to Craig after I drop off Kathy in the morning, to see how the waterfalls are doing, wondering if they will freeze overnight.  So far, they are all flowing as usual.  The sawmill on the edge of town, the only one left on the island, even looks ready for Christmas, it's mountains of wood shavings covered in snow.    

It's really pretty, like a Christmas card, with snow on all the tree branches and houses.  Tonight it's clear again, and the stars are extra bright.  The day started out clear, too, and the birds were all happy, even though the temperature was only 28 degrees.  

East side of our house

Hemlock Road in front of our house


And here is why we miss San Diego so much, not the weather!