Perhaps we bit off more than we can chew

Alaska is a big state. A really, really big state.  Wednesday found us in the car driving back up the Kenai Peninsula from Homer to Wasilla, not much to report there.  Yesterday found us in the car driving from Wasilla to Healy, just outside of Denali National Park. Again, not too much to report from yesterday.  We did not see Sarah Palin.  One thing we learned about Denali is that you cannot drive your own car through the park, which has one road, beyond the fifteenth mile.  Several weeks ago, not really thinking this out, Jll and I booked our family on the Kantishna Experience Tour, which takes you via bus through as much of Denali as is accessible by road.  The total route is 185 miles, and takes 12 hours. 

We woke early for our 6:05 am bus and made it just in the nick of time.  We had a great driver/tour guide for the day who taught us a lot about the history of the park and its fora and fauna.  For two hours at the half-way point, we also picked up a park ranger who taught us about the gold rush in Alaska and its short-lived heyday in Kantishna.  We had a lot of animal sightings throughout the day, including moose, grizzly bears, Dall sheep, a wolf, a fox, caribou, owls, snowshoe hares, and a hawk. 

We stopped by the 49th State Restaurant to see the replica of the Magic Bus (Into the Wild).  Originally I had plans of going to see the actual bus along the Stampede Trail, but when I learned that it is a 20 mile, multi-day hike to the bus, I decided to settle for the replica.  Here is Dagny with the bus.  She gets the nod because of all of our children, I think she's most likely to go into the wild.  Getting back to our cabins, Jll took the kids to the hot tub and sauna while I waited out the weather.  It has been overcast and drizzly all day, with isolated showers.  I hoped it would clear so that I could go play night golf at a local golf course.  The last tee time is at 10:00 pm, which would beat my previous record of teeing off at 6:30 pm on the Darley Course in Troon.  Currently the sun sets at 12:20 am, rises at 3:40 am, and there is no official listings for the last light of one day or first light of the next.  Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and I will get my midnight golf in after all.  Here's hoping.

- Dave
   

Second day in Homer

Today we woke up in King's Landing Hotel and we all took a long time to get ready and started out on today's adventure. We got ready and we set off across the street to a restaurant called The Duncan

House Diner for our breakfast today. I ordered a ham and cheese omelet and I talked to a good friend while I waited for my food. When I got it I loved the potatoes and toast that it came with. After we ate we went to the Pratt Museum. We loved it there because we saw cultural necsesities of Alaska. There were hands on activities and pictures drawn by kids of their prespective of Homer in 50 years. We loved to see the outdoor exhibit of a homesteaders house. We learned about life as a homesteader in that time. When we were done in the museum we went to a small coffee shop called Portside Coffee were we got a hot chocolate and played cards for a while. After we drove down to Bishop's Beach where we played games and ran around for a few hours.

After the beach we went to the Homer Spit where we walked around for a long time and we saw musicians that we watched for a while until we walked back to the car to go get dinner. We drove up to the Land's end Chart house restaurant for dinner I ate buttered noodles after our appetizers of calamari and artichoke crab dip with our bread. While we ate we saw great sights of eagles and sea otters. When we finished I ate crème brulee for dessert. We left the restaurant and we went to the shore to play before bed. When we finished we went back to the hotel and we wound down.

For now, Magnolia

A bit about the Spit

Homer Alaska has less than 6000 residents. We like small towns because your choice of activities can be narrowed down to the tiny free magazine you pick up in any café, gift shop, or tourism desk. We like having fewer choices. The top tourism attraction in Homer is the Spit. Props to any of our readers who already know what that is, we did not. It is a very narrow and long strip of land that juts out from the coast like a thumb. The Homer Spit is 4.5 miles long and no more than 100 yards across. Lined with shops and restaurants and lots of options for fishing. Homer is the Halibut fishing capital. I fished a lot as a little girl with my maternal grandparents but it didn't take. I don't love it, and I REALLY don't like boats. So, no fishing for me.

We walked all around the Spit and did a little window shopping. We watched as catches were cleaned and we learned a few facts about the different flags used by ships to communicate with other ships. David and I gave the kids some money for ice cream while he and I made a quick stop into The Salty Dawg. Apparently this is the most notable establishment on the Spit. It was a super small bar and the walls, ceilings, and doors are all covered with dollar bills (and other random stuff) left by the patrons. We get to check that one off of life's to-do list.

The day was a little rainy so we headed to the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. This free little museum offered two short films about the bears in the area and also the Tiglax research vessel of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. We learned a few fun facts before we walked along the  Beluga Slough Trail to watch for wildlife. On our return walk we were able to watch a mother moose and her 2 babies munch on their lunch. Moose are pretty common here and we have seen at least a dozen.

Dave took the 3 bigs to a movie while Magnolia and I had a nice drive and dinner out together. She and I often opt out of movie night when the movie might be scary. We are happy to do our own thing.

We are back in our hotel with the goal of a good night sleep. The sun is still shinning bright. Feels like it is about 4pm when in reality it is 10pm. The sun shines for 20 hours a day. If I lived here I suspect I would stay up late and get a lot more accomplished than I do in my life in Denver. But for now, it is just messing with me. Really a strange thing to go to bed when you are trying to keep the light out of your eyes.

We are at the one third mark on our sabbatical. This makes me sad. The time flies by and I am already feeling sad that it will not last forever. We get along pretty well and we are seeing so much and learning so many good things. I am so grateful to David for building these sabbaticals into our lives. We are already looking forward to the next one. In five years the kids will be 20, 18, 17, and 15. Fun to consider if we will be able to pull it off? If we can, I am sure it will look a little different than our RV trips. For now, my babies are tucked in tight and I get their full attention for another 50 days.

