Heather, Glen & Juliet Visit

In July 2010, daughter Heather came with her husband Glen and their 6-month baby Juliet. Glen was working at BP and came up to Alaska for a mixture of business and pleasure.
We spent the 2 weeks before they arrived going round garage sales to buy second-hand baby stuff. We got a cot, a bouncy chair, baby bath, and a car seat, so she was well-equipped for her stay. We will take it all back to UK when we go so that it is there for future grand-children.


They had a good time, and during the 2+ weeks, they went to the 4th of July Parade, Alaska Zoo, sailed on the Kenai Fiords, went to the Alaska Sea-Life Centre, went rock-climbing, tested all the best restaurants, and climbed the Flat-Top Mountain. We were very pleased to be baby-sitters during their more strenuous activities. The Alaska Summer was a shock for the Texans as they had to go into the clothes shops for warm pullovers and coats, as their Texas wardrobes were just not warm enough.


This pic is Juliet on the boat cruise, when she discovered that she could bang a plasic cup on the table and make a loud noise. Her designer clothes came from a big bag of baby stuff that someone was getting rid of and were selling on Craig's List (a US classified ads website). we bought 2 lots, 6 and 12 months old, for $25 each. Bargain, as they were all high quality designer threads!




We are now clearing up after the visit, and the house was full of baby stuff. It is amazing how a baby can take you over. Sadly we may not see them now until Christmas, which is a long time in a baby's life.

It is now official that Alan's assignement ends at Christmas and he is returning to his old job. Last chance for anyone who wants to see Alaska to book some time with us. Give us a call or email smseabrooke@gmail.com.


Alan and Sylvia

Cousin Geoff and Carol's Visit

June was a big month as my cousin Geoff and his wife Carol came to stay with us. They live in New Zealand and we had not seen them for 30 years. They were on a tour of Alaska and Canada, and their itinerary included South-East Alaska with us, a rail/land trip to Fairbanks and back, and a cruise from Skagway to Vancouver. They were then going to tour British Columbia in a borrowed RV before flying home at the end of July.

During our trip to Homer, Seward, and Girdwood, we had a great time looking at the sights and the highlight was a nature cruise along Resurrection Bay from Seward. It gets its name because the Russians arrived on Good Friday.

This picture shows us alongside the Kenai River, where we rented a couple of rooms in a lodge. We were out for a walk after a 2 hour drive from Anchorage to stretch our legs. It was 10pm when we took this shot.


Our visit to Homer was superb, with beautiful scenery and huge fish.

This one took a lot of work to land but Geoff is an expert fisherman.

This boat trip was marvellous and the wildlife were queuing up to show off to the onlookers. These were stellar sealions basking on the rocks. The more important you are in the sealion pecking order, the higher you can go up the rocks.

Finally we went via cable car to the top of Mt Alyeska where we had a scenic lunch in the skiers cafe and watched as people were still snow-boarding in the middle of June.


We hope to return the compliment by spending some time in New Zealand in the near future. For the moment, we are having a rest until our next guests arrive in a weeks time.

Alan & Sylvia

Adventures

Regular blog readers will be wondering why the blog went quiet in March 2010. The reason is that we went on a cruise in March which was supposed to last a week in the Caribbean. On Day 4, Sylvia was taken ill and we had to leave the ship in the Cayman Isles while her condition was diagnosed.

The upshot is that she was flown to Houston in a private jet with nurses in attendance, and underwent some tests in one of the big hospitals, which found that she had a leaky valve in her heart. They recommended operating asap and she now has a new mechanical heart valve.

We have a few pictures of our day in Jamaica, and her time with her new grand daughter while she was recovering. We will post these when there is more time. Our thanks go to our daughter Heather and her husband Glen, who looked after the patient as well as their 2-month old baby and all the visitors who came to see Juliet and help out in the apartment.

Sylvia spent the whole of April getting over the surgery in Texas and finally got to Anchorage last week, just in time to catch a flight to England for our mid-year trip home.

She is steadily getting better but still gets short of breath because her heart rhythm has still not settled down. This can take a few weeks, we are told. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Alan & Sylvia

Curling

Last Friday we went curling with a group from BP. We have never done it before and actually trying to stay upright after you have thrown a stone down the rink was quite a challenge. The idea of wearing one slippery shoe when you are standing on the ice seems wrong as well.

After a while, a few got the hang of it and were dropping stones in the 'house' at regular intervals. The shot is me having just sent a stone down, pointing sideways.


It got quite competitive and everyone enjoyed the event except for the curler who fell over and hit his head on the ice - that must have stung a bit!

Earlier in the day we had been skiing and we are both finally gaining confidence, coping with bigger slopes and going a bit further on some of the trails. That could easily be our last ski this winter as the thaw had started this week and the good snow will be gone very soon. April is typically a very mucky month as the snow melts and goes slushy. Too soft to ski but not dry enough to go hiking. I'm sure we will find something to keep us busy.

Alan & Sylvia

Mush! (2)

Saturday 6 March saw the start of the 1054 mile Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome and all the mushers went past the end of our road on the way to the first checkpoint. This is Newton Marshall from Jamaica who is the first West Indian musher ever to enter the race. As he went past, he greeted the crowds with 'yea, mon!' and gave us a laugh and a wave.

This is Lance Mackey, who is almost certain to win the 2010 race. His dogs are in the paper every day and are looking very strong. He started with 14 and is now down to 11. The dogs that gave up on the way are checked out by vets and transported back to base by volunteers so they are well looked after.


Here is another shot on the Yukon River of another musher and his team. Pretty bleak!

Alan & Sylvia

Mush!

Saturday saw the start of the World Sled Dog Championships over a 26 km track around Anchorage, starting in the Main Street and going out into the sticks, past the end of our road, and back to the town centre for the finish.

They don't actually shout Mush!, but they do call Haw! for left and Gee! for right. The shots show the start, the dogs coming along the trail at the end of our road, and on the way home. Note the sign at the top of the 3rd picture to remind the dogs what becomes of the slow runners! Anchorage's finest were also on patrol to issue tickets to every dog sled that went through the red light.

This was the celebration of the 75th Fur Rondy (rendezvous), when the trappers used to come in to the town with their winters catch to flog them in a huge fur auction. Furs were the reason that Russia took an interest in Alaska in the 19th century, and they thought they had pulled a fast one when they sold Alaska to the USA for $7million, as they thought the fur resources were depleted. What a different world it would have been if Russia had all the oil that Alaska has produced.

Alan

Running of the Reindeer

To compete with bull running in Italy, Anchorage has the annual reindeer run during the Fur Rendezvous that takes place at the end of February.

To get the reindeer to race, the trick is to feed them half their tea, then lead them to the other end of 4th St and let them chase back to their trough while some foot-runners try to beat them to the finish line. A huge crowd turned out to see the spectacle.

Little did the four-legged competitors know that the hot dogs being served at the finish line were made with reindeer sausage!

Alan wanted to enter the race, but the entry fee was a little dear! Ha ha.

More to come on Rondy celebrations.

Alan