big news!!

Kyle's book

Every Fairbanksan NEEDS this book! Kyle gave me an autographed copy of his new book - it looks great. Great maps and profiles, great photos (especially page 31 below)... I know all you locals think you know all the good trails around here and don't need a guidebook, BUT - I'm sure you'd be surprised and find some routes you still need to explore, and plus it's actually really nice to have a map and distances for the trails we know and love. It's an ideal book to have around for company too so you can just send guests off on a dayhike and can at least know they'll find the trailhead. It'll be available on amazon soon, perfect christmas present.

winter playground

That dusting the other day turned into 6+ inches making for great skiing this weekend. Sunday I skied across the valley and up to Max and Mette's new place (yikes - seems like the baby is going to beat the house!) It's just absolutely beautiful here now with the trees loaded down with pristine snow and the sun low on the horizon.

termination dust

somebody was excited about today's snowstorm.

Daveway Inn

god i miss seward...i so miss the coast and the mountains, even the windy wet days. this time i was lucky and the sun came out for the afternoon, making it all the more glamorous. and now the hospitality at the Daveway Inn just can't be beat! See Shi's blog for more photos of the weekend.

this guy got in the way and ended our efforts to walk on the beach -
This trip reminds me I just ain't an Interior girl, I miss the coast too much. The drive home was a nasty 9 hour combo of rain and snow, but I pulled in the driveway and just sat in the car for at least another 5 minutes. Shi gave me some audiobooks and I was totally engrossed in Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, haven't finished it yet but I highly recommend it.

lunch with wyatt

I know I have a lot of wyatt fans on my blog, so here's the latest photo. They stopped over for lunch yesterday, as you can see - wyatt had squash. He also generously shared his cheerios with Caz.

Hutlinana

The hot springs pool at hutlinana, on the left. Hutlinana is one of my favorite places in the interior. It's amazes me that there's a relatively pristine hot springs, easily accessible (only a 100 mile drive on a bumpy dirt road, then a 6 mi hike) that hasn't been developed at all. Well there's a big fire pit there, but really that's it. I think a lot of people use it, but everybody seems to really take care of the place. Audrey and I spent the weekend there - to celebrate her birthday, and get in one last camping trip before winter. We didn't exactly beat winter - good dusting of snow and it was down in the teens overnight, but it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and we had no problem staying warm in the springs.
Auds tried to teach me to fly fish, but it didn't work so well when the wet line and fly froze solid.
Sun came out for a gorgeous hike out.

Home sweet home

Aside from flying circles around Fairbanks for half an hour before landing because the landing gear was stuck, it was an uneventful trip home. Sun is just rising here now at 8 am, but it gets dark about the same time - that should ease the jetlag factor. The dark and cold morning air feels so crisp and clean. Just had my own special coffee (thanks for leaving the cream in the fridge D+S!)on the floor playing with the monkey... it was a great trip and it's so nice to be home.

My favorite book

It looked like Spilt Milk.

My neice and godchild

I was so happy to be home and be a part of Abigail's baptism,it was really a beautiful day.

lobstah and foliage

Fall colors are just getting going here, I really miss fall in New England. Got my Maine fix this weekend with a bike ride up Evan's Notch and lobstah dinnah with my folks - great weekend.