6/25/96
I am glad that G's mother is OK. MG, if I remember, is treatable and not life threatening.
I have talked to so many interesting people. This morning I spent about 10 minutes with a couple from Texas. They sold their business, bought a Motorhome and left last April. They say they might be back in Texas in Sept. So far they seem to love it. I think their MH. is underpowered or overloaded but they are having a good time and that is the most important thing. I just saw him go by my trailer with binoculars. I think he is a bird watcher.
The days are getting shorter now. I think we are just slightly over 21 hours of sunlight. I believe that means from sunrise to sunset. It is interesting when the weather report says "Today will be partly cloudy and tonight clear with lots of sunshine."
I did my laundry today. Really exciting watching the clothes tumble in the dryer.
Apparently there has been a big exercise with lots of foreign aircraft here. The runway at Eielson runs along the highway and sometimes there are quite a few vehicles parked along side the road watching the jets going up and down. A couple took off while was going by, yes, I stop and watch also. They were side by side, about 50 feet off the ground right in front of me. If I would have known they were going to do that I would have taken a picture.
I saw a Spruce Grouse this afternoon. It ran right in front of my bicycle in the back part of the campground. I watched it for a while and it watched me, then I guess it decided I was no threat so it fluffed its feathers waddled back to the trees. I think it was a hen trying to attract attention to herself to draw me away from her nest. But then again it just might have been just a dumb bird.
The campground is almost empty. There are only 6 rigs staying the night. A far cry from last weekend and I guess this weekend it will be even more crowded. The next two weeks are the busiest time of the year here. I don't see how we could get much busier than last weekend, we had 67 rigs here and there are 78 sites not counting overflow. Come to think of it we had more than that. I forgot to count the overflow and there were about 5 rigs there.
Jeff said that the party will be on the 15th so G won't be able to make it. I was hoping she would be here for it. But, he did mention another party on the 6th of July. I think he said it is up the river and the guy comes down and gets everybody and takes them up and then brings them back later. It sounds like fun.

6/26/96
Last night was interesting. Jeff and Dave wanted to take me out for a beer so off we went. We closed the Snowshoe at around midnight and then went to Moose Creek which is between Eielson and North Pole. After we left there it was a toss up as to which way was easier for Dave. Just to take me to his house or back home. So we ended up at his house and I met his wife, Terri, at 3:00 AM. What a nice lady. She greeted me as if it was not unusual at all, and perhaps it isn't. We talked for a bit while and Dave made some breakfast but by the time he was finished I was fast asleep on the couch, so, that's where I stayed. I woke up around 9:00 in the morning and Dave was sleeping on the other couch. Terri said he does that quite often. He comes home and turns the TV on and falls asleep, she will turn it down so she can sleep after he has drifted off. We chatted over coffee while Dave was getting ready for work. She is an Attorney and I think she practices out of her house. They also have two Springer's, both beautiful dogs, and a cat, and they all shed. They are both very nice people and I enjoy them.
The sky is gray and appears to be scalloped. It is really quite pretty. When I look up it appears as if there are caves and waterfalls and rocks and statues in the sky. Off in the distance there are patches of blue.
If I could stay warm enough this would be an interesting place to spend the winter. I can picture the icy ground and the trees leaning with their burdens of snow. A lonely Moose wandering through, foxes and other small animals foraging for food. The beauty of solitude. Oh well. In reality it would be frozen pipes, no water, never being warm, frostbitten fingers and toes. Sometimes I forget what cold weather is really like.

6/27
It is 6:25 PM. I got back about 20 minutes ago, drove through the park and talked to Dave, got on line, dl'd G's letter and I answered it.
I was at Chena Hot Springs today looking around. They have a lodge and cabins there. Prices are from about 45 to 95 a night. With 45 a primitive cabin with no running water or restroom and 95 a room with 2 dbl beds and a 3/4 bath. I won't make reservations until G gets here but I think she would like it. Some of the activities at the lodge are a dog sled ride, (I think they put wheels on it), horse rides, white water rafting, flight seeing, and a float trip.Saw a few more Moose on the way to the Hot Springs today. They really looked strange with their heads under water. They were feeding on the grass there. I am also seeing a lot more rabbits.
There is a Stern Wheeler in Fairbanks that was recommended. It is about a four hour trip with about an hour spent on an Island where Susan Butcher (Iditarod) keeps her dogs. I have also read a lot about "Alaska Land." I think they have a museum and restaurants there. Their Salmon Bake is supposed to be good also. If G leaves on Wed. in the AM I think I would like to go to Chena Hot Springs on Monday after cleanup, spend the night and then go to Fairbanks on Tuesday and take the Boat trip and see Alaska Land.
While in Fairbanks I went by to see if any of my film had come back. Only one had come back and it had a note saying they couldn't do it the way I wanted them to. I will just send it home with G. I sure hope the other one comes back before I leave. I also went by the Fred Myer store. It was huge. They had almost everything we have in Sacto. but it just cost more. Avocados were 1.65 each, and large white onions were over 1.00 each. They did have a good selection though and it looked nice.
Overall the day was nice and relaxing. I saw a few animals, some Beaver dam's and some very interesting scenery. I also heard something about mosquitoes that I had never heard before. They prefer nectar from fruits, only the female gets blood and that is for her eggs. It's no wonder that there are so many of those little critters. They seem to have and infinite source of food for their offspring.

