Nothing to See Here. Move Along.

Hello there.  I haven't posted anything since our trip cuz there wasn't anything happening that was worth writing about.  And there still isn't.  But just so you know I'm still here..........

While we were gone up north, we came home to find evidence that we had visitors in my garden again.  My broccoli and Brussels sprouts were thoroughly chomped on.

Thankfully, I still had some Brussels sprouts to pick, and the moose actually saved me some work by eating all the big leaves and branches off.

I also got a pretty good crop of carrots this year.

Chuck was nudging me to get them in the freezer, but they were all eaten up quick enough.  They are so good, we eat them like candy.  I only regret that I didn't plant more.

Also picked the rest of my rhubarb.

This picture doesn't look like much, but believe me, it was a LOT.  I waited until Chuck got home from work so he could help me with them.

And of course, there's my blueberries.  It took me a week to get them all in the freezer which is now CRAMMED FULL with blueberries and rhubarb.  We already enjoyed a blueberry pie.  Goes real good with a cuppa joe.  And rhubarb ice cream.

Okay, that's all boring stuff.  Let's get off this gardening subject, okay?

Have you ever had bear meat before?

Me neither, but I've been wanting to try it for a long time now.  PW's boyfriend's dad came up over the summer and (apparently) went bear hunting cuz he offered us some.  I didn't have a clue what to do with it or how to cook it, but I know a few people from church who hunt and eat bear, so I asked them a lot of questions.  A few weeks later, a friend presented me with this:

He said it was "really good".  So I tried it.  You're supposed to use the whole pack for 3# of meat, but I used the whole thing even though my meat chunk was only about a pound and a half.  Whether or not that was a mistake, I don't know because I've never had bear meat before and I didn't know what it was supposed to taste like.  Anyhoo, I decided I was gonna make carnitas with it.  So I let it stew in the crock pot all day.  When I took it out, it was real tender and shredded apart very easily.

I baked it in the oven for a bit to get it a little crispy, and then assembled my carnita.

My first bite - I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.  It was a bit on the salty side, I suppose I should've used only half of that flavor packet.  But it also seemed to have a slight fishy taste.  (I don't like fish.)  I think if someone served it to me and didn't tell me it was bear meat, I probably would've thought it was beef, and I probably would've thought it was good, but I knew it was bear meat, so psychologically, I was having a hard time enjoying it 100%.

Justin made himself two carnitas and ate them.  I never told him what it was, and he still doesn't know he ate bear meat.

I had a lot of shredded bear meat left, and I felt pretty sure I didn't wanna eat it all carnita-style, so I made a big pot of bean soup and decided to dump the rest of the bear meat in it.

Most of the bear flavor was masked, but I knew it was still bear meat, which gave me psychological reservations about eating this soup, even though it was good.  Thankfully, I'm not the only one eating this soup, and it's almost gone now.  

Justin eats this soup and still doesn't know he's eating bear meat.

Now, what to do with this?

PW's boyfriend's dad also gave us this bear meat to sample, too.  But I was tricked.  Why, oh why!? do they put the meat in a bag that says "Italian Sausage" if it's not sausage?  I thought it was bear sausage, so I was planning on using it on a pizza, or maybe in a breakfast casserole.  So yesterday when I was getting ready to make a pizza, I took it out of the freezer to get it fried up.  But when I opened it, it did NOT smell anything like sausage.  It just smelled like fresh ground beef.  So, now that I know it's not sausage, and it's already opened, I'm gonna have to use it up within the next couple days.  So today I made some hamburger buns, and I am going to mix the bear meat up with another pound of regular cow beef, and make sloppy joes with it.  I'm pretty sure the sloppy joe sauce will cover up any fishy bear taste.  Chuck didn't think the other bear meat tasted like fish,  but since I don't like fish, that's probably why I noticed it.  He just didn't notice it cuz he likes fish.  That's my theory, anyway.

Strangely enough, Justin likes fish too.  But I still won't tell him that the sloppy joes will have bear meat in it.  Better to leave well enough alone, I say.

Here is one of the first signs that Halloween is coming.

Can you guess what my theme is this year?

In the meantime, Weeners has been busy with her favorite hobby.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but she's got one stacked up on top of another.

She's quite the collector.

And one day last week her hunting skills rewarded her with a bigger trophy:

poor bird

And of course she stacked a mouse on top of it.

These are the kinds of things I see deposited regularly at my back door.

She's a Mouse Cop.  And she means business.

Arctic Circle (and North Pole)

So last Thursday we were on the road to Fairbanks to celebrate two events:  Chuck's 50th birthday, and our 30th wedding anniversary.  Has it really been 30 years already?  It doesn't seem that long.  I think that's supposed to be a good thing.

