The Northern Lights

One thing we have both looked forward to since our assignment to Alaska has been the opportunity to see the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Now that we are losing about 7 minutes of light per day and it gets darker and darker I have been very anxious and check the sky every night. So far...nothing. Last weekend I happened to wake up at around 3am and look out. I saw what looked like a very faint whisp of cloud acrossed the sky. It wasn't bright at all and I thought that it must be some clouds reflecting the moonlight. Then I could see that it was slowly changing shape. I was super tired and didn't give it much longer. When I told SweetPea about the light she went to investigate, only to return seconds later and say that I was imagining things.

Last night at about 1am we were crawling into bed when I checked the sky again. This time I could clearly make out faint blue lights across the sky. I yelled for SweetPea and we spent the next part of an hour watching the light slowly form as a long line across the horizon (think of jet contrails on a bright blue day) then twist and turn and fade away. A couple times the lights would simply appear out of nothingness, just barely bright, and then fade out. It was pretty incredible looking and we both are anxious for the real displays that are supposed to come in deep winter when it is in the 0 to -50 temp range.

One Step Closer to Madness...

After putting it off for a long time I finally jumped in with both feet to the world of fly-tying. To the uninitiated this is where you not only fly fish (a practice unlike any other to begin with!)but you take feathers, hooks, thread and completely tie your own creations to use in place of bait. It's the kind of thing creepy old men do in their basement or garage and I must say, it is a complete blast!

For some reason the blogger program is not cooperating tonight! After a lot of attempts I can't get it to load the photos in the correct order... Oh, well. These photos show me going from the bare hook (the nickel shows just how small that hook is!) and the different stages of making my first two flies. The two laying next to each other on the paper towel are the two completed flies. The thinner one was the first and turned out to be a little to spindly. The second, fluffier one turned out pretty decent. I can't wait to get out and fish them!

Just a little fishing...

I've been getting out here and there to fly fish without a whole lot to show for it. This weekend was my first big day of solid fishing since getting here. This weekend was a really good trip, however. I caught something like 14 fish (I honestly wasn't counting because there were so many tiny fish) but, every now and then all the stars would align and I'd catch a nice sized one. They were almost exclusively Arctic Grayling with the exception of two gorgeous rainbow trout. I took a guy from work with me (shown in two of the pics) and am quite proud of having taught him to fly fish in just a few hours. It took me months to learn to fly cast and he seemed to pick it up pretty quickly. I'm jealous. Anyway, it was a good day.

We Finally Have a Home!

Hello everybody! Sorry it has been so long since we posted. We moved into our new house almost two weeks ago. I can't say how nice it is finally having a place to call home. We woke up Monday morning to find that a Moose had pooped in the front yard. haha It's funny knowing something so big was in the yard last night. No bears yet, but I have faith we'll see some around sooner or later. Our neighbors told us that they both killed a couple of black bears a few miles away this past summer. So they are certainly out there. The big hunter at work told me that you'd never believe how many times you pass as close as 6 feet or so from a bear, hiding in the brush until she stands up to get a better smell. I'd imagine that will be precisely the point that I need a fresh pair of underwear...

Today's the day...

Well, it's 6:59am here and revillie just played. The guys in my shop are all out at formation around the flagpole. Meanwhile, SweetPea and I are packing up the truck (really difficult after living here for nearly a month!). Then we'll check out of lodging and go move into the new house. We'll post more sometime later on. We aren't supposed to have internet until NEXT Friday so it might be quiet around here for a while. Until then...

Almost time for the new house...

We are both getting anxious! We move into the new house in two days and are both ready for it! We sign for the keys Friday morning and the movers will deliver our stuff later on that day. I think I've talked SweetPea into letting me have the basement as the man cave. Right now I'm planning on putting all my board games, guns, hunting and fishing stuff down there. Plus we have a nice garage, which will be a big change. I know she has plans for setting up the rest of the house and making it hers. Anyway, we'll post a lot of pics when we get the house and start setting up.

Nothing to report...

