Finally- Alaska!

After two weeks of driving, flying, visiting, and mingling, I’ve made it back up to the ever-exciting state of Alaska. Thirteen hours after I left Durango, I finally landed in Fairbanks, Alaska along with the perhaps ten other passengers on my flight. But before I describe the marvels of my new home, I’ll rewind one week and pick up where my last blog post left off.

One week ago, I left Birmingham and flew to Durango to spend some time with my Durango friends and family. Not 15 hours since I’d arrived in Durango, Nick, my dad, Vanessa, Vanessa’s father Mike, and I left for Canyon de Chelly down in Arizona for a night of camping and hiking. Vanessa and Mike were beginning their trek across the West, so Nick, my dad, and I had decided to accompany them on their first leg of the trip. When you first arrive at the park, the park appears to be just a flat wasteland of pinon pine and scrub oak. It’s not until your toes are hanging over the edge of the canyon that you realize the enormity of the oasis thousands of feet down from your feet. The majority of the canyon is parceled off for over seventy Navajo families, so in order to explore the canyon floor, we had to hire a guide. For four hours the following morning, we meandered down the bottom of the canyon, which was full of petraglyphs and pictographs, hoogans and farms, and Hopi and Anasazi ruins. Our guide also pointed out shapes in the rocks but rather than seeing “the bear poking his head out of a cave,” my analytical mind would see two triangles (if anything at all). I have to admit, by the fourth rock shape, I’d lost interest in trying to find the dinosaur or eagle and would just nod my head and smile, exclaiming “oh yeah, I can see it.” After our hike and a good bye to Vanessa and Mike, we drove back to Durango. Thursday and Friday morning were a blur of greetings and appointments, and next thing I know, I’m touching down in Fairbanks to begin my new job handling for Allen Moore and Aliy Zirkle.



My current home of Two Rivers, while not necessarily mountainous, is a beautiful area of rolling hills. Aliy and Allen own SP Kennels, which is the home of around fifty top-notch racing dogs. They’ve converted their workout cabin into a cozy little cabin for me equipped with electricity, a heater, microwave, and television! What can I say, I’m moving up in the world. The cabin even comes with a bed warmer: the ex-sled dog Stella. Combine that with the Northern Lights show and my accommodations couldn’t be better!
In the next couple of days, I’ll add another posting about all the recent dog activities!