It is hard to believe I have been here over a month. It is even harder to believe I am in Alaska with the current weather conditions. It has rained all day and was in the 40's. There is no snow on the ground and I am afraid I will wake to a big ice rink tomorrow. Last year there was 5 feet of snow on the ground by this time. The weather even put some of my Christmas break plans on hold. I had hoped to go dog sledding and ice fishing but with such little snow and warm temps it wasn't ideal conditions for either. I spent Christmas with my friends in Anchorage (from the ferry) We had a great time filled with baking, shopping, relaxing and eating. Luckily there was more snow in Anchorage so on Christmas day we went to the Chugach state park did a little snow shoeing. We did a 3.5 mile hike and I only fell once. It was fun but very exhausting. We did not see any wildlife but the scenery was amazing.
I also spent a day and went up to Hatchers Pass. It is just a few miles from my house and is a mountain pass through the Talkeetna Mountains. There is an old mining town at the top. It was a sunny day and there were a lot of people skiing and sledding. They just pull over and go down the side of a mountain. I can't wait till spring, I hear that is absolutly beautiful up there with a lot of good hiking.
These are some cabins you can stay in at the top of the pass.
I spent new years at a coworkers house. We had fresh fried halibut, salmon chowder and ceviche but I can't remember the type of fish. It was all so wonderful. I took pickle dip and it was a huge hit. They set off a bunch of fireworks and so did all the neighbors. New years is a big firework time here mostly due to the fact that there is more than 22 hours of daylight in July.
I did a few other touristy things while on break. I used a friend's daughters school project as an excuse but I had a lot of fun. There is a reindeer farm and a musk ox farm in Palmer. They are both closed for the season but the reindeer can be seen from the road. The people at the musk ox farm were nice enough to let me come out and take some pictures and pet a 6 month old. They are really cute. They can get as big as 1000 lbs but this baby was only around 200. They spend a lot of time with them and that is why they are tame. This little guy ran up to me like a dog and loved his nose rubbed. I can't wait to go back in the spring.
This is a picture of a mature musk ox I got off the web so you could see what they look like.
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I loved having the 2 weeks off but was ready to go back and meet more friends. I started at a 2nd school this week and everyone there is just as nice and helpful. It is also an elementary. The school is older but my room is 3x the size. I am really liking my school position and being in Alaska. Now if it would just snow a little...
