The Hooligans Are Running!

hoo·li·gan

ˈho͞oləɡən/

noun

1. a violent young troublemaker, typically one of a gang.

We had two types of hooligans in our lives this past week. Both come in groups of males. Both caused us to need to act now! in a big hullabaloo. Both we enjoyed in the end. But neither were violent. 

One is a fish. The other are the dudes who lost our key. 

Mugshot: Josiah, Allen, and Peter' 

Our Sunday Afternoon drive to the mountain top Hatcher Pass, only 10 minutes from where we are!

Some friends of friends drove our car up from PA just for the fun of it. They jumped at the chance to drive 4,240 miles gas paid and fly home. Well, they ended up driving a lot more. One of their stops was a strenuous hike up a snowy mountain in the middle of nowhere of the Yukon Territory, after which they decided to slide down half the mountain on loose gravel. Unfortunately, at the bottom they realized Allen's pocket which previously housed the key was empty, and Josiah had a nasty gash in his hand. So began the long ordeal of trying to find a lock smith then a Honda dealer in Canada, they can't make/obtain a key for the CRV in time for the guys' flight out of Anchorage, overnight shipping is not available across the border, a trucker friend of Dicks wasn't leaving in time, and a private plane would cost a fortune. Eventually Allen and Josiah hitchiked a 12 hour trip to where we are, picked up our spare key, and drove our truck back to White Horse, where Peter was going bored crazy, then drove back to Palmer. And they finally got our car to Palmer, and we got to enjoy burgers and fries with some new friends.

Sunday afternoon attempting trout fishing.

Cyrus introducing our completed shared garden plot.

Alaskan spring meal of stir fried Fiddle Head Ferns. Pick 'em now or it'll be too late!

Dick Stoffel showing off his hearty iconic Alaskan breakfast:
Triple layer sourdough waffles with wild Alaskan blueberry syrup and ALL the fixin's.
He works hard enough for it! 

My perfect Sabrina-ized Bulletproof Coffee.
What I look forward to in the still quiet 6am every morning.

The second hooligans are: Hooligans! On Monday right before dinner Dick, a 72 year old Alaskan Sourdough {You're called a Sourdough when you've lived in Alaska for ten years. The saying is, "You're soured on Alaska, and don't have enough dough to get back!), came bouncing out the door (as much as Dick can bounce :), and said, "The hooligans are running! We can net them by the bucket full. We have to go now though, well, I am. I'm going after dinner with Vick and if you guys come we'll fill up all our coolers."

Hooligans (Aka: Smelt, Candlefish, Eulachon) are small fish that swim upstream in hoards in the Alaskan rivers to spawn. The males swim first in the hundreds of thousands to prepare the spawning beds for the females.

 In Alaska, if something is ready, you jump on it or miss out. Fiddle head ferns. Hooligans running. Harvesting the quickly ripened produce. It's the nature of how this state began--the Alaskan Gold Rush. It's your one chance at bounty! Act now or it'll be too late!

So we didn't arrive to the river until 8:30pm and filled up 9 coolers in 2 hours! But that doesn't include hauling them all out, loading up, getting ice, etc etc. getting us home at 1:30am. I was tired and exhausted and reminding myself that the next time the men go out fishing after dinner I'll stay home. But it was a really experience.

The weather here has been ideal. 78 degrees yesterday, but with a breeze cool enough to chill you in the shade if you're not working. Sunny blue blue sky with soft white clouds and mountains on the horizon. I found my circuit for running the in morning. It's nice to view that background while out with my jogging stroller and lecturing two-year old :)

Breaking Ground

a·me·na·ble

əˈmēnəb(ə)l,əˈmenəb(ə)l/

adjective

 Open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled.

synonyms:

cooperative, acquiescent, compliant, accommodating, obliging,  biddable,manageable, controllable, governable, persuadable, tractable, responsive,pliant, malleable, complaisant.

