finally things are happening!

Today the winds were just right and all through Kenai the smell of the ocean was very noticeable! The air smells so clean and crisp. I could stand for hours and look at Cook Inlet. As we are only 3 miles inland from the Inlet many days the smell of the ocean is present.
Well finally things are happening! yayyy! the surveyor showed up, all pins were found and marked. Took 2 days but even the center line in marked. 

The property pins on the abutters are into the cleared land, the tree house and a very small portion of the garage. So that can be dealt with easily enough. The neighbor sounds like he'll be reasonable about things. 

So here are the pictures for hubby to see. I will go back and get better pictures of what is over the line for you hon.

I have tromped the property pin to pin 4 times now through all the brush, machete hacking/slashing about every 2 steps. Taking care not to cut the Mountain Ash growing! A 5th hike around  for running florescent tape to show where the driveway and clearing is to be for the house. Beautiful property! Lots of moose crap and bear scat everywhere!

 The far lake front property pin..hey hon we own further than we thought! Nice area for launching the kayaks!

 Center pin of the two parcels

looking across the lake from the center pin, yes we look at "lil" brothers cabin!

 The lakefront pin next to the neighbor who cleared down to the waterfront.

 Looking up from the road pin at the neighbors garage

 this is how far onto our property the neighbor has cleared, full length of the boundary line, from lake to just behind their garage

 For three days now I have attempted to get to Skilak Lake to take pictures and hopefully see some bears...but each time I get close the cell phone rings and I have to return to Nikiski. 

 These two day I just needed my space...just drive baby drive, listen to the oldies tunes on the radio, unwind and see some more beautiful Alaska views. I didn't stop to take pictures these 2 days as I just needed to be moving. Had hoped to get to areas where I could hike or at least walk around some place new then take pictures but...NOoooo!
I get the wandering feet thing going when I am sitting idle for any length of time here. So much to see and explore.

Two days in a row while driving, I was called back for the surveyor.

Then today I managed to get all the way down the dirt road to Skilak Lake and had turned around at the Sterling Hwy and was about 5 miles back on the Loop road, only to be phoned again. 

I had left a note on a house that was selling a temporary electrical hook up box and wire (brand new). So once more and headed back little over an hour drive to pay for the box an meet my "lil brother with his truck to load it and take it back to his cabin. gosh a pickup would be nice but not practical at this time, especially seeing 'lil brother has one. 'lil Blue is getting mid 20's for gas mileage so that's good. Gotta get it into the garage and have tie rod end checked and the "check engine" light that came on.

I did take some pictures of driving into Skilak Lake area!!!

These are dip nets out in front of a fish and tackle store

Dip Netters on the Kenai River

you can just barely see the mountains in the back ground. It was 64 degrees today and hot!

 The Skilak Loop Road...miles and miles of dirt road, I did see a bear! He stood in the middle of the road but by the time I shifted 'lil Blue into neutral and raised the camera he was going into the bush. Got a fuzzy shot of bear butt...not worthy of posting...bummer. Now if I had my snooky here with me he'd be doing the driving an I just be taking pictures so I would have gotten that shot! Miss you hon and Rosie.

The scenery is just breathtaking...lots of posted and well walked trails, as this is a wildlife preservation area. I did notice that most all of the hikers were packing a weapon! Lots of bear scat in the road so they are plentiful. I do plan on taken "V" (my stainless 44 mag V comp) with me an doing some hiking.

hummm...wonder what these berries are and if these would make good wine??

I have to go back! Still itching to get back to Seward and Homer. I do want to head north towards Anchorage but there is so many motor homes on the road. I still haven't decided if I dare drive the motor home to far...time will tell. 

I did buy a good quality small tent for $7 at a tag sale along with a new sleeping bag for $15!! Score! 

Today 'lil brother and sis-in-law bought me the neatest dish rack for the motor home. They presented me with this white rectangular plastic box and said guess what it is....no clue. As I opened the case the dish rack pops up! Cool item and it fits in the kitchen drawer of the motor home.

Amazing what one finds at garage sales here and inexpensive too!

