A Blustery Day

According to the weather gods that be, we are in the middle of a "Taku wind event."  For those of you who don't know what the Taku winds are, use google!  OR look at this summary from the Juneau city website:

High Winds
High winds are the most common extreme weather event in Southeast Alaska. In the downtown Juneau and Douglas areas, the mountainous terrain induces what are known locally as Taku winds.  These winds occur an average of four times a year from October through April.  Hurricane force wind gusts (72 mph or greater) occur roughly once every two years during these Taku wind events. Taku winds produce strong wind shear and turbulence that can affect the operation of air transportation in the area.  Taku winds can also cause dangerous marine weather conditions.

Here's the forecast for tomorrow:

*WIND... NORTHEAST WIND INCREASING WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH BY LATE EVENING AND GUSTS UP TO 75 MPH BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
* TIMING... STRONGEST WINDS ARE LIKELY FROM EARLY FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE FRIDAY EVENING.
* IMPACTS... HIGH WINDS MAY CAUSE PROPERTY DAMAGE AND MAKE WALKING DIFFICULT. LOOSE OBJECTS MAY BE BLOWN AROUND BY THE WIND.

Yikes, that says 75 miles per hour.  Ummm....no worries, it's not a time I'd like to be outside, right?  Oh wait, it's from early Friday morning through late Friday evening?  Really?!  Can I take a Taku wind day?  These winds "may" make walking difficult..if I blow away tomorrow, it's been nice knowing all you lovely folks!

Hello Again!

So I know that I haven't posted in a while...and almost gave up on the whole thing, but after playing in the snow all day, I felt a little update was necessary.  So here's a little snapshot of what I've been up to in the past month:

A trip to Anchorage-

      Technically this was another "work trip," but it was really geared towards letting us see our co-clerks again (except for the other 2 that live/work in Juneau with me and the 1 friend that came to visit Juneau, I haven't seen the other 11 clerks since September) and to attend the FAB holiday parties around town.  Knowing that I wasn't going home for the holidays this year, I took this time as an excuse to binge eat holiday treats.  I also learned to cross country ski (at night, of course).  Oh, and after arriving late to the court system fiesta, we had to eat Mexican food in the middle of the black lights of the dance floor surrounded by perhaps the worlds tackiest DJ.  It was wonderful!  The view from the plane on the way too home was none too shabby either (check it out for yourself).

Christmakkah in Juneau-
      Perhaps the hardest part of not going home this winter was missing the holidays (and holiday cookie baking).  However, many of my lovely friends were also in town so we just made our own Christmas (complete with a prime rib that took over 3 hours to cook...dinner before 10 PM on Christmas Eve, what?).  Beth (my roommate) and I decorated our place and put up our own tree and my friends and I did a little grab-bag gift exchange.  Just last Friday (as in January 13th), we had our office holiday party.  All in all, I think I went to 4 different holiday parties where I got presents...so I definitely did not feel like I was missing out.  Here's a look at our apartment all decked out

Juneau New Years-

Oh New Years.  What a hyped up holiday!  Here in Juneau, we don't pay money to go to the "hot" parties or stand outside to shiver while watching a giant ball drop.  Oh, no.  Here, there's only one party in town so everyone gathers at the wharf (after attending various preparties) and the whole place turns into one giant club.  At midnight, we still had a countdown and they dropped some big spider balloon thing from the ceiling (at least it looked like a spider to me...maybe it had a shape?).  After midnight, the crowd slowly shifted to the bars to keep the party going.  Eventually, Beth and I decided to head home...we had grand hopes of taking a cab (they're free on New Years!) but after realizing they were also super full, we decided to "start heading towards home."  Really, that meant we trekked up the hill...did I mention the blizzard that night (tons of snow and wind)?  Oh, and I was wearing heels (because that's practical).  I made it home with all 10 toes.  Enough said.  And then we had a huge champagne New Years Day brunch.  All I wanted was coffee...which I think means the night was a great success :)

The Rest-

Besides that, we've had a TON of snow lately (even though the rest of the country seems to be falling behind).  I've been up snowboarding quite a bit.  It's absolutely beautiful up on the mountain (imagine trees that look like standing mammals because they are completely covered in snow).  I haven't taken any pictures because I'm afraid that I will fall and lose/break my camera, but I may get braver from now on.  Really, there are several days where sitting on the lifts seems like a tourist attraction in itself...you get beautiful views of the surrounding area and it really feels like you're at the top of the world.  It's not all blue skies...we've had some rain lately (bah), but overall it's been non-stop precipitation.  Today, it finally cleared and we had some sun (shocking).  They are even predicting sunshine for the next week (a feat that hasn't happened since I moved here...I'll believe it when I see it).  However, when the clouds clear, it always gets colder here so I think the high today was in the teens and tomorrow it's somewhere around 8 degrees.  Of course, that did not stop me from getting outside.  I hiked up a mountain with some friends and then cross country skied to a nearby cabin to warm up before hiking down.  Here's one of my favorites of the day:

