Kristie, Kristie How Does Your Garden Grow?

With the massive heat wave that's been going on in Alaska, my garden has been growing! The flowers are in full bloom, as are the tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins. Today's high, at the Calvin's place, was 99 degrees. I think it may... have been actually a degree or two cooler, since the themometer was directly in the sun for a few minutes. This evening, the sky seemed to cloud over and the temperature dropped to 90. However, when I went outside to photograph my garden, I saw that the sky is a bright orange from the glow of a forest fire south of Fairbanks. Either way, my garden is growing! 

 

 

North Pole Fire!

This evening, while cooking dinner, I looked outside and saw quite a bit of smoke and ash falling. I went outside and the smoke was so thick. I called Alaska State Troopers and told them where I lived. They said a fire had started not from our house and that we should pack up and evacuate. Mike and I threw the cats in the car and headed out. When we got to the corner by the fire station, we saw a fire fighter and asked him if we needed to leave. He said that we should be okay to stay. So, we turned around, went home, ate some dinner and then went out to take pictures of the fire.

 North Star Volunteer Fire Department (around the corner from our house) is ready to go!

 Planes flew over our house to drop "stuff" on the fire.

 They were so close to the tree line that it was amazing!

 A lone firefighter unpacks equipment near the blaze.

 Crews on the scene work hard to contain the fire.

 Just yesterday, over 100 hotshot crews from Oregon arrived to help with Interior fires.

Drive to Delta

Today is Monday, June 24th.  Do you realize that exactly 6 months from today will be Christmas Eve?  That is exactly what I was thinking when I looked at our thermometer which read 91 degrees this afternoon. 

To escape the heat and to keep from thinking about the inevitable (Winter), Mike and I hopped in the car at precisely 5:06 p.m. and drove 90 miles SE of Fairbanks to Delta Junction, Alaska.  We had a very leisurely dinner and then did some mild exploring of the area. 

One of the nice things about this drive (to and from) are the beautiful views of the Alaska Range to the south and the almost guarantee of seeing some form of wildlife (mostly moose) and the flowers!  Below are some of the things we saw on our impromptu trip to Delta.

 

Midnight Sun Weekend!

The last week has been full  of fun for Mike and me.  We have attended several Goldpanner baseball games in the evening and went on some great walks.  Our biggest hike was 14 miles to Lee's Cabin in the White Mountains.  The hike takes us through beautiful territory with great views of the mountains ranges to the north and the south.  Swarms of mosquitoes greeted us with bites and itches through the full 7 hours of our hike.  

This weekend was full of activities celebrating the Summer Solstice.  Mike and I participated in a couple of the events.  On Saturday night, we walked the Midnight Sun Run, a 10k that begins at 10:00 p.m.  Unfortunately, we were a little slower this year.  We were only able to walk a 17 minute mile, which means that we finished in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  This is almost 15 minutes slower than last year.  I guess we better get into shape for next year's run!  Of course, one of the features of the Midnight Sun Run was the costumes.  I've included some of pictures of the best costumes.

After getting home at 2:00 a.m. from the run, Mike and I slept in on Sunday morning and nursed our sore feet.  However, by 1:00 p.m., we found our way to downtown Fairbanks to enjoy the Midnight Sun Festival which ran from Noon to Midnight.  We enjoyed food and shopping from the many street vendors.  However, after 3 hours of wandering the streets of Fairbanks, we were tired from the heat (90 degrees) and called it a day.

The Midnight Sun Weekend is such a happy time celebrating the longest day of the year.  However, as I wrap up this blog, I write with great sadness that we begin losing daylight today.  While it begins slowly, it will spiral out of control until December 21st when we will have a measly 2 hours of daylight.  Okay, let's not think about that until at least October.

Bye for now!

Lee's Cabin 14 Mile Hike

Backpacks are loaded (even with bear spray) and ready to go!

Our first stop was 4 miles into the hike for a water and snack break.

The view from our first stop.

Arctic Lupine

Keep those feet moving, we have 10 more miles to go!

Dwarf Dogwood

Halfway through the hike with only 7 more miles to go.

Wild baby blueberries.  I think I know where I'll be picking this summer!

Midnight Sun Run

Saturday, June 22nd

10:30 p.m. to 11:45 p.m.

10k or 6.2 miles

At the beginning, Mike and I were all smiles!

Anyone need to go to the bathroom?  If so, it's going to be a long wait!

Midnight Sun Costumes

Dutch Harbor Alaskan Crab Fishing Boat

Jolly Rogers Pirates look quite menacing!

 That is some deranged moose!

Cheese heads!

The Race

With over 3,900 people in the race, 

it took a while to actually get to the starting line.

Feeling good at mile 1.  Tired, achy feet at the end.

Midnight Sun Festival

Sunday, June 23rd

Noon to Midnight

Creepy creatures roamed around the Midnight Sun Festival.

This thing scared me as I was buying a t-shirt.

I actually hit him in the arm and told him to leave me alone.

Then, I played nice and let him have his picture taken with me.

With the temperature hitting 90, Mike and I headed to the car for a little

air conditioning before going home for the day.

Unexpected Visitor

Mike and I awoke to a surprise visitor this morning.  This moose was resting on top of our septic tank. After a short rest, he/she got up and walked toward my garden. In panic, I ran through the house yelling, "That moose better not touch my cabbage!" Fortunately, for the moose, he/she walked right past my cabbage and went for the leaves on the trees.