Christmas 2011

This is likely to be my last blog post of 2011... assuming that I'm actually able to finish it within the next  couple of days, sometimes it takes me more than the day that I begin it on.  And then we will be on to a new year -- 2012!

I thought that I would post about Christmas, although a few days past.  It's nice to finally have some time free although it seems fleeting.  This break has been going quickly and I have not gotten nearly as much done as I had anticipated or wished.  What I have gotten done however has been absolutely essential - relaxing and spending some much needed family time with Zac and the boys.

Christmas Day was much the same as it has been for the past few years since moving here to Alaska.  We spent a restful day at home, opening presents, eating a nice dinner, and listening to the boys playing non-stop - unable to decide which thing to play with next.  We have a rule that the boys are not allowed to wake us up any earlier than 8 a.m. on Christmas morning, otherwise I have no doubt that they would be waking us up at 5 a.m. to open presents.  Both Zac and I tend to be night owls rather than early risers.  The boys on the other hand are usually wide awake well before any alarm clock rings, even on school days.  Although this makes for an easier time on a daily basis with getting them ready for school, it does not make for very good weekends or holidays when we would like to sleep beyond 7:00 a.m.  

The boys have been pretty good with the 8 a.m. on Christmas morning rule and this year Zeke quietly came in at exactly 8:00 a.m. and told us, barely audibly, "It's 8 a.m.  You promised to get up."  It was very cute and sweet and definitely could have been a much worse wake-up call for us.  By 8:30 a.m. we were up, dressed, coffee was on for Zac, and we were in front of the tree waiting for Zac to hand out the presents one at a time while I waited with camera in hand attempting to be ready to catch any of those special photo ops.  The tree was filled to capacity this year, much more it seemed than in previous years, although I admittedly had fun shopping and went a little overboard this year, especially now that we are on the road system and can easily make the trek to town if desired.  

The boys were very excited for all of their gifts.  Xavier had the tough decision of which game to play first on his Nintendo DS.  He had been "waiting forever" to get Kingdom Hearts and Harry Potter, both of which he received for Christmas and he had Johnny Test, too!  Zeke had the impossible task of deciding between which movie to watch first, Shaun the Sheep (Seasons 1 and 2) or Super Hero Squad.  Xavier couldn't get over the fact that Santa knew exactly which Harry Potter game he needed and Zeke was thrilled that he got 2 seasons of sheepy movies from Grandma because he's her "sheepy."  The tag that I had added as I had wrapped that one (which was mailed via the store) even read "To: 'Sheepy' From: Grandma."  Then there was the last present that Zac gave to them to open, the special collector's starter's pack of the new Skylanders video game for the Play Station 3.  A video game that combines toy figures and a video game in one and is interactive with the toys.  A game that even Zac has been thoroughly excited about since it's release.  One of the most exciting parts of this game to the boys is the fact that it's a game they can play with their daddy and they will all enjoy it.  

Together we all cleaned up the living room, bagged the garbage up, gathered the presents into piles and took them to where they belonged.  The boys headed to their bedrooms downstairs with all of their goodies and we were expecting for them to be back upstairs in under 5 minutes begging to play the Play Station, or at the very least for Zeke to be asking us to put a movie in for him while Xavier sat with his DS for hours on end.  Instead, much to our surprise, we hear "Booyah!" shouted from downstairs and a large number of LEGO's being poured across the floor.  For hours the boys played with their LEGO's coming upstairs to show off any special creations that they made.  

Sometime after noon the boys finally came upstairs and asked if they were allowed to play the Play Station, to which we very innocently asked which game.  "Skylanders, of course.  Well, if that's ok."  :)  Oh, it was so much fun the excitement on their faces all day long.  And go figure, after nearly an hour of trying, there was a problem with the Skylanders game and it was unplayable, Zac needed to contact the company after Christmas, etc...  The problem is now resolved and a new plug in is on it's way, but this was a bit trying for 2 very excited boys on Christmas Day.  They handled it very well however and went on to the rest of their presents including Shaun the Sheep and ALL of the DS games in one day.  

Ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and cranberries for dinner left us full but not overly stuffed as with our feast on Thanksgiving and the boys, especially Xavier, are now counting down until momma goes to her next conference so that dad will make bean soup which will feed them for a few days.  It's strange to me, as I don't really care for bean soup, how much Xavier enjoys it and gets excited any time we have a ham bone that we can freeze and add to bean soup.  Zac always waits until I'm gone for a couple of days, knowing that I don't care much for it and it will make a meal that will feed him and the boys for almost the entire time that I am gone with leftovers.  

Anyhow... for now I believe that is the primary joys of our Christmas Day shared for all of you.  Pretty much 2 boys who never ran out of things to do, didn't argue over anything for an entire day, and a full day of smile and laughter in our house.  Thank you to everyone who made it special from phone calls and Skype in the days leading up to Christmas, to presents under our tree, to love sent from afar.  We miss you all dearly and cannot wait to be able to visit again.  

(And thank you to mom for the Little Debbie Snacks - especially the fudge cakes yum!  This was a sure sign to me that my blogs are read and that you were thinking of us.  It may seem like a small thing to some, but it meant a lot to me!  Sorry for those of you that are confused by this last part of the blog, but I'm hoping my mom understands... )

Healy - Part II (Where we live)

The bottom left hand corner of the Google Earth Map shows George Parks Hwy. running from north to south.  George Parks Hwy., a.k.a. just Parks Hwy., is the main highway that runs from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  There is a lot of semi-truck traffic on the highway for this reason, especially at night.  All mail coming in or out of Alaska goes first to Anchorage, therefore this is a major originator of flight and road traffic for Alaska.

The first road running east-west in the screen shot is Healy Spur Rd.  Healy Spur Rd. will lead to the Usibelli Coal Mine if you continue as far east as possible (beyond the map shown), as well as a small airstrip just outside of the mine.  Usibelli is one of the major businesses in Healy and is one of the largest active coal mines in existence today.  If you look to the NW corner of Parks Hwy. you see a large white building.  This is the Princess Tours “compound.”  Everyone here just calls it the “compound” but all it really is is just seasonal housing for employees of Princess Tours and Lodges.  The large Princess Lodge is approximately 10 miles up the road near McKinley Village where all the tourist shops, etc... are and the lodge is only about a mile outside of the main entrance to Denali National Park.  The lodge and tourist shops all close down and board up from the months of September through May and thus the compound is also quiet (and I think unoccupied) during these months.  Across the highway from the compound you can see a large brown driveway area with some smaller long buildings.  This is also Princess housing, primarily for upper level employees, office workers, etc... I believe that a number of them live there year round, however many do leave for the winter as well.

On the SE corner of Parks and Healy Spur you can see a number of brown rooftops to buildings.  This is the Totem Inn.  The Totem is a locally operated hotel that stays open year-round and there is also a bar and restaurant area in the smaller building on the front side that is open year-round as well.  They have pretty decent food, including pizza.  Behind the Totem you can see a large dirt and driveway area, this area including a large garage area just outside of view is Aramark bussing which is where the Princess Tour Busses park and the company contracted for bussing for the Tri-Valley and Cantwell Schools.

The NE corner of Healy Spur and Coal St. (parallel to Parks Hwy.) is where the grocery and liquor store (Mountain View) is located.  Mountain View is a small building that is essentially two large rooms separated by the counter area.  When you walk in you see a partition immediately in front of you and two counters/ check-out on right and left of this partition.  If you turn to the right to go into the “grocery” store, which is three aisles approximately 10 feet long and one row of coolers and a standing freezer the size of a fridge like you might have in your own house.  If you turn to your left there are coolers along two side walls and displays in the center and along one wall which make up the liquor store.  The State of Alaska does not allow for liquor to be sold within grocery stores, so many are entirely separate entities or are separated off to another “section” of the building that often have entrances from the street or the grocery store.  In Mountain View, you cannot bring any beer, wine, liquor over to the grocery side of the store, however you can bring your groceries to the liquor side.  You can have both things rung up and paid for at the same time.  This is the only store I’ve seen in Alaska that doesn’t actually make you check out separately or isn’t completely separated, probably because it is a small town.