Enjoy!  If I haven't heard from you in a while, give me a call or send me an email.  It's always nice to hear about the happenings down south-

Ta Ta For A While

       In case it is not obvious, I'm kind of giving up on this whole blog thing.  To be honest, I'm rarely sitting at home and even if I am on my computer after work (which almost never happens), I should be doing job stuff (which is not really happening much either although it should).  SO at least for a little while, I'm going to stop aspiring to put up new posts.  I really want to hear what is going on in people's lives and I'd love to share what's going on here, but I think individual phone calls or emails are really the way to do it at this point (I question whether anyone actually reads this...or at least anyone that I am not already communicating with by some other method).

Here's the important stuff:

I'll be home in Chicago from February 17-27.  Mark your calendars.

I still have no real idea what I'm doing as of next August.  Any bright ideas/job offers/advice, send them my way!

"Uh Yeah, Your House Is Still Open..."

This past week, the weather has definitely made life here more difficult.  After 3 days of snow, we had clear skies (a rarity in Juneau).  The problem is that whenever it clears up, it gets SUPER cold.  On Friday and Saturday, our highs were in the mid-teens and lows were in the single digits.  Perfect time for a hike, right?  My friends and I had already rented out a cabin for Friday night so I took a half day on Friday (the only way to be able to hike in daylight since the sun sets around 3:30 PM) and out the road we went.  Neil and I tried to snowshoe at first, but there wasn't that much on the snow so it was a lot more work than it was worth.  Eventually, we just carried the snowshoes and hiked like all the other people in our group.  Although it was cold, the views were worth it.

Our night at the cabin was great and when we woke up, the lake had frozen over.   Our (stupid) friend, Ben, decided to try it out.  Made for a pretty awesome picture, huh?

The real fun began when we tried to leave.  One of our garbage bags broke on the hike out so that was annoying to say the least.  The real fun began when we returned to the car.  My dear friend, Amber, has been driving around with a flat tire for quite some time.  Instead of getting it fixed, she just stops every few days to put air in the tires.  Overnight at the cabin, it had snowed a few inches.  As Amber pulled out of the parking lot and tried to get back on the trail access road (which was all ice and snow), her car got stuck.  REALLY stuck.  She tried flooring it, backing up, etc...no movement.  Luckily, we had a shovel and between us digging around the tires and three boys pushing the car, we got her moving again.  By the time we got to the main road (about a mile later), her tire was so flat that you could hear it going ker-plunk, ker-plunk.  Obviously, it was not a good idea to drive the 25 miles on the highway back to town.  We pulled over and the boys got out to help.  Then the real fun began.

Mind you, it was no more than 14 degrees at the warmest time of day and everyone but me (who had no circulation and fingers that were turning blue) was standing outside.  Amber had a spare...but it had somehow frozen to the trunk.  Eventually, with the help of a friendly stranger, the boys managed to yank it out.  But at that point, they acknowledged that there was no way that they were going to be change it on their own.  Since none of us had cell phone reception (again, we were out the road), we decided the best thing to do would be to pile 7 of us into a small sedan and drive to the waffle place to get breakfast and call AAA.  After some delicious waffles, I drove the girls (in Ben's stickshift car) back out the highway to meet AAA and Amber's tire got changed.  We finally made it home, in one piece, around 5:30 PM on Saturday.

It finally warmed up when it started snowing again yesterday (and yes, it's still snowing).  As I've mentioned previously, I live right near a really popular hiking trail.  A lot of the state workers like coming up here and walking Perseverance during lunch.  On Monday, I was coming back from my lunchtime jog (the only time I can jog outside in daylight) and this guy goes "turn around, you can't go up there, Perseverance is closed off."  I said, "Thanks, but actually I'm going to my house.  I live right there."  (And I pointed the 3 houses up the block.)  The guy seemed a little embarrassed and informed me, "uh yeah, your house is still open."  THANKS.  I'll keep you posted on whether an avalanche does block off access to my house at some point (a very real possibility).  All this snow means our ski slope is opening early so on Friday, I'll finally be able to use my snowboard again!

I'm Dreaming of A White November?

