Tuesday, June 9, 2009

So the weather here has finally gotten better this enabled me to go outside to take some pictures and also I got to go for a ride down to the port. The port is located 53 miles away from the main mine site. So alot of times there is ample wildlife, earlier in the day I missed out on some bear cubs that were hanging out on the port road. So I had to zoom zoom the bears we did see. I have a day till I depart and I am overjoyed in that. Its kelp time in Unalakleet but I think they maybe all done by the time I am out of here.



A bear chillin on the tundra






Ore trucks haul the final product to the port to be shipped out





Ok so i resized this pictures and they make them look weird so this is the last one i am going to resize :)


Momma moose shaking it like a salt shaker




B&W, she's thinking great the papparazi again



She doesn't look very happy





The port is still enclosed with ice, i was out there singing " Ice ice baby"




A bear that is happy not to be asleep







The times of spring, B&W



The weather is still beautiful
Until next time everyone be safe.

Monday, June 1, 2009

It's June and May was grand!!!

Finally Post a Blog ah bart!!
So I been lacking at the blog but to tell you the truth i been really busy with work and non-work stuff, but I am back at work right now for another 9 days...wow how fast the week has been. Anyways back at work and let me tell you the Alaska Weather is weird!! One week it's hot out, then the next it's snowing now it's raining. Why can't mother nature just make up her mine about what she wants to throw at us... Will it be snowing again next week or are we going to finally enjoy a summer and this rain isn't that supposed to be in the fall? So back at work and am excited to depart here and head back to
Me at work enjoying a cup of Joe :) Nome, I think this time out I may go through Anchorage to do a little shopping, see my nephew and grab some fishing supplies.
It's snowing!! Crazy mother nature...shame on you :)
So back to my last Nome trip, it was a wonderful time last time visiting the place of one of the famous gold rushes in US history. So before I start the whole story I have to include that I bought a new camera so from now on I will have you pix elated in the pictures because this thing takes fab pictures plus I love it :) Last time out i took like 600 pictures :) so much room on my computer and 2gb card.
So here is the new Nikon D90 beware of me making you look hot :)
So Nome was beautiful when I got there, but onceI got there i got bird fever :) OK not really but I really wanted to go out and hunt and subsist and I got this sudden urge to be outdoors...so Shanna bought a Remington 870 20 gauge shotgun!! It was awesome as i got to go outdoors and actually lived like my ancestors hunting and living off the land, of course minus the shotgun, camera, mountain hardwear jacket, car, A&F hat...OK so you get the point...but while out there I saw many different types of birds and what not but most of all I think Shanna's dog loved having me there because he was able to go out and run...Spalding loves to run all the time and tell me so by giving me the look of let's run :)
Spalding the wannabe Iditarod dog!! Loves to run!!

OK so i finally get to go out hunting and while I squibbed a couple of times i finally got the hang of it and bagged my first birds of the season, two healthy Canadian geese. So this is the hard part, one I dropped on the tundra, the other fell on the other side of the lake :) the lake was covered with Marsh and creeks so I decided to go home and get a rod and reel and also Shanna and her boots :) So I try diligently to cast and catch the bird with the rod and reel but to no avail I can't catch it so I finally lose the hook in the grass, so that bird really cost me about 5 bucks from outfitters then you add the shells, my time :) so Shanna wanted to test the limits of her boots and she got close to going over her boots and finally the water prevailed and made it in to her boots. So long story short she really wanted that goose :) She walked in the mucky water up to her knees with her boots full and got the goose :)


Shanna revealing our Catch....yum yum goose!!
So there were other birds there and Shanna tried her cool hand luke sneaking some geese but the geese were on a hill and were able to spot her, as you could see her red hat matched well with the red bushes but these geese must have had 20/20 vision because they left pretty quick...so one goose we crock potted, and the other goose we gave to an elder in Nome since it was Shanna's first retrieval :) no actually we told her we would give her a goose and she was the happiest person in Nome that day!! I felt warm inside and a I believe Shanna did too....