- Jll

On to the Kenai Peninsula

Yesterday was not blog worthy. We had another cancelled flight getting out of Sitka, which ended up putting us in to Anchorage just in time to rent a car, check into the hotel, and grab dinner at a local brew pub.  The girls got a few hours in the hotel pool before we all got the rack.

This morning we got up early to attend church at an Episcopalian church.  We all found it interesting that there was not one song in the whole of the worship. We skipped coffee and donuts because we had to get to Whittier in time for our boat launch.

We made it to the tunnel (one lane for cars shared with the railroad) and only had to wait for 10 minutes or so for our turn to go through. A quick stop for coffee and we boarded the Klondike Express for a 5 hour cruise through Prince William Sound to see 26 different glaciers.  We spent the most time viewing the Surprise Glacier and even got to see portions of it calving off. It was a very cool afternoon. At one point while we were on the deck, we saw a bald eagle catch a salmon and fly right over our heads back towards the shore. I enjoyed it very much and want my kids to be able to say years from now that they saw glaciers. Three that we saw today have retreated a mile since 2003, so who knows how long they will last.

As I write this (Jll is driving), we are making our way down the Kenai Peninsula to Homer, where we will spend the next couple of days. So far we've seen five moose and two bald eagles.

- Dave

We were done with Sitka, but Sitka was not done with us

We woke this morning for our last day in Sitka. For our last day, we decided to hit some of our favorite haunts: North Sister for a crepe breakfast and poking through the tide pools. Dagny and Maggie even checked out a beach combing bag from the park rangers. The bag contained a pail, a shovel, a magnifying glass, a net, and some information to help identify sea creatures. We hung out for approximately as long as it takes to enjoy a Padron 7000.

We saw over the last few days the carnival move into town so we headed there for a few rides and corndogs and funnel cakes for lunch. The entire carnival consisted of maybe 8 or 9 rides, a few midway games, and a food kiosk. Not exactly big time, but fun nonetheless.

Needing to fill up the rental with gas, we headed back into town to find the had station. Along the way we stopped at a black sand beach to poke around and we ended up with the family building an earthen dam, diverting runoff water into it trying to fill it faster than water seeped out.   We did not get it to fill completely, but we did get quite a deluge when Alastair breached the dam before we left.

Heading back to the airport for our flight, we stopped for some coffee and a few hands of Palace, a game Adelaide learned on her church mission trip and has now taught us all. Getting back to the airport we checked in to our flight and had dinner at the Nugget, followed by a few hands of Palace and Blackjack. Learning that our flight had been delayed, we did the only rational thing and ate pie, continuing to play cards until our flight was cancelled altogether. We are now tucked snugly into or airline-provided hotel rooms, ready to try again tomorrow to move on.

- Dave

Southeast Alaska, yes please

I had no idea what to expect from this first leg of our Alaska adventure except to annunciate the T and K in Sitka like Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. Super cute movie, not filmed in Sitka, but you get the jest of its super cute village charm. In that movie Ramon is a character who shows up all over the place. He is a caterer, works in the general store, is the town stripper, and also a minister. Not kidding, we have our own Ramon and his name is Sadeed. He was our waiter on day 1 at lunch at the Westmark, then sold us our chowder on day 2 at the Science Center. He is our neighbor and lives above the dock near our hotel and served us at the Wine Bar above Ludvig's Bistro earlier tonight. This isn't our only Ramon-type experience. Our German waiter from the pizza joint is also our host in the morning at our new favorite breakfast spot. And still, we continue to run into Ryan and Denise, our new besties from Homer, AK who we have circled at least 3 times over as many days. It really is funny and emphasizes how very small this little gem is.

Today was much cooler and overcast and apparently more typical of the weather in Sitka. We had breakfast at the Nugget. Best breakfast restaurant we have found and, wait for it, inside the airport. While dinning you can watch them load the planes and listen as flight details are announced. It is super tasty and a good deal. Alaska is pricey. Clearly, a person needs to hold down 3 jobs in order to afford the cost of living.

We had a free pass to the Alaska Raptor Center which is a raptor hospital and education facility. Free
pass given to us yesterday by our lovely docent at the SE Alaska Indian Cultural Center. Raptor Center was really cool and they had a really great group of birds. SE Alaska is home to 50% of the worlds bald eagles. About 15 of them are being rehabilitated at the Center and we could watch many of them close up. What is as interesting is that you can see them every day, several times a day, flying around town, perched on top of sailboats, trees, church steeples, and everywhere in between. They are all over the place. Really a cool thing.

Next stop, Sheldon Jackson State Museum. Sheldon Jackson was the first Presbyterian Missionary to Sitka and a collector of Alaskan artifacts. He commissioned the first concrete building in town to avoid the risk of fire and it houses an impressive collection of Alaskan artifacts.  Guess what? Ran into Ryan and Denise there.

Took the only road out of town about 10 miles until the road ends. No kidding, it just ends. Stopped and played at the Whale Park and walked the boardwalk which lines the ocean. Walked around town and checked a few other sites off our list; the Sitka Pioneer Home, the Russian Block house, and Sheet'ka kwaan Naa Kahidi Clan House. Not kidding, we banged these all out from a single street corner. Winning!

David and I really wanted to eat dinner at a recommended restaurant called Ludvig's. I had tried to get a reservation earlier this week for 6 and could not get a reservation. Fear not, we ditched the kiddos and had a really fun night out alone. The kids were happy to take a handful of cash and have there own dinner in our little lodge restaurant. Our lodge has only 14 rooms and our gang is pretty identifiable. Later this evening the waitress stopped me to tell me how nice the children behaved. Always nice to get positive feedback on the kids, especially since we are likely to run into her again
somewhere in town tomorrow.

