October 8 - “Thai Tea”

We woke up to a blanket of white on the ground. Well, actually it was more like a sheet. A thin sheet. Either way … it was snowing! Us Galvestonians stood at the back door gaping at the falling white stuff. It didn’t last long in the grand scheme of things, but it did enhance the stereotype of the Alaskan wilderness. 

Oh. By the way, we slept uninterrupted by the obnoxious clanging of Jingle Bells calling us to come and see the lights. Ah. Blissful sleep. 

Our first stop in the morning was … drumroll here … curling. Yep. That most exciting of all Olympic sporting events. And we were given the opportunity to give it a try. The hardest part of learning for me was convincing my bionic knee that it was OK to go into a full squat. After more than my share of icy tumbles, I finally figured it out enough to reach the other end of the court. It was a lot of fun. Well, until Kay Lynn - by herself - totally smoked me and Cary …

After such an exhausting outing it was time for some lunch. We went to a place called The Crepery. All their fare was somehow wrapped in a crepe. We had one with crab meat, 3 cheeses, onions and bell peppers. Ryan also got a Crepe crème broule (however you spell it) for the group to share. Really good. Genius to use crepes as a vehicle. No wasted space in your gut on big breads. 

Ryan was giving Chris a tutorial on our camera after lunch, when 

Larry texted me to come to the mini mall next door. “There’s something here you just have to see.” I rushed over and came face to my face with …  a stuffed animal molded to look like a full sized mythical  moose. I wasn’t fooled. 

From there we went by to the Antique car and airplane museum. They also had random fashions from the date of the car. Lots of dresses and ladies hats. My favorite was one from 1899. The sales pitch at the time? “Free from odor. Speed at will.”

The Roaming Root Cellar was our stop on the way to dinner. Another local artisan shop. This one even had fresh produce. You know. Like a gallon of milk for $10.50. Then there was that scarf made from musk ox fur for the great sale price of $389.00. I added the decimal so there could be no mistaking the actual price. Ouch. 

Finally it was time for dinner. Back to downtown Fairbanks and Bahn Tai. Yes. This guy actually went into a Thai restaurant. It wasn’t so bad, though. I found out they had fried shrimp on the appetizer menu. There was also shrimp and cabbage filled rolls. Not bad. That was enough for me. I stayed away from the spices and the sauces. 

But I did really enjoy one of the things I ordered. Thai tea. Actually I ordered sweet tea. Thai tea gives a whole new meaning to sweet. It is flavored with condensed milk and vanilla. There are other spices in there as well, but suffice it to say, the thing tasted like a milkshake. Wow! It was sweet. No dessert for me, thank you very much. 

We did get another lights call around midnight. Weird thing was, Laurie didn’t push the alarm button. Apparently someone either in our sister lodge or maybe someone over at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks did the deed. The sky was obviously glowing, but there weren’t any really clear lights. We went back to bed. 

But the a while later the alarm sounded again. Laurie did push this one. And this one was wildly successful. We saw some lights on the horizon. And after a while they spread higher and higher. And finally they started dancing a little for us. We got a few good pictures and at least one pretty good video. Thanks, Laurie. 

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ says, “For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Father, thank you for more different experiences. And thanks for the growing closeness of our tour family. Amen. 

October 7 - “Run, Run, Reindeer”

The weather app called what greeted us in the morning, “Haze.” Very similar to dense fog. Almost indistinguishable, in fact. Bottom line … visibility on our mountain was maybe 50 yards or so. And later in the morning that haze morphed into snow flurries. Hey. As I always say … If it’s gonna be dark and dreary, it might as well snow. 

We got a text from Ryan while we waited for breakfast. It was a link to the reindeer visitation place’s “it wasn’t me” accountability page. Listed all the things they were not responsible for (basically, things like wildlife is wild and the company wouldn’t cover stupidity). We had to sign a waiver before we could experience the experience. 

Our first stop of the day was the Museum of the North. 

Artifacts of archaeology, native art, and creative culture. Speaking of which … I just gotta say, after seeing the exhibit of native toys, Dolls are scary whatever the culture. Oh, and I managed to do an animal-ish rescue. Puck the Polar Bear is now part of our tribe. 

From there we grabbed a sandwich at Lulu’s. Then it was on to the Running Reindeer Ranch. We heard more about reindeer than we could ever hope to remember from Jayce, our guide. For example, when reindeer reach the age to start scraping the velvet fur from their antlers, the layer of blood beneath the fur is released. The result is basically a bloody mess, but it is not at all painful, and it is not an active bleed. More than you wanted to know? 