So that was the first hunting story, as for the rest of the day we went Garage saleing!!!!! There is ever some neat stuff in Nome, i purchased 2 water proof cases, a jerry jug with a gallon of fuel, and Shanna bought a new bike....this was a 1984 Cannondale bike which are the top bikes i guess made and she really loves it...
Above you could see Shanna riding it, there's another story on riding it that I'll get to here in a bit but there is still more stuff I have to tell you...kind of like a prequel picture...so after totally making a killing on the hunting and garage saleing we decided to visit Esther and Larry and their kids are so cute!!! Levi and Sienna were there and me and Larry even got a good conversation about hunting birds...cause you know that's what men do!!! Esther got to see my new camera and I got to see hers....also Sienna quickly befriend Shanna, I wish you could say the same about me but she's a little afraid so being the part where men stick together Levi wasn't afraid of me at all, cute kid !!

Levi and Shanna chillaxin!!!

So another thing i failed to mention is that we went and watched Nome tales!! A play put on by the kids that attend the anvil science academy and did they ever put on a good show!!! So Saturday we had people over for Sheefish, goose and pasta, time flew by as we at the goose and sheefish as everyone enjoyed themselves and we enjoyed the company.

The big race was on Sunday!!!
So Shanna entered the Stroke and Croak triathlon in Nome on Sunday so the course was swim a mile, run 4 miles and bike 8 miles!! Talk about long ways to do all that stuff, I guess that's why they call it the Stroke and Croak!! So Shanna was in the second heat and I was her entourage, camera man, helper, counter and support team. The first was the counter for swimming her laps. I can't imagine doing all those laps!! Yikes after completing her laps which she completely swam like a fish, the running portion was next, so me being me I hopped in the car and took pictures and encouraged her along the way.

Getting ready to Swim!!



Shanna braving the heat on the run to town!!
So Shanna ran the 4 miles in a good time and it was off to her biking abilities, I definitely think her ran gave her a chance to be in contention for the top spot, also I believe her support team was very vital to this too. But the biking picture farther up was from her race too but I thought it was relevant to put it in there to show off her purchase. So after all was said and done Shanna completed the Triathlon in 1st place!!! She ran it in 1:54 and the second place person got 1:55 so she beat her by a minute and half. Way to go Shanna!!!



Ceder and Shanna going for a walk in Banner Creek
So that was the first part of the day, the rest of the day was relaxation out at Banner creek visiting Laureli and Fen Kinneens place to enjoy the nice spring day with a barbecue. Also Simon & Family, Mori and Kris and family, Moriah and Erika joined us out there. It was a wonderful time as the Kinneens have a nice and peaceful place. The food was Delicious and the company was great!! We also got to hang out at the river, throwing rocks and chatting. The time flew while we were out there. Fen made a good hamburger as they used alder branches that gave them a nice intense smoke flavor, and Kris made a delightful Sheefish pesto!! So below are pictures of the barbecue as everyone enjoyed themselves.
Sidney smiling after a great dinner!!



Sheefish pesto!! Mmmm


Cedar Justine playing in the puddle!!
So after having a nice barbecue dinner Shanna and I decided to run home real fast and go out camping down towards safety and Solomon. While up here at work I had won a inflatable mattress that fits in a SUV and Shanna's car seats fold up so we could turn the back in to a bed. Talk about nice, not only are we warm but dry and had a wonderful time out there, there were tons of Swans out there. Don't worry Swan lovers I didn't shoot any, actually didn't catch anything I missed my chance at geese. Spalding got to run alot again and it was nice just sitting out there on the tundra watching flocks of geese, ducks, swans and cranes fly.


Tundra Swans just waking up!
So after the week was over Shanna had to go back to work but on Tuesday we went for a walk looking for beach glass on the Golden sands of Nome and found some nice glass but it was really nice out and I had good company. So now I am up at work and I depart in little over a week. I am looking forward to my break and hope everyone is doing safe.


A crab that never made the deadliest catch. Or my plate


Shanna happy as she could be!!


Go Go Gold fever!!