Montana, Wyoming and finally South Dakota

Hail and rainbows in MT!  Claire was fascinated by hail.  

Long day of driving on the 21st.  Montana is beautiful but we are feeling the push to wrap up the driving.  The kids were in the car for over 10 hours yesterday.  Neil talks more each day.  He saw a truck with two dogs in it and yelled out “two dog truck!”.  

We drove and then drove again and again through a hail storm in MT.  Stopping along the side of the road and waiting till it passed only to keep catching up to the storm again.  The hail was over an inch deep in spots.  We finally arrived in Gillette, WY at 8pm.  Paul ventured out to visit the local meadery.

On our final day we finished listening to Steinbeck’s, 'Travel’s with Charley: in Search of America'. For some reason, I just enjoy this   His portrayal and discussion of America is enlightening.  Even is some of the book is fiction—his gift for looking at our society and seeing it at the cusp of change is very relevant to today.

We stopped near the town of Philip—were my grandmother grew up and had a picnic lunch at the local schoolhouse.  

We were not able to find the train depot in Philip but it was nice to tour the town—next stop Nina’s!

Processing

We decided to leave, the house sold, friends were told and goodbye after goodbye was said.

Goodbye’s are hard, really hard.  We love Alaska and our friends.  We have learned so much and lived here in full for over a decade. We started our journeys of dating, marriage and parenthood here supported by so many incredible friends. 

It is hard to know how to be able to fully express our appreciation for everything that all our Alaskan friends and family did to help us embark on our journey.  I simply don’t have the words to say how full my heart was and how much we will miss so many.

It was a good thing to have 4,375 miles and 10 days (most of them without smart phones) to just process the past few weeks and the significant changes. I really don't have the words to express this--just a feeling of a full heart and an ache from the goodbyes. 

The drive through Canada was beautiful and the kids did incredible on the ultimate family road trip.  

Wells Gray

We spent a day at Wells Gray Provincial Park--site of AMAZING waterfall upon waterfall upon waterfall.  Paul says every trip is a scouting mission.  This is a place that deserves much more than a day.  We saw Helmken, Dawson and Sphats falls this morning--so lush.

Helmken Falls--about 3 times the height of Niagara Falls.

 Dawson Falls

Sphats Falls

Alaska Highway

Our first night camping and last night in Alaska.  Dinner and location (Lakewiew Campground) were great--camping not so much.  Glad we were the only ones at the campground.  Kids did not fall asleep till after midnight.

We crossed the border around 6am and kept driving till the kids woke up.  There are so many rabbits. Claire thinks they come to the road to watch the cars. 

Later in the day we stopped at Kulane Lake to let the kids play on the beach.  The rocky beach was filled with rocks of all colors.  Neil spent his time throwing rock after rock into the water.  Claire built sandcastles. 

One of the top stops of the Alaska Highway is of course Liard Hotsprings.  Relaxation and warmth in a remote hot spring. Perfect after lots of driving.  Good think we were relaxed.  We had set up our tent before heading to the springs and then it started raining and then proceeded  to turn into a downpour.  We put the kids into the car to head for dinner and within minutes they fell asleep.  Thus change of plans--we packed up the tent and drove till early in the morning as the kids slept.  We drove into the oil and gas development areas. 

A little road stop and hike into Sikanni Chief Falls. 

Third times the charm?  Camping went great!  Kids went to sleep and we were on the road again before 4am as they slept.  

Log of Animals Seen on Alaska Highway

11 Black Bears 

Lots of Rabbits

1 Moose

1Porcupine

1Muskrat

1Lynx

9 Bison

2 Elk

3 Deer

Fairbanks

Had a spontaneous change of plans and we decided to leave Alaska via Fairbanks.  Great decision!

We stopped in Willow at our friend's gallery!

Denali stood out clear on this wonderfully bright day bidding us well on our journey.

We visited Calypso Farms to see our nephew who is interning on this incredible farm near Fairbanks.  We were so impressed with this facility and all they are doing.  Paul did not want to leave.  Really this is such a great environment for learning and experiencing hands on farming.

Then off to Fairbanks to our incredible hosts for the evening at their beautiful home above the Chena Ridge.  Hot dinner, welcome baskets and an amazing view.  I would never want to leave home with a view like this--so peaceful.

Today

The day is here—not sure how this came so fast.  Today we say goodbye to 1601 Birchwood.  In between the goodbyes, the packing, the cleaning, the closing and the moving of the kids to different caretakers we suddenly found ourselves with a few minutes of waiting before the final walkthrough.  Paul and I just laid down and looked up at the blue sky from the backyard.  So peaceful and proud of all the work that we’ve done and just having a moment to reflect on the spirit of this place.

Our house was filled with love, parties and memories of friends and sharing meals.  Friends painted our house when I was on bedrest before Claire was born.  Claire and Neil both took their first steps here. We had so much fun gardening and harvesting.  Airport Heights will always hold a tender place in our hearts as our friends made it truly a home. 

Ten Years

Ten Years.

