I fell in love!

He is beautiful and sweet? Can you guess who he is? No, Myra, it's not any of those Koyuk guys! Did I get you thinking? It's the state of Oregon. I traveled to Portland, OR for ten days with two other teachers for a math training for a new curriculum I'm going to implement along with all the other Elementary teachers. We got there a day early so we did lots of sight seeing. We randomly found a scenic drive with lots of waterfalls! It was incredible! The thing I fell in love with the most is the huge trees that were everywhere! My favorite thing is walking through a forest or trail with large trees and the sun shining through. We took a small hike to get to one of the falls and I loved it! It felt good to sweat and get the heart a beating! I can't say that was the smartest idea because I had a pulled groin muscle before I went and that put me not walking for three days! I don't know when to stop! It still hurts today! Hope it heals in the next couple of weeks so I can start the running. That was a rather long bunny trail. Well, the first falls we went to we could climb out to the rock for a closer look. Awesome!

The other falls Corrine drove up to and Heather and I got out to take pictures and quick peak. This time reminded me of all the waterfalls my granparents visited during one of our summer trips. I sure miss those summer trips with them.

After the waterfalls we headed through the gorge and that was of course spectacular too. We bought Rainer cherries from a fruit stand and they were so darn sweet. Then we found the Fruit Loop which was a drive along tons of orchards where you could stop and get jams, jellies, preserves, homemade cookies, fresh produce. I loved the raspberries, green beans, blackberries (size of your thumb). We snacked the whole way on our Fruit Loop trip. We also got to see a pear orchard.

The mountain is Mt. Hood. We also had great views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.

Last Part of Alask Trip with Jess and Stephanie

Our trip ended with going to Cheena Hotsprings about 1 1/2 hour out of Fairbanks. We saw tons of moose on our way out there. I couldn't believe Steph and Jess's reaction when they spotted one. "Oh my gosh, oh my, oh my, turn back, there's a moose." Now imagine Jessica saying this and hyperventilating! It was so funny! We saw two moose eating and splashing in a small pound. That was unique to see. The hotsprings were so relaxing and HOT! I think it was 106 degrees and of course we picked the hottest day to go! (86 degees). I couldn't only stay in for about 10-15 minutes before I had to get out and cool off. We all thought we would stay most of the afternoon but it was too hot. It was nice that the hot springs had a sprinkler of cold water on one side along with a waterfall that gave nice back massages. We got dinner at the restaurant there and headed back to Fairbanks.

I'm not sure which day, but we also went to a Salmon Bake outside. It was great music, wine, All You Can Eat Salad Bar, Prime Rib, Salmon, Cod, and deep fried Halibut, cakes. It was so relaxing. After dinner we walked around the area because it was like a little park. Jess and Stephanie saw this huge fish and the were determined to climb up and get some pictures. Well, Jess went first and that was a hilarious scene. As she was swinging her legs up out came a little squeak. Yup, you guessed it she farted. Steph started taking video with her camera immediately because Jess couldn't stop laughing. That isn't it...she had a hard time getting off of the fish so she just fell off. She skinned up her leg pretty well all the while she was laughing and couldn't stop. I walked away pretending she wasn't my sister. I have never seen my sister laugh this hard. We do have pictures of this and some others in the Salmon Bake park but Steph took all the pictures that night.

Overall, this was a memorable trip. If any of you would like to come visit please do. I don't have plans for next summer yet. I know the saying, "I've always wanted to go to Alaska." Well, stop talking and start saving and join me in this beautiful state.

Alaska Trip Part IV with Jess and Stephanie

After our Discovery Boat Tour and making purchases at the gift shop, we headed two hours towards Denali National Park. We were not too sure of our cabin we rented for $88 that did not have a bathroom or running water. We got there and wow was it the cutest little cabin you ever saw! We took pictures but you don't get to see those. As you can see there were mountains everywhere around us. Jess and Steph found this flight seeing tour of Mt. McKinley. We signed up an hour before we had to be there. It said it was on Talkeetna Street so we looked at it and it wasn't even in Denali. It was in Talkeetna. I told Stephanie to make sure she asked where this was but she didn't listen to me. :) So we cancelled that one and found some dinner: fish and chips and the owner and Jess got to talking and she found a place for us and called them for us. So we ate and off we went to see Mt. McKinley. It was a beautiful night: clear and sunny and we saw Mt. McKinley! It was amazing how huge it was. As you can see in the picture there are two peaks to the mountain which are two miles apart from each other and have a glacier running in between. I got a little sick and glad we landed soon. We saw dall sheep, a beaver lodge, and a the glacier you see in the picture among other ones. Steph and Jess were sure excited about going in a "little" plane. I go in these all the time so it wasn't much of a thrill but I enjoyed the scenery. Our pilot comes to my village Koyuk every year for Iditarod. He helps fly the dogs if the musher scratches and also transports the food.

