REMEMBER LAST YEAR?

Do you remember this time last year?  I had been busy for weeks, filling two freezers with tomatoes, beans, broccoli, peppers, applesauce, etc.

Well, it's a good thing I filled them so full last fall, as this year has not been nearly as productive.  The garden did not produce like it did last year, and we left for a whole month during the peak of the harvest.  The tomatoes will be fine for spaghetti sauce and chili, the beans are still great in the soups, and the peppers can still flavor the sauces.  I did get some apples and have made some apple sauce, I've done some freezer pickles, and I have pears and nectarines coming.  Otherwise, it's been an off year for the freezer foods.

HOME

We arrived home at noon yesterday, just in time for Ernie to hook the TV back up and turn on the Vikings game, while I unloaded the car and put away the stuff, clean the frig, went to get groceries, and fill the Berkey with fresh water!  I was really tired last night after not sleeping well the whole week driving home, so after a nice hot shower I went to bed before 10.  And someone's alarm clock went off at 1:30, waking me from the first good sleep in a month!  Fortunately I was able to go back to sleep and I feel refreshed this morning,

Thought I'd post a bunch of random photos from the wedding weekend.  It was so much fun!

 At the rehearsal, the groom and groomsmen were a fashion show of colorful Grateful Dead shirts!

 Bridesmaid granddaughter Kjirsten and groomsmen grandson Adam, two of the groom Aaron's siblings.

Daughter Kari and son-in-law Mike put on a fabulous groom's dinner.....Mike grilled well over a hundred kabobs!

Granddogs Cooper, Marley and Ziggy on the morning of the wedding.  Looks like they had a rough night!

Mike cooking pancakes and eggs for the wedding day breakfast.

The whole wedding party, including all 5 flowergirls and the 2 ringbearers.

The girls of the wedding party with beautiful granddaughter Kjirsten holding flowergirl Maggie, 11 months, with flowergirl Abby, 2 years, in front of her.  The colors were a soft champagne color with the two maids of honor in shades of a soft pink and a darker rose/ burgundy color.  The men had a soft sage green color for their ties.  It was a lovely color combination.  The flowergirl's dresses were also an off white/champagne/ color.

Miss Abby was fascinated by her flowers.  She especially liked the ivory roses, and she traced the circular pattern of the petals with her fingers, over and over and over.

Miss Maggie carried her bottle, not flowers!  

This is one of the baby ringbearers!  They were so cute in their suspenders and black pants and white shirts!

Two of the other flowergirls.  Aren't they precious?

The bride and groom with his family.  From the left they are: Ben, Anna, Mike, our beautiful daughter Kari, Callie, Aaron, Adam, Kjirsten, Katie, and Kjirsten's husband Ryan, and the two princesses, Abby and Maggie.  Katie's husband Clayton was still on the way up when the photos were taken.  Bummer that he isn't on this awesome family photo!

 The video guy, our grandson Caleb.

The female portion of the wedding party, minus Miss Abby who was sitting with her daddy at this point.

The vows.  I am so happy this awesome couple chose to make Christ the focal point of their wedding day!

Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Fletcher!

The first dance.

So in love.

Completely worn out after all that hard work being a flowergirl!

 She was a blur all evening at the dance, whirling and twirling in her pretty dress!  She was still going strong when we left the dance!

It was a fun, family and love filled day.  Thank you God for the gift of a beautiful day, wonderful family and the love that this newly married couple share!

THE WEDDING

We are still at the motel.  Yesterday we enjoyed the wedding of our oldest grandson, Aaron, and his sweetie, Callie.  I'll post a few pictures later, but for your viewing pleasure this morning, I give you the Great Grand Princess, Flowergirl Abby!

IT'S BEEN A BLUR......

No, I haven't forgotten you.  It's just taking me awhile to accept the fact that I'm again going to be almost 4000 miles away from my youngest grandson.  It's been rough.  The roads, the weather, and my attitude....all rough.  But, I have decided that I need to focus on my oldest grandson's wedding on Saturday rather than on leaving the youngest grandson in Alaska.  I love you dearly Nils, but this weekend belongs to Aaron and Callie.

