Alaska - Day 5

We hadn't heard from Liv in a couple of days and were wondering why.  We knew she was doing great based on the pictures we saw and the update we got from one of the leaders, but it's nice to hear directly from her, even if only a text message.  We speculated she may have lost her phone or they were out of range of a cell signal up in Denali Park.  Turns out it was the latter.

Livvi sent us the following text on Saturday afternoon:

Sorry I've been so busy, but I'm having a great time.  Now on way 2 kennel :)

Saturday's activities included:

• Leaving Denali and traveling to the town of Talkeetna, which began as a trading post when gold was first discovered in the Susitna River. 
• Meeting a local bush plane pilot who will share tales of flying climbers on to the face of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in the United States!
• Continue on your journey to Palmer in the Matanuska Susitna Valley, where world record monster size vegetables grow in the 24-hour daylight. 
• Meet a real sled dog musher! Stop in at the official Iditarod headquarters before visiting the sled dog training kennels of four time Iditarod winner, Martin Buser.   
• Learn about the Last Great Race and the life and art of mushing dogs in Alaska. You even get to cuddle with puppies (no, you can't take one home).

I'm just guessing, but I have a feeling Livvi enjoyed meeting the puppies!

Alaska - Day 4

I'm a day late in posting this one (and possibly others to follow). Heather, Joie, and I went camping over the weekend and I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. More on the camping in another post.

They were to set out to explore the wilderness in Denali National Park. They were warned to be prepared for the area’s mosquitoes by wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt, both light colored and mosquito repellant, with DEET as the main ingredient. Mosquitoes are most active in the late afternoon to dusk. However, preventative measures should be taken all day. 

Some of what was planned:

• Begin your day with the Murie Excursion, which will take you across expansive 30 miles of Denali Wilderness. This excursion into the park will provide a truly unique experience in Denali.  
• Along your excursion stop for hikes in the pristine wilderness and gain a deeper understanding of the climate through learning to use equipment including scopes and telemetry.  
• Explore the works of characters such as Adolph Murie and contemporary park wildlife biologists, and discover the reasons why humans wish to preserve this place 
• A park ranger will introduce you to the philosophy of environmental conservationism and how it applies to the millions of acres of preserved Alaskan wilderness. 
• This evening, relax and enjoy your dinner after you day of wilderness exploration.

The leader that went with her from Cincinnati sent us the following message:

We're doing well in Alaska, seeing and learning a lot.  I'm forwarding parts of an email sent by another leader that includes an update of yesterday's activities. 

Olivia continues to be her awesome self, always helpful, kind and interested in everything that we are doing.  She is making friends with the delegates from the other groups and seems to be having a great time.

Update: 

Here's what we've done so far:

1. Met new friends at the Alaska native heritage museum for a feast of native Alaskan foods and a presentation by storyteller Marge about growing up Alaskan
2. Swimming!!!
3. Drive to Denali national park with a few surprises
4. Stopped at Iditarod headquarters where we were supposed to just look at the museum and maybe buy gifts but were handed a handful of puppies! Ray Reddington began the races. We met his son, Ray Jr who placed 6th last year and whose son Ray 3rd placed 5th. Each delegate took a photo with a puppy so be sure to ask!
5. Saw a black bear climbing a fence in anchorage
6. Became part of the 33% Denali club (you'll have to ask)
7. Amazing dinner at the world famous Denali salmon bake
8. Adaptation presentation at Denali education center
9. Saw a moose
10. Mini tour of Anchorage

There are tons of things I left out, but these are the highlights.

Alaska - Day 3

As soon as I posted the last update, some pictures were made available to us by some of the leaders.  Here are some of Livvi and some of the group making Akutaq, aka, Eskimo ice cream and partaking in a traditional Alaskan banquet dinner.

While they aren't supposed to spend time with the sled dog puppies until Day 5, they lucked out and saw some on the way to Denali Park.  Here is a cute short video of Liv (was probably supposed to be a photo):

Note:  We made it clear before she left she can't bring any more dogs home.  


Here is what was planned for today:

• Depart for the stunning Denali National Park! Encompassing 6 million acres where wild animals large and small roam unfenced lands, living as they have for ages. On the way, they hope to keep an eye out for the park’s iconic big game including bear, caribou, Dall sheep and moose! 

• Preparation for the amazing venture into Denali National Park from the ground up during an educational sub-Arctic talk at the Charles Sheldon Center. An expert Biologist will welcome the group and teach them about Alaska’s three unique ecosystems, the Alpine, Boreal (taiga) and Tundra. 

• They will participate in a Denali National Park Ranger program at the Denali Visitor Center. A Park Ranger will welcome the delegation and talk about Denali National Park’s mission. 

