PRIME TIME IN ALASKA

As many of you know, we bought a boat named PRIME TIME in Seattle right after I retired from the Air Force in 1991and spent a couple of summers on it in Alaska.  And what a time we did have.  In cleaning out the storage area of our house, the photo albums got looked at.  I could not resist pulling some of the old pictures from cruising in Alaska and scanning them.  Below are just a FEW of the pictures - click on any picture to get a larger view.

This is our boat PRIME TIME the last summer (1994) we owned it.  We are anchored in Frosty Bay on our way to Wrangle, AK.  It was just the right boat for Connie and I.  We had two staterooms with heads in both, but only a shower in the main stateroom.  It was 40 feet in length although the harbor master at Hoonah always charged us for a 46 foot boat because of the bow spirit and swim platform took up that much room at his dock!  We had lots of company who came to enjoy the fishing and scenery of Alaska.   

We stopped a lot and took hikes where we could.  The bears were not out here Anan Bear Observatory, but the trail was nice and it was good to stretch our legs on this hike.  You can see I always hiked with a 12 gauge shotgun with bear loads in it.  (The plug was out and I alternated #2 buckshot and slug ammo in the magazine.)

The photo here is of a bear track with a 12 gauge magnum shotgun shell in the center of it to give you an idea of how big this bear was.  This is the only time I ever took the safety off the gun when we were coming back from the hot spring pictured below and had a bear making noise in the brush above us.  Zeke our dog was growling, the bear was snapping his teeth and we were just trying to get around him although we could not see him. He was afraid of Zeke we always said.  We did encounter a number of bears in the two years we were up there, most just took off.  But a couple of times it made us a little nervous.  Zeke was never scared of them though.

This is our boating buddy Zeke.  He was born and raised in the Fairbanks area.  Alaskan through and through and the smartest dog we have ever had.

This is the hot springs we hiked into.  What a great place to spend the afternoon.  You controlled the temperature by how much cold water you allowed to come out of the pipe from the creek.  I think Connie needed to get out in the sun more.  Zeke was pretty good at taking pictures though.

This is Connie's sister on the left and Heather and Ethan who came up with her for a visit. They are doing "touristy" things around Juneau.  I know this because I matched the date with my log book from the boat.  It reads:  "Connie and company did touristy things and I painted the lazarette".  There is always more to do on a boat than there is time to do it.

Wendy reeling in a salmon that I am about to net.

I am netting a fish for Heather with ET looking on.

Connie and Ethan when he came up with his grandfather the year before.

Connie with a king salmon.

Ethan with a nice halibut.  From my log book - "Left Tracy Arm about 0730 and headed into Fredrick Sound.  Got to watch a few whales by Pt. Gambler.  Stopped and did some fishing near the entrance of Pybus Bay.  Ethan caught the biggest with a 40 pounder.  Had to keep one of Wendell's because it swallowed the hooks.  Anchored for the night in Cannery cove.  The wind was really blowing when we came in."

 

Ethan and Zeke taking a nap.

A good fishing day.

I will post more of our Alaska boating adventures soon.

SLEDDING DOWN OUR DRIVEWAY

Carl, Deb, and kids talked Connie into doing some sledding down our driveway today.  They seemed to have a good time.  I took a few pictures and a movie or two.  Below are some of the pictures.  Movie maybe later.

Cold around here and forecast to remain the same.  Not much snow in forecast either.  Bummer.

CHRISTMAS DAY SKIING

We went skiing with Ike and Brenda as we usually do on Christmas Day.  The powder was great and we stayed longer than usual.  Then came back to our place for a big nice dinner.  It was just a great day and evening.

Christmas eve we were down at my brother's place for the annual family get together, gift exchange, and steal-a-gift fun.  Great seeing everyone and had a lot of fun.

Hope you all had a great Christmas.

The tree skiing was just great.

Frosty little trees.

One of the highest points at our little Mom and Pop ski resort. 

And had to put this picture in as Dell the cat likes to get under the rug in front of the fire, in fact she just likes to get under any rug or bedspread. 

Good Powder Day

I went skiing today and it was a great powder day.  They had received 7 inches of new snow overnight and it was still snowing.  Plus, chair 4 had to close yesterday because of winds so it did not get skied out.  I was lucky and was able to put down first tracks on a couple of runs.  Powder nearly up to my knees over at chair 4.  The bad news was my old body is a little out of shape and I had to stop to rest my legs a lot more that I am used to doing.  By early afternoon my legs were rubber and I was just beat so called it a day.  Did not take very many pictures as most of the time I was skiing all by myself on runs.  Hardly anyone was there.  Never had to stand in line or call "single".  Well I did stand in line for the first ride up the lift in the morning on chair one.  Below are the two pictures I did take.

While resting my legs on the Lewis and Clark run I took this picture of my tracks.

This was the best visibility I saw at the top when there was a break in the clouds.  Everything is covered in frost up there.

TOOK MY CAMERA FOR A WALK

We had a few inches of snow yesterday and last night so I took my camera for a walk or two today and recorded what our forest looks like after a new snow.  The snow we had was pretty high in the moisture content so tended to stick to the trees.  I was going skiing today but the resort only had a "skiff" of new snow so decided to stay home.  Will go tomorrow and do some social skiing with Ike and Brenda.  Connie will for sure go.

This is Mill Creek Canyon which is directly across the valley from our upper fire pit.  A little fog in the valley.

Click to enlarge the photos and these are from the upper fire pit.

The snow on the trees and rocks has always impressed me.

The cabin.

The snow on the dormer roof sliding down onto the roof below.

Santa wanting into the house through the sliding glass door.

 This hill is called "C" butte and has the letter C on for Corvallis. As a freshman, we had to go up and paint the C.

 

An old pondarosa pine.

Sagebrush flat.

 

The above photo has what we call "snow fleas" on the snow and below is a close up.  They are actually springtails which help break down organic material.  Click to enlarge.

Picture of the west side from the east side.

MORE SNOW FALLING IN MONTANA

We are getting quite a bit of snow here in Montana.  It snowed pretty well all day here but the snow was not that heavy so did not amount to more than 5 or 6 inches.  Was really nice walking in the snow this morning though.  We are so lucky to have such a great place to walk.  Quite a few fresh elk tracks this morning also.  We spent a lot of today working on making Christmas cookies and getting some last minute things done for the holidays.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

Connie and Zeph on our walk this morning.

The wet heavy snow made snowballs on Zeph's long hairs on the backs of his legs.

The view from the "Church" this afternoon.

This dog loves to have his picture taken and poses when you get the camera out.

The horses down in the meadow.

A close up of a rosebush.

Connie catching one of her horses to doctor it.  And this horse hates her medicine so does not always cooperate.  The horse's name is Baylee and as most of you know, this is Connie's favorite horse - but not mine.