The next morning we had our rafting trip down the Nenana River. There was confusion with the company weather or not we were driving or they were picking us up. I thought I asked for pick up. So they were pretty late. We had friendly truck driver and guides. We signed up for the all day tour. I was so excited to do some physical exercise like rowing but was disappointed when our guide did all the work and also felt guilty that I was just sitting there and not doing a thing to help. It was beautiful. The color of the water was a sea green and our said she has never seen the river this color. I learned there are 100 glaciers that feed into the Nenana River and the temperature of the water gets between 35-40 degrees so of course we wore these styling wet suits that were sooo comfortable. We had amazing warm and sunny weather. We saw a moose and two twins with her. That was really neat! Jess and I had rafted before in the New River is West Virgina so we were waiting and waiting for class 4 or 5 waves. Finally, we got to the last part of the trip that had the waves we were told were amazing. As many of you know I have a fear of deep, wavy water but that is only when I'm in the water like snorkeling in Great Barrier Reef, Australia or Noah's Ark. So I was ready for the challenge of hanging on but not falling out. Well, Jess and I were very disappointed because it didn't make us even a little nervous. So I would have to say the New River rapids were better and the scenery was better at the Nenana. Do I dare tell you the story of Jessica and Steph getting out and swimming and then the guide couldn't get them in? It was pretty funny to both of them as they are laughing so hard as the guide is trying to get them in before we hit a sandbar full of rocks. Our guide was getting nervous but not the girls! It was a fun day! Sorry there are not any digital pictures of this adventure except for the waterproof camera photos that I hope Jess is developing soon!

Part III Alaska Trip with Jess and Stephanie

While in Fairbanks, we went on a Discovery Boat Tour. It was the largest paddle boat I ever went on. It was three stories and it was so neat to have a bunch of little tours or demonstrations while on the boat. We had a floater plane demonstrate taking off and landing in the water and on a sandbar. I'm amazed at the sandbar one because it wasn't very long sand bar. Then we saw domesticated reindeer and they talked about them. Then Jess's favorite, I'm guessing, was the dog sled demonstration. As you can see from the picture they let the dogs go swimming after they demonstrated a dog sled mush with a Honda. They showed three puppies and they were so cute. The woman who presented is competing in the Iditarod. She also gave a later talk and demonstration at the Athabascan camp. This was my favorite. We had three to four different demonstrations about the Athabascan culture. One on sewing. A beautiful parkee made from muskrat. I have to say Myra's parkee, made by Gram (Myra's Gram), is just as beautiful. There is a lot more beading it seems in the Athabascan culture, but I could be wrong. Then they talked about the different shelters the Athabascan's used. One was made with skins, evergreens, and bark. They also demonstrated how a fish wheel worked. The Inupiaq didn't use fish wheels. At least that is what someone told me. Again, I'm not 100 % sure. It was fun to try their secret recipe of smoked salmon (cedar chips and brown sugar) in a salmon spread. I went back for more than seconds! The 2nd picture is of a food cache. The Athabascans and Inupiaq use these to store their food they hunted or gathered: a great way to keep bears away, refridgeration, and as you can tell the shelters were not that big and the cabins were not either to make sure it heated it up nice.

Almost done with Alaska Trip then get ready to read about something new!

Part II of Alaska Trip with Jess and Stephanie

Walrus sitting next to a pond of fish (etched into ice)
Jess playing the Ice Xylophone
Do you see the polar bear swimming under the water (ice)?
Do you see me peeking out of the house?
Aren't those trees flippin cool?

I rested half the time on the train and the other half I spent enjoying God's creation on the outside of the train. Myra picked us up in a little bity car, luckily everything fit. It was such a blessing to see the kids. We had fun being sarcastic, talking about their new friends and home in Galena. Such a short visit made it hard to have in depth conversations but I can't be too picky, right? It was nice to have a glass of wine and updates from Jason and Myra. I kept the kids up way to late or should I say they kept me up way too late. We had to leave 5:30 am and got in at 11 pm that night.

