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What else has been going on around here…
- Nostalgia January 8, 2026
- We Made It! December 22, 2025
- We Make Do, So Can You! November 2, 2025
- Twice in 3 Days October 31, 2025
- Processing Day October 26, 2025
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Tag Archives: adventure
So much fun. We went out to Dad’s cabin last night. I got to share my Quiet Riot with my Seester.
Then on our way home we spent some time stopping to take pictures and explore. It was great fun.
We saw a sow black bear and her cub at Stormy Lake day use area. That was pretty cool.
We stopped at an old cabin that’s for sale on the highway near the bluff. I’ve wanted to stop there for years and just never have taken the time.
We stopped at Three Bears for a few groceries, and a bear trap.
It was a great day of experiences with my Seester. So thankful for this opportunity.
#thankful #grateful #blessed #seester
Today was busy. BOW hunter education course with Thing 1 & Mo. We’ve been studying and preparing for two weeks now. There’s a lot of info to take in.
Thankfully we all passed the written and field test. Woo hoo.
These classes aren’t offered down here on the Kenai very often, usually in Anchorage. So not having to travel in winter is great!
The classes are hosted at Snowshoe Gun Club. They have a very nice facility. We had great instructors too.
It was nice to get a good refresher course, it’s been a minute since I took a hunter safety course. This one was more in depth than I remember. Experiencing the course with my girl was nice too. She did quite well and is a pretty dang good shot. Don’t mess with her.
I’m thankful for the opportunity to take the class, thanks to Mo for suggesting it. And grateful for the shared experience. Happy that I remembered far more than I forgot from all those years ago. Hunting and firearm safety is a lot like riding a bicycle, but it’s good having a refresher!
(BOW stands for Becoming an Outdoor Woman, it’s not an archery course)
#outdoorAK #aklife #shootest #hunt #womanswork #grateful #thankful #blessed
Panda Bear, as cute and good natured as she is, has one major flaw, she likes to roam. She comes by it naturally, her dad Kevin is infamous for his long Walk-Abouts and car rides to McDonald’s for ice cream with complete strangers. But that’s another story for another time.
She usually goes to one of three places: the neighbor’s house through the woods behind the sawmill because the ‘ol Captain has a playful Black Lab about her age and they like to get into mischief. Or she goes up to another neighbor’s house down the street who also has a dog that she plays with. But mostly she goes to Jake’s house.
Jake being her first hooman to know and love. One of two hoomans she gets so excited about that she pees a little. (Mo is the other!) Jake’s house being where her mom Sarah and brother Hank live. You see, Panda is just a social butterfly and has a lot of friends. She has places to go and doggos to see.
She either comes home in an hour or so or Jake calls to say, hey, are you missing something? Come get your dog. Or generally being a good sport, he brings her home.
But not so last night. Dean had her outside, as usual. He’s out there with her always, she doesn’t get to just be outside unsupervised. But as soon as you turn your back she is like Casper the Ghost. Quietly and quickly without notice she’s completely gone. Last night was just such an escape.
She was gone for 4 hours. Dean and the kids, and Jake too, we’re all out looking for her. The kids rode the wheelers around all over the neighborhood calling for her but she didn’t come home. I went looking for her on my way home from grocery shopping, stopping to talk to neighbors, with no luck. She was just gone. We were starting to get really concerned.
Then I get a call from a friend that she saw a post on Facebook with Panda in it, so she message me the info and I called and left a message. Then I rushed into to pull up the post and respond to it directly.
She was down the road a little bit farther and they had her inside. Before I could get ahold of them, Jake knew where they lived so he just went and picked her up. He’s such a softy when it comes to these critters. He brought her home and she’s both loved and welcomed home and scolded for running off. Giving us such a fright.
These four-legged friends sure do impact us. We’re happy she’s home but dang she sure is hard to break from running off exploring.
She’s lost her tag -again- with my number on it, which makes it harder to get her back. So once again I’ll try to get a replacement for her. Too bad they don’t make them big enough to print:
Hi, my name is Panda Bear, I’m on a walk-about, I like to meet new friends. I’ll go home so don’t put me inside. I’m happy with my home, I get fed and lots of attention, I’m just a free spirit, social butterfly. Nice to meet you. If you can call my hooman Mom and let her know where I’m at, that would be great.
The Life of Panda Bear
Even today, still another friend noticed the post and messaged me. Everyone loves Panda. Thanks to all of you good hoomans who help look out for, care for and return my doggo… Juni, Chris, Jake, Shelly & Skyler. ❤️
This morning at work a nice little bull moose walked right out of the trees and headed right for us. We had to dodge into the nearby shed to avoid him. I tried to get a pic but wasn’t fast enough, just got a quick video of him walking off.
This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. I’m not sure if I’m coming or going but it’s been great. The tail end of the previous week I spent time out hunting for moose, with no luck yet. Saturday we headed into town, the kids and I that is, to see Niki who’s home for a quick visit. And Sukkot is happening too.
