Wed. McKinley Chalet Resort - Denali

I walked over to a speciality grocery store this AM and bought a bag of organic apples. I got there before it opened so I walked around the neighborhood a little. LO & BEHOLD what did I see but a donut store wating for me. I bought several donuts for us to try. Breakfast was 1 1/2 donuts, an apple and a cup of coffee. Our bus to Denali started boarding a lttle after 9. We arrived at our room a little after 1 PM. We made one 20 minute stop on the way.
The scenery is almost breathtaking. I don't think it is possible for me to get my head around the size and granduer of Alaska. Texas is a huge state, we have driven across it. The bus driver made the comment, "If Alaska were divided into 2 states Texas would be #3 in size of states because both halves of Alaska would be larger."

Stuff along the way. At our one stop.

One of the large things in Alaska is the cost of living. Our lunch of fish & chips, a fish sandwich & a salad we split between us, cost $47. The food was good but the scenery is what makes it worth the price.

We are staying at the McKinley Calet Resort, near the northeast corner of Denali. Our room and the lodge complex  are both great.
Our living room & bedroom

 oOur room is the one at the top of stairs.

View out our bedroom window.

After lunch we took about a mile long walk along one of the trails and then listened to a Park Rangers presentation about Golden Eagles.
Kathy is taking a nap. I'm sitting outside in a common area having a cup of coffee and typing this blog post. I'm in the shade so that I can see the screen better. Temperature is a sunny 55 degrees. I'm wearing a tee shirt with an unbottoned flannel shirt over it, like a light jacket. It is a little cool in the shade, but not bad. There is still some snow around in protected areas, but not much at this elevation. The Ranger said they will have the last road in the Park plowed and opened tomorrow. When I walked over to get my coffee I noticed that there is stll a lot of rock salt on steps and sidewalks.

Bus from days gone by? It's at the lodge.

Time to head back to the room. Somebody just turned on some crappy music that absolutely destroys the atomosphere. Does the place think we are in some dark, dive bar in the city? I mentioned the poor choice of music to the people in Guest Services,
Now back at room after a pizza for supper. Kathy had a cup of baked tomato soup. Food was good.
Walking back from the restaurant, which was up the hill and across the street, we walked through the common area. 8 PM and LOTS of folks still out enjoying the beautiful day, still bright sunshine. (the awful music was no longer blasting away).

Our tour of the park leaves at 5:50 tomorrow morning, and lasts 7 hours.

God is good, may He bless you & yours.

Photo from Mon & Tue

Photos in no order.
Panning for gold. The trough holds heated water (a courtesy for we non-Alaskans).

 The lines to get gold weighed.

Antique snowmobile.

 Dogs taking a dip after run around lake.

 The Discovery III, our sternwheeler.

Alaskan pipeline. Haven't talked to anyone, including a wildlife biologist, who has anything bad to say about pipeline. All think benefits far out with negatives. Seem very happy with inspection levels & cleanup efforts after leaks.

More tour buses here than cars, at least it seems that way. Bus driver told us the morning "rush hour" lasts 10 minutes. Evening rush hour is worse, it lasts 15 minutes.

These folks know how to brace a building! These rods are about 2" in diameter. The building is the airport terminal. This area is only one story.

More later. So far VERY interesting. If I were 30 years younger this place might even beat out TN.

Fairbanks, Alaska

We left our home in Centertown, Missouri at 10:30 AM yesterday, Monday. We arrived in our hotel room at 11:50 PM Alaska time, 2:50 AM Missouri time. It was a LONG day.

Prices are HIGH in Alaska. 2 breakfast buffets were $37.97. It was okay but not nearly as good as an $8 country ham breakfast from Triple D Diner in Crossville, TN. After breakfast we boarded a bus and at 8 AM we left for a riverboat cruise. Our sternwheeler riverboat, the Discovery III, displaces 280 tons and can operate in water that is only 42" deep.

