Our trip to Mt. McKinley

Have you ever seen the movie Vacation?  I always thought that it was so funny when the Grizwalds made it to the Grand Canyon.  They get out of their car, put their arms around each other, stare at it for about 30 seconds, then Clark shakes his head and says "Let's go".  THAT just about sums up our trip to Mt. McKinley on Monday.  It was a 6 hour round trip from Wasilla and it was a beautiful ride.  Mt. McKinley was very pretty to look at, being the highest peak in North America, but that's about all there is to say about it.  It sits on thousands of acres known as Danali National Park, in the middle of NOWHERE.  By the way, did you know that Danali is the original name of the mountain...but in recent years it's name was changed to McKinley after President McKinley, who never even stepped foot in Alaska.  Many Alaskans have a problem with that!  Anyway, we drove 3 hours, looked at it, and drove 3 hours back.
The trip there and back was more interesting than the mountain itself.  On the way there, we saw men on the side of the road chopping up a huge moose, blood and guts everywhere.  I'm certain that meat is in someone's freezer as I write.  You don't see that everyday at home!  We saw 3 Bald Eagles and a herd of carribou.  We also rode along side a man riding with his sled dogs, I suppose, practicing for the Iditerod.  THAT was cool.  On the way back, it was getting dark and it was -2 degrees.  We passed a man hitchhiking and made the CRAZY decision to pick him up so that he wouldn't freeze to death...and he looked like Santa Clause.  We would NEVER do that at home!  The man's name is "Bear" and we found out that he lives in a homemade shack that he built with his own hands in September.  It sits by a river and was about 30 miles from where we picked him up.  Long story short, he couldn't get his truck out of his camp because of the snow so he had hitchhiked to a job he had been offered.  When he got there, the man was drunk and would not pay him, so he was trying to get back home.  He told us that had we not picked him up, he would have slept on the side of the road in his sleeping bag until morning.  He couldn't walk much farther because his feet were so cold, they were beginning to hurt.  Bear was very nice and one of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who come to Alaska to live off of the land.  He not only built his own shelter, he also catches all of his own food.  He was very interesting.  Yesterday, we stayed at home and took it easy. The kids went swimming at an indoor pool last night.   A few minutes ago I got a call from my sister, who's on her way to work in Anchorage.  She said that it's SNOWING...maybe we'll see snow in AK after all! 

Random Thoughts

I wanted to share some things that we have done since we've been here, but I'm having a hard time getting my mind to process things in order  Here are some thoughts...in random order.
~The sunrise is around 9:30.  The sun begins setting around 3:30.  It is completely dark by 5:00.  That hasn't been TOO bad, except for trying to fit what we want to do into daylight hours.
~It was -2 degrees on Christmas Day, but unlike you folks in SC, we saw no snowfall!  What's funny about that is the fact that we were joking about that before we came.  I'm a little bit glad because we have been able to do some sightseeing that we would not have been able to do had it been snowing.
~My sister took us up into the mountains to see an old gold mining "town" on Friday.  It was a beautiful ride.  We saw a huge frozen river, several frozen waterfalls, and the tiny houses that the miners would have lived in.
~Jeff, Ben, Reagan, Chrissie, Ryan, and Ansley went snow skiing yesterday afternoon.  Jeff was completely on his back by the time he FINALLY got to the bottom of the mountain.  He says that he will NEVER do that again!  Ben, I'm told, is a natural born skier.  He absolutely LOVED it and wants to go back.  Reagan enjoyed it too, once she got used to it.  Joshua is "waiting to go snow tubing".
~We had a great time on Christmas Eve having dinner at the home of Lisa and Tony (one of Chrissie's friends).  Tony works in "the slopes", WAY up North.  He works on the BP gas lines, in -70 degree weather, 12 hours a day, 7 days per week, for 3 weeks at a time.  Then he comes home for 3 weeks before he goes back again.  He showed the boys the special clothes and boots that he wears to keep warm.  They were a very sweet family.  We went to look at Christmas lights after dinner.  It was a fun night.
~We had a good Christmas.  Santa was able to find us here and managed to get in, even without a chim-in-ey (Andrew was concerned about that).  We were able to spend some of the day with my Aunt and Nanny.  Jeff's Great Uncle passed away on Christmas morning.  Please pray for the McCoy family as they prepare for his funeral.
~I have posted a few picture on Facebook...hope that you have seen them.  It's very pretty here.  Hope that you all are enjoying your snow.  Be sure to post picture so that we can see what it looks like at home.  We will post again soon.

We made it

Well, we made it to Alaska about 1:00 am this morning (their time).  To us, it was more like 5:00 am, so we were tired.  The trip went a lot smoother than I thought it would.  We made it through check in and security without any problem at all.  It took us 5 1/2 hours to get to Seattle, we had about a 2 hour layover, and then it took another 3 hours to get to Anchorage.  The kids loved flying!  The only one who seemed to be even a little nervous was Ben.  I guess that he gets his LOVE of flying from his mama.  The trip from Seattle to Anchorage was a little too turbulent for me.  Even though it was dark, we could see the mountains and glaciers.  It was very pretty.  I cannot wait to see them in the daytime.  It is 8:00 here now (Andrew has been up for 3 hours already), and it is still dark...will not see any sun until about 10:30.  It wasn't too cold in Anchorage, but Wasilla is in a valley so it is very cold and extremely windy here.  It sounds like the house is going to blow away at any moment.  Because of the wind, the fact that we will see 5 hours of day, and the fact that it will take us 5 hours to get to the North Pole, we've decided to wait on that trip.  I guess that we will finish getting ready for Christmas and just "hang out" today.  Thank you for your prayers.

