Road Lottery

Winning the Road Lottery is almost as big a prize as any million dollar lottery.  Every year thousands of people put in for the chance of driving through Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley.  The 93 miles of road through the park is open to private vehicles for just four days a year.  The lucky 400 "cars" who win the draw can drive past mile 15 (as far as you can drive on any given day), if you aren't so lucky you can join the millions of others who come to visit by taking a bus. Rick's "beginners luck" touch (remember the halibut?) was working for us and we drew out the first time we put in.


WARNING:  Lots of pictures -- most if not all you have seen on Facebook.

George Parks Highway, driving north to Denali National Park

Map of the "Road"

First stop.  Would like to see this "river" at break up.

There is never a guarantee that you will be able to see Mt. McKinley.  The mountain is hidden by clouds more often than not and you can count your self fortunate if you get an opportunity to see it.  We had beautiful clear skies all morning, but by 1:30 pm it was completely obscured by the clouds.

Polychrome Pass - going up is not too bad, coming down is another story

We were calling this the tundra until Robert told us that it is taiga. 

We almost missed the fall colors.

Perfect spot for lunch.  The rules are: don't get close to the wild animals, but feel free to get out and hike anywhere.

Methuselah

Dahl Sheep

Momma bear and her two cubs.  These are brown bear, known as grizzlies in the lower 48.  They are so light in color I wondered if it's because they eat berries rather than the darker brown of the bear that eat fish.

Maybe Robert knows....

Overcast by early afternoon.

Testing out his Gore Tex shoes, 

We made it to the end of the road!

Wildlife tally:  6 moose, 33 Dahl sheep, 11 bear, 0 caribou

Mileage:  92.6 miles in, 92.6 miles out, and 170 miles home (we drove up the night before)

We had a great time.  It was all we expected it to be and more.  It did our souls good to drive through the beautiful wide outdoors.  We just could not get over how far we could see.  I feel a little hemmed in by the trees, as beautiful as it is to live in the mountains, I just need the wide open spaces to breath. I thought of the song I learned years ago in 7th grade chorus..."Give me land, lots of land, neath starry skies above, don't fence me in..."

Whittier, Alaska...or A Very Long Post on the History of a Teeny Tiny Town

I have a hard time making myself sit down and do a post...1) it frustrates the heck out of me, because I don't know how to make it do what I want, 2) it takes forever for my pictures to upload, and 3) I just have little patience for it.  But, I really don't want to not have some sort of record of our life here, and I know you all are just so interested in what we do with ourselves up here.

First off, even though these next pictures don't show it, we have had some amazing summer weather.  We must have had a full month of sunshine and temps getting close to 70 degrees.  That might not mean much to those of you in the lower 48, but to us it has been like heaven.  Alas, as I enter this post we have had rain for 3 days straight and termination dust was spotted on the mountains yesterday.  (BIG, BIG FROWN)
 

The July 4th weekend found Rick and I with not a lot to do.  The boys were hanging out with friends and working, so we took one of those days and made a little road trip to Whittier, Alaska.  It is about a two hour drive south of us.  We had heard a little about the Whittier tunnel so we thought we would just go check it out for ourselves. 

We stopped at Portage Glacier Lake first.  It is on the Anchorage side of the Whittier Tunnel, just a few miles from the entrance.  You can see Portage Glacier peeking through the valley.  It wasn't too many years ago, that the Glacier went all the way to the lake. Global warming is real!

This iceberg wouldn't do much damage to the Titanic, but still cool to see it floating in the lake.

Waiting for our turn to enter the famous Whittier Tunnel.  This tunnel connects the rest of Alaska with Whittier. It is the longest train/automobile tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles.  From 1960 until 2000 if you wanted to drive a car into or out of Whittier you had to drive it onto a flatbed on the train.  The tracks are now imbedded into the road and on the hour the trains go through the tunnel.  Cars, trucks, etc. go on the half hour at $12 a round trip. 