Wrapped up the evening with another really great Alaska movie, Into the Wild. True story, book turned movie. I have read the book and seen the movie in the past. Spoiler alert, the kid in the story runs away to Alaska to escape all the norms of society and dies alone in the wilderness after eating poisonous berries. Dagny and Magnolia were not happy to learn it was a true story.

Nighty night kids, sleep tight! Jll

Great day in Sitka

Today we woke up in our hotel and got ready for the day. We all got dressed and went into the car to go get breakfast. We drove to a small part of town to get close to the air port for our desired breakfast at The Nugget. We drove for a while looking for our restaurant when we found our expected eat in the building in the air port. We got a table and then soon enough we had our food. I enjoyed a mix of  egg, toast, hash browns, and bacon. We finished up quick and we headed to the ocean to look for creatures at low tide. We found crabs, eels, starfish, and slugs. We had lots of fun and then when we were finished we went into the historic museum of totem pole history. There we watched a short film and then we walked around watching artists create lots of cultural pieces. We found one room where we could make free bracelets out of a band of scratch art space. I made a designed bracelet with my name in the middle. When we finished we finished our walk and then we went outside to go on a small hike through the woods.

We went on our hike and we enjoyed looking at lots of views and we liked the exercise as well. We finished so we drove Addie back to the hotel so she could rest while the rest of us got ice cream at Harry's soda fountain. It was a small counter in a pharmacy that had shakes and cones. When we were all served we went to castle hill where we learned some history. When we finished our ice cream we went down to Saint Michael's Cathedral to see other historic usages of religious mementos. After we went to the church we drove down to the Russian Bishop's house where we took a tour. We saw the upstairs quarters and we were very interested by the facts and history that we learned. We finished the tour so we looked at the rest of the house and were on our way soon after that. We went to dinner at the Sitka Hotel where we had reservations for a 6:00 dinner. We went to the movie theater because we had a plan to watch a movie. However we got popcorn and we went back to the hotel to watch The Proposal. We enjoyed the movie and then we winded down for bed.

For now, Magnolia

Sitka, Alaska - The Highest Rated Stop Yet

We have had a long two days, starting yesterday morning in Everett, WA.  We rose early, ate quickly, and broke camp and made the quick 15 minute trek to Dave the Welder's home.  Since we have nearly ripped the rear bumper off again by overloading it with our bike rack, I figured I'd leave it with a welder while we head to Alaska for two weeks to have another shot at sufficiently reinforcing it.  As an added bonus, he agreed to keep it for us until we return, so we didn't have to worry about where we were going to stash a 32' RV and car dolly for two weeks.  After ditching our home on the road, we drove back to Seattle to ditch our minivan at the Jarretts' house.  They graciously agreed to keep it for us during our Alaskan adventure. 

A quick Uber ride to the airport and Alaskan Airline's flight later we found ourselves in Sitka.  We made out way through the one-gate airport, rented our car, and found our hotel, the Longliner Lodge & Suites.  After checking in we ditched our car to walk through the little city center, stopping for a late lunch/early dinner, followed by a short hike up Harbor Mountain Trail to see views they had to offer.  They were breathtaking, but we were getting tired to we headed down.  Adelaide, Alastair, and I went to see a movie at the one theater here, which I am happy to report had real butter for the popcorn.  I don't even know the name of the film, which starred Melissa McCarthy, was very stupid, and we all laughed a lot.  Jll had dropped us off at the movie theater so we walked back to the hotel somewhere between 9:30 and 10 o'clock, and I found it very strange to still need sunglasses at that time of night. 

This morning we had a leisurely start with a crepe breakfast followed by an hour or two of poking our way through the tide pools.  Dagny and Magnolia loved turning over rocks to find crabs, fish, and eels.  Adelaide was a good sport, but preferred holding crabs only while wearing my work gloves.  The most interesting part o
f the adventure was seeing how uncomfortable Alastair was.  Every few minutes he would say, "okay, it's time to go," or "let's head back now," until eventually he left us all and headed back by himself.  We stopped by the Sitka Sound Science Center before lunch, which we all enjoyed very much.  It has three large living aquaria, set up as tide pools, in which you are able to touch sea cucumbers, star fish, and anemones. 

After lunch we stopped to see the New Archangel Dancers, a troupe established 49 years ago.  According to its website: "Over 130 years ago Sitka was owned by Russia and was known as New Archangel, Capital of Russian America. Taking their name from history, the New Archangel Dancers organized in 1969 to preserve a part of Sitka's Russian History through the art of dance."  The six dancers performed six different folk dances, one of which Alastair and I tried to perform in the parking lot after with limited success.  We decided to leave it to the professionals from then on.

Our last adventure of the day was to head out with Captain Dick on the Ocean Raft Adventure.  The good thing about having such a large family is that in a lot of cases, you form your own tour group.  With a raft that holds six people, we were the afternoon tour.  Captain Dick took us out 30 minutes or so to see an island that now serves as a bird sanctuary.  Along the way we spotted three humpback whales swimming along for their afternoon snack.  We were so close at several points where you could hear them blow out and breath back in.  We also saw their fluke several times as they were diving back under.  We saw lots of birds, seals, and several sea otter on our way back to the harbor. 

After a few pizzas for dinner, followed by a little ice cream, we called it a day.  We are fairly tired after our last two days and I imagine we will all sleep well.  More of Sitka to explore tomorrow.

