Category Archives: Alaska

Rule Five Road Trip Friday

So, first, some housekeeping notes.

Later today, after I take care of some work chores, we’ll be loading our cargo trailer, packing up all of our remaining office equipment and supplies as well as what firearms and ammo I still have remaining in Colorado.  In fact, we’ll be packing truck and trailer with probably a third to half of all the stuff we’ll be hauling from Colorado up to the Great Land.

Next, posts:  Tomorrow we’ll have the Saturday Gingermageddon as usual.  Next week, instead of placeholders while we’re on the road, I’ll probably post some photos of random, interesting scenery along the 3.200 mile trip.  Normal posts should resume on either April 1 or April 2, unless we encounter some difficulty along the way.

Mrs. Animal and I always enjoy road trips.  We have taken a lot of them together over the last thirty years or so, and we inevitably end up talking, planning and laughing the entire trip, just like a couple of kids.  I guess we just enjoy being together, even (especially) after all this time, and given that this road trip is the penultimate act in the culmination of our twenty-plus year plans, it’s going to be even more fun.

And, of course, there’s the trip itself.  About half of the drive is on the Alaska-Canada Highway itself, which we’ve wanted to drive for years.  Problem is this:  Canada is hurrying people through right now because of the ‘rona, so no time for sightseeing, and frankly this isn’t the best time for that anyway, not to mention we’ll be towing a trailer and have a canoe tied atop the truck, so not the best vehicle configuration, either.  Not to worry; we have plenty of time, and we’ll plan to make the drive again sometime when we have time to sight-see.

Speaking of that drive, here’s how the itinerary looks, for any of you True Believers that might be curious as to how this works:

Day 1:  Denver, Colorado to Shelby, Montana.  Shelby is about twenty miles south of the Coutts, Alberta entry station into Canada.  So in the morning we’ll want to get an early start to deal with the bureaucracy at the border.

Day 2:  Shelby, Montana to Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  Dawson Creek is where the Alaska Highway proper begins.  I’ve done some reading about the town, and it seems like it would be a hell of a fun place to spend a few days, once the Kung Flu panic dies down.

Day 3:  Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.  This is where gas stations and so forth get thin on the ground, so it’s prudent to keep the tank topped up.

Day 4:  Watson Lake, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska.  Tok is where we leave the Alaska Highway, which continues (officially) to Delta Junction, while the highway continues up to Fairbanks.  Now we’re back into the States, and officially into the Great Land!

Day 5:  Tok, Alaska to our new home in Willow, Alaska.  This involves a trip down the Glenallen Highway, which is a gorgeous drive, and then through Palmer and Wasilla to home.

It’s going to be interesting and exciting!  Mrs. Animal will still have to fly back to Colorado to meet the movers to load the remaining stuff for the trip north, then to arrange for the Colorado house to be cleaned up and sold.  Denver real estate is crazy right now, so we expect to do well on that deal.  But when that’s done, she comes home, and we settle into our rural Alaska home for good.

So, stand by for news from the road!

Great Land Bonus

The other evening Mrs. Animal spent quite some time, standing by the window, watching the sun go down over the trees on our new Alaska home.  This, True Believers, is why we came up here.  Not just to escape Colorado’s increasingly-loony political climate, but for the peace, quiet and serenity of our new Sustina Valley digs.  This is it.  This is it.

Animal’s Daily North Slope News

Oil reserves.

Before we start, check out the latest in my SHTF series over at Glibertarians!

Now then:  Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy recently weighed in on the Biden(‘s handlers) Administration’s recent attacks on the extraction of oil and gas.  Excerpt:

We can’t afford to be naïve about the motives of Wall Street banks. While the mega-rich like Larry Fink put on a show about saving the planet, they are knowingly underwriting those who are destroying it. When they fly in to Bristol Bay in their private jets, they lodge just miles from some of the poorest communities in America – places desperate for the very economic opportunities these billionaires have decided to take away.