The buildings along Coal Street are mostly residential leading to what is labeled as Suntrana Street to the north, which is in the upper left corner of the screen shot.  What is labeled on the map is not actually a street although it is a drive area for that business, one of two gas stations in town, that does go all the way through from Parks Hwy. to Coal St.  This is the last gas station that you pass until you get to Nenana, an hour north of Healy and halfway between Healy and Fairbanks.  

Suntrana St. is actually the street that is about halfway between what is labeled as Suntrana and Healy Spur at the bottom of the photo.  There is a blue building to the east (left) of Coal Street behind the gas station.  This is the Post Office.  There is mail service along Parks Hwy. only, so essentially everyone in town must have a PO Box.

Suntrana St. (the one not labeled) goes from Parks Hwy. to Coal St. (stop sign) and past Coal St. to Tri-Valley School which is the large area in the middle of this map.  There are two circle drives you can see in the photo.  The one to the north leads the side of the building that is the Elementary wing, the one to the south leads to the front main entrance of the building and the High School wing of the building.  The central area (blue roof) is the library which can be accessed from the inside or outside of the building.  The library is huge compared to the size of the school and number of students.  However, the Tri-Valley library (as well as the ones in the other two schools in the district) is also the community library.  There is a partnership between the two and both the school and community libraries are purchasing books that all go to the same library that can be checked out by school children or community members.  There are specific community library hours which are after school and on weekends.  The large open area behind the school includes the soccer field, coal boiler, and building trades areas.  The Building Trades class actually occupies a large area of the field to the southend of the school because the major portion of their class is a commitment building two cabins for the Denali National Park for each year.  There is a partnership with the Park and School that states that the Park will supply all of the materials for the Building Trades class and in return the students in the class will build two fully functioning cabins each school year (inside and out totally finished, painted, etc...) which will then be transported to the Park as housing for Seasonal Park employees.

If you look on Healy Spur Rd. to the west of Carbon Way and Sulfide Dr. is a large off white colored building with a large, fairly open, area of space behind it.  There are two driveways to and from this area off of Healy Spur Rd. and one small one on Carbon Way.  This building is the Healy Community Center and contains the Community Center (left side) and office spaces (right side) including the bank, First National Bank, and the State Troopers.  The large area behind the community center, with lots of parking around it, is the Ice Hockey Rink.  Ice Hockey is a BIG deal n Healy.  There are adult male and female teams, the Coal Kings and Coal Queens, the high school Varsity and Junior Varsity Teams, and hockey leagues for children, beginning at age 6. 

By the photo it looks almost like the area behind the hockey rink goes all the way through to the School Rd., but there is actually a small grassy, hilly area that separates the hockey rink and a play ground/ park area that is enclosed by a wooden fence called “Mountains of Fun” which has an entrance/ driveway from the School Rd.

From what you can see on this map, Healy Spur Rd. intersects with Carbon Way leading NW and splitting to the right (still Carbon Way) and left (School Rd.) at a Y-intersection.  Leading to the SE of Healy Spur Rd. is Sulfide Dr.  Sulfide Dr. actually makes a large loop (with some other small dead end roads coming off of it) and comes out the other side further to the East on Healy Spur Rd. again.  This loop area is residential and was where the kids did their Trick or Treating (primarily) this year. 

