Changing Colors and Cool

View of the trees on the corner by my mailbox.

From the end of my driveway looking toward the Talkeetnas.

Uh, looking down at the blanket of leaves covering the driveway. This was actually one of the sparser layers cos I went for a spot in the sun, not volume. Ha

As always, the spruce tree just adds a certain something to the view over the house from the front yard.

I'm not sure where I took there, been a few days, tho' the earlier pix are from today. Still some flowers hanging in there here and there, tho'!

Hatcher Pass, Mid-September Colors

Heading out Wasilla-Fishhook Road.

Leaves gone, leaves changing, leaves hanging in there in the vicinity of the Motherlode Lodge.

Vrrrooooommmmmmmm....
"Baby, I was born to be wild!"

Kinda weird to see the Valley hazed in cos I'd thought it was quite clear before we headed toward Hatcher.

Not a very good picture, but gave me a laugh. Dog Crate strapped to the back of someone's four-wheeler. Saw lots of dogs today, but never saw this get-up once we left the parking lot where they were parked. Probably berry-picking.

Look lower right. This was the sum-total of wildlife spied today and it could have been squashed had it not scurried back the other way quickly.

Looking backward while walking toward Independence Mine. First time I've been to the mine area in awhile, so a fun bit of meandering about.

A couple of the bunkhouses have been renovated.

Even three story buildings look tiny in this setting.

I think I took this one from the walkway into the gift shop.

Looking down into the Valley from just outside the gift shop.

A zoomed in look at the same area.

Ol' radio above the fireplace inside the gift shop.

Had I been on ground level this flag would have been above me, but from the back deck of the gift shop, it was eyeball level for me.

General mine area.

Nice little cabin on the side of the mountain, right?

Check out how high up it really is!

Okay, it needs work, but fits with the rest of the mix of decay and repair.

Rocky cliffs surround you.

Toward the hazed in Valley from the front deck of, oh, dang, I forget, but I think the old business offices.

I don't recall this being there last visit but, well, it's been awhile since I'd made a proper visit to the mining area.

I know this is new cos the oil drums were newly painted! With the tracks, I'm assuming it'll be part of a future display about the mine cars or something.

Looks like some sorta monster diesel generator or something?

Sorta all blends in together anymore, but ruins of part of the old mining operation.

This was sitting in one of the windows of one of the ol' apartments.

From about the area of the previous shot of the duck in the window looking back up toward the main areas.

More ruins...

Oops, this one is more than a bit lop-sided.

People still pan for gold in many of the surrounding streams.

As you can see, the water moves through at a pretty good clip.

Looking back across the changing colors toward the side of the gift shop the more or less faces the mine area.

You'll have to click to get a larger version of this, but when you do find the cross just a bit below center and slightly right. I was told this cross (and there are some others, tho' never could spy them for sure today) were in memory of some snow-boarders who'd died in avalanche/accidents here, tho' have never had this verified. Anyone know for sure?

Looking back toward the still hazy Valley....which was, go figure, perfectly clear when we got home.

Don't think I've ever snagged a shot of the gift shop from this side, but caught this as we pulled out of the parking lot. The walkway you see is where I was standing to take some of the shots I took back down into the Valley.

Token random shot out the car window.

How cool is this?! A '57 Chevy, conveniently parked at my favorite pull-over viewing spot.

And right beside it, this snazzy "Vette. The guy taking its picture is the owner of the '57 Chevy, who said he'd done all the renovation and body work on it himself. A very, very cool way to end a jaunt to one of my favorite spots in Alaska, Hatcher Pass.

Colors have started changing

I've been fighting a head cold for the last couple days and haven't picked up the camera, but did snap a few quick shots today on an almost equally quick run to the grocery. As you can see, the mountains that should be visible in the opening are largely hiding in the clouds. Kinda one of those days.

The yellow in this one would have really popped out at you had there been any sunshine, but still gives the sense that the yellows are getting more and more vivid and widespread.

Fireweed leaves in the backyard.

