What a beautiful x-mas day..... nothing like yesterday.
Erin and I attempted to use the shortcut across the soccer field to hang out with our friends on Christmas but we didn't make it too far. On the right you can see where Erin Army crawled to get back to the road after sinking up to her neck in snow....funny.....

The situation outside is as follows according to the weather report:

Blizzard Warning now in effect until 5 am AST Tuesday...
Now The Kodiak area has snow and blowing snow across the area with visibilities reduced to less than one quarter of a mile. Total snow accumulation is expected to between 9 and 12 inches with some drifting. ( on top of the several feet we already have)
Tonight Snow...tapering off from west to east after midnight. Visibility will be reduced to one quarter mile or less at times in snow and blowing snow mainly through channeled terrain. Additional snow accumulation 2 to 4 inches. Lows in the 20s. Northwest wind 40 to 60 mph with gusts to 80 mph( my windows are rattling and the wind is howling and I have water shooting down from my kitchen vent). Christmas Day Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs in the 20s. Northwest wind 65 to 70 mph with gusts to 85 mph becoming west and decreasing to 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 65 mph in the afternoon.

In spite of the nastiness outside Erin and I had Christmas Eve dinner.....sorry the pic is so wobbly but I was laughing so hard because I made this huge meal for the two of us note there are plate settings for Devin and Jeff even though they're not here......but bleep it we had to have some sort of fun....
Present time......
We had a ton of fun and played lots of video games. OK people in the Midwest stop whining about the little snow you've had.......at least you have salt.... have a very merry Christmas....
PS: the snowplow finally came by around 7pm not that it did any good......More snow pics will follow tomorrow. I'd take some now but I can't see the house across the street.

Dude where is my car?????? I woke up to this pleasant surprise this morning. I never did make it to work. One of my neighbours tried to get out and got stuck about three feet later.......
It is now 3pm, still snowing and still no sign of that darn snow plow........and I gave up trying to dig my way out........ Winter in Alaska; very pretty if I didn't have to constantly drive around in this mess. I need to get an attachment for the truck to plow and spray salt as I drive along.....Even Mittens is too lethargic to move. I guess we got that white Christmas some people were hoping for......

Here is my very first "pic/Cd" sorry but it would only let me upload it a an e-mail attachment so the pics are really small. Just in case you didn't get it in the mail. Unfortunately we lost a ton of pictures when D's computer crashed. So I'm getting a bit sentimental. With Christmas as well as the transfer season quickly approaching I feel just a little sad. As much as I whine and complain at times I am really sad to leave this beautiful place. Sorry to all the cruise tourists but unless you have lived here you just don't get it. I've experiences so many wonderful things and will have great memories..............This is one of the most beautiful, untouched places on earth..... and I am so very grateful to have had this experience. Alaska will forever have a place in my heart. Where else can you see bears, whales, and all the other wildlife so peaceful and undisturbed???? Even though we're not hunters at all and only somewhat fishing people we've enjoyed or time here immensely. What a close knit and great community. I'm surely going to miss all of my Kodiakan friends. At least I know we'll always have a place to retreat to when the hustle and bustle of "America" gets to be too much to handle..............................

This was one of the most fun days EVER.... I finally got to go on some flights for Santa to the Villages and we went to Danger Bay, Larson Bay and Karluk.
I'm not going to give you a whole history lesson but this is a program sponsored and run by the OSA to bring gifts to kids who live in the villages on Kodiak Island.

We had to dress up in Mustang suits which are similar to snowmobile suits and off we went.....

I believe this is a view of Karluk from the air. Only 42 people live here and there is 1 mile of road. There are two vehicles in this village and everything including groceries is delivered via float plane.
The kids were soooooooo excited. I can't even describe how great it was to bring smiles to their faces.
Another part of Karluk from the air. It was great to be able to see parts of the island that I usually don't get to see....due to no roads.
Some of the kids sang us Christmas songs in their native language which was pretty impressive.
Here are Val and I enjoying our helo ride.