The house that we are renting in is the building with the orange roof (l- shaped) on the far right almost center in the picture.  If you’re coming from the south on George Parks Hwy. you would turn right on Healy Spur Rd., left on Carbon Way, stay to the right and then we are the second house on the right.  The house is set back off the road and cannot be seen from the road initially.  We are surrounded by a lightly wooded area and cannot see our neighbors from our house.  We can see the tops of the roofs to the houses behind ours that are located on Healy Spur Rd.  The “top” half, by this photo, of the l-shape of the house, which is the skinnier leg of the L is the garage area.  There is a 3-car heated garage attached to the house.  This is really nice to have, especially now in the winter when it is 30 or 40 below zero some days.

This picture has the main portions of town shown in it, however Healy stretches out quite a bit farther to the north and south along George Parks Hwy.  The portion of Parks Hwy. that is shown is only about 1-1.5 miles long and from Parks Hwy. to Carbon Way along Healy Spur Rd. is only about 1.5 miles.  The distance from the house to the school is easily walkable, however we tend to drive because Zac usually drops me and the boys off to school on his way to work in Cantwell (40 miles south) and picks us up after he gets out.  We have walked to and from before however, sometimes if I stay late at school or when are car was broken down for about a week.  Especially during the winter though it’s so cold that we just assume drive.  Zac and I have also walked from the house to the school, the school to the store (on Coal and Healy Spur) and then east on Healy Spur back to Carbon Way and the house.  This was a lengthy walk, but not completely unreasonable to do.

To the south is the northern entrance for Denali National Park, McKinley Village, some bed & breakfasts, hotels/ motels along the highway, and (approximately 1/2 mile south of Totem at the edge of this photo) a small side drive with the other gas station/ market in town, an RV park that gets quite busy in the summer, a Polaris store/ Car Quest, and a brewery/ restaurant called the 49th State Brewery.  The 49th has an small outdoor stage area and hosts concerts during the summer time with local or traveling musicians.  The 49th, only about 5 years old, is normally open through the winter, however is closed this winter for remodeling/expansion.  They are only open during dinner hours but have great food and is a fun atmosphere.

To the north of the pictured area on the west side of the street just beyond the gas station pictures is a small restaurant, Rose’s Cafe.  The only places to go out to eat in Healy are the Totem Inn, Rose’s Cafe, and 49th (except for this winter).  There are a number of restaurants that are open during the tourist season down by Princess Lodge and the Park.

Also to the north are some residential areas including Lignite Road to the west and Stampede Road to the east.  Lignite and Stampede are fairly large roads in Healy, however are primarily residential.  The Bed & Breakfast, Faith Hill Inn, that we stayed at for about a week prior to being able to move into our house is located on Stampede Road to the north.  There are a number of other small Bed & Breakfasts and cabins to the north also.

Sorry for the lengthy blog.  However, I was asked in an email for a description of where I lived in comparison to a map photo and so I thought I would go into complete description.  Plus, I’m a bit long- winded sometimes. :)

Healy - Part I

How do you define a city?  There are many aspects that attribute to what a city is like.  Due to all of the various factors about a place, it often makes it difficult to fully describe a city.  Cities can be described by location, populations, general demographics, and a multitude of other information. I have done my best to define and describe Healy, AK by general facts, statistics, and similar information below.  Healy, AK by location is at 63.86˚N latitude and -148.97˚ longitude.  By comparison, Columbiaville, MI is at 43.16˚N latitude.  This is a difference of approximately 20˚ farther north.  Healy is in central Alaska on the main road system between Anchorage and Fairbanks, the two largest cities in Alaska.  Anchorage is approximately 240 miles (4 hour drive) to the south, whereas Fairbanks is about 110 miles (2 hour drive) to the north.  On the drive north to Fairbanks are the cities of Anderson, Clear, and Nenana.  To the south on the way towards Anchorage are Cantwell, Talkeetna, Houston, Wasilla, and Palmer. Healy is primarily known as the location of Denali National Park.  The northern entrance of the park is 10 miles south of Healy.  Many National Park employees live in Healy or the nearby McKinley Village.  Healy is in the Denali Borough of Alaska and is home to Tri-Valley School, the largest traditional school within the Denali Borough School District (DBSD).  The DBSD also includes Cantwell School to the south, Anderson School in the north, and Denali PEAK, a Correspondence/ Home school program whose main office is located in Anchorage.  The district offices of the DBSD are located in Healy, across from the Tri-Valley School. The primary businesses with the community are Tri-Valley School, Denali National Park, Usibelli Coal Mine, Princess Lodges and Tours, and a multitude of private lodges and Bed and Breakfasts.  The area plays host to a large number of tourists from the months of May to September.  The area of McKinley Village near the National Park has a strip of tourist shops, restaurants, and other small private businesses that are open only during the prime season and then shut down from the end of September until May.  This strip of stores is the length of a typical city block and is located directly across from the Princess Lodge Resort.  The Princess Resort also closes down during the off season.  The whole area literally boards up the doors and windows of all of the businesses through the winter and it’s reminiscent of a ghost town of the old west.

