4-Letter 'S' word

One of our last bike rides took us to Chena Lakes. They have a great pathway about a mile or so from the recreation entrance where we discovered new bike loops along the lake. The pictures above are within 1 hr of each other; both equally astonishing...and it's just Chena Lakes! Looking forward to checking out their ice fishing houses this winter.

Last weekend we had people over for food and fire. Members of the Fairbanks Offroad Lions Club, friends, and neighbors attended as we enjoyed each others company. Roasting giant marsh mellows, and burning old turkey deep fry oil it was a good time. Who knows how old that oil was, but it helped keep the fire going. Disclaimer: It is NOT recommended using any kind of oil to burn (for fun) unless 5 or more coherent adults are present, so kids, just don't do it. The next day the coals were still so hot; even from a thorough water soaking; that another fire was easily started for one last burn..sheesh.
This week was a week of refocusing. Being unemployed has helped me look at my options and evaluate what my I'd like for our future. Maybe I should call those California psychics they keep advertising on tv..anywho. Having this time to think, has led me to other opportunities that will quite possibly help my food business adventure get rolling..heh heh.

I met a couple of dear friends who work at the University and was told there is a community commercial kitchen available to those who need it(check)....And with all the holiday bazaars coming up, and names to important people at the health department, there really is no excuse for this not to take off(check, check).

Getting a job is first priority, must have some sort of income to make this happen. So yesterday, after meeting a man selling a food truck(not quite what I'm looking for, but close) we drove 30 miles to Skiland where we briefly met a female moose and calf up the Steese Hwy. The fuse to my horn went out, so yelling at the calf and revving the engine not only didn't work in shewing the calf back into the woods, but we also received dirty looks from miss momma moose(she was no my little pony)..so we waited. You should be able to click on the picture and then hold the CTRL key while tapping the (+) key to zoom in; miss momma moose is in the pond to the left of the road. After arriving at Skiland, the owner, Brenda, gave us a grand tour of the facility and mentioned how employees can stay at the lodge for work if necessary..is this too good to be true? The Mt. Aurora Fairbanks Creek Lodge is actually an old bunkhouse that was built in the 20's during Alaska's gold mining era. At first glance you wouldn't think this building was actually a lodge by the way the exterior seems to be hanging on with sheets of metal. However, walking in you are welcomed by a warm open space for dinner or entertainment for 20 or more..wood everything(almost i.e. floor walls, furniture)..very rustic. There are twelve rooms upstairs, each with at least two beds, no tv, six shared bathrooms, and each with an infrared light for viewing of the Aurora Borealis from your window. Brenda told us from August through October, Japanese tour buses come through specifically to view the Northern Lights. Between the ski hill facility and the lodge, there will be plenty to do. We are looking forward to spending more time here(work or not).

To tie in the title, what were the odds of us getting to Skiland and it snowing? A welcomed sign we were in the right place. It didn't stick, but it was enough to remind us, warm weather is now about 8-9 months away.We walked to a trail across the road from the lodge. It lead to an overlook that offers a breathtaking view...now try to imagine it in white. There will be another picture of this in a couple of months.

It feels good keeping options open. When you give yourself permission to remain open to opportunity, life happens as it should. Right now, things are looking up.

Sept.12, 2011

With Labor Day a distant memory, fall has set in. The temperature today was a cozy 68 degrees F with the sun hugging us with her warmth. The lows have been constant at 40 to 44 degrees, almost $n%w weather!! haha!! The leaves are now yellow and are taking their time falling as mushrooms of all forms, shapes and sizes have seemed to take over.

We spent yesterday morning at Pioneer Park for the 10th Anniversary of September 11th. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years. I was in Alaska when it happened; and am here again for the 10th anniversary. As UAF's fire chief delivered his memorial speech, I couldn't help the tears that flowed knowing the families of the victims of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, & Flight 93 have struggled everyday to find solace since that tragic day. Some of us will never know the magnitude of their loss. But we can always help, by being present and supporting them morally with love and compassion, or by a simple thank you to 9/11's children who are now joining the services of our nation and to the service men and women who have been in before, during and after 9/11.

