Boo Internet... Yay DVR!

Yes, Alaska is considered a remote place by many.  For the most part though, it has almost everything I need here and I had little to complain about.  Then I tried to choose an internet service provider.  Here in Juneau, and maybe all of Alaska, you  have two choices:  GCI Cable or DSL with Alaska Communications (ACS).  The choices were kinda crappy.  GCI didn't offer unlimited usage and ACS had low bandwidths.  Basically for around $52 (cheapest option) with GCI, I could get 3Mbps download with 7,500MB included usage.  For $65 (cheapest option), I get crappy 320kbps with ACS, but unlimited usage.  Initially since I planned on streaming and didn't want to worry about overages, I went for the 1Mbps bundle at ACS, which ran about $85 a month.  Pretty outranges prices I think (but again, this is Alaska) so I'm kinda rethinking my internet options... especially now that I discovered the wonders of DVR.

The house I am renting came equipped with a DirecTV dish already.  My landlord uses and raves about it.  so I looked into it and you get loads of channels for like $65/month (+ taxes/fee).  For the first year, the promotion is such that it's like $35 a month.  I think I get over 200 channels now, most of them HD.  Plus a few months of free movie channels, and a $100 referral bonus for me and my landlords.  I never had this many channels before.  In the past I always got the cheapest cable & internet bundle since I didn't really watch a lot of TV.  Most of the shows I liked, I could get online.  Well, there are a lot of rainy days here in Alaska and more channels may come in handy.  Plus... now I have a DVR for the first time ever!!  (Yes, I know I'm years behind.)  I already have plans to record every NCIS episode on USA and whatever other channels that play it so I can catch up on the show (although I would've liked to watch it in order from the start).  For $7/month, it's probably a much better deal than paying all kinds of extra $$ just so I can stream videos online.  Besides, I'm on the computer all day at work so I am going to try to minimize time spent on it in the evenings. It's so easy to waste time surfing the web.  No more.  From now on I'll waste time surfing channels.  Yes, I'm going backwards in time.  :)

Travel & People

I saw an article today that reminded me of some of the reasons why I liked traveling so much.  A week or two long vacations are nice, but it's not quite the same as taking a long chunk of time, perhaps by leaving everything behind, and traveling the world. 

I did a 6-months long backpacking trip around Southern Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.  I had given up a lot - a good job and my material belongings (save a closet sized amount of stuff I put in storage), not to mention wiping out a good chunk of my savings.  I will never regret doing the trip though, and after all I have done in my life, that trip probably ranks first in the most memorable things I have done.  (Sailing across the Atlantic on a tall-ship ranks second.)  I did the trip alone and contrary to what some would think, it doesn't get so lonely.  To the contrary, because you are alone, you make an effort to reach out and meet new people.  As the article says, these new friends you make and the experiences you make with them are what makes traveling solo great.  I don't think I put much emphasis on the people when I wrote my blog, but looking back, the trip wouldn't have been nearly as great had I not met all of these great people:  Phil & Inga from Johannesburg, Dave from Cali, Tess & Chris from Brighton, Ben from Wales, Jon & Baz from UK, Claire & Dave from UK, Mike from Wellington, Alan from Scotland & Mikael from France, Gary from NZ, the Irish contingent, the overlanders on Nina with me, Stephen & Matt from Holland, and many others.

Now that I am married, I doubt I will be doing such long trips solo again anytime soon, but I do hope that the two of us will embark on and adventure together someday.  I did meet couples on the trip, and just because you are with someone doesn't mean you don't have to meet new people.  Perhaps you get the best of both worlds this way - meeting new people but having that close someone with you the whole way.  I'm enjoying my time in Alaska, but it hasn't killed the travel bug.  Being here is simply a means of keeping things 'interesting" to keep the bug at bay until that time comes.  Brad & I have talked about traveling South America together.  It's still on my list of wanna-do's in my life.  Along with a round around China, a pilgrimage in Shikoku, and a month in Tanzania. 

Anyways, I was reminiscing a bit, so thought I'd do a little shout-out to all those people I met on that one trip almost 8 years ago.  Thanks for making that trip of a lifetime that much better by being a part of it. 

Dogs in Juneau

There are many dogs in Juneau.  Almost everyone I have met has a dog or two or three.  I can see why though, since walking all of the wonderful trails in Juneau is much more fun with the dogs.  The great part is that leash laws in Juneau are flexible so you can take your dogs off of the leash when on an unpaved trail.  The dogs love it here.  There are also off-leash areas such as Sandy Beach for general running around.  Since most people are dog owners, you rarely see a scowl from people approached by dogs.  When I realized what a great place Juneau is for dogs, I was so glad I had Millie with me.  In this post, I thought I would share a little bit about "dog stuff" around Juneau.

