Daredevil

On our July 4th campout at Quartz Creek we did a daytrip to Seward - a day before the crazy Mt. Marathon event (pictures later). The town was amping up for the big day and the crowds were not quite there yet so we meandered around. Seth saw this and had to try it and then he would not stop talking about how "totally awesome he was at it"

A wee bit nervous - not sure what he has gotten himself into.
Did not want to go too high

After a few jumps into the air was talked into doing a flip

I think he shocked himself.

Bring in the New Year

Who can resist a stop off at Gorilla Fireworks on New Years Eve - even when it is -7 outside your nice car with heated seats? We could not.

We headed to Willow Lake where our friends the Knights have a cabin or you could call it a condo in the woods. Cabins around the lake were setting off fireworks under a full moon that was almost like a spotlight. Amazing!

Sparklers are always a hit.

And what do Alaskans do with their beach chairs at -9 degrees in the middle of winter - use them!!

Chicks, Chickens, & Roosters

We finally got a free day to go see the chicken and roosters that give us our eggs. To think it is just about 3 minutes from our home!!! They just got 60 chicks in from McMurrys

and they were old enough for a visit.

This is about how close Seth would get to the chickens, about 15 minutes into the trip he was ready to leave.

Sydney, on the other hand, was a bit more fearless. Except when one went fly past her face.

These are the banta chickens that lay the smaller green eggs.

2009 Iditarod Restart

We were offered a great opportunity to go to our friends cabin on Willow Lake where the restart of the Iditarod has taken place the past few years. We packed up for an overnighter and headed north Saturday evening to avoid the traffic and got cozy in their Toyostove heated cabin and woke up the next morning to breakfast burritos and coffee. As their friends arrived so did the food - we could have fed a small village with what we had and of course plenty of beverages to wash it all down with. They have quite the set up there - a firepit on the lake, plenty of parking space for your snowmachine, and a sledding hill for Seth to go down. I am not even sure if he realized there was a mushing event going on.

I scored a VIP badge from a gentleman I met while working the gallery the day before and got to schmooze with a lady from Virginia who paid $10,000 to ride in Rick Swenson's sled at the ceremonial start. She said it was an incredible experience.

Roadtrip to Williwaw

Happy Birthday roadtrip for Glen

No more tenting for us, we upgraded to a great travel camper and had to squeeze in one more outing - this time to Williwaw campground in the Portage Valley - about 45 minutes south of home.

Had to test run the oven, oh how those pan cookies made the camper smell so good, and then took a nap because the camper was coozy warm (okay, Seth was a bit too excited to be camping so he is pretending here and I could not get him to stop smiling and when I insisted he just started laughing which became contagious and we all started laughing. So then we went for a walkabout.

see that tiny little white speck in the tree about mid picture, nearer to the top? - thats an Eagle and this is the last time I go on a walkabout without my big lens.

Beth on holiday

Beth (lil sister) is off to her annual pilgrimage to Burning Man. It is a gathering in the middle of nowhere in Black Rock Desert in Black Rock City, Nevada. I would best decribe it as a modernday woodstock but without the music and a lot more organization.



They gather together and embrace the stranger for a week. There are theme camps and those that just fly in for the day. Grand sculptures are made, rent a cans well used, and kiosks for just mouthwash. They bake in the sun and endure desert storms. When all is said and done, they pick up any evidence of being there - not a gum wrapper is left, but maybe some footprints or bike tracks.

Yes, theres a little bit of nudity going on

The center of all this is the Burning Man. A tall structure of a man made out of wood that goes up in flames on the last day. Each day his arms are lifted and on the final day they are over his head and he goes boom

Day Trip to Whittier

Julie, Cathie and I did the Walk to Whittier - a small town that is used mostly to launch boats out. We had to wear hard hats to go through the 2.5 mile tunnel. Once we got there the payoff was the sunny blue skies, blue waters, a big bowl of clam chowder and a pound of fudge to bring home.

Fish On

The annual fishing trip filled up our freezer. Bring on the lemon we are having fish tonight. We may have to give some to Beth (lil sister) to store in her freezer - her motto is she does not eat anything that swims - so our fish is safe. Seth is not too keen on fish so we tell him it is chicken - how horrible is that? But it works.

Zoo outing

The sun was shinning and so we threw the stoller in the car, packed snacks and took off to the Zoo. The trails still had snow but was mostly mud so it was more of a shove then a stroll but Sydney liked her first visit. Odd to visit the moose at the zoo when we had two in our backyard this morning - we shall name them Hannah and Ivan.

Zoo Day

Fairbanks Ice Classic

Just a few weeks ago the temperature in Fairbanks was minus 45 yes, minus 45. The day we went to the Ice park it was 44 yes, thank goodness a positive 44. T-shirt weather for the locals, but not good for the ice carvers as most of the one block pieces were slowly melting away. The Ice Park is located right next to the Chena River and they harvest the blocks from that water source so for that reason it was good the weather was cold. Silver lining in all things can be found.