5.5 Hours

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!

Today is officially the shortest day of the year, and in our neck of the woods that means approximately 5.5 hours of daylight today.

Sunrise : 10:14am

Sunset : 3:41pm

If you are anywhere near the shadow of a mountain, consider your day even shorter.

In some places up north, the sun never rises above the horizon!

Crazy, huh?

Tomorrow the sun will rise one second earlier and set one second later, technically marking the return of longer days and ultimately. . . SUMMER!

(I mean you gotta stay positive, right!)

Sushi is for Lovers

So I (Katrina) am coming off of about 4 years working in a sushi restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ.

It was a great job and I met incredible people working there.

However, my dream job IS NOT serving raw fish.

(Shocker, right?)

So I must admit that when, on our road trip to the North Land, I came across my old apron in the car and realized I no longer had use for it, I promptly disposed of it in the most ethical way possible (when one is sleeping in the woods):

Fire Dance from Katrina Donaldson on Vimeo.

Cathartic? Oh, yes.

Don't get me wrong, it is nothing against the place where I worked, which was wonderful to me, just more of a confirmation that I was leaving some parts of my life behind in order to make room for the new adventures that lay ahead. 

But, old habits die hard.

I'm kind of starting to miss sushi!

So my wonderful and fabulous boy, magnificent chef that he is, decided to try his hand at some HOMEMADE SUSHI!

Luckily I have a lot of sushi recipes stored in the ole' think tank so we were able to simply buy what we needed and start rolling. . .

 
 On the menu that night:
California Rolls
Spicy Tuna Rolls
Kirin Ichiban (beer)

Little Lily Nigori Sake (our favorite!)

Godzilla descends upon the innocent!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

We were actually kind of surprised that we had such success finding everything we needed to make sushi up here.
But we are so happy that we did!
With the right materials, homemade sushi is easy, fresh, and delicious!
Kampai!

Doggin' - Montana Creek

Pure blue skies. -15 degrees. No wind.

The perfect day for a Sled Dog Race.

Our day at the races started long before the sun came up. Granted the sun doesn't come up anymore until about 10:30am.

We rode with the mushers to the site of the race, Montana Creek, about an hour north from where we live. 
After 34 pups were unloaded and relieved of full bladders, the mushers signed up and the sleds were put together.

Not the wooden toboggan you were expecting, huh?
Today sleds are fast, collapsible, and incredibly lightweight.

The dogs that were up to race were unloaded from the pup truck and harnessed. 

That is Austin harnessing DeWalt, also known as Big D!

First was the 4-dog 4-mile race. 
Then the 6-dog 6-mile race.
Sounds short, right? This is Sprint Racing.
There are fewer dogs and shorter distances equalling faster speeds and times!

Doggin' - Montana Creek from Katrina Donaldson on Vimeo.

When most people think of Sled Dog Racing they think of the Iditarod. And while the Iditarod is an amazingly intense physical and psychological challenge, and finishing it is a major life accomplishment, it is also, as Sprint Mushers nicely put it:
"a camping trip". 

Over a week of camping in snow and below zero temps?
Boring, say our musher friends. Give them 6 dogs and 6 miles of trail and let the dogs rip at speeds around 20 MPH!
Adrenaline junkies.

Beautiful as the day was, it was cooooooooold.
Lucky for us observers, we had a toasty warm car to thaw out in while we waited for the mushers to return.

You know its chilly when the thermometer reads negative zero! 

 It was so cold Austin's mouth cave formed stalactites. . .

. . . and the freezing air caused tears in Katrina's eyes that immediately turned to ice on her eyelashes.

The last race Sundog Kennels did was the 8-dog 8-mile, and then a 14-dog 8-mile training run when the races were over. 

We have really gotten to know all the dogs who are the sweetest pups. Meet some of them:

Lark

Speedy

Irma

Kai

Frosty

Wren


We love them like we love The Beast!

 
We dogged from sunrise to sunset.
Which isn't saying much when you only have 5 hours of daylight.
So maybe we should say from before sunrise to after sunset!

Still it was an awesome day.

Doggin' : A Sneak Peek

Yesterday Austin and I went to our first

Sprint Sled Dog Race.

It was an amazingly cold and beautiful day and we had an amazing time helping and watching our new friends race. 

The humans were pretty cool too.

Stay tuned this week for a full report!

Red Paint Wanted.

Last Friday Austin and I went to town. 

Granted, we do already live in a "town". But sometimes it feels like we just live in the empty lot behind Wal-Mart. You know, the one the gypsies park their caravans in. Or in our case, where the slednecks park their four-wheelers.

 No offense fellow Valliers. (That is my new and fancy French-sounding word I'm going to start calling people who live in the Mat-Su Valley, most of them just refer to themselves as Valley Trash. . . )

So anyway, despite warnings of a possible blizzard, we ventured down the highway to Anchorage to get a little taste of the city life and perhaps splash a stroke or two of crimson paint on the iced up streets and buildings. 

We were in luck because it was First Friday!

First Stop: FOOD! AND BEER!

(Have you noticed a recurring theme on our blog?)

The Midnight Sun Brewing Co. is Austin's favorite brewery and they just opened up their restaurant above the operation. It was busy in there! But we snagged a seat along the staircase bar and had a bit to eat!

 Austin got a bit carried away with his beer tasting.

And, the bouquet. . . ?

First time around we both had the seasonal

COHOHO Imperial IPA

(COHO is one of 5 types of Alaskan Salmon)

It was yummy, but we couldn't stray too far from some of our favorites!

Like Kodiak Brown Ale

Or Panty Peeler Tripel

See why we like these beers? They aren't just yummy, they are funny!

From the brewery it was off to explore downtown and what it had to offer.

We saw lots of great art and handiwork, often inspired by Alaska.

Cute business card holders.

I LOVE this store: Octopus Ink

They make clothing "inspired by nature, designed and printed in Alaska"

AND it is printed on organic t-shirts!

(the Dalli Hoodie is on my X-Mas list!)

Artist V Rae and the Virtue Gallery was another favorite.

The caption reads as such:

"At a distance she looked like any other moose, until she sauntered by my studio window, nibbled a blossom, looked me in the eyes and showed me her true colors. We now have tea on Thursdays."

Snow City Cafe always offers good food and interesting rotating displays of art.

This is Tim Troll's work

Walking the streets of a city you are always guaranteed to see something that catches your eye!

Hehehe.

Sadly, we did not visit the "back room".

All too soon it was back to the valley and our beloved Valliers!

But, who knew Anchorage would have such an enthusiastic art scene!?

I'm totally stoked on it!

Comically Cultured

Alaska isn't all fishermen, woodsmen, and huntsmen.

We have artists too!

Let us introduce one of our favorites:

Ray Troll

A self-proclaimed "fin" artist, Ray Troll "draws and paints fishy images".

These images are put onto T-shirts, magnets, calendars, etc. and sold all over Alaska and the world. But this art isn't just for the tourits, in fact, you better be familiar with some aspects of the Great Alaskan Sport to get the often dry and "fishy" humor!

Take a look:

(p.s. sorry for the small images)

Above is Austin's favorite!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Check out Ray Troll here and more of his awesome and funny art!