Tomorrow is WAITING once again for the guy who is to bulldoze the land clearing. 

Of course sitting watching the lake is great for some of the day. Yesterday at some point I heard the Loons yakking up a storm on the far end of the lake. Sure enough there was an eagle flying around down close to the water near their nest. The eagle is still around and I will try to get pictures of him as well but he likes to stay at the far end of the lake.

Dan I took this for you know who!!! you'll have to find out his email and send him the link to see this.

Brrrr…cold and extremely windy this morning, the furnace kicked on a couple times and it is set at 50! Lot colder outside than inside….Company (relatives on SIL’s side) came for the weekend, great people, great times and stories. Finally warmed up by 1 p.m.

Update on the property pins: well….Fri. evening the surveyor called to tell me that he shot the line and it fell in the middle of the abutters garage. He has to come back and shoot from the lake side up as the neighbors garage is in the way. (On our property!) Lots of encroachment issues of old trees from the land clearing are on our property and new ones also and the angle of the property line it looks that all but a small corner of his garage is on our property…yikes.

As usual Sat. off to tag sale…small world….in the midst of the conversation about the encroachment issue with the fellow who came to visit …a fellow garage sale man started walking our way. He introduced himself…

Turns out he is the Borough assessor who deals with these issues. Information exchanged and he told me a lot of what my entitlements as a land owner are in this situation. Said he will be seeing me soon after the proper paperwork it filed regarding encroachment. This is a very irritating situation.

Later that evening….lots of talk of what our plans are for work here and how we ended up in Nikiski instead of Homer, seeing hubby will be in marine engine repair…..explained the land price situation…..

He had asked earlier the day before to walk our property and offer his opinion of how to open up the land for building as this is what he does for a living. Suddenly he wants to go over to the property…soooo off I go with him…he asked who brush cut the trails into the property….me of course I said…well after showing me where the driveway should come into the property and where the house should go  he dropped a bomb.

It’s not often someone tells you that they like you for who you are, what you’ve done and what your trying to accomplish, but he did! Then he started talking about different properties he owns in Homer…long story short….I am going down to look at a lot, commercially zoned, 5 min walk from downtown Homer, just shy of 1 acre and a price we could afford.

Phone my snooky at our scheduled time and tell him about the offer.

What a mind reeling turn of events that keep happening and  how plans keep changing….I am the flexable one…snook needs convincing that land (hard assets) are better than stock market and invaluable to our future plans.

I have no idea how the cards are going to fall now but am trying my best to keep all the cards from flying everywhere!

Woke up with a wicked headache…yikes…sat around all day waiting for the surveyor as he said he’d call and be over today to finish up…. I had made my usual timed phone call to snooky to discuss more about the land offer, how much of a blessing it is if it works out….then waited some more….well crapweasel I waited until 6 p.m. and said the hell with him.

I took off to find things to photograph. Plus I needed my space…

Stopping at the store I grabbed roasted chicken, a peach and cheese an off I went.

I sat for a long time at the overlook and watched the beautiful mountains as clouds lazily swirled down and around the peak.

I was hoping to see Fata Morgana but no luck. Fata Morgana is the most spectacular mirage you can witness. I waited and waited. It was still a beautiful sight and very relaxing. The mountains were hazy to begin with. You don’t get many crystal clear days for mountain shots here.

The fog below started to climb from the ground. Finally I was calming down from the weekend, stress, offer of land deal, and decided to drive future down onto Kalifornski Rd towards Homer.

Found a fabulous road that followed along the inlet then into an old fish cannery. What a view these homes have that leads to the Old Cannery, I didn’t take any pictures there as there is no shoulder to park on. I will go back on a clear day a backpack my gear to get shots.

Here are the photos from today.

