Quilting in Alaska: January 2009

January 7, 2009

HI! I arrived today in Anchor Point, Alaska! BRRRRRRRRRR It is cold here! -8 degrees. I am late in arriving as I have been enroute longer than I should have been—maybe I came by dog sled! That’s why I was flat and white—frozen? I am just glad to be where I am supposed to be and to get some warm clothes on. The lady I am visiting said she will dress me warm. She will also take a pic of the view out her back yard today—I am hoping there will be a moose out there too to make it really look like the wilds of Alaska. I hope to get to the beach too for some look at the ice on the beach today.

Until later!

Flat Stanley (FS)

January 8, 2009

Above is the pic of the home I am staying in here in Anchor Point with the Dixons. My visit is short since I arrived so late. But the lady took some photos. All the photos she took 1/7/09 except for the moose because I did not get to see a moose so a photo will have to do—I did not want you all to miss out on seeing a moose. We looked but just did not see one moose on our short ride. Anchor Point is just a bump in the road with a post office, library, and a couple of cafes and small stores. I don’t have time to go to Homer, 15 miles south and the end of the road and to see the harbor and Kachemak Bay. Wish I had come earlier so I could see those places. But alas, I have to be back in South Florida ASAP! This photo is the back yard of where I am staying taken shortly after I arrived—the tracks in the snow are not mine—they are of the moose who wandered before me—there are moose tracks everywhere in the yard.

How serene it looks but it is cold outside! I want to come back when it is summer and daylight almost 24 hrs. And wish I could stay for the winter games/carnival coming up the first part of Feb. I don’t mind the cold since the lady has put me in a parka and boots. So no snow machine ride, skiing or sledding!

Look at the eagles! We had to stop at the transfer site to deposit some trash and there the vultures were in all their glory chortling in the trees.

Ok then we made a stop at the beach which is only 2 miles from where I am staying. There was a fog bank on the Cook Inlet so I could not see the mountains across the way. Anchor Point Beach is awesome. They told me they launch boats from the beach with big tractors in the summer when there is fishing frenzy—I would love to see that!

That white in the middle of the bay is a big ice floe. Those chunks of ice on the beach at high tide are huge! It is about 25 miles across the bay to Iliama area. The mountains are potentional volcanoes over there too. This inlet goes all the way up to Anchorage 200 miles north. Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city!

This moose photo was taken a few days after Christmas in the Dixon’s yard off the south side of their house. Mr. Dixon had cleared a lot of the yard last summer and it enables a moose to walk through easily but nothing stops a moose except a 10 ft fence.

Here I am in Mrs. Dixon’s sewing room where she dressed me up in my parka and boots. This is Mrs. Dixon’s favorite spot as she is a quilter. She sews and looks out on the back yard . She also has a big quilting machine frame in the other living area part of the home here in Anchor Point, Alaska. Sure wish I could stick around and watch her quilt, sew, and visit with her quilting friends here in Anchor Point,in Ninilchik 20 miles north, and Homer 15 miles south. However, it is time for me to get popped into an envelope and taken to the post office—I might be in Anchorage tonight and then I can fly back to South Florida. Hope you all enjoy my visit on paper as much as I did in person.

FS