Another Perfect Day

After fretting a couple times that the weather might fail us, I can say now that the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce's must be paid in full in the meteorological heavens. I don't think we could have scripted better weather for being out and about in Alaska.

The days started, as you know, with us at the Midnight Sun ballgame that ended perfectly and in perfect light. We caught a few hours of shut-eye, behind our heavy opaque curtains, before rolling out for another day in Alaska's interior.

We wrapped up sightseeing and souvenir shopping downtown, got some much coveted smoked salmon strips (know lovingly by all as "squaw candy") and Noah even got some Alaskan roasted coffee beans - which he swears are qualitatively different from those roasted anywhere else in the world Whatevuh.

We made a quick run through UAF (that's the University of Alaska / Fairbanks, to y'all outsiders). I was quite surprised that we were able to see south to the Alaska Range and based on map legend laid out before us, we enjoyed the rare privilege of seeing Mt McKinley in the far distance due south.

Then off on the Riverboat Discovery. It's one of those touristy things that are part of any true Alaskan heritage or visit - and we're very glad we did.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at Craig & Cathy B's home (along with Ryan, and Chris, and Joey, of course). Craig and I were classmates for 6 year until I moved to "the states" in 1970 and that's where our friendship rested until I tracked him down last summer. How can I say this, Craig is as good a friend as I could expect if we have lived in the same town all these years. He (and his family) are generous, loving, and have an incredible gift of making strangers feel like they belonged in their home. I am deeply moved by the way love is made known.

All that was enough, quite enough, for a good day, but we squeezed in a quick run on down the Richardson Highway to see the US armament at Eielson Air Force Base. Wow. We're in good shape folks. On the way back, we picked up a little armament of our own - a few fireworks to shoot off on our trip to Chena Hot Springs tomorrow.

Now, along the way, I stopped by a small, roadside lake just to soak up a little more local flavor. Alyse, Isaac, Noah, Gideon, and I all got out, stretched our legs, skipped a few rocks and headed back to the van. Joshua was missing. Alyse said, "I chewed him out for running through the woods with his knife out." (see posts on that topic below) WHAT?? I jumped out of the van and started yelling and whistling for him. You can imagine the thoughts that were going through my mind. He eventually sounded out and eventually (later) drug himself out of the woods about a quarter of a mile from where the rest of us had walked around, announcing, "I'm gonna kill something!" He used to be so mellow.

Good night.