6/28
I was out at around 8:00 this AM. I seem to be sleeping later now. Of course I don't usually turn off the light until after 1:00. I think that will be a problem when G gets here. I also toss and turn a lot more. I don't know why. I hope I don't interfere with G's sleep to much while she is here.
Scotty, the guy who does the firewood came by this AM to check and see if we needed any. What a character. He is 76 and wants to move into town and buy a condo. Actually he doesn't want to, but he said he is getting to old to shovel the snow from around his house and the hospital is over 45 miles away. In the winter that can be a problem. When he built his house, which is here on the lake, there were no roads so he lashed a platform between two 18 foot cargo canoe's and carried the materials he needed to build it that way. He said he still has one of the canoe's. Now there is a paved road there. It is really interesting to hear some of the people who have been here for many years talk about what it was like when the came here. Some are glad for the change and others don't want it.
Went to Birch Lake to clean up and get the counts. I took Jeff's truck so I could gas it up, as it was almost on empty. Actually Birch and Salcha looked clean. Birch was crowded with almost all the campsites filled. I guess if you had friends you could probably squeeze them in but some of the sites were really tight already. A lady asked if people could come in on Wednesday, and set up their tents for the weekend. It is a free area so I told her they can set up whenever they want. She was disappointed because her favorite sites were taken. She and her family came in Thursday and will be there for about 10 days. I think there were about 3 or 4 families in her group.
Dave said he was coming in at 9:00 the morning but I guess Jeff changed his time. I thought Jeff would be here by now also, as it is 1:00.
Jeff and Dave got in about 2:00. Dave said he tried to call me this AM but the fax kept picking up the line so he couldn't talk or leave a message. I fixed venison tonight. I marinated it and the flavor was OK but I still tend to over cook it. Oh well, I will learn. I marinated it in Apple Juice and wine. There was not a game taste at all.
Dovina Sams, whose son Cullun unhooked our floats last week, was here again. She is really a nice lady. She invited me over for s'more's or banana boat's this evening. I think I will go.
The campground is getting full again. That is so nice to see. I sure hope the weather holds for the Picnic, MDA fun run tomorrow, but I have my doubts. The local HD motorcycle club has this picnic every year.

6/29/96
Well, it rained most of the night and it is now 10:30 and it's still coming down. I feel sorry for those guys who sponsored the picnic today.
I had a nice time last night. Dovina and her brother are both apparently good cooks, at least from the way they were talking, and G and I are invited over to their MH for dinner on Friday. She will be back by then. She said she was going to leave tomorrow but it wouldn't surprise me to see her pull out today with the weather so bad. Her older son Craig (14, I think) is a typical teenager. He got on my nerves a number of times but I think he is really a nice kid. Her brother is probably in his early 20's, she said she raised him, and seems just out of his teens. Dovina is divorced, her ex was West Point (87) but got out like Fred. He has a fairly good job (GS12) in the Corps. of Engineers. They had been stationed her and were transferred to AZ. When he got out he got a job back here doing the same thing he had done before and they both loved it here so they came back. Dovina likes it here and said it is a better place to raise kids than outside. She was talking about a loan that is backed by the USDA. The rate is 2.5%. The restrictions are that you must buy in a town of less than 20,000 and have a steady income of less than 50k a year. She qualifies for a 90k loan and her PITI would be less than 500. She said the Gov't supports it to encourage people to move to rural areas.
Well, I just did something I could probably get in trouble for. There is a family gathering with tents, a small MHO and tent trailer. There are probably about 20 of them, mostly under 12. Those in the tents got soaked last night. Their clothes, jackets, shoes, socks, everything is wet. I just got some of their clothes and am drying them in Jeff's dryer. I don't think he would approve, and I am sure the State of Alaska would not want me giving away electricity for the dryer but I couldn't see those kids continue to shake. And after all someone did something similar for me when I was in Holland and my mother was sick and Rhonda was a baby. I have a tarp in the back of the truck that I will offer them when I take their clothes back.
The rain is continuing to come down. The latest weather report says it will change to showers later this afternoon. I hope those tenters have their family bring more warm clothes and tarp's.
The M/C group got here about 12:30. There were about 35 of them, a far cry from the 150 they expected and probably would have showed up it the weather was nicer. They had reserved the ball field but decided to use a covered beach pavilion instead because of the weather. I hope they do OK. With the weather the way it is we probably won't be to busy this weekend. At least not on the boat ramp. If it clears up though I expect we will get to hopping by Wednesday.
Petra got here and I took her around so she could let everyone know about tonight's program. There was a mix-up regarding the time so we don't know what time the presenter is going to show up. He was told 7:00 but the flyers and publicity all say 8:00 so at least he won't be late. Hopefully he will stay and do the show at 8:00.
I received a Readers Digest from Doris today. That was so thoughtful of her.
The rain continued for most of the day and turned to drizzle about 4:30. The sky is now just overcast and threatening but nothing is coming down - yet.