Well imagine our surprise when Toby, the largest reindeer in the pack, walked through our gathered group and proceeded to squirt a thin stream of blood all over the place, most notably across the pants leg of the guy sitting next to me. The guide said that was the first time a reindeer had sprayed a guest in her five years there. 

Not only that, we got to see cavorting, running, a little bit of fighting, and some antlers down posturing. Basically, everything she warned us could happen, but probably wouldn’t … happened. Glad we could make your tour memorable. 

It was fun hiking through the woods with the reindeer strolling all around us. We even got to pose for some pictures with Poppy, one of the calmest reindeer on the property. 

They topped off our tour with hot chocolate and a huge oatmeal/chocolate cookie for each of us. Hey. Memorable for us as well. 

After dinner (pizza night) we played a game of Alaska trivia led by Laurie (the Aurora Lady). Totally random questions about Alaska. Chris came in third and won a gorgeous photo print of the Aurora by Laurie. Oh. I came in fourth. I got nothing. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭55‬:‭22‬ says, Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Father, thank you for the snow. And bless our reindeer guide Jayce. Amen. 

October 6 - “Moose? Nah”

Breakfast became a fun time of sharing Northern lights photos. Imagine that. Our guide Ryan who was born here regaled us with some stories and videos of things he has experienced. And we thought our videos were impressive. Pretty amazing stuff. Larry shared about how he stepped outside his room early in the morning and heard some of the sled dogs barking and howling. (They are based just a half mile from here). But no sightings of the mythical moose just yet. Don’t plan on seeing one, either, since they don’t really exist. 

But speaking of something ACTUALLY existing … we found out that we get to visit North Pole on Friday. And there is a good chance Mrs. Santa will be there. Now that’s something to really anticipate. 

After a stop at the famous (or infamous) Alaskan pipeline, where Ryan gave an extensive speech on its history and construction (and after Aimee may or may not have led us to a spot where we could “legally” climb on top of the pipeline in spite of numerous warning signs), we went to the Chowder House for lunch. Let me start out by establishing … great food. Now. Cary and I were confused (dumbfounded, discombobulated) with what we ordered. Not at all what we expected. Let me just say we each had two hot dog sized rolls full of king crab meat … that we had to take to go. We thought we were ordering appetizers. Panko shrimp, a cup of clam chowder, half a BLT. Wouldn’t a crab roll listed as an appetizer be one of those little rolled up things? Nope. The hot dog buns were bigger than the few appetizer shrimp we had. I mean each bun was bigger. Gotta be more careful at dinner, I guess. 

Next we stopped at a bowl making store called, amazingly, the Bowl Factory. Actually it was a wood crafting place that specialized in bowls. Chris found a wooden nativity scene to add  to her collection. I found … well, the closest thing to a moose I have scene here. Except it was made out of wood. And it looked a lot like Bullwinkle. 

Daniel was our guide at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center. He is a native Alaskan from the village that is the farthest north in the United States. He calls the lower 48, “The Down States.”

Daniel was a most amazing story teller. Some of his tales:

1. The Bogey Man - As a child he was told that the Aurora Borealis would float down majestically like a leaf. Then it will cut your head off, and kick it all around if you don’t go to sleep. As an adult, however, the story has changed. Now the lights are a window to your dead ancestors. So when you see them, think of your loved ones who have passed. 
2. The Carrington event. A few rare times in the past, the lights’ magnetic fields were so strong that they wreaked havoc on telegraph lines. 
3. The word for goose in his language is Ngalick. It sounds like the noise geese make. When said in a high voice over and over it serves as a perfect goose call. 
4. Daniel is, by the way, the world’s foremost authority on polar bears. And he has written a book. The name of it sounds something like “Nuvook”

From the Museum we were shuttled over to Fred Meyers. It’s Alaska’s answer to Kroger’s. We just grabbed some popcorn, hot chocolate and sweet tea. I did get to talk with the crew of one of the Fairbanks fire stations. Saw their truck outside. All three of them looked like they were about 12 years old. Great kids, though. Hey, the fire department family includes all ages. 

The Chena Pump House was our dinner destination. Very classy joint. You know, the kind with things to eat that you can’t pronounce. I had fish and chips. Figured I’d keep it simple. I did order a dessert of chocolate moose cake. They’re trying to trick me again. 

We got ready for bed and hit the sack right away. Before nine, if you can believe that. Prospects for the lights to show up weren’t so great. It was raining and supposed to be cloudy all night. 