- Dave  

A Father's Day Reunion: Adelaide's Return

You all may have noticed that for the past couple of days I have been missing from the entries regarding our trip. The reason for this is that I have been on a week long mission trip in Detroit, MI. I left last Saturday on the 9th and landed in Denver. I spent the night seeing family, friends, and checking in on our house. I left the next morning with my youth group and flew to Detroit. We spent the week working on preparing soil on urban farms, serving lunch to the homeless community there, repairing and bringing life to homes all over the city, and enjoying the beautiful landscape and attractions of the area. I LOVED spending time with my youth group and getting to know the city better. We flew back to Denver yesterday afternoon and I got to sleep in my own bed again before flying out this morning to meet my family in Seattle. Mom and Maggie picked me up from the airport with donuts in hand. We met up with the family at the RV and I unpacked. We drove about 30 minutes to a new campsite and then got our swimsuits on to meet up with our friends, the Jarrett family, at their pool. We swam for hours, dived off of the high dive, had shrimp, steak, and guacamole for lunch, and then I drove us back to the RV. I caught up on some scrapbooking and we are all now going to begin packing for Alaska as the kids play hide and go seek.

Catching Up With Old Friends

After a leisurely morning getting going, we loaded up the Queen Family Truckster and headed for Marymoor Park in King's County for the 2018 Washington Brewers Festival.  Based on earlier communications with Nate Alley, I came to learn that he has a small interest in a local brewery and had entered four beers for consideration in the Washington Beer Awards.  I have known Nate since 1992 or 1993 when he pledged the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at CSU. We spent some time as roommates in the Beta house and after he graduated from college and Jll and I married, he took over my role as Brian Diehl's roommate in the Hunter's Run apartments in southeast Denver. They lived two buildings away from our newlywed apartment and we spent a lot of time together during my second and third years of law school.  Jll was working full time then, which did not seem fair as I spent a lot of time with Brian and Nate at their apartment. They had a keg which we drained regularly, except for the time that Brian rigged it up to pour Guinness. That keg lasted a lot longer than the Coors Light kegs ever did.  Thinking back on it now, I think it's remarkable that Jll put up with me.  Over one St. Patrick's Day weekend we decided it would be a good idea for the three of us to go to Boston to catch up with Eric and Jessica Howard, who were living out there at the time.  We had a great weekend, some of which I can still remember, which was subsidized by student loans and Jll's income.

Wanting to see the Alleys, we headed to the festival to say hello.  Lo and behold, Nate's brewery, Metier Brewing won the Silver Medal in the vegetable beer category for its coconut porter.  We spent a few hours walking around in the sunshine, trying not to lose our children for more than a half an hour at a time.  Walking around with Nate was fairly funny.  For anyone who knows the Alley clan, you know that they tend towards the gregarious side of the spectrum and you would have sworn that Nate was running for office for the number of people he knew.  From the festival we headed with our families to the Tipsy Cow in Redmond for a quick lunch before the Alleys headed off to Ellensburg to spend Father's Day with Annie's family.  It was fun to catch up even if it was just for a few hours.  I cherish friendships in which it seems like no time has passed even when it's been years since you've seen each other.  We missed the Alleys during our last sabbatical. They were living in St. Louis at the time and were out of town when we rolled through.  I am glad we did not miss them again.


After lunch we decided to head back to Seattle for the Mariners - Red Sox game.  We sat in the nosebleed seats and had a good time, though I spent the majority of the pre-game activities dozing off with the sun on my back.  The Mariners won 1-0 and we made it back to the RV park before nine.  It was a good day. Adelaide rejoins us tomorrow, returning from her mission trip to Detroit with the Wellshire Presbyterian Church youth group.  We have missed her and are anxious to have her back with us.

- Dave

Delta Love

David and I really do have good luck when it comes to campsites. We meet nice people, we feel safe, there are always unusual little quirky things in each one. KOA is always a good choice for us because they encourage families. At this particular KOA there is a pool (which is hugely important to my kids), giant Connect 4, chess, and checkers, a play ground, ride around toys, and they project a kids movie on the lawn every night at dusk. We have taken advantage of most of these "amenities" and this morning I whooped my kids at giant checkers. I don't know who taught me to play, maybe my dad, but I learned early never to leave your back row.  Keep your checkers on that back row as long as possible so your opponent can't be "kinged". I imparted this wisdom on my littlest 3 this morning as I easily beat them up at checkers. Now they have some real-life skills to take out into the world.

We made our way over to the Museum of Popular Culture, MoPop for the cool kids. Apparently I am not a cool kid because I didn't really love it. Exhibits included the history of horror films, tons of sci-fi and fantasy, an exhibit devoted to the band Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, and one entirely devoted to video games. The only exhibit I kind of liked was the one on sound where you could mix instruments much like would be done in a music studio. I considered that one most interesting. But, MoPop is right next door to the Space Needle so we took a good long look at it and that side of Seattle has its own charm.

We caught a late afternoon ferry to Bainbridge Island to visit my sorority sister, Diana Moore, and her two kids Everett and Carlyn. They were good to pick us up at the ferry and show us around their little island. Diana and I were in college together at CSU and in the house together for 3 years. She has always been a solid friend and anytime I can reconnect with one of my Tri-Delta sisters is a good day.

Back to our RV for bedtime for Alastair. He is my early to bed kid. He starts to fade at 8:30 and he is complete putty by 9pm. The girls, on the other hand, have to be dragged to bed. So I obliged a 45 minute late night swim for them because I can. It's not like we have to wake up for school in the morning.