It’s these everyday Alaskans – people looking for jobs to feed their families – who shoulder the burden of Wall Street’s decision to sell the world a lie.

This isn’t a personal attack on investment bankers. I’m aware that it’s self-interest, not honesty, that makes the world go ’round. Trading a shrinking traditional energy sector for one that will require trillions of dollars of investment, all while masquerading as the “good guys,” makes perfect business sense.

But when Fink’s self-interest threatens to destroy the future of my state, I have no choice but to intervene. I have no choice but to showcase the hypocrisy of the billionaires and environmental profiteers who spread falsehoods about development in Alaska.

They will never tell you that the central Arctic caribou herd has actually grown from about 6,000 to 30,000 animals since Prudhoe Bay development activity began, or that the “threatened” Porcupine herd of caribou now numbers 218,000 animals – the highest in recorded history.

They won’t tell you about how Alaska’s stringent environmental regulations far outclass those in the rest of the nation – that we pump our gas back into the ground instead of flaring it, that we operate the most technologically advanced pipeline on the planet, that we don’t let our mines turn the tundra yellow with acid water.

Why won’t they tell you?

Because attacking Alaska is easy and profitable. In the case of the Wall Street bankers, they’re playing a long game by betting on a new industry. Others, including many environmental groups, are collecting their profits up front. Take the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Resources Defense Council, for example. Did you know that their CEOs earn $665,748 and $526,053, respectively? I’ll let those numbers speak for themselves.

Again, as I’m always saying, read the whole thing.  It merits a bit of thoughtful consideration.

Here’s the problem Governor Dunleavy faces:  Alaska is a damn big state geographically, but it’s a small state politically, with only Vermont and Wyoming having smaller populations – and our population is spread over a state that’s almost three times the size of Texas.  The Great Land’s sole Representative and two Senators give it a paltry three Electoral College votes and the state votes very reliably Republican, meaning we get pretty much ignored in Presidential campaigns.

Which means the Biden(‘s handlers) Administration can throw Alaska under the energy-production bus without much thought for the consequences.

The one bright spot for the oil/gas and pipeline workers is that Alaska isn’t the only state affected by this horseshit.  States from the Dakotas to Texas are seeing thousands of good-paying jobs suddenly gone due to these idiotic changes in policy.  The question is this:  What impact will all this have in 2022?

I know what the logical outcome of this ought to be; but it remains to be seen whether energy-sector employees can manage to push any elections past the margin of fraud any more.

Animal’s Hump Day News

Happy Hump Day!

I’ll be the first to admit, it’s cold up here in early February.  Temps right now are down around zero at night, in the teens in the afternoon.  And the days don’t last long.  The sun comes up hereabouts at about 0930, and is down by 1700.  Plenty of snow on the ground, which I expect will stay until mid to late April.

But boy is it quiet.

The winters here, though, honestly aren’t any worse than those I grew up with in northeast Iowa.  The daylight hours are the main difference, but we’ll make up for that with twenty-hour days in midsummer.  I think we’re making a good trade, especially considering how loony Colorado (and, frankly, most of the 48) is becoming.

Moving right along, then…

On To the Links!

Haw haw haw!

No thanks, I had bugs for lunch.

President Biden continues doing his impression of an actual potato.

Stop the third party insanity.

Now do water fountains!

No shit, Sherlock.  I’m reminded of an early-Eighties-sometime interview of David Lee Roth, done by some Rolling Stone putz-head.  Roth had talked about his and his Van Halen band-mates working-class youths, and the contrast with how much money they were making with the band.  “You know, Dave,” the interviewer pontificated, “they say you can’t buy happiness.”  “Maybe,” Roth replied with his trademark grin, “…but I can buy a yacht big enough to sail right up next to it.”

They guy really did know how to command the stage.

What the Left really means by “equity.”

Yeah, Portland’s probably fucked.

Even if California kicks out Gavin Newsom, anyone who takes his place would be likely just as horrible.

