Posts in the “alaska” category

I prefer the phrase, “Sun does not set.” #talkeetna #alaska

This is a photo from May 10, 2011. The long bike-riding path in Palmer, Alaska was  one of my favorite things about living there. As you can see, it’s a nice, big path, separated from the road.

I don’t remember where exactly in Palmer, Alaska I took this photo, but my best guess is that I was on a bike ride near some of the farms. I just found this photo this morning, so I thought I’d share it here.

In 2011 I was living in Palmer, Alaska, and I just started to look into renting this small brown building to be a home for my software-consulting business when some family issues came up and I moved back to the Lower-48.

There probably wasn’t enough work in the Palmer/Wasilla area — also known as the Mat-Su Valley — but I loved the area so much I wanted to give it a try.

Back in 2011 I was at the start of the Iditarod race, which started on the frozen lake in Willow, Alaska.

Do women run in the Iditarod? Yes, they do. When I took this snapshot back in 2015, seven of the top twenty mushers (racers) in that Iditarod race were women.

Sled dogs, from the start of the 2011 Iditarod, on the lake in Willow, Alaska. (I took this photo that day.)

This is a photo of the rubber duck, Mr. Bubble bath soap, and bathtub at the Talkeetna Roadhouse in Talkeetna, Alaska. I stayed there several times, but I’ll guess this was from the fall of 2010.

As I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop in Seward this afternoon, a dog walked in the back door and just stood there, looking at everyone. The owner tells me he was looking for a good poker game. ;)

~ photo from Seward, Alaska, February 25, 2011

This is THE speed limit sign on the Dalton Highway in Alaska. If I remember right, this is the only speed limit sign you’ll see when headed north from Fairbanks heading towards Prudhoe Bay.

I started off driving about 50 mph, but then after realizing I was the only person on the road — an almost-entirely entirely dirt road — I drove as fast as conditions allowed, typically a little over 90 mph.

This is part of a little log cabin church that used to be on my walking/biking path in Palmer, Alaska.

Every spring I think about moving back to Alaska, and last night I ran across this high resolution map of Talkeetna. For the record, I used to live on I Street in Talkeetna, which isn’t shown on the map.

Back in the day I drove up to Fairbanks, Alaska, and then from there I drove up to Prudhoe Bay, which is as far north as you can drive in Alaska. I put some gas cans on the car because I didn’t know if there were really going to be any gas stations on the 494 mile drive, but a little “town” of Coldfoot had a couple of gas pumps.

I stopped here, filled up the gas tank, had a burger, and then finished the trek on the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, where I stayed at this little, ahem, motel.

With the Iditarod race coming soon, I thought I’d re-share this: The Alaska Dispath News has a great video documentary that details what happened during the wild finish to the 2014 Iditarod race. This photo shows Dallas Seavey very shortly after he crossed the finish line, not knowing that he won the race.

When I first learned about Scala I lived in Talkeetna, Alaska, population ~876 (in the summer). Talkeetna is mostly known as a base for expeditions to Denali, and for possibly inspiring the excellent tv series, Northern Exposure. Some of my first Scala blog posts were written while sitting in this cafe. :)

The image shown comes from this Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe Facebook page.

A little Iditarod humor in honor of the race starting on March 8, 2020, in Willow, Alaska. Photo from the Seavey family Ididaride website.

This is a view of the mountains from my apartment in Palmer, Alaska, way back in 2011. Palmer is surrounded my mountains on three sides, and these are the mountains you see to the south.

I don’t remember where I saw this photo — it may have been the Fireside Books account on Twitter or Facebook — but it shows that they don’t worry about cleaning the snow off the streets too much in the winter in Alaska. This photo was taken about three blocks from my old apartment in Palmer, Alaska. (My apartment was one block down this road in the direction shown, and one or two blocks to the right.)

My favorite garbage dumpster in Seward, Alaska: “Look for moose.”

January 5, 2011, Wasilla, Alaska: This is a photo of our parking lot, a half-inch or more of ice, and black gravel they’ll sweep up and re-use come March or April.