I am missing Adelaide very much. She flies home to Denver tomorrow night and we collect her at Sea-Tac on Sunday morning. I am ready to have all of my babies back under my thin tin roof. Nighty, night.

-Jll

A Fun Day In The Sun

Today we woke up to a warm sun and a cool breeze. We all had a piece of butter braid which was our last breakfast treat that we all loved. We all got ready for the day by brushing our teeth and getting dressed we were not in much of a hurry so we took our sweet time and did not rush at all to get going. We started our day by going on a short out and back bike trip on a good bike trail right outside our campground. We rode for about 4 miles and then we stopped at a park to eat a snack and play for a little while. We got back on our trail and headed back to the campground. We got there quickly and we had no trouble finding a lunch of sandwiches and bagels. After our lunch me and my siblings went to the pool. We had lots of fun competing and splashing around.

After the pool Dagny and I went to the showers to clean up for dinner. We washed off and then we headed back to the RV. We got on better clothes and then we got in the car to go to a friends house [the Jarretts'] for dinner. We got there and we had fun playing on their trampoline and play house. Along with incredible fu
n with their dog and 5 chickens. We had dinner with them and finally we played for a while longer. When it was time to leave we hopped back in the car and drove back to the RV park that we were staying at. We arrived shortly and we started to get ready for bed. We settled in and went to bed.        

For today, Magnolia

Posse on Broadway

This morning, after a leisurely breakfast at the KOA in Kent, we headed to the Museum of Flight and spent a few hours meandering through the Great Gallery before our IMAX film started.  Just prior to the movie, I thought that this was really small for such a highly acclaimed museum, so I decided to actually look at the map and learned that we had covered only about twenty percent of the museum.  After the film, we walked fairly briskly through the remaining eighty percent of the museum.  It was very cool and we were allowed to walk through a bunch of the aircraft, including a retired Air Force One, a Concorde, a Dreamliner, and the first 747 ever produced.  By the end, we started dragging and decided it was time for lunch at Dick's Drive-In. 

For those of you not steeped in the late 1980's Seattle rap scene, "Dick's is the place where the cool hang out, the swass like to play, and the rich flaunt clout."  The burger stand was mentioned in Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1988 Posse on Broadway, so of course we had to go see it.  Not only was it still there, it still seemed to be a happening place. 

After lunch we headed to Pioneer Square for Bill Speidel's Underground Tour "through intriguing subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889."  Although I have been to Seattle before and have heard that this was an interesting tour, I have never done it before.  It was intriguing indeed, though being a nerd, I wished that there was more history to be shared instead of the attempts at humor offered by the tour guides.

We made it back to Pike Place Market for some much needed crepes before heading back to Pioneer Square for dinner.  We walked past the Gum Wall, a sign for which was posted at the Pike's Place Market.  I thought that if it had a sign, it was worth seeing.  A tip for those of you who have not seen it: it is gross and just about made me lose my appetite.  Just about.  We had dinner at Merchant's Cafe and Saloon, Seattle's oldest restaurant. It was founded in 1890 just after the Great Fire of 1889 when the city was rebuilt of stone and brick instead of wood.  Nothing special, just some pub grub before we headed back to the RV park where the kids swam and I sat with an evening cigar to write this blog.  That's it for today, more adventures tomorrow.

- Dave 

Sleepless in Seattle

As we planned our travel route we tried to limit our drive time on any day to no more than 300 miles. The novelty of even a motor home wears off after 300 miles. Today was 311 miles. We left beautiful northern Idaho and crossed the entire state of Washington to arrive in Seattle at about 2pm. David and I have visited Seattle many times and we have looked forward to showing it to the kids. We drove into the city center and did a quick pass through Pike's Market and the Pier and had a really yummy early dinner at Elliott's Oyster House on Pier 55. On our last sabbatical, when Alastair was 8, he learned how much he loved seafood in Maine, Cape Cod, and Boston. We promised him delicious seafood on the west coast as well. We shared a bunch of appetizers (shrimp dip, crab cakes, and calamari) and oysters on the half shell. He will eat all of it, Magnolia will eat most of it, Dagny won't eat any of it. Not kidding, none. Never has. She says, "I don't eat from the sea." More for the rest of us. We found yummy sweet treats at Piroshky Piroshky which is a tiny Russian bakery just opposite Pikes. Line out the door and the selections were really interesting, both savory and sweet. Dagny and Magnolia concluded their evening with a dip in the pool. Outside air temperature, 60 degrees. They didn't care at all. They had a blast. The game was that Dagny was the dolphin trainer and Magnolia the dolphin. Dagny was very good at her job and Magnolia managed all kinds of amazing tricks. Reminded me of my childhood. Julie and I would have played some similar craziness and had the very best time. Sisters are pretty great and those two get along swimmingly; see what I did there?

Our day-to-day in the RV is interesting to most. How do the 6 of us manage, what does a typical day look like, do we get along? We keep life really simple. We don't eat very much or very interesting things in the RV. Lots of yogurt, bagels, sandwiches, Cliff bars, coffee, and seltzer. We have limited clothes, books, and toys. We do get along, but not always. I tell people that David and I have a much easier time parenting on sabbatical because we are fully present and we are together 24/7. We aren't trying to parent while returning work emails, call Kaiser, or put away 6 loads of laundry. They are nicer to us during these 75 days for certain.

We have very few chores each day. They are: wash the breakfast dishes, put away the dishes, sweep the floor, take out the trash, wet wipe the floors, and clean the bathroom. Each task takes about 2 minutes or less. We decide who does what by the roll of a die, oldest to youngest. Dave is 1, Magnolia is 6. Everyday you get a new chore and the element of chance is kind of fun.

