More About the Hospitality in Alaska

8-3-09 While in Alaska, we were invited to the home of John Harris, his wife Michelle and their 3 children. (And adorable dog!)We enjoyed a home-cooked meal on the grill, friendly conversations, and a SPECTACULAR VIEW from the Harris's back porch.

Our teens jumped on the trampoline and zapped bugs with a special "bug racquet". Our first bear sighting was made at the Harris's house, though no one volunteered to get their picture taken with this particular bear.

Many thanks to the Harris family for making us welcome as well as feeding us with food and friendship.

More Folks from St. David's Church

8-3-09 Here are some more photos of the people of St. David's, Wasilla. When the potluck suppers are crowded, tables are placed in the church sanctuary as well. What a beautiful setting!

Thanks to the Folks at St. David's Episcopal Church

8-3-09 Good morning. Want to specially thank all of the people of St. David's who worked with us or brought us food. Also those who spent time in with us in worship or at the potluck suppers,

we hope you come to Virginia to visit us sometime soon!

Back in Virginia

8-1-09 It's hard to believe the mission trip has come and gone. It took more than a year of planning and fundraising. We'd like to thank Cathy Brown for her hours of research and organization. Cathy's hard work made the trip run smoothly. We are blessed to have her energy and dedication at Grace Episcopal Church. The Holy Spirit is definitely at work in Cathy. Another BIG thank you goes to the many supporters of this mission trip! The Alaska Mission trip would not have been possible without your donations or kind words or hours of volunteering at fundraisers. Thank you to those who drove us to the airport and for those who picked us up yesterday. We can't wait to share the many ways we made a difference in Alaska. Some are obvious and I will attach many pictures today of the physical projects we completed. The more lasting effects are in the hearts of the parishioners of St. David's and the hearts of the Grace Episcopal Mission Team. We've invited the folks at St. David's in Wasilla to come to Virginia to make this a true exchange. I know we will see them again.

Last Day in Alaska

7-30-09 Today was our last day in Alaska. After cleaning our accommodations at Meier Lake we packed our vans and Deacon Ann's car and headed for Anchorage. Dwight and Cathy took a van and headed directly for the airport to take Liz to her 11 AM flight. Ally, Nastia and Becca went along too for a day of shopping in the big city. Cathy caught a flight around 3 PM. The rest of us headed for Whittier to see the Prince William Sound. What a spectacular drive down the Seward Highway! Really hard to express as the mountains plummet straight down to the water. To get to Whittier you have to travel on the only single lane automobile/train tunnel in North America (I believe). Vehicle traffic actually drives straddling the rails. The tunnel changes directions every 1/2 hour and closes to automobiles when a train passes. The tunnel is 2.6 miles in length and perfectly straight. As we approached the tunnel we saw a black bear on the tracks about 50 yards from our car. Emerging from the other end of the tunnel we were in Whittier and another world. Heavy fog, rain, wind. There is a daily tide change of about 15 feet in height. The trip home treated us to a wild sheep perched on the cliffs along the road. We were able to meet the other van in Anchorage for dinner at the Arctic Roadrunner.

Now we sit at the airport waiting for our flight. It looks we will be about 1/2 hour late in our departure. See you soon in Virginia.

Time to Go

7-30-09 After spending the day in Anchorage yesterday, we enjoyed a potluck supper at St. David's and finally, Holy Communion. It is a bittersweet day, looking forward to seeing friends and family at home and hating to leave the glorious views of Alaska. We have made fast friends here with the folks at St. David's. Many hugs shared and a few tears shed. This morning, strangely, there is no view of the mountain from our porch at Meier Lake. Must be time to go home. Wash is in the washer and dryer as we are responsible for all clean up. We must scrub the bathrooms and restock all closets with clean linens before we go. We have our final prayer session and meeting at 9am so I must run. Love to all.

No mountains today. ??

