Sightseeing in Alaska

While sightseeing in Alaska, it's a good idea to take it slow and keep an eye open for wildlife.  During long summers when the sun barely sets, a photographer can snap away well into the night and next day.  The best viewing hours begin at dusk and end at dawn, but in the far north those terms don't really apply.  I've found that 8 to 9pm are good times to start searching the roadsides for a moose or a dozen.  Many areas across the state are well-traveled by the largest ungulate.  They can also weigh 1800 pounds, so keep in mind the damage it will do to an unaware driver.  

Bears have pockets around the state where they can be seen more than others.  Black bears appear frequently in and around Anchorage in the spring.  I've found luck in seeing them in Hatcher Pass, near Palmer.  The Knik River and Glacier area are hot spots when the fish are running.  Valdez has been a great spot for coastal brown bears in recent years.  I had only seen black bears in Valdez until about 4 or 5 years ago when brown bears began showing up to share some pink salmon.  I don't know if this has anything to do with the rehabilitation of Prince William Sound after the oil spill.  I've also seen an increase in bald eagles at Allison Point, where the Alyeska pipeline ends.  Plenty of marine life as well.

Whatever animals you may see, it's important to obey the rules of wildlife photography and viewing etiquette.  Denali National Park strictly enforces wildlife viewing guidelines, and I think it's a good idea to adhere at least loosely to these same guidelines wherever you are.  While traveling through Hatcher Pass state park area, my husband saw a black bear off the road.  We carefully backed up and pulled off the road at a safe distance.  For bears, a safe distance should be far enough away that the bear doesn't acknowledge your presence.  Bears like this sow and cub were probably very hungry.  Hibernation had just ended and the sow was nursing her cub, which was out of sight.  A sound of a car pulling up in front of them made the mother jump up and the cub had to peek out for a look.  A tourist pulled right up to the bears and stopped (also blocking our camera view).  Then a man got out and walked towards them for photos.  The sow sent her cub up a cottonwood and she became defensive.  This ended the whole photo session for everyone not to mention feeding time for the cub.  

This all happened some years ago, but it still bothers me.  I see people do this all the time. A bear is literally starving when it comes out of hibernation and it's important not to disturb its chances at survival.  I recommend getting a camera with telephoto lenses for good wildlife shots.  The best wildlife photographs are taken when an animal isn't aware of us.  When spotting an animal off the road, it's also important to pull over in a safe area and walk back if necessary.  

Though the sun stays out for most of the day, it's also good to have your camera mounted on a tripod while searching for animals at night.  A high sun in the sky can also ruin your shot.  I like to keep a pair of oversized sunglasses on the dash and place them over the lens instead of having to change camera parts.  It's great for the sunsets up here, too.  Snow covered mountains are best when photographed in the morning or evening when shadows are present.  Swamps are a good place to find moose and they don't require as large a viewing distance as bears.  If you're interested in viewing more wildlife and Alaska scenes, you can view my photos here.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

We are having another warm, long fall.  Unfortunately, when it's like this we can't enjoy it too much because it means rain.  Rain. RAIN.  Once the rain is finished and skies clear up, there's no fall foliage left to enjoy and snow is on its heels.  I've been watching the snow inching its way down the mountain behind my house and it's playing a game.  One day I wake up and the mountain is covered and so is my yard.  By the afternoon, no snow visible save but for a small amount on the mountain top.  Then again, it rains and clouds over.  Once the clouds clear, snow on the mountain down to about 1000'. The next day, gone again.  Temperatures are continuing to hover in the high 40's to 50 degrees and the ground is not freezing, so the snow is not sticking and the glaciers continue to melt instead of building up more ice.  I've been cheering myself up from the rain with a lovely little site called Explore.org which features Katmai bear cams.  Some lovely people chat with me and I even got a lot of info from Ranger and biologist chats on the site.  I've always wanted to visit Katmai, but it's not easy to get to even if I am in Alaska.  A plane from Anchorage would take me to the town of King Salmon (permanent pop. around 350) in Bristol Bay.  From there, an air taxi would take me to my destination choice in Katmai.  Brooks Camp is the most popular.  Brooks falls and the camp offer some fantastic and safe viewing platforms and boardwalks.  Katmai has over 2000 bears.  The park is over 3 million acres, so there are plenty of places to see.  One of the spots I want to hike is the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.  There's a volcano within a volcano there.
I'll finish this with a picture of Rainbow Mountain off the Richardson Highway near Delta Junction.  Nickel, copper and cobalt sulfide produce rainbows of color in the rock and the fall foliage gives it an even better coloring.  A trip north on the Richardson Highway in September is beautiful and one of my favorite for late season camping.