6/30/96
Well, today it has been 12 years since I married G. Happy Anniversary to us.
I got up to late to clean the pavilion for the Church group, but when I saw them they didn't seem to think it was to dirty so I let it go.
After I went to Salcha I stopped by the lodge for breakfast. It was about two hours before I got out. I didn't realize they were so slow. There were about 12 people in there and non of them had been served. The waitress said something about their grill and they had to use a smaller one and it took longer, ta da, ta da. I told her I didn't care. They harassed me a bit about sitting at the only dirty table in the place so they would have to clean it. I told them it didn't look any dirtier than the others so we started getting along fine. They are nice people, the food is expensive and the service is slow but the people are nice and the food is good... Attached to the Lodge is the Grocery Store, Post Office and Liquor Store. That is essentially the town. There is a bar and hardware store down the street also. I would like to find out where their Search and Rescue is located. I still want to talk to those people.
The Campground is kind of quiet today. The weather has been rainy and cool so not to many people are out this weekend.
Last night we had a talk by the Fish and Wildlife Ranger from Kanuti Wildlife Refuge. It was really interesting. The refuge is larger than the State of Delaware, it contains an assortment of plant life, from wetlands to desert species. There are almost 160 species of birds, including waterfowl and shorebirds. Salmon will travel over 1000 miles to spawn there, Caribou from the Western Arctic herd will sometimes winter there, the ducks banded there migrate along the North American flyways. It has a temperature range from 90F to -70F (160 degrees) which is among the widest on earth. There are no roads or developments on the refuge.
After the talk Jeff called me over and said he was having problems with a couple of families in site 77 &78, the same people I helped this morning. He said they were drunk, yelling and very profane. He had to call John, his supervisor (who is also a Trooper) to come over and help out. They got things settled down somewhat and left but Jeff told me to watch out for them and to call him and 911 if there were any problems. There were no problems. I went by a few times before I went to bed and they just waved and smiled. This AM I asked one of them to move a car that apparently came in after I went to bed and it was done right away, and they were very friendly.
We went to Salcha this evening and the River is way up. The campground looked clean, we talked with a few fisherman, caught a couple of guys who were trying to get away without paying and headed back.
I talked with G this evening. It sure was nice to hear her voice. By this time Tuesday she will be here. In fact, in less then 48 hours we will be sitting here. It's not like I am anxious or anything.
I think Jeff and I are going out for a beer in a few minutes but I want to get back early. I have a lot to do tomorrow and I want to start cleaning this place.
Well, we went for a beer or three. I ended up drinking Diet Coke while Jeff had his last beer. So now here it is Monday morning, the first of July and I am ready for bed. Hopefully I can be sleeping by 1:00 but I don't know. I guess I will let the dishes wait until the AM and not bother with coffee tonight. One nice thing about it is I can say that tomorrow my friend-lover-wife will be here. I am so anxious for her to arrive. I hope she is not disappointed in the area. I wouldn't want to live here but I would like to come back in the fall sometime. I wish we had a timeshare here or near here.
With the rain and clouds it is hardly light enough to read outside and it just a little after midnight. Time for bed.

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