This afternoon sitting looking at the lake...the sun glistened like glittering jewels dancing on the water surface.  

that is a bird fling not a dust speck on my lens

watching to clouds swirls down around the mountain

this is the view from directly behind me from taking this mountain shot

Entering the Old Cannery site...also looks to be a very nice campground with restaruant, gift shop and lots to see...will have to go camping there for a day or two.

this is a close up of the sign in front of the old cannery, you should be able to click on any of these photos to enlarge them

hope to get back here soon to explore as there is alot to see and photograph. Gotta get to Homer first so I can take pictures of properties to share with snooky and see what kinda deal I can work out! Sorry you guys back there are still suffering from the heat...I would have loved it to have been 10 degrees warmer this morning!

day is not going well

The day started out great...sun-shining at 5:30 a.m.! yayyy! so far every morning has been overcast until mid day.

I headed right up the road with the motor home to have the carburetor installed. About 2 hours later the phone call came from the mechanic...the carburetor was slightly damaged due to no packing but easily fixed. Ok.....I head out with 'lil brother for the usual trek for garage sales....we stop at the garage to see the issue. We return...I head to the grocery store and bank 20 miles away.

another phone call from the mechanic....the carb was installed but not delivering fuel during idle....something is wrong with the carb...the fuel lines etc have already been customized for this carb and old one can not be put back on....so fix carb. Says I should call where we ordered the carb from for a refund or money off.

I come out of the store only to discover that in my piss off about the carb I locked the car with the key in the ignition...crapweasel..I have never done that. Soooo....$20 later the cab company unlocks the door for me. 

I phone Dan to tell him about the carburetor issues and that he needs to phone the place we bought it...he's having a real bad day already. There was no invoice in the box with the carb (we had it shipped to Alaska so it would be here when I arrived) 

At least when we are together we can sound off the each other about such irritating things like this. Several phone calls later with Dan he is getting no where with the company we bought the carb. from. Now I have to have the mechanic call the place on Monday as they say because he took it apart instead of returning it the warranty is void. Well there was no option of returning the carb and waiting for a new one and I don't want another one of their "rebuilt" ones...this guy is already fixing it....an I don't want to pay for a piece of junk. Hell to be with limited phone service so Dan is dealing with the phone calls and I am emailing them. Mechanic will talk with them on Monday. 

I am seeing the check book taking a big hit on this one and I'm trying my best to stay on a tight budget. With no money coming in as neither of us is working money is tight.

Well onto more pleasant things...I did try some different settings as I am not happy with the photos I have been taking. So here they are...same mountains different setting and hopefully better photos.

I am seriously missing my snooky and Rosie my kitty! Would be better if we were together going thru this stuff.

 

It's raining and I'm waiting

Raining since last night...strange though, when it is a heavy sprinkle here you can be outside and don't really get soaked through like at back east. 

So here I sit tied down waiting for a phone call....geeez I hate having to be stuck in the house waiting for a phone call...this is what I got a cell phone for! But noooo, my cell doesn't work down here on the lake. Supposedly the ATT tower is going in at the end of the month...lot of good that does me now! 

So I am a waiting....enjoying the quietness and solitude of the lake. Even with the few houses on the lake, noise is very minimal.

I did go outside an cut points on scrap pieces of wood to use as surveyors stakes...it is the surveyor that I am waiting for a phone call from. Today or tomorrow he said he'd be doing the property line shooting. I do have to take the motor home to the mechanic at the end of the road here for the carburetor to be put on. I have entertained the idea of doing it myself to save some money but.....I worked on one of our camping vans that had the motor under the dog house between the seats in the cab and really didn't like it. Too crowded and had to twist in awkward positions to do anything.

I figured I'd go back through some photos I took and share a few more with you guys. Sorry you all are die'n of the heat back there. I am still wearing a fleece vest but short sleeves....it has hit 62 for a high so far.

If any of these pictures have been posted before on the blog I apologize.

Down in Homer

Another shot of Homer Spit

Homer Spit from a different point of view

Whiskey Gulch

Out on the water fishing

The clouds where completely covering these mountain for the first 4-5 hours out fishing. The boat had drifted around with the tide and low and behold there were the mountains showing!

I'm itching to get out for a tour in my new beater "'lil blue" car...Seward or Homer sound like a good road trip again...
I spoke to the surveyor to let him know that we have permission to cross the neighbors land to the water edge for shooting the line up from the water. Doesn't sound like he's gonna do it today sooooo....off I might go. Will update this if I find any great photo op's! 