We have enjoyed the time with our dear friends and have tried to do most all of the things we used to do when she lived here full time: foraging, bonfires on the beach (it’s not fish camp but it’s close!), Solstice Sisters Dinner, MNO, and just visiting while the kids all play.
True friends are never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart.
Author Unknown
All in all it’s been great for us. I know Niki has been going non-stop and these kind of trips aren’t really relaxing! But it’s been wonderful having her back, even for a short while. And having my Solstice Sisters all together again has been magical.
She’s been out on the road for two years. That separation has taught me to be thankful for all of our times together and share the gratitude I feel with others. Life is too short to do otherwise. Tell someone special in your life that you appreciate them today and why. You never know what your impact your words can have for good!
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Melody Beattie
She heads out to Wasilla today, we said our goodbyes last night. Until next time!!! 💕❤️💕
#thankfulforfriends #blessed #solsticesisters #grateful
Spruce bark beetles are ravaging our trees, everywhere. At home we have dozens dead but at the cabin they are more noticeable. Three lovely big spruce by the cabin have died and either us or the wind have taken them down. Cutting these trees was certainly bittersweet. I love these big ole trees. But they were no longer safe and had to go. Definitely a down.
It opened up the yard tremendously and let in more sunlight. Also less privacy, win some, lose some I guess.
Jake came out with his mini excavator to help take down the trees closest to the cabin as well as pull some stumps for us. While there I had him dig a test hole in a consistently wet spot of the driveway. After about half an hour we had a pretty good seep of clear water so it looks like I’ll be developing a spring house for fresh water!! I’m so excited! Up for sure!
We still have several downed trees to turn into cord wood. And a deck to finish. And another coat of sealer to get on the cabin before snow flies. Our last two weeks of moose season will be filled with chores during the “not hunting” hours. Here’s to having a successful and productive moose camp! Hoping for a big ole up!!
#aklife #drycabin #beetlespruce #beetlespruce #bettlespruce
To pick berries, with my Solstice Sisters.
Sunshine, a little wind. Glorious big low bush cranberries. A few blueberries left and a good batch of crow berries too.
Children running amuck. Playing with their friends like they just saw each other yesterday.
Also a great day for a campfire on the beach. Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, drinking a little homemade rhubarb wine. Enjoying the beach with my buddies.
With the sun right in our eyes. 
Roasting the wieners 
Roasting my tootsies. 
Tide rolling out. 
A little hazy but nice weather.
Friends make every day a great day.
#aklife #solsticesistersak #beachplease
Riding the Alaska Railroad is a dream come true for many a tourist and resident alike. It stays a dream for countless others who only venture to Alaska with their mind’s eye. We get to live that dream on a daily basis. And some days are more dreamy than others.
This was just such a day.
Portage Train Depot is right on the highway, near the Placer river, at sea level. We loaded up onto car A, the double decker with full glass viewing panels. We had quite the vantage point. We also had a Chugach USFS ranger as our guide for the trip. He had interesting local lore, history and flora & fauna information for us.
Sitting on the train while they off-load rafts on the Placer River, watching my kids unaware. Talking to their friends, sharing snacks, playing games. There may or may not have been some musical chairs with these assigned seats. They are in their element. The simple pleasures of life.
…what thrills me about trains is not their size or their equipment but the fact that they are moving, that they embody a connection between unseen places.
Marianne Wiggins
We rode from Portage to Grandview past Spencer, Bartlet and Trail glaciers. From the train station we traveled through marsh and flat lands, into cottonwood forests and gained more elevation until we were in hemlock and spruce forests. It’s cloudy with a little rain every now and then. Once in a while the sun pokes it’s rays through the fog and illuminates a mountainside. Glorious.
Just a little past Grandview Whistle Stop we topped out at 1061′ elevation where we stopped to gaze at Trail glacier. We stopped to see Snow White falls, named for its seven drops, the source of the Placer River.
We had a short stop at Grandview so we could hike up to a couple if vantage points. One to see the train and another to see a waterfall. We enjoyed the remaining flowers and berries and mushrooms growing along the trail.
Huckleberries 
Trail side shrooms 
The view of the train. 
A pretty little flower. 
A lovely waterfall.
We rode through 5 tunnels and over one trestle 104′ above the raging river below.
We saw snow drops, rock slides and a lake full of ice floes.
We passed over sheer rock walls, roaring rapids and glacial erratic in kettle ponds.
We learned about T-Bone Clark and Alaska Nellie and back country road houses.
The kids were amazed that the telegraph and telephone poles were still standing with some insulators in place.
Trains tap into some deep American collective memory.
Dana Frank
Best of all we got to experience some of Alaska’s rugged beauty with our friends. Memories for a lifetime.
#akadventure #homeschool #experience #akrr #learningisfun
The light at the end of the tunnel! 
Waiting to board.
Alaska on my mind... 