You know you are in AK when....part XIV during the winter 2011-2012

1. Almost daily you see trucks hauling snow away.

2. You cannot see the traffic on the opposite side of the highway because the snow berms are too tall.

3. Everyone is excited to break the record because we have already had so much snow. At the present 129", Anchorage is in second most snowfall since 1917.

4. You have to be careful at corners to peek out around the snow berms and see if anyone is coming.

5. Snow mountains are in parking lots everywhere and the snow lots are full.

Going for the snow record!

The first photo is of me standing in the driveway which shows how high the mounds are. They are up to my shoulders. The next is a picnic table at Westchester Lagoon during the Tour of Anchorage. About in the low 20s to upper teens. Kinda chilly for a picnic. The stop sign is in the upper hillside. Where is the pole? Under snow.

So far this season we have received 123 inches which put this year at the third snowiest season since 1917. The record is 132.8 inches. At this point we all want to break the record. There are huge snow mountains everywhere. Crazy! We are pretty certain the record will be broken by the end of the season possibly even this week or next.

Coastal trail

The larger moose was resting in the snow when we went by. He noticed us but did not move. The track were not great, but the skiing was still fun. Eileen, Kitty, Joan and I went from Westchester Lagoon to the lookout spot. We ran into Dodie and Gavin at the start and they joined us. We could see the water moving farther out but near the shore it was all frozen. I was surprised it was not a large dropoff at the lookout as it is in the summer time. The view of downtown and the mountains were pretty. The temp was near 30.

Snow, Snow and more snow!

This has been a very cold, snowy winter in Anchorage. We have had 107 inches officially, and I think much more at our house. Our snowfall is about twice the average and has broken some records. The January average temperature was 2.7 degrees. Many days it was below zero and minus 14 took my breath away literally! Almost everyday I still get out of the house, twice my car was stuck in the driveway and once it was so deep I couldn't even back out. A friend picked me up for our bridge Christmas party that day.

We have had some problems with the furnace being able to keep up with the cold and it was replaced. Also we had to have the roof shoveled to prevent leaks. We have huge icicles now and all of the streets and lots in town are icy.

Elmendorf Airforce Base Eagle Glen Golf Course

This was my first time to ski at this golf course. It was almost all flat with just one small hill. The free course was groomed. and the map provided distances. We saw moose tracks but no moose. The m ost challenging part was the drive which was not plowed. Fortunately, I rode with Dodie. Also on the event Kitty, Vicki, Lonnie and Zo along with many of Mary Jane's Tuesday hikers. We had lunch at the club house. It was fun and near 30 which seemed springlike!

Girdwood, AK

This first week of February, I went on a church retreat to Aleyska in Girdwood. It snowed 11 inches in Anchorage and 20 inches in Girdwood with 3 feet of snow at the top of the mountain. I would have "bailed" on driving the 40 miles on my own, but I had prearranged a carpool with a women, Christina Schegel,who grew up in Cordova and didn't mind driving. The retreat was emphasized the wisdom of women. I met many lovely ladies from my church and the community. We had time to cross country ski which was fairly challenging ungroomed after all the snow the previous day.