Earth, Air, Water and Fire

Erica V. at WordPress writes about the photo challenge she created- elemental

“For this week’s challenge, explore the classical elements of earth, air, water, and fire. How do you capture something invisible like air, or the movement of water?”

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Denali from the train

IMG_0684Rainy windshield

 

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The wind captured by the flag in Florida

 

IMG_4090Snow and ice  Highland Park Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

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Falls in Washington with my sister-in-law
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Homer Alaska

 

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St. George Island Sunrise

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Rushing water in Alaska

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Train ride to Denali

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Burning Basket in Homer Alaska

 

20228766789_086e0f3569_kMaura running across a field at the farm in Crestline, Ohio

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Hard to feel the heat of the desert in a photograph- Arizona

 

and one of my favorite songs Fantasy by Earth Wind and Fire

 

 

The Quest for Sock Yarn in Alaska

Alaskan sock yarn was the quest.  And this was the place to find it.

I ‘d researched on the computer from Pittsburgh, prior to our trip.

Knitty Stash is the home of Alaskan Yarn Company , right in Homer, Alaska where we were headed.

Gorgeous hand painted sock yarn with special Alaskan colorway names that invite you to knit your Alaskan experience, right into a pair of socks ( or shawl, cowl, etc)  “Our Alaskan color way:  Kachemak Bay, Lupine, Arctic Autumn, Northern Lights and Fireweed and Denail Autumn and High Bush Cranberry”  You can click here to see what they look like knitted up

Yarn store number three on the great Northwest adventure.

You meet the nicest people.  My friend Lisa and I went back on Tuesday night and watched the three women use spinning wheels, turning fiber into yarn.

Meet shop owner Jules and her sweet dog Ruby.

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Jules made the knitting artwork out of duct tape  with the help of a friend!  Weatherproof..

img_2458You can see some of the colorways on the wall in this shot.  I focused on Jules so the background a bit soft focus.

My quest was satisfied and I mailed some skeins the next day. It was here, waiting for me when I got home.  I’ve wound one colorway already.  Will keep you posted.

Here are the colors close up, borrowed from Knitty Stash site so you can see how lush they are.

I did not take the yarn photo below, but I wish I had bought all the colors and taken it!  Thanks Jules.screen-shot-2016-09-25-at-11-48-28-pmp.s. If you missed my  4/27/16 post on The Satisfaction of Sock Knitting you can read it here

Alaska Railroad Conductor

Meet Will H.  Our conductor on the train ride from Denali to Anchorage. Army veteran. They even slowed the train so we could photograph Denali and two other mountain ranges which were all completely visible on a beautiful clear day.

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Although we are back in NYC and I like to keep the blog in RT, now that computer access/internet is available, I want to post some photos I had in my real camera not iPhone.

Train Ride to Denali

Mary and I got a cab to the Anchorage Railroad Depot, checked in our tagged bags, drank a delicious coffee and waited to board the glass roofed train to Denali.

img_1320At the start of the train ride there were just nine of us and then 58 joined us at Talkeetna.  It’s now the end of the season that started in May.

We decided to get breakfast after an early start

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Mary ordered the reindeer/ egg scrambler skillet.

img_8351Chef Malachi cooked our breakfasts to perfection!  Delicious.

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Jerrica tended the bar at the front of the car

Our conductor A.J.   He has to get off the train to manually switch the tracks so we could wait on the side as another train passed, going south.

Matthew our excellent server on the left and Crystal our knowledgeable tour guide.

Both of them made it a fun and memorable adventure. The train ride is about eight hours.  We didn’t knit or nap, didn’t want to miss a single second.

(Good sports to let me photograph them, thanks!)

We saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans who mate for life.

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Their young ones were swimming on their own

 

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img_8408After the lunch crowd left the dining car and went back upstairs, I enjoyed a Forest pie with rhubarb, apple, blackberry and strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream. Matt asked if I wanted a lot of whipped cream or a little. 🙂

Everyone was so nice, the scenery so incredible. Andy took a photo of us at the table too,  which was great for the memory book, but unfortunately I did not take his pic.

We highly recommend the train tour.