         This is Cyrus' character word of the week. Or maybe month. And it has become ours as well. Rather a running comment or joke in the house now. We have moved into a bedroom in the house of our friends we stayed with on vacation last year. Dick and Marian have so graciously opened their home for us to stay in while we "get settled." I have always thought that was a strange phrase for moving, just go and move in and be happy! I have moved I believe 22 times in my life now. It was always a breeze! Well, I never realized all of the logistical tasks that the responsible parties of must complete when moving a household, especially after having just sold a business. Wow Mom, you are incredible!

We are looking at a couple of properties to purchase with the intention of fixing up, living in and eventually selling for a profit. It is a unique location for this goal because of the high turnover rate of Alaska.There are quite a number of abandoned lots with half built houses, shacks, or cabins on them. Perfect for a talented carpenter like my husband.

One of the unfinished properties we're evaluating. Don't ask me why they made it look like a castle...!?

"Uncle Dick" as Cyrus refers to our friend, house parent, and adopted grandparents

We are also both in communication with several potential employers. We're praying and evaluating options carefully, because this jobs will drastically effect our future life routines. For example, there are many jobs that include traveling to a distant Alaskan village for a week to months at a time.We do not want to be separated as a family for extended times, so if we do this it will be temporary or in the future or together.

Cyrus and Daddy working the trackhoe to clear some of Dick's  and Marian's and for a bigger garden this year. We will be sharing the work and produce of their garden plot this year. Alaska jumbo size veggies to come!

     The main area requiring us to be amenable has been simply in living situation. It is a community setting here. Dick and Marian rent out their basement apartment, a bedroom, and a camper out to two women, one with her daughter, and a man in the camper. They also care for a mentally disabled Native Alaskan woman who has lived with them for 15 years. Janet is about at the social developmental level of an 8 year old but the mental level of preschooler. So she repeats the same phrases constantly. But Cyrus interacting with her is comically hilarious. They repeat questions and answers back and forth. I may try to catch it on videoCyrus gives her a hug and kiss every night before bed. :)

So it reminds me a bit of the compound living situation that we lived in in Haiti. Only to the point that there is always someone around and something going on. And any time two human beings live together there will be numerous aspects that they do totally different then you would. Not that its wrong, just different. And then there is just the working out and communicating how everything will happen: laundry, meals, cleaning, expenses, personal time, agenda...and so far we have noticed that plans change, a lot. But that's ok! Because we are amenable :)

The weather here is perfect. It was up to 71 today enough to work up a good sweat and lil' tan while laboring in the garden plot "working the land." Man, it is hard to believe that the pioneers cleared hundreds of acres of woods into plantable fields. WOW.

MUCH work completed, much more to come!

Nothing like Alaska as an after dinner four-wheeler ride down to the gas station for an ice cream store.
It is about 7pm in this picture... Daddy and Cyrus got an ice cream cone. Mommy got some melatonin.

The gas station just down the road- Four wheeler routes along the side of the road everywhere.

Horseback riding at Dick's 100 acre homestead.

Arrival!

We're finally here!!!

May 12:  Enjoyed Thai food at the unmobile van-restaurant set up at "The Hub Of Alaska" gas station in GlennAllen, AK. The same place we stopped almost a year ago when we vacationed and made our decision to move. Full circle :)  Drove down the Glenn Highway searching for a place to camp. Dropped in at an all-in-one pitstop where Chadd purchased a fishing license and a machete and picked up a 2015 fishing guide. Found a frozen lake and decided to try out our hand at ice fishing....

Not too successful. It was pretty cold and open at that spot so we moved on looking for a better place to set up tent.

