Barb's Blog

I flew into Minneapolis Tuesday evening and Jody was there to pick me up at baggage. Well, almost. She was waiting at American Airlines pick up and I was waiting at American Airlines pick up. Hmmmm?!? We even confirmed via cell phone that we both were at the “right” location, but of course, neither one of us saw each other. Turns out she was directly above me at drop off, and I was down below at baggage claim. Once we got that sorted out we were off to the cabin!

We almost ran out of gas around midnight near Hackensack. We had literally talked our way up the highway!! Suprise suprise…. Luckily Jody noticed and even more luckily, we found a gas station that took credit cards!! We spent the night in Walker because neither one of us were thrilled with heading into the cabin after midnight.

Zac and Bun had their spare car ready for me to borrow Wednesday morning. After a nice chat with them Jody headed back to Mpls, and I headed into Bemidji to take Mom out for her first pedicure! Another first!

I spent the night with Mom at her apartment and headed out the next morning to the cabin where Bill and Erin were waiting. (They had arrived the night before.) Drat! It was a beautiful afternoon so we jumped on the bikes and headed to Stoney Point for some ice cream. Cute couple!

Bill and Erin were nice and continued to humored my love of biking. We got up the next morning and took a short jont down to the south campground. On the way back we came across a mama badger and her two babies as they attempted to cross the bike trail. Mama headed back into the woods, but these to younsters had attitute, and refused to leave the trail’s edge and told us so in a few growls and snarls!

We talked mom into coming to the cabin Friday for a barbecue and celebrate Bunny’s upcoming birthday. We put Mom in charge of husking that corn!

Bunny brought over the beautiful scrapbook we all put together for her suprise 60th birthday party last April. Everyone did such a great job!

We fixed a mock tort cake for the birthday, but unfortunately, Bunny wasn’t able to eat her own cake. Too many unhealthy additives. Oh well, she enjoyed the fresh strawberries and the rest of us had totally unhealthy cake!

Zac and Bun gave me a bag FULL of a nice assortment of books for my birthday. I’ve already jumped right into a selection of folktales from around the word compiled by Jane Yolen, one of my favorite children’s authors. Zac burned me some beautiful music. DOUBLE SCORE! Oh, and I can’t forget my unique “Bunny Card”!

The other big excitement was Z & B’s new flashy black Honda. It’s supposed to get up to 42 m.p.g. They’re a little concerned about the color, but are excited about the ipod capable of plugging into the stereo sysytem and the amount or room in the back.

It was wonderful having time with Mom, Zac & Bun, Bill & Erin. What a nice start to my 2 week vacation south!!

Bill got back from his Anchorage trip and we decided to go for a quick camping adventure Thursday and Friday. We loaded up the 6 wheeler and headed out Thursday morning.

Overcast and drizzly in Valdez. We were looking for a little blue skies and sunshine. But as we headed into the pass we hit a small snow storm. Yuck!

Yup! It actually was snowing. As we headed for Bernard Creek the snow stopped and the skies lifted. By the time we headed up the trail at 74 mile to park our truck and take off on the trail, the sun was coming out but this is what we met.

Last fall’s flooding took a toll here as well. There was no way we were going to get the 6 wheeler through this stretch. We did get out and walk for a while up the road to scout out the area. The lupin are in full bloom right now.

Bill thought we might be able to pick up the back side of the trail over by Tonsina Roadhouse. We decided to swing through and talk to the owners. This is the lodge that’s supposedy haunted. (Their sign by the road advertizes this.)

We were in luck. The owners let us park at their place. We got things organized and headed up the trail. There were several large puddles to go through on the way in. This one had a large moose standing in the middle of it as we came around the bend. Didn’t get my camera out quick enough to get her in the picture though.

Here’s our mighty guard dog. We decided he was in sensory overload on smells and sounds. His nose was in a constant state of quiver and ears perked at the ready.

I didn’t get a good photo of our home away from home. But here’s our make shift kitchen for the overnight.

Remember how I said this was kind of spur of the moment adventure? Well, we managed to forget silverware in the packing stage. Here’s a picture showing the chopsticks Bill carved for our cup of soups. They worked great!

Back to our tent. We had given Katie our little 2 man tent last year. Ever since Bill has been looking for another small tent. He picked one up a couple months ago. It’s a tight 2 person fit, but it has 2 nice vestibules on the sides for backpacks or extra gear.

We slept in and packed up and were off by around noon on Friday. Here’s a picture from the trip back down.

