Cross Country Skiing at Creamers Field

Forgot I took these, made me laugh. I look like some sort of Hobo.

Gonna be a cold couple of days

Kentucky

We traveled back to Kentucky for 10 days for a late Christmas with Family. I think that it was an overall very nice trip. I got some of the best venison summer sausage that I have ever tasted from my Mother In Law, and an assortment of other fine gifts. We also got to spend lots of time with family, but mostly with our new nephew. He is awesome.
Our flight down to Louisville was nothing out of the ordinary, everything was running pretty much on time. Fairbanks to Seattle, Seattle to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Louisville. Sort of a long string of flights coming out to about 12 hours in the air. We got a good price on tickets so it seemed ok.
All was well until our return flight.
Firstly, it snowed in Louisville. Snow in the South is a dangerous thing, and even though it was just some light flurries, it was cause for a full scale battle with the snow. De-icing crews were sequestered for our plane because it had about 1/4" of light fuzzy snow on the midsection. This added about 40 minutes to our departure from Louisville. Thankfully we had 1 hour inbetween our flights. Well, that came and went when we were deiced but still had to wait for our place on the runway. We got to Atlanta just in time to see our departing Seattle flight shut its doors. Nice.
Reschedule.
5 hours later, we board another flight to head off to the west coast. Uneventful flight that goes well. We land to find that our Fairbanks connector has left and we are stuck waiting another 5 hours for the next flight. Not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Its me and Chrissy and we're hanging out at the airport talking and relaxing (sort of)
So, 9 pm rolls around and we board our return flight, nothing out of the ordinary.
We take off, get up to altitude and things shift to autopilot. I start dozing off at this point.
About an hour into the flight, I wake up because I hear yelling behind me, Chrissy and I turn to see an older man of about 65 standing in the aisle with his hands up in the air. We cant tell what is going on yet, so we watch.
He's not saying much, but everyone around him is saying "Joe, just sit down. Just sit down Joe."
Apperantly hes just swung and connected with one of the flight attendants. Very bizarre.
For some reason this guy stood up and wouldn't sit down. When one of the flight attendants came to ask him to sit, he punched him in the eye. After that, the flight attendant comes back with another flight attendant and asks him to sit again. There is nonsensical ramblings from the older gentleman and a refusal to sit. In front of my eyes plays out a scene I wont soon forget, two older men grabbing each others wrists sort of bobbing and weaving around in the aisle. Then the flight attendant says that if he doesn't sit down they are going to have him arrested and turn the plane around. At this point, the excitement of seeing this drama looses all of its fun and I realize that this is going to turn into a real pain in the ass. Zip tie handcuffs are pulled from the front of the plane and with the help of a few burly guys in the surrounding rows the guy is restrained. The flight crew announces that we are 100 miles north of Vancouver and will be turning around to return to Seattle.
Big let down. We were so close to being home.
We get to Seattle and on the way in there is talk over the pa of getting this yahoo off the plane and getting back in the air and up to Fairbanks. No dice. As soon as we hit the ground the talk goes to getting another flight out. The "other flight out" turns out to be at 7 in the morning.
We are put up by the airline in a hotel not far from the airport. Normally I would embrace such a gesture, I mean, the flight crew did what they had to and it really wasn't the airlines fault that any of this happened, but in this case we were only getting about 3 hours sleep before we had to be back at the airport. Not fun.
We didn't get our wake up call and almost missed out on all of the trip home but managed to somehow come to life around 5. Got a taxi back to the airport to find out our tickets we're printed wrong and we had to wait in some more lines.
Tickets corrected, security cleared, plane boarded.
Our direct flight to Fairbanks turned into a stop through Anchorage, de plane and take another flight to Fairbanks.
But... we got some really nice views from that flight into Anchorage. Down below this post are some of the photos that Chrissy got from the plane window. There had been alot of snow that had fallen in the Interior and South Central portions of Alaska while we were gone, so we flew right over so many awesome looking mountains, right when the sun was peeking through over the horizon. Not too bad for such a rough time.
Well, we finally made it back to Fairbanks, caught a cab home and found 10" of fresh snow on the ground. Now that was a serious welcome home present. I always feel like a little kid when I see that much snow at one time.