Ended up pulling into the lane to Dick's Homestead and set up on an empty plot. We walked up to his homestead to visit and startled a moose with two new calves and a yearling from last year she was snapping at to chase off (I'm sure glad we humans don't have to do that with our older children! Though we learned in our Loved to Life class at LifeCenter that boys need to "unbond" from their mother and bond to their father around age 4-5. I reminded Chadd that Cyrus isn't there yet :)

Our last night camping on this roadtrip. But neither of us enjoyed it quite as much the 12th night. We have gotten set up and tear down to a pretty quick routine. We should have timed ourselves. It sure is a lot of work though, because we started hauling our monstrous mattress out of the trailer to sleep on. But it was worth the comfort. It's a unique convenience to be camping with all of our belongings along-whatever we might want we have. It's just a matter of how buried it is and how willing we are to dig through to find it.

It's not every day you wake up to this out your tent door:

May 13: Drove to our good and soon to be better, friends Dick and Marianne's home in Palmer, AK. Landed, cleaned our room, unloaded, put Cyrus to nap, drove to rent a self-storage unit, unloaded our entire household in one hour (HOW did Chadd and Dad fit all that stuff in there! Wow. It's no wonder our tire blew..), came back and I left with a friend of a friend from 2007 when I lived in New Hampshire who was visiting ffor work and had contacted me on facebook that day. She took me out for a snack and a very long conversation. Chadd said, "that's just like you, you have a friend over before we even move in!"


May 14: Dick, Chadd, Cyrus and I loaded up his work diesel truck and went to work on a Tiny House of his friends daughter. Helping out friends, making friends, earning a future Halibut fishing trip (! :o), and listening to stories of God's miracles in their lives. Saw some pastured Elk, a friend of Dick's ranch home and horses, and were hosted for dinner. Came back at 10:17 exhausted but the sun was still shining.

May 15: Plans to help Dick and Marianne put in their garden and begin our search for jobs and a house!

It'll be communal living around here for a while. Dick and Marianne have big hearts and an open door. Several people live in different rooms or the basement or stop in and borrow the horses. Dick has four neighbor foster boys helping out with and learning about the horses. There will be challenges of patience regularly, and all the better for our growth of character. We've started off open to discuss the details. We are so blessed to have this gift while we get settled.

So- our trip is over and our new life has begun. My posts will likely be less frequent but continue to update anyone interested in our affairs. Please post comments, I'd love to hear about happenings in your lives and lessons too!

To God be all the Glory! Or as Cyrus was singing in the car, "We're goingto Alaskaaaaa......Amen!" :)

White Horse, Capitol City, YUKON Territory---> "Larger Than Life"

What a last few days.

We have been out of range of any type of internet until now, hence the delay.


5/8/15 Passed a gorgeous Lodge on the shore of a frozen Muncho Lake and decided to stay the night. Man, the wind coming off of that ice was COLD! My husband is crazy, as most of you may know. (Crazy cool that is, that's why I married him :) We went for an evening walk up the lake and he casually had the bright idea to test out the waters, up to his thighs, in ICE. yeah... There'll be videos posted later...The temperature drops quick when the sun goes down. Chadd managed to brilliantly rig up our heater to run in our tent (RV electric hookup with a converter). We slept pretty cozy :) I had my first experience reading the Bible and talking with God while overlooking a frozen lake surrounded by snow capped mountains, while cocooned in a quilt my Grandma just gave us when we passed Goshen. Thanks Grandma!

Driving through northern British Columbia and now in the Yukon, we've spotted 10 black bear and one very starving looking grizzly who appeared to have just crawled out of hibernation on the wrong side of the bed. Black bears are more common here than deer in the off season in PA. They're pretty unconcerned about humans. Only one ran away from us. Don't worry, Chadd and Cyrus are out buying bear spray at the moment from a local Wal-Mart. In Canada we are not allowed to use our firearms even for bear protection. Along the way we also braked our rig to a halt for a mama moose with her calf, several caribou, a very stately dall sheep (picture the mountain sheep with boasting chest and curled thick horns), a Wolf!, a coyote, some white tail & black tail dear, a few mule deer, many wild Buffalo! (including twin calves! wow, I didn't even know wild herds still existed. They are HUGE!! Massive head and immense shoulders, as large as a small car!), one grouse, and two pheasants. Lots of beaver lodges but not beaver sightings. Oh, and Cyrus almost hand fed some bold campground birds who were enjoying his oatmeal more than he was.

