Palmer, Alaska Saturday shopping deal - 1/2 price baked goods

Even though I seem to be working on getting a cold ("I'm not getting sick, I'm not getting sick"), the weather here is so gorgeous I had to go for a walk today, and on my usual "Modified Jared Walk" (instead of walking to Subway I walk to the bakery) I learned that every Saturday afternoon is half-price time at the Sugar Shack Bakery here in Palmer.

2011 Iditarod weather forecast

2011 Iditarod news: A great thing for an Alaskan newbie like me is that the torrential winds of the last few weeks have finally subsided. Living in Palmer, Alaska, I woke up this morning to things I haven't heard in several weeks, including the sound of airplane engines at the local airport, and neighborhood dogs barking.

The wind has stopped!

In addition to the latest Iditarod news, here's one more great piece of information: The hurricane-like winds have stopped just in time for the Iditarod. I noticed last night around 10 pm that the apartment wasn't making all the usual noises, so I stepped outside, and sure enough, the wind had calmed down, and the flags on the flag pole two blocks away were just hanging on the flagpole.

Whoops, which reminds me, here's a video of the Alaska wind action from a few days ago:

2011 Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage, Alaska

2011 Iditarod news: Wow, do I have a lot to learn about the Iditarod. It turns out this morning (Saturday) is just the ceremonial start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, and even more importantly (for me), tomorrow morning (Sunday) is that Iditarod restart in Willow, Alaska. That's extremely good to know, because I was getting all ready to head out to Willow later this morning to watch the restart, lol.

2011 Iditarod - Willow restart parking and shuttle buses

2011 Iditarod race news (Updated): I've been digging around trying to find information about shuttle buses and parking for the Willow, Alaska 2011 Iditarod restart, and ... (updated) ... the iditarod.com website just put up this Willow restart page, with information on parking and shuttle buses.

Here's the abbreviated 2011 Iditarod shuttle bus info:

2011 Iditarod race: The Willow restart, prize money

As I try to learn more about the 2011 Iditarod sled dog race, I just found a little bit of information about the race restart in Willow. It sounds like the first part of the race from Anchorage to Willow, Alaska is largely ceremonial. They just get everyone up to Willow, and the real racing begins from there.

Here's a quote from an article I just found on the MSNBC website:

The 2011 Iditarod race route

I just did a little research to try to learn more about the Iditarod race route, and found this information on the official Iditarod website. I don't meant to plagiarize their content, but to share this information, so if you'd rather read it on their much longer web page, just follow this link to the Iditarod website "learn" page.

That being said, here's the specific Iditarod race route information from that page:

2011 Iditarod sled dog race, starting soon

2011 Iditarod Race News: Okay, it's that time, now less than 24 hours until the start of the 2011 Iditarod sled dog race. The race starts in Anchorage, Alaska on March 5, 2011, at 10am, and then there is a "restart" in Willow, Alaska at 2pm. Sorry, I don't yet know much about this start and restart business, but I'll try to learn more, and despite the continuing high winds here, I'll be in either Anchorage or Willow tomorrow, depending on what I learn.

Whiteout in Palmer, Alaska (high winds)

Palmer, Alaska, March 3, 2011: Due to the high winds over the last twelve days, we've had some "whiteout" conditions like these in Palmer, Alaska. Winds have ranged from lows of 20 mph to highs of 75 mph, with typical average winds of 30-40 mph.

Seward, Alaska wind turbine

I just came back from a short vacation to Seward, Alaska last weekend, and "what's new" in Seward is this wind turbine. If you've been to Seward before, this wind turbine stands out on the left side of the road as you first drive into town. It's next to the AVTEC building, if you know where that is.

Alaska winter gas smell

I've been meaning to write for the last few weeks that the gasoline here smells very different in the winter, specifically when I'm first warming up my car. At first I thought there might be something wrong with my car, but I've noticed that my neighbor's cars produce this same "winter gasoline" smell -- it smells like the glue or "dope" my dad used to use when making model airplanes -- so I decided to research it a little bit.

Was that Dorothy and Toto?

Sorry to sound like a broken record, I hope to be over this soon, but here's tonight's forecast:

Clear. Lows 5 to 15 above. Northeast wind increasing to 30 to 50 mph with gusts up to 75 mph possible after midnight.

Yep, I'll be sleeping on the floor in the hallway again tonight.

Places I've lived before

As part of this whole ongoing Alaska winter thing, I was just thinking that this is easily the longest winter of my life. As part of that thought process I thought I'd share a list of all the places I've lived before. Each of these places has definitely had a shorter winter than Alaska, and in places like Texas and Alabama, a much, much shorter winter.

High winds drive Palmer, Alaska man insane

This is my first winter in Alaska, and I can deal with a lot of things, including darkness, gray skies, and cold, but the thing that is really driving me crazy is the constant hurricane force winds.

My Seward, Alaska vacation drive

The Seward, Alaska scenic drive: As I mentioned in an earlier post today, I just came back from a short vacation in beautiful Seward, Alaska. One of the things many Alaskans may take for granted is that the drive alone down to Seward is a beautiful vacation for tourists. Most of the drive is through a national forest, it's lined with mountains and bodies of water, and there isn't much traffic, especially this time of year.

My apartment in Palmer, Alaska (mountain views)

Someone was really nice the other day, and wrote to ask what sort of views I can see from my apartment in Seward, Alaska. I've written about the great mountain views here before, but never managed to share any photos.

So, to give you a little idea of what the views look like in my Palmer, Alaska apartment, here's the view from the window on the right side of my living room:

Seward, Alaska harbor (port) area, February, 2011

This photo is a view of the Seward, Alaska harbor (port) area, taken in late February, 2011, from one of the windows at the Breeze Inn hotel.

Portage, Alaska - Icy water, snow covered mountains

This photo was taken in Portage, Alaska, on Sunday, February 27, 2011. As you can see, winter in Alaska is pretty darned cold.

Ice in Turnagain Arm, Seward Highway, Alaska (2)

This is a view of the ice in a body of water known as Turnagain Arm, adjacent to the Seward Highway, south of Anchorage, Alaska, near Girdwood, Alaska. As you can see, it looks more like a collection of icebergs than ice.

Ice in Turnagain Arm, Seward Highway, Alaska

This is a view of the ice in a body of water known as Turnagain Arm, adjacent to the Seward Highway, south of Anchorage, Alaska. This was probably also just south of Girdwood, Alaska, though the ice near Girdwood looks the same, more like icebergs than ice.