Sure wish Dan was here to go touring with me! Dan...you'd love the new beater car...we haven't had a beater like this in many many years!! Brings back some good and funny memories.

EDIT: 2 p.m.

Excitement on the lake!! I was sit'n here reading some literature on Homer and Seward, planning my great escape from boredom of the wait for the surveyor. Sister-in-law came running in saying there was a moose swimming across the lake...RUN for the camera, I left it in the front seat of "'lil blue". 
neither the car nor the lake are more than 10 steps either way but that moose was mov'n! got off a couple shots...not the best but...it is the first swimming moose I've seen since arriving. 
The moose definitely knew we were on the shoreline taking pictures as she looked right at us....yup it is a she as the males have their 2x4's starting to stick outta their head about 8 inches so far. I've only seen one male affectionately called "Bullwinkle" by most around here.
An dang it I need to buy that extender Capt Crunch and I have been talk'n about...I love this huge hunk of glass lens he so graciously helped me choose for my first major expensive lens...but....I want to be able to really pull in the subject and a Bigma I don't thinks gonna cut it for clarity of photos but...anyway I cropped/edited and sharpened as I didn't have time for a monopod or tripod for these shots!!

Moosie knows we're on the waterline taking pictures!

just a motor'n along

this photo's not cropped so you can see how far away she is

              cropped                                        

uncropped

Go'n to visit "the stair people" 

A few more steps an the moose blended into the shrubbery/trees...poof like magic...gone from sight...amazing how such a large animal can move so silently, swiftly and just blend into the foliage so completely.

Alaskan car owner now

Gorgeous day today weather wise! everything from rain to sunshine! Woke to the lake like glass...no wind and the reflection of the shore line beautiful. Right now at 9:35pm it is like glass again. It hit a whole whopping 60 today....poor guys back east are sweltering in heat from what snooky tells me when I call. I drive down the road every day at 4pm my time to talk with hubby. It's sure not the same as being together here but at least I get to talk with him! Aug is looking really really a long time away before I go back to Ashfield to be with snooky. So phone calls are better than nothing.
I have been searching for a cheap car and yesterday I found one. Went to look at it today and yup snooky, I bought it.
The trade off of what the rental car is costing vs buying a beater car...well the beater car won. As long as the drive train, engine, tire etc are good I really don't care what it looks like sooooo... my new "blue" car. She's a bit rough but runs great, 5 speed 1999 Ford Escort. One questionable ty-rod end and a slight oil leak from the front seal....Hey whadda want for $1000 bucks! Gotta set of brand new spiked snowy's for it to. Seems to run real good, clutch is good in it! Yup that's our motor home in the back ground.

Sorry it's blurry but in a hurry to get inside and do this

Now for some nicer pictures...went riding around yesterday.

Alaskan Primroses

The Nikiski indoor swimming pool

The lake this morning...beautiful reflection...I wasn't up for the misty fog on it at 4 a.m. though as I stayed up past 1 a.m. reading!! Told sister-in-law next time wake me up!!

The news on the land...I did stop at the builders today...wow..thought I was confused before on a floor plan, they had more than what they posted on the internet sooo...re-thinking my custom design an looking a modifications of one of their standard designs as it would be less expensive.
Then the surveyor phoned to say he would be out this week to find the water front property pins...well wouldn't ya know...just what I suspected...he informs me that in just a quick look at the road pins that the neighbors green house, white tent car port and possibly part of these and their garage is over the property line on our property...he's just not sure by how much until he shoots the lines. Crapweasel....guess we'll just see what transpires as to how much is over the line and what not.
It's going on 10:30 p.m. and the sleepy heads have gone off to bed. Seeing I'm sleeping upstairs over their room I don't want to be heading up too late. So until another day when I get out touring around again for more pictures that's it for tonight folks.
Tomorrow I head back to that evil DMV to register the car, return the rental car and might just have ta take a short trip some where to see how the car goes on gas mileage!! Catch you all later.