Dog Days of Summer-Happy Trails Kennel

Our visit with Martin Buser, 4-time Iditarod champion, was a fun and furry adventure. We had a brief explanation of the Iditarod Race with Buser's son, Rohn, age 19. Our group was able to view the many awards Martin Buser has won over the last 20+ years in his trophy room. Rohn is a musher in his own right, coming in 36th place in the 2008 Iditarod. We were able to hold the week old puppies, pet the sled team, and have Martin entertain us with a 1-man show explaining the roles of the musher, the volunteer, and the veterinarian at each checkpoint of the race. When it was time for Martin Buser to hook the dogs up to his sled, you can't imagine the excitement (chaos) with more than 20 barking dogs, all eager to be chosen for this particular run. THE NOISE WAS DEAFENING because each of the dogs just had to be picked! They jumped and pulled against their harnesses as Martin attached them, one by one. Martin got on the sled and it took off like a shot, no wheels, just wooden runners and fast. In a few minutes, Buser completed a loop around the property and rode back into the parking lot. Whoosh! The teens seemed to each have a favorite - Becca chose Jefferson, Macson picked Otter, Nastia loved Caribou, and Alex couldn't get Yosemite off of his leg. Beware parents, they are being shipped separately to Virginia. Get lots of dog food now! Stefanie got an autographed card of Wolfie. Each member of our group received a free dog bootie, actually used during the Iditarod race, to protect the paws of the pooches. Ron found the doggy-sized hamster wheel and couldn't resist the temptation. The dogs didn't know what to think!

Back at Meier Lake

7-29-09 Good morning! Sorry we have not blogged the last couple of days. We have been very busy. The trip in to Denali National Park (Mt. McKinley) was fabulous. The weather cooperated once again. After breakfast at 5:30, our bus departed at 6:15 am. Our driver, Martin Brewer, was a veteran and told many interesting stories about his family and how he and his wife ended up in Alaska. Within minutes of starting our journey, 2 moose walked behind the bus. Fortunately someone in the back shouted to stop and we backed up to take a better look. Windows dropped and cameras appeared. When we moved on, the bus driver laid out a few rules including no hanging out the windows, no noises, etc. Seems we had broken most of them including some strange moose calls that were coming from inside the bus! (Mr. Hovermale had his new moose call horn with him.)
As the day progressed, we had many animal sightings. The bears were always very far away. We saw Dall Sheep but as they climb near the peaks of the mountains, they were just distant specks seen best with binoculars or a very long camera lens. Golden eagles and ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska, were fairly easy to spot. The question of the day was, "Where is Denali? Which one is Denali? Our driver, Mr. Brewer, said that only 20% of people who come to the park ever see Denali due to the cloud cover that perpetually gathers at the mountain. Cathy Brown insisted that we would see the entire mountain. We had our best views, probably 80% of the peak, on our way in. We stopped at the Eilson Center, a small museum/rest stop of sorts which included a 3-dimensional model of the entire range along with panoramic views of Mt. McKinley(Denali) and its neighboring mountain. On display there was a pair of locked horns, from 2 moose who had battled and died joined at the horns. Our best animal sightings were definitely the moose and caribou. Ron was particularly good at locating animals at a distance. Looking down, down, down from the bus windows into the valleys below, we saw 2 people walking along a stream bed. Not too far behind, 2 caribou were following them. We said the caribou were stalking the humans...or maybe it was the other way around. After 6 hours, several rest stops later, we arrived at the Back Country Lodge at the end of the road...literally. By now we had travelled 95 miles into the park.

Here is a description from the Back Country Lodge's website describing the trip.

The more adventurous take one of the grandest drives on earth. Winding through the Alaska Range, deep into the heart of the Denali park, the "Park Road" offers opportunities to see Denali's famed wildlife: Grizzlies, Caribou, Moose, Dall Sheep, Wolves, and Eagles. And, should the weather smile upon you, above all of it towers Mt. McKinley (Denali) itself, the highest point in North America (20,320 feet). At the very end of the Denali Park road, past Wonder Lake, you'll find a unique enclave in the park known as Kantishna. This area is home to Denali Backcountry Lodge.

