Off to the Lake

We're off to Nancy Lake to stay in a state park log cabin for a couple nights. I'll be sure to post a trip report upon our return.

In other news, a deer jumped through my mom's living room window yesterday while she was folding laundry in the next room. It then proceeded to jump out a different window and take off... What is the likelihood of that? She lives in a town on a residential street. Weird!

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

We started our Memorial Day Weekend camping trip with a 4-7 hour drive to the Denali Grizzly Campground at milepost 231.1 on the Parks Highway. I say 4-7 hours because it took the girls and I about 4 hours in the van and Stephen closer to 7 hours on the bike. Did I mention it rained much of the way up?

The girls and I arrived around 2:15 and proceeded to set up camp. Turns out the "short walk" to our riverside (Nenana River) tentsite was more steep than short. We carted our tent, cooler, campbox, air mattress, etc. down the 60 degree, root-strewn, slope. By about 3pm we had our camp established.

Stephen showed up, wet and cold, around 4:40. He'd learned that the BBQ started at 5pm. He was a little sketchy on the location, so it took us till around 5:20 to finally find it. By that time, we were at the far end of a long line. But we eventually got our hamburgers and hotdogs and corn on the cob. The food was good. The company was "colorful" (despite the black dress code). We met a couple of other little ones, from whom Alicia immediately proceeded to swipe two toy cars.

As you may know, it doesn't actually get dark in Alaska in the summer. This makes it a little tricky to go to sleep in a tent which has no "window shade darkening" potential. I guess the trick is to pretend you're lying down for an afternoon nap and then hope you stay asleep for many hours. This would've worked in the tent, except for the fact that the temps dropped into the 30s and Tess and I were absolutely freezing in our less than adequate sleeping bags. She and I ended up scrambling up to the van at around 2am to warm up and get a little sleep.

This was delayed slightly by a police car cruising past at around 2:30 aiming its strobe light at us while we had the van running to generate some heat. What possible crime could they be preventing by shining a strobe into a minivan parked legally at a campground at 2:30 in the morning?

We decided against staying our 2nd night at the campground. That was a good thing, since it turned out the Memorial Day Ride was scheduled to take place almost 2 hours south of the campground, back towards Anchorage.

We quickly broke down the campsite, packed everything back in the van, and headed south. Tess rode with Stephen for the first hour or so. But she was frozen and ended up back in the van. We met up with the bikers at Mary's McKinley View Lodge at milepost 134.5. They were scheduled to ride the 13 miles back up the Parks Hwy to the Veteran's Memorial at 1pm. We grabbed some "warming up" food at Mary's.

A little after 1pm, a military helicopter flew low overhead on it's way to the Memorial, and around 200+ bikers followed it up the road. The air was a little crisp, and there was a tendency for both rain and even some snow. But the group was intent on their mission to honor those who have given their lives in service to our country. It was cool to watch.

At the Veteran's Memorial, the helicopter landed with some high military officials and guest speakers. A brass band played as well as a bagpipe player. The mood was patriotic and solemn. The precipitation ceased. Wreathes were laid. Speeches were spoken. It was good to be a part of it.

Two years ago, we spent Memorial Day at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. We were sweltering in the heat! This weekend, we took part in a similar memorial service, but found it hard to keep from freezing!

It's good to know there are people all over the country taking some time out of their busy schedules to pay tribute to people who paid such a great price for them. It's nice to remember that Memorial Day is about remembering.

Weekend Plans

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Final exams and then "Hello, Summertime!"

We're headed north to the Denali National Park area to go camping with Stephen's H.O.G. group... We have a tent site reserved at the Denali Grizzly Campground for Saturday and Sunday nights. Hope it doesn't rain too much! The temps are supposed to be in the upper 50s....

I stocked up on camping and travel food at the grocery store this evening after Alicia's dance class.

Everything is getting so expensive here with the price of gas skyrocketing. Alaska was the first state in the nation to have gas prices average $4.00/gallon. We're still paying around $3.89/gallon in the Anchorage area, but I figure folks out in the Bush are paying out the ying-yang and that's putting our average up over the $4 mark.

Our governor is proposing to provide each Alaskan with a energy debit card for $100/month per household member to be used for gas or utilities. If it passes, it'll go into effect around September. That would be a big help! Alaskans seem to be all about self-sufficiency. No one wants to go begging the feds for money if we don't have to.

HOG wild...

Stephen went on his first ride with the local H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) today. It was a beautiful day for a ride. They went from Anchorage to Talkeetna for lunch. They had lunch at the Talkeetna Lodge, then they rode back. He had a good time. I know he enjoyed spending time with other bikers.

Alicia & I went yard saling. And Tess played capture-the-flag with some friends after helping one of our friends clear her yard of debris.

This afternoon we bought a grandfather clock off craigslist from a person in Anchorage. It needs a good facelift and some repair to the innards. It'll be a nice project for Stephen, the clock dude. The clock looks a lot like Mom's clock. So if we can whip it back into shape, it'll be a nice addition to our new home...

Catching up...

Sorry for slacking off! It's been over a week since my last post... Whoops!

So the house inspection went well. I got to get in there with my tape measure and try to lay out furnishings in my mind (and on a notepad...). The inspector found very minimal things wrong with the house.

I enjoyed just meandering around the yard. It needs a good raking, but it's so peaceful there, I know we're going to love being there. You can hear Little Peters Creek babbling cheerfully below the bluff upon which the house sits. There are the remnants of a tree house nestled amongst the trunks of a split birch tree. I can't wait to have folks over to mingle and enjoy the property with us. It's perfect for year-round partying...

In other news, the kids finish up their school year next Thursday (May 22). I'm sure they're both looking forward to summer.

Donald's good friend just graduated and I believe is moving with his family to Oklahoma. But Donald has plans to ramp up his work hours at Taco Bell this summer and earn some dough. We're hoping he gets his license and some wheels sooner than later...

We're going to a Family Picnic and Dessert Auction at Alicia's school this evening. I made a Dora cake for the auction. At first the "skin" frosting was far too dark (copper looking) and causing me distress. So I spent about an hour this morning scraping that portion off and reapplying her "skin" in a lighter shade. Much better!

New House!

It's ours... all ours! Okay, not quite yet, but we're scheduled to close on June 2nd. Yay!
We're pretty excited about this house! As you can see, it's just beautiful! Views of mountains from all sides. Almost 2 acres. And it's pretty big... Plenty of room for us and all our stuff!

We can't wait to move in!

Waiting for Sunset

I'm not sure I dare mention that we've found another house we love. We're trying very hard not to get our hopes up. But if we do get this one, we hope lots of you will come visit and help us enjoy it! Plenty of guest space...

The older kids had their Spring Choir Concert on Friday night. As usual, the music was very good. They had two shows, at 6pm and 8pm. I went to the 8:00 show.

Afterwards, the choir was meeting at a park pavilion for a hot dog roast. So, at 9:45pm, I drove them to the park where it was still broad daylight. I went to the grocery store while they were at the park. The grocery store had lots of families with their little kids running around. I left the store at 10:40 and the sun was just setting.

We've entered the season where it's hard to tell your body that it's time to settle down for bed. I've put up lots of dark curtains in the house. But if you're out and about, you're on your own!