Lots of interestng narration about the sites along the river. The most interesting was a kennel that bred and raised sled dogs. The guy who owns the place came out to talk to us while the boat "idled" next to the riverbank. He had a good size 4 wheeler sitting near the shore. They brought out 8 sled dogs and harnesed them to the 4 wheeler. As soon as a dog was in harness and they moved on to harness the next dog the dog in harness would throw himself against the harness try to pull te 4 wheeler by himself. They actually had to tie the 4 wheeler to an anchor to keep the dogs from running off with it. Once all 8 dogs were harnessed the guy got on the 4 wheeler, untied the anchor rope and the dogs were off and running. The guy said the dogs would pulll the 4 wheeler about 20 mph on the straight sections of the path.We watched them pull him around the perimeter of a small lake, probably about a mile. When they got back as they unharnessed the dogs the dogs ran to the edge of the water and jumped into the 45 degree water for a swim. When they took off with the first set of dogs the other dogs still in outdoor pens went nuts. The guy said it was because they knew they were soon going to get a chance to pull the 4 wheeler.

More happended along the trip but typing on my tablet is a pain. We docked back where we started at noon and had a great lunch at the place. A hearty beef stew, steamed vegetables, salad, good bread and a brownie. All served family style at long table with benches on both sides.

Then it was back on the bus and a trip to an old gold dredge and mining site. A train and open passenger cars took us around the site and we learned a lot about Alaska gold mining. They gave everyone a small sack of gravel, maybe half a cup, and we "panned" for gold. After you washed out the gravel you put your small flakes of gold in a little container and took it to the Assayers Office. The gold Kathy & I found is supposed to be worth $35 at todays gold price. We have it with us.

The Alaskan pipeline runs through the old gold mining area. We walked under it going in and out. We learned a lot about it.

Then it was back on the bus and back to the hotel for a nap. We walked a few blocks to a Thai restaurant for supper. Kathy had some kind of soup, a HUGE bowl, which she said was good. I had a cashew beef stir fry. The waitress asked if I wanted it "mild"and i told her medium. Wrong choice. It was good but to spicy to really be enjoyable.

Time to go. Have some photos I would like to include but Kathy just shut the balckout curtains and left me in the dark. Its 10PM. Tomorrow we board the bus for a 3 hour bus ride to Denali (at least one stop along way) and a 2 night stay there.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Lydia's Dance Recital

Today was Lydia's dance recital. There were several sessions. She was in the 1:00PM group. There must have been at least 50 girls, and 3 boys, ranging in age from 3-4 to teenagers. Most were in ballet but some tap danced and performed "modern dance(?)". They performed in groups based on their age. Lydia was cute as a button and did well, not that I am biased 😉.

They performed at the Miller Performing Arts Center in Jefferson City. It seats about 900 and I bet there were close to 500 people in attendance during her performance. 8 of them were Kelsey, Andy, Nolan, Amy, Marshall, Elaine, Kathy & I. After her group was finished, but before all the age groups had performed an announcer came out and said that we were under a tornado warning. We all had to go to the gym in the "basement". We all had to file down the stairways, probably about the equivalent of 4 stories, to the "basement" level. Everything was very orderly. The warning ended at 2:00PM and we left directly from the gym. The next performance was scheduled to start. I don't know what happened with the few kids who did not get to perform during Lydia's session. There weren't even any blown down leaves. It was raining when we entered but that had quit by the time we left. I don't think there was any significant wind.

This is the Miller Performing Arts Center. The lower level seats about 600 and the balcony seats another 300.

Isn't she cute.

It rained some more after we arrived home. It didn't rain long but the rain was heavy. We had 1.5" for the day.