After the memorial service, Trevor spent the majority of the afternoon parting out 3 old bikes my dad had stowed away and putting together one nice working bike! Dee, you would be proud! So, with winter approaching, we now have two bikes to enjoy before the weather really changes.

Riding bikes is a favorite past time of ours. I will certainly miss it after old man winter moves in for the next 7-8 months. We enjoyed the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage for Labor Day weekend. Eleven miles of biking, we saw a moose and float planes land and take off at Lake Spenard. Our ride by train to Anchorage was pretty sweet as well. 12 hrs of never ending mountainous terrain. We got to see Dall sheep on mountain sides, and plenty of "swans on the left...swans on the left..everybody, there are swans on the left." There's plenty to do in Downtown Anchorage. If you ever find yourself there(during the summer) check out the Downtown Bicycle rental shop and the Anchorage Farmer's Market. The Marriot, The Hilton, or the Bent Prop Inn & Hostel(where we stayed) will be there waiting. We are looking forward to more visits south this winter..it might be warmer!

Labor Day 2011 Pictures >click here<

Life in Alaska

It is Sunday August 21st and the weather is overcast with a constant slow rain.  The days are noticeably shorter than when we first arrived less than a month ago.  I was told that we lose 7 to 8 mins. a day.  Sunset is still late at 9:30 or so.  The temperature averages in the 60's with the sun poking out when it can.  I am ok with a rainy lazy Sunday. 

We have been working now for the past two weeks it has been nice in a way to get back to the real world. What hasn't been that great is the amount of paperwork and id showing it takes to get established in a new town. The dmv was a three trips in two days experience, because apparently valid driver's liscenses, social security cards, photo ids, and utility bills just isn't enough verification that I am who I say I am.  I wish they would get rid of the  boring paperwork and actually put hoops out in the parking lot to jump through.  someday..

I am getting more familiar with the area and Marie and I both are enjoying the almost unlimited hiking trails that are close by.  A great book our friend turned us onto is "Outside in the Interior" by Kyle Joly has been an excellent guide for day trips.  The University of Alaska Fairbanks has summer hiking trails and winter ski trails on the campus and they are amazing.  I have decided that this winter I want to take up cross country skiing and learn how to snow shoe.  There should at least be entertaining photos for people to comment on. 

For a combined birthday gift to each other, Marie and I will be taking the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage over labor day weekend and spending a couple nights in the big city.  We will probably rent bikes and do the tourist thing, taking photos, drinking beer, etc...  The train trip itself is a 12 hour rid that has stops along the way and travels through Denali Park. A little trip before the winter begins.  Yes winter and September I know. 

Well we hope everyone is doing well a we will post more pictures of the north as we get them.
Take Care
Trevor and Marie
Lucy and Maverick

What's Fair?

That certain still in the air, an indication that winter is here…isn’t here yet. Although it has been rainy the past few days, we haven’t allowed the weather to stop us from our activities.

Yesterday, we went to a going away party. It seemed like every time someone pulled up, the rain would appear. With a great spread and a good crowd, we basically dined'n'dashed. Trevor found someone online selling a snowboard set, so we left to meet him at the university. Trevor is officially set for the winter.

Yesterday was also the last day of the Tanana Valley State Fair. I’m never too thrilled about the fair; droves of people, the rain, and the fact you just have to spend money-don’t I sound like an old bitty?!Ha! The food is always good and it looked like there was more variety than past years. Shrimp stands, cajun food, buffalo burgers..and chips on a stick? Something other than fried fried fried...Trevor opted for a plate of fried zuccini, I was just there for the band.