Here is my work......I was not very sad that I took the day off....
The best part was that I was able to fly with Devin as the pilot on the HH-65C. It was a bit scary at first but now I know that Devin can actually fly one of those.
Everyone asked me which Helo was more fun to fly. I really didn't have a favorite. The HH-60J feels like riding in a comfortable schoolbus that goes really fast. The 65 is more like a super fun amusement park ride. It's just a different kind of Fahrvergnuegen.
The view was amazing and I even got to sit in the window of the HH-60J. It was incredible to fly over land where no human has ever stepped foot before. I stomped my feet when we landed back in Kodiak because I just wanted to keep going. Just a selfish thought but how about Easter bunny to the villages??? I don't think theUSCG would go for that ......I understand now why D. loves his job so much........but I tell you what flying made me tired. I went home and was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the couch. Merry Christmas to all of you.....

We went to Washington DC a few weeks ago because Devin and his air crew received the CAPT Frank A Erickson -Pterodactyl Association Search and rescue award for the entire Coast Guard. They received this award for a Bering Sea rescue during a blizzard where they almost lost the rescue swimmer. I still don't like to hear about it because I usually try to ingnore that fact that D's job can be a bit dangerous.
Here is the Washington monument at night. We went on an illumination tour of DC.
The Lincoln Memorial.....
Our new house....I wish but as you all know this is the White House.

Of course we ventured through a few air museums and here is a full size space shuttle- the Enterprise.
The Smithsonian museums were also a lot of fun....
......Devin's gift to me.....NOT. I don't think he could afford the Hope diamond on his CG salary.

The famous Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial.
The changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington national cemetery....very impressive...
The Capital we even did a 2hr tour of it.....

Admiral Thad Allen handed the awards to all of the guys, very nice man we got to talk to him at the awardee reception prior to the dinner. I even cried because all of the dinner guests -around 400 or so stood up and gave them a standing ovation.

Here we are with the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard.....she was also very nice.
The guys from Eurocopter including the director sat at our table with us what a fun bunch of people. Now I know who's in charge of producing the helos Devin gets to fly.....
Mr. Sergei Sikorsky was also in attendance....and better yet he speaks german and we had a very pleasant conversation about his time in Germany.

We had an awesome time and were able to meet a lot of retired and active duty Coasties. We also were able to see a few of our friends while in DC.

Devin participated in his first Triathlon a few weeks ago......here he is swimming away....
Then he had to bike a bit....I was watching and loudly cheering him on...
And finally the run....he made it but was just a little tired.....go Devin!
Pictures from our Washington DC trip will follow, soon.

"DAS RV"

Sharon, Heather, Erin and I decided to go on a little weekend adventure. Heather and I flew over to Anchorage a day early to do some shopping. We stayed at the Dimond Center Hotel and as you can see the size of the bathtub is simply insane.



Of course no trip is complete without some major obstacles. First off, Sharon and Erin were delayed by about four hours due to weather but we finally got our RV and started our trip to Seward.

RV Tsunami??? Here is what happened. I neglected to latch the refrigerator door and out flew a two gallon water jug. It hit the floor, exploded, and flooded the camper.... thankfully we all had a good laugh and will never forget that moment. Needless to say I was no longer in charge of closing any doors....


We attempted to stay at the Army camp site on our first night but of course they were full so we had to stay at another camp ground without hookups for water and electric.....so we sat by candlelight, wrapped in blankets and enjoyed our stay anyhow.

This is downtown Seward for those of you who have not been there I highly recommend visiting.


We visited the sea life center which was absolutely amazing. Fish, birds, seals and all kinds of other creatures were awaiting us.


My favorite was "Woody" the sea lion. He was posing perfectly for the audience.
Just like a dog would do, Woody was chasing his tail....maybe he had an itch;
How could you not fall in love with this face......

We could also watch Puffins from an underwater view and it was great to see them diving into the water.

No trip is complete without great food. We ate at Ray's and all of the dishes tasted incredibly good.
We decided to go on an Ididaride. Here is the route that these guys take every year.....amazing....

These dogs were very excited to see us and were barking like crazy.

The ride consisted of us sitting in a four wheel cart which was pulled by these dogs and I can tell you that they can go very fast.

Sled dog puppies............I wish I could have taken one home with me.

Erin and Heather were in heaven and got licked and chewed on quite a bit.

The show dog.....very pretty.

This is Exit glacier just outside of Seward. After a little hike we were almost able to touch the ice.
Unfortunately the glacier was roped off and we couldn't get any closer but it was still incredible.
Sunset at Exit glacier. What a great way to end our trip. We had a ton of fun and can't wait to go on our next adventure.