Tellyouwhhhut.

We're unofficially collecting Northernisms. My favorite so far was in a "Chinese" "restaurant" in Haines Junction. The bartender was describing some manual labor that a man in her life hadn't yet taken care of. "Tellyouwhhut," she said, "I'll get him to do it just as soon as he finishes his poutine, that's what I'll do." Also, everyone in Canadia seems to say "right on." A lot.

The temperature here has dropped quite a bit and our wood stove has become more necessity than novelty. We were socked in for about a week, but the sun is slowly breaking through. The Nature Center sits at the trailhead of the Historic Iditarod Trail which runs 26 miles to a town called Girdwood. It's a very popular two or three day backpacking trip but also attracts a fair number of speed-hikers and runners who complete the trail in less than a day. We've had a few groups and several individuals who had already made it through this year, but they've all reported near white-out conditions and waist-deep snow. Steve and I plan to do this trip at some point, but will probably wait a month or so. Ben, naturally, wants to do the hike in a day.

To anyone who knows the Nicki/Leo/Georgie/Ranger/Ben clan: this is for real. We caught the live show.

These pictures were taken at the top of nearby Mt. Baldy. Bob leaves for Austin tomorrow morning and I'm rather heartbroken. It's only been a week and a half, but we've learned everything we know from him. The next resident volunteer to join us, Molly, will arrive sometime next week.