Herro dear readers. Yet again I have left you all dismissively behind as I dance with the Alaskan Summer. She is gorgeous and she doesn't stay for long so you'll please excuse me as I take her for a spin.
Forget-M-Nots, the Alaska State Flower on a recent hike.
I'm currently up in the Brooks Range, 200 miles north of Fairbanks, and enjoying the fresh air and freedom that comes with making do on one's own. That is to say we bought 3 months worth of groceries before we left and now have them packed into 4 chest freezers. Not exactly living OFF the land, but certainly living IN the land.This year I cheated a bit and brought my newfound Hughesnet knowledge with me. Now a small satellite dish sits in the front yard, on a piece of plywood for now, and I have intergalactic internet. Amazing. The next step is to drive a pipe into the ground, drop some cement around the bottom and mount the system for real. So far, Hughesnet appears to be the best quality satellite internet available. It's not super fast, but it's reliable and relatively cheap at $80/month. You have a 24 hour limit on downloads, that is, every 24 hours you may only exchange a certain amount of data, but there is a free period after 10 pm when you can do what you want. A meter shows you in real time how much you have used and so far I haven't come anywhere near my daily usage.
Enough blah, blah, blah. Here are some pretty pictures:
First hike of the season overlooking the Iniakuk Valley, a bit of rain and a lot of bugs.
Bluebells crying in the rain.
I don't know my mushrooms but I think this is a truffle of some kind. I did not eat it.
