Wasilla

I keep forgetting to mention it, but the ravens are back, big time. There are two having a heated discussion in the parking lot here in Wasilla, Alaska right now. There were plenty in Talkeetna as well on my recent stay at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. I don't have any new raven photos to share at the moment, but I can assure you, they are very big birds, probably larger than most indoor cats, and many small dogs.

I went out today to run some errands, and ended up mostly going for a joy ride around Wasilla and Palmer, testing my driving skills and winter tires on the snowy and icy roads, and I have to say, it was pretty neat to see the town supporting Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars. I'm not thinking about this from a political standpoint at all, just thinking that it's neat to see this frozen little town of maybe 10,000 showing their support for Bristol Palin and her dancing efforts.

Just a quick note: As I just heard a bunch of noise in the parking lot while working, I looked outside, and was reminded that they don't put salt on the roads here in Alaska; they put down gravel instead.

I woke up this morning (October 29, 2010) to find the first significant snowfall of the winter here in Wasilla, Alaska. We had a snowfall a few days ago, but it immediately became warm the next day, and all the snow that was exposed to sunlight melted. This snow, however, looks like it's going to be with us until next April.

This first photo was taken with my iPhone while looking down at my car (on the left) and my neighbor's car:

I was reading an Alaska travel book recently, and they make Haines, Alaska sound really wonderful. I don't know if I'll be able to get there this fall (er, winter), but if not, I am definitely going to try to get there next spring.

Here are a couple of quotes from the Alaska travel book:

Haines is casual, happy, and slightly odd.

If you're looking for the mythical town of Cicely from the television show Northern Exposure, you'll get closer in Haines than any other place I know.

And Haines has bald eagles -- always plenty of bald eagles.

I just came back from my usual afternoon walk here in Wasilla, and during the walk I counted the number of cars with studs in their tires. No, I didn't look at all the car tires, lol. If you've never been around cars with studs in their tires before, you don't have to look at them, you can just listen to them; they make a distinctive "zipping" sound as they drive down the road.

I had to drive into Anchorage this morning (from my apartment in Wasilla) for a 9 a.m. doctor's appointment, and it occurred to me that I've never driven here in the dark before. To be more accurate, I have driven north to Denali in the late-night dark, and the area north of Talkeetna is so rural I naturally didn't expect there to be lights on the road, but today I was surprised at how few lights are on the highway as I make the "rush hour" commute from Wasilla to Anchorage.

(Notes taken from my voice recorder.) Driving back to Wasilla from Talkeetna (and my stay at the Talkeetna Roadhouse) early this morning, I've encountered one other car on the fourteen mile stretch of road known as the Talkeetna Spur Road. Although there's no snow on the ground here, it's a chilly 26 degrees Fahrenheit, and the small ponds on the side of the road are covered in a thin sheet of ice.

It feels like an oxymoron to write "Great Mexican food" and "Wasilla" in the same sentence, but I was just reminded of how good Senor Taco in Wasilla, Alaska is. I haven't been there all summer because of a gallstones/gallbladder health issue, so I'm just coming back from my first trip there since May, and I have to say, I'm in heaven.

With the temperature at about 35 degrees, overcast skies, and winds up to thirty miles per hour, it's a pretty chilly October morning. I'm going to go out for a walk shortly, and I'll definitely be bundling up.

Again I'm amazed by the wind here. On 95% of the summer days you couldn't even notice the wind, I'll gust at least 25% of the days in late September and thus far in October have had a noticeable wind.