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| Grandson Quinn in Moscow on Our Video Call |
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| Darrell Saving a Family of Ducks Crossing the Road in Fairbanks |
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| Hiking Path Near Fairbanks University |
Saturday. 11. We were both awake before 5am, but kept trying to go back to sleep. We were both commenting on how our stomachs were not feeling great, and maybe it was because of the garbanzo bean cookies we had eaten. We ultimately got up, exercised and were eating breakfast by 6am. Once we were finished, I sent a text to Jeremy and Andrea that we could take a call now. It was 5:30 pm in Moscow. Jeremy and Quinn called on Whatsapp within a few minutes. We talked and visited for about 20 minutes. Quinn was talkative as he told us about Russia and how big it is. He told us about their purple berry flavored M&M’s, him learning to ride a bike without training wheels, his Mom going to London for a doctor appointment and meeting up with his Auntie, and then about their family going to St. Petersburg next weekend. He said he was very excited about all of it. We learned that they are continuing to plan for our October meetup in London for a week together. We are looking forward to Cyndy and Kylee arriving tonight at 9pm. We drove 10 minutes to the small airport pick up after 9pm. We waited in the cell phone lot for Cyndy’s text that they were ready for pick-up. We got them and were back to our cabin by about 10:10pm. We all settled in with our Sunday schedule agreed on and our sharing of our one bathroom and I fell asleep fast! That’s usual for me.
Sunday. 12. Church. Lunch at Cookie Jar with family, and William and David, both from the church we attend. A member of the church that we are attending, Gloria, and her husband Bob, own this restaurant. Lunch was really good there. They have some specialties of homemade breads and sweets that go with their breakfast and lunch menu.
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| Me, Kylee, and Cyndy During Their Weeklong Visit with Us in Fairbanks |
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| Vibrant Flower in Fairbanks |
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| On Our Way to Denali National Park |
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| Driving South, Just Outside Fairbanks is a Ridgeline View |
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| In Denali Park with Cyndy |
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| Dall Sheep Fairly Close to Our Bus in Denali Park |
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| Darrell's Best Picture, Blown Up, of a Wild Grizzly in Denali Park |
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| Mountains in Denali. Can't See Mt Mckinley/Denali Today |
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| Enjoying the Mountains in Denali Park with Cyndy and Kylee |
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| Another Beautiful Denali Scene |
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| Me Being Silly for Our Picture. Looks Like I Hurt My Foot! lol. |
Monday. 13. Trip to Denali. Bus tour. We had a noon ticket for the Denali hiking bus. This bus takes us to mile 43 without any special snacks or commentary along the way. Since Darrell and I had taken the pricier tour earlier in the month, we told Cyndy and Kylee what we had learned. They weren’t wanting to spend the extra money for the other tour. We ate lunch in the small town of Denali before going over to get our noon bus. We saw a grizzly bear on the side of a mountain far away from us, but we saw it and it was really amazing. We also saw Dall sheep pretty close to our bus. Because the sun doesn’t go down at night, we got back to Fairbanks about 7pm and went to dinner at Lemongrass Thai near our cabin. Tuesday. 14. Darrell teaches an online Bible class. He went to David’s house to get a good internet connection. Our connection at our cabin isn’t consistent. The rest of us stayed at the cabin.
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| At North Pole, Alaska, Close to Fairbanks. This Giant Santa is Checking His List, but We Thought It Looks Like He's Blowing His Nose at This Angle. lol |
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| Enjoying a Moment with Grandson Owen on a Call |
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| Went to WEIO 65th Annual Games. (World Eskimo-Indian Olympics). We watched a couple of events. This is the record holder of the 'Knee Jump' that I caught in the air. He set a record last year, and got the Gold this year also. |
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| Driving an Hour to Angel Rocks Trail |
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| Starting the Trail at Angel Rocks |
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| Nice Trail at Angel Rocks |
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| Some Amazing Rocks at Angel Rocks |
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| Made it to This Point. |
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| Nice Views at Angel Rocks |
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| Darrell's at the End of the Trail Going in this Direction |
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| Great Views from Angel Rocks |
Wednesday. 15. Go to the 65th annual World Eskimo Indian Olympics in Fairbanks. It was mainly young adults competing in unusual events that are known by the original peoples of Alaska. We sat through two events. Later in the week Cyndy and I went back to watch another event and they canceled it for lack of participants.