Photos from the air

Ice clogs Cook Inlet on the way into Anchorage Airport














This is from way up, ice in Cook Inlet and open water in the Knik Arm























Mountains with fresh snow, I think that these are the Chugach Mountains, but didn't have any reference

Dog Mushing

We finally got to run real sled dogs, with a real sled. We stayed the night at a friends family home last night out in Salcha, about 40 miles south of Fairbanks. A friends boyfriend has 8 sled dogs that he runs for fun. He brought the dogs along with two sleds out with him. We stayed up late last night talking and catching up, but this morning and afternoon was spent on the sled. Chrissy and I both ran 4 dog teams to start with. I am hooked.
I couldn't believe how much fun it was. I thought that I would have been cold considering how cold it was outside and the wind and thrown snow from the sled ride, but I was sweating from all the adrenaline. After some other friends ran too, we hooked up all 8 dogs on one sled. I ran with the 8 of them and can honestly say that I am ready to be behind as many dogs as I can. The additional power and speed were such a thrill. This team was lead by a dog named Blaze that knows Gee and Haw really well, so it was really awesome running them around. Chrissy's commentary on all this is below and the photos follow that.
Hopefully I can get back on a sled soon, we have alot of projects going on this winter, one of which is doing some volunteer work for the Yukon Quest. Its this 1000 mile dogsled race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, YT. http://www.yukonquest.com
Another of the projects is getting some chickens quarters together. We are going to raise some laying hens this spring. I just found out that the feed store gets their chicks in sometime in March, so we have a little bit of time.
Time for bed, Im rambling and tired. Work comes early tomorrow since the sleep last night was interrupted every 10 minutes by howling sled dogs.
0 degrees and still
-Justin

good times

Last night we drove out to Salcha to visit some friends. Great conversation, loud fireworks, and not much sleep. We stayed the night in Donna's workshop... well sort of slept. Joel's sled dogs spent the greater part of the night howling, but the wood stove was burning hot and there was a sense of adventure in the air. The next morning we had breakfast together and then set out to hook up the dog team. The dogs were ready to go, jumping in circles, and barking with anticipation. Joel gave me the low down and pretty much told me that the number one rule to remember was to never let go of the sled. I guess petrified is the best way to describe how I was feeling at the time, but I had to take a deep breath and face my fear. I was sweating and breathing deeply when the anchor was pulled from the snow and the dogs lunged forward. We coasted along and the leaders seemed to be listening to the commands I was giving. We all had a great time and returned in one piece; dog sled and all. It was an adventure I wont soon forget.
Chrissy

New Years at the Olesen's

picture of a picture of me

Christmas

We went to go see I Am Legend today with a few friends. It was a pretty good movie. Will Smith won back some of his credibility that he lost with that song "lets get jiggy with it".
It did leave some questions hanging that I wanted answered, but all in all it was good.
Tonight we are baking a pumpkin pie and relaxing.
Until there is more to write...
-4 F and snowing
Justin

Personal snowstorm

I forgot to mention in my previous post about how we create snow everytime we leave the house. When I open the door, the hot "humid" air from inside rushes out to meet the cold air under the roof or our porch, it swirls and a second later snow flies. Its pretty cool to watch. I say "humid" because the relative humidity of our cabin is probably somewhere around .4 percent. Its dry as a bone, but outside is 0.000%
I am sure that we are going to have frost all over the place around the door by the end of winter. We already have frost inside the house in all the corners down by the floor, around all the glass in the windows, and around the door frame.
-Justin

COLD

Well, it finally got really cold. The lowest that I saw the mercury drop today was 43 below zero. Nothing wants to work right at those temps, the truck runs weird. All sorts of weird noises coming out, tires get this totally hollow sound to them. They freeze flat, so when you first start up, it sounds like you have flats. Engines ping, ting, bang, rattle and generally just dont agree with the cold. We had something go haywire in the front wheel as we were driving tonight, may just need grease, may need something replaced. We'll be dropping it off at the shop in the morning, hopefully getting a ride onto work without any trouble.
Taking the dogs out in this cold has been a bit challenging. They want to go out, they want to run, they want to play, but once they get out there, its just too cold.
They have to wear jackets and boots just to be able to stay out for more than a few minutes.
We have been a little weary of letting them run too much without leashes lately, as there have been some wolves that have been hunting dogs not too far from here (15 miles or so to the east)
I think that 3 or 4 dogs have turned up missing/dead from wolves this year. There was a crash in the rabbit population, and this is one of the turns from that. Domestic dogs and wolves have always had a rough relationship.
I did a test at work today, took a cup of very hot water, ran outside and tossed it up in the air. Nothing but vapor came down, rather floated down.
Very cool to see.
For anyone whos been wondering, the outhouse has been very cold but manageable in this weather, its amazing how fast you can get things done with when you have cold working against you.