We went with my friend Dominic to see The Avery Wolves play. Our first encounter with this band was at a bar in North Pole called the Badger Den. The Avery Wolves describe their sound as Psychobilly: rockabilly mixed with punk. It works for them. They have their James Dean look and tattoos playing the drums, guitar, and base cello. Their one song at the Badger Den sounded really good; however, the owner shut them down. He didn’t like their sound. According to him they were “too loud.” In a bar now set up for live music, it was upsetting; well, except to the few loyal to place. Maybe they can do a Waylon Jennings mix next time. NOT! The band was able to play more than one song at the fair, so we were able to really see them in action. It was good to see a bigger crowd dancing away; I’m sure this and other stages will make up for 3 minute play time at the Den.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not too into crowds, but every once in a while you have to immerse yourself, or else, you really do turn into an old bitty. There are too many things to see and experience to be shut out from the world. At some point during the week there was a Lady GaGa look a like contest at the fair…Not sure this girl knew when it was:

It's SO evil to pick on people you don't even know! Who am I to judge this person, right? I think the question really is, what is this person thinking? At any rate, I’ll be judged by others, but not in a full leopard onesie at the fair. I know I’m going to hell, so save your breadth.

Canada/Alaska mix

amaszen's photostream on Flickr.

Trying out Flickr. photos are mixed. If you can't view them, let me know. not sure it got all of them. too late to mess with organizing. Hope everyone's having a great week so far. love ya!
~m

The Big AK

As of July 27th, we made it to my parents house in North Pole. We stopped just outside Tok, AK the night before, after an 8 hr drive. Tok is about 4 1/2-5hrs to our destination(from Moon Lake we made it in 2hrs!). At first we were talking about just making the drive to finish, but as soon as Dad told us to stop for the night we couldn't resist. We stayed at Moon Lake SP for our first night in Alaska. Trevor mentioned how we started our camping-cross-country tour with rain and ended it in rain also. How fitting. We know now rain's not going to stop us from having a fire!

I won't be posting any pictures here, but will post some links of the places we camped/rv'd(whatever). There's just too many pictures right now, and looking through them makes me dizzy having to go back and forth to the calendar and remember what was where..you know, I'm just lazy and want to type for now :P. I'm thinking Power point would be a good program to use for a slide show. On to that later. For now, put your Imagination Caps back on as I brief you(well, this is going to be a long post, so spare about 10 minutes) on our tour through Canada and add a couple of others things I had forgotten:

July 23, 2011

In the last post I failed to talk about our ride up I-5N. Because it felt like a long and arduous battle to get through Tacoma and Seattle, I had completely blocked it out by our excitement of crossing international lines. While Trevor navigated through what felt like a cattle herd of speeding cars, I was able to log-on for a brief moment on facebook. Trevor wondered if Washington was actually a state or just one big city. Not living in Seattle or Tacoma, it just felt wrong that there were so many people in the limited interstate space provided. Trevor described it as Tacoma being the spill over for Seattle, but not having the infrastructure for traffic..period..they just built the damn interstate without any real planning! At any rate, we made it out unscathed and everything died down once we reached Bellingham.

We took the exit to Chuckanut Drive(hehe) and stayed at Larrabee State Park just before the window closed at 7:30p. With it being so close to the weekend, and summer still, there were already family’s with droves of children running around. I still don’t understand why kids congregate around the restrooms. I think they just like to hear their voices echo as they shriek around the facilities. Despite the kids, Larrabee was sweet. The trail we walked, with the dogs, was very dense with moss covered trees and ferns. We walked to the boat launch so Trevor can say he’s been from East Coast to West. Freighters could be seen off in the distance as the tide ebbed with thick seaweed. My lungs were soaking in the fresh smells and my eyes taking in the trees. Why do I love trees so much? Must have been a monkey or sloth in a past life or something.

The next day was Canada.

