Friday Facts

Today's Friday Facts will be based solely on this little community of ours - Seward, Alaska.

We have been so lucky to live here the past few months.

We have really felt welcome and have met so many nice people.

We've even found a church - Seward City Church - that we have been going to regularly.

It's so nice to feel welcomed in this new community of ours.

Friday Facts: Seward, Alaska

- In Seward, there is a coffee stand that looks like a coffee cup. Literally, a coffee cup. People refer to it as "The Cup". I haven't tried this place yet, because they are only open in the mornings. And by the time I drive by, there is a line of seven cars. I've only heard great things about it - hence, the line of cars - and only good things especially about their chai tea. I'm going to have to try it one of these days!

- Seward is the mural capital of Alaska. It's true. We (and by we, I mean Seward) were awarded that title in the year 2008. You can read about that great accomplishment on the Seward Mural Society website.

Also, I am going to do a post solely about this fun fact. You can do a scavenger hunt of all the murals in town, and I've been meaning to since I received a bigger, and most definitely better, camera. Be prepared to read, and see, more about Seward's murals soon!
But I will show you the mural I see everyday from my office at work.

I'm sure this mural of the family of whales will be a happy site through those long, dreary, not-to-far-away winter days.

- The state sport of Alaska is dog mushing. Everyone has heard of the Iditarod Race, right? That race first started in Seward, not Anchorage, and was known as the Seward-to-Nome Mail Trail.

For a fun tourist attraction, you can mush and see the dogs they actually race with here in Seward.

- Seward is a rainforest. Yes...a rainforest. A temperate rainforest, but a rainforest nonetheless. And let me tell you, I believe it. Seward is located in one of the largest temperate rainforests in the world. We average nearly 70 inches of precipitation annually. That is a whole lot! September is most definitely known to be the rainy month. And let me tell you, it definitely did. I'm cherishing days like today when the sun is shining and the sky is the brightest blue.

- In Seward, and Alaska in general, how do we know it's the end of summer? Fireweed is one indicator. And this is interesting, once the fireweed gets all the way to the top and dies, that means we only have 6 more weeks before the first winter snowfall. This picture was taken two weeks ago:

 If the saying is true, then there will be only 4 weeks before our first snow fall. Say it ain't so!

Another way to tell is if there is termination dust on top of the mountains. Termination dust is a light, high altitude snowfall that indicates - wait for it - the termination of summer. How clever, right?
 



On some mountains, like this one, you can already start seeing this termination dust. I guess winter is coming whether I want it to or not.

But as of right now, it is such a nice autumn day in Seward. We are leaving to go to Anchorage for the weekend, and I hear the drive up there is just beautiful. Be prepared for an overload of pictures if you follow me on Instagram.

Happy Friday, you guys!

Friday Facts

Happy Friday!

Hope everyone had a good week, but will have an even better weekend. 

It's a 3 day weekend.. whatttt!

This weekend, well actually tomorrow and Sunday, we will be going to the Alaska State Fair!

I am so excited. I heard it's super big with so much going on. I can't wait.

So in honor of us going to the Alaska State Fair tomorrow, here are five facts about The State Fair you might not have known.

Friday Facts

Alaska State Fair Style

- The first Alaska State Fair was held September 4-7, 1936.

This year, the Fair was from August 21 - September 1.

- In 1967, the State Fair moved to Palmer, Alaska - which is where it is presently located.

Palmer is about an hour outside of Anchorage.

- The last attendance record is from 2010 where 290,119 people visited the fair.

- 70 food vendors and at least 400 non-food vendors have been at The Fair in the past.

- Not just food, rides, and shops, but the Alaska State Fair has a huge giant vegetable exhibit:

Some records include:

46 foot, 8 inch gourd vine - pending world record

39 inch bean - state record

83 inch gourd - state record

1,101 pound pumpkin - state record

138.25 pound cabbage - world record

So you can understand our excitement!

I cannot wait to experience it!

Friday Facts

TGIF, guys!

I finished my first half week at my new job - I started Wednesday.

I will write a post about that soon.

It's been so nice to get back to a working schedule. Those summer days were nice, don't get me wrong, but there is something to be said about feeling productive and staying busy all day.

Hope everyone had a great week and you enjoy these random facts today about Alaska!

Friday Facts

- Robert Hansen died Thursday, early morning, after being locked up for 31 years. If you don't know about Robert Hansen, you can read about him here, here, or watch the movie Frozen Ground, which is based on his life.

He was actually sentenced to Spring Creek Correctional Center - the prison where Joshua works - and stayed there until he moved to Anchorage for health reasons.