Liberal reporter calls out Crazy Eyes for being a lying piece of shit.  Well, not in so many words, but the message is clear.

This Week’s Idiots:
It’s not commonly known that John Kerry once pursued an acting career.

John Kerry is an idiot.  He’s also an arrogant, elitist fuck.  But Ted Cruz did a pretty good job of dismantling the asshole.

I actually burst out laughing at this idiocy.  Paywalled, but the headline is all you need.

Idiots have to be warned against doing idiot things.

Crazy Eyes continues in her usual idiocy.

USAToday‘s Rachel Mikva is an idiot.

Wired‘s Malkia Devich-Cyril is an idiot, and an idiot who has no fucking idea what the concept of free speech means.

Barney Frank is an idiot.

And So:

Just the other day our oldest daughter reminded us of this song, saying that it always reminded her of her Dad.  It probably applies even more now that we’re abandoning suburban life for rural Alaska, and it is in fact at least a half-hour to a Walmart or a grocery store.  This is Aaron Lewis with Northern Redneck.  Enjoy.

Animal’s Daily Great Land News

Before we start,be sure to check out something different I wrote for Glibertarians!

Last weekend was a considerable adventure, as Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt. flew the Friendly Skies to Anchorage on Friday, then Saturday morning drove north and took actual possession of our new home in Willow.

Two honest feet of snow at the front door.

Adjusting back to country living was faster than I expected, given the amount of time that has passed since my Allamakee County youth.  Example:  A good portion of the heating of this house is via a woodburning stove, which requires bringing in wood at least once a day;.  Fortunately the previous owners left us a good supply.  There are other chores I haven’t gotten to yet, on this our fourth day of residence, but they’ll follow.

Big empty house.

The house is pretty empty at the moment, but we’ll be filling it up.

When we first arrived Saturday morning, about eleven AM, it was sixteen below zero.  There is about two feet of snow on the ground.  Up north around Trapper Creek and Talkeetna, we have it on good authority that there is six feet of the white stuff in places.  Welcome to Alaska winters!

On Sunday evening, we had our first guest.

We first noticed her, a yearling cow moose, out by the now-empty dog run.  She’s on the skinny side, but didn’t seem uncomfortable as she moved slowly along, browsing on twigs and buds.  Last night as I was bringing in some stove wood I noticed her bedded down about twenty yards from the woodpile, and she raised her head to watch as I took in an armload of wood, but didn’t react.  She is a bit thin; Mrs. Animal and I were hoping she makes it through the winter, as a lot of young animals don’t.

Also yesterday, we went over to Palmer and visited the DMV for driver’s licenses.  We’re now, officially, Alaska residents.

A life properly lived should ever have one embarking on a new adventure.  Mrs. Animal and I have lived up to that, I think, in general; but this one is our biggest yet, greater even than Desert Storm in many ways.  Stay tuned!

Goodbye, Blue Monday

Goodbye, Blue Monday!

This first Monday of February finds us in our new Alaska home!  Thanks as always to The Other McCain, Pirate’s Cove and Bacon Time for the Rule Five links.

We have no internet at the moment, other than an iffy connection on our phones, which I am using to post this.   The local providers will be by later this morning to hook us up, and normal posts will resume tomorrow.   Meanwhile, here’s a shot of our new digs, at a balmy minus sixteen.  See you tomorrow!

Animal’s Hump Day News

Happy Hump Day!

Friday will see Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt. flying again to Anchorage.  On Saturday we get the keys and take possession of our new home in the Great Land, so next week’s posts will be written while breathing the free air of Alaska – something we’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time. Expect some insights on the state of affairs there, in what I reckon to be one of the last remaining good places.

We’re officially Willowbillies now.

Therefore…

On To the Links!

I’m sure the timing is just a coincidence.

I’m sure the timing is just a coincidence.

I’m sure the timing is just a coincidence.

China clearly thinks Trump leaving office is good… for China.

BLM and KKK – both racists.  No shit.

