A trip to the north pole

Everyone is dead or sitting in their recliners so I thought I would entertain you with a trip to the North Pole. This sign is from the haul road going up past the North pole.

You have to cross this to get there. This was in May so snow is up there a long time.

My destination of work that month. Reindeer were fun but until Santa showed up I could not catch them. They would take off flying all the time I went to take their temps. Reindeer are a lot like dogs and love to play catch.

This is Blitzen looking for the squirrel he just chased into the hole. Squirrels have a hard time with reindeer because they can fly up the tree and grab them.

The town is quite small but the post office is huge! You can just imagine how many letters they get each year. What are they going to do when this one closes?

I went into Santa's office an he was behind his desk smoking a pipe. I so loved his irish fishing sweater Mrs Clause said she would make me one for Christmas. All of the elves were gone and I suppose in May they were in Hawaii.

Candy canes are still the treat of choice in North pole. I rather enjoyed chewing on the light posts but only trusted high up just in case the dogs in town liked the lower part.

This is Santa's Card cabin. He and the Polar Bears collect the hub caps from artic ice drift.

This is the biggest sledding hill I have ever been on. Denali (Mt McKinley) is a long walk up but you get to sled down for over 2 days. 23,000 feet decent is a lot of fun.

While practicing in the wild this sow brought her cub brown bear (griz). I diagnosed head lice and told mom how to best treat the peskies. Mom was very happy to know why she too was scratching.

This is Donner out grazing in the summer tundra. He was running around chasing squirrels and Ptarmigan. So much like dogs.

This message was edited Dec 20, 2011 8:25 PM

This fox ran from about a 1/4 mile away just to see who I was. We shared my smoked salmon sandwich and talked a long time on how best to treat his external parasites. I enjoyed him, his name is Fritzie.

This is Vixen and Prancer relaxing in May. They were listening to Baba ORiley by the Who.

This shows what I enjoy most about working in Alaska. No ties or confining offices. Yeah and the views are pretty good too.

Some animals you just can't fix. This wolf followed me for hours but was too shy to come close. I hope his problems weren't serious. I urinated my email address so he could contact me later.

Waiting here on the Yukon River for a Mink who is having difficulty in delivery. Should be on one of the next ice floes.

The building on the street here in the north pole is the first vet ever in Northern Alaska. It is the green one.

Sofer, you always have tales of amazing journeys to share. So funny about bears with "head lice". Don't they really just get fleas? I wish all the parents of schoolchildren had such a good sense of humor about it. Most moms I know are not happy to know why they are scratching too. School policy is at least getting more reasonable. Children no longer get sent home, because frankly by the time we find it on one child it has already been spread to others, and the only thing to do is have everyone check and treat if found. I always have the school nurse check me as well, since they are much easier to get rid of if found early on in an infestation.
I had no idea there was an actual town and post office near the North Pole. Do they advertise for seasonal employees in December? Er, no, I guess that would be taken care of by the elves.

Yes the Elves are very busy except May. They have the whole month off and Santa takes them anywhere they want to go. The Reindeer prefer to stay home but the elves are quite busy socially and prefer cruises and tropical islands.
Yes this is the head lice time of year and I thought that kids on FB would like to see that even bears get head lice. This is posted also on my FB page.
The town is just east of Fairbanks. They live off the notiriety of being the NP. Don't tell any kids.

Thanks for some good holiday entertainment, Steve. Your descriptions and imagination are always so appreciated. Glad you put this on facebook too, as I am sure there are a bunch of kids who will enjoy your pictorial. (Not many on DG, I' afaid.) Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

Delightful, all of it!

Do they have a "take a friend to work day" up there. If they do I would like to sign-up. Beautiful, thanks.

How long were you there? Always wanted to go to AK on one of the cruise ships when I lived in CA. What wonderful photos and recollections sprinkled with a charming sense of humor. Thank you for sharing the tour. Were you able to see the outcome of momma Mink?

She had her babies on the ice floe. Then hopped off, all are well. But sent a goat down river to tell me. Usually they contact me by eagle but the goat wanted to meet me.

What a wonderful tale, Sofer!!! I popped in to the PNW and found this. Sorry I've been AWOL from you for awhile. Know that I think of you guys often, just haven't posted here for awhile. Something I must remedy.

I just shared this with, Jeff. We'd love to come with you on 'take friend to work day'

Merry Christmas, everybody and a blessed New Year!!!

Jan

Merry Christmas Jan. All of PNW has been silent for ever. So I thought I would wake up the people here with a little holiday talk. Feel free to post anything here. I would like to see pictures of the winter of your garden. Or else where with snow.
This shot is from Big Mountain ski area. You are looking over Glacier Nat. Park here.

I love whore frost.

We do too.....get some at the house in EWA

Turns the landscape into a fairyland......

And a sunflower into a work of art!

Hoar frost pics are awesome. We went shopping today in 60 degree temp. I took the vest off and just had shirtsleeves. Probably not the brightest of ideas, cuz I'm just getting back into the land of the living after a week of sick.

I don't know how to say this but I am leaving Daves. Look for me on FB Steve Lowry. I shall miss you all and hope we garden together in our afterlife. I know that is my heaven. Thank you all for you friendship and love. I will be here till end of Dec so Bye Bye Bye with a tear in my eye. Steve.

I shall miss you so. I'll send a friend request on FB. Someone in the NE forum reupped the DG subscriptions for quite a few people recently. there is quite a family here.

I do know that we shall meet one day. Merry Christmas

It's not the price I just need to focus in one place and FB is it. My garden is still my hearts joy but I have to do but watch it's maturing.

Thanks for the photo-trip, Alaska looks lovely. I'll send you a friend request and see who all else might be lurking on FB rather than DB. Bonehead aka Deb Millar.

I looked for your FB page, do you know how many Steve Lowrys there are there?? lol

Never did find you..

FB is how I keep track of my kids and grandykids. Glad to see Charlize is doing well. What a mighty God we serve!!!

Well that was a lump of coal in the stocking. Will miss you and your great character.

Don't go, Steve.

I second that. FB has its place, but I find the comraderie at DG to far surpass anything I've seen on FB - too much angst and histrionics for my taste. I suppose some may find the freedom to delve into politics, etc. somewhat appealing, but that is one of the things I really like about DG -- a bit sneaks in here and there but nothing too rabid.