-
Phased Retirement
I continue to work part-time as Shenandoah National Park’s Recreational Fees Budget Analyst. Last winter I offered my resignation if the park needed me to commit to the full position. Simultaneously I offered to continue to work part-time while the park found my replacement, as long as I could work from Alaska. It has worked…
-
March 2023 Recap
As I was writing my annual holiday letter I decided to share some of it via this blog as well. Last year’s letter had several questions about what 2023 would bring (travel questions in bold below). I have been having technical difficulties with this post, hopefully it works out! What is the coldest temp on…
-
Persimmons and Pomegranates
Oatmeal with pomegranates reminds me of my Alaska spring oatmeal with lingonberries. Deliciously tart red jewels, yum! While I can’t grow pomegranates in Virginia, there are lots of options for persimmons. I can forage for tiny native persimmons, and ate a few this year. The cultivated varieties are bigger with fewer seeds. I grow ‘Ruby’,…
-
Blog Upgrade, Me and C Ad-free
I just upgraded this blog to a paid plan. No more ads! Hopefully this is true both in email and on a browser. If you keep seeing ads going forward, please let me know. The tipping point was photos. I had maxed out my 1 GB of free storage and didn’t want to delete the…
-
Routine
A significant change in routine for 7 months presented unexpected challenges when I returned to Virginia. I thought that I would settle quickly into my old life but found I had lost the groove. This last week I have felt somewhat more settled and productive. The first 3 weeks I found it especially difficult to…
-
Forest Sounds
I have a nice forest loop for my daily walk. On returning to Virginia, I was surprised by the noisy chorus the insects make in the woods. Did I just not notice in Alaska? Or are the Virginia forest insects louder than insects in interior Alaska? Certainly crickets chirp far louder than mosquitoes whine… No…
-
Fall Colors
I am not sure about the rest of Virginia, but around our place it is an exceptionally colorful fall. This is the longest and most beautiful fall of my life, starting with the blueberries and aspen in Alaska in early September. When we arrived in Virginia 2 weeks ago the black gum trees were red.…
-
What is Next
We are in Virginia until we return to Alaska next spring. C set up a camera that sends us photos of the cabin until the cold drains the battery. We left Alaska just in time to avoid plowing and shoveling snow! Snow was falling as we packed on September 21. Snow was sticking to the…
-
Day 18, Home!
Today we drove from Bradford, PA to Luray, VA, arriving home at 4:30. In 15 days of driving we travelled 5,150 miles from Healy, Alaska (18 days total as we took 3 days off along the way). It is splendid to be home with running water, comfy furniture, and 2 laying hens! Our house sitters…
-
Day 17, Niagara Falls
Today we crossed the US/Canada border four times (2 crossings were unplanned as C left his phone at his nephew’s as we discovered just 15 miles down the road). We drove from Port Huron, MI to Bradford, PA adding about 2 hours to see Niagara Falls. We arrived at Niagara Falls, Ontario at nearly 6…
Me & C
Roaming: Shenandoah River to the Alaska Range