Show me in the Constitution where the Imperial government is allowed to do this.  I know, I know, the Imperial government has been wiping its ass with the Constitution since at least 1860, but still.

I wonder if this is the level of competence we can expect from the Biden Administration.  (I suspect it is.)

What if the Capitol rioters had been Democrats?  I think we all know the answer to that.

In all the news you never needed, now we have fifty million year old insect genitals.  Mind you this is interesting to a biologist, but maybe only to a biologist.

They hath strewn our path with orts!

Rand Paul shreds a sawed-off little network gargoyle.

The Imperial City looks to be remaining an armed camp for a while.  Funny, in 1971 the Weather Underground exploded a bomb in the Capitol, and the city wasn’t locked down the way it is now.  What a bunch of wet-pants types we have in the Imperial City today.

Once in a while, we still get some good news.

Oh, for the luvva Pete.

“Friend of the working man,” my middle-aged white ass.

This Week’s Idiots:

Boy howdy, what a bumper crop of idiots this week.  I wonder, has something happened to make the idiocy come out of the woodwork?

Slate‘s William Saletan is an idiot.

Vox’s Jen Kirby is an idiot.

Slate‘s Susan Matthews is an idiot.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an idiot.

USA Today‘s Dick Meyer is an idiot.

Robert Reich is still an idiot.  It’s never-ending.

New York Magazine‘s Jonathan Chait is an idiot.

CNN’s Frida Ghitis is an idiot.

Politico’s Craig Smith is an idiot.

Apparently lots of schools are spending lots of money on idiot things.  Wow, what a surprise.

And So:

In light of last week’s transition in the Imperial City, it seems appropriate to present America’s Songwriter, Bob Dylan, with his 2001 tune for the soundtrack of Wonder Boys – this is Things Have Changed.  Enjoy.

Goodbye, Blue Monday

Goodbye, Blue Monday!

Thanks as always to The Other McCain, Pirate’s Cove and Bacon Time for the Rule Five links!  As always, if we’re showing up in a links post of yours, please let us know in the comments and we’ll add you to the mentions; trackbacks aren’t always reliable for some reason.

Quick question for the incoming Biden Administration:  If those of us who aren’t happy with the results of the 2020 election are all terrorists now, then when do we get our enormous air-delivered pallets of cash?

Anyway.  Boy howdy.  Three flights between Denver and Anchorage in the next couple of months.  Three trips mostly moving firearms and ammo through courtesy of checked baggage, as that’s generally easier than taking them through Canada.  As of last Friday, all the paperwork is complete, we wrote a pretty damn big check, and now we officially own a house, outbuildings and two-plus acres in the Sustina Valley.

The entrance to the AlCan.

In late March/early April we’ll take truck and trailer north, through Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to Alaska, and that will be an interesting trip indeed; watch this space for photos.  We’ll probably want to drive it again in summer, but for now, well, we’re anxious to get this move done and the Colorado house sold, so we’re making that trip as soon as is prudent, given the weather along that route.

I think we’ve picked a pretty damn good time to get the hell out of the lower 48.  Things seem to be damnably unsettled, and I don’t see them getting better, at least for the next couple of years.  And no, I don’t expect to receive a big pallet of cash, although I suspect my being a notoriously independent son of a bitch from a long line of notoriously independent sons of bitches may get me labeled as a troublesome sort at some point.  If so, so be it; if anyone wants to head up the valley to cause some trouble with rural Alaskans, I suspect it won’t end well for them.

Of our four kids, two are in a small town in eastern Iowa and should be well clear of any shenanigans; the other two are in the Denver area but with no little ones, so well situated to get the hell out in a hurry if Denver turns weird.

It’s troubling, now more than ever, to contemplate the world we’re leaving our grandchildren.  But for now, I have to focus on what’s right for Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt., and that’s getting our Alaska home established.  I see those happy golden years stretching out before us, regardless of what stupidity takes over the 48; as I’m fond of paraphrasing the great Davy Crockett, “You may all go to hell.  I will go to Alaska.”