We are getting excited about Alaska. Monday we drive to Kansas City and fly Fairbanks, arriving late Monday night. Tuesday we are taking a 3 hour riverboat cruise and might get a chance to pan for some gold. Weather is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high/low of 68/42.
Wednesday we take a bus to Denali National Park. We will be in the Denali area Thursday & part of Friday. Weather forecast is for snow and high/low temps of 29/23.
Friday night we stay in Anchorage. It is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high/low of 57/48.
We spend Friday morning in Anchorage and then travel to Seward where we stay Saturday night. Rain and 47/41 temps are forecast.
Sunday, June 4th we board our ship and head south along the Alaska/Canada coast, arriving in Vancouver, B.C., Canada Sunday, June 11th. After disembarking we go to the Vancouver airport and fly back to Kansas City. We will spend Sunday night in KC and drive back to Centertown on Monday.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

We Are Doing Fine

Not much exciting going on so there hasn't been much reason to post anything. Actually their still isn't much reason 😊, but I thought I would let folks know we are OK.
We are getting excited about our upcoming trip. Only a few more days before we fly to Alaska. We will be gone for 2 weeks.
God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Keeping Busy, Busy Enough Anyway

Last Friday I went over to Kelsey and Andy's to cut up a tree that had fallen over during the spring. I must not have really want to cut any wood. I had a splitting axe, some felling wedges (in case I wedged the saw tight) and a bucket with an extra chain and some tools ready to go. I left them in the shed. I made about 6 cuts part way through the log and wedged the bar tight. Called Kathy and asked her to bring me the splitting axe and the wedges. Before she arrived I managed to use a big chunk of broken limb as a lever and free the saw. The entire "root ball" had rolled up out of the ground when the tree fell. I finished cutting 8 pieces out of the log before making a cut near the roof ball because I thought there would be enough dirt in the bark that I would dull my chain. There was and I did. The bucket with the extra chain was still in the shed. I loaded up what I cut and went home and unloaded it.

Friday night was Lydia's graduation from preschool. She is the last one on the left.

 They sang a couple of songs, with motions.

 Posing for pictures with friends.

Saturday I cut up the remainder of the tree. I had help loading it in the trailer.

Saturday evening I went to a fundraiser at the New Bloomfield Because He Lives Cowboy Church. New Bloomfield is about a 30 minute drive from our house. It was over 4 hours of good old country gospel music, it was great. The last guy didn't start until 8:30PM and he was the best of all.

The setting was an indoor arena with folding chairs and lawn chairs. People came and went during the 4 hours. I doubt that there was ever more than 60 people their at any given time. I took the photo below before things started. Note the 3 ladies near the center of the photo, near the arena wall.

They looked like Grandma, Mom & Daughter all sitting their with their noses in their phones, texting.

I went back Sunday morning for church. The guy who was the best singer during the previous evening led the music. He sang a lot of good old gospel music, I could have listened to him for hours. He did some pretty good preaching between some of the songs. The Pastor had a good message about the character of the "virtuous woman" described in Proverbs. He didn't let the guys off the hook either. He called them to be "virtuous men". He told them that if they wanted a "virtuous woman" they needed to think a little bit about where the best places would be to look for one, and to think about the places where they probably would not find one.
There were 40-50 people at the service. Dress was very causal. There were 4 guys in the row in front of me. Looked like a Dad and 3 sons. The son's looked to be in their mid-20's. One of the sons wore a long sleeve shirt with what looked like a fresh dirt stain on one of the elbows. He wore a well worn pair of cowboy boots and spurs. About halfway through the service he got up and walked out of the arena for awhile. Watching him walk off and walk back in it was easy to see he was HURTING. It looked like it could have been his ribs, or his right him, or his right arm, or all 3. He didn't look dirty enough to have been thrown by a horse before church, but I wonder if maybe he had been kicked by one. After the service I saw him up front with the Pastor praying for him.

Sunday afternoon Kelsey had a Mother's Day diner for the family. I think there were 16 of us there. A good time was had by all.

Kathy watched Nolan today. I spent a couple of hours doing research and writing a "Letter to the Editor". After lunch I forced myself to go out and get a little exercise. I split 4 of the pieces of wood I had cut and my back said it had enough of that. After a break I spaded up a 30 square foot area for Kathy to plant a few garden plants.

