Where the black diamonds at?

The Granny good luck (or that lucky Canadian quarter) came through again on Saturday. An absolutely amazing wind free clear blue sky day, with powder galore, greeted the islands. Boppa got a couple runs of Utah-esque powder turns, while Mister, Nana, and Mama enjoyed the fantastic weather on the lower slopes.









YARD SALE!



Serious yard sale. It's not often that you have a wipeout so serious you lose your skis AND boots. That's the life of an extreme downhill skier.

Paxson Revel Glenn Plake Wilco

As we predicted, the bleak weather reports were wrong. Nana made it in unscathed, a little late, and much more knowledgeable about the city of Cold Bay.

Senor started on his Glen Plake training program immediately.



Thanks for the skis Nana!




Starting to rock a little harder now...

A Tale of Two Grannies

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times...

for flying, that is.

We've been blessed with the good fortune of two Granny visits in two consecutive weekends (Grammy Williams and Nana Cook). We really hit the jackpot for weather on weekend #1. It must've been that lucky Canadian quarter we picked up outside Eagle. (Worth 28 cents American - practically covering the whole month of February.) But our luck ran out. Grammy got out Monday on the last flight to leave here since then. No flights going out. No flights coming in. As I write Nana Cook is in Anchorage, under orders to report back to good old Ted Stevens International promptly at 5 AM. Good thing she's an early riser! Today's flight was cancelled, on account of the previously mentioned weather.

One sidenote. While Nana may have it bad, she can at least be thankful that she doesn't have it as bad as the Bethel Lady Warriors. The last time they tried to get here for volleyball, it took three days of waiting and they arrived within 15 minutes of forfeiting regionals. (Good thing they made it, as they went on to win regionals and eventually take State.) And now, as the Lady Warriors again try to come to Unalaska, they must wait out another storm. If I was a Bethel Warrior, I'd at least find some solace that this trip is co-ed. Looks like the teams will be getting a lot of airport and airplane time in yet again.

And for those that don't know what trying to get to Dutch in weather entails, here's an example. Get on plane, fly 2 hours to King Salmon. Stop for gas. Stay on plane. Fly 1 hour to Cold Bay. Get gas. Fly 1 Hour to Dutch. Attempt to land. Attempt to land. Attempt to land. After 3 hours, fly back to Cold Bay. Refuel. Fly to Dutch. Attempt to land. Attempt to land. Fly back to Cold Bay. Get gas. Fly back to Anchorage.

It can make for a long day.
(Don't tell Nana.)

Nana, blissfully, was spared this ordeal today. Her flight was flat out cancelled. No attempt necessary because the earlier flights tried the above to no avail.

So we are left alone in Dutch Harbor, drinking our hot Poscha (Postum-Mocha), eagerly awaiting a break in the weather so Nana can come visit. The forecast doesn't look good... but at least the forecast around here is often wrong. We're counting on that.

Back to Grammy's visit. Like I said, jackpot!



The only minor concern was the pilot's failure to land on the first go around. But attempt #2 brought success.

Did I mention the wind? A light Dutch Harbor breeze was blowing.






Mystery Science Theater Dutch Harbor welcomes Grammy to town. Just in time for the Little Engine That Could encore! This time, we were guaranteed an audience!

Here's Boodacious posing with Grammy as she models Genevieve's cool boots.



Boodacious and Grammy playing.



We saw cool waterfowl



cool water mammals


and Unalaska's largest natural mammal (and Genevieve's totem spirit, incidentally).



And the weather...



it mostly held up!

Thanks for coming to visit, Grammy! Can't wait until next time!



Grammy also got to stop and visit Team Wilyo on the way. You can read about Supaguranma's visit here! (Once again, the Google automatic translator never ceases to entertain! Supaguranma = Super Granma, for example.)

And Nana, let's all send our prayers out to the weather Gods! Please allow Pen Air the visibility they need to fly to Dutch!

Super Tuesday!

Democracy in action.....Unalaska style (code for the phone lines are down due to weather so we were unable to connect with our shared precinct in Dillingham and perhaps our caucus won't even count for anything, but hey....we did it!).

48 people in attendance (plus at least 4 or 5 who arrived a few minutes after 6:00 and were denied the opportunity to participate....we wouldn't want to break any rules....Unalaska style as I mentioned). The last caucus here was 8 years ago and there were 4 people in attendance. It's exciting to see people participating and being excited about the process. Plus we're all learning at the same time (since most people actually have very little knowledge about how the whole process works....including me!). The caucus was in the Burma Road Chapel and there were signs for all the candidates around the room.



And Aileen will be happy to know that there were some refreshments (though I didn't contribute any baked goods)


Let the fan out begin.....I was planning to stand by Gravel in the first wave to support his anti-war position, but alas I caved. I tried to move a little slow to see where people were going to stand, but there wasn't much milling around and people went straight to the top 2. I gave a wistful eye to all the the lonely spots and considered standing up for principal, but in the end I must be too sensitive to peer pressure (and standing out like a sore thumb in a group situation). So poor Gravel had a lonely evening. [Too bad the men of the family couldn't participate!]


The vote was 27 for Obama


17 for Clinton


and 2 for Edwards (I didn't know they were standing in Edwards' spot since it just seemed an extension of the Obama group, or I could have at least joined them in solidarity against the masses)


After the second wave and some intense calculations.....

The finals standings were Obama 28, Clinton 18. Let's just hope this gets on the record books!

Update: It counted! Alaska is clearly Obama country. And on the republican side, McCain came in dead last (of those still running). I guess folks around here aren't too pumped about 100 more years in Iraq.

The New Digs

The new digs have arrived! Hayden and Senor enjoyed a nice lunchtime window display of trucks and cranes and commotion that was thoroughly entertaining. The first modular section was put in place yesterday, but unfortunately is in a backwards position and it barely made it that far due to precarious positioning with high winds! I think they decided to hang up shop for the day after the mishap. Today as I left the courthouse modular section #2 was on site and perhaps they are getting ready for some more action (which in construction terms means there are a lot of people standing around with hard hats on).
H