Watching the ravens while we wait.  The state bird of Alaska is the Willow Ptarmigan, but I really think it should be this bird.  On trash pick up day the streets are invaded by these birds picking through everyone's garbage.  It makes me think of the movie "The Birds"

 

Driving through

 A pretty Alaskan picture

We really went to hike a few trails and get out on the beach, port, or whatever it is called but it was drizzling the whole time and we weren't too prepared because it was so SUNNY when we left home.  Well, Rick was prepared, because that is his middle name!  I was sure I would not need my rain jacket.  We did do a little driving around and found a museum - a hall really with lots of pictures and info on the history of this town of just less than two hundred people.  And for the price of $3.00 we learned all we wanted to know and more!

The military used the port at Whittier for transporting all their troops into Alaska, thus the Tunnel which was built by them and completed by 1943.  They also built this building to house their troops, it was referred to as the "city under one room".  It had everything in it (much like an aircraft carrier does - including dining halls, movie theaters, and a bowling alley).  It was abandoned in 1960 when the military left and was seriously damaged in the 1964 earthquake.  It is still standing because it is too expensive to demolish.  It is filled with asbestos and all the debris would have to be shipped out by train or boat.

Now it is home to the homeless, teenagers and bears who can't find a decent cave for the winter.  I would have loved to walk through it's halls just after the military left.  I so hoped I could walk through and find some little treasure, but Rick who knows too much about brittle steel and concrete spoiled that for me.  Besides, at this point its pretty obvious there was nothing left unless I wanted to start a beer can collection

 This 14 story building was the 2nd one built for military housing and offices.  It survived the earthquake better and is now privately owned and houses the majority of the residents of Whittier.  The first and 14 floors are zoned commercial and it has definitely earned the "city under one roof" title.  It also houses the city offices, police department, post office, grocery store, laundromat (you have to sign up for a time slot), vending machines and snack area, and a few B&B units. 


All you ever wanted to know about Whittier and more! After a couple of hours sight seeing we drove back through the tunnel and headed for home...but, not without a stop at the Portage Glacier Cafeteria where we had the best, best hamburgers ever.  (Just ask Analee and Josh - certainly worth a trip to Alaska for!)

Graduation 2011

Waiting for the graduates.

Sitting through all the talks, waiting for that magical moment when they can get their
diplomas and switch their tassels.
Can you pick out Bryan? Hint: They are sitting ABC order, and W's are always last.
Hint, Hint: Foreign exchange students are on the last row.
Hint, Hint, Hint: He got his hair cut the day before. Instead of the trim he asked for he pretty much got it all shaved off. :(

Bryan has just finished walking across the stage to receive his diploma. Yep, he's got it in his hand. We have just put his leis around his shoulders. Fortunately he warned us about this ERHS tradition. They are given right after the student receives his diplomas, before they go back to their seats.

It's official! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Happy graduates. All but one are members of our ward. We couldn't have ended up in a better place. They are all amazing kids, and even though they have known each other since grade school they welcomed Bryan in and made him feel like he belonged.

Bryan, Chase, Brandon
(Chase got his mission call the week before graduation. He leaves for Brazil in October.)

The seniors rode the bus into Anchorage to the Sullivan Center for grad practice. He was sitting close to a kid he knew named Zach Weller. Zach was talking with a girl that Bryan didn't know too well and he overheard them talking. The conversation sort of went like this.
"Whose the kid that messed us up?"
"I don't know, some newbie that moved in."
"We've always sat together"
"Yeah, ever since kindergarten. That @#&*@ messed it up for us."

Bryan's listening to this when he starts thinking "Weller...Wells", he turns around and says "Uh, that kid would be me."

***While they aren't best buddies. Bryan and Zach have hung out at school and done a little snowboarding together, so they all had a good laugh over it.

