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| Our frosty friend |
Merry Christmas everyone!
Sorry for the late Christmas wishes and post but we were gone south for the holiday. Besides, it's best if we all try to keep the spirit of Christmas alive the whole year isn't it ?!?
We were a little torn, we kinda wanted to stay to see what Christmas in Alaska was like but we really wanted to spend Christmas with all of our family also. But after a record setting snowfall in November (130") the thought of some sunshine made going south even more appealing (besides, we bought the tickets months ago).
We did get to have some Haines Christmas fun before we left. If you remember from the last post, we got to see the town tree lighting at the library and we decorated our house (actually Stan & Kathy's house). We also patronized the Christmas candy/bake sale at the catholic church where we gained pounds for a good cause.
We were lucky enough to see the Christmas Parade before we left which was the talk of the town. Everyone seemed to really look forward to the parade and anyone who wanted could create a "float" or "march" in the parade. Of course Santa would be the star but the "Snow Dragon" was the real talk of the town. I don't know where it came from, why it became tradition or what it means but we did hear concern about what shape the dragon was in. Word was that the costume is like 30 years old and everyone worries that each year it may be it's last. With an intro like that I know you can't wait to watch the video. Enjoy!
Also before we left town, we spent a day and a half working back at the Hitch Up RV Park. The snow had piled dangerously high on the roof of the office and needed cleaned off. The snow was so deep we had to snow shoe from the road to the building with our shovels and a ladder (which we barely needed to get onto the roof and definitely didn't need to get off the roof). Remember what it looked like in June?
Click on this if you want to take a look back http://lordaveus.blogspot.com/2011_05_29_archive.html
The days were really getting short by the time we left. The shortest day of the year, Dec. 21st, was fast approaching. In Haines, we never get the 24 hours of darkness per day that they get further up north. Here, the sun just never rises very high in the sky (as you can see from this photo taken at noon on Dec. 11th) and the steep, tall mountains keep it hidden for most of the 4 hours it is up. It really throws off your body clock and does take some getting used to.
We headed south for the holidays at midnight on Dec. 12th. You may think that seems like a strange time to leave (and you would be right) but getting in and out of Haines in winter is never going to be easy. Midnight is when the ferry left on the four hour trip down the Lynn Canal to Juneau where we would fly out of at 7:00 in the morning. Juneau is the capitol of Alaska and the largest city in North America (pop. 31,000) not connected to the continental highway system, so the only way in or out is by water or air - we would use both.
We had a great time visiting all our family everywhere. We spent Christmas day in Casper, Wyoming with our son. We visited Las Vegas to spend time with Lori's mother and brothers. We were in southern California to visit all our other children, grandchildren and my mother and sisters. We had a great time, soaked up some sunshine and all too soon it was over and time to head back north to Haines and a new year.
Getting home was just as not easy.
When we left California it was sunny, 80 degrees and we were ready to get away from the crowds, freeways and pollution. Less than 24 hours later, when we landed in Juneau it was dark, icy, 3 degrees and blowing like h*@# and we thought "why did we come back so soon?!?"
We spent the night in Juneau and were on the ferry at 6am the next morning, Jan. 18th. It was dark when we boarded and the whole ship was kind of eerie looking - everything and every inch was iced over. It looked more like one of the crab boats from "Deadliest Catch" than something we should be getting on for a ride home. I had the urge to look for a sledge hammer to start busting the ice loose so we wouldn't roll over and sink. The ride home was pretty rough at times and it soon became obvious how everything got iced over.
Waves crashing into the bow of the ship would send water spraying over the entire ship and at 3 degrees it freezes almost instantly.
Within an hour of setting sail the windows were iced over and you couldn't even see out...guess the captain could because we made it home safely. You can watch part of our episode of "Deadliest Catch" in this trailer below.
After surviving...uh...I mean arriving in Haines the sky was clear and the sun was shining but it was still only 5 degrees. That was the last sunshine we saw. Since we have been back, it has snowed every day - about 4' so far. But we are still enjoying it very much - no crowds, no freeways and no pollution.
The bakery Lori worked at is still closed for the rest of winter and we are back to delivering the paper every week.
We are also now dog sitting 2 dogs for Pat and Ivanca for the next two months. We take all 3 dogs for two long walks every day - morning and evening - in snow or dark of night. I think about putting on the skis and have them pull me but then I think of me crashing and it doesn't sound as fun. But I bet it would make some good video. And yes, that is Spaz W.A.D. in the blue jacket.
We were lucky enough to see the Christmas Parade before we left which was the talk of the town. Everyone seemed to really look forward to the parade and anyone who wanted could create a "float" or "march" in the parade. Of course Santa would be the star but the "Snow Dragon" was the real talk of the town. I don't know where it came from, why it became tradition or what it means but we did hear concern about what shape the dragon was in. Word was that the costume is like 30 years old and everyone worries that each year it may be it's last. With an intro like that I know you can't wait to watch the video. Enjoy!
Also before we left town, we spent a day and a half working back at the Hitch Up RV Park. The snow had piled dangerously high on the roof of the office and needed cleaned off. The snow was so deep we had to snow shoe from the road to the building with our shovels and a ladder (which we barely needed to get onto the roof and definitely didn't need to get off the roof). Remember what it looked like in June?
Click on this if you want to take a look back http://lordaveus.blogspot.com/2011_05_29_archive.html
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| Heading south over the inside passage about 8:30 am (yes, that is the moon) |
We had a great time visiting all our family everywhere. We spent Christmas day in Casper, Wyoming with our son. We visited Las Vegas to spend time with Lori's mother and brothers. We were in southern California to visit all our other children, grandchildren and my mother and sisters. We had a great time, soaked up some sunshine and all too soon it was over and time to head back north to Haines and a new year.
When we left California it was sunny, 80 degrees and we were ready to get away from the crowds, freeways and pollution. Less than 24 hours later, when we landed in Juneau it was dark, icy, 3 degrees and blowing like h*@# and we thought "why did we come back so soon?!?"
We spent the night in Juneau and were on the ferry at 6am the next morning, Jan. 18th. It was dark when we boarded and the whole ship was kind of eerie looking - everything and every inch was iced over. It looked more like one of the crab boats from "Deadliest Catch" than something we should be getting on for a ride home. I had the urge to look for a sledge hammer to start busting the ice loose so we wouldn't roll over and sink. The ride home was pretty rough at times and it soon became obvious how everything got iced over.
Waves crashing into the bow of the ship would send water spraying over the entire ship and at 3 degrees it freezes almost instantly.
Within an hour of setting sail the windows were iced over and you couldn't even see out...guess the captain could because we made it home safely. You can watch part of our episode of "Deadliest Catch" in this trailer below.
After surviving...uh...I mean arriving in Haines the sky was clear and the sun was shining but it was still only 5 degrees. That was the last sunshine we saw. Since we have been back, it has snowed every day - about 4' so far. But we are still enjoying it very much - no crowds, no freeways and no pollution.
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| The red roof on the middle left is our house (for now) |
The bakery Lori worked at is still closed for the rest of winter and we are back to delivering the paper every week.
We are also now dog sitting 2 dogs for Pat and Ivanca for the next two months. We take all 3 dogs for two long walks every day - morning and evening - in snow or dark of night. I think about putting on the skis and have them pull me but then I think of me crashing and it doesn't sound as fun. But I bet it would make some good video. And yes, that is Spaz W.A.D. in the blue jacket.
She is looking very, very chic in her new Christmas Winter Adventure Dog cold weather ensemble with matching snow booties.
