Early Adventures

Tim and I have been married 3 weeks and are still having a great time just being together in the same state and time zone!  

We went caribou hunting 2 weeks ago - twice and we are going again this coming weekend. 

We saw a lot of caribou but Tim didn't shoot any because they were all "too small" in his opinion. THEY WERE HUGE!!! LOL!!! 


We almost hit several with the truck when a herd decided to cross the road right in front of us! I took pictures. 













The scenery is AMAZING!! Every day the landscape looks different! I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams! When we were up in the mountains the first day of hunting, we stopped at an overlook to glass for caribou. I was shocked by the SILENCE! There was absolutely no traffic noise, no rustling leaves, no birds... NOTHING. It made me realize how much sound there is even in the quiet valley in which we live. 

While we were out hunting caribou, we saw an eagle, a moose, a porcupine  and several flocks of swans. 

One of the flocks was flying over as were hiking back to the truck. Tim told me to stand very still. He then called to them and the whole flock circled around to check out the "swan" that was left behind.

Last week I received a text from Tim telling me to grab my camera because the sunrise would be beautiful that day. He wasn't joking. I hopped in the car and drove to several places taking photos as the sky turned different shades of pink, orange and blue.

I have a lead on a part-time aide job with the school in Glennallen. The pay is low but it would be a start. I would be working with kids from 2nd grade through high school and doing a variety of things from monitoring an independent learning session to monitoring lunches to helping a special needs student with learning phonics.

 

I am LOVING the cooler weather! The days have been pretty pleasant so far, ranging in temp from  0 to the 50's. Although that seems cold to y'all, it is NOT at all as cold as those temps would feel there with the humidity.  We now have a couple of inches of snow on the ground and the world sparkles when the sun shines.  I do not miss the gnats, but I have found out that Alaska has biting flies! One bit me on my thumb when we were on our honeymoon and my thumb swelled up and was sore for about a week!  Now that the show has come, the bugs will be gone until spring.

We drove to Anchorage last Friday to take care of some appointments and do the shopping for the next 6-8 weeks. It was a long day in town and we ended up driving home after dark . Normally, Tim tries to get through the worst section of the trip while it is still light, but this trip ran longer than he would have liked. However, that night the northern lights were incredible! They were green bands with tinges of pink that danced across the sky all night, getting dimmer and then brighter in areas. I was in awe of God's artwork and wished I had brought my camera in order to try to capture the beauty. It is forever stamped in my memory! 


 

 

  

Honeymoon

Before you get too excited.... No, I am not going to give details of our honeymoon!  I do want to share the photographs and tell you about the special place we went, in case you want to work it into your next trip to Alaska.

 




Friday morning Tim and I drove to Chena Hot Springs - about a 5.5 to 6 hour drive from home in Copper Center. The drive was spectacular and the weather was nice enough to be able to see the sites!

There were bushes and trees that were covered in the yellows of Fall and in places, the tundra looked like it was smoldering red coals.

 All the color was against the backdrop of the multicolored mountains and the dark gray-green spruce trees. 













We stopped along a couple of streams along the way and saw the last of the red salmon spawning before winter hits. 

Chena Hot Springs was discovered by miners and the springs exit the ground around 140 degrees Farenheit year round. They cool the water that they pump into their outdoor pool surrounded by rocks large boulders, to a temperature around 107 degrees. The water is very hot but the sulfur and minerals in the water make it very soothing. The Japanese especially like to visit Chena Hot Springs in the Fall and Winter since the northern lights are often seen on clear nights. 

While we were there, several caribou were delivered to the resort.  They are in a huge fenced area that extends up into the hills behind the resort.  They were raised in captivity, so the resort area will be more like natural habitat to them than they have known so far.

We spent a few days enjoying the area; walking in the woods and around the grounds, eating in their restaurant and taking tours of their ice museum and their geothermal power plant and greenhouses where they produce all the power necessary for the resort and grow much of the fresh vegetables used in the restaurant. They also offer dog sled rides and tours of the kennels, horseback trail rides, hiking trails and helicopter rides, as well as full spa services.

Inside the ice museum were intricate ice carvings and 4 rooms where guests can stay overnight if they wish. The beds are carved ice covered with plywood. The tour guide said no one had actually ever stayed the complete night. We didn't try it.

We ended our trip with a stop in Fairbanks to have lunch with my nephew Nick and go shopping before heading home.

 

The Wedding

Here I am... Already feeling like an Alaskan and I have been here less than 4 weeks!  So let's catch up on the news and photos. 

I left from the Tallahassee airport on Wednesday September 19, 2012 very early in the morning and arrived as scheduled in Atlanta with no snafus.  The rest of the trip was not so smooth.  The weather was stormy when I arrived in Seattle around lunchtime.  The clouds were so thick that I could not see the ground AT ALL until right before the plane touched down.  Thankfully, the pilots know how to safely land those jets without being able to actually see the runway. 

 



The skies started to clear a little by the time my flight to Anchorage took off and I was pleased to be able to see the Pacific coast line as we flew well over Canada.

The mountains were spectacular and the fall colors were beautiful. 



 The closer we got to Anchorage, the worse the weather became until we received a message that we would have to divert to Fairbanks or Juneau due to heavy rain and high winds.  We ended up in Juneau for a short time - a place I had not seen yet. 

Although Juneau is the capitol city of Alaska, it is not the large metropolis I expected. It is bordered by the sea and ringed by mountains - overall a beautiful place (from my vantage point in the air anyway). We only had to stay long enough in Juneau to re-fuel the jet, so they didn't even have us deboard the plane. Soon we were on our way to Anchorage again to attempt landing for the second time. The weather was still pretty rough, so we rocked and rolled our way around the city and waited for a long enough break in the winds to get the jet on hte ground. I smiled as we touched the ground thinking, "I'm home!" 

 

 

My parents, sister Becky and neice Ella met me at the airport.  It was nice to be able to catch up with them a bit over dinner before the treacherous 4 hour trip through the mountains in the torrential rains. 

I was thankful to be tired enough to sleep through that trip!

The wedding was at Tim's church since it was too windy to hold the ceremony outside, but it was a warm and partly sunny day!  No rain!  Tim has since shown me the 3 spots he had picked out for our wedding if we would have been able to have it outdoors.  They are all beautiful, and I appreciate the thought that went into choosing them! 






Below are some selected pictures from the wedding.  Feel free to browse...

 

We were both so happy to finally be having our wedding!



Tim's daughter Chantelle and granddaughter Valori were able to attend!

 

The ceremony was short, sweet and to the point!

I have to thank my sister for picking out the flowers - they were BEAUTIFUL and just what I would have chosen!

Ella brought her Sacagawea doll as an extra guest :-)

After the wedding, we all went to the Caribou restaurant for an early supper and cupcakes!


We were all happy to have the wedding done!