May in Alaska

The updates are coming fewer and fewer. Sorry. That doesn't mean it's not still an adventure here in Alaska.

How's the temperature where you are? Today it reached 70 degrees. And you know what it looked like outside?

Yeah, that's snow still on the ground. In May.

And it's all over the place.

Oh, and I'm cat-sitting Atticus again for Anthony and Erin.

Apparently he likes high places that he doesn't know how to get down from.

Oh, and for anyone that hasn't heard, Samara is back in Kentucky. I guess that makes this "Aaron's Alaskan Adventure" until September. :)

April in Alaska

You might be wondering, in your warm places, what April is like in Alaska. Well, today is April 17th, and here's what it looked like outside.

Better clear the snow off the windshield.

Fresh snow on the trees, and plenty of old snow on the ground.

And a big slushy rut in our driveway. Whee!

Just last weekend, we were hanging out in the house when our neighbor Grant called. He said there were moose outside. Sure enough, a cow and two almost-grown calves were cutting through the yard.

The two calves are making a break for it--we're less than a hundred yards away, on the porch.

Hanging around, looking back at us.

Grant was making moose noises from his porch, but they weren't fooled.

Now it's time to hide out in the woods.

And there they go--the most common view of a moose: from behind!

I had my rifle, but it wasn't moose season, we were in town, and they didn't charge us. So no moose for our freezer!

And finally, some even cuter pictures. This is our niece Chimmy. Her name isn't really Chimmy and she's not really our niece, but in Yu'pik culture, you don't really have to be related to someone to be related to them, and every kid gets a nickname.

Samara loves Chimmy.

And this picture was taken just minutes ago. She's sleeping, but she wasn't really happy about the whole camera-flash thing. Such a cute baby!

There's your April update from Alaska.

Bush plane to King Salmon

Last month, I had to make a trip to King Salmon with is across the bay from Dillingham for work. This was the first time I had ever been on a bush plane and I learned 2 things from the experience:

1. Bush planes are cold...VERY COLD. I could see my breath for all the ride.
   
2. It is REALLY scary being in a tiny, cold plane.

This is my coworker and good friend, Jessica. She was 8 months pregnant and flying in a bush plane. She's kinda crazy like that, but I am super glad she came with me because I had a good time with her.

This is our pilot, Robert. He was nice, but I really expected him to keep his eyes looking forward instead of looking down at the water.

You might recognize me. I'm the one who wanted to pee my pants even before I got on the plane. You'll be glad to know that I didn't actually pee my pants. I think Jessica was thankful for that as well.

This is us taking off.

This is Dillingham as we were flying over it. It's not very exciting, but it's our tiny town and I think if you look closely you can see the McDonald's sign--just kidding. We don't have one of those.
Pretty water. It might be the Nushagak, but I can't be certain of that.

Look at all of our pretty snow. Whee!


We had the privilege of eating at the D&D restaurant for lunch and dinner every night we were there. It was pretty good food and the only place open. And for the record, D&D is in the neighboring town of Naknek, not in King Salmon. But they are about 15-20 miles away on a 2 lane road which is mostly straight-a-way through the flats.

Even in Naknek the food is kinda pricey. I got the French dip one day and it is $17.95. WOW! One night the prime rib was the special for like $29.95 and I ordered it, but I didn't know that the police chief of the area was going to buy dinner. I felt kinda bad, but it was a pretty good prime rib and he was a lot of fun to have at dinner. He was a real nice guy and I was glad to have the opportunity to chat with him about the area.

All in all, it was a good trip. I really enjoyed the people in King Salmon and Naknek. They had some good things going on over that and I am glad I got to have the chance to do this.