The addition

We've been planning an addition to our 16x20 cabin for over a year now. The main goal is to have a water holding tank that we can run a sink, washer, and shower off of so that we can stop hauling 5 gallon buckets every few days. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just us, but the 20 dogs drink a lot of water. It all adds up to a lot of five gallon buckets. Right now, we have two Brute/trash barrels just inside our front door. One is labeled "people" one is labeled "dog"... you get the idea.



So we haul the buckets from our local well house about a mile and a half away, haul buckets into our house, dump them in the appropriate barrel. The idea of the new place is that we will have a 500 gallon holding tank so we will drive to the aforementioned well house, fill the truck tank with 325 gallons at a time and pump it into the holding tank. Then we will wash dishes with running water from a tap (not an Igloo container) and wash clothes in our own house and fill up dog water buckets. I'm pretty excited.

The addition is a 16x16 one and a half story. The upstairs will be our bedroom and we'll have our computer desk up there too. After a couple of years with a 8x10 bedroom, I'm ready to have somewhere to put my clothes. And the necessary 2 to 4 dog beds on the floor:)

Jared's mom and dad visited in September and provided a needed boost of energy and time to get the whole project off the ground. Wayne got things rolling every morning and Char made wonderful home-cooked meals, walked the puppies and fed the dogs. I think the dogs still miss her:)

So for the must requested photos of the cabin-addition:
The old cabin and the new cabin-growth.

The downstairs and wood stove. You can see the water tank to the left.Our first story ceiling/second story floor. Isn't it pretty?

The upstairs. You can see where the old roof connects.A view of the downstairs while climbing the ladder up.
An upstairs window.

And the VIEW....

and now...

We've been spending lots of time with our dogs and our friends this winter. We've been mushing nearly every day, and been doing some guiding for a local outfitter. This week we're heading out for a week long camping trip out the Denali Hwy. We're mushing out with our dogs and then volunteering for the Cantwell Classic 200 sled dog race before mushing back. After a day or two od rest we'll head back out, but out Stampede to do some firewood stocking at some cabins. All in all, we'll be out more than in for the next couple of weeks and then Jared is leaving the end of January for Nicaragua and I'll meet him in Honduras in February for a medical delegation that Jared's mom volunteers with every year. We'll be back in Alaska in March, just in time to meet up with Lauren, who is spending her spring break from law school with us. March is the best time of year for winter trips, mushing and skiing, so we have lots of ideas and plans:)

I got a shiner for Christmas!

but

Taking my buddy, Charlie, out on a dog mushing tour, I allowed him to ride the runners while I sat in the sled. Two seconds later, I stopped the team with my face after the rookie musher tipped the sled. It looked pretty bad for awhile (notice the enlarged side of my face). Poor Charlie felt really bad about the incident, but I just shrugged and said, "Hey, that's mushing. $(%)@ happens." The swelling and everything looks much better now, and it doesn't look like there will be any scars (so quit worrying, Ma!)

oh yeah, we also built a shed

We're buying our land and cabin that we've lived in for a year here off of Stampede Road. Since our cabin is small, with little storage, we built a shed this fall. The shed is about as big as our cabin, so we're thinking of renting it out as a rustic cabin with some bunks in it in the summer:) That is if no one minds sleeping above our recycling, garbage, camping gear and tools. I was still working full time while we were building, so Jared and our neighbor, Jaime, built most of the shed.

and then we went to New York

Celebrated Jared's mom and dad's anniversary with the whole family in NYC. We saw the New York City marathon, caught up with some old friends, celebrated Halloween, helped Jared's cousins move into a new house, and caused a general ruckus.

and then I went on a fire...

I went on my first wildland fire assignment in Montana. Fought some fire and made some money. The guy in the picture with the stuffed animal lost the stupid bet. He won some money but had to wear this get up the whole way home.

And a trip to Washington

In August, I took off for a quick weekend in Washington for Seth and Karen's rocking wedding in Crystal Mountain, and a reunion with a bunch of friends from high school. And of course, some much needed quality time with Lissa and Ady. We picked blueberries that grew in huge clumps and were almost as big as grapes. Blueberries in Alaska don't do that!

Summer cruisin'

Other than hiking and camping, we enjoy time with the dogs in the summer too (our dogs now number 17). We have a great little wheeled cart that we can hook up to three dogs on and go for a spin on our gravel roads. It's a rush, but it doesn't corner so well, so we try to remember to wear our safety helmets while cruising around.

What's there to do in Alaska?

I'm not such a good blogger, so I'll try to to catch up from this summer and winter thus far.

We took a trip to Crow's Pass in July with some friends. We started in Eagle River, camped along the trail the first night and played some dice before retiring to our tents. The next morning we watched a gaggle of Boy Scouts cross the river near our tent site before heading on our own merry way. It was a hot Alaskan summer day, and the mid-day swelter provoked us all into a refreshing waterfall dip.