Karst Caves

For one of the classes that I am currently taking, I recently had to do a "field observation" of a land area that I explored/ hiked through. After this field observation I had to write a description of what I saw. I thought that this description may make a good blog, so here it is:

Karst Caves on Prince of Wales Island is an area with boardwalk trails through the muskeg with old growth forest at the bottom of the hilled area. Karst Caves is a drive in Park area with a small crushed gravel parking area that leads to a raised platform with a placard that describes the karst caves, their formations, and the area of muskeg. There is an outhouse off the side and the area is designed to be hiker and tourist friendly.

A boardwalk trail leads from the raised platform and leads through the muskeg. The majority of the area as you walk down the boardwalk trail appears fairly treacherous if you were to accidentally step off the side. Most of the areas that are quite high off the ground floor have rails around the boardwalk.

The boardwalk gradually heads downhill and you see small pools of water teeming with water striders and other bugs amongst the grass, moss, and muskeg area. There are small cedar trees as toward the beginning of the trail and as the trail turns the trees get larger and older and you start to see the first outcroppings of karst. As you go farther down the trail and go deeper into the old growth forest there is less light that comes through and there are still some patches of snow, even at the beginning of June, especially in the deeply shaded areas. Continuing down the boardwalk you begin to see the first of the sinkholes, water runoffs, and small waterfalls falling into the sinkholes. Deeper into the old growth the canopy above us is thick and the entire ground is covered in moss and rotting trees, which have fallen over the course of time. We cross an area on the trail where a tree has fallen, crashed through the railing, and exploded onto the boardwalk. At the farthest point of the trail the largest sinkhole with a large basin floor was water flowing through. Currently the water is low, but it is evident from watermarks on the sides of the rock face wall how high the water can get, approximately 10 to 15 feet up the rock face. The boardwalk here is about 20 to 25 feet above the ground floor, less than 10 feet above where the water can rise up to.

It is surprising to me, but I hear very little evidence of animal life as we walk through. We can hear the water falling, especially the closer we got to the end of the trail and the largest of the sinkholes. The occasional bird sounds, which type(s) I’m unsure of. We do not see any of the birds, but the forest canopy is very thick through here. The most animal life we see are the water bugs and the constant presence of small biting flies and mosquitoes that we must constantly shoo away and keep moving to avoid.

Bambi

Nature is an amazing thing.  Beauty abounds in nature.  

Southeast Alaska is an amazing and beautiful place, full of the glories of nature.  One of the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is the bountiful wildlife in SE Alaska, and in particular on Prince of Wales island where I live.  The deer on Prince of Wales do not have the same fear of people as I am used to from Michigan.  They come into town, often right up by homes or businesses, they are along the roadways grazing in the grass and will stare as you drive past rather than bolting instantly, and they are also not always found in small groups but are often seen alone.  The past week has shown even more of the beauty of nature as it is the time that the does are having their fawns.  

