Two weeks ago we were still waiting for winter...

Oh my, time is flying here!

We have seen the rather continuous change from autumn to early winter. Temperatures have been dropping from below 10 degrees to -10 degrees pretty fast, especially at night. Two weeks ago there was a good chance for first snow pack, but instead it was raining two days in a row.

But no matter what kind of weather it is out there, you still have to prepare for the colder season. Cutting wood, drying wood, splitting wood, and collecting wood. And finally, burning wood! After it got near 0 degrees inside the cabin, it was time to start using the stove. I mean you can sleep easily in cold, just have to have two layers of clothes, three blankets, and a good beanie. Well Julien slept with t-shirt the whole time, so it seems it depends...

The dog training has also started, and Kerry goes out with a team, again, no matter what weather. The team is funny looking, there are lot of different kind of dogs and many of them are either pretty young and just beginning to learn to be a sled dog, or old and soon ready for retirement. Still the dogs are very excited to go for a run, and so are the girl team on the ATV!

Evie holding the leaders, Speedo and Ange

Keeper with Juliana. Beagel in Keeper's blood makes her a good runner, though she tends to run all over, not just straight ahead... 

Elam, always excited to go!

Keeper and Reo

And off we go!

Around the property...

And then back at the yard.

Demi and Elam get their biscuits...

So do Hemi and Reedy...

Good dogs!

Our buddies, Speedo and Pronto!

Workwise last week was interesting, since Julien was working with a pretty nice instrument, a GPS with incredible accuracy. We decided to try at home since it’s easier than in town so that was a big part of our activity for the evenings at the beginning of the week.

We have to think soon about changing the tires, the forecast says that the real snow is coming next week...

Road trip to Eagle summit



 

Here we would like to introduce you to some more fall colors of Alaska.

When Julien was finally over his jet lag we headed to Eagle Summit and drove along the Steese Highway again. We took this road to Circle in spring too, so we wanted to see what autumn does to the beautiful landscape around the highway.

 

The Chatanika River runs along the road for some miles and we stopped in several spots to take some photos and enjoy the nice afternoon. In many places we also saw fish in the water, too bad the fishing lisences are here so expensive... 



 

The hills around the highway were still very beautiful, and in some places you could really see the forest fire areas and how birches were caputuring the space first, with yellow leaves sticking out from black background.

Then finally at the Eagle summit, we had snow!! So we saw where the winter is coming from, and it seems it's not too far. It was a nice reminder that you might not get through Alaskan winter with Converse tennis shoes... The hills were beautiful with white spots all around. And it made us realize, even though autumn is nice here, we can't wait to have winter!

We spent the night along a river and made big fire. No bears visited us, and we enjoyed some chocolate souvernirs from France, so gotta say we enjoyed our  night. Subaru was still a bit short for Julien to sleep perfectly, but for camping trips like this it works well anyway!

 

Autumn is here, and so are we!

So it's fall time now in Alaska!

Meaning the garden is getting emptier and veggies we didn't have time to eat are now stored in a guest cabin. We can still enjoy good amount of home grown food every day, which makes it easier to handle cooler and darker conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One month ago we were picking up blueberries with Kerry, trying get us ready for winter time. It was very good blueberry season at certain locations, and we collected total amount of almost 40 litres of blueberries. It means we can enjoy some summer flavors in winter too!

 

 

 

The days are getting shorter and nights are cooler. Which means putting on more clothes, using head lamps again, and also, having beautiful morning moments while driving to work.

 

 

 

 

And of course, a fall is nothing without amazing fall colors! We are happy to be here and see the change from summer to autumn, which couldn't be more beautiful time.

 

At home...

 



Along the Chena Hot Springs Road...

 

 

 

We have had also a few reason to celebrate. Last week it was Evie's birthday and on Saturday we had visitors and enjoyed good food (goat burgers, veggies from backyeard)and cakes. Delicious!

But the biggest celebration is for the best news we could have had for this autumn:

it is now official, our visas are extended, so we are staying in Alaska until next April!

So stay tuned for more stories from the Last Frontier. Our adventure continues! :D
JEIIIIIII!!!!!!!

Happy fall moments from two happy people from Alaska! :D