riverboat, summer fun, my tomato crop

Earlier this summer my friends and I took advantage of purchasing tickets for the Riverboat Discovery, a local attraction. The 3-1/2 hour trip on the Chena River offers plenty for the visitors from all over the world. The Discovery is a sternwheeler with four decks. We sat along the rails on the third deck where we were able to see everything clearly and get lots of wonderful sun. It was 91 degrees that day, a record-breaking (1926) temperature, but there was a mild breeze to help offset the heat. The boat stops to watch a floatplane take off and land on the river, then moves downstream to a sled-dog operation. The dog yard belongs to Dave Monson, widower of Susan Butcher. The next stop is a replica of an Athabascan Indian village where young people act as tour guides. One young woman sliced up salmon and talked about the drying racks. Others conducted tours of the village (I didn't get off the boat - I've seen it several times and my back did not like climbing the steps to the third deck once, let alone twice!).

Floatplane taking off on the Chena River. An older Discovery sits in the background, this one with two decks as opposed to the four decks on our boat.

Pups swimming in the river at the Butcher-Monson dog yard

Salmon strips drying on the rack at the Native village

It was a busy day on the river. A lot of people took advantage of the weather and the water.

boaters and kayakers

jetskiers

And people weren't the only ones enjoying the river:
















I took off a day to take my granddaughter shopping for school clothes. I had a great day with Maddie and Maura (my daughter). We shopped our hearts out, then went to lunch. I compromised and agreed to MacDonald's - definitely not MY first choice! Maddie's too young to be super fussy yet, and seemed happy with everything we bought, although she did reject a few things I picked up. I guess it was a success, though, because Maura called me a couple of days later to tell me Maddie had worn her new shoes to bed two nights in a row :) She is so excited about school and can't wait to start. Although school started Aug. 18, the kindergarteners don't go until the 24th. It doesn't seem possible she's in school already. And now her mom tells me she has a loose tooth!

My cherry tomato plants have produced only about a dozen of the little things, and so far only three of them have been ready to pick. A Master Gardener I'm not :(

















I set them next to quarters for size reference. Pretty sad. We'll see how they taste. I think maybe next year I'll stick with things that grow without a lot of fuss and bother.

We're looking at train/hotel prices and considering a rail trip to Denali National Park before the snow flies. The park is gorgeous in the fall, and this is one of my favorite trips.

I'm enjoying what's left of the summer, preparing for winter and mulling options for some major changes next spring/summer here at the house.

Happy end-of-August.

Another month has gone by without a post. (So much for my goal of weekly updates!) We've been busy with an open house at work and VIP visits. On top of that, we've been working part of the summer with a reduced staff because of leaves, etc, and none of us have been idle.

My old computer finally slowed down so much that I decided it was time to replace it. After much research and pricing, I found one with right price and features. Then it was time to set it up and transfer or reinstall all the programs I use. All of the components are operating and the speed amazes me. I'm now running Windows 7 here and am much happier with this one than the Vista we're using at work. The monitor that came with it is 24" with a great display. This is considerably smaller than the older computer and takes up so much less space. The old one also had a woofer, so my desk doesn't look nearly as cluttered.

I hated the few days I spent with no computer or one only partly set up. I have a routine I follow each morning on the computer - specific order in what I do, i.e. solitaire, crosswords, news, etc - each day, and having to vary that routine threw me off. I've been accused of suffering from OCD because of that routine, but it's comfortable for me. Some of the old games are not compatible with Windows 7, so I am now building a new set of morning computer times.

As I've been doing all summer, I'm still taking the long way to work a couple of days a week. I saw this guy munching on some young growth last week.

He paid little attention except one time when he looked directly at the car. I guess he determined I was not a threat, because he went right back to his breakfast.

Last weekend my friend Mae and I made our annual trip to the Georgeson Botanical Gardens. Although the place was beautiful, as always, I thought it wasn't quite as pretty as last year. However, we did see some gorgeous blooms.

The fair started Friday and the kids go back to school Aug. 18 - both signs that summer is nearing an end. My granddaughter starts kindergarten this year and is very excited. It's hard to believe she's old enough for school already. I don't know where the time went. I've seen a few gaggles of geese flying around the city the past two weeks. I guess it's time to start thinking of the oil change for the car and preparing other things for the coming winter - bring in the hose, put up the lawn chairs, get out the shovels, etc. Although none of it needs to be done today, I don't want to wait until the snow falls.

I've tried a couple of summer recipes my sister sent, and am now looking forward to trying some hearty soups this winter. I love soup, but not when the weather is hot. I'm not particularly fond of cold soups, and really want light, cold meals in the summer. So the soups wait until the mercury drops.

Still to do before the snow flies are the annual trips to Ester and Murphy domes. We normally do those after the leaves start to turn. The colors are beautiful and the views from the tops of the domes are spectacular.

Happy August everyone.