Grand Old Flag

Owen was looking at the flag Maama gave us while we were in SLC and Carol asked him to sing "Grand Old Flag" for one of our friends up here in Fairbanks. Gram had taught him the song (again while we were in SLC) word for word. It was no small task and Gram had to sing it with him quite a few times for him to get it completely right, but he eventually did. Anyway, we were fortunate enough to catch it one time on video so I thought I'd post it for all those interested in 3 year old patriotic talent.

Happy Birthday Isabel!

So it's been a while and I'm basically trying to get through all the photos from our spectacular trip to Utah this summer. I'm almost there and will post shortly, but I can't let August happen without wishing daughter #2 a very happy birthday. Isabel actually had a few parties including a combined Beth/Isabel party in March, a family birthday party in Utah and another sugar filled extravaganza here in Fairbanks. We had balloons and cards and cakes from grandparents including a fantastic Popop card (see photo) and a great inspired Carol dinner (Cafe Rio salads / enchiladas). We are so grateful to have Isabel and look forward to many more birthdays to come!

Tour d' Alaska

 

Carol alluded to the spectacular trip we had a few weeks ago with Maama and Popop. Well I finally made it through the photos so we can now enlighten the world about our adventure (I know you've all been waiting).

We started out on a Friday afternoon after a reasonably organized departure heading south on the Parks Highway toward Anchorage.  It was a little rainy but mostly just cloudy and overcast.  You can get some great views of Denali (Mt. McKinley) on the Parks Highway but alas the clouds did not oblige.  We  stopped briefly at a very cold and windy Denali National Park (entrance near Healy) for a quick refuel and photos with the Balto sculpture (famous Iditarod dog).  The clouds continued but it was still a reasonably picturesque drive to our fin al stop which was just outside of Talkeetna at the McKinley Princess Lodge.  This turned out to be a great spot complete with crackling fire, good food and most importantly...a kids play area. We got some grub, played a bunch and finally crashed into bed but not before looking out to see one last possible glimpse of the mountain. .. no luck this time.

The next morning we set off for Hatcher Pass which is a dirt road off the Parks through some beautiful mountains north of Anchorage.  As we approached the turnoff, we could see that the clouds were not going to cooperate with us today as visibility stopped at about 50 ft. (elevation). We decided 70 miles on a dirt road to see gray didn't sound like all that much fun so we opted for the classic Alaskan parent rainy day punt...the indoor water  park.  We had actually never been there before and had promised the kids that one day we would visit the magical place and they were pretty excited when we told them that today was the day their aqua adventure would be realized.  They had a great time and I think we'll definitely be back.  That night Maama and Popop graciously watched the kids while Carol and I went to a great restaurant (The Beartooth - really really good food) and the new Indiana Jones film. The movie was good--not amazing or groundbreaking but definitely satisfying and Harrison Ford does pull off the old adventure thing pretty well.

Day 3 started with a drive to Whittier for a glacier cruise. I was a little worried about the clouds as Whittier is a historically cloudy  place but we were pleasantly surprised when the clouds cleared just in time for the cruise.  Carol went with Maama and Popop  while I took the kids to Portage Glacier, a nearby wildlife refuge and a pool for a little dip.  Whittier is a funky little town on the Prince William Sound originally started by the Army to get supplies to and from Alaska.  There is a long one-lane tunnel to get there that cars and a train share so arrival time attention is  critical. There actually isn't that much in the town, but the cruises are great.  I've been on a cruise out of Seward and kayaking out of Whittier in Blackstone Bay and while they were both inspiring, I think overall Blackstone Bay is the better of the two.  Kayaking is also recommended if you can swing it as there really is something unique about getting down on the water with the ice flows. Anyway, the cruisers had a great time and the kids really enjoyed the animals at the refuge and swimming is never a bad idea with my kids.

Day 4. We now headed east along the Glenallen Highway. It is a   spectacular drive on the north side of the Chugach mountain range. The highlight of the drive is probably the huge Matanuska Glacier about 100 miles out.  You can hike up on the glacier if you can endure a muddy and sometimes frankly scary trail.  The toughest part of the trail was probably the 57 puddles along the way that Owen was magnetically attracted to but we eventually made it to the glacier.  We hiked up on the glacier a little and stared down into the big crevasses.  It really is amazing to see the mass of the ice as well as the different colors from the years of pressure.  Beth was quite the adventurer  once we got out on the glacier and kind of started running off on her own.  Carol and I were not happy about that and I went running after her.  In the process, Beth found out that ice can be sharp.  She got a pretty good slice on her thumb complete with authentic Hammond blood.  Somehow my kids have the idea that any injury involving blood automatically escalates the panic level 800 times.  Fortunately we had a professor there from The University of Utah School of Medicine to explain to Beth about platelets and the clotting cascade. This did appease/distract Beth long enough for sanity to return. I highly recommend having a professor present at all times specifically for this purpose. Thanks Maama!

