Where's Angus?

Birthday!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Angus) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:07:00 +0000

As it turns out today is my Birthday and yesterday a very special present arrived for it. It was an Ice-barker Jacket from Lil' D and the D-Fa crew. When it arrived, I couldn't help myself and despite the hot day I had to try it on immediately! What an amazing fit. Now when I take my human out to photograph the Northern Lights I'll stay just as warm as he in the sub-zero temps. Many thanks to Lil' D and all my pals over at D-fa! This is the best gift ever!

Fun in Fairbanks area with LittleDfa

noreply@blogger.com (Angus) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:52:00 +0000

I was on Twitter a while back (yes I use Twitter!), when I met LittleDfa. Just like me, he loves to travel and go on new adventures. He was in Fairbanks after launching his North American adventure in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was looking for someone to pal around with before heading out of Alaska on his next adventure and tweeted me about a tour.

I love to meet new pets, even if they are stuffed pets, and was thrilled when he asked if I would show him around. We explored many fun places together including The Alaska Railroad Depot in town, The Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, Fountainhead Hotels' Antique Car and Auto Museum, Creamer's Field and even got a trip in to Denali National Park (next post)

LittleDfa's adventures began in New Zealand and he has traveled many places since. He is a member of the Dogs of D-fa crew that models the amazing high quality sports jackets and gear for dogs. He is the only stuffed member of the family and his primary objective is to travel the world.

I first met "Lil' D" at In My Element a new Women's Clothing store here in Fairbanks. He was there patiently waiting for another adventure after making his way up to Alaska. I had my Human drive me to meet him and then show us round the town. We started at the Alaska Railroad Depot and then went home for a bite to eat. Lil' D doesn't have much of an appetite so after a quick bite we were off to the Tanana River. In May, and after an unusually warm winter, there was still ice to be found floating down the river. Lil' D took this opportunity to pose for a picture.

Next I took Lil' D to see a few of the unique things to Fairbanks. The first surprising thing for him was that a lot of folks still live in "dry cabins" with no running water. Permafrost creates all kinds of issues when building and drilling wells and with the extreme cold temperatures here running water is sometimes just not feasible or even possible. Therefore it's not uncommon for folks here to find themselves sitting on an ice cold seat in an outhouse in -50º F. The city does have running water but many folks who live outside of city limits must have their water trucked in. It is then stored in large holding tanks where a pump system is used to pressurize it and pump it into the house's water system. So we visited the Water Wagon filling station where folks can go to fill up their own water or have Water Wagon's fleet of trucks deliver it.

Our next stop was The Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center. This is a fantastic place to check out in Fairbanks. Not only is this place packed with information about things to do in Fairbanks (the Faribanks CVB is located at the center), but it also hosts an amazing array of exhibits that give you a true experience of life in Interior Alaska.Here LilttleDfa got to hang out with a Bald Eagle and a Marmot, ride a snow machine, camp out in a tent, check out the Taiga and do a little dog mushing to his a cabin.

After this we had to go check out the amazing Antique Car and Auto Museum. LittleDfa got the grand Tour by the fantastic Nancy DeWitt. She showed him all the amazing cars, clothes and other autos around the museum. It turns out that the museum is home to several one of a kind vehicles. Some are a unique builds and some are the last remnants of their kind.

Lil' D even got to drive one of the cars!!! Ok, ok, so he didn't actually drive it, but he did get to pose on it. There is actually an entire car and photo set dedicated to take your own pictures when visiting the Museum.

We then spent a little time at Creamer's Field. This place is a Migratory Bird's dream come true. Every spring the Friend's of Creamer's Field puts out grain for the migrating birds (including thousands of Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes as well as several species of ducks, gulls and other migratory birds) as they stage here before venturing further north into the arctic. This presents some amazing bird watching and photography opportunities each spring and fall. Unfortunately, while walking the many trails of the of the refuge, I must keep my human leashed at all times. Since he can't run as fast as me, this doesn't allow me to chase any of these tasty big birds.