We've been napping since we got home from work, so now its midnight and time to walk these dogs,
-32 F and ice fog
Justin

unpredictable showers

So, I went down to the University tonight to take a shower and got there just in time for them to close. I was sure I had an hour to spare, but was sadly mistaken. I called a friend out of desperation and asked if I could use hers instead. The only pay showers in town are at our laundromat, but it costs 4.50 for 15 minutes and they don't guarantee hot water. Last time I spent 4.50, the water turned cold as soon as I put shampoo in my hair. It was then that I decided sneaking into the activity center was worth getting caught for.
Chrissy
12 degrees and snowing

Sleddogs

We got an old sled from our landlord that we are fixing up so that we can run the dogs around.
We got them some harnesses a few weeks ago and have run them up and down the roads around our house using a cheap plastic sled. This new (old) one will be much better, as it is actually made for sleddog racing. The races start soon, in a couple of weeks there are some skijoring competitions that will be going on about a mile from our house. I can't wait to go see them.
After that there are some sprint races for dog mushers, that stuff is pure adrenaline.
-Justin

Beautiful MOON

This is the moon hanging over the hills of our neighborhood. This photo was taken yesterday at dusk- around 4:00 p.m.

Busted

I was interested in trying to capture the entire size of this new CTP (computer to plate) machine that we got at work in the small view area of the camera that is mounted in the top of the monitor of my work computer. I was unsuccessful as you can see in this photo, but also managed to have my new boss walk by right as the computer took the photo. I looked like a complete idiot.
That is why the look on my face is one of "awww crap. I'm busted" It was right as he rounded the corner.

Warmed up a bit today, I heard someone at work say they saw 40 degrees on a sign, thats probably higher than reality, but who knows. Now its back down to 22.
We're taking the dogs out to the dog park to run for a while, last night they pulled me around in the street in a sled. We have to get harness' for them so that we can go for longer rides. They love it and I have no complaints about them getting exercise and having fun while I get to ride in a sled.
-Justin

New Photos

Kurt posted some photos he took from his trip up here on his flickr site, they are here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietnamted/sets/72157603203950853/

Our little fire pit

Because we don't have trash service out here, we burn all of our paper waste in our little fire pit. It's pretty nice to have around. It's basically a campfire right outside our door.

Chrissy

New Job, new amish beard

When Chrissy and I were in Iceland, I wore this shirt for a few days and she accused me of having the only flannel shirt in the whole country (which was somehow supposed to be a bad thing) I think it looks nice though.



















5 degrees and dark.
Justin

cold eyelashes

There comes a point here in Fairbanks when your nose hairs and eyelashes freeze immediately upon stepping outside. Last night we were feeling it when we took the dogs out for their walk. It feels good to be alive. The cold wakes you up to that feeling and reminds you that, yes, you really are alive.
Chrissy

amazement

I don't know why I'm continually amazed every time it snows, but I can't say it's a bad feeling to have. It's good to be amazed by things... I think that it keeps you young at heart. Anyway, it's snowing again and our truck is prepared for it this time. We had studded tires put on the other day and now it's handling the road just fine. I'm taking it to get winterized tomorrow, so that we can start plugging it in at night. It's been dipping down into the single digits for the past week, so it's time to get on that. Since the snow has landed, we've seen a lot more people using their snow machines and a lot more moose. I guess the moose don't exactly blend anymore. Everyone's yard also looks a whole lot prettier with a blanket of snow disguising the random, half broken vehicles and unfinished summer projects. All in all, the snow has been good.
Chrissy snowing 15 degrees

Starting the day off right

At around 8:30 this morning I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed to take the dogs out. Snorri caught a glimpse of 2 neighbor dogs passing by and, being the disobedient dog that she is, decided to catch up with them to say good morning. My frustration after catching up with her quickly turned to gratitude when I reached the end of the driveway. This is what I saw. Leave it to dogs to remind you of what's really important in life.

