A Talkeetna Summer

Joe and I spent a good part of the summer of 2008 in Alaska. I arrived in May, excited to see the sun shinning and weather good. The kick off was a 100 mile bike ride with my good friends, Mel and Don, up to Talkeetna from Houston and back. We rode up to the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge and helped them work out all their season opening bugs and enjoyed a lovely evening looking at the mountain. It was Mel and Don's 18th anniversary and they got to spend it with me. We even got to wear shorts, in May, in Alaska; unbelieveable.




Later on in May I got to spend the day with my little nephew Preston and Tash and Ben. It was great to visit and check out Preston's new backyard fort. He is also quite a ball player.



Joe arrived on June 24th and we worked furiously on our new cabin (pictures to follow), until July 2nd when the Blackmore ladies, Syndi, Barbara and Shireel, and Klaus arrived and helped kick off our vaction. Everyone enjoying the little cabin.



We spent the first night in Talkeetna and headed straight to Denali the next day. We arrived at Jodi and Bill's unloaded the car and headed to the park for a hike on the Savage river. It was amazing weather and the wildflower and wildlife were prolific, especially the snowshoe hares. There were hundreds all over the road and trails. That night we had a great dinner at 229 Parks and went back to the house. Joe and I overslept a bit the next morning in Nelson, the best sleeping van; and to our surprise we found that the girls had finished all the trim painting in Jodi and Bills House. Boy were Jodi and Bill thrilled when they got home from their vacation.







Next stop Chena Hot Springs, no pictures of the springs, but we did get a tour of the famous quanset hut ice hotel. We enjoyed all the sculptures, laid down on the ice beds and drank a famous appletini from an ice martini glass. The hot springs were amazing.






On our way south, we stopped and hiked at Angel Rocks. Everyone got to the top, although you cannot see Shireel she is just out of the picture perched on the top and ready to go down. The great weather followed us.



We stopped in Fox for a great dinner at the Silver Gulch Brewery and on the way stopped to gaze at the famous Trans Alaskan Pipeline.




After dinner and crashing a wedding we spend the night at our friend's, Willie and Christine's cozy cabin in Fairbanks. The girls could not believe the daylight at night!



We arrived back from Fairbanks and spent a few days in Talkeetna. Barbara, Syndi and Shireel added their creative touch to our cabin making it a cozy, vibrant home.



We drove the ladies back to Anchorage in our little car and stopped in to visit the Summits for the afternoon.



The weekend after the girls left Mel, Don, Jacob and Anna arrived to check out the new cabin and enjoy some sunny weather and the Moose Dropping Festival. Jacob helped us out with some landscaping.



Anna and Jacob discovered the forest swing at our neighbor Mark's house.






A few days later we met Tash, Ben and Preston up at Byer's Lake for an afternoon of canoeing.



Preston took a mid afternoon nap on the water



The next day Joe and I embarked on our only summer 2008 climb with our friend Ed to Mount Brooks on the North side of the park. Go to Mojo Climb for our trip report and pictures.