Quartz Creek

Hello Readers. This weekend we were invited to go camping at the Quartz Creek campground on the Kenai Peninsula. We have no RV type vehicle so it was tent camping for us. I have determined after this weekend that its only 'camping' if you stay in a tent, otherwise its RV'ing. Fortunately for us the weather was absolutely fantastic, in fact its actually too warm, we've been in the 70's for the last few days. Had the weather been like last summer the RV'ing option would've been a lot more comfortable, but this year it was no trouble in a tent. So we got our tents set up, had some great times with our friends. The kids went swimming in Kenai Lake, we went on a Geocaching hike and found the desired cache, which the kids love to do. It gives them a purpose for the hike and keeps them interested for a whole lot longer. The kids slept in their own tent and the big chicken dogs slept with us. Of course it doesn't really get dark so that made thngs a lot easier. To illustrate that fact I have some pics of fireworks taken from our house at Midnight on July 3rd....you can see why New Years is our big fireworks holiday around here. We are all home safe and sound, tired and sunburned etc.. And the only bear we saw all weekend ran in front of the car on the way home! Storm

more 'cool day' pics

Here are some of the pics from KM's camera. Storm

Cool Day!

So today we hooked up with one of my FedEx captains who also happens to be a extremely proficient float plane pilot. We all loaded into a really nice Beaver on floats(I mean really NICE...a huge contrast to the one we flew in up in Coldfoot) and took off from Lake Hood in Anchorage. Then we went about 90 miles Northwest to Big River Lake and landed there. The attraction is that a lot of salmon gather in one area of the lake and the bears then come down to feed on them. So we pulled up and anchored. We couldn't get as close as we would've liked because of several fishing boats, but the view was good and the weather was fantastic. We watched people catch fish and saw several bears come down for their share. They would jump in the water and swim around right next to the fishing boats. We got some good photos, hung out in the sun on the water, and had 2 really enjoyable flights. A very cool experience. We could've done a little fishing, but it was a fulltime job just making sure one of the kids didn't fall in the water. Here are a few pics from my camera, and I'll add KM's photos in another post. Enjoy. Storm

Just stuff

Hello. Here are some pics from hiking, the reindeer farm and Hatcher Pass. Yes, I am aware that one of the pictures is of an Elk (Eddie the Elk actually) not a reindeer. They happen to have some Elk at the farm as well. Nothing special just trying to get out and enjoy things. Storm

Back Home

Well the vacation was a success and we are happy to be back home. On our second to last night we ran the Midnight Sun 10k. It started at 10PM and while the weather looked bad, it was pretty comfortable for running. I put in one pic of KM before the start. On our last day in Fairbanks we met up with our neighbors who were also up there and visited the Solstice Festival in downtown FB. Then we took the 'Riverboat Discovery' tour. It is very popular and gets great reviews, and it is pretty cool if you don't mind being with about 500 other people. There were no less than 14 tour buses in the parking lot. It was interesting but not great for kids. The highlight of the day was later when the Lady that gave us Aly brought 6 Great Dane puppies by the hotel for us to play with. They were only 3.5 weeks old. The drive home was uneventful. We stopped in Denali for lunch and to see the visitor center. Now we are all just happy to do nothing for a day or so. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed it. KM has 700 more pictures that we just downloaded, I'll try to put some of those up later.

More pics

Here's some more pics from our trip. Enjoy Storm

Days 5/6

Hello Readers, well we made it safely back to Fairbanks and now have cell and internet again. It was a wild trip. We left FB on Friday morning around 0730. There are about 75 miles of paved hwy before you actually get to the Dalton Hwy. But 'paved' doesn't necessarily mean nice. We would be cruising down the road about 55-60 and suddenly some frost heaves would just about bottom out the suburban and then nearly toss you airborne...needless to say the kids thought it was the best road ever. The Dalton Hwy (the Haul Rd) is about half paved and half dirt for the first 175 miles and then all dirt/gravel after that. We drove it to mile 189. Ironically the dirt/gravel parts are almost nicer than the paved parts because there are no huge potholes that scare the heck out of you and nearly rip the suspension out at 50mph. We did have 2 full size spares with us just in case. Our first stop was at mile 60 for the 'HotSpot Cafe' and lunch. Its basically a shack, but man do they have some great hamburgers. Our next stop was about mile 120 when we crossed the Arctic circle. It is just a parking lot with a big sign, pretty cool nonetheless. After that we drove to Coldfoot at mile 175, which is also the first buildings other than a few outhouses since mile 60. Coldfoot consists of an airstrip (4 airplanes total), a visitor center, and a truckstop/inn. Here we were able to get a flightseeing tour in a Beaver on tundra tires. It was a great flight, KM rode in front and the kids all got headsets which they thought were very cool. At one point the pilot put it in a big sideslip to drop down into a canyon and we were headed right for a huge granite face...I thought KM and my Mom were going to jump out for a second there, a cool thrill for everyone. we flew up through the Gates of the Arctic National Park/Preserve and then made a short field (and I do mean SHORT) landing on a gravel bar in the middle of the river. I would have never thought a Beaver could have landed there. Then we took off again, spotted some Moose feeding in a lake and then back to Coldfoot. A very cool experience. Then we drove another 15 miles up the road to Wiseman AK population of 12. There we stayed in a great little B&B. The kids got to play with their 4 sled dogs and throw about 5000 rocks into the river. The cabin was cozy and nice but sleep was tough since the sun never went down...very weird. We talked with the owners about hunting/trapping and gold mining. They've lived there full time for over 15 years, with two very well adjusted children ages 9 and 12. They have a phone, generate their own power via wind, solar and generator. They hunt for most of their food, 2 moose and 2 sheep a year for a family of 4 and they run a very nice B&B. An interesting existance to be sure but not for everyone...not for me either. Our drive back to Fairbanks was uneventful, a bit sloppy at times as you can see from the pictures of the car. 35 miles out the kids finally got bored and antsy so we broke down and put a video on for them, we figured they've done a fantastic job for just over 1000 miles so they earned it. Tonight KM and I ran the Midnight Sun Run, the furthest north 10k in the US. We had a great time and even ran the whole way. Now its time to collapse and rest. Tomorrow is the Solstice festival here in FB and then a riverboat ride before our return home on Monday. Enjoy the pictures, I'll post more later, but now I must sleep. Storm