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So it’s been awhile since I have entered anything in here, I guess you could say I been very busy and also have been very procrastination station. But what a summer so far, well summer slash a little bit of spring. I got to got to go to Pt Hope at the end of June for work and let me say it was still spring there. I went to recruit but got to go and subsist with Rex Rock Jr for Oogruks. So even if I missed Unk oogruk hunting I still got my fix as we ended up catching three I believe. Nothing like hunting till 4 am then having to go to work at 8 am A walrus catch and below me with a dead whale

The Russian River Combat wars!

Shanna checking out the action


Our idea of Camping :) Talk about hard truck bed

So on the fourth of July Shanna came down to anchorage and we made a road trip out of the whole weekend. She got to experience the Russian river and the falls but wasn’t highly impressed with combat fishing. What can ya say it’s difficult to adjust to standing side by side someone fishing when you’re used to having the whole river next to you. We didn’t get to keep any fish as we only caught like 2 or so. It was just nice to camp LOL and be in the outdoors as we ran in to a couple of bears while we were there.

Shanna at the Russian River Falls!! Hike Hike hike!!

Our fishing partner, we saw like 2 bears!

The fourth of July!!

After trying out the Russian we ran on down to Seward that night so we could immerse ourselves in their 4th of July festivities. Mainly the Mt. Marathon, it’s a huge thing here in AK as runner’s race up a steep hill up and down and I think is crazy!! We camped down by the glacier on the side of the river. It was a nice little set up and we quickly crashed out due to fishing all day.

Shanna at the Seward Festivities, you like her shirt!! Total Dietietian

After a good rest we made it down to all the festivities and there were tons of people down there!!! We got to see my friend Mori’s mom and sister finish up but we were really looking forward to watching Sam Hill run the race. Not only did we watch the race but it was a carnival atmosphere so we got our brats and Shanna got to check out the Starfish shirts. Well it was super hot down there! Mr. Hill ran a good race but ran in to some troubles on the way down but still did a really good job!!! The guy who was in first when they hit the streets collapsed!!! Crazy huh!!! He only need around 500 yards to finish and couldn’t make it….I couldn’t believe that. But it was a wonderful trip as we got to drive to Kenai, Seward and Anchorage. Afterwards it was the long trek back to Anchorage. What a great weekend, the next day Shanna had to leave me but I also had to leave AK too.

Sam Hill doing what he does best, running the Mt. Marathon


Penny Jack completing the race hats of to her!


Tons of people and tons of fun

Driving the ALCAN!!

So Shanna went back to Nome and I flew down to Seattle. My friend Kit, or Kitastrophe was waiting for me down there. The reason behind Seattle on a Sunday was Kit and I was driving his car up the ALCAN up to Alaska!!!

Couldn't pass up this photo Op

I love road trips and this one was very very fun!! We got to see all different sorts of wildlife but got to see beautiful scenery and also experience dementia due to the lack of sleep. All in all it took us 2 days to drive up. It was mainly around the clock although we did sleep for a couple of hours when either of us couldn’t go on. At the end of the trip Kit’s car looked like a bug threw-up on it because there was so much bugs on the front.

Along some random river

Can I be the next sign :)

My compadre Kit being photogenic!

We Saw lots of bears and these were 2 cute!

And Bison, crazy motorcyle man

And sheep, good thing i spit out my Stride gum

We made it to Alaska!!

Pt. Hope again For work!!

So got back to work and I got to go up to Pt hope again this time for the Economic summit where I held down a booth and had to get up in front of the leaders of the Northwest.

It says welcome to Pt Hope talk about a welcoming committee

Talk about nerve wracking!! I’m glad I didn’t have to sleep on the floor as Rex put me up and we go to hang out and we also got to see some good Eskimo dancing and great food. The hospitality room was always full of different native foods and I took advantage of all the great food there.

Professional Eskimo Dancer!!

Nome Days!!