Prayer Requests

Here are a few prayer requests as we venture out on our trip.

*I (Lynne) am not feeling well today...of all days...and the 3 hours of sleep I had last night didn't help.
*Pray that the kids will cooperate as we finish packing our luggage.  Our goal is to check only 1 bag and take everything else in "carry on" luggage.  Of course everyone is wanting to take everything, including the kitchen sink!
*Pray that, while we are gone, our house in Greenwood sells (or, at least that we are able to make a decision on our housing situation with complete peace).
*Pray that EVERYTHING flight related goes smoothly...we don't forget anything, we make it through security smoothly, all of the kids do o.k. on the flight (especially Andrew...it's a night flight and it's LONG), and that we have safe travel (in the car and on the plane).
*Pray for Jeff while we are gone...that he doesn't enjoy the peace and quiet TOO much.
*Also, on  a lighter night, pray that Jeff will be able to meet Sarah Palin...that's the ONLY reason he's going!  :-)
We are praying that you and your families have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.  Thank you sooo much for your prayers. 

Saying Goodbye

We have spent the past week saying goodbye to our friends...scouts, homeschoolers, small group, and family members.  I didn't realize how sad it was going to be...we are going to miss many people!  We have enjoyed celebrating the Christmas season with parties and spending time with these friends before we leave.  We've also been busy getting our last minute Christmas presents bought and packing.  I'm glad that I've sent most of our things ahead of us!  While I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, the kids are very excited.  Our family will be opening our presents tomorrow...they are excited about that, as well.  We're looking forward to the week ahead...STAY TUNED!

One Week

In ONE week, our journey in Alaska will begin.  On our first day there, it is supposed to be sunny with a high of 20...not much different than it's been here lately!  Our plan is to make a trip to the North Pole (North Pole, Alaska, that is).  It is a real town where you can visit The Clauses and their reindeer.  We are excited about that trip!  The next day is Christmas Eve and the forecast is snow showers.  The kids are excited about that too.  We have almost finalized all of our shopping and packing.  Now, we going to try and make it through the "hustle and bustle" of the season.  Party, party, party and visiting friends we will not see for a while.  We are doing our Christmas early so that the kids can have their gifts for entertainment on the plane.  We are also going to be busy getting the house "in order".  The kids are going to LOVE that, I'm sure.  We appreciate all prayers for a safe trip and a "stress-free" plane trip. 

Getting Ready To Go

WOW!  Only two weeks left until we leave for Alaska.  It's hard to believe how fast December 22 is approaching.  We are busy this week getting finished with school, so that I can mail the school books.  I'm trying to make a list (and check it twice) of things that we need to get done before we leave, as well as what we need to have with us on the flight.  Any suggestions on flying almost 10 hours with 4 kids will be appreciated!  Here are some thoughts that are running through my mind as I write....
~It's cold HERE, but it's even colder THERE!  And I don't like cold.
~The kids sure are excited about the cold!  They were looking at the BSA Troop 300 website last night talking about how much fun the snowmobiling trip is going to be.
~I don't really LOVE to fly!
~The kids are excited about it.
~Will I forget something?  I know that I will, and I know that it will be o.k. if I do...but I still worry about it.
~Will we make it through airport security without Jeff lecturing everyone that profiling is a good thing?
~I sure hope that the kids (especially Andrew) will sleep most of the flight, considering it IS a night flight.
~I hate night flights!
~We're all looking forward to spending Christmas, New Years, etc. with my family.  I'm excited about the adventure the kids will have while we are there and the stories they will be able to tell their kids about one day. 

Boxes Packed...ALMOST

Well, boxes are almost packed and ready to be sent ahead of us.  We're hoping that we will save money by mailing most of our things instead of paying the airlines for several pieces of luggage.  We're also thinking that will save us time at the airport.  Packing has been a little more overwhelming than I expected.  It's hard to pack for a place that has such a different climate than what you are used to (not to mention packing for 4 months).  I feel sure that we will forget something.  The kids are getting very excited!  They are excited about flying on an airplane, seeing lots of snow, and spending time with their cousins.  I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of flying OR snow.  Jeff and I are looking forward to spending time with family and just "getting away".  Jeff's goal it to see Sarah Palin and have his picture taken with her.  At the top of our list of things to do is snow tubing and going to the "North Pole" to see Santa.  Most of our sight seeing, however, will probably not take place until late February/early March.  For now, we're looking forward to Thanksgiving...one of our family's favorite days of the year.  We have had a hard year, but realize that we have MANY things to be thankful for.  We hope that your Thanksgiving is a great one as you, too, reflect on what you have to be thankful for.

Looking Forward to Alaska

In 40 days our family will be traveling to Wasilla, AK to spend Christmas (sure to be WHITE) and New Years with family.  Jeff will return to SC after the New Year, but the rest of us will stay there until  late April/eary May.  While there, we will enjoy learning, sightseeing, and spending time with family.  Joshua and Ben are looking forward to meeting new friends in Boy Scout Troop 300 and doing Scouting ALASKA STYLE.  I'm sure that it will a lot different than SC!  We will be posting pictures and blogs about our adventures and would like to invite our friends to keep in touch with us while we are there.  Hope that you will follow us.