We continued east after the glacier, ate at a great little lodge on  the highway and arrived at Thompson Pass. Thompson Pass is the dramatic beginning of the descent of the Richardson Highway into Valdez which is the terminus of the oil pipeline and the location of the now famous Exxon-Valdez oil spill.  It's a pretty dramatic spot with a huge elevation change and a bunch of waterfalls pouring down on both sides of the road.  We had a little halibut for dinner and jumped in bed.

The next morning we headed north on the "Rich" (Richardson Highway) for Copper Center and the the McCarthy Road.  This is a a 60 mile dirt road along an old rail line bed to the town of McCarthy and the original Kennecott Mine.  The mine is one of my favorite spots in Alaska and has a great history. Being from Utah, I was also familiar with the name as Kennecott Copper was a longtime resident of the Salt Lake valley (now Rio Tinto) and excavator of the now famous Bingham Mine. 

 

 

The Alaska mine is an impressive engineering feat in that essentially this huge infrastructure was created from nothing in  the middle of frozen Alaska.  The original structure was built with materials brought in on horseback as the rail wasn't put in until the mine was in full operation.  At one point the mine and surrounding area was the biggest population center for hundreds of miles around boasting a power plant, heated water, and a modern hospital which actually performed the first  radiographs in Alaska.  Eventually the mine closed as the price of copper fell, but much of the infrastructure remains.   The reason for building the mine in the middle of nowhere was that the copper content in these rocks was so high.  You can still find rocks with copper just  walking around and Beth and Isabel decided that would be their new mission for our entire stay there.  The copper is of course contained in ore and has to be extracted, so Maama volunteered her lab for that and I think they're extracting it right now in Utah!

We got to stay in a great hotel (seen above) while we were there which I highly recommend. It's a little pricey, but the rooms are nice, the food is great and the location can't be beat. It's right at the mine (all other hotels are at least 5 miles away in McCarthy) which really gets you a lot more time on site.  We had been to the mine once before but camped down by McCarthy which meant a lot of our time was spent 5  miles away.  The best part about the hotel, however was the incredible french toast they made in the morning.  I since found the recipe online and it is heavenly (not all that healthy, but not that many heavenly recipes are).  I think I at an entire pan of the stuff (I then ate another pan after I found the recipe).

Our last day was supposed to be a nice relaxing ride home with a leisurely lunch at Copper Center. We did have the lunch at Copper Center but the rest of the day was far from relaxing.

We checked out of the hotel and jumped on the shuttle down to McCarthy. We loaded up the car and started back along the dirt  road. I had been told before going that flats were a problem on the road and to make sure I had a spare. With spare intact, we confidently and ignorantly departed. We made it about 20 miles down the road when my tire pressure monitoring system light went on.  I had Carol glance at the tire and indeed it was done.  I  pulled over and I whipped on the spare with Popop in record time.  I was quite a bit more nervous at this point as the spare was not full size and quite a bit weaker  than the regular tires.  My monitoring system was also out with the spare on, so I had Carol check the spare every few minutes.  We made it another 20 miles and I thought we might actually make it but the car started skidding a bit in the back.  Again I asked Carol to check the spare and she said it was fine.  The skidding got bad enough, however that I decided to get out and check the other tires and sure enough, flat number two had arrived. 

This was not a happy moment. 

I took several seconds to hold back the curses, get a little frustrated and  then we got out and got the second tire off.  It was obvious we were stuck at this point, so the thumb came out and the second car that passed by picked me up.  I went into Chitina, got the tire repaired, and hitched a ride back.  The whole process was actually pretty speedy and everyone was amazingly helpful.  Fortunately the rest of the ride up the Richardson Highway was beautiful and reasonably uneventful (bathroom emergencies and some tired kids, but no more car stuff - thankfully).

We got home late and tired but happy. We had a great trip, the kids were troopers and it was so much fun to have Maama and Popop there to be with...great great memories!

More photos here.

Chena Lakes

   It's hard to beat an Alaskan summer! We had our annual summer office party a couple of weeks ago at Chena Lakes which is a great recreation area about 30 miles south of Fairbanks. It was a beach/boat/culinary affair and it seemed that everyone had a great time.  Culinary treats included the ever popular burgers and dogs along with some heavenly  sides and desserts.   The kids spent most of the day on the beach with the other kids making sand structures (not sure you could call them castles) and having waterfights.  We also made it out on a boat that one of the families had graciously rented (we did circles most of the time due to some unique rowing techniques) and fun was had by all.  I think the  highlight had to be Ernest rolling down the beach (like you roll down a nice grassy hill) into the water.  I was so disappointed not to get a photo when I saw him go in but then was pleasantly surprised as he enjoyed it so much he repeated the feat about 4 more times!

 

More photos here.

