387

That's how many miles my little car can get on one tank of gas.

I know this because I coasted in to the gas station tonight, running on fumes. I had forgotten to get gas in Anchorage and didn't realize it until I hit Palmer. Thank goodness the gas station is down hill from Anchorage!

Still, I'm pretty proud of my little car: the tank is only 10 gallons, so for it to go that far means I'm getting really good gas mileage!

What kind of car do you drive?
     Mine is a 2012 Nissan Yaris.

What's your gas mileage?
     Mine is apparently 38.7 mpg.

It’s done! It’s Done! It’s Done!

Well, okay – so it’s not completely done; but it is usable finally and the kittens LOVE it!

Right now it has a floor, four walls, a roof and a door – but we still need to work on the floor a bit (add more gravel) and install the levels, platforms, ramps, and other interior items in it, and the door still needs a handle. Since we don’t have anything in it at the moment, we went ahead and moved one of their cat trees outside for them to feel safe on.

 It was so cute when I first opened up the window for them. Naldo marched right out and jumped down off the window ledge, landing in the middle of the gravel. Then she just froze: she’d never been on gravel before, and didn’t know what to do! The look on her face was priceless. She’s gotten used to it by now, but she still walks funny.

Viktor hasn’t set foot in the gravel yet: he maneuvers around on the framing, jumping from one level to the next. Someday, he’ll get brave and come down to the floor – but not today.

It also took both of them a while to understand that they could come and go as they please. I had to show them a couple times, but they eventually got the hang of it. Now I have to call them in for some snuggles: they do come in, but then they go right back out again after a few minutes.

The next big learning curve for them will be navigating the screen door. I’m hanging a magnetic screen across the interior door to their room (located off of our bedroom) because I cannot install a screen across the window any more.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

This Saturday Bryan and I got to attend the First Annual Hunter’s Get Together BBQ down at the Palmer Depot! It’s held by the local chapter of The Safari Club, an national group that advocates for hunter’s (and fisher’s) rights. They had Live Music, Door Prizes, Raffles, a Silent Auction for Gourmet Deserts, and a generous buffet line put on by Smokehouse BBQ.

We didn’t know anybody there, so just randomly chose a table up at the front to sit at. We ended up with a young couple from Willow who were ex-military and super nice. The food was apparently quite good (sorry, BBQ is not my thing) and the music was fantastic. The prizes were cool, too: some of them were quite the catch, like a week for two up at a fishing lodge on Lake Iliamna.

But I have to say, I had the most fun at the silent auction. There’s a little back-story here, first, so you understand where I’m coming from. Back when Bryan and I first started dating, he used to bring me Red Velvet Cupcakes all the time. Like, a lot of them. Finally I had to say, “You know, I don’t really like red velvet cupcakes.” And he was all “What?!? I thought they were your favorite!?!”

So anyway, back to the silent auction: one of the deserts up for sale was (you guessed it) a rather large Red Velvet Cake donated by The Flying Dutchman. I couldn’t help myself: I put Bryan’s name down on it with a price just a few dollars higher than the asking minimum. And wouldn’t you know – HE WON!

The look on his face when they brought it to him was worth it all… even though we now have a very large Red Velvet Cake at home that I really don’t like much.

They've Turned Off The Creek!

My partner and I went on a 3-day camping/hiking trip up to Denali last weekend, and had a great time!

We drove in to the Visitor’s Center, right at the entrance of the park, and left our vehicle there. Then we caught a bus ride about 32 miles in to the Igloo Creek Campground and found the perfect spot to pitch our tent. The next day, we caught another bus further in to the Toklat River, where we hiked downstream a ways until we found an un-named creek that came down off our left. We followed that up a ways to a sweet little valley where we had our lunch – and then leisurely made our way back down to the road to catch another bus back to our tent. The next day we packed everything back up and headed on back home.

I woke up in the early morning hours that first night and had a moment of panic. We had chosen that site because it was right next to the creek, with all the sounds associated with a swiftly moving body of water. But when I woke up, I couldn’t hear a thing: not a bug, not a bird, and not even the creek! That little voice inside my head kept screaming, “They’ve turned off the creek! They’ve turned off the creek!” (there’s not a whole lot of logic to that little voice inside my head, particularly that early in the morning)(and I’m not entirely sure who “they” are)

It honestly took me a good five minutes to come to my senses and roll over. Even after two years, I just don’t seem to be adjusting to the fact that one ear simply doesn’t work anymore, and I really can’t hear a thing out of it!

Apparently I sleep on my good ear…