Creamer's field is also a birders paradise. It not only draws plenty of birds itself, but it is also connected to trails of the Alaska Bird Observatory located next to Wedgewood Resort. Here you can find checklists and all sorts of info about the birds in both the immediate area and around the state. Add to that the connecting trails that make their way around Wedgewood's beautiful Wander Lake Sanctuary and your in the ideal place to find a great portion of Interior Alaska's birds. If birding is your objective The Bear Lodge is a great place to stay. The trails, Alaska Bird Observatory and Creamer's Field are all accessible right from the parking lot. The Antique Car & Auto Museum is also part of the resort.

This co-operative network of trails is also a great place to find beaver, fox, moose, Wood Frogs, Red Squirrels and other critters. I should however mention that you probably want to think about bug spray for both you and your humans. The most abundant critter your likely to find in Interior Alaska during summer is the infamous Alaskan Mosquito!

Time Lapse of Lil' D enjoying the sunset at Creamer's Field

After some good exploration of Fairbanks we ventured on to the near by town of Fox. Here we visited the Alaska Pipeline and checked out some of the gold mining history of the area. In 1977 the pipeline was the largest privately funded construction project at a cost of 8 billion dollars. Both gold and "black gold" are a major part of the economy and everyday life for many Interior Alaskans.

After the pipeline we checked out the Old Gold Dredge No. 8 and a few of the other mining boom remains. Fairbanks, is not only the heart of Alaska, but was once the largest city in the state during the peak of the gold boom. In fact that state's largest city, Anchorage, was established as a seaport town to supply materials for the railroad between Fairbanks and Seward. The Golden heart city not only lives up to its name in kindness of its residents, but also in evidence found throughout the community of the gold mining boom. The local paper is still named The Daily News-Miner.

We finished off the day by getting out of the rain and putting our paws up at The World Famous Howling Dog Saloon. Known as the place to be in Fairbanks by locals and visitors alike this wild place is a must. The bands are good and entertain on a stage carpeted in the "Red Carpet" that was rolled out for President Reagan and Pope John Paul II when they happened upon Fairbanks at the same time.

This is a Photo of LittleDfa with my human Liza and "the band."

We took a rest for a few days allowing Lil' D to get a break after his big adventures and then went out birding with him. He's actually quite good at spotting the larger birds! One of the places we like to go in the spring is The Airport Float Ponds. In Alaska, Air travel is still one of the best ways to get around as there are a limited amount of roads. It's not uncommon to own a small float, ski or tundra tire plane or know someone who does. Lil' D once again took this opportunity to do a little posing.

Then it was off to Denali National Park but that needs it's own story. Tune in next time to see what kind of critters and trouble Lil' D and I can stir up in Denali!!!

To see the entire photo gallery from Lil' D's adventures with me go here.

All photos and videos are courtesy of my human, Ronn, from Ronn Murray Photography Fairbanks, Alaska photographer.

noreply@blogger.com (Angus) — Wed, 05 May 2010 22:32:00 +0000

Just wanted to post a quick update... I have been hanging out with LittleDfa from New Zealand and have been having a blast with him. I'll be posting some photos and stories from our adventures soon so check back.

Delta Jct. Bird Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Angus) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:39:00 +0000

Yesterday, my human, Ronn and I went to Delta Jct to hunt the migrating birds (with a camera). I finally convinced him to clean out the car and lay the back seat down so that I could enjoy the window in the fantastic spring weather we're having in Fairbanks. It was nice to smell all the smells and feel the wind. It's a rough life being a dog I tell ya.

After we arrived we followed the mapped out route (Thanks Nancy!) where our first creatures encountered were cattle. Not very exciting to me but my human seemed to take a huge interest in them. I heard him tell the lady that stopped to visit with him something about being from Idaho, and that he actually missed these smelly things. I for one had other things on my mind. Flying things!