We lucked out on the weather. After lunch up at the Copper River Roadhouse and a quick stop at “The Fisherman’s Widow” we headed back to Valdez. It was a fun get away and a great way to break in the new 6 wheeler.

Today is Bill and Erin’s 2nd anniversary. Traveling to Ireland right now will bound to make it a memorable one!  Best wishes to them!

Today is Don Spitler’s birthday. Or would have been. One year ago this week Don’s airplane crashed 3 miles short of the Northway Airport. I believe he died doing something he loved doing. Being out in nature and challenging himself with yet another goal, flying his own airplane.

Don was a goal setter who accomplished much in his life time. He loved hunting, fishing, staying fit. He was bright, funny and loved his family very much. I don’t have a picture on my computer of Don, but I do want to share some photos from last year’s memorial of family and people who considered him a good friend.

As I took an early morning walk with Rudy, and watched the clouds hugging the mountain side, smelling the freshness of new blooms, I can’t help but think Don would enjoy a morning like this one.

It’s wonderful to have my trusty computer back again, thanks to Bill’s techy friend in Unalakleet. And now that summer is officially in full swing, I have time to catch up a little on my blog.

Two weeks ago we had a wonderful drive to Fairbanks to celebrate Catey Adams and Briennea Marok’s high school graduations. Our drive Friday evening was amazing. We saw over 15 moose, about the same amount of porcupines, 2 caribou, and 20-30 rabbits nibbling fresh grass along the sides of the road. We figured the double rainbow was a nice sign. And it was. We had a wonderful weekend seeing Northway friends from years past.

So here’s one of those porky’s. I just had to get out of the car for a close up shot. Those guys can move pretty fast when they set their mind to it! I never could get a “front end” shot.

On the way back to Valdez Sunday we stopped off and took a hike back to Mark Stanley’s little get away cabin. We munched on fresh sushi and tai spring rolls that we’d thrown into our day packs.

The school year wrapped up very quickly. We still are not sure if “The Bad Kim” will be my library para next fall. Thankfully, her job was approved by the school board. Now we’re in wait-and-see mode whether she and Jeff will make the move to Anchorage or not. BUT, because she is such a special part of our staff, I had Angie Floyd help create an “US” front cover headline. “Kim Spills It All: What Really Happens In Those Library Stacks?!? It’s difficult to see, but glued to the picturre frame are a couple sets of dice, some fanned out playing cards and a small bottle of Crown Royal.

One more story to share. Jane H. and I are into our summer walking routine. We typically get up and walk every morning around 8:00 for about an hour and end up getting a latte to polish off the walk before getting on with our day. The past three mornings we’ve seen bears grazing along the mud flats.

(I didn’t take this picture.) The first morning was the funniest. We were biking along the flats and spotted three bears in two different locations. As we were coming back into town we were quite alert about scanning the flats to make sure we spotted any bears. Well, as we were sipping our lattes a little bit later a guy comes in and says, “You should see the huge black bear that’s sitting across the road from Steadman’s.”. Turns out we had been so busy keeping watch of the mud flats, we totally missed the bear across the street from us . Hmmmm

It’s been a busy couple weeks for the LLL. “The Good Kim” turned 50, so of course celebrations were in order. The staff each pitched in a dollar. The local flower shop brought 50 helium black balloons which were hidden in the store room. Throughout the day people took turns bringing in a single balloon, until by the end of the school day classroom was filled.

For Christmas “Ace” gave each of the “LLL” members a new “latte look” for Fridays. Our original “Life is Good” t-shirt that “The Good Kim” gave us last fall, is short sleeved and more of a warm season attire. Here’s a picture of our winter Friday fashion attire:

More celebrating called for!! “Ace” submitted a play for this summer’s Theater Conference in Valdez and it was accepted! The rest of us rallied had one of our Friday morning “LLL” breakfasts complete with lattes, and one of “The Good Kim’s” quiches. There were sprinkle lights flashing, a new rendition of “Sand Man” to sing, we presented Ace with a Tony Award, and had the opera glasses out to practice using in preparation for the summer’s event.

One last LLL story to share. I was unable to attend a suprise 50th Birthday party for “The Good Kim” thrown at the Pipeline Club by her husband Joe. But the LLL had a theme lined up. Seems our “Good Kim” somehow got mixed up in the astronaut’s love triangle, (unbeknownced to all of us). We prepared her for the next time she needed to do battle against another rival by supplying her that evening with NASA uniform, a large container of tang, duct tape, and of course a diaper for those long drives.

