Snowmobile vs Snowmachine -- Winter is here.

1000 feet of a 30 year old overgrown trail has now been reclaimed by me.  This guy.  Surveyors trails from the 1980s.  Winter is starting to set in and I decided it was time to clean up some old trails around my land to allow access this winter via snowmobile.... or should I say snow machine?  That seems to be what happens when you go west over the Mississippi river.  Once you cross that line snowmobiles turn into snow machines.  Back east in Maine I always thought that a snow machine was what they used at the ski mountains to make snow during low snow years.  Little did I know that when I moved to Alaska I would finally buy my first snow machines that don't make snow.  Go figure.  No one trusts you out here if you call them snowmobiles.  They just look at you funny and ask if you are from "away".  That is the nice way of asking if you live in the lower 48.  "Down there" is another term you hear being thrown around too.  

Things are starting to slow down for me (on purpose) and I am trying to get everything done before the snow flies.  I have a generous 4 cord of wood split stacked and stored in the shed.  Just a few more wheel barrels to go.  The fuel oil is in the tank.  Now the long wait begins.  "The long wait for what?" you might ask.  The long wait for winter to end.  Duh.  It snowed two days ago.  It is only a matter of time now.  We are past the fall equinox.  It is all down hill from here.  We are losing around 7 minutes of light a day.  Hibernation time will start soon.  

The wife and I both went out and bought extra cars.  There is nothing worse than your car breaking down when it is -40F (which is the same at -40C -- they meet up at -40) and not having an extra rig.  My first winter I moved here I was in the driveway doing ball joints and CV axles on the front end of my car at -40 with just over two hours of light.  I could only take about 20 minutes at a time being outside (I was a little green then) with a 6ft pry bar and a torch.  Needless to say it was a mess, but I got it done.  Three days later.  

This year we decided to have a ton of cars for the winter and a car sale in the spring.  My newest car I just bought today is a yellow 1987 Subaru Justy.  It is a like a 4X4 Geo Metro.  My friends from high school, from the time when I used to rock a Geo on the regular, would be proud.  It is beefier... and it is banana yellow.  I will post a pic soon.

One more night rocking the biker bar.  The world famous Howling Dog Saloon.  The world's most northern biker / rock and roll bar.  The Parks Highway Band will be rocking.  I will be posting a choice video from the gigs there this weekend soon.  Hope everyone enjoyed my video of the song I wrote from my wife.  Here is the youtube if you are interested!