A Day at the Chena River

The Grayling were biting and the day was hot.


Many fish were caught. Too bad it was catch and release on the Chena.


The girls decided to rescue fish from this 'puddle'.


This moose didn't want to be anywhere near us.


A wee fish on it's way from puddle to river.


Don't know why these people always want to get in ice water.


Relaxing by the fire while the kids play in it.


We girls were pretty excited when we discovered this!

We had such a great time last Sunday at the Chena River, just 30 miles east of here, that the kids have been begging to return this Sunday. Steve and I are thinking a drive up to the Arctic Circle would be good. I'll let you know who wins.

The headline in todays News-Miner is SUCKING SMOKE. Visibility this morning taking Steve to work was 1/4 mile. Air quality is low and many outdoor activities have been canceled. Steve and his crew are working 10-hour days out at the airport.


The kid's frog project has come to completion. They released the little frogs just this afternoon. They were successful and learned a lot. I had nothing to do with this project but am thinking of having them do an I-Search backwards for documentation. (That ought to take the fun out of the whole thing :~) They followed instructions from the book Pets In A Jar.

Golden Days Parade

Last weekend was the Fairbanks Golden Days Celebration. They were also celebrating Alaska's 50th Birthday. John and Moriah danced in the parade with the Dance For Fun group on a blue flatbed truck. As the girls and I were watching the parade (Brei & Steve were working) we saw Brei's guy Seth driving his dad's antique car and campaigning for a mayoral candidate. He asked the girls if they wanted to ride with him and of course they did! (They all agree that being in the parade and handing out candy is more fun than watching.) I watched the rest of the parade alone which felt very odd. It lasted two hours. You'll see highlights on the slideshow. Afterwards I took the kids to the street fair downtown where there were thousands of people and yummy food.

Smoke from forest fires has been hanging over Fairbanks for the past few weeks. The nearest fire is burning 60,000 acres, 25 miles southeast of here. Saturday the blanket of smoke looked like it was right out of the movie Independence Day (pic below).

My apologies for the nasty music that accidently got attached to one of the slideshows recently.

Another Sunday Drive

We cherish Sundays not only because it's the day we set aside as our 'Sabbath' but because it's Steve's only day off. If the weather's nice we usually go for a drive. Last Sunday was a beautiful day so we decided to head up the Steece Highway and find a place for the guys to fish in the Chatanika River. Although we had a mix of weather from bright sun to light rain and the fishing wasn't great, the day was awesome. We took a picnic along and lots of snacks which keeps everyone happy. We stopped at mile 54 and while the guys fished the girls picked lots of red raspberries and more fireweed for honey. Some of us are rock hounds and had fun on the rock bars along the river (couldn't help thinking of Missy and my friend Lynn who have this common interest).

We drove about 20 miles back towards the cabin to a beautiful section of the river where the banks are lined with Spruce and Birch trees. Steve was hopeful that the fish would be biting better there (they weren't :~( The river was pretty shallow so John and Steve decided to wade across so they could fish upstream. The water was very cold and it was funny to watch them cross. Of course the girls wanted to get in the water in the worst way so I let them wade along the edge. When Steve came back from fishing he had the girls roll up their shorts and they all waded across the river to see the bear prints he'd seen near where he'd been fishing. He said they were probably from the day before (yeah right). I'm sure the screams and laughter from the girls crossing the river scared any bears away within miles.

We had such a peaceful and beautiful time Sunday that it didn't matter that the fish weren't biting. We ended the day by making a raspberry tart for dessert when we got home.

On the slideshow---Smoke over Fairbanks from wildfires about one hour south (depends on the wind whether it's smokey or not), The Riggins family, another moose in the neighborhood, day at the Chatanika River, red raspberry tart, our little neighbor Fred that visits us freely, a family picture, and the girls frog project (started with eggs from a nearby pond. Frogs are just getting their front legs.)

Blueberries, Summer Fun, and Goodbye Friends

It is high summer here! The blueberries and many other kinds of berries are ripening. The fireweed is in full bloom everywhere. Our weather has been hotter than Iowa some days. A record was broken a few days ago when temps hit 90 degrees in Fairbanks (bearable because of the low humidity). We've also had a lot of smokey haze from forest fires burning near Nenana, just an hour away. This morning the smoke was so thick that visibility was down when I took Steve to work. He says it's been making his eyes burn working in it outside every day. Heavy rain this a.m. made it better.

The kids have been having fun picking lots of berries, especially blueberries, off the few acres the cabin is on. Moriah got the idea to sell them at the Alaska Pipeline tourist stop just a half mile down the highway from us. The girls have been successful at their little business and having fun meeting people from all over the world. They're learning to pick, weigh, and package their product, sell to the tourists, and handle their money. They have been well received and are having great fun. We've also been working together making Fireweed Honey. The kids pick the clover and fireweed blossoms and I make the 'honey'. I love to try new things and this is one that actually turns out great! (I've also just been successful making yogurt which my family eats a lot of--woohoo!) The girls are selling the honey along with their berries and are now known as the 'Honey Girls'!

