It was a Long & Winding Road!

I keep saying, "why didn't you tell me the road was so horrible??!?!?" I say this to everyone I know who told me that they drove the Alaska Canadian Highway (Alcan). I'm using the word "HIGHWAY" here very loosely! Now, they just sort of smile & nod! WTF!! This was club I didn't want to belong too. It only took 3 hours to fly to Portland but it took 5 -12 hour days of driving!

Hello people!! IT'S NOT A F&%KING HIGHWAY!! It's a little ole' 2 lane road without guard rails along the cliff side & pink markers every foot to identify road damage. The road was definitely the worst in British Columbia & the so called Milepost is outdated & useless. All of the road stops outside of a town (pop 5,000) were closed! Most have permanently closed & are not re-opening due to less traffic on the road, the economy or both. We nearly ran out of gas twice! There just wasn't another gas station open & in business between points on the road. The Milepost kept telling us there was but the wasn't!! Milepost BAD....very BAD!!

I have a need to rant about the Milepost but I may save that for my travel partner, Judy. No this isn't a picture of Judy it's a picture of my other travel companion the lovely, Molly.

We saw a lot of wildlife along the highway. After I get my photos downloaded I'll post about some of the wildlife along the road.

If anyone has any road stories (I am not calling it the "highway") I'd love to hear them ~ For now I'm happy to be home in own little world. Have a good Sunday everyone!

ROAD TRIP!

Yes, I'm going on a road trip! Me! The woman who hates to drive across town in her ancient 20 year old Saab is goin' on a road trip! Hang tight because I'm flying to Portland on a Saturday morning red-eye & driving the Alcan back to Alaska with a friend who's moving back to the state.

Yeah! I'm so happy to have this woman move back to Alaska ~ she rocks. More about her if she's OK with me sharing on the blog.

Monday Night Accordion Club

If you're in Anchorage & you play the accordion please join the Anchorage Accordion Club's practice tonight. We meet every 1st & 3rd Monday of the month. Click on the link for more info. Sign in & check out the calendar & directions our gigs & practice times/places.

Deadlines when there's Sunny Weather

Hey ~ it's Alaska in early May & it was in the 70's today! It seemed like everyone & their dog was outside sitting on the front stairs, taking walks around the neighborhood or working in the yard.

What was I doing?? Trying to recover from a bad cold / sore throat & working in the studio! I'm in full production mode & have work going out to four galleries tomorrow. But hey...I'm not complaining! I love my galleries & I even got a chance to walk around the block & stop in at the new bakery in our neighborhood for a cookie. Deadlines & sunny weather are challenging when you're a sun deprived Alaskan but it was a good day!

Honey Bee Update

Here's a picture taken during the second bee check on April 23rd. You can see the space between the frames in the brood box & the queen cage that is covered with bees. The queen cage needs to be removed & the frames replaced.

I'm holding onto the queen cage & the bees have built burr comb off of the bottom. This is fun to look at & touch. Sometimes the queen has already laid eggs in the burr comb & she may still be lurking so it's important to not shake her off or hurt her when you're removing the cage & comb. There was a large burr comb in both of the hives & lots of activity so I'm assuming all is good at this point.

Here's a picture of the queen in the middle of this frame ~ see the pink/red dot? That's the queen & the red marker helps to identify her among all the bees.

Sorry the picture is blurry ~ I had gloves on & it's hard to handle the camera with the bulk & the excitement of seeing Her Majesty!

I didn't see the queen or any eggs in the second hive & I'm a little worried about that but it's still early so I'll probably check them again in a week to see if they need food & to check the second hive for eggs & baby brood.

It was 68 degrees today in Anchorage & it felt hot in the sun. The tops of my feet actually got sunburned while I was outside! I'm hoping for a hot & sunny summer....& a great honey flow! I think we're off to a great start.