All of you True Believers may want to look around, take stock, and find a similar retreat.  I think things are going to be tense for a while.  I hope I’m wrong – I’d love to be wrong – but I’m afraid I’m not.

Animal’s Hump Day News

Happy Hump Day!

Boy howdy, when you’ve lived in a house for twenty-three years, you sure find you’ve accumulated a lot of stuff.

With a 3,500 mile move in the offing, and a big portion of that through Canada, we’re making a concerted effort to pare down our stuff to bare essentials.  The problem is, that list of essentials includes a rather extensive gun collection, all of my Dad’s paintings that I have here, and a library of between 1500 and 2000 books, that’s still a lot of stuff – and we aren’t even taking any furniture except one futon frame and a white oak rocking chair my Dad made for Mrs. Animal the year after we got married.  And by the way, does anyone out there have any idea how to get a rather large amount of ammo through Canada?

The guns will be the interesting bit.  There are a couple of moving companies that specialize in moving military and ex-military people and who have the necessary permits and so on to transport things that a general traveler can’t bring into Canada, like most handguns.

As loony as Colorado is getting, it will be a reflective moment when we leave this house for the last time.  Mrs. A and I have both lived here longer than anywhere else in our lives.  We raised four daughters in this house.  We’ve loved this house, as we’ve lived and loved in this house.  But a house like this one needs a family in it.  It’s come now to the time when our great big barn of a Colorado home moved on to have another family grow up within its walls.

Life is an unending series of big and little transitions.

With that said…

On To the Links!

Banana Republic I.

Banana Republic II.

Banana Republic III.

Banana Republic IV.

Banana Republic V.

Banana Republic VI.

Want evidence of voter fraud?  Here’s evidence of voter fraud.

Because, you know, fuck federalism.

Failing to see the down side here.

RIP Alex Trebek.

Finally, some good news!

Weirdest headline I’ve seen in a while, and also a great indy band name:  Ants Slurp Their Butt Acid.

This Week’s Idiots:

Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to prove he’s an idiot.

Jake Tapper is an idiot.

Chicago Tribune’s Dahleen Glanton is an idiot.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel is an idiot.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid outdoes herself in idiocy – again.

And So:

My Dad actually had a great singing voice, one in a long list of his native talents and most assuredly one he did not pass on to me.  From the time I was very young he was fond of singing this little ditty, which always made my Mom cringe a little when small children were around.  This is Oscar Brand’s Humoresque (Passengers Will Please Refrain.)  Enjoy.

Goodbye, Blue Monday

Goodbye, Blue Monday!

Thanks as always to Pirate’s Cove, The Other McCain, Bacon Time and Whores and Ale for the Rule Five links!

Last week was a dismal week, to be sure, and this week looks to be more disturbing still, at least on the political front.  Look for more info on the increasingly-banana republic feel of the last election in the Wednesday links.

Which makes the timing of our activities last week all the more timely.  Last Thursday, we put a bid on a big house on two acres of land in the woods a few miles from Willow, Alaska.  That bid has been accepted, and we have a contract.  We’ll probably move in May, when we can drive the Alaska-Canada Highway safely with truck and trailer.

Granted the reason for the move is not politics; that’s just a fringe benefit.  We’ve been planning this for twenty years.  Mrs. Animal and I wanted to spend our golden years in the Great Land, near wondrous hunting and fishing, in a place where we can breathe free air.  And now we are in a position to do that.

Not too far from our new place.

My goals for the Animal Compound were basic:  I wanted to be able to shoot guns off my deck, brew my own booze (yes, I will be building a still) grow a lot of my own veggies, and enjoy great hunting and fishing.  I can do everything but the last two on my own place, and the last two are within a few minutes’ drive.

So, for my message to the influx of idiots that made Colorado unlivable, and to the various entrenched political machines around the country that have handed us this sham of an election, I paraphrase the great Davey Crockett:

“You may all go to hell.  I will go to Alaska.”