Thursday, May 31, 2012

Waterfall Canyon







On Wednesday the young men of the 6th ward went on a hike to Waterfall Canyon. This was the last mutual activity I will be involved with  over the 16 years that the 6th ward has been in existence. It is a bitter sweet thinking of all the things we have done over those years. I don't know what the future will hold but this was a good activity to close this chapter with.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Weekend




The weekend started with going to the Hill Air Force Base air show with Nic and Shannon and their kids. When we got to the base it started to sprinkle. By the time we parked it started to rain. We decided to eat our picnic lunch that we had prepared in the car. We did and it rained harder.  After sitting in the car for awhile we could hear a loud speaker and what we could make out was lightning danger and canceled. Payton kept asking to see the planes but we thought it was no use because they said it was canceled. We decided to go to the Air Museum on the north end of the base because that was inside displays. As we pulled up Payton saw the planes outside and said "These don't work. They need new batteries."


We went inside and looked at the displays and then we heard the roar of jets taking off. It had stopped raining and the show was back on. We went back to the base, parked and walked over to the viewing area. We were able to see several different air displays.






The military flying of the F-16 passing over us with the afterburners on really was thrilling as it just shook everything and was so loud.















The Thunderbirds were going to fly which is the highlight of the show so we were able to watch them also. It turned out just right. The storm had reduced the crowd size, it was cool weather and the show was more compressed so things were happening all the time.






  



On Sunday afternoon the extended family met at the cemetery in Plain City to place flowers on Gavens's grave. Shannon and Nic went with us on Saturday to place our tribute and Cameron and Cecelia had gone earlier in the day to place flowers there.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Thursday nights




Typically Thursday night is pizza night at the home and everyone comes over for pizza. During the springtime Nic and Shannon have a softball game and Cecelia has volleyball after dinner. We went to both games since this was the last ones for the season. Of course during the games there is also Payton and Connor to watch as they discover new things. This time it was Payton picking clover flowers and Connor standing on his own and walking until he realizes it and then sitting down.

Friday, May 25, 2012

North to Alaska -Day 6

 We slept in till 7 this morning which was a first for the week. Jan's mom then cooked us breakfast and we then drove up to a look out that is the head of a popular hiking trail. From here you look out over the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet. In the distance (230 miles away) we could see the faint outline of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. It was unbelievable that we could see it when it was so far away. We then went to WalMart to get Maddie some last minute supplies and then back to the apartment and got Maddie all packed for her three hour drive, this time alone, back to the Copper River Lodge. After giving her a father's blessing we filled up her car with gas ($4.29 a gallon) hugged, cried, hugged again, cried again and then she was off.















After Maddie got on the road we went into Anchorage to the mission home and I met several people that the Nelson's work with. Then they decided to take me to see the Portage Glacier. It was a beautiful drive but when we got to the visitor center it was not opened for the visitor season yet. We looked at the mountain and noticed that the ridge line of the mountains had a large snow over- hang. The sun created a glow in the snow. It would be quite the sight to see the ridge line break with all that snow.















 We looked at the lake that the glacier is next to but it was still iced over so no boat tours going yet.
 Across the valley were waterfalls.













We went a little further to the only road in and out of Whittier. It is a two and a half mile tunnel through the mountain. The railroad track is also in the drive lane. The tunnel is one way so you have to wait your turn to go through it. Traffic gong to the town travels on the hour for a twenty minute time period. Traffic leaving town leaves through the tunnel on the half hour for twenty minutes.


Once we got through the snow was piled up on the side of the road and it still was deep. The town is a small  fishing area located on an arm of the Prince William Sound. 

 There are waterfalls that go into the bay from the other side of the mountains.
 After stopping to look around for a few minutes we headed back.
 The way back is the same way we came and that was around the Turnaround Arm of Cook Inlet. When we went by it in the morning the water was a long ways away from the road because it was low tide. On our way back the water filled the entire bay and created waves as it was flowing into the arm and filling it all up. It was amazing to see the speed of the water creating the waves as it filled up the bay. We just sat at a lookout and watched. We also saw some eagles on the cliffs.