When we arrived, a buffet lunch was waiting for us. We had about 2 hours to eat and enjoy some activities at the lodge. While we relax, our bus windows will be washed to remove the dust from the gravel road. Most of us chose to hike or pan for gold in the Nenana River. Ron found some gold, a fleck perhaps, but still gold. Back on the bus after a beautiful 2 hours of sunshine and warmth. No need for our rain jackets on this trip! There are fewer stops on the return trip, however animal sighting still were possible. We were excited to see a caribou on the road ahead of us. Many of us were out of our seats and heading for the windows (or maybe the bus driver's lap) in a flash. We will attach some pictures of this caribou who stayed around and ate a few yards away, completely unconcerned about the busload of people gawking and snapping away with their cameras.
We wanted to see a wolf or a lynx but did not. We returned to our Denali cabin accommodations at around 7:15 pm. Together we drove to the town of Denali for dinner and shopping for souvenirs for our loved ones at home.

Flat Tires, Sunday Services and Off to Denali

7-26-09 I am writing this from the front porch of a cabin at the Denali Back Country Lodge. The wireless internet only works outside. We have just returned from a pizza dinner at the Panoramic Pizza Pub. What a fun place! All enjoyed some horseshoes, corn hole, foosball, and tasty pizza! The weather has fluctuated from rain to sunshine and back to a blue sky. We started off the morning with Johnny noticing that a tire looked a little low on air on his van. Turns out a nail was in the sidewall of the tire. Dave felt the shocks in the same van were "shot" so Johnny and Dick Moomaw drove to Anchorage to exchange the van for a new one while the rest of the crew celebrated the Eucharist at St. David's. Dwight's sermon was excellent. At the conclusion of the service, Cathy Brown presented thank you gifts to the parishioners with the help of Becca York, Ally Kuehm, and Nastia Donner. Our gifts included the navy blue scarves from the diocese of Virginia, Grace Episcopal Church plates, Episcopalian emblem car stickers, and pencils for all of the children of the church. We gave Maddie, the only teen, a Clarke County Eagles scarf and hat. She loved them!

"On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again." Most slept on the drive to Denali which took us about 3 hours plus. Our little cabins at the lodge are sweet. Ally went running and saw a moose! The teens enjoyed time in the hot tub. Some experienced a bit of snow just a few minutes ago and a rainbow is overhead.

Good Quotes from the week - "The Blue Ridge is just a speed bump on the way to Washington compared to these mountains."

"This is a different kind of gold rush!" This was heard on our way to the glacier when we stopped at a rest area with only a few bathrooms.

More About Friday

7-26-09 It's getting more and more difficult to keep up with the blog everyday. Our apologies. We are running a hectic pace as we try to fit more things into our schedule. We may need to break Friday, the "Sarah Palin" day, into a couple of entries. Sunday we head on to Denali. The uncertainty of Internet connectivity may put us out of touch for a few days. Sorry about that.

Although our original mission to the church fell through, our secondary work at the church is going well. The addition to the church is on hold as the construction plans for a required firewall have been stalled in the permits and approvals process. Our sign team has refurbished the St. David's sign on the road. The sign was in desperate need of some loving care; cleaning, painting and landscaping. The church had a plan to landscape around it that was six years old, so our team was able to bring that dream into a reality. The addition that is being added swallowed a big section of the original parking lot. Although a new parking lot area had been created in the construction process, it was in rough shape. Our team has moved large rocks and stones from the parking area itself and used them to make a rock wall outlining the area. We have also thinned and cleared brush, weeds and trees for general house cleaning and so that the church can be seen from the road.

