Denali

"Denali" means "The High One". It is the largest mountain in North America.  Most Americans know it as Mount McKinley (in accordance with the United States Board on Geographic Names), but Alaskans consider the real name to be Denali.


Last week we had the opportunity to spend a few days at the Denali Education Center.  (See here for their website.)

We stayed in a nice little two bedroom cabin.

The week we were there happened to be the week that there were several children at the center along with their grandparents.

The children were all around Jacob's age and he quickly made friends with them.

The center had all kinds of learning activities during the day.

On one of the days, the children went on a six hour hike up a steep mountain.

Here they are getting ready to leave on the hike.

During that time, the adults went on a two hour hike along the river.

This is our cabin from the other side of the river.

 

Our guide pointed out lots of interesting things on the trail.

The wild flowers were beautiful.

The bright flowers of fireweed could be seen everywhere.

My favorite is the wild rose.

We even saw blueberries that were getting ripe.

My favorite part of the center was the meals.  The yummy food was homemade and wholesome and I didn't have to cook it!

The highlight of the trip was visiting the Denali National Park.  In an effort to keep the park in its natural state as much as possible, only a certain number of people are allowed in every year.  No cars are allowed on the (dirt) roads after mile 15. 

We drove as far as we could (to mile 15) then went on a hike along the river. 

Jacob then decided he wanted to climb to the top of a big rock.

He and Brent climbed up...

and explored the little cave-like openings.

They made it to the top!

To go farther into the park, you buy a bus ticket and ride in by bus.  The bus depot had these beautiful windows depicting the wild life in the park.

We chose the 66 mile trip which took a total of 8 hours.

Every hour or so, the bus stopped so we could stretch our legs and use the outhouse.

When we saw wildlife out the bus window, we would call out for the driver to stop.  We could then view the wildlife (from inside the bus) and take pictures.

We saw LOTS of caribou.

We also saw Dall sheep

We were even fortunate to see a couple of bears.  

(We also saw a moose far up on the hill.  That wasn't very exciting for our family since we see them up close in our neighborhood.)

 We reached our destination and had about 45 minutes to eat lunch and and enjoy the scenery at the visitors center.

 The day was a little overcast so Denali was hidden partly by clouds.

Our trip to Denali Park and the Denali Education Center was a wonderful little four day vacation for us.  It was fun to experience another part of Alaska.

Bore Tide

A few weeks ago, we read in the newspaper that the largest "bore tide" of the summer was coming.  We decided to read about bore tides to find out what they are.

"The bore tide is a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a broad bay. Bore tides come in after extreme minus low tides created by the full or new moon.  Bore tides occur all over the world—there are around 60 of them—but only a few are large enough to make a name for themselves.  Alaska’s most famous bore tide occurs in Turnagain Arm, just outside Anchorage. It climbs up to 6 – 10 feet tall and can reach speeds of 10 to 15 miles per hour. It takes not just a low tide but also about a 27-foot tidal differential (between high and low tide) for a bore to form in Turnagain Arm."

We decided to go see what this phenomena of nature looked like.

A lot of other people decided to do the same thing.  The cars were lined up for miles.

The show of nature wasn't quite as spectacular as we had expected.  The tide came in quickly, but there were no huge waves.  (There was no wind at all which I understand affected the waves -- or lack of them.)

 But, Jacob had a great time climbing on the rocks.

It was pleasant to be outdoors, enjoy the sunshine, and watch the tide come in.

4th of July

This year we attended the city of Anchorage 4th of July parade.  We had always gone to the parades in Corona and loved that fun event.  We decided we needed to see what the parade is like in Anchorage.

 

 There were creative floats.

 There were fancy cars.

 

 There were crazy bikes.

 

 My favorite were the bands.  There was a bagpipe band.

 But, my favorite was the regular good old American band that played patriotic music. 

Nothing says "The 4th of July" like patriotic music!

Jacob saw his Honor Band teacher playing the trombone so that was the highlight for Jacob.

We then went home and watched the movie "1776" and had a barbeque.  We did not stay up until midnight to watch fireworks.  Afterall, even at midnight it is not that dark outside which doesn't make for the best fireworks show.  We'll wait until New Year's Eve for fireworks.

We sure are thankful to our founding fathers for having the courage to declare independence and pave the way for this wonderful country--the United States of America.

God Bless America!

California Trip- Final Week

After the excitement of the wedding and a few days of fun in California, everyone returned home. The girls and their families flew home.  Brent flew home.  Jacob drove with Elise to Las Vegas to spend a week with her, Austin, and Caden.  I stayed for an extra week in California to spend some time with my dad.

On Sunday, Nancy, Todd, and Aaron joined Dad and me for church and dinner.

 

That afternoon there was a solar eclipse.  We figured out that we could make a punch hole in a card and project the sunlight onto the side of Dad's car.

As we sat and watched, we could actually see the shadow of the eclipse changing.

We thought it was interesting to see how the shadow of the tree leaves even looked different.

 On Monday, Heidi and Nancy came down to Dad's.   We cleaned his house then had dinner together.
 

 Amanda did a great job teaching a Family Home Evening lesson.

There was even a fun activity that went with the lesson.

 Tanner entertained us by doing sign language...

 and then getting a treat for "performing".  He is a sweet boy.

 I made sure to get pictures of the shadow boxes that Linda had made. They contain special items that depict Dad and Mom as a couple and then Dad and Mom separately.  Linda did a beautiful job and Dad is so proud of them.

I sure had a good time just relaxing and enjoying time with my dad and my sisters!

It was a fun week.  It was a fun month. It as a fun trip.  

I have memories that will last a life-time!