Getting a new gate for the courtyard

This is the new gate we installed as the entryway to the courtyard for out new house. We took our dog Glory over to check out her new yard. It is like six times the yard she has now! She was very excited to say the least. She has already learned to use the doggie door into the third garage. Now if we could just get the inside done so that we can move in!

This was the old gate going into the courtyard when we bought the house. We liked the idea of the gate for a little extra security but we weren't crazy about this gate.

Here is a picture of how the kitchen looks now.

Evolution of a house - Kitchen

Last March Steve and I put an offer on a house being offered as a short sale. Well six months later after we had given up and started looking again it closed. Don't believe what they say about the 45 day rule. The house was built in 1986. It has a wonderful floor plan and sits on a half acre of beautiful desert landscaping. We felt it just needed some updating and besides we were getting it at a really good price! Besides new counter tops and appliances Steve and I decided the kitchen needed two things. He wanted the ceiling raised. Although most of the house has nice high ceilings the kitchen for some reason was only 7' 6". I felt the hugh U shaped counter left a lot of open space in the middle of the kitchen and maybe needed an island in the middle. Working with a kitchen planner and a contractor one thing led to another and the whole kitchen is being redesigned. Along the back wall the pantry is being replaced by the microwave/ oven, the refrigerator is going where the oven is, and the range is being moved to the back wall in the middle. The pantry which is really hugh will be half the size and the access will be from the hallway. And the hugh U shaped counter is getting straightened and while we are at it why not move the sink to the middle of the new counter. You just have to saw cut concrete!

In Telluride, CO

We spent Labor Day Weekend in Telluride, Co. This is during the Telluride Film Festival which has debuted such films as Last King in Scotland, Slum Dog Millionaire, and King Speaks. This year the buzz film seemed to be My Material World which is a film about George Harrison. I didn't see the film but understand that it is over 3 hours long! You might want to buy the bigger size popcorn. I was hopping to have a picture of George Clooney who was supposedly here but alas I didn't chance to spot him. So you are getting a picture of the San Miguel River on a new hike I discovered. By the way the temperatures were in the high 60's to low 70's. Perfect for fall.

Happy Trails Dog Kennels

These are pictures from our last day in Alaska. On our way from Denali to Anchorage we stopped at the Happy Trails Dog Kennels. This was truly one of my highlights of the trip. The kennels are owned by Martin Buser who has raced in and won the Iditarod Race. The race celebrates an event in Alaska's history. In January 1925 a diphtheria epidemic broke out among the Eskimo children in Nome, Alaska. The only way to get serum to Nome was to send in on the train from Steward to Nenana and then to haul it the rest of the way on dog sleds 674 miles. Twenty mushers worked with 100 dogs in a relay to get the serum to Nome in five days. The Iditarod Sled Dog Race started in the late 1960's. The race covers 1049 miles in 9 - 15 days. One picture shows how excited these dogs get when it's time to harness up with each other to start racing. They all wanted to race. Another picture is their version of a dog treadmill (or treadwheel). I actually saw several dogs get in the wheel by themselves and start running. These aren't your pretty Alaskan husky thoughbred dogs either. These are all mixed breeds bred for stamina. During the race the musher must carry enough food and supplies for his dogs. There are mandatory stops every twenty to sixty miles during the race in which both the musher and a veterinary must check out each dog. If a musher has a problem with a dog while racing he must be able to carry the dog in his sled to the next stop. The mushers start out with 12-16 dogs and must end with at least 6 dogs. I was really impressed with the love and care given to these dogs. All the dogs let us pet them. They even let us hold the puppies.

Trip though Denali Park

These are pictures of a grizzly bear and it's yearling (a one year old cub) and a caribou with a radio collar. I'm not even sure how the caribou holds those antlers up. Caribou is the only one in the deer family in which both the female and the male both grow antlers. These pictures were taken from the bus while we were traveling through Denali Park. There is only one road through the park most of which is unpaved and is 92 miles in length. No private cars are allowed past the first fifteen miles. After that you need to be on what looks like a school bus repainted either green or tan. The top picture shows us stopped at one of only three allowed rest stops washing our windows. We traveled about 50 miles into the park with everyone on the bus spotting for wildlife. Most of the wildlife spotted was too far away for my basic digital camera but these three critters were kind enough to be relatively close to the bus. The scenery along the way is absolutely fabulous.

