Momma is Right!

 “My momma always said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get.'"

Forrest Gump’s momma appears to be a pretty good philosopher, and have good taste in chocolates.  Grammie, my momma, has the propensity to buy a box (or two) of Russell Stover’s chocolates every once in a while.  My favorites in the box are the Coconut Creme, Raspberry Creme, and Caramel Nougat pieces.

Speaking of (coco)Nutty things happening, here is a nutty update regarding McCarthy.  Right before I left for McCarthy, I found out that the Finance Director that hired me had been fired!  Now I’m the only finance person here.  Good thing I know Quickbooks.  Wait, they really don’t use QB?

Now what about those raspberries?

I have to blow some in the ex-directors way for not really understanding the position.  (Remember, she was hired late last summer, and I found out that she actually did not spend much time in McCarthy.). When I was hired, I was told that I would be flying to Anchorage twice a week to get mail, deposit money, and possibly pick up groceries.  Wrong!  Instead, I get to drive to the McCarthy airstrip on Monday and Thursday to pick the mail up.  It’s not that bad.

So, I guess I’ll give the ex-director a partial raspberry for that statement.  However, it does leave me wondering where/how I’ll get a haircut now that I’m not going into Anchorage all of the time.  Will COVID hair return?

Yuck!  Let’s hope not.

So, what’s good?  Caramel Nougat, and everything else.  First off, I am getting out into the great outdoors multiple times a day walking.  Yes, RM, I am carrying my bear spray and emergency backpack in case something happens.  (I’m such a Boy Scout)  Since arriving, I am averaging over 14,500 steps a day!  That’s not bad for a guy that has spent years sitting in a chair looking at a computer screen.  If this keeps up, I’m going to have to buy a replacement pair of shoes. 

Oh boy, I also just realized that in many of the pictures I post, it appears that I’m wearing the same outfit.  I swear, I do have and wear other clothes.

Another good part of being here is that the other people here are super nice.  They remind me of people from the Midwest.  They smile, look you in the eye, and always say “Hi, how are you doing”.  And while Martha is having fun with Pico and Rio, let me introduce you to one of my neighbors in the Pink house.

This is Nora, and she lives across the hall from me.  She’s no Rio, but she provides me a little joy every day.  Of course, there are about 10 other dogs around here, but  Nora is the sweetest.

Another sweet thing is the weather is starting to change.  It still is in the mid to upper 30’s most mornings when I am walking.  But in the afternoon, it will warm up to the high 50’s/low 60’s.  This has impacted the trees and foliage all around us.  Here are the trees along the road where I walk.  These pictures are taken about 1 week apart.  You can see how everything has budded out and is in bloom in that time period.

Spring has sprung, but the snow is still here.  I’m sorry it took me so long to post again.  I’ll try to do better this week. 

Take care!

If you Don’t Like the Weather …

 

As a Kansan, we’ve all grown up with the saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes.”  Well, some days in McCarthy, I feel like I’m in Kansas.

Since arriving in McCarthy, I have started each day by walking part of the dreaded McCarthy Road.  The scenes are beautiful and never get old, yet.  Take the other day.  Like Kansas weather, these pictures of Mt. Porphyry (one of the small ones at only 6,375 ft) shows the dynamic weather changes from last Sunday, in a matter of hours.  These 3 pictures are in time sequence order from early morning (6:30am), to mid-day (11-ish), the early evening (5pm).

The changes in real time were just so cool to see.  Rainbows are also very common, since rain in and around the mountains happens frequently.  

Different day, same Mt. Porphyry.

Here is a well labeled map of the area showing McCarthy, Kennecott, the surrounding mountains and glaciers.  (I hope you are able to zoom in and read the map.)

And then we get the strange and “I’m not ready for this” sighting.  KC, get ready, because with the Buc-ees Convenient Stores coming to the KC area, you too could soon experience this :

Meet Joe, one of our workers in the Golden Saloon.  Yep, he’s dressed as Buc-ee, the Beaver.  It’s his day off, and here is what I was greeted with at the lunch table!!  Do I really have to wait 20 minutes for a change?  (It didn’t happen!  🤦‍♂️ )

I think that “Buc-ee” may be a recurring sight this summer (at the table, and in my dreams).

A couple more shots of the scenery/mountains before I go.  

Hey, thank you.  I see several people have clicked on the “Follow” button at the right ➡️

If you are reading from your phone, you may not be able to see the button.  So log in using a browser, since I think it needs to know your email so you can get the update.  I’m not selling, and you won’t need to buy anything.  You just get an email notification.

Thanks and enjoy the views!

More than Meets the Eye

Blog Note -  Click the Follow button (under my picture) ➡️ if you want to be notified when I post a new blog.

OK, back to normal blogging.

My first work week is finished.  Man it went fast.  This is the first time that I’ve been an hourly employee and time really flies.  What have I learned?

Kansas is 3 hours ahead of me.  Good thing that I’m an early riser so I can answer Martha’s call in the morning.  It’s like having my father-in-law around all over again, answering the phone at 5am just to say hello. (He would have loved this adventure.)  And it didn’t take Martha long to find a substitute.  Meet Pico, our new addition to the family, thanks to Annie.  😃 

Is that a happy mom!

Back to Alaska!  

Here’s the Blue house.  This is the Admin building for McCarthy Lodge (aka my office).  I’m still learning the operations, but I did my first task correctly.  I got payroll out on time.  Hooray, everyone likes me!  Still more to learn.

So, if I work in the Blue house, where do I live?  Why, of course, the Pink house.

Wait, it looks white.  Yea, yea.  It used to be pink, but the neighbors complained.  So, they painted it white, and left the door pink.  The colors may change but the name stays the same.  I live upstairs, on the left.  That’s my window!  

The season opened on Thursday night.  It was a gray drizzly evening, but we still had 40-50 people (employees, locals, and guests) happy to saddle up to the bar for warm food and drinks.  Sorry, no pics of opening night.  I was too busy eating one of the largest chicken sandwiches and drinking a cold Kodiak brown ale.  Everyone was happy.

Today, Saturday, is my day off (and tomorrow).  I hiked around to see what else was around McCarthy and found that there are many more camp grounds, communities and homes here off McCarthy Road.  These pics are all from around a mile West of the McCarthy walking bridge.

No Smokey the Bear, but we have the Spruce Moose.

I don’t think that I’ll fly in this plane (check the name just below the door).

There are some larger homes and communities, but I have to hike more to get to them.  I’ve made friends with many people, including a couple from St. Louis who have been coming up here for several decades.  They built a house down the road and drive up here each year, from St. Louis, for the summer.  I don’t blame them!    But here is the new style home going up around here.  

This is Charlotte’s yurt.  She’s a retired librarian from Montana, working up here for over a decade, and living in her yurt since 2020.  It is very roomy inside and very well built.  I meet Brady, as I walk the road to Kennecott in the mornings, who is helping build the yurts around here.  They have a wood burning stove in the middle of the yurt to keep warm, and have nice platform decks around it.  They build them 10 feet off the ground in defense of the bears, not the snow.  

There is so much more to see and do as Waldo keeps moving around.  Don’t forget to click on the Follow button so you get a notification when I post a new blog.  (That is if I did the link correctly). I hope you have a great weekend.  More to come from Alaska.  Stay tuned!