It has been several days since my last report. Work has kept me busy during the week and so far the weekends have been full of rain without fail. This 4th of July weekend has been dark, cold, windy, and rainy. So there hasn't been much of anything going on. We have realized that we need to go buy warm clothes sooner rather than later. I brought a small jacket up with me and SweetPea has been using a windbreaker. It's still shocking that it can get so cold in July! I'm sure this is considered warm to those that have acclimated but to the unitiated (especially when you are used to Alabama weather) that isn't the case.

We did see a Moose walking around base the other day. And on another note, right behind our soon-to-be house the woods start about 10 feet from the back fence. I noticed that about 100 yards down that woodline from our house is a sign posted that says, "Warning, Bear Activity". That should provide some photo ops!

The Lady of the Lake

Not a whole lot to report. Today was the first day where we actually had a little time to relax. After waking up we headed to Fairbanks for a little shopping. While there we hit Denny's for some old-fashioned breakfast. I had to have SweetPea grab a pic of me next to the sign:
After brunch we stopped at a nearby lake just to check things out. We didn't grab any pics but the water was crystal clear. We could easily see different trout and who knows what else swimming around. We also went to a nearby creek and just loved the scenery and fish swimming around. I can't wait to get out and fish.

After that we stopped off at one of the lakes on base to see the infamous Lady of the Lake. The "Lady" is a B-29 that was sunk here in order for crews to practice water egress. Eventually they stopped using it for training and just left it in place. It's actually quite cool and creepy looking: I'm hoping to get out and fish tomorrow. We bought our licenses and are technically legal. Alaska has tons of fishing rules based on the part of the state and specific stream you are fishing. Hopefully, I won't get arrested...

Yeah, we now have a home...sort of.

Finally, luck worked in our favor. The housing office sent us to check out another house on base today. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 story house with a mostly finished basement. There is also an attached, heated garage. It looks really nice. On Tuesday they are supposed to lock down a date that we can actually move in. YEAH! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

Also, we went to a local restaraunt tonight. I won't mention the name because it was HORRIBLE! Outside, the sign said 'Fine Dining' but they had a dirt parking lot and no door! I know, at this point we should have left. Anyway, I figured we'd give it a try. When we got inside and saw the menu they had things like spaghetti with meat sauce for $16. I ordered the Cordon Bleu for $22. Ouch! The lettuce from the salad bar had a weird bitter taste. The glasses were dirty, the waitress took FOREVER to bring refills, lost my straw, and on it goes. It SUCKED. I have had relatively few "never again" kind of meals but this was one.

At the new house there is a small back yard, maybe 15 by 15 feet (or less). And then a strip around the side of the house that is probably 10 by 40 feet. I figured it would be a waste to buy a big gas mower (even used) for such a short season and small yard. I've been told that during the summer, the 24 hours of daylight makes grass grow like wildfire. So SweetPea thought it might be a good idea to buy a push reel mower, you know, the old fashioned kind? Wow! Have you looked at the prices of old-fashioned non-powered mowers? Anyway, it still sounds ideal for such a small yard and only 3-ish months of mowing a year.

Boy, it must snow here...

Just been checking out the new shop, still waiting for a house. We've gotten several answers but not any closer. Now they say that a house on base might not be available until September. If that is the case we'll probably just move off base.

At work I noticed we have a nice big six-pack (That's what we call a big king cab truck capable of holding 6 passengers, hence a 6-pack). Anyway, sitting next to it is a big old snow plow blade. The guys said that during winter (which officially runs from 1 Sep to 1 Apr) each week someone will be assigned snow removal detail and that includes shoveling the sidewalks and plowing the parking lots of our buildings.

Also, because of the short warm months there is no AC. All the windows in people's offices are opened, which is just funny to me for some reason.

Is it Dark yet...?

So, we are still in Air Force lodging (fancy word for military hotels). They are telling us right now that it could be a month or so until we get a house. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the combined heat and absolute lack of darkness.

You can't open the drapes toget fresh air without inviting the never ending daylight! ARGH! It is so difficult to fall asleep. We find everyday that we are wide-eyed and running at 20 miles an hour when we realize it is like 11:30pm. It is torture. Today I checked into my new unit and saw where I'm going to work. In the process I also met several other people that all despise the eternal sunlight.