We were off the Fairbanks which only took an hour flying time to get there. We checked into our hotel and then went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Research Center where the Musk Ox farm was. They were so cute. There were about four little babies the size of a large dog. The researchers noticed that they actually "babysit." Three moms will babysit and the other mom would go eat. There are two types of musk ox: Canadian and Greenland musk ox. You can tell the difference because on their back they have a gray/whitish hair. The hair is called quiviet and is used to make really warm scarves, hats, etc.



We also went to the Ice Museum which was downtown Fairbanks. That was extremely amazing to see the sculptures. People are so gifted! There were sculptures in large freezers. Some were a sled dog team, house, walrus, polar bear, etc.

Search and Rescue

I got invited to go up Koyuk River with Heather and Elvina. We're going to go fishing for Humpees. They are are a type of salmon that travels to East Fork River in the summer and the males have a huge hump on their back. I was super excited. So the night before we got the poles ready and went to the store to get some pixies (lures) and fishing line. Then we ate chips and salsa and ice cream. Yummy!

We left about 11:30 yesterday. Elvina likes to travel with a male out in the country to help with bear patrol. The guy that was suppose to come had to babysit so she was a little concerned. I had the idea that Shawn the new teacher could come with us. I remembered that his wife said that he wanted to get out in the country so I thought this was perfect. So we quickly went to ask him and he agreed, but I'm not sure if I told him he was coming to help with bear patrol. It turned out he had other jobs that we didn't expect.

It's been like fall weather here so it was a little chilly driving up. I wore my down coat, long underwear, wool socks, rubber boots, thin gloves, winter hat, and raingear. My hands were still cold. It was beautiful out! We needed to change the prop and then we passed many camps and finally stopped at Elvina's camp to get some more supplies. We finally made it to East Fork and began fishing. There were many fish jumping all around. Elvina caught the first one. I had a hard time getting more than halfway across the river to the other bank where they were biting. I'm so thankful I got a fishing pole from Jason and Myra before they left and learned from my dad how to fish, tie knots, cast, etc.

We changed locations and wow was that a great idea. I caught about 5 in all. I had some trouble with getting snagged on brush under the water and then I lost a real nice fish because I didn't keep it over the boat. Duh!! How many times did my dad tell me that and Elvina! I was so frustrated and mad at myself. I'm trying to learn that mistakes are ok. We mostly fished from the gravel and muddy shore. We saw huge bear tracks and the trail they use to come to the river. I sometimes got scared when Elvina's dog was rustling around in the willows because I thought it was a bear. After losing some lures I finally caught two nice ones. They are fun to catch. I also caught a few pike. They are really slimy and hard to fillet. I decided to throw them back.

Elvina tried to start her boat but it didn't start. She informed us that the battery was dead and we would have to call search and rescue or spend the night. I had no worries what so ever but was getting pretty tired and wanted to be with fishing. She called them with her satelite phone and they said to to try to pull start it. Well, Shawn and Elvina tried as hard as they could and were not able to get it started. We left it for a while to see if it would start up later. In the mean time, we started a fire, had salmon baked over the grill and sat around a nice campfire. It was so relaxing.

They tried it again and it was a no go. Shawn and Heather has hip waders on so they rowed, pulled the boat down the river so the search and rescue would not have to come through the really shallow parts. They worked hard and got wet but they made it to the fork and mouth of the river. We waited about 20 minutes or so and filleted our fish. Elvina skillfully used her ulu to teach us how to fillet. It was my first time seeing salmon eggs and salmon sperm. Quite interesting. I came home with four fillets that I will vaccuum pack.

It was getting chilly and I started getting really cold. Thank goodness search and rescue came with a charge battery. We were all set to go.

Search and rescue is a team in Koyuk that is on call if emergencies happen out in the country. Well, Search and Rescue stopped us again and asked why we were traveling so slow. We did have a lot of weight and pitch on the prop was not correct. So they took some of our items that were heavy and I also got to go with Mona, Juney, and their 4 year old daughter who is just adorable. I was thankful because they had a cabin on their boat. I warmed up and Lovey (Geraldine; little girl) played and had fun. I couldn't believe how much energy she had at midnight. We finally made it to Koyuk and it was getting dusk. I was sleeping by 2 am and didn't get up until 10 or 11 am.