Tulips

Spring has sprung! The trees are sporting new leaves and the lawns are turning green. I would get pictures of proof, but I am not the camera person in this family. From my window I can see children playing in their yards, moms and strollers going for walks and people out doing yard work. It is all such a welcome sight.

What am i doing in my house on such a gorgeous day... my indoor to do list is too long!!!

Thanks to Spencer though, this last month I have a little bit of the outdoors, indoor. He is working in the flower department at Carr's (our Safeway) and brings home the about to be discarded bouquets. I have had roses, lilies, tulips and more. This is what I have been enjoying this week.




It's not temple square, but I have loved having my own daily supply of fresh, cut flowers.

(I wish I had Heather's talent -- without the effort of course)

NIght Sky

A while back a friend of mine called at 10:45 pm and apologized for waking me, but the northern lights were spectacular, and we just might want to take a look. Rick was sick with the flu and I had to get up at 4:45 am for work, we both passed on this awesome opportunity (I know, I know...what was I thinking?) Bryan and Spencer went for a drive north on Glen Highway and got a few pictures.

Okay, so Bryan did do a little enhancing of this photo, but doesn't it look pretty? This doesn't happen too often as far south as we are. Hopefully the air currents and temperatures align themselves once more and we can have another chance at viewing the northern lights.

---We should have gone anyway since the boys woke us at 2 am and spent the next 45 minutes telling us all about it!

Winner Creek Trail

Better late than never!
These are a few photos from our Christmas hike on the Winner Creek Trail.
It starts at the base of the ski runs at Aleyeska.

Looking a little gloomy. It brought to our minds

the little story of Peter and the Wolf.

Bryan found a nice place to rest.

Spencer's resting spot

We can honestly say now that regardless of the weather we are not afraid of the elements. I am not sure what the temps were on this day, but on Christmas Eve (two days earlier) it was -11. We got a late start had to turn around before it got completely dark.

My hiking goal is to make it to the end of the trail before I leave Alaska. We will definitely have to try it this summer when we have plenty of daylight.

I thought the locals were saying Winter Creek trail when they talked about it. I think that is more appropriate.

Update

As someone so kindly pointed out to me...it has been awhile since I updated! We are just so busy up here! Really, just kidding! There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot to share. We are now going through our 2nd Alaskan winter and it is pretty much looking like the first. So we just aren't as excited about taking pictures.

Rick is working hard on meeting a deadline for new barracks that are going to be built on the base here. Elemendorf Base and Fort Richardson are now combined and are officially known now as Joint Base Elemendorf and Richardson. Very creative of the military don't you think? It is shortened to JBER. That sounds almost as bad, like their mascot should be a big brown teddy bear.

Bryan is in his last semester of high school! (Big cheer appropriate here) He has more than enough credits to graduate so he has late arrival for his first two periods. Meaning he doesn't have to show up to school until the 3rd period. Too bad he didn't ever finish that English online course he has - but once it's done I told him he can sleep in to his little hearts content. Right now it's still out the door at 7:20 and to the school library until he's done with it.

Spencer is still quiet and we hardly know he is here. He is the first one out shoveling the driveway when it snows. His Dad surely appreciates it! And he does my dishes every night, which I really appreciate! He is starting to get to know the other young adults here in Eagle River and getting more involved in his Ward.

I have finally got the hang of things at the office and am a little better at keeping up with three different doctors. I am not sure why they all can't get on board and do a root canal the exact same way. But then, I guess it could get a little boring for me. I like working with all three of them for different reasons. Dr. A will take two hours to do a procedure, but is very entertaining with all his stories. Dr. B is a little quicker and changes up his music with each patient. He loves to give me a hard time about religion and politics which can be a little dicey with the patients some times. (He has had at least two of them use a few choice words on him and even with a rubber dam on their mouths I could tell what they were saying.) Dr. C can be in and out of a root (or two or three) and have it temporized in an hour if he thinks he's getting the least bit behind. I can't complain though, the people I work with are great and it's only two days a week.

So that's us in a nutshell!