The New Place

I was recently informed that I have yet to post any pictures of our new house in Arizona on here, yet. So I figured it was about time I did that.

So, there it is. Fancy, huh? Actually, it's a really nice house. And it feels huge inside. Thanks to all the help Sonja's folks gave us, we're actually somewhat moved in, too. Although, as you see, we have yet to wash the Alaska Highway dirt off of our car. We'll get around to that someday, I'm sure. We're planning to keep our Alaska plates on for a month or so, however. Gotta show off that we're still Alaskans, after all.

Here you see the living room carpet. Nice, huh? As you can tell, Annie in particular has discovered the joys of the Arizona sunshine. And both us and the dogs are realizing how nice it is to have a fenced in backyard. It gives them the opportunity to hang around outside all day instead of being cooped up in their room. They also get to bark at the javelinas through the fence every morning. We haven't had them showing up right outside our window since the whole "quail block" incident, but they do frequent the woods behind our house quite regularly. So, there you have it. The Arizona house. Stay tuned, cuz in addition to photos of the living room carpet, I may post pictures of the dining room table. And perhaps even the bedroom door!

All Sorts of New Things

So living in Arizona is pretty darn cool, so far. Although, it is still weird to think that we're living here. It's just so different from what we're used to. For instance, we never had any of these in our yard in Alaska:
This was the view out our bedroom window this morning. That block of birdseed was supposed to be for the covey of Gambel's Quail we've got living behind our fence in the backyard. But it seems to be good for attracting javelinas, too. You can hear Luna's reaction to her first javelina sighting in the background.


We also never had views like this in Alaska.

Sonja and her folks have been doing a good bit of hiking while I've had to work. As you can see, the weather has certainly cooperated. Figures that we'd move to Arizona at the same time they're hit with three winter storms in a row. At least it makes for cool pictures.

Sonja's folks have been having a good time, too. Although, I think they were expecting warmer temps. It's been really nice having them here. It makes unpacking much more enjoyable when you've got more hands to help. I have a feeling that we'll be having lots of visitors coming to see us in the near future...at least more than we had while in Alaska. Another perk of moving back to the Lower 48.

Isn't Arizona Supposed to be Hot?

You wouldn't know it from the temps we've been having lately. Not that I'm complaining. I still prefer "Arizona Cold" over the rain and ice that we had been experiencing in Seward.

Although, from the sound of things, immediately after our departure Seward has been getting pounded with snowstorm after snowstorm. Bummer it wasn't like that last winter. Figures...

Anyway, as many of you already know, we've arrived in our new home in Arizona. We're living in a big house with a fenced in backyard for the dogs and we love it. We've been seeing lots of cool new birds, and both Sonja and I are compiling growing lists of new species. In fact, just today we both saw our first Bridled Titmouse! We also got to see our first javelina a couple days ago. Well, at least the butt of a javelina as it ran into the bushes on the side of the road one evening as we drove home.

I also started work last week at "The Castle" (pictured below). It's pretty darn cool. I've already gotten to go inside of it, too.
Now that we finally have our internet up and running I'll be posting fairly regularly once again. And when I figure out how to display the pictures from our drive down the AlCan, I'll post those, too.

No Ferry For You!

Well, our careful plans to avoid several thousand miles of wintery, remote mountain driving all came for naught when the Haines Highway was shut down for the last five days due to a major snowstorm creating ten to twenty foot snowdrifts. We ended up staying in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, for two days hoping that the weather would lift and the plows would open the pass. But as our departure time approached yesterday, it became obvious that we were not going to make our ferry. So we decided to turn around and just drive down to the Lower 48.

Which is how I find myself able to access my blog at a Thriftlodge in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, this evening. The roads have been surprisingly clear so far and the weather has been gorgeous, so I think we made the right decision. Besides, we're already nearly 900 miles closer to Arizona than we were yesterday. What has also been surprising has been the lack of wildlife, considering how quiet the roads are this time of year. We did encounter several herds of endangered Wood Bison on the side of the road, but have only spotted four moose, a lone caribou and a fox since we left Seward.

You'll have to wait for pictures of the trip until we get to Arizona and can get them off of our camera, but the way things are going it's likely I'll be able to access my blog once or twice before then. Tomorrow we're hoping to make another 800 kilometers (you do the math) and stop in Prince George, then it's on to Seattle where we pick up our trailer and make the final push for the desert.

Oh, and happy new year!