Our final project at the church has been the planting of a community garden to serve as food ministry. Presently St. David's has a firewood ministry that provides free firewood for those in need. Many of the people that we have met have told us about how cold the summer was last year. It rained almost every day with temperatures only reaching 70 degrees twice the entire summer. One parishioner told me that they used their heat system every single day of the year last year. St. David's has a huge firewood pile (which we also helped to stack) in preparation for the upcoming winter. The dream is also to do the same with a vegetable garden to aid those who are in need of food. The dream that they saw and the one that we envisioned coming here were two vastly different things though. St. David's church and Wasilla are in the midst of a magnificent Birch tree forest. Lush would be an understatement. The church has seven acres of land and when Ralph took John on a hike to show him the intended garden area, John and ALL of our crew, expected the path to open up to a nice meadow or field or open area for the garden. But that was not the case. Ralph stopped in the middle of the Birch tree forest. This was the "garden spot". Our project took a giant turn in its scope. We rented a backhoe for the week and Ron became "the man" as he cleared a road to this garden area, knocked down trees and removed brush to cut a garden in the middle of the forest. What most of us thought was an impossibility is now nearing reality. The area has been cleared and leveled and topsoil spread.

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Gardens, Glaciers, and a "Good Looking" Governor

7-25-09 Yesterday was a full day. The garden is almost finished, we hiked on the Matanuska Glacier, and 2 carloads got to "meet and greet" Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin! With speedy drivers Johnny Milleson and Cathy Brown at the wheels of the first 2 vans to leave the glacier, 2 of our vans made it to Patriot Memorial Park in Wasilla where the annual Governor's Picnic was in full swing. (The 3rd van was stopped for construction on the road for more than 20 minutes and didn't make it to the event in time.) It was like a town festival with balloons and a crowd of people. Flags and pins were being given to the families of active duty servicemen and at the conclusion of this ceremony, Governor Palin shook hands and signed autographs. Cathy Brown spoke with Ms. Palin , offering greetings from the Grace Church mission group. Cathy also reminded her that she had met her in Leesburg, VA when she attended a rally carrying an Idaho sign. Mrs. Brown also invited Sarah Palin to attend church at St. David's. Ally Kuehm spoke to Governor Palin about the letter her dad sent to her about our mission trip to Wasilla. After a few moments, the security guards gently pushed Ally away and said it was time to move on. Sarah Palin spoke to Deacon Ann, calling her by name, even though they hadn't seen each other for 4 years. Becca said she wanted a handshake and when she realized it wasn't going to happen, she gently poked Sarah Palin on the back. Ilia was able to get a video of Ms. Palin, as she walked through the crowd with her bodyguards. The most exciting event for our group was when William Bigelow was able to shake hands with Governor Palin, saying it was a pleasure to meet her and was able to get a signature on an Alaskan Legislature pamphlet. William will have to tell everyone all about this when he returns to Virginia! When Governor Palin drove off in her own Ford Explorer, our teenagers joined the crowd of people running behind the car to wave good-bye.

A New Day

7-24-09 Sorry we didn't post yesterday. We worked the entire day to finish the sign project, which looks awesome by the way. The garden project is moving forward with fencing to be installed today. Ron broke the backhoe, the front wheel bearings disintegrated and work ground to a halt. The teenagers picked up the slack and wheel barrowed dirt and carried brush away. We've started begging the locals for rocks. Who would have thought we'd run out of this abundant natural resource?! We asked the auto body shop across the street for some of their rocks to help with all of our rock walls. The kids piled into Lonnie Kelley's pick up and quickly stripped their property (Read parking lot) of all rocks less than boulder size. Whoo hoo! We came, we saw, we conquered. (The rocks anyway.)
After a delicious lasagna dinner (Bette's recipe) we visited a college chum of Cathy Brown's. On the way there, we spotted 2 LARGE hares sitting plop in the middle of the road. They were CUTE but not necessarily wild Alaskan bunnies. The debate is on. Were they pets on the lam or true wild Alaskan rabbits? We'll enclose a photo and you decide. Cathy's friend Roxanne and her husband Steve came to Alaska to teach in the public school more than 30 years ago. Their home is a true Alaskan showplace. Both of them are artists - Roxanne is into fabric arts and photos. Steve creates wooden furniture, walking sticks, and canes out of Diamond Willow trees. We were delighted to hear about growing up in the remote village of Bethel and McGrath from Roxanne's friend, Valerie. More later.

