Thursday June 30th

morning all and thanks so much for the travelogues!!!!!!!    We are there with you in our hearts!

spent the last two days prone trying to help " the leg" and today the swelling is down considerably.

food ok, and steps reflect the prone position only 5,566.     Congrats on the 30,000.   wow!    

Friday is only a day away.  Yay!

Good morning, everyone!

Carbon, good luck with that leg--glad you are being sensible and resting it.   Your prone days are as better than my usual work days.

I did a late evening graze thing that I am not proud of. I was not hungry. My husband was stressing me out on a couple of different fronts. Nothing serious, just highly irritating. I said very little to him but kept getting a little bit of this and that and another thing and it didn't stop until I went to bed. I don't know how much damage I did, maybe very little. Last night, as I went to bed with trail mix in my hand, I vowed to "make up" for my transgressions in coming days. This morning, I vow to eat smart today (NOT grossly swinging my calories super low) and will worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Enough about that! Let's talk Alaska!!!!

Yesterday, did a 2 mile hike that was rated strenuous. My husband tried to do it because he is uber photographer and the top promised panoramic views. Alas, he was only able to 10 minutes up the steep grade before he pooped out. Someday soon, we will need to talk more about this deconditioned DH of mine but not today. VSG-me was able to hike up 1000 ft in 0.8 miles with no problem.

Saw 6 grizzly, a couple of caribou, and several white dots way up high which were supposedly Dahl Sheep. Mount Denali (or McKinley, if you are old-school) did a little strip dance for us from behind clouds. Clouds would part so we would see parts of her but never the whole mountain at once. This is very common, the odds of seeing the whole mountain are about 10%. In contrast, the odds of seeing grizzly are about 90%.

Today I have a 3-5 hour hike scheduled with a ranger guided group --- it is also rated strenuous and isn't on an actual trail. (Not hiking on trails is vey common in this park! Had no idea that is a thing.) Send me strength.

Ok, hopefully a few pictures below. Getting the technology to work (I am looking at you, OH) has been challenging.

If sizing is weird, I apologize.  I having a bit o' problem "seeing" how it will post and am out of tech-patience currently. The first is me (ME!) with DD and accommodating sled dog.  The 2nd is the moose that happened upon us a couple of days ago, and the last are two 1.5 year old grizzly Cubs playing in a stream by the side of the road.  Mama bear was in the stream, too.  We were safe in bus only about 10 yards away. 

Have a great day,  Shel

The pictures are fabulous!!!!  Thank you for sharing your trip!  

Awesome photos!!!! Thanks for posting them. Curious: are there a lot of bugs/mosquitos? I have heard differing reports about the bug issues in Alaska during the summer. First hand report please! 

I had heard the same thing and bought a couple of mosquito repellent shirts a while back. (I was worried that a mosquito bite on my lymphedema arm could be a port of entry for infection and LE flare.)

I had heard that their mosquitos would be as thick as in Minnesota but the Alaska variety could bite thru clothes.  My Peace Corps buddy asked repeatedly if we had mosquito dope, a term I had not heard for mosquito repellent. 

But, so far, there have been very few mosquitos.  The locals say that "it hasn't been a bad year for bugs."  On today's hike there were a million fly-like bugs flying around my knees on down but they left people alone entirely.  I can't even say that they were much of a nuisance since they didn't land on me or get in my face.  

So for now, bugs have been a non-issue.

Love hearing about your vacation and seeing the pics. I especially liked being able to put a face to your name! I had never seen a pic of you yet. 

Pics are to die for! They really cheered me up and I'm hoping for better times ahead for us too!

I am sure your happier times are just around the corner!

These are fabulous pictures.  I'm traveling vicariously with you!  Thanks for posting this.

Carol

Greetings fun people

Carbon, how can you get 5600 steps while laying down?  I am lucky to get that!  But take care of that leg.  You need it healthy.

Love love love the Alaska pictures. Really good shots. Wow, a moose so close! That would scare me.  I once had friends in Alaska. Every resident is entitled to get a permit to kill one moose per year in the month of September. Has to be a male.  We ate some moose meat our friend had frozen. Tastes tough and gamey. Not good. Now the halibut was another story.

Anyway, keep reporting in Shel. My excitement for the day will be walking in circles in the art gallery where there is no longer the "fresh fudge" sign. 

House siders are in the home stretch. yay.

130.5 today.  Got a new haircut. Maybe someone will notice.  Diane S