Texas Time

I just got back from visiting Texas (as most of you know!) and really enjoyed being home. I didn't really enjoy the weather (snow, no sun--just like being in Sitka!), but I had a great time. MC is home now getting some hunting in before he heads back here for Christmas. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for sending such great Christmas pictures to us! I have them out on our table for all to see! I don't have any pics now, but I'll be posting something soon. As a welcome home present for me, Mother Nature let it snow last night so it's been a beautiful wintery day today. I don't mind snow--just not in Texas!!! :) Happy holidays to everyone!

Winter fun

We bought a sled today to enjoy the snow. Deuce thinks that it is a giant frisbee and also wants to sled with me (we were not successful with that!). We had a great time. I love living where it snows!

Yesterday was a terrible weather day. The power of the ocean is really amazing! I tried to take a picture of how choppy it was yesterday, but it really didn't do it justice. The pic came out nicely, though.

Snow!

Last night it started snowing so we went out to play a little. The second pic is what the area behind our house looked like yesterday afternoon. The top pic was this morning. Not much, maybe an inch, but still enough to look nice. All the kids were out sledding down the little hill today. The dogs are totally cool with it. Deuce was a little iffy at first, but then he started catching snowballs! It is really SO beautiful here. Today MC and I were driving into town and two eagles were flying right next to us. I wish I would have had my camera. I can't wait for everyone to come visit and see this for themselves!

Snow is coming

I was excited about the mountains getting snowy, but now it's really starting to get white! It was in the 30s this morning, and they are saying in might snow on Saturday! I guess we'll see...

Alaska Day 2009

Alaska Day is a big celebration in Sitka, marking the turning over of Alaska to the US from Russia. They have a big parade, and yes-it was suprisingly big. All the Coasties marched in it, and I managed to snap a pic of MC as he was walking by. The 60s also did a flyover the parade route (the main area downtown) with a couple of Army helicopters. Here are a few pics from the parade.

Columbus Day weekend

We both had off yesterday and today, so we really enjoyed our Columbus day weekend. Watched lots of football and laid on the couch yesterday, but we did take the time to walk over the bridge to town to Castle Hill (well...Paco and I walked over with a friend while Deuce and MC watched the progress of NFL football). Castle Hill is the site where they did the official giving over of Alaska from Russia to the US (the pic with all of the colorful trees). This coming weekend is the celebration of that day (called Alaska Day) so there are a lot of events going on this week and next weekend.

Today was absolutely gorgeous so we went for a hike with the dogs on the Indian River trail. Once again, Deuce's lab instincts kept him in the water more than on land. He was okay until the river started taking him downstream too fast. He made it out, though. Enjoyed the walk and are enjoying the sunny weather.

Fall is here and winter is coming

There has been noticably more snow on the mountains this week, so we went on a ride to take some pics today and ended up on an impromptu hike at Beaver Creek Lake. The dogs LOVE hiking. We hadn't been on that trail before and it was quite steep in places and quite narrow in others (as you can see in the pic with me). The dogs had no problems!

John Brown's Beach

It was a GORGEOUS day here in Sitka. It was sunny all day (first time in about three weeks), but quite cold. There was ice on MC's windshield this morning, so the temperature is definitely dropping here! We decided to take the dogs to John Brown's Beach, which is on the base. They had a blast and Deuce would not stop swimming. Clearly the cold ocean water doesn't bother him at all.

MC's Camping Trip

MC went on a camping trip this weekend at a nearby island. The forest service here rents out these really great cabins on neighboring islands for very cheap. The guys had a good time. Did a little duck hunting (no kills to report) and relaxing. Saturday morning they had a visitor at the campsite-a bear! The pics above are the bear walking on the beach in front of the cabin. They shooed him away and then he went over one of the guy's rafts and popped it! Thought you guys would enjoy pics from the encounter.

Juneau

MC had a class in Juneau this week, so I joined him on Thursday and we came back on Saturday on the fast ferry. The one picture is of the inside of the ferry. I think all of us Texans just picture the Port A ferry when we hear that word, so I wanted to let you guys see how we are riding in style. I also have a video that MC took of how the fast ferry moves. It's by turbines (for any of you who are interested in that kind of stuff! :)). The rest of the pics are from our time in Juneau. The main point of my visit was stocking up at Costco and Walmart, so I didn't have much time to sightsee. We did get to see the Mendenhall Glacier while we were there, which is very beautiful. Sorry about the thumb in the pic of us. I guess I shouldn't have asked an 85 year old woman to take our pic!

Pictures of the new place

So I finally put some pics up of the house. The first pic is the view from our grocery store, which is right on the water. The next two are the front and back of our house. Note MC and I are dressed in Sitka-wear, which is raincoat and Extra-tuffs, which are super awesome rainboots. The last pic is the view from our backyard. Isn't it gorgeous???

New House

So we are finally in our new house. YAY! About time! We got to move in last Thursday and are already settled in. Every box has been unpacked and everything is set up. Now we can relax and enjoy our new place. No pics this time, but we will post something new shortly!

Hike to Heart Lake

Today we took the dogs on a hike. The trails up here are the only places they can be off of the leash. They LOVED it. Deuce ran through every stream and checked out every waterfall on the way up. Then both Paco and Deuce swam at the lake. They didn't even notice the water was cold (and it was 55 degrees out). Since we've been back they haven't moved! On the hike up we did see lots of bear scat on the trails, but we bought the dogs bear bells so we didn't run into any unexpected company. That's a good thing!

A little update

Not much has been happening here, so I haven't really blogged in a while. We're just settling in and loving it here. Not in our house yet, but hopefully soon. Maybe that's why I've been putting off posting something because I thought I would be able to post our new address and pics of our house! Keep your fingers crossed for us. I went to Anchorage earlier this week for some training for my job. It's very laid-back and of course, beautiful. They have tons of float planes that dock at this lake near where I stayed so I took some pics of that. The other pics I'm posting are just some random pics from this week. We are really enjoying it here, meeting people, and really starting to feel at home. Sitka is a great town!