Supplies

Juneau doesn't have a PetSmart or a PetCo, our nationally recognized brands of pet shops.  You have to settle for getting your pet stuff at places such as Fred Meyer and Wal-mart.  I get Millie's puppy food & biscuits from Costco, whose Kirkland brand actually produces pretty good dog food without the meat by-products.  Although I have grabbed a few things at Fred Meyer for her, I recently realized Amazon is a great place to buy pet stuff.  There's a great selection of stuff and many of them are also eligible for the free super saver shipping - even to Alaska. 

Day Care

The best doggy day care place I have found is at the Gastineau Humane Society.  For $23, same as PetSmart back in Reston, you can leave your dog with them during the day and they will take the dogs on a long (usually two 2-mile) off-leash walks.  They also get plenty of group play time.  The only down side here is that drop off times are limited to 0730-0900, and pick-up times are no later than 1730.  If you work such hours that drop-off or pick-up isn't possible, you are out of luck.  As far as I know, other day care places have similar, if not worse, restrictions on pick-up/drop-off times and are more expensive. 

Vet Care

If you take your dog to the humane society for day care, you can get your rabies shots, fecal exams, chipping, and other routine vaccinations required for enrollment there.  However, in all other cases you have other choices such as Juneau Veterinary Hospital and the South East Alaska Medical Center.  The latter had the cheaper office visit prices by far ($50 vs $80).

Training

I haven't looked into this too much since I just completed a puppy class with her back in Virginia.  The humane society offers some training though.  The instructor there had helped me a little bit when I first arrived there and I thought she was pretty good with Millie.

Where to get dogs

I haven't seen a pet shop around Juneau yet.  The humane society seems to be the place to get dogs, although there are only ever few available for adoption at a time, and they seem to go fast.  I've heard some people ship their dogs in.  There are also other humane societies throughout Southeast Alaska so that is another option (keep an eye out for a drop off of big puppy litters).  Maybe there are breeders, but I can't imagine it would be easy to breed dogs in water locked Juneau. 

Finding dog-friendly homes

Given all of these people in Juneau with dogs, it is very difficult to find a rental here that allows dogs.  You may have better luck if your dog is tiny (under 30 lbs), but otherwise, I rarely see any postings for places that allows pets.  There will definitely be sacrifices as finding your ideal place in your budget that allows dogs will be tough.  So while Juneau is a great place for dogs, be warned that it is a difficult place to find rental housing if you do have a dog.

Mendenhall River Trail

If you are looking for something a little longer than the two mile Airport Dike Trail, but something just as easy, this trail is it.  The trail, which is also known as Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei, starts at a parking lot off of Egan just across the Mendenhall River (coming from downtown).  It is a 4.2 mile out-and-back (2.1 mile one way) with the option to take the paved, hiking, or equestrian trail.  You probably will want a horse for the equestrian trail, and dogs are supposed to be leashed on the paved trail.  However, since the hiking trail is snow covered and some icy bits were hard to navigate due to the less gradual elevation changes, I stuck mostly to the paved trail (& let Millie off-leash anyways).  That's not to say that the paved trail isn't icy.  Unfortunately it is.  Your best bet is to get some clamp-ons of some sort to provide added traction.  I went without and managed, but probably it wouldn't be too enjoyable for some.  However, there were people biking and running on the trail, so it can't be all that bad.  Once all the snow melts though, it would be a nice trail.

Majority of the trail is in the woods, so on an especially sunny or hot day, it might be the cool way to get a walk in.  Part of the river is also accessible from the hiking trail, so a quick stop there for your doggy will make him or her very happy.  Because of the trees though, there isn't much of a view.  It's just an easy trail that's easily accessible and doable even in winter.

Airport Dike Trail

I mentioned this trail briefly in a previous post on dog-friendly walks in the winter.  However, I hadn't done the whole trail when I wrote that post because it was sooo friggin' cold when I went.  Now that I have done the whole trail, I realize I didn't really do it justice.  Going out, there are beautiful mountains across the wide open wetlands to your right and to your front.  The view is fantastic.  You can also go out into the wetlands but you have to watch out for the tides or else you could get stuck out there somewhere when the tides come in.

The trail is party gravel in places, and it can get a bit muddy while the snow is melting (doesn't seem to get too icy).  These days it has been mostly clear though.  The trail is only a mile and a bit long (so maybe 2~2.5 miles out and back) with no elevation gain, so it is great if you are looking for a quick stroll after work or something easy.  It seems to be a popular place for the locals though.  Many dogs running around - some on-leash, some off-leash.  I've been here a few times already when I need to exercise Millie and don't have much time for a longer walk.