• Afterwards, they will enjoy the opportunity for a special People to People moment when they join a local resident to learn about life in Denali year round.

Fun Facts:

DENALI NATIONAL PARK 
Established as a national park in 1917 under the name Mt. McKinley National Park, the park increased in size and changed its name to Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980.  It stretches across 6 million acres and is larger than the State of Massachusetts. 

Denali means “the high one” in the Athabaskan language – referring to Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in the North America. The park is home to 650 plant species, 170 bird species, 10 types of fish, 39 species of mammals and one amphibian – the wood frog.

Alaska - Day 2

In the update portion at the bottom of yesterday's post, I indicated Livvi's plane landed around 10:45 p.m. (DST).  Since it was only 6:45 p.m. there, they had a scheduled dinner and had to get to their hotel.  She texted us at 1:39 a.m.:

"Good might!" (she's new at this texting thing).

When I realized it was "only" 9:39 p.m. in Alaska, I asked if she was heading to bed (remember, she has been up since before 7:00 a.m. (DST) that day). and she responded at 2:19 a.m.:

"Yup! Luv u guys!" 

I hope she slept well.

Since she doesn't have a way to get pictures she's taken to us, I need to rely on pictures the leaders post or send us. We have two.

With a totem pole:

With the mayor of Anchorage, Dan Sullivan:

The following was on today's itinerary:

• Explore Anchorage during a guided tour, exploring the historic downtown district and Lake Hood, the busiest float plane base in the world. 
• Enjoy an official welcome from the mayor of Anchorage! 
• Visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center and gain first-hand insight into the diversity of First Nations history and culture in Alaska.  
• Learn how to cook with native Alaskan plants and ingredients and enjoy their own creation!
• Hear about what it’s like to live in Alaska from an Alaska Natives member. Gain insight into their work to educate and hand on native languages to future generations.

Fun Facts:
The largest and most populous city in Alaska, Anchorage is home to almost half of Alaskan residents. The city first began as a tent camp city built to house the workers and their families who were employed on the construction of the Alaska Railroad in the early 20th century.  The city has since grown to almost 300,000 residents.

Did you know that the longest summer days in Anchorage contain about 19 hours and 21 minutes of continuous daylight?

 I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Alaska - Day 1

Well, the day finally arrived for Livvi to head to Alaska.  The bigger delegation of 40 goes next month, but there was a smaller delegation from Cincinnati that was to go today.  That group went from about eight (five boys, two girls, and one adult leader) down to just three.

The flight took off on time and the weather was perfectly clear.

At the time of this writing, they have already landed in Dallas for a four hour layover until their flight to Anchorage.  We got Liv a phone for the trip and just got the following text:

We landed in dallas and are deciding where to eat. Miss you

They won't be landing in Alaska until after 11:00 p.m. (our time).  Poor girl is going to be tired!  Hopefully, she gets some good sleep as the fun starts tomorrow!

We all prayed together before bed last night.  We prayed for safe travel, fabulous times, and reminded ourselves that Livvi belongs to our Lord and not to us.  We are to trust Him in ALL things.

This has been pretty hard on us all.  Heather is being very strong for all of us.  While at (many) times I cry missing my oldest girl, I feel silly as I get her back in less than two weeks.  There are many families who don't get that.

So excited to hear reports from our Livvi on her new adventures.

-----------------------------------------
UPDATE:  They landed in Anchorage about 10:45 p.m. our time!  Now they have a welcome dinner with the other ambassadors that made it. About 20 other kids got stuck in Houston and won't arrive until tomorrow.

Derecho

Last year's derecho occurred with Heather and I in the front yard.  We heard it coming before it even arrived.  Kind of eerie, yet cool at the same time.  The winds really picked up and it was scary enough we told the kids to stay inside (but we stayed outside to watch).  The temperature felt like it dropped 10-15 degrees in minutes and dust and leaves blew all over the place!

With the forecast predicting another derecho to occur here very early Thursday morning (it was supposed to arrive around 2:00 a.m.), we prepared the house as best we could (taking in stuff that might blow away) the night before.  We started several plants by seed this spring in pots on our deck.  Since they were doing pretty well, we thought we'd better bring them in so they didn't get damaged in the wind.  In a matter of minutes, our garden was in our kitchen.

It apparently wasn't as bad where we live.  We were on the edge of it and I think we got a lot of wind, but not the really bad stuff.  I took the plants back outside in the morning.  It may have been premature, since at 8:45 a.m. that morning, this rolled through (pictures were taken from where I work).

The winds really picked up and it rained like crazy!  Probably should have left the plants inside, but they came through OK (and got PLENTY of water).