29 September 2016

My Drive Home

Folks keep asking how we like living outside of Anchorage, as if life in the mountains is somehow questionable. What am I to say? "Gee, I wish we'd stayed in that apartment near the industrial park!"

NOT.

So my drive home is no long past through the sprawling mid-town shopping district, industrial lots, and strip malls. Yesterday, it looked like this: 
 

And no, that's not a UFO above the mountains. That's one of several of the inevitable rock chips and bullseyes that all Alaskan drivers have. When you live in a place where the D.O.T. uses gravel for traction on the snow-packed roads, rocks are frequently airborne.

The snow line keeps lower on the mountainsides after every round of precipitation, and is now visible on the mountain behind the one on which we live.

Soon. :)
 

9 comments:

LindaG said...

If we had gotten out of the military after our Alaska tour, we would have stayed there. We LOVED it. They had the improve over five years and it is yours, more or less, back then.

But the military moves you around, and I am sure we went where we were supposed to be.

As I am sure we are where we are supposed to be now (even though the humidity really wipes me out, haha).

The 5 years we spent there, it was normal to have snow for Halloween. With the 4 degree shift in the earth's axis around 2012 or so, I don't know if that is still the case or not.

Thank you for sharing this, Reverend. Be safe and God bless you and your family.

Rev. Paul said...

Linda, if it helps, I was stationed on Adak from '75 to '77, so I understand the difference between "back then" and now. Anchorage wasn't much more than an overgrown small town, 40 years ago. And yes, we still usually have snow by Halloween, but it's no longer a given.

I'm glad the photo is to your liking. :)

LindaG said...

Loved the photo (love anything to do with Alaska). We were in California for some of the '70s. Beale AFB. Then he want to Eielson AFB and I went to Clear AFS. Joined him a year later. The best assignment we had, though the SR-71 will always be his favorite plane to work on.

Chickenmom said...

What a view! Oh, those mountains! And as an added bonus - no traffic!!

Rev. Paul said...

I know, Chickenmom; it still takes my breath away. And there's traffic at other times, but my drive home is mid-afternoon, before the heavier flow arrives.

Guffaw in AZ said...

I bought special glass protection (when I was taking my sedan 'to the desert') because of possible rock damage.
Turned all virtually ALL of the rock damage occurred driving the 17 miles of paved Interstate(one way)to and from my (former) workplace! (gravel trucks prowl the highway, all with poorly-fitted tarps, all with signs stating they are not responsible for any damage. HA!)
I've had my windshield replaced once. Some people do it twice yearly, because of freeway driving!
Now, it's just not worth it - what with a 17 year old beater!

gfa

Rev. Paul said...

Guffaw, we've had to replace windshields on our vehicles several times over the years. Rock damage eventually introduces a crack which spans the height or width (or sometimes both) of the window, rendering it unsafe for the daily commute. Just for the record, I drive the oldest vehicle in our little "fleet", being an '06 model.

JaneofVirginia said...

Sadly, I knew exactly what the rock chip was, as I could identify it immediately. They are all too common in the mountains of Virginia also. Alaska, by the way, looks idyllic, but then I quite enjoyed far eastern Russia also.

Rev. Paul said...

Miss Jane, I understand that. Eastern Siberia has a lot of terrain that's very similar to Alaska.