Mt. Denali/McKinley

From what we were told only 20 per cent of the visitors to Alaska actually get to see Mt. Denali (due to clouds) which used to be called Mt. McKinley. The Alaskans object with good reason to one of their most magnificent sites being named after an Ohioan senator who never set foot in Alaska. This picture was taken from the Talkeetna Lodge which is still 90 miles from the base of the mountain. The town of Talkeetna is popular as a staging area for climbers wanting to tackle Mt. Denali. Most people take a bush plane from here to a base camp at 7,000 feet elevation and from that point try to climb another 13,320 feet to the top of Denali. We felt very lucky to get a peak of the majestic mountain peaking from the cloud cover for a limited time.

Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center

These pictures were taken at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center which takes care of orphaned animals and those with special needs. It was a wonderful facility with plenty of room for each group of animals. The eagle only has one wing so it can't fly and the Kodiak bear and his/her sibling are orphans. We also saw caribou, moose, bison, musk ox, and a very smelly porcupine. I discovered that there are only three major types of bear. Black bear which are smaller, brown bear which are bigger and include grizzly bears and polar bears. Unfortunately polar bears are only found much further north in Alaska from where we visited.

The Hubbard Glacier

Sorry I had to interrupt my Alaskan blog but I lost internet when we disembarked from our cruise ship. So even though I am home I will continue for the next few days with my Alaskan trip. This is a picture of the Hubbard Glacier which we sail by on our way from Sitka to Steward to the end of our cruise. The dust in the middle of the picture is from the glacier calving. While we were watching parts of the glacier would split apart and fall into the ocean causing a loud boom like thunder. It was quite magnificent to experience. You won't want to miss the end of my trip. On the last day we visited the Happy Trails Sled Dog Kennels.

Sea Otters in Alaska

If you look real close you might be able to tell that these are sea otters. There not the easiest animals to take pictures of in the wild because they are not all that big and you don't get really close up. But we did get to see many of them during our boat cruise outside of Sitka, Alaska.

Whale Watching in Auke Bay, Alaska

Yesterday we enjoyed an evening whale watching cruise in Auke Bay, Alaska. We were extremely lucky to encounter a pod of about 10 to 12 whales right from the start. The boat operator follow this pod for most of the trip. The pod even included a baby whale who was having a great time playing in the water flipping his tail and breaching out of the water. This so far has been the highlight of the trip. They are so beautiful and graceful.

A Crab Feast in George's Inlet, Ketchikan, Alaska

This is me holding a live crab which we just pulled out from a crab pot in the bottom of George's Inlet during a tour of the inlet. While on the tour we saw eagles, black bear, harbor seals and of course crabs. After our boat tour we arrived at a lodge where we feasted on all the crab we could eat after we learned the proper way of cracking a crab.

Leaving Vancouver

This is a picture of the Vancouver and Canada Place as our ship, the Regent Navigator set sail. We set sail yesterday and tomorrow we will dock at our first port of call which is Ketachan, Alaska.

Off Again

Steve and I will begin our Alaskan cruise next week and afterward will tour Denali National Park for four days. So the intention is to try to blog while I am away. Hopefully I remember how. Thank you to my friends who have been after me to get back on my blog!

Recently in Telluride

This is a picture of Steve and I after hiking up Bear Creek Canyon in Telluride, Co. Steve isn't big on hiking but was gracious enough to consent to hike with me to Bear Creek Falls on our wedding anniversary last month. The hike is about 3 miles round trip with about 1000 foot elevation gain. Because of the amount of late snowfall this year in the San Juan Mountains all the area waterfalls were bigger than we had ever seen them at this time of year.