So here’s the rest of the story…. To celebrate spring break, last Tuesday night the Latte Ladies met up at Ace’s for appetizers and a celebratory bottle of champagne. “The Bad Kim”, Ace, and I had no more than toasted with a glass of champagne when we noticed coming up the driveway, our very own “Good Kim” Astronaut in a BAD way!!

I wouldn’t want to mess with her either!

The remainder of the evening was especially fun because Judith gave us each parts and we read her play. It’s nice to rub shoulders with an up and coming celebrity!

Makin Memories!

Well, I was on my way to Sunday School. My arms were loaded with my bible and a basket of goodies we were presenting to a newly married couple in our church and I guess, unfortunately, my mind was on other things….. It wasn’t until I heard and felt the crash that I realized I hadn’t waited until the garage door was all the way up! (That darn pod! I might have been able to just slipped under and escaped catastrophe.) Yes, it’s true! I ran into the garage door! Sorry to say I don’t have a photo of the lower door panel dangling. I was in horrified shock and contemplating the conversation I would have when Bill came down to get the low down.

Let’s switch scenes: Bill, at the time, was sitting peacefully at the kitchen table, taking practice tests for his flight instructor rating. He had heard the engine of the car start before the garage door opened. His first thought was, “Oh …….. I hope she waits for the door to open.” Unfortunately it was not to be. He looked out the window and saw the car stopped. He watched me get out of the car to survey the damage.

I’ve got to say, after the initial expletives, he calmed right down. Of course our neighbors across the street marveled at the whole event. Enough said. Here’s a few pics for posterity, and will come in handy when the Alzheimer’s kicks in.

After church Bill worked diligently for several hours and had the door operating before the sun set in the west and the wind picked back up. He’s a good man! (He’s pretty cute too!)

I talked Bill into helping me clean our bedroom. We removed everything except the dressers. It was amazing the layer of dust that had built up under the bed. We vaccummed, washed windows, wiped down walls, cleaned out closets and wood polished the furniture. I’d like to say it really made a huge difference, but you really can’t tell we did much. Oh well, I feel better about it anyway.

Bill and I are pretty blessed. We don’t fight too often. When we do, it’s usually because I’m ready to weed things out of the house and he has difficulties parting with ANYTHING! Well , today he actually decided to get rid of a pair of shoes. I photographed it for posterity!!

It’s unbelievable what the wind is doing in Valdez! I ended up flying into Valdez Monday morning after quite a wait. It was a pretty hairy flight in. We hit many air pockets which were bad enough, but when the plane started going sideways, that was unnerving!! Bill was able to see our plane go over as we landed in town. It was going in at an odd angle to compensate for the winds. Quite the landing, but we made it! I was so exhaused from the 5 days away from home that I had Bill call in sick for me and I went to bed.

So Tuesday morning I’m eating my breakfast and I notice Allie, the chocolate lab from down the street, looking in at me through the french doors. I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe I took pitty on her because of the screaming wind, but, I let her in.

Now Allie has a bad habit. She’s a clepto dog. She steals other dog’s toys. She’s been known to run into our house on a summer afternoon when the front door has been ajar, make a bee line to Rudy’s toy basket and abscond with one of his toys!

Well, as soon as I opened the door, Allie went directly, once again, to Rudy’s toys and grabbed one. When I tried to take it away, she clenched her teeth and would not give in.

What a silly dog! I ended up getting Bill out of bed to take the toy away.

I must admit I was pretty exhausted by Sunday, and was ready to get home to my own bed, . There is a girl that now lives in Juneau who had gone to our school last year. When she heard I was coming to Juneau she was excited for us to meet up. I ended up joining her mother and her for late breakfast. Here’s Sierra and her mom.

My flight left early afternoon, and Erin had said she would meet me at the Anchorage airport to hang out until my plane flew. It didn’t look good. The winds have been raging in Valdez for days. In fact, Bill ended up driving me the 300 miles in to catch my connection to Juneau Wednesday because the wind was so fierce. (the plane actually did end up flying that evening, but you never know…)

It turned out the plane did not fly. Bill had a suite at the Captain Cook and Erin and Bill offered to let me stay the night with them. I took them to The Brew House after the opening key note at the ASTE Conference. Poor Bill, he had a terrible hacking cough and was burning up.

Great seeing them though!

I made Bill show off his “ASTE” presentor badge.