Maama and Popop

Where do I begin? Maama and Popop have just left us after a wonderful, full of fun visit. They were here 10 day all together. Five of the days were spent in Fairbanks and the other five were spent on an adventure that I will tell you about in a separate post.

We had such a great visit. It was full of cooking, planting, playing, talking and laughing. Maama taught the Beth and Isabel how to make pies. They made a delicious strawberry pie. Isabel was especially fond of helping Maama cook because it included lots of tasting. She was particularly delighted when Maama accidentally  made the pie crust with powder sugar instead of flour. I kept wondering why Isabel was tasting the flour and Maama could not figure out why the consistency of the dough was so strange . Luckily we figured it our before we put the strawberries in, so the pie was saved and it was very tasty!!! We also learned how to make sushi together. It was lots of fun and I don't think we did too badly for our first try.

Maama and Pop op also helped us clean up our yard by planting some beautiful flowers in the front yard. The girls had a great time getting dirty. The flowers were only planted a few days ago, but they have already grown a great deal (thanks to the 24 hours of sunlight thing).

Owen had an absolutely fabulous time doing all kinds of puzzles and games with  Popop. Popop was certainly a favorite of Owens and he was not at all worried about mommy being out of sight as long as Popop was right there. Thanks for the many breaks and help with the kids!!!

I think in spite of all the fun the kids had, there was one theme of this visit from the grandparents that prevailed: MONOPOLY!!! Maama and Popop endured many hours playing this newly beloved game with the kids. I thi nk they must have played 10 times in 3 days. Not a small task for the adult who must endure this. Thank you Maama and Popop for the very fun visit. We all had a great time and are looking forward to more happy times together!

 

More photos here.

Elton John

Tom and I went with a couple of friends last night to the Elton John Concert. This may not sound like that big of a deal, but I do believe it was the biggest event Fairbanks has ever seen. The Carlson Center can hold about 7,000 people. I wonder if that's the smallest concert he's ever done. I am glad that he came up to the far north and it was a fun show. He is a very talented man!

Last Day of School Picnic

Papea

Owen, on his own accord, has made up a nickname for me. A couple of months ago he started calling me Papea. At first I didn't really know what he meant but then I realized this was going to be his permenat nickname for me. I think he must have gotten something in the gene pool from his uncle Mel, as he was the nickname giver in my family growing up. No one escaped Mel's hilarious nicknames and some of us are still known by them to our friends and family to this day!

Owen and Amelia Park

Owen has a best little buddy up here in Alaska. They get together at least twice a week and it is so nice for everyone! Owen will actually play without being attached to my hip. And if I walk out of the room or am out of his sight for a few minutes, he doesn't scream bloody murder. This last week the weather was so nice we went to a couple of different parks and Owen and his buddy claimed their park and declared it to belong only to them. It is now known as the Owen and Amelia park. I am sure we will spend many a happy hours there this summer!

The Price of Gas

We're still under $4 here but just barely.  I'm sure it will rise above that just as we start our much anticipated trip down to southern Alaska over Memorial Day with Maama and Popop.  I thought that would be our big gas expenditure for the year, but unfortunately not.

We were babysitting some kids of friends last Friday and one of the older kids came up to me in somewhat of a panic.  She kept telling me that her younger brother and Isabel were putting sand into the "thing".  I didn't know what "thing" was and assumed it was our hose winder or plastic play thing that was in the backyard.  I was mildly concerned but soon realized that my level of concern was very different from my young reporter. This was my first hint at what was to come.  I went outside to check it out.  I looked at the hose winder and plastic play thing, but the girl kept walking.  I briefly glanced up and financial horror immediately set in. She slowly raised up her finger and pointed at...a small pipe coming out of the ground. The pipe was metal and relatively small in diameter and had a sticker that said "Sourdough" on it.  Unfortunately it was a very well known pipe to me...it is the pipe to our underground fuel tank and is now filled with sand.  I asked Isabel how much and she said about 20 "scoops".

Fuel oil is about the same price as gas up here (slightly more depending on fill up times) and the tank holds 500 gallons and was mostly full.  Ouch.

I was not happy...really not happy.  I yelled after Isabel (to find her) and when I saw her she clearly had no idea what she was doing.  She knew she was doing something wrong, but I'm pretty sure she thought it was something on par with squirting her brother with the hose or not taking off her muddy shoes when she comes home.  She probably didn't realize she just spend her allowance for the next 10 years. Ouch.

I too have had such experiences, although I don't think they were as costly. I remember at what I think was a similar age (5) spray painting a neighbor's green house (I intelligently spray painted my name on the side for all to see...not that great a criminal) and got into another neighbor's pantry and mixed toothpaste with Corn Flakes.

Anyway, the call will go out sometime next week to the fuel guys to come and flush our tank and refill it with liquid gold.  In the mean time we have our furnace firmly in the off position.  All I can say is that Isabel will have no sympathy from me when her kid leaves the upstairs faucet on and floods the house while she's at Home Depot.  Watch out kiddo!