It was a fun experience. I was tempted to exagerate the story for the sake of my mom but others thought that would be too mean since she worries all the time.

The reason why I love Alaska is because I have many "firsts" here. I shot my first caribou, went duck hunting my first time, got my own first dog. On this fishing adventure I also had many firsts: catching humpee, clubbing a fish on the head, holding a fish (with gloves) by the gill, rescued by search and rescue. I look forward to sharing more with you all.

Sorry, I don't have pictures to share with you. I took a disposable and got to some good ones.

Alaska Trip with Jess and Stephanie

First three photos if you haven't guessed are of the train ride. The next three are of the National Fjord Park Boat Trip in Seward into Ressurection Bay and Pacific Ocean.

Stellar Sea lions (endangered).

Jess and I in front of the glacier.


After serving at Bible Camp for a week, I was extremely tired so when I got to Anchorage, I rested for an 1 1/2 hour at the hotel room and then went to meet Jess and Steph. Good thing I didn't know their flight number but it was just in time when I saw them leaving security.

We went to eat at Moose's Tooth. It's an amazing pizza place and well worth the 50 minute wait. We went back to the hotel to sleep until we had to be at the train station by 5:30 am. It was a beautiful train ride and a lot more snow still covering the tundra than the the last time I took this trip two years ago.

We saw glaciers, mountains, lots of eagles, moose, beavers, and dall sheep. We arrived in Seward early afternoon and walked a bit with out suitcases until the Trolly offered us a ride. Steph and Jess were relieved. We ate a quick lunch of leftovers and headed towards the Sea Life Center. Along the way we stopped in the tourist shops. The Sea LIfe Center added some new things. We got some good pictures of the Stellar Sea lion. I couldn't believe how big it was! I enjoyed watching the puffins dive and come back up. Two were actually building a nest while I was there. We got to touch and feel the sea anenomes and starfish. It's amazing how many different colors and sizes there are. Jess and Steph took a behind the scenes tour of the Center while I went back to the hotel to chat with family and rest. We went to Chinooks restaurant for dinner and had Alaskan King crab legs. Yummy! Then we walked through the Marina to admire all the boats we wish we could have.



The next day was out National Fjord Boat tour which lasted all day. It was amazing to see 5 whales total. Two were sleeping, a young one feeding near the shore (rare), and a middle aged one. We also barely saw a minke whale, which are still hunted by some of the Alaska Natives.

We saw two groups of porpoises (cousin of the killer whale) that were the same colors of the killer whales. One group was too busy eating to "play" with us. Our captain said we should clap and whistle to get them to come swim and dive near the boat. The first group didn't but the second group "Played" a lot. I'm so thankful I got to borrow the school's camcorder to get all these amazing animals.

We had a few hours to spare after the boat trip. I wanted to find any place I could to sleep. I had to take only one dramadine and man oh man did it knock me out after I got off of the boat. We got some dinner before our train left to Anchorage. I was so incredibly tired and wanted to sleep so I could stay up and talk with the Harris'(Jason, Myra, Ethan, Romay).

See Part two of Alaska Trip

Berry's Summer Adventures

I of course can't let a blog entry go without telling how sweet by pup is and what she got to do this summer.

First, she almost had a heart attack when she traveled to Unalakleet to stay with Jeff while I was at Bible Camp. She was so nervous but did quite good. I wonder how fast her heart was pounding. She stayed on the beach a few nights. She of course loved it because she was outside. I visited twice since I didn't leave Unalakleet right away to go for camp. She loved running on a new beach full of new treats. She was pretty darn adorable when the waves crashed up and splashed her in the face when she wasn't expecting it. She rolled in the mucky mud on the shore to just make sure she was getting all she could out of her run on the beach. While she was staying on the beach she met another boyfriend besides Kemper. I guess the husky and her played and played for a few days. Jeff took her for her first boat ride. She was a little nervous at first and didn't jump in so Jeff picked her up put her in. He said she loved standing up on the platform while he was driving. She also went to a picnic with Jeff and a whole bunch of people. She got spoiled because the kids kept feeding her hotdogs and buns along. She was scrounged up some rib bones. I was a little upset about that because I specifically said no bones. Oh well, she's fine.

I also got to go along with Jeff and part of his family and Berry on a boat ride up river in Unalakleet. I didn't know that there are two lodges in Unalakleet where people come to do guided fishing. Also, when there was warm weather, upriver was 107 degrees and in town was only 85 degrees or so. Fun fact: There will be millions of fish traveling through Unalakleet that the bottom of the river will be covered with fish.