So here we are on the road.

We actually didn't stay in Fairbanks.  Technically, we stayed in North Pole where Steph is housesitting for a friend of hers.

The house she's staying in is small, but very cute.  It has a certain charm to it that you might see on a greeting card with a country garden theme.  And it is located in a quiet neighborhood that is so laid back that Steph never even locks the door because the lady that owns the house told her that she never needs to lock the door, even though the house is right in the middle of town.

So Friday morning started at 4:30 for us because we had to check in for the Arctic Circle tour by 6:00.  Let it be known that Chuck and I both HATE being on a tour.  HATE IT!  We thought about making the drive ourselves, but after reading about it on the internet, we decided it wasn't worth it to get our car all beat up.  As much as we hate enduring going on a tour (and feeling like a dorky tourist) at the end of the day, at least our car still had a windshield.

However, now that we've done it on a tour bus, we discovered that the road really wasn't THAT bad, and it could've been done as long as we drove slower on the gravel parts.  Another option is that we could rent a vehicle that they rent out specifically for driving on that road.  

Anyhoo, here we go....

Our first stop was this little place called Joy, Alaska.  The "town" is so small that it's not even on the map.  The tour guide said that this lemonade stand was set up by some kids who made lots of money from the truckers that went by.  They sold their lemonade for $1, but the truckers made a lot of money and had nowhere to spend it, so they got a kick out of the bug-eyed surprised looks when they gave the kids $5 or $10 and told them to keep the change.  I forgot what year(s) they were doing this, but it was a long time ago.  

The family that built this homestead are still there and they also have a general store.  We were allowed to walk around on the premises as long as we didn't get too "personal" with their house and respect their privacy.

The coolest thing about this, is that these people were from Wisconsin.  Woo-HOO!

Back onto the bus we went!  After awhile, the tour guide stopped here at this sign and said, "If you don't get a picture of this sign, you will regret it".  The Dalton Highway (also called the Haul Road) was a very important highway - it went hand-in-hand with the pipeline.  It was made for hauling equipment when building the pipeline.  If not for the pipeline, the Dalton Highway wouldn't be there.

Back onto the bus!  

Somewhere in this part the tour guide asked if there were any Packers fans on the bus.  Chuck indicated with a holler that he was.  We had just passed a sign indicating the "northernmost Packers fan club".  I didn't see the sign, but I sure would've liked to get a picture of it!!

Our next stop:  The Alaska Pipeline

The tour guide explained a few interesting things about it and let us walk around a bit.

Then we got back onto the bus.  Driving along the Dalton Highway, you can see the pipeline following you. Or you are following the pipeline.  Sometimes you can't see it because there are places where it goes underground, depending on where the permafrost is.

Next stop:  Yukon River

On the way up, we only stopped here to eat lunch and go pee.  The tour guide promised he would let us stop and walk around for awhile on the way back.  We had to keep on schedule.

Back on the bus!

Next stop:  Finger Mountain

Here we were allowed to get out and walk around on this mountain.  It was windy, but felt good to walk around and see the panoramic view.  Interestingly, the tour guide said that Finger Mountain is  sometimes used by pilots who lose their bearings.  

Back on the bus!

Next stop:  a walk on the tundra

Almost to the Arctic Circle now, but the tour guide wanted us to see what's it like to walk on tundra (the permafrost is only a couple feet under our feet).  The grass grows in hard tufts or balls.  If you're not careful, it's very easy to roll your ankle and sprain it.

Back onto the bus for our final destination:  THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

YAY!  WE MADE IT!

and this is what we saw?

typical plumber

BWWHHHAHAHAA!  Okay, I have to explain this.  When we got off the bus, the first thing everyone noticed was the strong scent of sewage.  Ew.  There was a guy there who was siphoning out the outhouses, but Chuck and I were the only ones who seemed to notice his attire. Or lack of it.

Pulling ourselves away from that slight distraction, we then focused on what we came here for:

We actually made it to the Arctic Circle!  How cool is that?!

The tour guide laid out this rug for everyone to walk across as a "ceremony", and explained some kind of scientific "phenomena" that said the protein molecules in the air are different in the Arctic Circle (or something like that - I know I'm not correctly remembering what he said), but SUPPOSEDLY you're supposed to get a charge of energy when you cross the line.  Some people acted the part when they crossed it and whooped and hollered, but of course me and Chuck just walked across it like normal people.  I didn't feel anything..... I know I'm a party pooper.

The tour guide let us walk around there for a little while, maybe about an hour (or less).  There was a campground there and trails to walk on, but we knew we couldn't go very far.  We were 200 miles away from Fairbanks, and we had to go all the way back, which meant no dilly-dallying.

