Outdoors Weekend

Another trip to Knik Glacier.  Last time we attempted it, we only went halfway, as you might remember, but this time we went all the way to Knik Glacier because we had a bigger group, and it was our INTENT to go all the way.  Especially since we had Bob and Jason with us.  They know how to get there and back without getting lost.  This time we made a convoy of 8 ATV's.  The bigger the group, the more fun you have, and the safer you are.

You've been "on this trip with me" in the past several times on this blog so, even though I took a ton of pictures, I don't feel the need to post a lot of them.

The weather was so gorgeous that day, so it was hard not to take a ton of pictures with all that gorgeous scenery all around me.

This part was really steep!  Chuck got mad at me when I was screaming.  I got scared because I thought we were gonna tip over.  After some of us got through it okay, we waited for everyone else, but they weren't coming, so Bob got out and walked back there to check and see if everyone was okay.  They were okay, they were just being very cautious and analyzing how they wanted to maneuver through there.  We must've taken a different path this time, cuz I certainly don't remember going through this part before.  Yes, this time we did take different paths cuz there was a lot more mud this time, and Jason wanted to avoid getting stuck, so we took our chances on different paths.

I've been waiting for Jason and Bob to choose somewhere else to go for an ATV adventure, but I am glad we went to Knik Glacier again because we got a nice surprise when we got there.

The glacier was evidently going through a lot of calving because the lake was FULL of big ice bergs floating around.  It was so COOOOOOOOL!!!

Everyone always brings their own lunch, but everyone also always ends up sharing what they bring.  We brought a pack of brats and roasted them over the fire.  We gave one to Gary, but he dropped his in the fire, which was funny cuz he's such a goofball anyway.  So we had to give him another one.

We stayed there for quite a while, longer than usual because the lake was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, and our group was big enough to make conversation fun and interesting.  But eventually, we knew we needed to start heading back because it takes at LEAST an hour and a half to ride back to the parking lot, and that's if you don't get stuck in the mud.

At one point, Dave tipped over so Bob helped get him out.  This is why you go on these trips in a group - not by yourself! You can see in this picture how deep the ruts can get.  If your tire gets caught in them, you can tip over pretty easily.  This is why I get scared and Chuck gets mad at me.  As long as I keep my arms in, I won't get hurt, but it still scares me.

I liked this tree, so I took a picture of it.

So that was that.

Then on Saturday we went back to the cabin and picked 5 more gallons of blueberries.  We were gone ALL DAY, a lot longer than I had wanted to be there, because some friends of ours went there too, and of course we ended up visiting, so after they left, we were able to finish our mission.  We didn't get home until 7:00, by that time the chicken that I had put in the crockpot was getting overcooked, but at least we had some dinner waiting for us when we got home.

So this week is another week of cleaning, sorting, and freezing blueberries.  I want to make at least one more trip to pick 5 more gallons, but last week we noticed that some of the blueberries were already past their peak, so maybe I won't pick as many as 5 gallons next time.  We'll just have to wait and see how they look when we get there.  Even if I don't pick very many, I still have plenty already, even if I give some away.  But if the berries are still good to pick - WHY NOT?!  I hate letting all those good berries rot!

Hm.... now that Fall is practically here, I do wish I had some pumpkins.  Hopefully next year I will be harvesting from my own garden again.  Chuck better get on the ball and start building some beds!!!

We are planning to go to Fairbanks in a couple weeks to visit Steph, so I probably won't post anything between now and then because well,......it's just too boring to write about my normal humdrum.

Until then........!