The Way We Hailed the Start of 2007

These are some more pictures from our cabin trip that I thought were fun. The first picture shows Shaun and Sullivan coming back from rinsing out a kettle and collecting more snow to melt. Notice that Shaun is bundled up including a hood and Sullivan is in short sleeves, shorts, no jacket, and his boots are untied. Ah, the benefits of youth...feeling invinsible. Remember, it is only about 14-degrees outside and this was one of the few brief moments that the snow had stopped.

The second picture is of Barb and her puppy, Oreo. The snow is falling so that is why it looks like there is a smudge over Barb's nose. Oreo LOVED the snow, but after the several hours he played outside, he was ready for the warmth of the cabin and curling up on our sleeping bags.

The third shot is of Sub getting set to pitch a snowball at the photographer...mom. He thought better of it and nailed his big sister instead. Ooops. It is a shot that gives you a good idea of how deep the snow was around the cabin.

The fourth picture is of Dharma sucking on an icycle that Sub pulled off the cabin roof-line for her. ..and this was one of the smaller ones. Sub was a real trooper because all of the snow around the actual cabin was really deep so gathering this for his little sister was a bit treacherous.

The final picture is of Shaun as we began the hike out. We all wore backpacks of varying weight. He and I also pulled roughly 5 foot sleds carrying water, our food, sub zero sleeping bags, cook stove, etc.

Nature Center's Cabin in Chugach Mountains

From January 2-4th, we stayed in this cabin which we rented from the Nature Center. From the moment we entered the parking lot and started unloading the van until the morning we hiked back to the car...it SNOWED! We are talking about 18" at our best guess. It was amazing. We loaded all our gear onto two long sleds, covered everything with tarps, tied the gear on tightly, and then fastened ropes to caribeaners on our backpacks, and started walking. The hike was about 1.25 miles and took close to an hour pulling all the supplies "over the river and through the woods". Both dogs came along on the trip, and Oreo took a few breaks to ride on the sled.

When we arrived at the cabin, we were pleasantly surprised that it was still warm from the fire left by the previous occupants in the woodburning stove. There was no running water or electricity so we put on our headlamps (we arrived at 4 p.m. just as darkness was setting in) and got busy unloading everything into the cabin. We restocked the fire in the stove and set up house. The first night was quiet as we cooked dinner, read books, played some cards, and hung out.

We slept in late since the sun didn't come up until after 10:30 a.m. so the cabin remained dark late into the morning. We cooked breakfast on the propane stove we brought and then bundled up for some fun in the snow. Everyone went outside (and remember it was still snowing) including the dogs, and we took tons of pictures to remember our trip. Because the cabin is set back in the woods and is basically undisturbed except by people staying in it, the snow around it was virgin snow from months of snowing. In places it was up to our adult waists in depth and some areas were almost over Dharma's head. If we stepped off the path between the cabin, lake, outhouse, sledding hill, or woodpile, we just might sink up to our backsides. Shaun had to pull me out once when my entire leg got stuck off the path in deep snow, and I couldn't pull myself out without losing my boot. Even when the dogs tried to venture off they were turned back by the depth of the snow. The kids jumped off boulders into the deep snow, made snow angels, threw snowballs, and generally had an incredible time wading through more white stuff than they had ever seen in their lifetimes. We all went down a sledding hill at least once.

When we were finally ready to warm up, we went back the cabin for food and more reading, card playing, and family time. Barb took a nap which was good for her since she rarely slows down. Oreo decided that he didn't want to leave the cabin again unless he "had" to for the rest of our stay. And even Buster was worn out. Before we knew it, the clock was turning to 1 a.m. and we went to sleep.

In the morning we had breakfast, packed up everything on the sleds again, and hiked back to our car. The trip back to the Nature Center and parking lot was really hard because the temperature had dropped to about 5-degrees, there was about 18" of new snow, and only about 3 cross country skiers had been out to help pack down the trail. The trail that had been relatively wide and easy to travel just two days before was covered in deep, fresh snow that dragged against the weighted sleds. Shaun and I worked up such a sweat that we were opening our coats and taking off layers of gloves, etc. Then we would stop to deal with the kids or the dogs and begin to freeze as the persperation turned icy cold. So we told the kids we just had to keep moving. I made the mistake of taking off my hat when we got to our car to cool off and when I went to put it back on I couldn't because it had frozen. At the same time, my hair had frozen as well. It was crazy. I will attach a few more pictures of the trip to a couple more entries. Before I close I want to remind you to take a close look at the amount of snow on the roof of the cabin and see if you can make out the path running along the right side of the second picture toward the cabin. It was over waist high snow for Shaun and me.