Friday was a state holiday, which meant we had the day off from work.  This holiday luckily coincided with the Bald Eagle Festival in Haines, the largest congregation of bald eagles in the world.  SO, on Friday, my co-clerks and I (and a few other friends) were up, on the way to the ferry docks.  I was tired and just wanted to sleep, but the views of sunrise were amazing.  Obviously, I had to wait a bit before I could justify closing my eyes.  Here's one of my favorites:

I must admit, watching the moon reflect over the water was even cooler than the sun peeking out from behind the mountains.  We really lucked out with the weather.  On Friday, it was clear and not raining (this is very uncommon in Southeast) so we were fortunate to be able to view the entire inner passage all the way to Haines (or at least for the 2 hours that I was not asleep).  Haines is about 75 miles from Juneau, but it takes 4.5 hours on the ferry to get there (yep, travel in Alaska is not cheap or easy).  It was worth the trip-

After arriving in Haines, we immediately went out to the Bald Eagle Preserve, 48,000 acres of protected land.  Once we pulled over to one of the lookouts, it was crazy, there were eagles EVERYWHERE.  We'd think it was black spots in the distance or tree stumps...nope, just eagles perched in the snow.  Turns out, eagles are lazy...SUPER lazy.  They come to this spot for 2 reasons: 1) the water stays warmer than surrounding areas and doesn't freeze because of percolating something or other and 2) dead salmon.  Yep, that's right.  Eagles prefer to not have to hunt their food.  They wait until it comes floating up to the surface and then will maybe expend the energy to bend down and fish it out.  Oh, and if that eagle buddy nearby has a salmon, they'll just take his instead of getting their own.  And this is our national symbol...Go Team USA!

Despite the fact that they're lazy, eagles are still really cool to watch.  There were so many eagles in the preserve (literally thousands) that we could watch them in the trees by the side of the road, see them across the river or in the far trees (with binoculars) or see them soaring overhead.  We also got to see them pooping...literally, it seemed like there was a communal poop time when they all just let it flow.  I saw one bird poop on another guy lower in the branches (often several birds would hang out in the same tree).  I guess he figured his buddy would get mad so he decided that was an opportune time to scamper off and fly away.  That's right, I saw a bald eagle poop and dash...LOVELY.

On Saturday, we woke up to over 6 inches of snow.  Everything was blanketed in white and that's the way it would stay the rest of the weekend.  Haines is the quintessential charming small Alaska town.  It has one real main road and a cluster of houses, but mostly it's just mountains.  If you didn't know anybody, you could miss the tiny town tucked into a cove and just soak up the views of the inlet.  I went for a run on Saturday (snow running, woo hoo) and it was absolutely breathtaking.  Yes, I slipped a few times on the snow and ice, but the views were worth every bruise.  That mountain air really does something good for me.  Besides, I expected to see Santa and his sleigh flying by at any minute...

We spent our leisurely weekend enjoying the town (and the snow), getting out to see the birds at the preserve another time, visiting the Haines brewing company twice (and other local shops), and savoring Chai lattes at the local health food store (yep, even a town that small has its Whole Foods type wannabe).  Unfortunately, the hammer museum was closed.  On Sunday night, we returned to Juneau.  Although it had snowed here basically all weekend, there were already 3 inches on the ground when our ferry arrived and it hasn't really stopped yet.  I think I had to wipe over a foot of snow off Lester today...but he started so yippee!

 *More pics of the Haines trip are on facebook.  Enjoy!

Where's My Mommy When I Need Her?

I may be in my mid to late 20s but nothing makes me miss my mommy more than when I get sick.  Really, I'm usually fine being independent but when I feel horrible, I just want to lay on the couch and have my mom cater to my every need.  Isn't that what they're for?

Today, I had my first official sick day from work.  Well, I didn't actually take the day off, but I did spend it working from home (exciting...reading on my couch here instead of the couch in my office!).  I even got to go in for one of those same day doctor's office appointments.  I wanted my mom to arrange that, but I had to call.  Then, I got the goods.  I wanted my mom to drive me to said doctor's appointment...but no, I walked.  I wanted my mom to drive to the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions, but no, I walked.  (However, I did call her to whine while waiting for the prescriptions to be ready.)  Now, I'm feeling better (after a day of feeling sorry for myself).  Anyways, I'll write more soon :)

Baby When The Lights Go Out...

SOOOO, I was originally planning to write this post on Tuesday...but Tuesday was challenging to say the least.  The power went out on me three separate times that day: (1) at 12:15 PM, while Gina and I were trying to get in a workout (literally, I got on the stair master and it slowly died until I dropped to the floor); (2) around 1:30 PM for an hour while at work (so much for "returning to productivity," but great for my ping pong skills) and then (3) about 8:20 PM for over 1.5 hours (meaning no blog post for you guys).  What's more fun is that apparently all of Juneau is on one circuit/grid (okay, so I don't know that much about electricity) so when the power goes, it goes everywhere.  Literally.  Even the street lights were out.  Since Beth and I have yet to stock up on candles and matches, this game became quite interesting.  Lucky, I'm a quick thinker so we got to recline by the light of headlamps.  Oh thank you, Lord REI.  Fortunately, the power eventually came back on (this was very fortunate since our heat is electric as well and we had some rain/snow mix that evening).  The next morning, the Juneau Empire had a picture of some electric box (a transformer, maybe?) on fire and reports of mudslides causing power outages.  I do not know how anything could be on fire here with all the rain, but it made for some awesome images.  Hope all is well with you!