We did get an alarm around eleven from Laurie the Lights Lady.  Not much to speak of, though, in the way of light shows. We went back to bed pretty quickly. 

‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬ says, Have mercy on those who waver.

Father, thank you for the way our extended group seems to be coming together a little better. And bless those fire fighters I met. Amen. 

October 5 - “Neeext”

We had to check out of the lodge by 10, but our guide wasn’t due to arrive until 11:15. Fortunately, we were able to use a few of the luggage carts to store our stuff. 

Finally our guides for the week, Brad and Aimee, arrived. We joined forces with four other folks, one from California and the others from, of all places, Texas. Brad was from Alaska. Aimee was from Argentina (the farthest south town before you get to Antarctica). 

Our first stop was Alaskaland. It was kind of a theme park designed to highlight the history of Fairbanks with a particular nod to gold mining. The museum docents were really knowledgeable. Not a bad way to start our official weeklong tour of Fairbanks. 

From there we made our way to our home for the week. It was a brand new lodge built up on a mountainside outside of Fairbanks. The rooms were pretty spacious, as was the bathroom. We had a lunch in the large common room. Broccoli/cheese soup and a ham and cheese sandwich. Honestly, just the right amount.

A meet and greet followed, along with an introduction to the week’s events. Then we met Jack, the proprietor of our fine establishment. He assigned us rooms and explained the workings of the lodge. Sounded like this whole week is designed to create family-type relationships as well as meaningful experiences. 

To prove that point, “our six” stuck around after dinner and talked with the staff for a really long time. Aimee in particular was a lot of fun to listen to as she told stories about Argentina and other guide assignments she has had around the world. 

The nighttime guide also arrived and did a presentation on the lights. She’s the one who wakes us up in the middle of the night if the lights show up. And that she did. 

For quite some time we thought it would be too cloudy to see anything, and it was at the start (consider 9 pm to be the start). We grabbed 40 winks (not much more than that), when the alarm sounded in the room. We sprang to our feet (one of our springs may or may not have been springier than the other). We flew into some clothes, grabbed the super-powered coat they issued us, and headed for the viewing deck. 

Sadly, it was still pretty cloudy, but the lights provided a faint glimmer through the obstruction. Undaunted, we stuck with it, listening to the expert explain even more details than we could ever hope to comprehend about what was going on beyond the cloud cover, and chatting with our fellow lights chasers. 

We went back inside around 2:30 to warm up a bit. (Besides, prime viewing was supposed to cease around 2). We were talking with Cary and KayLynn when a commotion began to arise outside. We hopped up to see what all the excitement was about. 

Sure enough, the cloud cover was virtually gone. And the lights began a private showing just for our tired little group. They raced and rolled back and forth across the sky, tumbling and swirling in the kind of array we had only seen in videos and on TV. And the best part? All six of our travel group were present and accounted for. 

I got a few pretty good pictures with my phone. Chris had the big camera set up, but I guess it was too cold to mess with. Besides, this was just one of those experiences you just have to … well … experience. Breathtaking. And to think … it may all be repeated tonight. And tomorrow …

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬ says, God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Father, thank you for our new friends like Nancy. Bless them all. And thank you for bringing those beautiful lights back for a visit.  Amen. 

October 4 - “There they were!”

Remember what I have said in past days concerning early mornings? Never mind. We went to bed around 10 or 10:30. Nothing unusual there. Besides, I was getting regular updates on Caleb’s football game, so I had to be up anyway. 

However, the alarm was set for … drumroll here … 2 a.m. Our flight was set to depart at 6:03, so that made our arrival time at 4. That, my friends, is an early morning. 

Our seats were in business class. Still 3 to a row, but more leg room. Two rows behind first class. Way better than coach. They kept announcing that it was a full flight.  I walked back to the rear bathroom, though, and there were numerous empty seats. 

I did have a bit of an encounter during that excursion de toilet. As I was returning to my seat, suddenly a tiny little head popped out right in front of me. The baby couldn’t have been a year old yet. I stopped, admittedly a bit startled. But I managed a quick smile and a “Well, hello!” The little one responded immediately with a wide grin and began to chuckle. Mom seemed quite relieved. Chris told me later that it was probably that youngster who was crying when we first set out. Well, Little One, you certainly brought some joy to my heart.  

After a brief layover in Seattle to change planes, we jumped on our flight to Fairbanks. It took about the same length of time as the first one. Three and a half hours or so. Enough that I watched the rest of the Steven Spielberg movie I started earlier. 