Chrissy
snowy 18 degrees

more snow

It's been snowing hard for two days straight and our backyard looks like a winter wonderland. I find myself smiling every time I look out the window... and so has Gunnar.

Hanging out with the bubs

Gunnar in his new snow booties

Yesterday we noticed that the snow was bothering Gunnar's feet when we were out for a walk, so went and got him some snow boots. I love our dogs, but I am not the kind of dog-lover who enjoys dressing them up for my own personal amusement. With that said, he does look absolutely adorable with them on. We weren't really sure how he was going to do in the snow because he's not really a cold weather dog. They both appear to love it, but Gunnar was getting snow in between the pads on his feet, it would melt, and would then turn to ice. He seems a lot happier now that he has his boots. I guess Snorri has enough fur to keep the snow out.
Chrissy
20 degrees

Cold

Getting cold out there, we walked the dogs about a mile tonight and were feeling it by the time we got home. Thermometer read 21, but its still got a ways to go down before its really considered COLD for here.
The dogs seem to be loving the snow, running around and biting at it all the time. Particularly Gunnar, its the simple things that make him happy. We are very similar.
The battle for our insulation was fought today with a Crossman bb gun, I came out ahead by one. One squirrel down, many more to go. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Still need to get the truck winterized and get some snow tires on it. Moneys tight, but life is good.
Just time to buckle down and save it up so we can get it done before it gets too cold/snowy.
I'm guessing that this snow will be sticking around for the next 8 or so months, doesn't look like its getting any warmer soon and there's more snow in the forecast.
I will push Chrissy to get some photos of the snow around our cabin up on here tomorrow.
-Justin

Beard

Been working on a beard for a little while now, just in time for winter.


I was told last night by a person I had just met that the beard made him think of the Amish (because of the lack of mustache) and that I seemed trustworthy and honest because of it.
I can't imagine any better feedback than that about a beard. I think I'll keep it for a while, though as you can probably see, its in need of some clean up trimming.

Its been snowing here all day today. We woke up this morning to 22 degrees and light snow falling. Once we got up out of bed we could see that the roads and ground were all pretty well covered. The roads were very icy on the way to work, but passable. We need to get some sandbags for the bed of the truck, the tail end was flying around everywhere, even in four wheel drive.
Chrissy and I fell asleep earlier after eating an exciting dinner of pasta shells mixed with peas and corn. About 9:00 we both woke up and debated on getting water tonight or in the morning. We opted to go in the morning and go back to sleep but I just couldn't fall back to sleep. I'm getting tired now though. Its 10:30, 22 degrees and still lightly snowing outside.
Goodnight,
Justin

the sling-shot just isn't cutting it...

the squirrels are eating the insulation in our cabin. this is neither good nor wise- for the squirrel that is.

Birch tree walk with the dogs

It's SNOWING

Justin and I were just driving home and noticed snow in the headlights. I thought it was noteworthy.
28°

Moose Calls

Well I thought for sure that I was going crazy (not an unusual thought for me) these past couple of nights hearing things outside the cabin. Sometimes if the moon is really bright, I like to lay in bed and watch the trees gently sway in the wind. I like to listen to the sound of complete quiet. Well, the night before last as I was enjoying the quiet, I felt the cabin shake a bit. I kind of laughed to myself and thought that it must have been Snorri running in her sleep and shaking the bed..... but no it was not. There were freaking moose rubbing their backs on the stilts that keep our cabin lifted off the ground. MOOSE! It makes sense now why all of that fur is in our driveway every morning. I knew that it had to have been moose fur, but I wasn't sure how or why it was just falling off conveniently outside our door. So...... last night I was awakened by a noise. I sat there wide eyed waiting for it to happen again and, sure enough, there they were- moose calls resonating in our back yard. According to Justin, Bugling is the correct term for moose calls. Anyway I guess what I'm more curious about than anything, is why I haven't heard these noises or felt the cabin shaking before now.? I'll be more tuned in from here on out. Huh?..... moose shaking the house...... never thought I would be saying that. We'll keep you posted.

Chrissy
overcast and 34