So where are we um were at the end of July already. I left work a little early and flew out to Nome and hung out with Shanna for 6 days or so. Most of those days I was bed ridden as I got sick while I got there. I promise it wasn’t swine flu, I tried fishing but got skunked…it didn’t help that my rod was broken but I persevered. I got to watch Shanna play Softball and we also got to go out to the Spaghetti feed out at the GPAA camp. This camp is run by my aunt Cindy and uncle Tom and the food was good and got to visit Cindy and Tom for a little bit and meet some interested people while we were out there. Afterwards they have karaoke and also watch Kavik and Jon do Alaska games as the tourist were mesmerized by this J The day we were leaving she ran the Dexter Challenge. This is a grueling 8 mile run with a big mountain in the middle of it. Shanna got second place for the girls this year as she got to run with Spalding!!! Shanna and I had to part ways in Anchorage as she went to Denver and Kansas and I hung out in Anchorage for a few days before I went on down to Kenai for my friend Beavers wedding.

Shanna and my Aunt Cindy at the camp

Uncle Tom has go go go gold fever!!

Me helping out with the auction

Shanna's Dexter Challenge

Shanna and Spalding finishing hard!! Your so good baby!!

Beaver and Roxy's Wedding!!

I made it down there on Tuesday and bright and early the next day at 3:45 am we tried our hand at King fishing but our controller broke down so we had to switch over to fishing for reds off the bank. All in all that day we caught around 19 fish down on the banks and had a great time.

A bunch of Reds, all day baby!!

The next day I went dip netting with Noyuk and his girlfriend and that was fun!! We caught around 11 as when the tide came in the fish were too far out to catch. That night a majority of the guys came in and we fished some more. The next couple of days were for the wedding as Beaver and Roxy had a beautiful wedding. The weather was perfect, a lot of people showed up and the wedding was great.

Beautiful Wedding....

They had it down at Kenai landing and the reception was there also so everything worked out. Roxy look beautiful and Beaver well looked like Beaver. I would like to say congratulations to Mr and Mrs. Jon Madison. As for the next adventure I am heading out to Unalakleet to try my hand at Silver fishing..Can’t wait!!

Congrats Beaver and Roxy!!

Holy Smokes...got any updates S&S????

Sorry it has been so long since Sam and I's last update. And so much has happened!

I have become a lifeguard. I have travelled to Denver for work and then some personal leave. Pics to follow! We also had a thunderstorm this past week in Nome. Nome never has any thunderstorms, only snow storms! Being from tornado and thunderstorm alley (in Kansas) I totally miss evening thunderstorms. It was so nice to hear....ahhhh...it brings back my childhood memories!

Sam is on an extended leave right now for fishing...I mean a wedding that happened to extend his time out. He is going to be in a tux and I don't even get to see him look so handsome. Maybe the next time he wears one...it will be my wedding! :) hahaha

The reason I will not get to see him in it is because I will be in Kansas without him and actually at my own wedding...a childhood boyfriends! :)

I thought I would drop a new blog just in case anyone checks out our blog and sees this....

I just now signed up for my 2nd Marathon!!! yikes! The big race will be another Rock n Roll Marathon but in San Antonio, TX, November 15, 2009. Any takers on training and running it with me??? :)

Below are just a few pics of my trip to Denver. I got to hang out with my girlfriend from college, Kim Peterson. She is getting married in 3 weeks. It was such a nice visit. It is so amazing how we don't see each other for 2 years, but we were able to just pick up from where we left off just like we saw each other yesterday or last week. While in Denver I went to a Rockies game with her and Cory. I drove to Mt. Evan's (one oft he 14,000 ft mountains and I drove to the TOP!) SCARY!!! :) My sister comes out on Wednesday to get me...so more to come.

Here are some pics too of some of my favorite things. This is some king crab that my favorite guy, Roger T. gave me. He got paid with crab for a job and he was great to share 3 with me! YUM!

I also get a box of organic fresh fruit and veggies every two weeks from Washington for $45...and well it was absolutely yummy and so beautiful this past week! I love my box of F&V!!

Oh, AND I ran a 8mile race before jumping on the plane to Anchorage/Denver on Saturday, July 25th. I got a pathetic 2nd in the Women's division. :) Sam has these pics though!

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.

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!!