Bedroom Remodel

BEDROOM 

My husband was furiously working with me to get this bedroom done.  We wanted to move in, but I wouldn't sleep in the room before we had it remodeled.  My problem with the place was a combination of allergies and asperger's.  I have issues with living in used spaces, and drywall dust is a no-no.  All doors and trim were removed.  Doors got paint and trim got replaced.  This bedroom had the wood paneled walls and brown shag carpeting.  The closets are interesting.  One larger closet has 2 bi-fold doors and a smaller closet has a regular door.  I ended up using the smaller closet for laundry and household supplies.  The room is fairly small at 11x12' and my huge bed and matching dresser would prove to be too much for the space, so the dresser ended up inside the closet.  To fit the dresser in the closet, I had to move the clothes rod up.  It makes it difficult for me to reach, so I used one of those grabber poles you see on commercials.  The previous owner (a senior) owned it and I am still making use of it for hanging clothes.

The room got new carpet and pad, drywall, paint, trim and lights.  I used a richer brown in satin for the accent wall.  The other walls got the same brown, but I mixed white paint until I got a lighter shade I thought was nice.  A beautiful crystal ceiling light casts a diamond pattern across the walls and the shade of brown I chose seems to glow.  It's important to choose a brown paint in satin, and make sure you choose the right base colors for this.  Too much red or yellow as a base could give you a dark or dingy feel.  Brown satin paint gives off a glow and is very comforting for a bedroom.

Wall Sconces were added as night lights for either side of the bed.  They are easy to install and I put nightstands in front of the cords anyway, so they aren't visible.  I chose the dark brown as the accent wall behind the bed because my bed is a dark cherry with black leather.  Since the bed is so large, I didn't want it to seem so imposing and instead blend into the wall behind.  Choosing wall colors that match your furniture can really make a space seem larger.  Even the placement of my curtains was meticulous.  I made my husband hold the curtains up until I decided they were at the right height.  The right height, in this case, was just below the ceiling trim.  Putting the rod just above the window frame, it shrunk the wall by dividing it into sections.  It made the room seem shorter and was a definite no-go.

For more remodel pics, visit my flickr site.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/akartpics/10272214453/

The Bathroom Remodel

BEFORE

Here was the bathroom in the house before we remodeled.  The sink vanity had to be cut away from the pipes which ran up from the floor and not out of the wall behind.  The old dresser was nailed to the sink vanity.  A painted board was behind the sink as a backsplash.  The inset mirrored medicine cabinet was a keeper, but needed paint.


The shower was not a shower, but instead had a shower head attachment on a faucet that was probably 15 or 20 years old.  The pipe coming out of the wall where a shower head usually sits, is only nailed to the wall and holds the shower head.  New plumbing had to be run from the faucet for a new shower.  We did not replace the almond-colored tub or toilet.  We had a budget and we also did not want to put more money into the house than necessary.  The house is a mid-range and we weren't going to go high-end on things, since we know how much will be reasonable for an asking price in the end.  You don't put marble floors and chandeliers in a hunting cabin.  Though this isn't a hunting cabin, the same logic applies.  The tub surround is linoleum on drywall.  Yikes.

