My Artwork

While it has nothing to do with RVing, (well, maybe a little, which I'll get into one day when I talk about how I decided to RV) I want to share some other stuff on this blog too.  It is, after all, all about me.  :-)

I used to do a lot of computer generated art but somehow lost my inspiration for many years.  In the winter  of 2010, Northern Virginia got whacked by "Snowmageddon".  We got about 3' of snow, and I was confined to my house for a few days.  Having nothing to do, I fired up Netflix, and went looking for a show one of my coworkers had been badgering me to check out, Deadliest Catch.  Se said, "With how much you love boats & the ocean, I can't believe you don't watch this!"  I replied, "60 foot freezing waves & 50 mph winds are sooooo not what I love about boats and the ocean!  And I'd probably never want to eat crab again if I watched that.  I think I'll pass."   I'm not a big TV person anyway.  But, having reached the end of the internet, I thought I'd give it a try.  :-)  I did find it strangely entertaining, and before I knew it, I was hooked.  One scene in particular really grabbed me, one of the boats searching for a comrade in distress, with flashing sodium lights on a storm tossed sea.  It made me want to paint again.  As I watched a little more, I was intrigued by one of the characters, Russ Newberry.  He was on Facebook, and on a whim I sent him a friend request.  I was astounded when he accepted.  I was playing around with computer art again, and when he posted a photo of his boat I decided to turn it into a chart-style painting.  I used to do those featuring sailboats but had never added a person to one.  I was pretty happy with the final result.

I posted it on Facebook, and Russ loved it.  That spurred me to create more, and a love affair with Deadliest Catch and Alaska fishing was born.

Day 3 Part One: Nelchina to the Canadian Border

It got kind of chilly but the room was pretty comfy. We were up fairly early and ready to hit the road again a little after 7am. We were hoping to make Whitehorse, which was 565 miles away.


 The sign for the hotel and the Alcan Highway.
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9/8/2013 7:09:54 AM

Nelchina Lodge
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9/8/2013 7:10:05 AM


Stopping for gas and coffee....

9/8/2013 7:54:43 AM
62°6'28.02" N 145°32'5.41" W Map

It rained a lot yesterday.

9/8/2013 7:55:00 AM
62°6'28.03" N 145°32'5.84" W Map

I guess Tim wanted to make sure everyone knew this was his. :-)

9/8/2013 7:58:43 AM
62°6'27.73" N 145°32'4.96" W Map

I loved this painting.

9/8/2013 8:11:49 AM
62°6'29.05" N 145°28'40.7" W Map

Red Eagle Lodge and airstrip.

9/8/2013 9:01:33 AM
62°33'51.05" N 144°40'10.67" W Map

Bet these streams are something else in the spring.

9/8/2013 9:04:16 AM
62°36'3.66" N 144°38'28.13" W Map

Southbound end of a northbound moose. It crossed the road right in front of us but there was so much rain on the windshield the camera wouldn't focus. By the time I got the AF overridden he was almost gone.

9/8/2013 9:21:34 AM
Map

These wavelike clouds were fascinating.

9/8/2013 9:50:51 AM
62°51'18.04" N 143°41'50.25" W Map

Still raining and foggy but beautiful

9/8/2013 10:10:31 AM
63°0'20.2" N 143°22'13.81" W Map

Tok Liquor, Mini Mart and Motel

9/8/2013 10:36:54 AM
63°19'57.4" N 142°59'23.15" W Map

Cool RV. They must have had it shipped from Switzerland

9/8/2013 11:16:30 AM
63°13'36.18" N 142°17'11.81" W Map

This pole still had the old glass insulators on it.

9/8/2013 12:09:39 PM


Lookout at the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge

9/8/2013 12:13:23 PM
62°41'5.89" N 141°7'33.61" W Map

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9/8/2013 12:13:34 PM
62°41'5.9" N 141°7'33.67" W Map

Tetlin Wildlife Refuge

9/8/2013 12:15:50 PM
62°41'5.79" N 141°7'33.15" W Map

Note the grass growing on the roofs

9/8/2013 12:16:39 PM
62°41'5.81" N 141°7'31.09" W Map

Tetlin Wildlife Refuge in infrared

9/8/2013 12:26:02 PM


Lookout at the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge

9/8/2013 12:43:43 PM


View of Tetlin Wildlife Refuge. The Visitor Center was closed due to sequestration.

9/8/2013 12:43:48 PM


Lookout at the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge in infrared

9/8/2013 12:55:44 PM


Tetlin Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center in Infrared

9/8/2013 12:56:10 PM

Day 2: Homer to Nelchina

The veranda at the Pioneer inn
9/7/2013 8:04:56 AM
59°38'40.8" N 151°32'53.4" W Map

My unmade daybed.