As of tonite, we are just south of Vanderhoof, B.C. at Dave’s RV Land. We ended up meeting a very sweet couple. Andy and Ollie, young at heart, adventurous, and loving grandparents, they are on their way to Alaska by ferry. We told them we’re on our way too but by house-on-a-wagon. It turns out they just so happen to be stopping into North Pole to take a picture of the Santa Claus House for their grand kids to see. This couldn’t be any more of a bigger sign that we’re almost there ourselves! Ollie broke out her B.C. maps and showed us places that will have gas stations along the way. They reminisced about their tour of America some time ago from Florida and explained how they’re taking a six week vacation to tour Alaska staying in hostels and tent camping. Sounds like us soon! Well, guess we’ll have to stay in one place or a job long enough to retire so we can do these things. NAH!!!haha! Andy's advice to us was to "speak to as many travellers as you can. Someone will have important information you'll need; and you'll always make a friend." He's right.

Are you tired of reading all this yet? You can stop at anytime, I know this stuff gets boring, especially with no pictures!!

After Dave's RV we drove another 8 or so hours up Canada HWY 37 just south of Dease Lake to Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park. We've been listening to the book "The Life of Pi"..We highly recommend listening to the audio if you know you are taking a long road trip. Let's just say, I'll always think of this story whenever we're in boat..anywho..Kinaskan Lake is one of those places I wouldn't mind taking a week to get back for a longer visit. Our second night with a fire. The park lady, Margaret, gave us a bin of extra dry firewood and a hatchet, and we were able to get our pyro fix for the night. Just love poking a good fire! Ha! Remember the drought in the South? Our last campfire was at Big Biloxi CG.. So, Thanks Canada! Our next long haul took us through Nugget City(nearly abandoned it seems, so lets say Junction instead) where we filled up and crossed the border to Yukon Territory and were finally on Alaska HWY 1! What a bumpy ride! At this point we noticed the sign to Fairbanks: 1010(kilometers) which breaks down to 627 miles..doesn't seem so far now, right?

Well... we ended up driving just short of Whitehorse along Teslin Lake, a 92 mile lake frequented by gold seekers looking to get to Dawson City during the late 1800's. We stopped at Johnson's Crossing Campground. We noticed how our dogs love to hide in whatever near by tall grass or weeds are available. Maverick just tries to be invisible to the mosquitoes. We stopped in Whitehorse the next day. The town is bigger than what I remember. Another place I would love us to revisit. Topping off, we're back on the road again til Moon Lake. This last leg of the trip was hella crazy. Don't believe anyone who says they had a smooth ride from Whitehorse to Beaver Creek! The bumpiest highway ever with road construction, danger trees(we waited 20 or so minutes with a very bored road worker holding the stop sign between his feet as he leaned on his car waiting for the go ahead; the tree was bent over enough that it appeared to pose a danger of falling onto the gravel hwy..didn't seem close enough, but guess people need work to do), and some areas still gravel; we wondered how all those busRV's were going to make it. The road just rises from the constant freezing and thawing. Going 40 felt treacherous at times. So again, hope those busRV's got to where they needed to be. Also, for a while, it felt as though we were the only people going into Alaska. Everyone seemed to be leaving. More room for us, we thought.

After clocking in 6,311 miles(or 10,156.569 km), we ended up seeing countless cows & deer, a newt, 2 large slugs, 5 black bears, a caribou(or maybe a reindeer), some brave chipmunks..and one not-so-lucky chipmunk followed by the driver laughing so hard because she ran it over, and a horse in a small lake village. The water was so damn clear and the horse came right up to us(we slowed down as it moseyed on up the road). A semi finally tooted his horn to hurry him out of the way. Video of that to come later. Our first moose(this link just for fun)sighting was here in Alaska. Just yesterday afternoon, we saw our second moose in my parents yard. A mother moose Lucy would love to chase..NO WAY DOG! Moose are soooo damn big, it's crazy!