And those tour buses go SO SLOOOOWWWWWWW.

I really wanted to go as far as Coldfoot, which was another 60 miles further north.  But, on the Dalton Highway, 60 miles does not mean one hour like on a normal smooth paved highway.  Maybe someday we will have a chance to drive it ourselves.  But I doubt it.

So back on the bus we went.  Back to Fairbanks.  The way back didn't take as long as going up because we only made two stops.  But it sure SEEMED long.  Tour buses drive so SLOOOOOOW.

As the tour guide promised, we stopped at the Yukon River again, to eat dinner, and to walk around.

You have the option of pre-ordering your food and they have it ready for you when you get there, or you can bring your own food.  We brought our own food (of course!)

While everyone else was inside eating their pre-ordered food, me and Chuck walked around outside.  In the parking lot there was this guy selling some stuff, but we didn't go and see what he was selling.

Don't you just love the crude structures?  It's Alaska style business.

I would like to borrow this bird for Halloween.

We walked down to the Yukon River and stretched our legs.

I picked up a couple stones from the river and also some driftwood.

They say you're not a "sourdough" until you pee in the Yukon River.  Here was my chance (is anyone looking?),  but......I'll pass.  After living in Alaska for 34 years, I guess I'm still a "cheechako".

Back on the bus.  And one last glimpse of the pipeline which ran close to the Yukon River.

After that we made one last potty stop in Joy, Alaska, you know - where those Wisconsin people live.  It was raining when we got there, so everyone just went pee and got back on the bus.  That was okay with me.  The ride back home seemed to last forever and it was getting dark out which made it seem even longer.   There was nothing to look at outside the windows except passing shadows.

We got back to Fairbanks around 11:00 PM, and everyone got a certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle.  It was pretty neat.  

Overall, the trip was really fun and very educational and very interesting.  I learned a lot of things about Alaska and about the pipeline that I never knew before.  I would recommend anyone to do it, but as for me, now that we've done it on a tour, I would like to go all the way up to Coldfoot on our own, and I have to get a picture of that Packers sign that we missed!

Okay, so now let's focus on North Pole.

Steph was working on Saturday, so me and Chuck had the whole day to do whatever.  I asked him to take me to the quilt shops.  We found two.  There was another one, but it wasn't open. I like going to different quilt shops cuz it seems that they often have something in them that is unique only to that particular store.

This store had these blueberry pie potholders.  They weren't for sale, only for display.  A lady that worked in the store developed the pattern for them and I thought they were so cute I had to buy the pattern.  Maybe it's because blueberries are definitely on my mind this time of year.

Then we went to the North Pole Public Library where Steph works on Saturdays.

 She wasn't very busy when we got there, but she said things picked up after we left.

It would've been interesting to see where she works during the week (in the Jr. High School library), but it was Saturday, so that wasn't gonna happen.

After we left her to get back to work, we still had time to kill, so we went to the Santa Clause House.

Of course the inside is all Christmas stuff, and of course they were playing Christmas music.

I know this place is just a tourist trap, but I still always like to go there.

And guess who else was there?

And outside are his reindeer!  (yes, I counted 8 of them!)

Anyhoo, after Steph got off work, she wanted to go eat Thai, which is just a short walk from her house.  After that, we took a walk around town.  

There is a trail near her house that we walked through.  Steph said there are ceramic gnomes in there and it creeps her out cuz sometimes they are moved into different places.  I didn't see any gnomes.  The closest thing I saw that remotely resembled a gnome was the back of this giant Santa at the Santa Clause House.

North Pole is pretty much like any normal small town, except there are some ways that they try to make it appealing to tourists, like they have these candy canes and Christmas banners on the light posts.

I guess the people that started North Pole wanted it to be a northern version of Disneyland, and that would've been really cool.  But it didn't happen.

I like the design on the police cars.

Speaking of police cars,  Chuck actually got stopped by one of these cuz he went through a stop sign!  It was dark out and we were looking for Steph's house, and he didn't see the stop sign.  The cop was real nice about it though.  He let him go.

Sunday morning we went to church in Fairbanks, and we were planning to go home after that, but Steph wanted to do one last thing with us before we left.

We rented some kayaks from Ft. Wainwright and floated down the Chena River.

It was really fun!!  The river was really calm.  It would be a relaxing way to spend a sunny afternoon and let the currant take you wherever it goes.   It took us a couple hours to go 4-5 miles through the heart of North Pole.

After we did that, we were on the road again back home.

On Monday, we spent our anniversary picking blueberries.

And now I have a week's worth of work.

In the meantime, I'll be "wrapping up" the end of the garden season and harvesting whatever I have left out there.  I hope to be done harvesting by the end of the week.

busy, busy, busy