Tok to Whitehorse on Sunday.  Whitehorse to Fort Nelson on Monday.  Fort Nelson to Whitecourt on Tuesday.  And Whitecourt to Saskatoon today.  I know it means nothing to you, but it is a blur to me.  We had rough roads, construction, and rain until today.  We had long days, many miles, and arrived late each night.  Today we arrived at a decent hour, and I had time to enjoy cooking and eating our dinner for a change.

However, I do believe that the scenery is more spectacular on the return trip than on the trip up.  Same road, same mountains, but different views.  I'll post a few pictures, but remember; all were taken through a wet dirty windshield, at 55-65 MPH.  No quality in the photos, that's for sure!  But it was beautiful!

The Garmin is saying to drive 587 miles on the same road to your destination!

 I love when you can see miles ahead and see the road curving off into the horizon. 

Even in the rain.

At the Watson Lake gas station.  The flowers here are spectacular.  

Not too many department stores are so decorated!

 The whole boulevard is decorated with lovely flowers and flags.

 There were a lot of different clouds in the past couple of days.  Nice even when there wasn't any sunshine.

Saw the big guy along the road.

 And probably another 100 or so were traveling along the highway with him.

We did have a few peeks of sunshine.

Excuse me!  I want to cross the road right here in front of you!

 Plenty of gravel again.

And we played the 'follow the pilot car' a few times.

See how they have the road cleared along the highway for safety for us and the animals who may decide to cross.

 Many trucks.

 These behemoths really scare me.  They are 3 sections of trailer, and the logs are seemingly just piled on top of each other.  I am so afraid that they will roll off and squash the little Prius.  And me!

Today we traveled the whole day on 4 lane highways through lots of farmland.  

Thank you Milepost!  Once again you have seen us through!  This is the 5th copy of this book we've purchased as a travel companion along the highways of the north.  It's pretty accurate....listing most all of the gas stations, motels, restaurants, rest stops, pull offs, trash cans, and outhouses along the highway.  There are milepost signs along the highway that correspond with the listings in the book so it's easy to see where you are at all times.  So many places have closed since our first trip up the road in 1992 that it's necessary to buy a new book each time if you want to know for sure where your next gas or potty break is going to be!

Tomorrow, God willing, we will be in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  Hope to connect with our son there, even if it's only for a few minutes to hug the grandkid, Sammy!  Then Friday morning it's off to the retreat where the big wedding is taking place this weekend.  It's been a long, but good trip!

FALL HAS ARRIVED IN THE YUKON

I believe it was in the upper 30's when we got up this morning, and was just a bit over 40 when we left.  The fall chill is definitely in the air.  We spent the night in Tok, and had a rough night.  A circuit must have blown in our room, and Ernie's breathing machine didn't run.  Neither of us slept after 2 am, him because he didn't have his machine, me because he would drop off to sleep, snore, wake up, thrash around, and drop off and snore again, etc, etc, etc.  We are both tired and a bit short tonight.

 Over 200 hundred of the miles we drove today were frost heaves and construction.  This is definitely the worst stretch of road on the whole highway.

We stopped for gas at the Alaska/Yukon border station, and there he was.....Okay, ready?  All together now.  "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.........Quoth the raven,  "nevermore." "

Yes, the Yukon is larger than life.  It is a huge, sparsely populated, wild, beautiful province, and I love it!

Don''t love the construction, though.

It is a way of life up here, I guess!

There is color in the hills.

There is new snow on the top of the hills.

The flats were all yellow mixed in the green spruce.

And this was probably the most beautiful spot of the day.  Lake Kluane with the bright yellow, gold and orange along the shore.

Do you see the two bikers along the right side?  I think these were just day riders, but we have seen many riders who are obviously doing the whole highway.  They are loaded down with gear and are very slim and trim and are peddling up and down the hills like no body's business.

Another pretty spot of bright yellow in the midst of the green spruce.

And then comes the weird display in Haines Junction.  Animals of the Yukon are seemingly jumping out of a cone of cement.  This is the 10th time I've seen it, and I still fail to understand!

More frost heaves close to Whitehorse.  And rain.  And clouds.

And here I am, cooking supper in the alley behind the hotel.  Chicken and potatoes and carrots.  And I am pooped.  With no sleep last night, I think my hot shower in about 7 minutes is going to knock me out! 

Tomorrow is our longest mileage day....over 600 miles.  See you then!