Just Chillin'....July 7; Wasilla, Alaska

We arrived here last Thursday, after driving all the way from the Denali Hwy, about 240 miles. This home is in the town just north of Anchorage (actually takes about 1 hr. to get to Anchcorage from here). Our friend Karen Lynn and her friend, John Sumrall live here; they built it 2 yrs. ago. This house has a unique location in that many folks in this area own planes, and have their plans right in their in hangars in their yards ....and taxi right down the road to the airstrip. At the end of the road, upon approach to our friends home, there is a big caution sign saying "AIRCRAFT CROSSING"....on this road???? Yup. Well, this is Alaska, and planes have the right of way on ANY road. We've been hanging out here for a few days, doing a lot of gabbing, washing our clothes, cleaning out the camper, sleeping in a real bed, taking showers every morning (!!!) and just regrouping for our venture to the Kenai Penninsula. Karen and us have loads to catch up on; haven't seen her in 34 years!
Chris & John chillin' in the back yard.

Karen, her daughter Paige, and granddaughter, Hunter, and I headed into Anchorage to do some shopping and looking at the beautiful flowers. It's amazing the size of the flowers here. They even used parsley as a border for flower beds, and huge cabbages as corner plants. Never saw that before. They can't plant anything until mid June....but they grow amazingly fast because of the 24 hours of sunlight. Last time I saw Paige she was just a little girl, not even in school yet.
This little "hole in the wall" shoppe is turning out to be a regular for us to pick up a totally addicting drink. See that blue newspaper despenser? To the right of that is the extremely narrow drive to the drive-up window....look close....
Ta dah....here it is....a "grenita"; a nice cold coffee type drink. Love it! Karen & Paige are not a good influence on me. We took a delightful ride through Hatcher Pass. Just a few miles from here. There are old gold mines in the hills; some active but private mines; and other people pan for gold in the creeks. This is the Little Susitna river. The locals call it the Little Sue. Isn't it beautiful?
And here is a wonderful picture of a beaver pond. See the beaver dam in the foreground?

Where our friends live looks just like "mainstreet USA"; and then just a few miles away is the limitless beauty of the mountains and rivers. Its been a bit rainy since we arrived. Perhaps the weather will clear so we can make a day trip to Seward.

I have finished, finally, my first book of the trip. Mitch Album's The Five People You Meet in Heaven. A little book....almost ashamed to say that it took me a month to read it, but was good. Thank you, Yvonne, for recommending it. Now I have begun a book from my brother, Jim: Boom, by Tom Brocaw. My brother thinks I was "held captive" during the 60's and he's trying to re-program my brain.