I am missing Adelaide and talked with her on the phone for a few minutes this afternoon. She is having lots of fun with her youth group and they attended a Detroit Tiger's baseball game tonight. She will work hard on her mission trip and I will be glad to have her back on Sunday.

-Jll

Through Coeur D'Alene

     Hello Readers, it's Alastair. Today the McLain posse toured around Coeur D'Alene, ID. We first visited the beach, but to our dismay the weather did not permit swimming so we just splashed around in the lake. Then we visited lovely McEuen Park which was quite fun and we played tag for a long time. After that we visited a little burger shack called Hudson's. Not much to it, no sides, only 2 garnishes, you have a double, or single burger, cheese, or no cheese, or pickle and onion, and other variations of the 2. But the burgers were scrumptious and went down well with my root beer. Then we headed back to the park.

     The second trip to the park was fun as well playing hide and seek this time. Hideouts ranged from under the playground to inside bushes. After that we went to the movies and saw Ocean's 8 which was not the best movie I have seen but it could seem good to other viewers. Then we went to the local Albertsons for some groceries. Then we went back to our big rig for some ice cream and relaxation.

     Signing out for now, Alastair

First Day in Idaho

Today we woke up in West Glacier and we awoke to rain falling on top of our RV. I loved my breakfast of eggs with ham and cheese. We got started and got dressed. We packed and cleaned up our RV. We decided that because it was Sunday that we would go to church. We stopped at a big church called Christ Lutheran Church in Whitefish for the first part of our morning. We got on the road to Idaho. Without Addie there is a lot more room to get all ready for our day of driving. We started driving to Idaho and we knew the drive would only be about 4 hors or so. We did not stop on the way except for a chance to use the restroom and to fill our motor home with much needed gas. We did not have the longest drive to Idaho so we were not all that bored. I did some homework and then I took a short nap and enjoyed the scenery out the window. My siblings did much the same. They took naps and enjoyed our few usages of internet.

We arrived in Idaho and we got hooked up to our campsite. A few of us changed from our church clothes to adjust to a colder temperature. We took a walk into the city from our campsite which was always quite loud. We walked for a while and we only stopped for dinner at Tito's witch seemed to be an Italian eatery that we all enjoyed. We finished our food so we went down to the dock at the harbor and we played there for a while. After that we started moving in the direction of home. on the way we did stop for ice cream. Ice cream has been a option almost every day now so we have already had quite a lot of ice cream so far on our trip. We walked back to the RV and Dagny and my mom went to the shower house. When they got back we started winding down and getting ready for bed. We all had a great day and were exhausted from our walking. We were all ready for bed so we all got ready for bed. Soon we will all be sound asleep.

For now, Magnolia

Bye bye Addie.

Hi I am Dagny, I am 11 years old. I just finished my 6th grade year at Hamilton Middle School. Today we started the day of very slow. We woke up at 8:20 and didn't eat breakfast till 9:00 I had a bagel and every one else had pastries and muffins from the Two Medicine Cafe. Maggie and I wanted to finish making our town we made a fire station and 4 more houses. Mom and Addie finished packing her for mission trip. After that we got in the car and drove Cislo's Family Restaurant. We were only they for 45 minutes because we needed to get to the airport one hour be for Addie's flight. My favorite part of the restaurant were the tables. They had ads for local businesses but they had a search and find for the adds. After lunch we went to the airport and checked Addie in and said goodbye and then we got in the car again and started to drive home when dad's friend wanted us to steal a boat from a random address in Whitefish there was no boat but we found a nice city beach. We stopped for a little time to dip our feet in and then we were off again. This time mom made us stop because she saw a sign for a huckleberry pie factory. It wasn't a factory but there was a lot of huckleberry in it. We got huckleberry jam and jelly and some ice cream it was very good we got back in the car, again. When we got back home we started to watch the Blind Side it is such a sweet movie I really like S J. He is a good dude. When the movie was over we went to the shower house and took our showers and got ready for bed. That's all for now.       Adios amigos

I'm your huckleberry.

Today we had no rushed driving so we woke up slow. We started the day with orange and cranberry bread and got in the car to go on a hike in East Glacier. We were in the car for a few hours and then we stoped for breakfast. We all got a sweet cinnamon roll or a shake with a breakfast meal. We had eaten all of these goodies at the Two Medicine Grill. Huckleberry shakes have been our family dessert for the past few days. Huckleberry shakes, ice cream, and even pie. Glacier National Park is the place to be for all things huckleberry.

We got to our hiking trail and had a fun time walking up to the Apikuni Falls. When we got to the top we stopped to look at the glorious view then we headed back down. On the way Dagny and I had fun organizing rocks by size and shape. We got back in the car and we drove to Many Glacier Lodge. We sat by the water outside of the lodge and we skipped rocks and drew on bigger rocks with water dipped sticks that we had sharpened. All of us went back to the RV and stopped on the way for dinner. We walked into a small diner called the Whistle Stop Cafe and we all got pie either huckleberry or peanut butter, except dad who got a burger. We sat at a table with a sleeping dog under that was confusing to us at first but I guessed it just did not want to be left at home.

We finally got back to the RV and we played in the woods surrounding it. We made a small town out of pine cones and leaves and then we went back inside and got ready for bed. We got settled in and stopped all of the mosquitoes from coming in. We are all tired and had a very fun day. We are all missing friends and family at home and can't wait for more adventure and exploring tomorrow.
                    