The local human must have had some good info because when Ronn got back in the car we drove a little ways down a muddy road and stopped for some Elk. Shortly after that we went back to where we had started and took a different turn. "WOOF! WOOF!" I exclaimed trying to get Ronn to stop as I noticed the Canada Geese in a field just out of my reach. he did stop but only briefly and we continued on. He seemed to be about as interested in them as I was his cows. It wasn't long until I discovered why.

Three fields down from the geese were the largest white birds I had ever laid eyes on. And boy did they smell good too! This was obviously what Ronn was interested in finding as he stopped abruptly forgetting momentarily that dogs don't wear seat belts. As I sluggishly pulled my tongue from the heater vents in the dash I think he had a sudden burst of awareness but I shot him a dirty look just in case.

I gathered my wits and went back to the window to see what these things were. Trumpeter Swans as it turns out they are called, were apparently off limits to me too! Once again I was left looking out the window as Ronn got out and started pointing that electronic thing (he calls it a camera) at them. Usually, when he get's that thing out of his pack it's an exciting event as it means I will be free to roam and explore but in the case of animals it usually means I'm stuck in the car staring out the window as if I were merely watching television. At least this time I was able to stick my head into the TV and hear the sound and smell the smells.

My human must have realized I was getting sick of this because after he returned we drove on to another field were he let me out to explore. To my dismay however, there were no birds to chase. I could smell that they were close but try as I may to locate them, he had somehow managed to hide them.

Once I had relieved some internal pressures we were again on our way. We drove for what seemed like an eternity as Ronn kept starring at some white piece of paper. We drove out to a gravel pit where he once again let me out to check things out. There were no birds to be smelled but this time we did play ball. My humans must be weak because they bought this contraption for throwing the ball called a chuckit that allows them to throw much farther and faster. Apparently, they don't like my saliva either... Ronn would throw the ball as far and hard as he could and I would sprint to try and catch it before it hit the ground. I had fun and finally got a bit tired so we loaded up and after a few treats and a well deserved pat on the head, we headed out.

We returned to one of the roads we had been on previously but this time we ventured straight instead of following the curve. The road here was muddy and still had snow and Ronn stopped to adjust some switch before proceeding. Once we stopped there was a beautiful lake and he grabbed up his camera and this time let me come along. We met some nice humans there and they pointed at things and talked to Ronn while I checked things out a bit. A few minutes passed by and I turned around to see the other humans had left and Ronn was now pointing his camera in the direction they had showed him. I decided that while he was distracted I may as well take this opportunity to get in a few practice swimming laps in preparation for the fast approaching summer.

After that we drove down some more gravel roads where we arrived at a set of big buildings that looked like gigantic cans of my food. Ronn got out and played with his camera a bit more and then we continued along another one of these dusty roads. I could start to smell those darn geese again and occasionally could hear them. We started to slow down a bit so I peaked my head back inside to look out the front window and noticed that there were huge flocks of them flying around in front of us. We drove past hundreds of the big white birds (This time I heard him mention Tundra Swans) and turned around so that our windows faced them.

The car stopped and Ronn stayed inside this time too. It was amazing how many there were and while I couldn't help wanting to chase them, I enjoyed watching them with my human. Off in the distance there were beautiful mountains with sunset light starting to turn slightly orange and pink. Ronn would occasionally point his camera at them for a bit until it made a few clicking noises and then just watch with me as he petted my head.

Many of them came and went as we watched and it was a peaceful moment. The kind that can't be had at home. The kind that must be found. The kind that can't be forced but if approached with an open mind will show present itself. Indeed, this was that kind of moment. I knew it and my human knew it and words were not needed as we took in the sights, sounds and smells that surrounded us, letting each component soak in at it's own pace. These are the moments that give life meaning.

More photos from this and our other adventures can be seen on my human's website Ronn Murray Photography

Thanks for checking out our trip and I hope you come back for more.