AFTER

Since I planned to keep the almond toilet and tub from the start, I was able to choose a color scheme fairly easily.  Grays and silvers compliment any color and look especially elegant paired with browns and taupes.  I chose plain 1x4's for the trim around the tub and window and ran another strip along the wall for chrome bath hooks.  The 1x4's were painted with mildew and mold resistant primer and gloss.  I gave them 2 coats of each.  An old stool fit perfectly between the toilet and tub and acts as decor as well as a guest towel holder.  A new chrome towel holder above the toilet replaced the old tension-loaded cabinet.  I chose chrome accessories to give the room a clean, fresh feel.  The tiles, though square, were placed in a 1/3 off pattern, giving them a more modern look than 1/2 set or aligned.  The same was done with the vinyl floor tiles, which were adhered directly to the old linoleum.  We tried to avoid removing any old linoleum, as it may have contained asbestos.

Because the bathroom had no closet, I chose a leaning shelf ladder which conveniently matched the vanity. Miscellaneous baskets, boxes and useful decorative containers easily held many items which would have been tucked away in a closet.  Beautiful clay teapots serve as Q-Tip holders and baskets hold neatly rolled towels.  Boxes hide away and organize everything quite conveniently  One box holds all cold medicines, another holds dental products.  

The recessed medicine cabinet was pulled out and sprayed with silver.  The hole in the wall for this cabinet was non-negotiable.  There were no available medicine cabinets that fit this spot, which made me refinish this mirror and I was glad I did.  It came out beautifully.  I even sprayed the floor registers in the same silver, which compliments the floor tiles.  A mirror propped behind the door adds depth to the room. 

Been awhile...

Good grief, I guess I got busy and forgot to blog, huh?  For 3 years...  My husband and I sold our house and are living in a home my parents bought as a fixer-upper.  Unfortunately, their own home is not yet complete after a winter windstorm blew their roof off and they had to re-design the top floor. Meaning, though they bought this new place as an investment, they really don't have the time or money to fix it up.  They asked us to move into their fixer-upper so they wouldn't have to pay the utility bills, so we did, and the house is no longer a fixer-upper.  My wonderful husband and I have completely remodeled the home into something super comfortable and cozy.  It was our thanks to my parents for many things they have done for us, and giving us a place to stay until we find the right property.

     This place was sort of a late 70's early 80's nightmare of brown shag carpet, yellowed linoleum that ran up the walls, wood paneling in the living room and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom I didn't even want to think about showering in.  Correction, you couldn't shower.  No shower plumbing was ever installed.  So we put up drywall, everywhere, ripped the drywall out from the tub and installed cement board and tiles and ran plumbing for a shower.  Previously the tub surround was drywall with linoleum glued to it.  There was never a bathroom exhaust fan, so we had to install one and a new timer switch for it.

     Let me say, the electrical in this place was crazy.  It was not an easy task to run any new lighting.  There are 3 lights in the bathroom.  Three switches for each.  Each switch is in a different room.  The vanity light's switch is above the sink, the central ceiling light's switch is in the living room and another small light's switch is in a bedroom.  This could not be corrected without some major wiring overhaul.  We decided we could live with it, since the living room is just outside the bathroom, as is the switch.  I also figured the bedroom's switch could act as a sort of night light to find our way in the dark.  So, we've gotten used to it.

     We didn't want to spend the money to buy all new kitchen cabinets, so we used the kit from a home improvement center to refinish the dark oak with a lovely shade of gray.  White beadboard went over the old linoleum that ran up the kitchen walls and of course everything given some nice paint.  The living room was given some custom cabinetry for a beautiful entertainment center.  We soundproofed the wall behind the entertainment center, as it is also the master bedroom wall.  My husband completely customized the entertainment center including hidden switches, new hidden wall sockets for the flat screen and game systems, fans and vents for electronics hidden behind cabinet doors as well as a complete temperature monitoring system that kicks the fans on when electronics get warm.  One of the 6' tall, 2' deep cabinets has slide-out drawers with lights for video game organization.  By the way, did I mention we're nerds?

     Anyway, that's enough for now.  I will post more about this remodel and my blogging absence soon.  I will also add pics.