Our approach view out the airplane window was pretty spectacular. A little different than the Mount Rainier we saw coming into Seattle. Here there were lots of mountains, and every one was covered in snow from top to bottom. We also passed over a river. No idea what the name of it was, but the contrast of the mountains and the river valley made the view unbelievable. 

Our hotel for the first night (and the last few as well) was not far from the airport. Pike’s Lodge. Interesting side note about the room. The air conditioner was covered up with a sign on it warning us not to turn it on after September 15. Well, it was 30 degrees outside, so we were ok with that. Anyway, there was a box fan in the room, so Chris’ need for nighttime noise was met. 

Our lunch/dinner (our bodies had no idea what time it was) was at the restaurant attached. Halibut fish and chips for me. Halibut chowder for Chris. Yum. 

Speaking of eating … after a rest period of watching Texas Tech football (there may or may not have been some dozing in between scores), we gathered in the lodge common room in front of a fireplace and ate some ice cream. We also listened in on a reunion of sorts that involved bagpipes and tartan kilts and lots of music. How’s that for an unexpected start to our Fairbanks experience?

Oh! And I guess I’ll have to include this paragraph as part of yesterday’s experience. We got a phone call from the front desk around 11:50 or so - just before midnight, so technically yesterday. The lights were making an appearance! We hastily got dressed and grabbed our coats. 

We saw pretty much nothing for a good while. But we persevered. We changed the part of the sky we were staring at. We pointed our phone cameras upwards (we read somewhere that the camera could see what we could not). But finally, after we walked around the entire perimeter of the hotel, Boom! There they were! At first there was a long line, almost like a rainbow. Then the line slowly changed shape and got wider. The cell phone trick appeared to work as well. The images were beautiful. We even agreed to have a lady take our picture with the lights in the background (she saw the freezing old couple and took pity on us, I guess). It turned out great. 

Cary came out after a while. Kay Lynn was really exhausted, so we didn’t see her. Cary had been taking some pics from their balcony. Not sure about Larry and Diane. Hope they saw it. 

Guess we can go home now. Well … on second thought … as Cary said, “I’m staying. I paid for the whole week.”  

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭8‬ says, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Father, help us get some sleep tonight so we can stay warm on these crazy cold excursions. Amen. 

October 3 - “Road trip, part one”

We are officially on the road again. First stop of the road trip portion, part one … Buc-ees, Madisonville. Didn’t really need gas. Just a bathroom, a barbecue sandwich and a Gold Leaf sweet tea. 

When we hit Mansfield we stopped at Walmart for some gas. We may or may not have also walked around inside. And we may or may not have purchased a bag of candy corn. Hey. Chris has to have her sustenance on those long airplane flights. 

We finally arrived at the Winkle’s house around four. We spent the afternoon catching up with good friends. Kay Lynn had a roast and some mashed potatoes ready for dinner. Then Cary pulled out an array of Blue Bell ice cream flavors. I tried banana pudding for the first time. Not too bad. Tastes a lot like, well, banana pudding. 

We chatted a while longer, but we all had to be at the airport by 4 a.m., so we shut it down before too long. 

Now … yawn. It’s around 2a.m. Time to load up and get to the airport. Let’s go.

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬ says, We love because he first loved us.

Father, bless the Winkle’s. And come fly with us. Amen. 

October 2 - “North to … well, Arlington first”

We started out the day as a typical Thursday. That means Clean House Day, of course. I did the sweeping and vacuuming. Chris did the bathrooms and whatever else she could find. 

We also took another look at our packing strategy. I think mine is done and ready to go, except for my meds. Chris was still debating on some of her long sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. But we are out of here this morning, headed to Arlington to spend the night at the Winkles. We have to be at DFW airport at 4 a.m. for our 6:03 departure. Yawn. North to Alaska!

I finished up the last of our errands while Chris finished up the last of her house cleaning strategy. I went to CVS to get Chris’ vitamins. Then I went to the bank to cash a check for the trip. I also showered my thanks upon Yuli and Brandi while I was there. They were the ones who helped get our money back and get accounts closed and new ones opened after the hacking. Thanks again, ladies!

We had our last home group meeting last night. Well, until we get back from Alaska. Had to get ol’ Solomon to finish up his prayer of dedication of the temple. Now we wait a few weeks to see what comes next. 

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬ says, We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Father, thanks again for Yuli and Brandi. Continue blessing them. And please join us on this next adventure! Amen.