moose crossing

I was warned by everyone when I got here to watch out for the moose. I was told hundreds are hit on the roads every year. Well I was watching and watching and watching but I never saw any. I was starting to think I might be on a snipe hunt. Then  all of the sudden there they were. I have been seeing several every day lately. I have also had a few close calls on the road. Some one needs to teach them to cross at the signs and to look both ways before crossing. They tend to just dart out of the trees and throw caution to the wind. Due to their size and shape they are much more dangerous than deer. They have long spindly legs which puts their large body above most car hoods so they shoot straight into the windshields.

 

I was also out shoveling my steps and a mom and baby strolled by for a snack just a hundred feet away or so.

 

then another one pops up behind the storage shed.

 

the mom wasn't too happy with the new neighbor

and chased it right back into the woods.

it was like I was in the middle of a national geographic episode.

 

The funniest animal I have encountered so far has to be the crow on steroids AKA the raven. They are HUGE!  They also like to play in the strong winds. You can frequently see them diving and tossing about in the wind like a kite.

The cutest still has to be the musk ox. Maybe because I got to pet him. I can't wait to go back in this spring and see more of them. This one is just about mid thigh high but the adults get to be 1000lbs

 

Here comes the sun!!

January went very fast and was unseasonable warm with very little snow. There was 5 more feet of snow at that time last year. We did miss a day of school due to weather which is very unheard of here. Only in Alaska due they cancel school due to warm weather. It got up to 40 and everything started to melt and then got cold quickly and turned the roads into ice rinks, literally! (The picture is from the local paper that day)

I also had a girls weekend in anchorage with some new friends to visit and see the new house of another girl. We had dinner at a little French café. I have quickly learned that Alaska is not the place to come for fine dining. This food was ok but nothing to write home about (even though I am). As you can see from the picture we tried practically every dessert. We were soo full we just went back to Christine's and watched movies and play with her 2 great dogs. It was really nice just to hang out and talk. Christine also blessed me with a bunch of fresh halibut they had caught. I like salmon but love halibut!

I also went to a Superbowl party at a fellow OT's house. Unbeknownced to me I was in the company of not 1 but 2 local celebrities. Ron, the host, has been on Alaska State troopers. He was out ice fishing and they checked his licence. Matt, the husband of another OT works at a school in anchorage and was in their commercial. I also wore my chiefs shirt just for laughs...or maybe it was a peak into next years game. We made sushi and had a crazy game of ping pong involving swamps and crevasses, and a Foosball tournament. Oh yeah, we also watched the game and commercials but luckily it was on DVR so we didn't have to sit through the power outage.

 

It is getting lighter here at a pretty fast rate. We are already past 9 hours a day. It used to be dark when I drove home from work at 4:15 but today I had to wear my sunglasses!

 There are also a lot of winter festivals  going on. Last weekend the iron dog started. It is a big snow machine race across Alaska. I got to drive out onto a big lake which was a little weird especially as I passed the no wake sign. This coming weekend starts  Fur Rendezvous in anchorage. It is the kick off party for the iditarod. I don;t want to spoil the surprise of future posts but there will be trail-gating with pink flamingos and running with (or from) the reindeer.

This is a shot from the middle of Big Lake.