Yesterday morning we drove to the AWESOME Lliard Hot Springs!! and spent the morning swimming in the gorgeous non-touristicized natural setting in incredibly warm water after a CHILLING morning. The water comes out of the ground 125 degrees! Wow. God, you are awesome. I've always wanted to dip in a hot springs, and now I have! The dare is if you can stand the heat to swim up to the mouth and place a rock. If you ever go there, you will find two big rocks stacked with a smaller one on top (for me, not for Cyrus). We spent most of the time in the cooler water further from the origin. Cyrus loved it! We met a fun family with twin 3 yr old girls from Fairbanks moving to Dallas with the airforce. The weather warmed up to allow for shorts and t-shirts. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the warm sun and headed on the road again.


Last night (Night of 5/9/15) we slept at a rural turnout of the Alaska Highway with a few camp sites and an outhouse. This time we decided to give our belongings the tent and we took a portion of the trailer for bed. It is a huff of a lot of work and rather scrunched, but warm and safe from bear. And dark! We actually slept in, which was necessary because Cyrus had nightmares much in the night :( He's generally doing very well, that was the second time he woke up and was very scared by his strange surroundings. I will remember to pray over his sleep tonight.) It's been a lot for a little guy with the time change, light till 11pm, irregular sleep schedules, and LOTS of carseat time. But he amazes us with his amenability, agility, and brilliance every day. I think he's growing up just in two weeks time on the road!


The trip has not been angel perfect with everyone always delighted and in perfect agreement. This is to be expected because this is life and this is marriage, and life relationship work is not put on hold just because we're on a massive road trip moving adventure through wildlife-bursting, mountain-dazzling wilderness. But the fulcrum of love and respect brings us back to unity by each of us coming to God than coming back together with repentance, humility, and forgiveness. That's the essence of self and the essence of marriage. I have to know who I am from Jesus, before I can keep my security, significance, and strength in the midst of relationship rubs that really hurt.  I am loved. I am important. I am capable through Him. It's true for me, and its true for you. Know this in His Word, throgh His Voice, and with Jesus-time. Then...forgive forgive forgive forgive....

I am now at a hotel computer in White Horse, Yukon. The wireless internet gives us a very bright warning that it is unsecured and persons may be attempting to steal our information...so I will not be posting pictures today. We're taking a break from camping for the evening. We all had a nice shower and Chadd took us out to the Marble Slab ice cream shop for Mother's Day, followed by a nap and dinner out. It feels good to be clean and organized again. Our stinky laundry is in the hotel dryer, which we could have held off on but Cyrus ran out of clean pants. He goes through clothes a bit faster than we do. It will feel good to sleep comfortably tonight and wake up warm. After which, though, we are excited to get back out in the bush to hike, canoe, fish, and camp, which we will be more at ease to do when we can carry real bear protection in our new home state. We anticipate crossing into ALASKA tomorrow! Yaay!!

Reached Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway!

Dawson Creek, walking down to MacDonald's for breakfast.

 

Massive expanses of grain fields. Canada seems to do everything on a HUGE scale. Grain, oil, and lumber. They appear to be making good use of their natural resources.

The city of Edmonton.

Gas in Canadian dollars per barrel of liters.

Chadd has driven 99% of the trip. Which suits both of us. Sometimes it's a lot of work to entertain a tired/bored Cyrus.

Snow! in May.

An oversized half a building going down the road. Chadd said to post this picture for his Dad (who drives truck).

These enormous flames shoot out of thin pipes at the oil refineries. We wonder that they must have to burn up the explosive fumes produced to protect the atmosphere?

Ginormous Canadian logging operation.

There's a mama moose and her calf out there.

Campsite at the golf course.

Chadd's "Fire Flower." Another great idea.