Weather and Stress

Timeline so far:

Arrived in Anchorage on the Thursday, July 17th.

- Ate chicken-fried steak at Peggy's Cafe in Anchorage.

- Picked up Lucy at "Bed and Biscuit" - a really great place where Gail has been boarding her when needed.

- Went to Aurora Beads in Wasilla. Lucy got into the leftover chicken fried steak while we were in the bead store. So much for dinner! :)

- Camped at Fox Run, in Wasilla. Nice place with friendly people.

Friday, July 18th

- Picked up new tires in Wasilla. Gail's had two flats since arriving.

- Went back to Aurora Beads in Wasilla

- Camped at Fox Run, in Wasilla.

Saturday, July 19th

- Ran errands, mostly, during the day.

- Made stuff for the Anchorage Market until the wee hours of the morning.

- Ate at Cadillac Cafe in Meadow Lake. AWESOME Burritos, great atmosphere, great service.

Sunday, July 20th

- Did the Anchorage Farmer's Market

- At awesome turkey dinner at Peggy's Cafe. This time we kept the leftovers out of Lucy's reach!

Monday, July 21st

- Did laundry and cleaned up mostly during the day. Gail picked up Lucy. Drove as far as Sterling. Ended up staying at paid campsite in order to wash very smelly dog.

Tuesday, July 22nd

- Stopped at Willow Picker Lumber (Roy Baldwin's Burl Wood Art); got great bowl and spoon and a wedding present for Althea.

-- In General ...

Sigh ... guess the fantasy couldn't last forever. This trip has definitely been different. First, the weather. Cold and wet. Even for Alaska, this is highly unusual. Temps are 10-20 degrees below summer and rainfall is at record highs in some parts. The seven-to-ten day forecasts don't, as yet, offer much hope of it getting any better.

Bear in mind, Alaska with a lot of clouds is a lot like ... well, like Illinois. You can't see the mountains most of the time, so it looks flat. And grey. My attitude, though I've really been trying hard to be positive, has not been good. I think it's really getting on Gail's nerves, as much as I just try to keep quiet about it. I'm having a hard time with the grey and dreary - just feeling depressed.

Money is another huge issue. Everything (gas included) is nearly twice as much as last trip (just two years ago). Just driving 130 miles (towing the camper) cost over $70.

The shows are doing very very badly. No one is spending money on things like jewelry - and who can blame them? So we're not making money either. We busted our tail at the Anchorage Market (usually a really good show for us), and took quite a loss.

OKAY, 'nuff griping. We have done a few fun things. We went to the Iditarod Trail headquarters in Wasilla, and took a sled dog ride! It was really fun! The guy that actually led the ride is the son of the person who officially founded the race itself.

On Sunday, after the Anchorage Market, we "took the long road" back to the campsite, and saw some very pretty views. Much more "back country", less civilization.

I've also kept up on exercise - walking Lucy is very helpful. Yesterday, we walked on a trail at the Turnagain Pass rest area. It was raining (of course), but it was still a stunningly beautiful walk. We let Lucy run. She apparently had a *really* good time. She found something quite nasty to roll in, and stunk to high heaven! We ended up paying for a campsite last night just so we could use a real shower and get her cleaned up!