Sayonara to Anna...

We've had a good time having FlatAnna in Alaska for the last couple months. It's been lovely having her.. She's such a quiet, considerate houseguest. Sometimes we'd even forget she was here!

Before we send her back to Missouri, we wanted to share some fast facts about the state of Alaska:

* Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

* If you cut Alaska in half, Texas would still only be the third biggest state.

* The state of Rhode Island would fit into Alaska 425 times. (it's big, folks, big)

* Alaska is responsible for 25% of the oil produced in the USA.

* Dog-mushing is the official state sport of Alaska (think Iditarod).

* 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the USA are in Alaska.

* Denali (or Mt McKinley for those of you lower-48'ers) is the highest mountain in North America. It is larger than Mount Everest (but not taller, Mt Everest has 17,000 foot advantage)

* Anchorage is the largest city in the state followed by Fairbanks.

* Juneau is the state capital of Alaska. It is a smaller town accessible only by plane or boat (the only such state capital in USA).

* Alaska's coastline is longer than 6,600 miles.

* It took the Johnsons 9 days to drive from Fort Worth, TX, to Anchorage, AK, in July 2008.

* Most of the salmon, halibut and crab eaten in the USA come from Alaska.

Thanks for sending Anna on her extended vacation. She'll be leaving Eagle River, Alaska, sometime this week... she's bringing home a box of goodies for Anna to share with her class and her brother :)

I Spoke Too Soon....

Flat Anna and I woke up to about 4" of new snow this morning. I know it's because I posted about break-up. Fortunately, it's all pretty much melted at this point but the weather guy says we'll get more. Oh well :) The pic is of FA (before breakfast) this morning.

Easter and Break-Up

I bet you were wondering what FlatAnna has been up to.. it's been kind of a long time between posts. We (the Johnsons) have been pretty busy trying to fit in the last skiing of the season. The snow is melting fast up here.. and with any luck, it will stay gone! We don't really get a spring in Alaska. What we get is called "Break-Up". You see, unlike a lot of places that get snow, once it snows in Anchorage in the late-Fall, the snow stays. We don't get snow, then it melts, then it snows.. we get snow. And it stays. And more snow comes. And the plows pile up the old snow which makes big piles of icy snow... Well, once the weather warms up (it's in the low 40s now, that is warm!!), the snow and ice start to melt. And it makes a HUGE MESS! Our roads are like rivers.. there is lots of dirt and rocks (what they sprinkle on our roads so they're not too icy) everywhere and there is nothing green. Just brown and gray. Muddy ice. Yuck. Anyway, we can live with Break-Up because we know that summer is coming....

Here is Flat Anna hanging out in our emerging front yard... we haven't seen the river rocks in a long time!

Kara, Olivia and Flat Anna enjoying an after school snack this afternoon.

Flat Anna hanging out amid the Easter rubble.

Flat Anna trying to steal Mr Clayton's Easter candy......

Flat Anna and the Aces

Last night we took Flat Anna to an Alaska Aces hockey game. It was "525 night". What is 525? That just happens to be the fighter squadron that Clayton is attached to. Someone donated a whole slew of tickets to 525 members and their families. It was lots of fun as it was Flat Anna, Kara and Clay's first hockey game! The best part was that a fight broke out only 1 second into the game. When we got up this morning (Sunday), I couldn't find Flat Anna and I was afraid that she had either: 1. Been kidnapped 2. Ran away. Fortunately, she was hanging up on the fridge, right where she is supposed to be...WHEW!!! I think we have a few more adventures for her before we ship her back to Missouri. Clearly, she is not ready to leave because she is in awe of Alaska and its beauty.. not to mention all the fun she is having with the Johnsons :)

Here is a picture of Moto, the 525FS commander.. and Fado, a bulldog, the mascot of the 525. I'm embarrassed to say that he goes everywhere with these guys, flies on a transport plane and has military orders.. he can't go on the F22 because there's no room.. so he travels with the luggage. He's kind of cute but he's gross (come on, he's been raised by a bunch of fighter pilots)..and so that makes it a little sad.

And here is Flat Anna just before it started, posing with the scoreboard..

Oh, No! More Snow!

Flat Anna has arrived safely back in Eagle River after a fun weekend of skiing in Girdwood, Alaska. Sunday was a "chamber of commerce" day: clear skies, warmish weather (20s), fresh powder. Monday morning we woke up to a blizzard (literally) so skiing was out, driving home was in. Here are some pics of FA in Girdwood.

Poor Flat Anna is in need of some new clothes... Kara is in process of creating a new spring-Alaska wardrobe for her. Stay tuned!!!!

Spring Break Week

So it's spring break week in Eagle River (well, Anchorage, actually). Flat Anna is going to have a BIG week, I can tell already. We've had about 6" of new snow the last 2 days and Anna joined Kara, Big Clayton and April in the shovel/chip brigade on Saturday morning. She was happy (Flat Anna) because she didn't have to do any of the work. After the driveway got cleared, we went to Elemendorf AFB to meet a bunch of friends for tubing. Flat Anna decided to pass on the tubing (her snow gear isn't THAT great, after all), but she did pose in front of the static F15. This is NOT the Johnson Family Jet.. that's the F22 and it was a shut-in this morning. The F15 is nearly a relic and so they plop them all over the place these days. It was a cool airplane for all of 10 minutes and now its day is done. We also took a picture of Flat Anna in front of the sign saying that the Air Force reserves the right to shoot us if they feel like it :) We lucked out and made it home alive, once again. Tomorrow we're headed to Girdwood, AK, and Alyeska Resort for an overnighter and 2 days of skiing. We'll have Anna in tow... stay tuned :)

What Flat Anna Has Been Doing

It has been a pretty quiet week in Eagle River for Flat Anna... she has been getting used to being in Alaska... Kara's house is on a bluff above a river, Eagle River. Directly behind/below our house live a variety of animals. We have seen black bears and moose. We have seen lynx tracks as well as snow hare tracks. Beyond that, there are likely foxes and wolves (seen by our neighbors but nothing with our own eyes). Alaska is a wild place!

Here's Flat Anna in her super high performance snow gear outside for her first Alaska snow fall.

Her ultra safe place to hang out when she's not adventuring.

Chilaxin' in Kara's room.

Hanging out with some of the more dangerous wild life Alaska has to offer.. a 13 year old cat and a 4 year old boy :)