She then left Unalakleet after I did with the camp director, Byron to stay a week at his house. They took her for many hikes. Then she want to Wasilla to stay with Mary who I met up with when I traveled back to Anchorage. She has some cute pictures of Berry snoozing on her back with legs all spread out. When I picked her up in Wasilla, Mary, I, Berry, and some guy, I forgot his name, traveled to Talkeetna to stay in a cabin with some people I met from Camp. Berry came with too and she traveled so well in the car. She loves looking outside and of course she has to be on my lap the whole time she's enjoying the view. When she was done looking at scenery she curled up on my lap and fell asleep. I wish I could sleep while a car is moving. She went to the Talkeetna river with all of us later that evening and met some new dogs. Her and I were a little cautious because of the times she was attacked. It went well.

While I went to Oregon for a Math Training, she went to Nome to stay at the Animal House: a boarding place for pets. It wasn't to badly priced and they gave her a free bath and groom. She needed it after being an outside dog for two weeks. She liked to tip her food on purpose and growled at puppies. I guess she was getting a little jealous.

We are both glad to stay in Koyuk for a while now.

Bible Camp

Well it's been a while since I posted. Does anyone ever read these anyways? Bible Camp sure was a lot of fun and busy. I arrived in Unalakleet to give the give the counselors a break and chaperoned all the 5-6th grade girl campers in the auditorium. The next day we traveled by pick-up truck with all the luggage and campers in the back. It was very dusty but the scenery in Unalakleet country was gorgeous. After 45 minutes of laughing and just enjoying the kids we made it the trail head.

We got a tour of camp and was praying that we didn't get the cabin that there was lice in. We didn't. We actually got the biggest cabin with 7 girls. We had two girls from Koyuk, 3 from Elim, 3 from Unalakleet. They were very respectful when lights were out and went to bed when we told them too. I didn't sleep well at all while I was there. I don't sleep good in new places and then the dampness came. I have two funny stories of sleeping the cabin. The bunks were three high. Alyssa from Koyuk was at the top. The first night, we heard a huge thump in the middle of the night. Alyssa said, she "jumped" down from the bunk to use the bathroom. I have a hard time believing that. Then, another night I hear her saying Tristen's name over and over and saw her legs dangling from the third bunk. I couldn't see a thing without my glasses; they were broke. So I went over to see what the problem was and realized she was head first falling off the bunk. So I was very comforting and told her, "I don't have you." I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to help her down. No one was hurt.

A few highlights were: swimming, large group games, cabin time, low ropes course, my favorites: geocatch or some sort of relay game, chapel time.

The large group games were fun and it was interesting to see the 3-4th grade boys not be so honest and wanting to do the game themselves and not work as a team. It pissed me off a bit because I'm very competitive but it was also quite funny to see them want to be the "hero." By the end of the week I was exhausted to play any large group games.

I didn't go swimming but some of our campers chose to. I supervised from the shore. There was tons of mud and it was very funny to see the boys playing in the mud and covering themselves with it. Even the girls were hilarious. It was funny to know that the kids did not even know what happens when you wear white in water. I had to turn away at times.

Cabin time was my favorite because the girls asked amazing questions about God, the Bible, and what it means to be a Christian. Some questions they asked were: How do you tell someone is a Christian, Did God have a father and mother?, etc. This age is more curious about the Bible and God too so that made it fun also. Our theme for the week talked about the hope we have in Jesus because he loves us no matter what, but wants us to make a Decision to accept him into our life and to follow him. All the girls indicated that they did make the decision to follow Jesus. It's hard to to know that when they get back to their village they may not have an adult person to help them grow in their relationship with God. Please keep these girls in your prayers.

My favorite was a sort of relay game. We all worked together and did different tasks to get a can of water boiling on an open fire. We got 4th or 5th place. It was fun to anticipate when the water would boil. I assumed too soon or we had a bad judge. I jokes.

I'm thankful I had Mary to be the main counselor with me. We also had a junior counselor who added really good analogies of Bible concepts so the kids were able to grasp them. I praise God for this opportunity to teach these girls that God is awesome and how to begin a personal relationship with him.I'm also thankful that I got to see three of the Unalakleet girls when I passed back through after my Alaska Trip We got smoothies and coffee.

Soon to come...Alaska Trip