Rainforest Trails

Although you wouldn't think of rainforests in Alaska, it does rain in Juneau a lot so I suppose it is not surprising that you would find 'Rainforest Trail'.  There's actually couple of trails that go through the rainforest, both near each other close to end of the road in North Douglas.  One is the Outer Point loop trail, a 2 mile boardwalk loop.  The Rainforest Trail is a sprawl of intertwining trails, but a circuit is probably only about a mile.  Both provide beach access.  At high tide, the water comes gets very close to the forest.  At low tide, you can walk to a tiny island (Shaman Island) across the way.  I've seen people camp near the beach also.

The Outer Point loop provides a boardwalk for the trail users.  The new Rainfores Trail, however, has a turnpike that allows users to look around the surroundings instead of worrying about falling off the trail.  There is an article in the Juneau Empire that gives a little history about these trails: http://www.juneauempire.com/visit/hiking/outerpoint.shtml.

Views from My Office

From window on the right

From window on the left

I could do without the buildings and roads in the view, but can't complain too much :) 

Dog Friendly Winter Walks

As of the moment, my free time consists of getting settled in and trying to get Millie the exercise she needs.  During the week, this means taking her to the nearby Cope Park after work and let her run off-leash.  If I am lucky, there will also be another dog there and she will get a good romp around.  Occasionally, we're on our own and Millie just goes scavanging for food.  I did have a frisbee, but she wasn't very good at bringing it back.  I should try a tennis ball sometime. 

On the weekends, whether rain, snow, or shine, Millie must get a good long walk in.  There are many hiking trails all around Juneau, but all are snow or ice covered.  In just a few weeks time though, I found some nice places to take her for a good exercise.  They are not necessarily long walks, but since you can let her off-leash, she is able to run around and probably do at least 5x the length I am walking. 

Airport Dike Trail

This 1.2 (one-way) walk starts at the water treatment plant near the airport.  It's a well-groomed, flat walk along the water and through some trees.  The trail is actually part of the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge.  Probably a good place for bird watching in the summer. 

East Glacier Loop Trail

This trail will take you from the visitors center at the Mendenhall Glacier to a waterfall near the glacier.  Unfortunately it's not groomed so you only have the trails left behind by previous users.  Alternatively, you could ski or snowshoe it.  Dogs love romping around in the powder though.  It is also a short walk, perhaps .75 mile each way, but because of the deep snow, it takes a bit longer than expected to do.  At the end, you come to a clearing where you get a good view of the glacier and falls.  In the winter though, the falls seem to be only a trickle.  Perhaps most of it is frozen over. 

Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

This is my favorite so far.  There are several trail heads off of back loop (back part of Mendenhall Loop Rd.) but I typically use the one at the Forest Service.  These trails are well groomed so you can walk on it easily.  Many people ski across them too.  What makes this trail unique is that it loops around various lakes in the area.  You can make your walk as short or as long as you like.  The terrain also varies a bit too.  In some areas you are on a narrow trail in the forest.  In other cases you are walking over a lake.  You can also get views of the surrounding mountains and glacier at different places.  These trails connect to the Mendenhall Glacier parking lots, so you could try different parts of the trails from different trailheads.  Although we had the trails mostly to ourselves, you do occasionally run into other doggies for a meet & greet party.

Sandy Beach

 This one probably wins the "most scenic" award.  It's really just a walk along the beach, but the view of the mountains on a sunny day is absolutely gorgeous.  Many owners bring their dogs here for a romp around, too.  So lots of tail-wagging and playing.  Us humans just have to walk a bit.  Walking from parking lot to the end is a nice length walk.  The only downside of being on the beach is your dog will get dirty so you have to give him/her a bath when you get back. 

Back to Reality

After nearly 4 weeks of not working, and over a month of being homeless, things are slowly getting back to normal.  I started working last Monday, and also moved into my new place last Thursday.  Work so far is going slow, which is good since there's enough stress with getting settled in.  I'm probably about half-way through unpacking. There's also a lot of shopping that needed, and still need, to get done.  There's all the little things you want to buy new after moving - like dish rack, door mats, bath rugs, etc.  Then there's the big stuff I need to buy - sofa, split box springs, dining table.  My original plan was to downsize so I ended up getting a lot of stuff.  Turned out finding a dog-friendly place in Juneau was pretty tough though.  I ended up with another 3BR/2BA home so I really didn't need to get rid of things like I did.  Lesson learned - don't expect to downsize as long as I have a dog.  I suppose it's a good thing I found what I found though because my husband will also join us pretty soon.  We didn't have a solid plan for his arrival when I left, but now that he will be here sooner than expected, it's a good thing I found this place and not just a room.  Life will be back to normal soon - yay.  In any case, there's definitely extra space for visitors, so come on by!!