Wider view of a batch of fireweed in the back. Then it decided to start sprinkling rain and I decided to come back inside and feel sorry for myself some more. Might as well take advantage of the excuse for perpetual naps while this cold lasts!

Alaska State Fair, Palmer, 2010

It must be because I just read a bio on Steve McQueen, but the barbed wire made me think about "The Great Escape", only in this case we were wanting to be on the other side of it inside the fair.

Here's the token flower shot of the day.

Just inside the north entrance gate.

Ahhh, so cute....

The adults seemed to be having more fun with these than the kids.

I think one of each of these would get me through the winter quite nicely.

Love how each booth personalizes itself. In this case, the owners sell wooden signs of all sizes.

Pat and I were both taken with this bench, but since I can't afford it, she was the one talking to the designer/woodworker.

In the meantime, I was making sure the bench was quite comfy, it was, and getting acquainted with Boo Bear's Wooden Cousin.

Semi-artsy moment, taken of the outside of the Borealis Theater.

This one's for you, Betty. One of these years I'm going to break down and buy one of these!

The Iditarod's spot at the fair.

I'm liking next year's logo, especially on the blue.

2011 Iditarod Calendar

Never did venture too far down to where the rides were, but took a few shots from afair, I guess near the Irwin Building.

The quilt display won out over the flowers this year and even tried to sit my rear down so I'd get 'em in better focus than usual.

This guy was spinning dog hair into fabric. He had a big stash from what looked like a Sammie but, alas, I didn't sit my rear down to take that one and someone bumped me and I didn't realize it at the time, so outta focus.

But, back to the quilts.....

This is what I think they were calling a t-shirt quilt made by taking various tees and quilting them together. Pretty cool.

And just in case we need a reminder that winter is coming....

This looks like the same shot as above a couple frames but was actually the back side of that quilt. It was big, maybe king sized, more likely queen.

Lumberjack show at the Woodlot

Then we sat down to wait on the birdman show and what did I spy but an oversized bird down the way. Gasp, it's "The Duck That Ate Palmer"?

I think the guy with the spiked hair may have been helping Ducky Gigantic or, who knows, maybe he just likes orange and blue spiked hair.

Close up of Ducky, showing his real intentions.

These guys were cute. They did impressions. No lie.

I don't remember what this guy was called, but he isn't going to be in any birdie beauty contests. Note that he seems to be walking on his toes. That's normal because they come from a wet, wet climate and that's to protect their feet. This is about the one real fact I picked up before I wiggled back outta the crowd and went to sit on the bench, where I was found by Tony and Delores Waffen at one point.

But, seriously, look at that face....

We missed most of the equestrian show but, seriously, even this former horse nut girl had her priorities and it involved ice cream. Barb Redington has some awesome shots and even video of this show on Facebook if you're interested.

I really liked that they took one of the horses over to where there was a woman in a wheelchair at the end. A classy act, by a group up from Florida, I might add.

Here's their sign.

I laughed when we walked into the barn cos just like there would be for a celebrity, there was a crowd of people standing around waiting for a chance to get a picture of this 1,101 lb, record breaking pumpkin. Some folks were even posing in front of it.

FYI, the hay bales are normal sized, to give some perspective.

Just about every where you turn there is music of some kind being played.

Hula Hoop Heaven?

As an adult I've somewhat come to cringe when I see rides like this but, gotta admit, as a kid, it would have made my day to be where this one is.

I have absolutely no clue what the focus of this booth was but liked their mascot!

Alaska toys of all kinds were on display.

Let's put this ride in perspective. Imagine being strapped into a giant slingshot that is probably more than three stories high, then launched into the air at the end of the giant rubberband to which you're attached.

Up, up, you go....while most of us on the ground are going, "No way!"

And then, for added measure, you sorta bob around up there for awhile until the ride operator decides you've had enough fun and brings you back down.

On the road again....headed home via Palmer, ahead of us in the picture. The skies were like this all day, partly sunny and blue, part ominous and cloudy, but never rained...yipee!