Our friends, the Riggins, just moved from Fairbanks to Valdez. There goes our social life. They've been good friends and we miss them already, but Valdez! Can't think of a prettier place to live.

Brei and her friend, Christina, took the kids to a pond recently on a hot day. They'd been wanting to go swimming all summer. They miss the Vinton pool and wish there was an outdoor pool here. They also got to float the Chena River that flows through Fairbanks with Brei and Seth. They stopped off at Pioneer Park and had ice cream. Ahhh summer.

Brei is doing great at her new job at Bailey's Furniture Store. She started selling a couple weeks ago after completing the required course. She has a knack for selling and loves dealing with customers. She said today that she really loves selling leather! She's thinking we should buy some furniture since we have no couch and only two chairs (mine and Steve's :~)

The slideshow below has many pictures of the above mentioned activities and...a Snowshoe Hare bunny (released after picture), helping our friends load up their trailer, Maggie taking her turn grinding wheat berries for bread, John getting our daily water from Fox Spring with help from Moriah...People come from miles around for this water just 4 miles from us, not only because it's free, but because it's the best water around. Most of you know that because of permafrost the majority of homes in the area are 'dry' meaning no well, but most have a holding tank like us. Many people keep large tanks in their pickups and get water from water stations (kind of like a gas station)in town for 2 cents a gallon. We don't have that luxury. We were having water delivered from the 'Water Wagon' at 9 cents a gallon but it was getting expensive so we have been hauling seven 7-gallon jugs twice daily from Fox Springs to keep up with our demand.(Are you doin the math?) I might add this is a very conservative amount of water for a family our size and we are aware of each drop. We definately have more appreciation for water than we used to. Do note John's muscles he's building up (not to mention his bank account) not only from hauling water but from the two mowing jobs he has.

God bless you all!!! You are missed.

March and April Archives

Didn't have time to do the March and April archives on the Valdez blog. Some of what you'll see....

Rebekah and Joseph(3 months). Forest(taken from Missy's blog).

Kids sledding and hiking near the pipeline.

We went to the Nenana Ice Classic Festival an hour drive away, where they put a tripod on the ice in the middle of the Tanana River, everyone buys $2 guesses of when they think the ice will go out and the one closest to the exact time wins the purse which has been around $30,000 and more. The time I guessed on May first ended up being 40 minutes before the ice went out..no I didn't win but sure came close! There were many pictures of the kids at the festival playing all the fun games. They won many including John winning the do-nut eating contest. Maggie was the only one brave enough to dance with the Native performers.

Fairbanks Ice Park--Every year here there is an ice carving competition. Carvers come from near and far to participate. Their carvings were amazing! Some were three stories high! I've included just a few samples. There was also a huge ice park for all ages to enjoy, which includes slides, mazes, large ice bowls(almost impossible to get out of), entertainment(that's Brei, Moriah, and John doing country dance at -20 with their dance group), hot drinks and food, and much more. Most of the carvings and slides, etc. have lights encased within the ice which makes for a beautiful park after dark.

Next you'll see the outhouse races at Chatanika Lodge that I blogged about recently. Many braved the bitter cold for this yearly tradition. John was recruited for a team(that's him in the camoflauge coat) that won third place. One of the rules of the race is someone has to ride in the outhouse. The Chatanika entry had a passenger that was about 90 years old and whooping it up in thin pajama pants even though he could hardly walk and the wind chill was -20. Don't miss the 'Native' Elvis entry with the Heartbreak Hotel outhouse. And then there's an Alaskan Harley with heated mittens for the very brave(foolish?). I must say that we saw bicyclists all winter in Fairbanks even at -30.

More Ice Park pictures taken at night.

Enjoy!

Valdez

Steve had three days off over the 4th so we drove to Valdez on the coast. It's an 8-hour, very beautiful, drive. We drove through two mountain ranges, saw numerous lakes, waterfalls, and glaciers. There were only four towns/villages on the whole drive. We don't have to drive far from Fairbanks before cell reception ends and wilderness begins.

The Valdez economy is based on fishing and tourism. Although there were plenty of campgrounds full of R.V.s, and fishing, whale watching, and glacier viewing charters, it didn't seem so touristy. It's a tidy small town surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains on more then three sides with an ocean inlet and a beautiful harbor. We stayed in the Harbor Inn right next to the water. I'm not sure how many strolls we took along the harbor, taking in the various boats, ships, fish hauls and cleaning. It was good therapy. (Steve and I are 'ocean people' and if you're an ocean person you'll know what I mean.) Steve and John went fishing at Allison Point across the bay Saturday a.m. The girls and I wandered the town and ducked into a few shops. We all watched the 4th of July parade that lasted all of fifteen minutes. We spent a good part of the afternoon at Allison Point, the girls climbing all over the rocks looking for living sealife since the tide wasn't all the way in, and the guys fishing. Ahhh, the sights, sounds, and smell of the ocean..mmmm. There were a couple of Harbor Seals that kept an eye on us and even a pair of Sea Lions that passed by. There were also numerous Bald Eagles. Steve caught a couple Silver Salmon. The Alaska oil pipeline terminal was just down from where we were. It was interesting to see it since we live so near the pipeline outside of Fairbanks.

