Sunday March 9, 2008

 

 

Alaska

Iditarod Update – Sunday Evening

 

#1 Jeff King – #2 Lance Mackey – #3 Paul Gebhardt

 

Our Favorite musher, Jessie Royer is currently #10

 

Update Monday Morning:  #1 Lance Mackey, #2 Jeff King, #3 Kjetil Backen.  Jesse is #12

 

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Day Nine in Alaska

August 1, 2003

 

Some beautiful scenery

 

 

 Much of our day was spent driving, and enjoying fabulous scenery.

 

 

 

We saw this cotton-like plant along the road.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed having dinner at King Mountain Lodge.  (The fuzzy circles are rain drops on our camper window.) 

This was not a fancy restaurant, but it was a great place to eat.  We met some interesting travelers, and had some of the best baked potatoes we have ever eaten.

 

 

The Milepost told us there was a campsite here, but it didn’t look like it had been used recently, however, when we mentioned it to the owners of the restaurant, they said if we were self-contained, we could stay there at no charge.  We wanted to walk around the area, and took them up on their offer.

 

 

While walking toward the river, this Bald Eagle flew overhead.  I never see enough Bald Eagles!

 

~~~

 

Back to the Present

 

We enjoyed a relaxing day on Saturday, then at 4:15 p.m. our babysitter, Tiffani, arrived to take care of the boys.  She is their usual babysitter, so they are familiar with her.

 

 

Shortly after leaving the house, we noticed that a storm was arriving, and even pulled off the road at one point because of wind and hail.

 

 

We attended a fund-raiser for our local, public school.  Early arrivers were able to enjoy hors d’oeuvres.

 

 

There were hundreds of items set out for silent auction bids.

 

 

There were also many items that would be sold buy a regular auction.

 

 

It as held at Manheim Auto Auction, who made the evening possible by serving a fabulous dinner.  Locals will recognize Manheim Central’s colors – Maroon and Gray.

 

 

Our table was provided by my brother, Clair, (yellow tie) and his wife Anne (to his left).  Clockwise next to Anne is my brother-in-law, Marlin, my sister, Nancy, and my sister-in-law, Brenda.  Next to her is my brother Steve’s empty chair.  He stayed home because of the storm.  Cerwin is next, then my brother Dale, and his wife, Dot.

When Dale and Dot arrived, they told us that we were out of electric at home because three electric poles had blown over in the storm.  (We all live within a quarter-mile of each other.)  Steve stayed home to hook up the generator so their dairy operation could continue as usual.

~~~

We were concerned for Tiffany and the boys, but knew that her parents had planned a birthday party for her, and would be coming for her and the boys at 7 p.m.  Consequently we went to their house to pick up the boys on our way home. 

 

When we got home, the house was very dark, and the boys were not happy about sleeping in the guest room.  To their delight, Cerwin and I invited them to sleep with us.  We have a king-sized bed.  To help them relax, I read a book by flashlight.  The picture does not portray the darkness because of the camera flash, however, the room was DARK. 

 

~~~

 

This morning it was easy to see the three downed poles – about a half-mile from our house.  The power company was just arriving when we went to Sunday School.  Our electric came back sometime this afternoon (we were at our daughter’s house at the time).