We then went back to Anchorage to a place called the rock man.
 It is a man made feature to resemble the rock features in the Arctic called inuksuit. The natives made these rock figures to serve as guide posts and mark significant areas. The mission president takes missionaries who are leaving to this rock man on there last day s a reminder to be solid in what they do after they go home. It was nice of Gary to take me here to see this on my last day. I heard from Maddie that she had arrived safely but that she was the only one there since the others were still being picked up from the airport. She was walking the bosses dog but she felt lonely. She found out her roommate was from Ephraim which made her happy and made me happy also. We went back to the apartment and had dinner. We then took a nap and then the sister missionaries came by and visited. I knew one of the sister missionaries uncles as he went to high school with me. It was nice to talk to her.
 It was then time to head to the airport. On the way I said I just need to see one more moose and then a few seconds later there was one on the shoulder of the road. I got dropped off at the airport and was grateful for the kindness of Jan's parents. It was around 11 in the evening when I made it to my gate and the picture on the left shows what it looks like at 11 at night in May. It is just after sunset.





The next picture is 12:30 Friday morning just before I board the plane. There is still a glow on the horizon. The amount of daylight is really something that is so unusual. I flew to Seattle and it was dark there when we got there at 5 in the morning.







The next flight left Seattle at about 7:30 in the morning. As we flew out we past Mt Ranier which rose above the clouds. I reached home in the early afternoon after spending 6 amazing days.





North to Alaska- Day 5

Since we were already at Glennallen and we told the Nelson we would be in Anchorage in the evening time we decided to go see some sights and then go to Anchorage. We had our usual grocery store breakfast and then got on the Richardson Highway and headed south to Valdez. We filled up ($4.80 a gallon) and then were off. We kept seeing sights and would say we'll take a picture of that on our way back. We saw some moose. We also saw some great mountain scenes along the road.


 
The road to Valdez is through valley passes and then it climbs over Thompson Pass.














At the top of the pass is Worthington Glacier which you can see from the road.











The snow was still deep here as this picture shows. We then dropped down from the pass.











There was a canyon we went through which reminded us of Ogden Canyon. There were waterfalls all over the canyon walls.
 



















Finally we reached Valdez after two hours of driving. It is a very small town that is on an ocean inlet arm. The water and the mountains made for a gorgeous setting.













We then headed back the same way since we were at the end of the road.















On the way back we came across a wolverine crossing the road. it was fast but Maddie got a picture of it before it went into the trees.  We got to a lake that looks over to Wrangell National Park and the mountains of the park. This is the view Maddie has from the lodge each day. Looking at the peaks of Mt Drum, Mt Wrangell and Mt Blackburn. We drove down into Copper Center so Maddie could take some pictures of some of the run down buildings. There is a wooden historic hotel in town built in the early 1900's as part of the way stations along the Richardson Highway which was the first road in Alaska that lead from Valdez to Fairbanks during the gold rush. It was only three days after we drove by the historic building that it caught fire early Sunday morning and burned down. Mt Wrangell is at 14,163 feet and Mt Blackburn is at 16,390 feet. To get an idea though of how tall they are tough is it is like looking at Ben Lomand stacked on itself two to three times.
















We then reached the intersection and headed west to Anchorage. On our way we drove passed the Matanuska Glacier. We could see the blue color of the ice in the glacier.









 We continued on and stopped to get a snack. The place we stopped at had a turkey alarm system. A pet turkey watched the front door and gobbled at anyone who was entering. There is no way anyone could sneak into the store.















We finally made it to Eagle River near Anchorage where the Nelsons were. This is Jan's parents who are on a mission there. As we got on the freeway, the first we had seen for days, there was a sign saying watch for moose, 423 killed so far this year. No sooner were we on the freeway but we saw a moose. We made it to the Nelson's apartment after traveling 3,317 miles.





They took us out to dinner and then we went sight seeing. Remember this is at 8 at night during the middle of May. We went to look out over the area then we went to a place called the Nature Park. We did a tour of the Ft Richardson/ Elmendorf military base because they have base passes and work with military families. 
We went through downtown Anchorage.












Near the end of the day, 10 at night we went by the Anchorage Temple. The first counselor of the temple presidency was looking up and he was kind enough to take us on a tour of the grounds and show us some unique design features. We then returned to the Nelson's apartment to go to sleep.