All too soon the weekend was over. We hung out at the harbor Sunday morning not really wanting to leave and wondering why we don't live in a place like this...something to think about. Makes us look forward to visiting the Kenai Peninsula, where we always thought we'd live in Alaska. The drive home was gorgeous and seemed new going in the opposite direction. Driving anywhere in Alaska is so beautiful that it doesn't matter how much time it takes...but, there is no beauty here that surpasses the faces of our beautiful family back in Iowa!

Travels and a Birthday!

We were able to take a trip up to the native village of Circle, which is on the Yukon River, earlier this month. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains and along the Chatanika River valley. There are only two villages on the Steece hiway, they are Central and Circle. This drive is true wilderness...no quick trips or fast food. The only gas available was in Central at the only store(picture below) that was a bar/gas station/laundromat/video store/showering stop/grocery store/and where the locals could get internet access. We were grateful to get dinner for our family there on the way back, even if it was $10 a burger (all part of the adventure!). I'd been wanting to go to Circle for a while and although the condition of the village was sobering, it was great to see some of the locals, visit the general store, and finally see a real fish wheel (used to catch salmon by natives). We were glad to see that the Yukon hadn't done much flood damage there as it had in other villages along it's banks. We'd hoped to have lunch in Circle but there was nothing but the general store. We could have bought a small bag of chips for $8.50 but settled for dusty cheese and crackers. The picture with the airplanes is of the general store. The runway is across the road and up a long narrow lane. Evidentally the airplanes have to taxi over to the general store to get their gas...what a hoot. The last 50 miles of the drive to Circle was a narrow gravel road. We almost turned back but our new line is, "Hey, we're here, so let's go!" We scoped out a few fishing spots along the Chatanika river for Steve and John to return to hopefully soon. We tried to make this drive back in March and had to turn back because 12-Mile Pass was drifting shut. So instead we went to the Chatanika Outhouse race that was on our way back. It was below zero and the wind was blowing, which is rare here in the winter. John got recruited for a team and won second place and a T-shirt! Chatanika Lodge is very old and unique. The outhouse races are to get the locals out of their cabins at the end of a long winter.

We celebrated Miss Maggie's birthday on June 17th. She and Grace are both 11, until Grace's birthday in August. Brei's guy, Seth, joined us for the party. We did the birthday march and reminisced how the Isbells have weeded out a few newcomers with this tradition. Seth was a good sport and wore the candy necklace with the other 'kids'.

We went to the Fairbanks Midnight Sun Festival for summer solstice. It took up a 12 block area downtown. There was every kind of ethnic food available, all kinds of music from comtemporary Christian to Celtic to Middle Eastern and belly dancing. (Fairbanks is quite a melting pot of people. It's not unusual for us to be in the minority sometimes. It's also common to hear conversations around us in other languages.) Many locals were selling their goods such as soap, jewelry, paintings, hand dyed fabric and clothing, sled dogs, and you could even pan for gold! At every event we've been to, summer or winter, at least 25% of the people have their dogs with them. (I might add that at least that percentage of vehicles have dogs in them everywhere we go. It seems everyone has at least one. Must be why our landlord allowed us to have two large indoor dogs).

Speaking of summer solstice, we have enjoyed all the sunshine here! Some of you know what a night owl I can be. With Steve going to bed at 7 or 8 due to his 3:30am rising time, I have been staying up late knitting, watching movies, reading and playing games with the kids, and hanging with Brei. It's very strange to have the sunshine and blue skies at 12:30am. It looks like 7pm in Iowa. I basically don't keep track of time. Right now it's 12:03am and the house is bright, except for those sleeping who've hung up their black curtains. I did notice that the sun is starting to dip behind the dome across from us meaning that we are on the downhill side of summer and winter is on it's way.

The slideshow below is from the January and February archives. Some of what you'll see..The kids at the Pipeline (just down the hill from us) enjoying winter, winter moon, Moriah's catcakes, Mocha Dan's drive-thru coffee hut (otherwise known as 'How Fairbanksans make it through the winter-one of many around town all cleverly named), start of the Junior Yukon Quest, sculpture downtown Fairbanks, our winter cabin, Steve helping with homeschool, 'sourdough' reciting Robert Service at the Alaska 50th birthday celebration, neighborhood moose, finish of Tesoro Iron Dog 2000 mile Snow Machine race (must not call them snow mobiles here!), Sarah Palin at Iron Dog, our Sarah at Iron Dog, Moriah getting ready to take her cat for a walk, sun begins to shine on the dome across from us!!!, a few performers at the Winter Folk Festival, Alaska window treatment (laundry drying), finish of Yukon Quest 1100 mile sled dog race, Sarah drinking cocoa to stay warm at Yukon Quest, sled dogs glad to be done with the race. Keep in mind that the temperature in January and February was usually -20 to -45. It is more bearable here because of the lack of wind and it's a dryer climate so the weather does not keep people inside. Most embrace the winter. There is so much going on here that sometimes it's hard to pick and choose what to do. Speaking of things to do.......we are going to Valdez over the 4th of July!!! Woohoo!!