Nearly every evening for the past week I've seen a newly born baby deer along the roadside with it's mother.  A couple have been so new to this world that they were still wet and being cleaned by their mother from birth, or trying to get their feet up under them when they tried to walk.  They will stand right along the side of the road with their mother.  The trend has shown the mothers walking away into the wooded areas to hide when a car approaches, careful to stay where the fawn can see but far enough off to not be in dangers way.  The fawn, not quite so quick yet as it's mother, will gradually follow after the mother deer, looking back between the people that it knows are there and it's mother who has began to make space between them.  Once the baby gets scared it will hunker down in the weeds and try to hide, often losing sight of momma deer in the process.

I do not observe for too long or too near to the doe and her fawn.  I do not wish to frighten the animals anymore than they already are.  It's an amazing site though and one worth taking the time to see if able.  I tried at first to get pictures, but only ever seemed to have my camera on my phone with me.  I began taking my camera anytime I left the house.  The boys have also been on lookout duty when we're out for the does and their fawns and also for the male deer who are beginning to get their horns.  The boys think the baby deer are "so cute" and Zeke continues to say how they look just like one of his stuffed animals and that they're just as small too.  Not quite, but close.  :)

Super Chill

Super Chill.  It just doesn't even compare to Faygo.  Super Chill is an off brand soft drink that they sell in Alaska, like Michigan has Faygo.  It's cheaper and there are all sorts of flavors, pretty much the same as Faygo.  But, it's just not the same.  Nothing compares to Faygo.  I wasn't even a big Faygo drinker, but when you're in the mood for Faygo Red Pop, nothing else is the same.  

I miss the little things like Faygo pop sometimes.  I knew I would miss family and friends of course, but I never really thought about the little things like Faygo.  Zac and I were talking about it the other day.  We were making potato salad for Memorial Day weekend, just like we do every year.  Potato salad is just not the same without Koegels.  Ok, so I knew before we left that I would miss Koegels.  Nothing compares to a Koegels hot dog, but I can usually avoid hot dogs and not think about it.  But, in order to make mom's potato salad it has to be done right, you can't be missing ingredients.  So, we had to substitute Oscar Meyer's for Koegels and it's just not the same.  So this got us talking about all of the little things that we miss that we can't get here and random as it may be that's what I decided to write about - the things we can't get or have to substitute.

So, let's start with the obvious ones - the afore mentioned Faygo, Koegels, and then of course there's Vernor's.  I don't really care for ginger ale myself and didn't drink Vernor's, but Zac always liked Vernor's.  Especially if he wasn't feeling well, he said there was no substitute for a Vernor's.  Now, it's Canada Dry or nothing.  I'm kind of glad I didn't like Vernor's because I know multiple people who raved about Vernor's floats and if I had drank them, I would probably miss them - but no worries...  Ok, and how about Halo Burger and Big John's Steak and Onions.  A big homemade olive burger and cheese will do, but it's still just not the same.  Same with a homemade steak, mushroom, and cheese.  There's something about a Big John's that makes it better than homemade.

Some of the other things we didn't even realize or miss at first.  Little Debbie Snacks for one.  Seriously, no Little Debbie's.  I never realized that they wouldn't be available out here.  Zac and I each had our own favorites and there are other things that work sometimes, but not all Little Debbie's have a substitute.  I tend to go for Twinkies if I'm in the mood for that sort of a thing, although you can't buy a full box of them, just one pack at a time.  Zac and the boys prefer to go for Moon Pies.  Xavier really likes the chocolate ones.  And then there's the individual Hostess fruit pies.  You can find a couple of flavors of them, cherry, black berry, and occasionally apple.  But never chocolate.  Every once in a while a Hostess Chocolate Fruit Pie just sounds so good... ok so the chocolate ones aren't really "fruit" pies, but they're still yummy.  Last on my list (at least that's at the top of my head right now), is ice cream.  Yes, we have ice cream and actually there's a brand, Tillamock, that is REALLY good.  My absolute favorite flavor of ice cream though - Mackinac Island Fudge.  Yeah, not exactly available here.  Sherbets are hard to find to, especially orange and I really like orange sherbet.

Just the random ramblings of a girl missing her sweets and Koegels...