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9/7/2013 8:05:51 AM
59°38'40.8" N 151°32'53.4" W Map

We started out with grand plans of making it to Tok. It seemed like a stretch, but doable. The weather was miserable, fog, rain and low clouds. Despite that, some of the scenery was mindblowing, with greens, yellows & reds galore. If there had been sun the hills would have glowed like jewels.

Neat wood carvings near Homer

 
Cool carvings along the road.
9/7/2013 9:07:02 AM

 Awesome place for rent! Ninilchik, AK


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9/7/2013 9:30:20 AM


 Amazing views as we drove


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9/7/2013 11:56:53 AM
60°29'15" N 151°3'24.19" W Map



Kenai Peninsula
9/7/2013 12:04:57 PM
60°29'15.13" N 151°3'23.35" W Map



Rainy day on the Kenai Peninsula....fireweed must have been gorgeous earlier in the year.
9/7/2013 12:14:22 PM
60°29'14.64" N 150°0'20.34" W Map


 Cooper Landing


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9/7/2013 12:15:01 PM
60°29'12.36" N 150°0'10.15" W Map



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9/7/2013 12:14:45 PM
60°29'12.36" N 150°0'10.15" W Map




Fishing the Kenai. These guys were drifting at pretty good clip.
9/7/2013 12:15:19 PM
60°29'12.36" N 150°0'10.15" W Map


Boat launch along the Kenai River.
9/7/2013 12:16:21 PM
60°29'12.36" N 150°0'10.15" W Map



 More stunning scenery along the road...


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9/7/2013 12:27:42 PM
60°29'18.79" N 151°3'11.54" W Map

Passed a train similar to the one I was on in July...


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9/7/2013 1:22:13 PM
60°29'15.22" N 149°58'59.81" W Map


Turnagain Arm



9/7/2013 1:27:25 PM
60°29'13.57" N 149°52'21.65" W Map




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9/7/2013 1:41:33 PM
60°31'32.49" N 149°36'8.06" W Map



 We got to Anchorage in the afternoon and had some errands to do there....gas & groceries at Safeway, and paid a visit to Mark's mom. It was becoming obvious that we weren't making it to Tok, and Glenallen wasn't looking good either as we were finding all the rooms were full as it was Saturday and everyone was moose hunting. :-( We debated stopping in Palmer but decided to press on and see where we ended up.


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9/7/2013 6:03:44 PM
61°16'52.37" N 149°37'14.03" W Map


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9/7/2013 6:19:28 PM
61°28'6.34" N 149°17'26.7" W Map


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9/7/2013 6:24:55 PM
61°32'47.94" N 149°15'2.28" W Map

I had been very excited by the photos I had seen of Matanuska Glacier, so we stopped at an overlook. It was kinda sad to see how far the glacier had receded.

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9/7/2013 6:30:41 PM
61°34'49.96" N 149°8'11.53" W Map


Matanuska Glacier to left
9/7/2013 6:31:54 PM
61°35'34.21" N 149°7'20.99" W Map



Matanuska Glacier. Too bad it was such a cloudy day.
9/7/2013 6:34:51 PM
61°36'22.71" N 149°7'7.15" W Map



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9/7/2013 6:32:31 PM
61°35'56.64" N 149°7'20.83" W Map


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9/7/2013 6:32:39 PM
61°35'56.64" N 149°7'20.83" W Map



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9/7/2013 6:32:00 PM
61°35'38.35" N 149°7'21.01" W Map



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9/7/2013 6:35:00 PM
61°36'25.98" N 149°7'6.21" W Map


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9/7/2013 6:35:00 PM
61°36'25.98" N 149°7'6.21" W Map



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9/7/2013 6:35:16 PM
61°36'36.37" N 149°7'6.3" W Map




It finally stopped raining....


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9/7/2013 6:52:45 PM
61°43'58.02" N 148°46'39.43" W Map







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9/7/2013 6:57:05 PM
61°44'14.68" N 148°41'3.45" W Map






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9/7/2013 7:00:16 PM
61°45'25.13" N 148°35'30.35" W Map



 I did envy this guy his campsite....


Someone sure found themselves a nice campsite....
9/7/2013 7:08:52 PM
61°47'24.74" N 148°23'44.15" W Map


 I'm told these poles are so snowplow drivers know where the road is....yikes!


Those poles are actually to guide the snowplows. I'll pass on being around to see that, thanks.
9/7/2013 7:11:31 PM
61°47'45.44" N 148°18'57.55" W Map


 We finally came upon the Nelchina Lodge, and thankfully they had a room. I completely dropped the ball and got zero pics of the room. And this trend continued.....I think the unmade bed in Homer was the only room pic I took. I have no idea why....... Anyway, you can check out their site and get an idea what it was like. http://www.nelchinalodgeandcabins.com/ Thankfully we had food with us as there was no restaurant anywhere nearby. We were all kinda tired, but still had a few beers and possibly got a bit loud at one point. :-) Thankfully for our neighbors we were too beat to keep it up for long. :-)


 http://www.milepost.com/highway_info/glenn_highway