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| Derek asleep on the couch - just like at home We slept in the RV in Kelley's driveway and Derek would get up before us. He couldn't wait to go in Kelley's house and see what was going on - and use the WiFi. And, like at home, he would crash for his mid-morning nap. All photos for this day All photo albums |
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| Adam is up |
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| Helen started cutting the chocolate for chocolate chip cookies |
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| The scary blanket with a picture of Kelley and Paul in the costumes they wore to a Halloween party a few years ago |
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| We still didn't really have things figured out. We would all sit around visiting because there was no set plan. We finally decided that Kelley would drop us off downtown for some sightseeing and then we would rent some bikes and meet everyone on the coastal trail. |
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| Helen and her mooses I finally had to break it to her that since there appeared to be so much moose paraphanelia everywhere that there were probably many other people that love mooses and that she doesn't "own" mooses. The word "own" became a new catch phrase on our trip. We had some good discussions about "owning" things. I tend not to get too excited about anything. Fanatics creep me out - even about things I like - like sports. I prefer the dispassionate, analytical, observer role. I don't like terms like favorite, best, or worst. What's your favorite color or food? I don't know - it depends. Helen is pretty even keeled as well and I think it's cute when she gets excited about the handful of things she "owns". I concede that passionate people make the world more colorful and fun and I enjoy observing them. I just can't suspend my own reality and join them. I used to get a lot more excited about Christmas when I was little, but that feeling wasn't "real". I would rather know the truth and have something be "real" and adjust accordingly - even if it's not as fun. |
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| Love the grass roof on the information center. We saw a number of buildings on our trip with grass roofs. |
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| There were a number of food carts - mainly advertising reindeer sausage. The famous reindeer sausage guy's stand had a long line so Adam decided to get one from this guy, who claimed they all get their meat from the same distributor. |
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| Derek was set on going to go the famous guy, but tasted Adam's and decided it was good enough |
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| Balto statue - the ceremonial start of the Iditarod |
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| We went looking for an ATM and then a bathroom and ended up in the mall and then the Apple store |
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| Alaskans make a big deal of showing off their summer flowers |
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| We walked a ways to the start of the coastal trail where there were some bike shops |
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| Texting Kelley to coordinate a meeting place |
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| We decided to head down past the Alaska Railroad depot to Ship Creek while we waited for Kelley |
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| No salmon running now. The early salmon run was done and the main run had not started. |
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| We told Adam that we took a picture of Derek in a field of flowers like these the last time we went to Alaska when Derek was just a year old |
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| I thought we could get back to the start of the bike trail by going along the coast. I was wrong. We ended up at the port and had to traverse some slippery muddy conditions. Adam was not happy with me. |
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| The boys telling Aunt Kelley how I screwed up and made them go the wrong way |
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| A girl and her bike. Kelley loves her blue bike. |
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| Jason and Laine met us at the park |
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| We had a beautiful long ride back to Kelley's house - except for the part where we lost Helen We were almost to Kelley's with Kelley and the boys leading, me in the middle, and Helen, Laine, and Jason trailing. Laine stopped to take off her jacket and Jason stopped with her. I followed Kelley and the boys thinking Helen was with Jason and Laine. Jason and Laine decided to take a different way home instead of catching up to everyone. At the trail end we waited for everyone, but they never came so we assumed they went home another way and headed home ourselves. When we got to Kelley's, Jason and Laine were there but Helen was not. We all felt sick about Helen and Kelley and I went back out to find her. I went one way and ended up in a neighborhood with some shady guys with some pit bulls. That made me really worried. Kelley went the other way and pretty quickly found Helen. Luckily Helen stayed near the last place she saw everyone. Poor thing. She was very upset - mostly at me because I "didn't have her back". I tried to plead that it was difficult to keep and eye on the boys up front and her behind, but it took her some time to get over this one. |
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| Grilled burgers for dinner |
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| Helen and Adam finished up the cookies |
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| We had an early morning flightseeing reservation in Talkeetna the next morning and I wasn't sure how long it would take in the RV, so I wanted to try to get there the night before instead of leaving early in the morning |
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| We didn't get on the road until about 11 pm. Much later than I wanted, but there were a couple of things in our favor: 1) It was still light outside so, even though I wasn't real comfortable driving the RV yet, at least I didn't have to do it in the dark and 2) There were beds so everyone could sleep while I drove. |
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| There was no traffic on the road and, amazingly, no road construction. In Alaska, the roads are always being worked on due to the damage caused by the weather and unstable base. |
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| It was gorgeous. It was so nice to be able to travel at night and still see everything. In Atlanta, we make a big deal about the 4th of July with the Peachtree Road Race and fireworks, but in Anchorage there were hardly any decorations that we remember. I guess not getting dark puts a damper on the festivities. Kelley said that people usually shoot fireworks at midnight on the 4th. On our way to Talkeetna, it was technically the 5th, but we did see some gatherings of people shooting fireworks. There were ATV paths alongside most of the paved roads and we would see ATV's with whole families loaded up and headed for a fireworks gathering we had passed many miles up the road. |
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| As we approached Talkeetna, there was the most beautiful stratification of the clouds with what looked like an illuminated painting of the Mt McKinley mountain range sandwiched in the distance |
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| We eventually made it to the town of Talkeetna and found a place to park the RV |
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