Winter Sunset

This sunset picture was taken off our back upstairs deck. We have a whole series of them...some have white specks highlighting the scene because it started snowing. This shot was taken about a week and a half before the winter equinox on December 21st. That day is the shortest day of the year for sunlight here which translates to roughly 4 1/2 hours from sun up to sun down. This picture was probably taken between 3:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. since it was the last rays before the sun disappeared.

Winter Roads

My brother asked me about driving here in Alaska during the winter and how well they keep the roads cleared; so I took this picture to answer his question. Basically...they don't clear the roads here. It was really crazy after the first snow in October to have 8" on the roads and no one coming to clear them. After two days of driving around, I called my neighbor and asked her when they were going to clear the roads. She replied that God would do it in April. I said "Huh?!?" Apparently the winters here are so long that it is impractacle to de-ice or salt the roads. It would be terrible on the roads, the cars, and the vegetation beside the streets. Instead, sometime within three days of a snow, the plows come through and merely scrape the top layer of loose snow from the streets leaving everything that has been driven on and smooshed down behind. Then if that gets icy, they come along with a different truck and spread this fine gravel and dark dirt mixture over the icy snow on the roads. Also, if the car owners have been smart, they have put studded tires or x-ice tires on their vehicles for the winter. Between the tires and the gravel, we usually travel without much difficulty. But, look at the picture...do you see road markings...NO?! Well, that is another joy of traveling here in the winter...unless you have lived here in the non-snow parts of the year...you will have no idea whether a road has two lanes, three lanes, two lanes each direction and a turn lane, etc. etc. You also have no idea whether you can pass or not and on the highway (which they do a better job of keeping clear) exactly where each lane begins and ends is a complete mystery. Drivers learn to look ahead at what the next person is doing and drive in existing tire tracks. If perhaps a line should show up and it doesn't match the tire tracks, still follow the tire tracks because you will screw everyone up behind you who are also trying to figure out how to navigate the roads. It is really quite an adventure. I would guess that the ice, snow, and gravel mixture outside our home on the street in the picture is approximately 6-8 inches deep. The dark patches on the road are not ashpalt but ice. Kids will literally practice their ice hockey and skating in the street because the ice is right there and ready to be used.

The West Side of Whoville-Dec. 8th

Barb is in the dance program at her high school. She designed the poster for the recital and it was also used on the tickets. Barb also made her skirt, pants, and scarf for her costume. The sequined top she is wearing came from a church yard market in London where she visited her godparents during the summer.

The theme was the Grinch and Whoville and was a complete story through dance. We were really amazed by the program, and all the students looked like they were having a great time...like Barbra dancing in the picture attached. The shot with Shaun was taken after the performance. Now we see a little of where she got her facial features...the cheeks
are her dad's.

Gilley Kids visit Santa

BP had a Christmas party which Santa attended. I love this picture of the three kids. They are all getting older, and I don't know how many more of these kinds of pictures I will get so I hold this one dear. Each of them looks like a great evening was being had. Barb was dressed up for her High School dance program recital later that night (there had been a school performance earlier so she didn't change between them). Dharma was gussied up in her Christmas dress with a beautiful face painting done at the party. Sullivan was just hanging out enjoying himself and being helpful herding Dharma and her friend that came with us from activity to activity. I just love their smiles because they are genuine.

Sleigh Ride on Dec. 2nd

Our town has a big Christmas festival weekend the beginning of December. We went to a town gathering on Friday night where the kids saw Santa and his reindeer, got hot cider and roasted peanuts to warm them, could ice skate in the town square, and had their picture taken under the Christmas tree. It was freezing cold but really felt like a winter celebration in Alaska. The next day was a craft show and free sleigh rides. We all climbed aboard and bundled under blankets from the back of our car and went on a 15 minute sleigh ride through the streets which, as can be seen in the picture, were packed with snow. How fun it was!!

Dharma turns 7

Dharma had a girls and dolls party for 19 girls the week after her birthday. She wanted to have an American Girl Doll party, but they aren't the rage up here like in the lower 48. All the girls told where they got their dolls and everyone was dressed up in pretty clothes. They made bell hair bands, chocolate covered pretzels, played games with their dolls, and ate miniature cakes with gold forks from Shaun and Debra's wedding. It was a fun evening for everyone.