Living the Alaskan Dream

This week was surprisingly sunny--we almost had seven full days of clear skies! The last couple months have required adjusting to: while we get a limited 5-6 hours of daylight, most days it's extremely dim due to the clouds, fog, and angle of the sun. It's like someone just turned the fluorescent lights in the warehouse on but they still have to warm up. On the other hand this week it was energizing to have the sun out and not a cloud in sight.

You know you live in SE Alaska when a sunny day makes the front page...

We took this opportunity to get away from the city lights and watch for the auroras, and we weren't disappointed. After work one night the aurora forecast was a level 5, so we waited and watched near the Mendenhall Glacier. For hours all we could see were the stars and a faint green glow on the north horizon, but finally around 1:30am the lights began to dance. This wasn't our first time seeing Lady Aurora, but definitely the most spectacular! The green pillars seemed to flash and pulse, resemblant of neon lights in Las Vegas, except our message was "Viva La Juneau!"

Also this week while doing errands for work I spotted a coyote in a field hunting. I hurried to flip on my hazards and pull over, thinking it might be a wolf (one of my last "Alaskan Wildlife Bucketlist" creatures). While it was too small to be a wolf, it was neat to watch him hunt. He attracted the attention of other drivers and passers-by, and they all slowed down or stopped. You don't have to go out searching for wildlife in Alaska, the wildlife comes to you.

Alaskans Brake for Wildlife