August 9, 2010 We had a very special treat!! Pam & Jim, Jack's brother came to visit us for a couple of days. They were taking a cruise, but came in early for our visit. Here we are way up North, and family comes to visit. How special is that? One of Jim's school friends and his wife met us for dinner at the Silver Gulch. Good food, and good company!
We spent one day going to Ice Sculpture House, the Knotty Shop, Pioneer Village, the Alaskan Pipeline, and of course, Santa's House. Shari and Art joined us one evening at the State Fair. We had such a great visit with them.
August 13, 2010 Jack participated in the 'Senior Olympics' in Fairbanks, in Archery. He took first in his age group (he was the only one), but be got the highest score of all groups. Not bad for an old guy.----(that's what he says about himself)---- , While participating, he met this fun lady, RJ Nelson, from Nenana, a neighboring town to Fairbanks. One of the days was the opening celebration, and Jack and RJ entered everything. It was fun to watch them participate..
August 16, 2010 We were in Pioneer Park, with Jack and the puppies doing one of their favorite things, eating ice cream and smelling the territory. (you figure out which does what). haha
Jack found another friend, and one of them seems a bit confused. We really liked to go to Pioneer Park, and went there several times. There was a street that had been lined with some of the early houses from the Fairbanks area. Most of the houses had plaques on them stating the year they were built and who lived there.
August 18, 2010 We took a holiday from Sportsman's Warehouse parking lot, and drove to Denali, Alaska. What a nice time we had. We camped at a quiet campground for three days not far from the town of Denali.
While there, we toured the little shops and ate some yummy food. There were lots of cute little shops, but my eye was drawn to "Dizzy Lizzie's" where they had the cutest Gypsy skirt, but I resisted and walked away. There was even a quilt shop with hundreds of fat quarters, and I resisted and walked away there, too. If I finish all the projects I brought with me I will be doing good. I have managed to make two quilts and several crochet items on this trip, and have purchased a couple of kits for quilts. So, I'm not completely depriving myself of new projects.
One thing we have found since we arrived in Alaska, the people really like to eat. Whenever we order there is so much food, sometimes Jack even has a problem eating everything, and I definitely do. I just want to snack off his plate and not have my own.
August 20, 2010 We took a long tour through Danali National Park and saw many moose, caribou, wolf and grouse. It was a good tour, and we were provided a good box lunch. The bus was not full, so there were empty seats, which housed unclaimed box lunches. So, Jack was able to have more cookies.......
August 22, 2010 The lady from Nenana, RJ, that Jack met during the archery tournament, told us that her town was going to be having a big celebration and invited us down. Well, it was on the way back from Denali, so we went. What a good time we had!!! First we attended church in what I say was right out of Little House on the Prairie. We were a bit detained getting there, as we stopped for road construction and couldn't get the coach started again. We got a jump, and when we arrived, church had already started and the small but beautiful building was packed full. The newly elected Bishop was there to meet and greet the people of Nenana.
Afterwords, in a building close by, a potluck lunch was served. We then went back to the coach and took a little siesta till time for the next event. The town had erected a monument for the Alaskan Scout Troop that served during World War II, and were responsible for guarding the Alaskan boarder. It was a lovely ceremony with some of the old timers telling stories they remembered, which furnished us with some insight as to the history. Right after this dedication, we went to the Community Center for the naming of the building. It was being named for one of the prominent members of the community that had recently died. Then, we attended our first 'Potlatch' event.A Potlatch is generally a celebration for some event, like a wedding, funeral, graduation or other major event. Basically, it is an eating, singing and dancing event, and this is how it goes. people sit in chairs or on the floor in back to back rows. There are strips of paper laid on the floor in front of you, and you set your plate on the paper. Servers go up and down the aisle putting food on everyone's plates. It is rude to refuse any of the food. You don't have to eat it all, but you don't refuse any of it. At one point Jack received a fish head, as a sign of honor, and I was excited when I received a cup of what looked like berry cobbler. I was enjoying it and was then told it was fish eggs, crisco and sugar. I thought about that lard going down my arteries...and was reminded that fish oil is good for you. Yummmm After dinner, the dancing and singing begin.... We really had a good time with our visit there. Thanks RJ....
Another fun tradition in Nenana is the Tripod. People from everywhere send in a bet as to when the tripod will fall through the ice. They guess down to the second. The money pot is usually very high. $279,030 was the pot for 2010.....
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