Please forgive the fuzzy pictures. We took the photos from inside the cars and the rabbits were moving quickly.

MOOSE! We win!

7-22-09 Dave, it's not Thursday yet! While you were blogging, we were hunting Sarah Palin. Johnny had a hot tip about where to find her house. Ron had a brand new moose call horn which he bellowed out the moving car window. The combination of Ron and moose calls did not score us a view of Sarah Palin but instead ....a MOOSE! Bette screamed, Lee followed suit and was in Bette's lap with her camera in a flash. Bette said, "Johnny back up, back up!" not knowing there was a car right behind us! Lee jumped out of the van and stealthily started to sneak up on the moose. You could hear Ron in the background saying things like, "Put a tree between you and the moose." or "That Lee is crazy." all the while blowing his moose call horn. When the moose decided to move into the taller grass, everyone got out of the car and walked into the grass to see her. She seemed unconcerned that we were tracking her every move. All of this happened at 10:00 at night which looks like 3:00 in the afternoon at home. When we got back to Meier Lake, Alex was practicing his driving with Dave McGuigan and almost everyone else was in bed. Now it is just past midnight. Elizabeth Brown has just arrived from Hawaii to spend some time with us. Bette whipped out her lasagna recipe and a bunch of us made the dinner for tomorrow night. It is finally "dark" here. Time for bed. Night.

Every Day is Fall Here

The last few days have been very fall like here. Day time temperatures in the lower 60's. The last few mornings have been cool with just a few sprinkles of rain here and there; then clearing in the afternoon and evenings. If you like fall weather, tonight has been spectacular! Cool temperatures with a slight breeze under a partly cloudy sky that is blocking a bright blue sky and sunshine. Presently it is 10:15 pm and it looks like early evening back in Virginia.

In case you're wondering, it never gets fully dark here. Even at 2, 3 or 4 am there is still light. We've been working pretty hard though, so sleep is needed and capable by all.

Time for bed. Lights ouuu......still on. Oh well.

Competition, Even on a Church Mission Trip

It started on the way to the airport. Stephanie and Becca playing yellow punch buggy. Any yellow vehicle they saw on the road counted so many points. But if the vehicle had writing on it or some other characteristic it didn't count. Then memories of playing the alphabet car game on family vacations. That's intense competition stuff. As the trip has continued, new versions of vacation competition emerge every day.

Now that we are in Alaska, game is on full bore! Who will see the first moose, bear, eagle, musk ox, Dall sheep, salmon? Eyes are intense all the time. The search is always on. The "girls" think (Yes, I say think because it is unconfirmed!) they saw a moose running from the lake the other night while they were sitting on the porch. Ilia hits that big jackpot yesterday spotting the eagle. I can't deny that one. We even have pictures of it. The first glacier si ghting just 20 minutes before that. And marmots! That's right, marmots. Have you ever seen a marmot? Not me, but every one else has.

I just couldn't take it any more. So I took nature into my own hands and I went out and found me a moose siting. Even got a picture of it. And while I was at it, I got me a wolf siting. Just don't tell anyone I Photo Shopped the wolf's water bowl and chain out of the picture. But the moose siting, that one is real. No Photo Shop there. The pressure is off now. The competition is over for me. I'm on vacation easy street now. :)

Experiencing Nature

7-21-09 The beauty of nature is apparent everywhere in Alaska. Around every corner and every turn there is something new and "awe" inspiring. Hatcher Pass, the view from our windows at Meier Lake, the view of the mountains when driving in Wasilla, each new sight better than the last. A visit to the stream, rushing, cold, and crystal blue. We started our adventure looking down at the perfectly rounded boulders placed as stepping stones for exploring the area. Then our attention was sent heavenward when Ilia spotted the bald eagle. The eagle seemed to be mocking us while he ate, turning his tail feathers in our faces. As we got back in our vans, the majestic bird flew away.

The view in downtown Wasilla.