  -Magnolia

Biking and Boating Through Glacier National Park

Yesterday was a quiet day, consisting only of last breakfast with Julie in Bozeman and a long drive to West Glacier.  We did manage to stop along the way in Seeley Lake for some much needed ice cream. After a quick dinner in the RV and an evening cigar, we bedded down fairly early.

This morning we rose late and had breakfast in the RV.  The stove in our RV has thus far been used only for cooking Butter Braids we brought along. I'm not sure what we will do when we run out, as I've only ever purchased them as part of school fundraisers and I don't think you can buy them in stores. If I'm mistaken,  please so advise.

After breakfast we unloaded the bikes for our journey into Glacier National Park and road from the RV park to the West Glacier entrance and to Apgar Village for a quick coffee and a potty break. It was touch and go with Dagny this morning as she has been fighting a cold and wasn't sure if she was up for the ride.  To her credit and her fear of missing out, she saddled up and came along.

From Apgar Village we road the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the Lake McDonald Lodge. Seeing that it had a scenic boat ride, we bought tickets and the kids played a little Rook before our outing. We spent about an hour on the ride.  In hindsight, I think I would have enjoyed more renting a small boat, equipped with an 8 horse power outboard motor to have our own adventure. It would have entailed less of the bus tour tourist types. We did enjoy some wonderful views and learned a little history of the park.

Walking back to our bikes, Alastair and I had visions of continuing another 6 or 9 miles up the Going-to-the-Sun Road, past where it is closed to cars. Those visions disappeared once our butts hit our seats and we decided to ride back with the women folk. Dagny started struggling at this point and we stopped in West Glacier Village for dinner and ice cream. We finally made it back to the RV, reloaded the bikes, and showered up. I imagine it will be an early night and we will all sleep well.  Tomorrow will be a driving excursion into the park.  Thanks to Maggie being a 4th grader, we have free entry into all national parks this summer, which is a nice perk. If you have a 4th grader, check it out and get out there.

- Dave

Bozeman rest up

Monday night we rolled into Bozeman for a quick visit with my sister and some down time. Bozeman is a really cute town and we have all spent a fair amount of time here. The kids fly to see Julie each summer but it had been 4 years since David and I had visited. Julie has a precious home just 3 blocks off of main street and she made our 2 days together so enjoyable.  Bozeman is super friendly and small. Julie knows lots of great people and even managed to connect Dave to a welder friend who gave us the friends and family hook up on a quick fix for our bike rack.

We played lots of Rook, which is a card game Julie and I learned from both sides of our grands. We play this game all the time and I have only encountered about a half dozen other people in my life (outside of my Scates family) who have ever heard of it. David learned to play 28 years ago and is a very good player and all 4 of the kids are decent players as well. We mix up partners each day, but Aunt Julie is always the favorite partner when we are together.

We did a good hike on Tuesday morning called Drinking Horse and fed the fish at the fish hatchery which was lots of fun. We had lots of time to visit with Mikey and his dog, Rigby. The kids played with the dog so much she was exhausted and probably glad to see us go. We enjoyed the farmers market and more than our fair share of sweet treats.

Said our goodbyes to my sister this morning to head back out on the road. We will drive all day to West Glacier were we will spend the next 4 nights. I look forward to more animal sightings and fun times together.

Jll

From Yellowstone to Bozeman

I have travelled to some fairly remote places in the world, from the Amazon Rain Forest in Manaus, Brazil to Kruger National Park in South Africa, but I experienced the greatest level of disconnectedness right in my own back yard, in the Yellowstone National Park.  For almost our entire time in Yellowstone, I was able to send only one text message and receive only one text message.  We had a great time, but I must confess that I felt a little ill at ease being so disconnected.  Perhaps this sabbatical is just what I need to break my technology addiction.  Perhaps Yellowstone will prove just a warm up for Glacier and Denali National Parks to come.

The texts I did send and receive were from Chris Inman and to his wonderful wife, Emily.  Chris and I lived in the Beta house years ago, though some of the memories seem like they happened yesterday.  At one point, Chris sprayed the entire contents of a fire extinguisher into my room at the end of a night's festivities, much to the chagrin of Scott Kirkegaard, my only roommate with anything of value, including his prized computer.  I am not sure how the two of them worked it out.  In any event, Chris informed me a few days ago that Emily and his daughters would be in West Yellowstone, so I texted Emily to say that we would be stopping by the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone and asked it they would care to join us.  This was the first day of the sabbatical during which we set an alarm.  We left the Fishing Bridge RV Park by 8:30 or so and drove arrived in West Yellowstone at 10, just in time to catch up with the Inman family.  We had an enjoyable time, the youngest among us had the opportunity to enter the bear enclosure (after the bears had been removed) in order to hide their food for them to find when they reentered.  According to Dagny, this sounded like more fun than it turned out to be.  We did see four of the grizzly bears and three wolves, which exceeded the numbers we saw in Yellowstone (one each).  Two of the younger grizzlies wrested in their pond, which proved to be the highlight of the discovery center.

After few hours with the grizzlies, wolves, and Inman's, we loaded up and headed to Bozeman, where we met up with Jll's sister, Julie, who lives in Bozeman for roughly half of each year.  Dinner and Fuddrucker's was followed by a game of Rook, which rounded out the night.  I hate to admit it, but I love Fuddrucker's burgers (which I think are second to Del Frisco's) and ever since Denver closed its last franchise, I have noticed them whenever we travel.  Jll and I left the girls with Aunt Julie while she, Alastair, and I headed to the RV park for the night.