P.S. - Sorry that was a morbid fact, but it's getting some heavy attention up here!

- In 1943, Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War, the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War.

I'm pretty sure I've said this fact before, but not that it was the first battle on American soil since the Civil War.

- Alaska is based on the Eskimo word Alakshak meaning great lands or peninsula.

- The state's coastline extends over 6,600 miles.

- Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.

I just love Alaska! Have a great weekend!

Friday Facts

Ah! I know I am so late in doing this post.

I actually think I missed last week's post as well.

I am awful!

It really is sad because I'm not giving you good folks out there some great info about this great state!

Well, now I am.

Better late than never, right! Right?!?

Since my husband just came back from a hunting trip - I'm really trying to persuade him to write a post about his experience - I figured our Friday Facts would deal with the hunting and fishing rules in Alaska.

'Cuz there are a lot!

Friday Facts

- If you fly into a hunting trip, you cannot hunt until 3 am of the next morning.

Reason: They do not want you scouting on the aircraft - basically, Alaska makes you work for the meat!

Example: Joshua and Doug arrived at their campsite 11 am Sunday morning. They could not hunt until 3 am Monday morning.

- When you are a resident, you can dip net for salmon.

One of the many perks of being an Alaskan resident.

- If you are fishing on the Kenai River, you can only bring home three fish, depending on the season.

Sometimes it's six.

This was a lot different in Newtok. Since it was subsistence living, you could bring home as many fish as you could catch. How nice that would be here!

- On the Kenai Peninsula, you can harvest three black bears a year.

- And speaking of black bear, you are not allowed to use a motorized vehicle, such as a snow machine, to pursue a bear that is fleeing.

Again, they make you work for the meat!

Can you tell I'm bear crazy?! I'm hopping Joshua can get a bear soon so we can have that meat all winter. Fingers crossed!

Happy {1st Alaskan} Birthday!

We are officially Alaskan residents!

Woo Hoo!!!!

Can you believe that means we've already been here a year?!

I still have our plane tickets to prove it.

I plan to put them in a shadow box or something creative... when I get around to it...

To be an Alaskan residence, it's three simple steps.

Step #1: Move to Alaska

Step #2: You must have employment papers, housing contract, something that proves you are staying in Alaska.

Step #3: Continue to live in Alaska for 1 year.

That's it! The Hall's did it!

WE ARE ALASKAN RESIDENTS!

Oh happy day! August 1st will always be a day to celebrate in the Hall's household!

And to commemorate this special day, I thought I would share with you my second new theme I've come up with for my blog.

Friday Facts

There's no doubt that you guys can tell Joshua and I love this state. If you could just see Joshua live here and the way his eyes light up talking about this place, you'd have zero doubt that this is where we belong. For now, anyways.

And because of that, I thought it would be a great thing to inform you about The Last Frontier.

Because, if I'm going to write about it, you might as well know some things about the state, right?

My plan is to do only five facts - short, sweet, but to the point - every Friday.

I plan to use The Great Alaskan Nature Factbook by Susan Ewing for most of my facts. It's a great book that talks about the land, plants, and animals of Alaska that are more diverse than any other state.

One of my favorite quotes from this book is right in the introduction.

"Other states can guide you to their remaining wild areas, but Alaska doesn't have nature -- Alaska is nature. You don't come here, or don't stay here, for the shopping. The mountains draw you and keep you, or the salt water; or the moose or salmon or bear."

So without further ado, my first Friday Facts:

#1. Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959 and is the 49th state.

#2. Alaska has SIX geographical regions: Arctic Alaska, Interior Alaska, Western Alaska, Southwestern Alaska, Southcentral Alaska, and Southeast Alaska.

Along with these six geographical regions, imagine them with the environmental diversity and physical size of different states, such as California, Wisconsin, Missouri, Utah, Wyoming, Florida, and Louisiana all lumped together in the same legislature.

How diverse!

#3. Anchorage is the social hub of Southcentral Alaska (the region where Seward is located, too). Anchorage is home to two-thirds of the state's population. 

One city alone hold two-thirds the population. Crazy!

#4. More caribou live in Alaska than people

#5. Brown bears and grizzly bears are the same species. 

Whether it's called a "grizzly" or a "brownie" is often a matter where the bear lives and what the locals prefer to call it.

I can't wait to see what more information Alaska has to share with us.

It's the teacher in me!

Happy Friday, you guys! Hope everyone has a good weekend.

The Hall's definitely will - we are going to celebrate our Alaskan birthday with a four-wheelin'/campin' weekend! Have a good one!