Volcano Obsession...

I think I have a bit of a volcano obsession. I have to check the Augustine Web site every day to see what's new and what has changed. It's pretty amazing to watch. AVO has pictures posted that cover over 100 years. The changes are amazing.Augustine Volcano is an island about 75 miles away from Homer. I've marked our locations on the picture above. I copied it off the AVO web sight, it was taken 12/1205. What a beautiful clear day. This is probably a satellite shot. The blue x is approximately where Patty has a house and I bought my lot. If you look closely just under the word Homer, you'll see the Homer Spit extending out part way across Kachemak Bay.

This next picture from the AVO site is from 1896. Look at the shape of the top of the mountain. I know I'm probably violating copyright laws, but all the info about who took these pictures & when is on the AVO site. There is a link to them on the left side of this blog.
This picture is from 1986. You can see the lava dome starting to fill up the current caldera, and still see some of the crater walls.
And then here is a picture from 3/22/06. The lava dome has really expanded and changed the whole shape of the top of the mountain. I'm not sure how high it extends over the top of the old caldera. It will be on the AVO site, I guess I should look it up.

Augustine isn't producing liquid lava to run down the sides of the mountain like Kilaeua is, but it's still pretty amazing to see what it's doing.

OK, enough about volcano's. I'm headed to Washington DC on 3/31. Pictures and stories when I get back.

Mt. Augustine is still erupting...

I couldn't resist a copy of this picture. It came from the AVO web site and was taken on Friday 3/10. Augustine is still erupting, though I haven't noticed any ash fall here in Homer. It could calm down or continue like this for quite a while. Check out their link to the right, AK Volcano Observatory.

I bought a lot so I can build a house!

Well, I said I wasn't going to blog too much, but here is another entry. I signed the purchase agreement today to buy this 2 acre lot. These photo's are a bit blurry, it was so sunny & bright I was having trouble with my camera. I guess I need some sort of filter, but that's a bit beyond my photographic ability.
These first 2 pictures should go side by side, I'm standing just off the road, looking across Kachemak Bay, out toward Halibut Cove.

They do give you an idea of the view I'll have from my front windows, when ever I get around to building a house.

There is also a picture from the where my deck will be, looking out over Patty's house down the hill just a bit. And one of the lot next door. If you want to see more pictures, they're in my photo album, including one of a moose watching me take these pictures.

The address for my photo album is http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorijmurray/collections/ and then look for the album titled 6 Spring New Lot.

Travel back in time...

Lori (blue coat) & Patty (red hat), 1964

Well, this isn't a normal trip report, but I came across this picture when I was visiting mom & dad last week. We were looking for a specific picture of Shari sitting in the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane in King Salmon when she was a kid, and couldn't find it. Dad brought 2 boxes of un-filed & un-albumed pictures in from the garage and we went through them all.

NOTE: Mom only gets blank photo albums for Christmas for the next couple of years, I figure she needs 20 or 30 of them, just to get a good start.

Anyway, back to this picture. We were living in Farewell (it's close to McGrath in the interior of AK. If you have an AK map, you can probably find the general location) at the time it was taken. Farewell was a very small community of 1 apartment building and 3 or maybe 4 houses. It's long abandoned now. Dad shot this moose and had us pose with it. I must have been 5 and Patty was almost 4. I don't have too many memories of Farewell, other than being there when during the 1964 Earthquake, but I've always liked this picture and thought it would be fun to share.