Mile 3882
The dog sledding team.
| Woke up and went to Badger Road Baptist Church
at 11am. Very friendly people there and we filled up the church with
all 14 adults and 5 kids. After church we ate and drove to Salcha,
Alaska and visited Paul's cousin, Eric Lanser. We talked with him
all about his dog sledding and log cabin he built all winter etc. We
also met his friend Stacy. After visiting with Eric and Stacy we all
drove to the "Knotty Shop" and checked out all the cool
souveniers etc. We drove back to Fairbanks to Riverview campground
again. The 5 boys and aunt Jean went golfing at 8pm and us girls
played Catan and watched a movie "Sandlot". Lisl won
Catan.
Mile 3882 |
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Cute little puppies. |
Paul's cousin (Eric), his girlfriend and the dogs.
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Eric's cousin |
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Paul being attacked by a huge mosquito
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Bull Moose and Mama Renee |
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We forgot the camera when we went golfing, so we didn't get
any good golf pictures.
It is the farthest North USGA golf course. We did see a fox that stayed in a sand trap right in the middle of the fairway. I am not going to mention any more about Uncle Toms shot on the 8th hole. |
| Today we left Fairbanks and drove to Denali
National Park. (also known as Mt. McKinley). Played Catan on the way
and Renee won. We caught the 2pm tour. It was an 8 hour bus
tour through the park. Denali (Mt. McKinley) is 20,320 foot high and
the highest peak in the United States. Unfortunately, on our tour it
was too cloudy to see the mountain. We did see many caribou, 5
bears, 3 foxes, a marmot, wolf and 3 sheep. The wildlife was so fun
to see and, wow, we saw alot of it! Very long trip. We were
all so hungry and tired after the bus tour, we ate at 10:45pm when we got
back. We drove a few miles and camped at a pull out along the hiway.
Mile 4017 |
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The bus that we got to spend 8 hours in. |
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Big Grizzly bear |
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We saw lots of caribou. |
| This was one of the more interesting caribou that we saw. |  |
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Part of the gang |
Huge riverbeds - the bus driver yelled at Paul and Rodney for throwing rocks in
the river bed. He was a jerk - he also wouldn't pull over and let Jake whiz. So
Jake went in a can 3 times.
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Here is an M & M sandwich - we had quite the delectable dinner. |
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We saw the sun, but Denali was covered with clouds. |
| None of us are quite sure how Kimmie could get a big snuggy with a diaper on. |  |
| Today we shopped at the gift shops around where
we camped along the highway. We shopped and played games all
day. A recovery day after being so tired from yesterday. We
played poker and Catan. Uncle Tom won Catan. Mom won a game of
Catan and Paul won a game as well. Kara and Erin won in poker.
We all bought stuff half price at the end of the season sale at the gift
shop. Everyone got hats, t-shirts and fleeces etc. It is Rod
and Sara's anniversary so they stayed in a cabin and went out to dinner on
their own. Dad, Dave and Ruth went rafting at 6pm. They got
back at about 10pm. They had a ball on the rafting trip! We
camped at the pull out on the hiway again.
Mile 4017 |
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Laura's cool new hat. |
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2 brothers playing |
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Kimmie sipping through a straw and having her first ice mocha. |
| Traveled back to Anchorage. Saw Denali
(Mt. McKinley) along the way! Beautiful and we couldn't believe we
saw it. By the time we stopped to have everyone see it, the clouds
had covered it again. But most of us did see it! WOW!
Then we arrived in Anchorage and found a camping spot at Walmart again at
about 4:30pm. We all went out to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse
for our last night out with the VanderMeulen's (slaves) here. We
played Catan and poker again. Paul won Catan. Dad also won a game of
Catan and Paul won in poker. We camped at Walmart in Anchorage for
the night.
Mile 4285 |
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The 3 silly sisters |
| Jess in the Batmobile that we found at a fireworks stand. |  |
The gang with Diep in Alaska t-shirts.
The silly gang
The slaves and their kids
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Jess'es cool hair |
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Kimmie's new trick |
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Mama and her daughters. |
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Laura sacked out spread eagle |
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He is the man!! |
| Today the fisherman left early at 6am to
Whittier to catch their charter. Uncle Tom, dad and Erin, Kara and
Beth went on the charter. Dave, Ruth, Lisl, Rod, Paul and Renee took
all the kids and we saw bears, moose, caribou, tigers, fox, elephants
etc...YES! We took them all to the Anchorage zoo! Sara, mom and Aunt
Jean went to a few shops a messed around in Anchorage. Paul, Renee
and Dave and Ruth went in the afternoon to a matinee and saw "The
Patriot". Good movie. Ruth and Renee had some goodly
amounts of pregnancy tears shed during that movie! Heather and
Trevor Hite and family arrived this evening to spend 2 weeks with us in
Alaska! Lisl and Paul and Renee also went to pick up Dan at the
airport at midnight. He will be with us 2 weeks as well!
YIPPEE! Uncle Tom won Catan tonight.
Almost forgot! The fishing stats of the charter were outstanding!!!! Erin, Kara, Beth, Uncle Tom and dad did incredibly well! Check this out... 1 black cod-------Uncle Tom 3 halibut--------Erin (2) largest was 60 lbs. and Kara got 1 30 lbs. 1 skate-----------Kara at 25 lbs. 2 pacific sleeper shark-----Tom (1) at 50 lbs. and Erin (1) at 100 lbs. 12 short raker rock fish 12-30 lbs. each. Tom got 1. Kara got 3. Pete (dad) got 3. Erin got 2 and Beth got 3. Total pounds of fish caught was 750! Total pounds of edible fish was 425! Uncle Tom sent home 200 ponds of fish fillets and got some smoked as well! That is a successful day out on the charter! Mile 4285 |
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 Kara's halibut and Erin's smaller halibut |
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 Raker rock fish |
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 Beth's slimy thing and Uncle Toms Sleeper Shark. |
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Kara helping Erin reel in. They had to reel in 400 feet of line and it was tough work. |
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Lots of Raker rock fish |
 They had a nice sunset on the way back and on the way in they saw some mountain goats. |
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| Uncle Tom and Aunt Jean and Erin and the slaves
left to go home this morning at 6am. Then Rod and Sara stayed with
Heather and Trevor as they got stocked up with groceries and motorhome
organized. The rest of us went on to Seward, Alaska. We got to
a campground called Kenai Fjords. MANY motorhomes here and we found
out why...tomorrow the 45th Annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby
begins! Fisherman galore! We took walks and ate fish for
dinner that the charter caught yesterday, the short raker rock fish.
Excellent fish! Some even said better than salmon! Dan and
Lisl went to a Bed and Breakfast tonight.
Mile 4429 |
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| Today we walked around town and checked things
out. Paul joined the Salmon Derby and all the boys went
fishing. Today was the beginning of the Silver Salmon Derby.
Paul caught 4 salmon and one got off the stringer, because he failed to
tie it good enough. Dave also had a bite but it took all of his line
and was gone! Paul weighed one in at 11 lbs. The big one (of
course) was the one that got off the string! We played Catan this
afternoon and Paul won Catan too! We ate dinner and explored the
official fish being weighed in and watched all the fish being cleaned
etc. The largest fish caught in the big Derby so far was 20.14
lbs. We all explored Seward on our own today. Catan was played
tonight too and David won. We camped in Seward again at the Kenai
Fijords RV park again. Very nice town to be in. Even the
Princess Cruise Ship was docked here yesterday!
Mile 4429 |
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We are the Grapes of Wrath. |
| Paul singing while Jake is getting ready for bed. |  |
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Josh checking out the beer. |
