SELDOVIA DAYS

We have been having such a pleasant time visiting the Alaska kids!  I haven't been so relaxed in a long time, and wonder of wonders, I am sleeping at night!  Must be the quiet, the fresh air, the stress free life we are having up here.  Beats living next to a 4 lane highway, that's for sure!

Rush hour in Seldovia

So we went fishing the other day.  We set a long line with about 30 octopus baited  hooks hanging from it, and let it set for several hours.  We then went back to check it and hopefully pull in some halibut.

 This is Captain Chris, our son

 Ernie and Chris pulling in the line

 No halibut, just starfish!

But who cares when this is the scenery!

 We hung around the Boardwalk

 We went to the playground at the little park

 We had a beach picnic with all the awesome people up here

 We hid in the tall grasses and fireweed

 We walked around and looked at the pretty flowers

 and gardens

Amy and I picked raspberries and the 2 1/2 year old berry kid ate berries!

Yes, we are having a wonderful time.  The weather has been cloudy and rainy for the most part, but the climate, the scenery and the people are just as awesome as can be! 

NORTH TO ALASKA
 Wow!  It has been almost 2 years since I wrote a blog post!  I guess Facebook has pretty much taken over!  However, I have some friends and family that aren't on Facebook, and I wanted to share some photos with them, so this is the easiest way to do that.  Bear with me....I don't remember how to do many things I used to do daily, but we will give it a try.

This past Sunday we flew to Alaska for a few days to visit Chris, Amy, and grandson Nils.  We arrived in their  little village yesterday about dinner time after an uneventful flight, drive down the Seward and Sterling Highways, and ride on the Alaska Marine Highway system ferry.  The weather has been rainy and cloudy, but we had no problems or safety issues, for which we are thankful.

This morning we went for a walk around this little sleepy village, and I snapped a few photos with my phone because I forgot my camera!

 I didn't have to walk far to snap this first picture.  It is the scene directly out the door of the cabin where we are staying.  This was about 6am, not a creature was stirring, and not a ripple spoiled the mirror surface on the slough.  There was not a sound.  Even the chattering seagulls hadn't awakened yet.

We walked down the old Seldovia Boardwalk which was almost totally destroyed in the earthquate of 65.  Looking back you can see our starting point, the darker blue cabin in the middle. Yes, we are on stilts that are in the water when the tide comes in, so there is water under the cabin and the boardwalk.

 A flower display along the boardwalk.

A collection of teapots holds plants in this garden.

I think the colorful poppies just might be my favorite of the beautiful flowers here.  

 A pretty centerpiece on the picnic table in the little park in the middle of the village.

This was taken at Inside Beach where I was attempting to get a phone signal.  No such luck!  On the far horizon to the right behind the tree covered hill, is Homer, on the other side of Kachemak Bay.  We stayed in Homer on Monday night, in this B&B pictured below.  Our hostess, Debbie, grows fabulous flowers, don't you think?

Now I will attempt to push the publish button and see if it still works!  I am really just fumbling my way through this, trying to remember something I did for 8 years!  If it works, I'll see you again soon!

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!