Winter is Coming

I can't say I'm too excited about winter coming. Mainly because I haven't sold my house yet and I feel like I was cheated out of my summer a little. We had some records this summer as far as rainfall was concerned. A month straight of rain every day. This is a big deal when we're talking about a summer that only lasts a few months. We even had a snowfall in early spring that allowed me to make a pretty awesome pirate snowman, but still meant taking away precious summer activities. The darkness is a definite downer, as the sun rises around 10a.m. or later and sets around 3 to 4 p.m. Most 9-5 workers never see daylight in the winter except on days off. Depression becomes an issue, but I'm one of those people who tries to stay positive. I love the state and try to embrace every season with an optimistic outlook. When it rained for a month I said, "Well, it's filling our well with fresh water. We know it won't be going dry and we don't have to water any plants or grass!" When it snowed in late April after I started seeing fresh grass and flowers shooting up, I made a snowman. When nights become days, I stargaze and watch the northern lights. When we get a foot of new powder on the ground I rejoice in the crisp, white surroundings, snapping photos of mountains that look like comfy down pillows. I opt to shovel my driveway for exercise. Hatcher Pass is gorgeous no matter what the season may be, but winter is indescribable. I love living 15 minutes from this recreation destination and try to visit often. There are a lot of ski trails around and my husband and I are looking forward to doing some cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. I hope my next property is close to snow-machine trails, as it is an exhilarating way to take away winter blues. There is nothing like spending the crisp daylight riding around the wilderness and coming back to a cozy cabin, stripping off the snowsuits and warming up in front of a roaring fire. Of course, there's one major aspect to colder weather that is often overlooked by all those people griping about watching snow flurries in September. As a person who enjoys and appreciates all this beautiful nature, I always think of the increasingly melting glaciers. They are rapidly disappearing and I couldn't imagine an Alaska without them.

The fact is, Alaska isn't for everyone. We have a lot of Texas, Maryland and California transplants here and I have no idea why. Maybe they were sick of the heat. My husband came from Maryland to escape the cities and crowds. Some people have ideas of grandeur, thinking they'll get free money from the dividend, higher pay rates and a picturesque log home. What they get is a 2 year waiting period for the dividend, higher cost of living, and an apartment in the city because they realize that's all that's available.

Transplants get stuck in the city when they realize everything is so far away. I've known people who lived here for 15 years and never traveled farther than 40 miles outside of Anchorage. These "Debbie downers" really irritate me. I don't know why they even live in the state. They typically do nothing but complain and when I suggest a vacation, they say it's too expensive to go out of state. At this point, I am envisioning myself punching them in the jugular and confiscating their dividends. I can only say to choose your state wisely. Alaska is not a state, but a state of mind, as so many people before me have said. This makes me believe there are true Alaskans out there, I just have trouble finding them.

As for me, the sun has finally made an appearance through the snow clouds hovering threateningly, so I'm going to make the most of it and rake some leaves. Maybe there's another Alaskan out there doing the same.

Selling the House

My husband and I have put our house on the market. We had a five year plan which consisted of building a house and selling it to finance our own business venture. Selling a house in Alaska, hopefully, won't be such a problem as selling a house in other states. The economy in Alaska has stayed much stronger than many other states and the real estate market isn't in dire straits. We still have our military bases and the need for military housing hasn't gone away. We still receive a dividend ($1200 this year) and there haven't been too many business closures. The job market is a bit tougher, but it's there.

The house isn't anything too fancy or expensive. I will give myself a pat on the back and go so far as to say the landscaping is phenomenal. My husband and I worked very hard on our gardens and have invested a lot of time and money to make our property appealing. We have tested many perennials available to Alaskans and found the plants which work best for our location. We even created a separate climate zone for touchy plants with a southern exposure rock garden. One of my favorite hardy plants is the anemone. The delicate white petals give way to interesting seed heads after a long bloom time. A good year gives two bloom periods. It will spread as much as you let it. The same goes for Catchfly. It's a cute, mounding plant with a purple and white flower that releases seeds from a pod once the flower has peaked. Great for rock gardens, it pairs well with another vigorous plant, SilverMound. SilverMound looks like a light green, fluffy pillow and has a wonderful scent. Their growth rate and size always astonish me.

In any case, I hope the next owner appreciates the plants and enjoys the peaceful environment we've created. I need to sell the property very soon, so I'm praying someone falls in love with this place before I go crazy trying to keep everything perfect for house showings.