Many of our friends have wondered how were are lately, especially in light of the many Mount Redoubt eruptions. Yes, after months of false alarms, the AVO (Alaskan Volcano Observatory), finally turned the alert from orange to yellow. Two days later, Redoubt decided to break its own record by blowing a ash cloud that stretched over 65,000 ft. The it keep it up for a couple weeks, some days blowing several times. So far, there have been 18 significant events and many more minor ones. Through it all, we really lucked out thanks to favorable winds (good for us, bad for someone else). Only once did we get hit pretty good.
At 9:30 or so, the principal came around to tell use that Redoubt had blown the highest plume yet. Being that the ashfall was predicted to come from the south and most likely would hit our school until after 4:00, they were not planning to cancel school.
I had some after school plans to facilitate a training in Soldotna. It seemed that if they were going to continue school, I probably didn't have to worry about making the trip. It is about 64 miles round trip from house. That was until 2:00 rolled around.
Once again, my principal, Bob made the rounds to tell me that the ashfall was predicted to hit pretty hard from Homer to Clam Gulch. Knowing I live in Ninilchik which is between Homer and Clam Gulch, he thought I might want to take off early. Okay, so now I was starting to worry. Should I cancel the training??? I called Rick only to find out it was starting to get dark and he was completely out of medication. It looked like I was heading to Soldotna anyway. I canceled the training, but I still needed to get the medication. Drats!
With Bob's blessing, I took off early and hit the road to get Rick's meds. The sky wasn't looking too bad to the north. I zipped to town and went to the pharmacy and wasted no time. To the south the skies were not very comforting. Though I didn't want to take the time to stop for pictures, I did take a couple as I was on the road. They really don't do what I saw justice. The clouds were swirled as if stirred by some cosmic spoon. I was mesmerized. This was the second most fantastic sky I have ever seen; the first being the Siren Tornado.
The closer I go to home the few signs of life were seen. Still, I drove on. The dark skies were sending clouds of fine ash to the ground. If I didn't know what it was, I would have thought it was mist. But this was different; it was VOG. One a couple minutes later, I pulled in the yard. I could see by the contrast of the snow caused by the tire tracks, that the dust had already coated everything in sight. I slapped on my mask, and scurried to the house. Moments later the skies were even darker, and the ashfall reached a climax. The worst was over.
The next morning, we woke to find I had a flat tire.
It didn't have anything to do with the ash, but I am sure glad it didn't go flat while I was on the road. As I stood looking at my flat tire, the lady I carpool with on Fridays drove in. It was my turn to drive. Since I had a flat tire, we traded weeks. Not only did this mean I didn't have to subject my car to the ash, but Rick both washed off the ash and fixed the tire. Even in the midst of volcanic ashfall, all's well that ends well. Blessed again. Thanks GOD!
Once again, my principal, Bob made the rounds to tell me that the ashfall was predicted to hit pretty hard from Homer to Clam Gulch. Knowing I live in Ninilchik which is between Homer and Clam Gulch, he thought I might want to take off early. Okay, so now I was starting to worry. Should I cancel the training??? I called Rick only to find out it was starting to get dark and he was completely out of medication. It looked like I was heading to Soldotna anyway. I canceled the training, but I still needed to get the medication. Drats!
With Bob's blessing, I took off early and hit the road to get Rick's meds. The sky wasn't looking too bad to the north. I zipped to town and went to the pharmacy and wasted no time. To the south the skies were not very comforting. Though I didn't want to take the time to stop for pictures, I did take a couple as I was on the road. They really don't do what I saw justice. The clouds were swirled as if stirred by some cosmic spoon. I was mesmerized. This was the second most fantastic sky I have ever seen; the first being the Siren Tornado.
The closer I go to home the few signs of life were seen. Still, I drove on. The dark skies were sending clouds of fine ash to the ground. If I didn't know what it was, I would have thought it was mist. But this was different; it was VOG. One a couple minutes later, I pulled in the yard. I could see by the contrast of the snow caused by the tire tracks, that the dust had already coated everything in sight. I slapped on my mask, and scurried to the house. Moments later the skies were even darker, and the ashfall reached a climax. The worst was over.
The next morning, we woke to find I had a flat tire.
It didn't have anything to do with the ash, but I am sure glad it didn't go flat while I was on the road. As I stood looking at my flat tire, the lady I carpool with on Fridays drove in. It was my turn to drive. Since I had a flat tire, we traded weeks. Not only did this mean I didn't have to subject my car to the ash, but Rick both washed off the ash and fixed the tire. Even in the midst of volcanic ashfall, all's well that ends well. Blessed again. Thanks GOD!
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