Thursday. 16.
Friday. 17. Cyndy and Kylee flying at 9am to Anchorage for their family cruise. After lunch Darrell and I drove about an hour to Angel Rocks trail as recommended by our friend David at church.
Nomad Notes. We don’t often get to host people in our temporary homes as we are on the move. When we do get to be the host, we are so happy to do it! This week we hosted Darrell’s sister Cyndy and her youngest daughter Kylee, who is beginning college in about a month. They arrived Saturday night and flew out to Anchorage on Friday morning.
In reference to those garbanzo bean cookies and the ill effects of eating them on us, I got to thinking about a couple of more things that look good to me, seem like a good idea, but it doesn’t turn out that great. Oh, the cookies taste good, but our bodies aren’t processing them well. We did enjoy eating more of the cookies and a couple of others in our house ate one or two and said they were good and that they were ok that the cookies had beans in them. Often I can tolerate a small amount, but eating more will not settle well. I also ate two times the amount of popcorn as usual. I go on automatic and think of my childhood or my young adulthood when Friday night is time to ‘splurge’ and that used to mean something fun to me, watching movies with our kids, eating pizza and popcorn, etc. Even back then, I didn’t feel well in that habit. What I really like is the time spent with family and loved ones. I still have to remind myself that it’s not about the food, or the party foods. I am remembering my most special childhood memories. Along with this emotional mixup and overlay that I am also aware that shopping yesterday also got me tripped up. I have a generational pattern of looking for the marked down stickers at the grocery and finding a deal! I learned this first from my Dad while shopping with him as the youngest at home with him. He was a stay at home Dad in the 1960s and 70s, before it was more widely popular for a man to stay at home with the kids. I remember him always buying the overripe bananas in bulk at A&P grocery. He was always looking for the deal because it brought more food home for our family of six. My memory from age 6 was filled with overconcern about my parents finances and ability to make ends meet. Yet, I never went hungry or without a number of gifts and attention when it was my birthday or christmas. My mother had a more difficult time with this bargain shopping mentality and reality, but she would agree to it out of need. She often sewed her clothes and sometimes mine too. We would shop at both Goodwill for used clothes and at a department store for something new. My sisters and I loved looking through the racks at Goodwill and finding what we liked and getting a deal to help out with the purchasing power of our parents. I heard my Mom tell my sister Annette, ‘Don’t tell people where you buy your clothes.’ She was embarrassed for others to know that we shopped second-hand. Later in my life, with my own children, shopping second-hand had become a badge of honor in recycling and reuse. It turned out that our over-abundance in the US became an industry for second-hand stores and charitable churns that made us all feel great to participate. What had been a shame was now turned in the other direction. Through the years articles were written on how our clothing had been made in other countries on the backs of those much poorer than ourselves. There was a moral consciousness in buying that entered into our culture. These opposites showed in my lifetime, and yet still I have a generational eye for the bargain like the trash left by a neighbor on the roadside is free to me to upcycle. And I could get Darrell in on my bargains too. He had the carpentry skills and the background to do this self-work on our houses move after move through the years. He mimicked his Dad’s carpentry and house remodelling work that he had grown up with. Darrell and I were both interested and capable of taking something with less value, putting in our creativity, work and skills to achieve something of more value. In the process, we each enjoyed our creative input, our honing of skills, and our self-made outcomes. Today, I am reminding myself that these are amazing skills and they often achieve a desired end, but not always. There are times that Darrell or I jump at a discount because we know how to look and see a discount and know when it’s a great deal for us. Our culture perpetuates this with coupons and sales, etc. The truth is that not every deal is a deal. I often have bought too much because of something my Dad taught me, (which can be true, but not always helpful), he said, “at this price, I can buy it and throw the bulk of it away.” He also liked to say that you need good shoes and a good bed! I listened to my Dad for sure! Lol. It is now that I can still get distracted by a discount deal sticker, a bulk buy that doesn’t make sense for our current usage, and allured to the survival teachings and my love for my Dad. That’s the embedded training that I am not giving into, but still get caught in the misfire and confused about my true present need versus a ‘deal’.
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