Nice day at the beach!

Nice day at the beach today... Us white Alaskans mostly hide out in the shade, but a few dips in the Mediterranean gave a refreshing reprieve to the heat from the Sitges sun.

View from our window

This is the view from our apartment in Sitges.

Streets of Sitges

Taking a look in some shops before heading off to dinner.

The Heart of Sitges

One of the most beautiful corners in the heart of Sitges just happens to have an optical store at it's base.  Why is this important you might ask... Well, when one drops his sunglasses and bends the frame, a quick trip to an optical shop was just the ticket.

Fresh Markets

About a block from our apartment you can get freshly prepared dishes or the catch of the day.

Mmmm Fresh...

Always a beautiful display of fresh baked goods greats you each morning.

Arrived in Spain!

2nd only to a short nap on our list of priorities was heading out on the town our first night here for some Spanish Tapas.

Over the top

9.5 hours direct from Anchorage to Frankfurt. Sunset somewhere over Greenland.

And away we go

20 beers on tap at Humpy's at the airport... Nice way to start the vacation.

Sunny day in the neighborhood

With the great success of our new flower garden this year, we are curious to see how well all of our perennials come back next Spring. Check back with us in June to find out.

I can see for miles and miles

The skies opened up after a week of rain.

Rainbow

Lilies in our garden

Robin's vacation

It was great to show my sister around Alaska for the first time. She loved it, of course.

Flower Bed

Our garden

Our flower garden is coming along nice this year. We've keep adding little things to it to fill it in.

BBQ with Friends

What a great Alaska summer evening we had at this bbq for our friend Al who came up to escape the Florida heat for a few weeks.

Alaska Railroad

Over 470 miles of tracks stretch throughout Alaska carrying both freight and passengers.

Big Dog

Celebrating gay pride day in downtown Anchorage on the parkstrip - this huge friendly husky is bigger than Kirt!

Dahlia

Went to a friends for a 4th of July BBQ and their dahlias were in full bloom.

Way to go NY!!

Summer Solstice Festival

The Anchorage Fire Department was completing against the Anchorage Police Department in this obstacle course on Fourth Avenue.  One of the many events taking place during the Summer Solstice Festival in downtown Anchorage.

Violas

Our newly transplanted violas are thriving in the 20 hours of sunlight we are currently receiving.  Thanks Jack & Chris!

Summer Project

Rock-n-Rolla!!

Magnitude: 5.2
Location: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Time: Thu, Jun 16, 2011 11:06:04 AM AKDT
GMT: Thu, Jun 16, 2011 19:06:04 GMT

Latitude: 60° 44' 31" N  (60.7420°)
Longitude: 151° 0' 28" W  (-151.0080°)
Depth: 30.4 mi

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%205.2%20-%20Kenai%20Peninsula%2C%20Alaska@60.742001,-151.007996&z=6

More Information (while available): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/at00lmwd24.php

Sandhill Cranes

The Sandhill Crane has one of the longest fossil histories of any current existing bird. The oldest Sandhill Crane fossil is 2.5 million years old, over one and a half times older than the earliest remains of most living species of birds.

Best Gyro ever!

Tree Swallow

This little guy wan't afraid of me at all.  I was able to walk right up to him and snap this highly detailed image.

Red Necked Grebe

This Red Necked Grebe is showing his beautiful mating colors.  During winter his entire body will go back to his natural dusky-grey color.

Anchorage Bike to Work Day

Just a bit windy on the ride in this morning, but otherwise nice biking conditions.

Trip time: 00:39:11
Trip distance: 7.8 mi
Trip calories: 484 kcal
Average speed: 12.0 mph
Maximum speed: 19.5 mph
Climbed altitude: 194 ft

Arctic Terns

The arctic terns have arrived from Antarctica.  That's right, each year these amazing birds migrate 12,000 miles from Antarctica to breed here in Alaska.

Weekend...

Riley's excited for the weekend!!

Bluebird of Happiness

Stellar Jay gathering nest building materials from our flower bed out front.

Paella

Pronounced pie-aye-ya.  Kirt has perfected this traditional Spanish dish he learned over 20 years ago in Spain.

Out of Hibernation

Time for the bears to start coming out of hibernation.  Haven't seen one yet, we took this photo a few years back down on the Kenai peninsula.

A hint of Spring!

Northern Lights From Space

With our long days now our Aurora viewing is likely over until next winter. Here is a magnificent shot taken from the International Space Station.

Dinner with friends...

Eagle vs Raven

A raven was pestering this eagle at Lake Hood. The eagle finally got tired of this pesky nuisance and took flight, meeting up with another eagle on the other side of the lake and together they flew off into the distance.

Breakup

Everyone's least favorite time of year in Alaska. The ugly, dirty, melting time we call breakup.

2011 Fur Rondy Fireworks

2011 Fur Rondy Begins

Watching the Fur Rondy opening dog sled races from my office window at work.

Morning!

A beautiful morning in Anchorage today...

Earthquake: M 4.6 - Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Felt this one.

Magnitude: 4.6
Location: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Time: Thu, Feb 3, 2011 8:33:24 PM AKST

Latitude: 60° 44' 13" N (60.7371°)
Longitude: 150° 16' 57" W (-150.2825°)
Depth: 22.9 mi

Happy Birthday Chason!

Roger and Chason on his 1st birthday!

Rainbow Lake

More snowshoeing with friends!

Snowshoeing

Our neighbors took us out snowshoeing. Here we are in the glow of a 3:30pm sunset.

Noonday Sun

The noonday sun can't quite rise above the wings of the hibernating floatplanes at Lake Hood

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Here in Anchorage the clouds broke just long enough to watch the moon disappear.

'Tis the Season