As for the house, we are hoping to get a house with an attached, heated garage. At first I thought a garage not attached to the house would be ok, and then I imagined me crawling out through waist deep snow to start my car 30 minutes prior to driving to work! Thanks, but I'll wait for an attached garage!

Hopefully we can get out and fish or do something this weekend. The current forecast is rain all weekend but we have to do something to post pics, and to enjoy some of the short summer. The temps are very tolerable 70's aside from the sunlight. I might have already mentioned that! It's hard to remember in my current delerium.

The Long Road Home...

Well, every journey has to end sometime. After 13 days on the road and roughly 5,100 miles we have finally arrived. To me, it is bittersweet. For one thing, two weeks on the road just the two of us has been fun (although the Celine Dion CD should have been thrown out the window after the first 50 miles!). But, also because this truly was a once in a lifetime trip. No, seriously, ONCE....IN...A...LIFETIME! LoL, it wasn't that bad, and I'd do it again. It was an adventure with everything we were able to see: Mountains, rivers, lakes, Mt Rushmore, The Badlands, Little Bighorn, Deadwood, Madison County IA, Black bears, Grizzlies, many many moose, elk, deer, prairie dogs, bison, and probably some others I can't remember.

Here's our last big scenic shot while we were stopped waiting on a road crew. It was a spectacular view:

These were taken in the lobby of the Best Western Gold Rush Inn in Whitehorse, Yukon. That moose heads shows how huge they are. When we were crossing the border into Alaska we were looking down a big hill at a lake. Out in the middle of the lake was this large brown 'rock' that looked out of place. I asked what it was and SweetPea identified it right away as a moose. Suddenly the water exploded as the moose raised its head. I don't know if they submerge their heads to drink, or he was eating off the bottom. But, those things are big!

Even though we are in Alaska the blog doesn't end here. We will keep updating it frequently with our adventures and experiences. Stay tuned! And comment! Let us know you are out there.

~ The Jacksons

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...

...Ok, maybe just bears! After seeing black bears over the last few days they are cool, and I'd be terrified to see one in the wild, but I've been anxious to see a real Grizzly. Today we had made it about 30 miles and were driving through thick forests when I saw a big ol' brown grizzly charge out of the woods. I don't know what it was running at because we were far away, but man she was huge! The black bears just didn't look mean at all, but this thing just had that ferocious look!

Maybe an hour later we got a real treat when we were driving down the road and saw several vehicles stopped in the middle. As we pulled up we saw this:

Yet Another Recap

We are now in the Yukon town of Whitehorse. We are about 300 miles from the Alaskan border and another 300 on to Eielson AFB. We had planned to stop one more time, around the border and then finish the last 300 miles on our final day. However, after a fun night last night (more on that in a minute) we have decided we will just suck it up and press through on the last day.

We have been doing right around 300 miles a day. Some days are only 280ish and some are around 360. This leaves us plenty of free time in the evening and doesn't completely drain us. At this point however, we both are stricken with a complete lust to finish this trip and get to our destination! Two nights ago we were in Fort Nelson, BC. The next town after that was to be Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

However, when we started looking for a hotel we found that there were virtually none. Everything that was available were of the motor-inn style you see along smaller highways in the lower 48. Not necessarily the places two yuppies like us want to stay. We ended up finding a really nice place that had an RV park and several small cabins. We reserved a cabin for when we arrive there later that day. We were to arrive Thursday night.

The cabin itself was very nice and clean. The only problem was that it was in the mid 70's and there was no AC in the cabins! You might remember I've been mentioning the growning daylight periods? Well, apparently we've finally gotten far enough north that nighttime no longer exists!

It was so bright out that we had to keep the blinds closed, which also happened to block any fresh air. We both fell asleep around 830 that evening. I woke up about 3 hours later, soaked in sweat. I had the bright idea (no pun intended, har har har!) to open the blinds and let some air in. Imagine my surprise when it looked like 3pm outside! So for the next few hours we slowly baked in the room, astounded that it was in fact not getting any darker. At around 130 it was still completely bright out. In fact, it was light as day out, but there was no sun out. Kind of like a really overcast day. Around 230 it was "dark". Actually, it looked like that part of sunset were the sun gets real low in the sky, and the higher part of the sky is dark, but real low in the sky/horizon it looks like sunset. It's hard to describe but that was exactly what it looked like out. It was dark, only...not. You could totally see without a light or anything. And then...30 or 45 minutes later it was sunrise. I woke up feeling like I'd spent the night in a Vietnamese torture camp...the sun never set and it was so hot!