Wow, can’t believe it and now with two kids in tow.  

For 2016, we are set to say, “I do” to an entirely new adventure.  A gap year of sorts, a time to really celebrate who we are as a family,  to lay out plans for the next ten while using the skills and strengths we have gained from the past decade..

When Paul and I came back our honeymoon of six months of European wanderings, we said let’s do this every seven years!  Well that time passed but we feel the time is right, right now to pull up our roots in Alaska (not without real pain) and take this precious time that we have with our babies and do something that we will always remember.  Something that at times tugs against our risk adverse selves, is not the most financially safe thing to do but is the thing that we will always have.  

The one thing that comes clearer are clearer each day is that time as they say just marches on. 

Our family has spent a lot of time thinking of what our core values and have decided that our key drivers are:

Serve

Adventure

Learn

Together

So for the next year we will use these values to guide us on this most undefined journey.  We plan on taking trips, spending time (loads of it) just BEING with the kids experiencing new things and setting the foundation for a new journey…that will end in South Dakota. 

We are excited to see where the next year takes us and how this will all work!

Uncle Roger's Visit

Denali Highway Labor Day Trip

Two Years

I love this picture. One of my favorite places is sitting on the patio the garden and seeing Dad here walking back up to the house it is peaceful.

I can't believe that two years have passed. Two years, I feel like I am still recovering from all that happened so quickly. What an incredible time though. Each time I think about the weeks leading up to Dad's death I am amazed by the love and support we received.

Summer Zoo Night

Paul and I took the kids one night to the zoo while Ken and Sue went out. We had a great time! The zoo has live music on certain nights and the kids loved it! We packed little snack bags--seeing Jack eat Pop Rocks was the highlight! I didn't remember them being that messy or know that it was possible to get them up your nose.

South Dakota Visitors

Rain, Garden, Rhubarb and Ferns

July has been rainy, very, very, rainy—the 8th rainiest on record. This is an item that will upset Alaskans like no other, poor weather getting in the way of an Alaskan summer.

With all of the rain we have not had to water the plants that we put in next to our apartment, but I think that they may be waterlogged and I know that they are hurting for sun. The Nasturtium seeds that I planted this spring are now about 5 inches tall—our neighbor who gets direct sun has plants that are a foot and a half tall and flowering. This gardening in Alaska is hard—everything must be perfect I feel.

Paul did get some rhubarb from some friends and broke a couple of their shovels in the process—he told me he couldn't control his super farmer strength impassioned by the thought of rhubarb. They have not really taken off but have not died so that is good.

Last year we had planted in the woods some raspberries, most made it through the winter but I am not sure that they will produce this year. One afternoon while we were biking around we found a lady who was selling raspberry plants and ferns from her yard. We dug up a whole bunch and then came back with the car to pick them up and planted them in the wild yard—most have made it but not the bushy ferns that I had envisioned.

The good news is that the plethora of mushrooms that we enjoyed last year are back sprouting up everywhere—no planting just enjoyment and they like rain!

Happy Birthday to Paul

Paul celebrated his birthday in a great way--on the water. We joined a guide and went rafting down the Matanuska in the evening. We watched the sunset over the mountains as they turned an incredible pink. The light was perfect and breathtaking--every color was deep and intense in the setting sun. The green of the mountains, the white of the glaciers, the silty gray of the water, the rock and sand cliffs all just jumped out in the light. Unfortunately, we did not bring our camera because we did not want it to get wet on the rafting ride--which it would have. Even in dry suits, the water was COLD--really cold probably around 38 degrees or so. Running straight off of the glacier--makes for some chilled water.

We saw two moose while we were on the water and then on the way home we saw six more as we were driving. They seemed to be just along the road every mile or so. My one day record for seeing moose was broken after spotting eight of them in one night.

Soo much fun--I love whitewater rafting!

4th of July

A friend from MN came to visit and spend some time with us over the 4th of July weekend. She packed every bit of Alaska that she could into her visit.


We spent the 4th of July weekend touring Whitter—getting some more halibut at my favorite place in AK for fish and chips and hiking down a trial. We saw the local reindeer and met her keeper who creates all of these crafts that she then spends the summer selling. We also were there for the 4th of July parade—lots of sirens and about 6 cars—quite the event. Later we kayaked out into Prince William Sound to the Rookery and over to an island for a late lunch of radishes and banana bread. Not your typical 4th of July picnic but delightful.


We camped near Portage at an incredible campsite, so beautiful and pristine next to a glacier fed stream. Paul rafted down the stream one evening as Amy and I read in the tent. We never got to have a campfire as it seemed to be raining every night but the days were nice.

We hiked the Winter Creek Trail in Girdwood through the rainforest and over the falls of a mountain stream then feeling really ambitious we climbed the mountain to the top of the ski resort, up though some patches of snow that still hung to the mountain scrambling up some rocks to the 5 star restaurant for some hot drinks and appetizers--so good and we enjoyed them in our sweaty muddy gear--only in Alaska.