Thursday 7 June 2012

Anchorage Alaska April 2012


 This was the view from my cousins John and Linda's living room window in mid April - Spring.
The snow was quite packed down and firm.  The snow plough had cleared the roads.
 This is directly across the road from their house.  The air was cool outside but the sunshine was beautiful and warm.
 This is the view of their backyard from the back deck.  The thermometer shows the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius.  The trees are birch with no leaves and spruce with leaves.
 These are the 'ice thrones' John's son David carved for us to have our photograph taken sitting in them.  They were freezing!!!  You can see how firm the snow is.
 Everyone removes their shoes inside the front door as they are always slushy or muddy.  I was able to just wear my Mary Janes if I was careful where I walked and kept to the paths.
Jeff and John standing in the backyard.  David's  boat and John and Linda's massive motorhome are in the background.  Most people have motorhomes for their vacations and they are all huge.  Of course you have to provide your own bathroon and toilet.  Are another subject for a future blog, outhouses.  Yes they are cold!  But when you've got to go, they are appreciated!backyard.  David boat and John and Linda's massive motorhome are in the background.  Most people have motorhomes for their vacations and they are all huge.  Of course you have to provide your own bathroon and toilet.  Are another subject for a future blog, outhouses.  Yes they are cold!  But when you've got to go, they are appreciated!
This is my cousin Doug standing on his back deck also in Anchorage.  The snow is piled right up at the back of the house from where they shovelled it off the roof.
 Around the neighbourhood.  These people still have their Christmas deer lights on the front lawn.  Of course they would have been covered over with snow after Christmas and are just now becoming visible again!  Some people even still had their Halloween decorations in the garden.  They had also been covered with snow since before Christmas.
 I loved these letterboxes.  In the springtime the tubs are planted with flowers.  What a lovely idea.  You have to keep your mailbox dug out all winter or you don't get mail.  If you want to post a letter you just place it in your own mail box, put up your little flag on the side of the box, and the mailman collects it when he delivers your mail.  How wonderful would that be.  It is a Federal offense to tamper with someone else letterbox or to put anything than mail into it.  Thus no Junk Mail.  Everything has to be address to you personally for you to receive catalogues.  Shop catalogues are always in the newspapers.
The mailman.  No cute little red vans like Postman Pat.
 This gorgeous house still had its Christmas decorations up in April.
I loved this playground in the deep snow.  This is where we found Thomas the Tank Engine toy which had been dropped by some child probably last October and then covered with snow.  Spring had melted the snow enough for us to find it poking out.  I gave it to Cooper, after John and David had painted the Alaska Flag big dipper stars on the roof of it, and painted Alaska Thomas on the back.  Cooper was over the moon to receive Alaska Thomas when we got home.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

2 comments:

  1. JULIE - great post... I will tell my readers to check it out. I am loving how you are recalling and presenting from our holiday. Good for me too.

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  2. AJ's readers??

    I LOVE all the snow piled up so high! I'm fascinated by the roads and driveways all cleared and the snow so high in the yards. SO cool.

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