The high was in the high 80's today, it is still 82 degrees at 10PM.

Good is good, may He bless you and yours. 

Busy Week

As I noted in a previous post I went to Van Buren, MO Monday. Below are images that will give you a little idea of the extent of the flooding in Van Buren.

This is a plan of Van Buren. The black arrow points at the location of the First Baptist Church.

This is what the church looked like before the flood.

And this is what it looked like during the flood.

Van Buren is not flat. The river is a long way down a hill from First Baptist. I heard that 111 structures had been flooded in Van Buren. Sad.

Tuesday Kathy & I took another load of supplies down to Doniphan Missouri, 437 miles round trip.
Van Buren & Doniphan are both on the Current River. During the drive to Doniphan we were within 10 miles of Van Buren but Doniphan was not ready to receive the supplies Monday, when I went to Van Buren. Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief were setting up a tent kitchen in a Doniphan parking lot. They are planning on turning out 7,000 meals a day.

Going to Doniphan we drove through Ellington, MO. Kathy and I volunteered at Logan Valley Christian Retreat, near Ellington, during November 2011. I spent 3 weeks down there the summer of 2012 or 2013 helping them build a house. While there I worked a lot with Bruce Tremaine. Bruce is a full time self-employed carpenter and the Pastor of a small church in Ellington. We became friends. When we left Doniphan and headed home I tried to call Bruce but didn't get an answer. We decided to drive by his church in case he was working at the church, but he wasn't there. I tried calling again and got Charlotte, his wife. She said Bruce was working and that he would be sad he missed seeing us. On our way driving out of town Kathy said, "Looks, isn't that Bruce?" and is sure was. We stopped and had a good visit with him and his son Lance, who works for Bruce. Bruce told us that he had put sandbags around the doors at the church and siliconed the doors to seal them. He said that no flood water had got into the church other than a little that wicked in through the carpeting. We didn't go out to Logan Valley but we learned that while flood waters did not make it into Dave & Sue's home (the camp owners/operators). The have a dike that protects their walkout lower level. The water did flood their septic area and 3" of "stuff" backed up into their lower level through floor and shower drains.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I thought I better get a little exercise after sitting in a vehicle for over 800 miles on Monday & Tuesday, so I walked 2.5 miles on the treadmill first thing in the morning . I planned on mowing the lawn but riding the lawn mower isn't much exercise. Then it was off to Men's Breakfast & Fellowship for an enjoyable morning of gabbing, eating & studying. While at breakfast I asked Larry Farley, the guy who I helped pour foundations a couple of weeks ago, if he had managed to clear all the mud off the foundations, we have had a LOT of rain after the foundations were poured. He said he had worked many hours on them and was in the process of forming about 80' of a 30" high wall. He hoped to get it poured before the rain started yesterday, it was supposed to start raining at 2 PM. I asked if he wanted some help and he said he would love some. I came home from the restaurant and mowed the part of the lawn that was the tallest and then went to his house. I left about 5:30. Fortunately we only received a few sprinkles during the afternoon. Larry, Billy (Larry's son-in-law) and I were able to finish the forms and pour 5 yards of concrete. Larry was still building forms right up to the minute before Billy & I put concrete in the last section. He still needs to form and pour another 100' of perimeter wall but work we did yesterday will divert any runoff from new rain away from the site. I was POOPED by the time we finished pouring the last of the wall.

Kathy attends a Bible study on Wednesday evenings so we don't eat until late. She came home, grilled some pork chops and soon after eating I went to bed, which is why I am up writing this a 3:30 in the morning 😊.

Kelsey dropped Lydia off about 7:30 yesterday evening so that Lydia could do a "sleep over". Kathy and Lydia were out planting flowers when I went to bed. Andy will pick her up this morning and take her to preschool.

God is good. May He bless you and yours.