Welcome to the Dust Bowl

The view on Coal Mine Road- close to the top of th world

Picking blueberries with friends- Ches LOVES blueberries

Lowbush blueberries on Coal Mine Road

Curious Caribou- This male was all alone- but isn't he beautiful?

Chessa ready to ride!

We have been busy, busy, busy. We're trying to explore more of our area and enjoy our first summer in Alaska, before the snow flies. I swear I can smell fall already, so I don't think it will be long now.

I've been away because our mini is still down, and well, we're moving so I just don't have time to get it all up and running right now. So, I'm bopping in to say "Hi" and tell you what we've been up to.

*Blueberry picking- Sunday we went out and picked piles and piles of blueberries. Everywhere we looked there were tiny bushes loaded with plump blue berries. We picked for hours and hours and came home with a big pail of berries for the freezer. What a treat! I was hoping to get out again this week, but with moving and work, I just don't think we'll get there.

*Cutting wood- Our new home, which we move into Saturday, has a wood stove in addition to the Toyo. So, we are stocking up on piles of wood. After we picked our fill of berries on Sunday we headed further into the woods, which is a forest fire area from 1998(?). The wood is spruce but it's the perfect size, and they say it's the best around. Since it's free, it sounds like the best for me. We cut a trailer full and should have a good start on a warm winter.

*Riding- We've been out riding the ATV. It's so relaxing and since Delta has trails that lead anywhere you care to go, we ride a lot. I'm dreading winter when we can't access some of the gorgeous trails we're on now. While riding this weekend we stopped to watch a family of spruce grouse that were on the trail. Mother Hen and her quads just wandered around, taking their time, and eventually Mama rushed them off into the safety of the woods.

*Shopping- With more space comes the need for more stuff. In reality it's not a lot of stuff, but we will need some pieces of furniture, and to Brent's delight we needed a chain saw. Saturday we went to Fairbanks and picked him up a new saw, which will be worth it's weight in gold with all the wood he has yet to cut for winter.

*Moving- Moving day is fast approaching. We actually plan to start moving furniture on Saturday morning. My plan of action is to clean, then move the largest things. One thing nice about starting over is that there just isn't as much stuff to move. The process has been much more relaxing than the frenzy of store/sell/pack we experienced just 7.5 short months ago. In actuality it feels like much longer, and we're both pretty pumped and excited for the weekend.

*Working- Life is good, and our jobs are still great. Brent has been working quite a bit of overtime and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down any for the next month or so. He has training coming up in late September, and he's looking forward to that. I am still (like it's been a long time) loving my new job. It's always changing, challenging, and well, it's fun. It's great to have a place to go that you actually want to go to every morning. We're both very happy here, and have agreed that this was a great move.

*Missing you- Living great distances from family and friends, inevitably means that we will miss important days, events, times in our loved ones lives. My cousin Kelsey and her new husband Ben were married over the weekend. We were sad to have missed such an important day, but we were with you in heart.

On Friday past we also said goodbye to my Grandma Adeline. It was hard knowing that I couldn't be there to share the grief with my family, but I also know that they have eachother to support and comfort.

Also, Brent's Grandma Helen celebrated her birthday in Watertown, SD. Her daughters put on a great party for her with lots of family and friends.

My sister-in-law Sara celebrated her birthday on the 22nd. Hope your day was super special! And Brent and Sara celebrated their wedding anniversary as well. 16 years! It's hard to believe. We hope that each year just gets better and better for you both!

We love and miss you all!

*Enjoying Alaska- In our journeys and travels we enjoy seeing the wildflowers, the mountains and of course, the wildlife. We haven't been seeing a ton of moose, but we did manage a sneak peek of our first fox. She sat so proudly along the Richardson as we traveled to Fairbanks this weekend. Very pretty girl.

We have also been relaxing and spending time with friends. Enjoying the bounty that Alaska holds in it's recreation. Friends of ours brought us fresh red salmon from the Chiitna. What a delight. It melted like butter in our mouths. We're looking forward to being able to dip net there next year.

We also tried our first batch of yak. When we first moved here I decided that it didn't sound like anything I'd want to eat, however, one of the boys here at work professed that it was his "favorite" meat, and if a 6-year-old likes it, I decided I could at least try it. Try I did, and I will say that while buffalo is still my favorite, we'll be adding some additional packages of yak to the freezer. Very mild, yummy, and lean. It makes excellent taco meat.

It is extremely dusty and dry here in Central Alaska. We could truly use some rain. The forest fires are making our skies hazy, and while they're not as bad as the Fairbanks area, we are certainly affected by the smoke and haze. The dust here in Delta has been unbelievable. When we ride the ATV we prepare to come home dirty, dusty and gritty. Friday evening was terrible, and last night we noticed the humidity was up a little which definitely helped the dust factor on the trails.

Well, that's it for now. I need to get back to all of those things listed above.