Summer in Alaska

So we have been in full force summer here the past week and 1/2. By that I mean the store shelves are out of fans, many are out of water and I’m pretty sure this picture was actually taken here in Ketchikan:

Having just been in California, I can say without a doubt that 80 degrees Alaskan feels WAY hotter than 80 degrees elsewhere. I don’t know why, or if it is even logical (some say it’s a wet heat vs a dry heat) -but it feels way hotter. We also broke some records on Saturday -hitting 83 degrees. That’s pretty much 200 degrees in Alaskan talk!

The weather forecast looked something like this:

It is scheduled to be sunny until Friday. The locals pretty much don’t know how to react to this much sun…many have already overheated and dehydrated because we simply aren’t used to this!

Not that I’m complaining, we take the sun when we can…spending as much time as possible outside in it, which is probably why so many are dehydrating -normally we get one or two days of sun, then some rain. So solid sun for so long is confusing us!

All this sun has also been making the water turn interesting colors, it looks very similar to the water in Italy!

You can’t complain tho -I have been to some beautiful places, but I don’t think anything compares to a summer in Alaska! There is something about seeing the sun here! Probably because we don’t see it that often so we appreciate it more when it does appear.

See?

You can’t help but be in awe (even if you are melting)!

I’ve been doing my best to keep the gaggle of dogs I have cool while they are here…we have the swimming pool which is a big hit:

Although I think they are mostly just interested in the toys…there never seems to be enough of those!

Of course, there is also the ocean…I took the whole gang there a few weeks ago when I had help (I don’t dare let them all off their leashes when I am flying solo!):

Yoshi doesn’t like going out that far, but she loves getting the credit for fetching, so she always runs out to meet whoever brings back the stick/ball/leaf/toy and steals it from them. Silly girl!

I took her to the beach, just her and I this weekend…she was brave (or hot) enough to go out a little deeper. Of course, it probably helped that I was out there too.

Then she stole my glasses -because she was and always will be, cooler than I!

To round things off, we have been playing a lot of fetch. The problem with these two is they are super competitive with the ball -if I don’t play fair, only one will end up playing with the ball. So now I hold one of them back a few seconds when I throw the ball -giving the other a head start. Then switch.

Notice Chester catching onto me….standing way out there waiting for me to throw the ball to him -he plays a mean outfielder:

I also took the whole herd on a walk last weekend, solo.

While that might not sound like much, each one of them has their own unique sets of fears / aggravations / excitement triggers. It pretty much looks like each dog is going his / her own way. Which means I am getting drug in three separate directions. At the same time.

I would assume it is what driving a herd of wild cats, hitched to a wagon, would look like. Not that I’ve ever driven a wagon. Wild cats or not.

Everyone did fairly well. No one was injured -either in my group or those who we passed. Although we did encounter a very dangerous group of dogs behind a fence. At least, my crew seemed to think they were dangerous. I’m pretty sure they were just minding their own business wondering what was happening outside their fence.

You will just have to trust me when I say they are all in this picture…