Thankfully, tonight's hotel has AC and it is overcast out, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Shock & Awe, Part 2

So, we began our journey in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Up to this point we had yet to see anything but a few Moose and hills. We hadn't really gotten to the mountains. Well, day 10 had a lot in store for us:


In the hotel there were plenty of people discussing the Alaskan Highway. This made me think that it would be pretty populated and busy the whole way. Boy, was I wrong! Almost as soon as we got on the road we were out of town and alone. Totally. No one headed in the same direction and only occasionally passing a vehicle headed back to town. I can't emphasize enough how alone you re. We would drive an easy 40 or 50 miles before even seeing a connecting road! No gas stations, no houses, no businesses whatsoever. This really is a wild frontier. The road quickly began hitting mountains. Small at first and then later some incredibly majestic panoramas. It's hard to tell from the pics we posted but it was all very incredible. In the most incredible section of mountains we were caught in construction. The trail was being worked on, so road crews stop traffic for 30 minutes or so, and then open it up in one direction only. In this particular section the right side of the road was an immediate mountain (this is where we took the pics of stone sheep walking on the road and standing on ledges) and on the left was a cliff. It literally dropped off at the edge of the road with no rail or anything. This was all in the northern Rocky Mountains.

After we got through the majority of the mountains we were still seeing tons of moose, caribou, wild horse, and bison warning signs without actually seeing any animals. Finally, we saw these boys out eating:

From the time stamp you can see that this pic was actually taken much later in the day. The first few times we saw bison walking the road we didn't have a chance for a picture. We came around the corner and they were standing on the edge of the road. Later, we started seeing more and more of them.

Actually, for miles we had been seeing animal poop on the sides of the road. I kept wondering what made it (probably all the stone sheep) when we finally saw that the bison were all out wandering around. These guys were down a hill, about 50 feet from the road.
Eventually, we both had our fill of bison and were hoping for more exotic wildlife. I kept crying to SweetPea about how I HAD TO SEE A BEAR! She was probably ready to kill me. After hours of driving she suddenly yelled, "I just saw a bear!" We were in a series of sharp 's' turns (with cars on our tail) and no where to turn around at. SweetPea said it must have been a cub because it was so small. I was really annoyed that we didn't see our first bear together. Oh well. It wasn't long though before we were driving through another section of hills when something caught my eye. This time we were alone on the road so I immidiately whipped it around and went back. This is what we saw:As we pulled up we could see that something had his (maybe her!?) attention: The bear laid down and began eating on this piece of roadkill. I guess the size of a bison kind of lends scale to the bear! I had just said something to the effect of, "Oh wow, it must have come out to eat the bison" when we noticed the swarm of flies. It was about a heartbeat later that the smell hit us! SweetPea said, "That's enough of that, let's go!"

We headed on down the road a little ways when we spotted this one along the right side of the road:

This time we were fortunate enough to see a mamma bear and two cubs. She led them out of the woods and they picked in the grass for a few minutes before we finally headed on down the road. I promptly told SweetPea that I was unimpressed by her size, and my target now is a real Grizzly bear. I'm sure if I saw this small bear in the woods, without a truck between me and her she would still terrify me. But, in hindsight I can at least act brave. SweetPea ended up seeing another bear as we were driving along but I didn't catch a glimpse of that one.

When we got into Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada, we stopped off at the Signpost Forest (the pic at the top of this post was from there). Legend has it that in the 40's when U.S. soldiers were building the Alaska Highway one in particular made a makeshift sign pointing to his hometown with the mileage on it. After that, everyone else began adding their signs as well. Nowdays, people are encouraged to bring a sign when they visit. There are license plates and signs from all over and some people even make make-shift signs out of what they have in their vehicles. One was a Tupperware lid with a family name and homwtown written on it.

Shock & Awe (Day 10)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I won't even try... Just remember that these simple pics don't even scratch the surface of what we were able to see.