Today(July 31st), we just got back from Quartz Lake. This is my dad's favorite lake to fish. My dad and our friend Mel ended up with 4 trout all together. The last trout was Mel's at 18in length & 4lbs. And of course, she's going to have Trevor cook it up for us in a couple of days. YUM! We also acquired some salmon from friends. My friend Nick came back from dipnetting for salmon in Chitna a couple of days ago. He invited us over for a super delicious dinner of fresh salmon cooked with dill, lemon and butter(one w/Cajun spice), with homemade potato chips, salad and garlic bread. Then our neighbor across the street came back from the same place, today, and will be giving my dad some of his salmon catch as well. Once I figure out shipping fish, I'll be contacting any takers. I have a few in mind already who are interested.

We will keep this blog and post our latest adventures as much as possible. We're expecting our adventures to be many. If you loved following us on our crazy-ass road trip, please continue to do so for our future trips. The journey never ends! Live! We want to say thank you to family and friends who offered their time and space to us. We are so grateful for your love and support from past, present and future. We love you and look forward to speaking with you, emailing, facebooking, and/or seeing your sweet faces again soon. Love Always.

Peace,

~m & T

B.C., Canada

We've made it to Canada! Customs was a breeze. We took the Abbottsford entrance into Canada near Sumas, Washington. They didn't even need our passport, or even searched our camper. Guess we just looked honest enough to let pass. We actually had to fork over our little tiny thing of mace, to which the entry guard replied "But they'll let you buy an extinguisher sized can of bear mace in Canada."....Eh? We are now camped out for the night at Clinton Pine Campgrounds in British Columbia. I'm sitting at the front office using their limited wireless. No pictures to post of Portland. :( We downloaded them from Lauren's camera, but must have missed something. Oh well..We'll try and get Portland posted soon. For now you'll have to use your imagination, or click on a couple of links I've provided.

Portland was amazing. With plenty of places to eat, friends and plenty of walking, Lauren(my dear friend and hostess) took us on a grand tour of North East Portland. We ate at Tasty and Son's our first night. Very decadent and chic, we shared plates to which our palates were more than satisfied. We then walked to Ruby Jewels...MMMMM..homemade ice cream. Nathan, Lauren's beau, wanted to share their lavender and honey ice cream cookie...it was soooooo good! The dogs enjoyed being roommates for a short bit with Patti. A lovey and very licky Boston Terrier, she loooooved Trevor! He grew a beard that she loooved to try and cuddle to! We hope she's not too sad we're gone! Love you Patti!

Living close to Mississippi Ave, Lauren and her roommates have access to great fun for that area. Wednesday, Trevor and I walked a few blocks to get some laundry done and we ate at a food court filled with over a dozen food service carts. Perfect!!! These type of courts are called food pods, and Portland is chalk-full of them. So ready to start that egg-roll cart! Later, We were treated to Forest Park, Lauren's favorite hang-out spot. We didn't travel too far up the trails, but it's said the park has over 60 miles worth of trails! Walk, run, or bike your heart out. Our friend Travis came with us as we observed slugs the size of your thumb and caught little newts from the creek. Not even five minutes into the trail and we're in a place so serene. Promise to post these pictures soon!

We toured the very beautiful Rose Gardens. Every rose you can ever imagine is there, or just about. It was a perfect place to walk off dinner from the Red Onion(one of the best Thai food places)..Nathan then drove us to Voodoo Donuts. I was sooo full from dinner still, the thought of trying to eat something else, much less a donut, hurt. Portland is just buzzing with openness and creativity. It was certainly an experience we would like to expand on in the future. There is much more to see.

We are enjoying much cooler weather. With the Southern U.S. on a burn ban; it's nice to finally get a fire going. The sign on the front door of this campground reads: Please be BEAR AWARE while here...guess we better go look for that new extinguisher. That's all for now. More than likely going to post again once we cross the Alaskan border. Ciao!

Peace,
~m