Tomorrow should be a fairly calm day, though I do need to find a welder or fabrication shop to work on the RV.  Apparently putting six bikes on the rear bumper may not have been the best idea.  While the rack and its mount are holding fine, I fear that when we go over large bumps, we are slowly ripping the 4" steel bumper off of its mounts. 

A Lazy Day in Yellowstone

For our second day in Yellowstone we had a late start. After eating a few danishes for breakfast we loaded up the minivan and headed out from our campsite at Fishing Bridge. Since we did the lower loop yesterday we headed north stopping to see the Tower Fall before driving through Lamar Valley. We saw a bunch of bison, elk, pronghorns, a hawk with a snake in its talons, and a lone wolf.

We then drove to the Mammoth Hot Springs for lunch in the dining room before walking the hot springs terraces. We then drove back to the Canyon Village through Norris, seeing plenty of bison along the way. We stopped by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone driving the north and south rims. Alastair was disappointed to find the Uncle Tom's hiking trail closed. He had hiked this previously with his Aunt Julie and wanted to show it to us. I was not disappointed as I understand the hike to include several hundred steps to the bottom of the canyon, with no way up but the same steps.

Back to the campground for dinner we had some brats followed by a few games of Rook.  Adelaide and Alastair have been on a run and they need to be brought down a notch or two.

Tomorrow we head to West Yellowstone to see some grizzly bear and wolves then it's on to Bozeman. Stay tuned for more.  Hopefully our internet connections will get better and we can start posting more regularly.

- Dave

First Day in Yellowstone

We arrived in Yellowstone today and we had a lot of fun plans. We decided to go to Old Faithful and other natural geysers. We drove in a loop and stoped at great destinations on the way. We saw great views of lakes, rivers, and streams. We got to Old Faithful and we were a few minutes from erouption. We were amazed at the sight and we went inside and got ice cream after the eruption.

The next thing we did was go to Gibbon falls and we watched that for a while. We kept driving and my mom insisted that we stoped and saw the mud pots. That was a good choice. We walked around the board walk and we walched all sorts of geysers and boiling or steaming pots. My favorite was a hole filled with boiling red mud. We drove back and stoped several times to wait for Bison to cross, bears to watch, and Elk to see. We got into town and ate dinner. Then we went back to the RV and went to the shower house to clean up. We came back and we brushed are teeth and got ready for bed. We finished the night by playing cards and putting together pictures.

       For now, Magnolia

Biking in the Rain

On our first sabbatical 5 years ago the children ranged in age from 5 to 10. Now, at 10 to 15 we have many more choices about what we are able to do. Last time, I brought a stroller; this time, bikes. One of the things I have always loved about bikes is that riding them feels youthful. I rode my bike a lot when I was a kid. I almost never ride it in Denver but I am always game to rent bikes on vacation. Riding a bike means I am not in a hurry and I have time to enjoy where I am going.

Our 6 bikes on the back of our RV required a lot of advanced planning to arrange. Thanks to David, they are all here with us. Last night the girls and I took the bikes out for a short test ride. Magnolia's bike is new to her and she needed a little practice getting used to her gears. The ride was on a seasonal dirt road that is not yet open for summer. If you take it for 47 miles you end up in Idaho. Last night was a quick ride but so rewarding with beautiful views and scenery we new it would be the primary activity for our day today.

It rained all last night, it rained this morning, in fact it rained almost all day. When the clouds broke ever so slightly at 4pm the girls and I headed back out. The boys didn't trust that the weather would hold and opted to stay behind. It is difficult to know exactly how far we rode but I am guessing 5 miles each way. I loved it the most but we all had a great time. We were all alone, no other people for miles. We saw really cool birds, ground hogs, and a fawn on this bike ride. Much of the ride is through an old burn area and that lends to some interesting landscape as well. The river was on our side the entire ride and we crossed several streams and saw a few beaver dams. We laughed, we pointed out our favorite wildflowers, and we munched on gold fish. Then the rain came.

We probably rode the final 4 miles home in a decent rain. We picked up our pace and didn't stop for anymore goldfish. I continued to look for more wildlife but mostly I kept my eye on my 3 amazing daughters. I was so proud of them for riding hard, in the cold, in the rain, and for mostly laughing all the way home. I try to tell them all the time not to lead a vanilla life. If we had skipped the ride because of the chance of rain, our afternoon would have been fairly unremarkable. Instead, it was amazing! I loved every minute of it. I even loved the cold and wet parts. I loved that we were in it together and they weren't intimidated by the chance of rain.

They are all tucked in tight now, and, it is raining. I have hopes of blue skies tomorrown but either way, it will be amazing.

Jll

All For One

Hello everyone! My name is Adelaide McLain and I am 15 years old. This coming year I will be a sophmore at Thomas Jefferson High School.

This morning started as a collective effort because as soon as one person is awake and moving, so is EVERYONE else. We woke up in Rock Springs, WY and had cereal for breakfast. We began driving eventually and headed for Jackson Hole, WY. It took us a few hours but we eventually arrived.

We explored the small town and took some pictures. All 6 of us were very hungry so we headed to a small restaurant called The Bunnery.  This was one of Aunt Julie and Mike's favorites when they lived in Jackson Hole. I had quesadillas for lunch which were very delicious. We went and looked at a few small stores and I got a new charm for my charm bracelet.

We got back in the RV after a late lunch and drove about 90 minutes to Grand Teton National Park. It is so gorgeous here so we parked and I went on a bike ride with mom and the girls. We biked a couple miles on a road through the park and found a great little creek. At one point the girls almost got run over by a baby deer. We biked back and started a fire. We made s'mores and all took showers. Now we are doing a Bible devotional and then we are going to play Rook. Goodnight!

-Adelaide