So yesterday, Skippy, Tiffany, and I drove to Soldotna and Kenai to do our pre-winter shopping spree. They are 80 and 91 miles away, respectively, and contain the peninsula’s only discount stores. “Discount” being an Alaskan relative term for “only 40% more expensive than anything in the lower 48.” Okay, I exaggerate, as I found a couple good deals that were less than I would have paid back in Indiana. But overall, goods, especially fresh goods, are very expensive here.

I had just gotten paid on Friday. Yesterday we burned through about 3/4 of that money, but the food should last us for at least another month, and the clothing well beyond that.

I’ve noticed, at least in Homer and the surrounding area, that the secondary market for items is very small. The local Salvation Army has one sparse rack of men’s clothing, and there seems to be about one yard/garage sale every few weeks, if you’re paying attention. I think it has a lot to do with what appears to be an overarching Alaskan mentality that everything might someday be useful, therefore getting rid of anything is a terrible idea. In this area, it’s even more exaggerated by being at “the end of the road,” where Alaskan Highway 1 literally peters out about 5 miles beyond our driveway.

People here hold onto things, whether they use them or not, until the tattered remains crumble at the slightest touch. Then they put them up for sale, or just add it all to the growing pile of junk that surrounds so many of the houses here.

I know many people travel to Anchorage, 230 miles away, just to shop at the second-hand shops there. Anchorage’s population density allows for some secondary markets, but the discount is not as steep as might be expected. Skippy’s first attempt to buy a vehicle after arriving almost landed her a 1985 Toyota, but it blew up when she started it to drive out of the owner’s driveway. That 23 year old truck with obvious issues was selling for $2500.

I was finishing up some work on my computer this morning, when Skippy said I should go out and take some pictures of the imminent sunrise. Also on my to-do list for the morning: using the outhouse and then feeding the sled dogs, the usual routine. What ensued, once I stepped outside, can only be described as the unavoidable pull of photography on my sight and mind. You might use the term “addiction,” if you so chose.

It started out rosy, contrasting nicely with the white-capped mountains.

I took a few pictures, and went back inside to suit up and complete the other two items on the list. I stepped back outside, and the view had become even more beautiful. I ran back in and grabbed my camera and tripod.

Okay, that finished, I went back inside to put away my camera and tripod. I made it halfway up the path to the outhouse before turning to look and see everything go from beautiful to mind-numbingly amazing. Back to the house, grab the camera and tripod, run!

In total, I took 130 pictures this morning. My hands were numb (it was 24 degrees F), I was covered in snow (there are 6 inches of snow on the ground, more where it drifts), and I still had to go to the bathroom. But I think I managed to capture at least a little of the beauty we saw this morning!

It was very gray here today, so here’s a video to brighten up your Monday:

We woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow. Then, the clouds rolled in.

The cloud eventually passed, but the bay was still completely obscured for the rest of the day. It snowed off and on all day, and there may be another 4 inches accumulating overnight. And this is fall, not winter!

Two days ago, there was 4 inches of snow on the ground here. Yesterday, the weather turned, and it rained most of the day. Walking around on compacted snow (aka “ice”) with a layer of water on top while carrying buckets of food, water, and poop (not all at once) was exciting. To an outside observer, we must have looked like a couple of special needs kids, randomly flailing around as we walked.

Today, the snow was gone. In its place came rain and gusting winds all morning. This evening, the temperature rose to a balmy 42 degrees F, and the sun came out just in time to set. It’s supposed to rain all weekend, and possibly snow again next week. Such is fall on the Kenai Peninsula, according to our boss. Basically, the weather is like Indiana, only without the random thunderstorms, and better scenery.

In other news, Skippy and I have been craving brownies something fierce. We’d fed the craving a couple of time in the past week, having purchased a mega-pack of Ghiradelli brownies. Even after two batches in 2 weeks, we kept wanting more. Today we decided to put an end to the addiction, and split an entire pan in one sitting.

This was not one of our brightest ideas.

Imagine an extreme sugar rush, combined with the overstuffed feeling you get after a really big meal, and stir in a bit of “haven’t really interacted with anyone else in a couple of weeks” social withdrawal, and you get: me making funny voices and running around the cabin pretending to run into stuff (speaking of special needs…), and Skippy laughing until she abruptly starts to cry. 20 minutes later, we’re out feeding the sled dogs their dinner and cooking salmon in a big vat (described in a previous post).

We’re skipping dinner tonight.

I finally got around to taking out the video camera the other day, before we got buried in snow, and tried to record the sunrise. Except I was a little late setting up, and I don’t know my camera very well still, so basically it’s not what I was hoping it would be. I also shot some of the scenery, and an overview of the dog yard.

I compressed the sunrise(n?) from 5 minutes to 25 seconds, and I also deleted the audio because the camera microphone sucks. Someday I’ll take a better video, but for now, this is what I have. I do like seeing the sun move more horizontally than vertically. That’s cool!