Figurin things out!

Today I took the girls to meet with the principal about their schedules. Saije ran with cross country and the shoes killed her. Made some wheat bread. Elyse and Neisha applied at Gould's food store. We had a really crazy storm that kept us all night again. The teachers are already asking for days off to go Carabou and ptarmingan hunting over in Cold Bay. They leave on a Friday on the Ferry and return on a sunday. Lars is going crazy tryin to figure out the hunts.

Job hunting

Trace woke up ate 4 bowls of cereal and watched Little Nemo 3 times. Everytime he saw the Halibut he'd yell, Hey Dad! There's a Halibut! I din't think I ever noticed it before, until Lars hooked a real one! Trace picked up on the fish named Nr. Johansson right off! At 1:00 we headed over to meet with the principal. What a nice guy. This is his 2nd year of administration. He and Lars should get along great. We will bring the girls in tomorrow and meet with him to get there schedules worked out. He is also the counselor and Coed Volleyball coach. The girls have been trying to get a job. Today I took them into a chinesse restsraunt and while we were there I checked out their prices. It would cost about $60.00 to feed our family! I think we won't be eating there EVER! I am learning to cook everything! We also set up the band room. Mainly Saije's drums so she can get praticing. Trace is going to be an awesome drummer also. Saije has been giving him lessons.

Cold Bay and back.

Today was another beautiful day. It did end up raining, but we had a blast. We hopped on the 4 wheelers and headed to Cold Bay. The road to Cold Bay has been temp. stopped. It reaches a Habitat Refuge that is abour 7 miles long. After that it is finished to Cold Bay. Lars talked to one of the locals, and he said that they are looking into buying a hover craft that holds about 4 cars and it can take them back and forth across the refuge. As we rode along the shores we saw 2 baby Red Foxes. We had them eating smoked salmon about 10 ft. away from us. Trace loved it. Neisha wanted to take them home! It did begin to rain so we headed home. The whole trip we never saw a single bear, they were all married with lots of children! Just kidding! We got home and ate Halibut Alyeska. Trace took one bite and spit it out on his plate and that made it hard for Saije amd Elyse to eat. The rest of us finished and Trace ate hot cereal for dinner! Elyse and Neisha made salmonberry cheese cake for dessert. It was very good, I am proud to call them my own! (SMILE)

Exploring King Cove

Today we woke up and ate bisquits and gravy. We then loaded up the 4 wheelers, and gased up. Then headed for the hills. We decided to go check out the hydro power plant. For the next 4 hours we climed mountain after mountain. We rode to the top of the first peak and looked over the south end coast. We saw at least 5 whales! With the binoculars you could see their shinny skin. We didcided to go up another peak and we came to a huge waterfall. WE had to hike in. One waterfall turned into many waterfalls. There ended up being a deep canyon so we will have to go back and hike the other side to get up in there. We didn't see any bears, but we did come fully armed. Lars brought a 357, a 22, and a shot gun. On our way out we crossed a patch of berries, both Salmon and Blueberrries that we hadn't seen on our way in. We ate more than we should have and Trace loaded his pockets with blueberries to take home to Neisha. She loves them, and I thought that we could make blueberry pancakes in the morning. Elyse amd Neisha stayed home and put together a family video with all of our pictures that we don't have saved on a disc. Elyse did the music and it turned out great! After dinner we watched it and hit the sack!

Girls night out!

Today was a windy one! I wanted to stay in bed all day., but no ! I went in and got the blg caught up and Lars worked on his class room. We met the High School Social Studies, Alaska History, and World History teacher. Her maiden name is Larsen. I know almost as many Larsens as I do in King Cove. We fit right in! Elyse and I made a couple loaves of bread. Saije and I made garlic toast. Neisha and I made meatballs for the spegetti. and Lars and Trce took the garbage down to the canisters. If you leave your trash outside guess who comes to visit? Yes, the Three Bears! After gettin' our chores done, I drove the girls down to the teen center. They played pool, video games and listened to music and read magazines. There is a parent that hangs out with the kids. There is also pizza, drinks and candy. While I was gone Lars and Much caught some more Humpies! Trace's fish stories are great. The fish seem to be getting bigger! Now the fish is a 20 pds.! We cut them up and put 'em in a brine and we will smoke them tomorrow. Fish, fish, fish, that's all those boys think about.

Calming down and getting buisy.

Trace and I hung out at the house all day and Lars and the girls attacked the classroom. It is going to need alot of cleaning once we sort things out. Trace and I went through all the pictures of the family and we are trying to get them in order of dates. We are going to record them onto a video camera so we can have them incase they get damaged. A few have in our travels but not too many. We have alot of stuff gone through. They have a co op so we can take alot of the good clothes that don't fit the girls anymore. Saije is growing like a weed! Nothing fits her anymore. She is going to have to start wearing mine! It has been very windy and rainy today. Trace didn't even get to play out side. Our phone got turned on today! Neisha had a heart attack and called everyone she knew! The girls are going to start the recording tomorrow if we can get all the pictures located. It will be a fun project. Elyse is going to choose all the music and get it all groovy! A word from the Muck: What are eyeballs made of? How did god make my hair? I love the Muck!

A Berry Fun Day!

This morning we all got up at 9:30am. ate hashbrowns, eggs, and toast. Then off we went Salmonberry picking! We drove in all directions. First to the dump. Toxic berries! Yuck! Then toward Cold Bay. Lars had one foot in the truck and an arm out gathering berries. He wouldn't let any one out until he felt comfortable that there were no bears around. Lars brought a 22, 357, and a 12 gauge. Just to be safe! It was a beautiful day for picking and hiking. There are alot of places we would like to do day hikes, or just ride the 4 wheeler to the top and look out over the ocean. Well we found a place to pick berries and they were everywhere! We just hoped that the bears didn't like that spot as well. We drove down to the end of the road that is being built to COld Bay and didn't see any bears. Maybe next time! There is a Salmonberry contest this weekend. They weigh them and messure them. Saije and Lars have the biggest ones out of our family. We'll have to see. Trace has been working very hard to tie his shoes. He'll get it one of these days! We need to go picking one more day, we came home with about half of what the recipe calls for.

A visit to the classroom.

No one got up early. We went to Lars' class romm to check it out. That room is a mess. One of the teachers poked her head in for a min. and asked if we found everything ok. Lars said it is a little un organized. The only thing we got done was the blog, and everything out of the cupboard. It was time for lunch so we headed home. After we ate we all went for a cruise down to the beach. Lars caught a humpy and I caught a steel head, 6 pds. It faught like crazy and I caught it on a fly rod. When we came home we had a visitor. Our next door neighbors Jason and Kim. They brought over a fresh Halibut and 3 jars of kippered salmon! Kim also gave me a cookbook. Everyone so far has been very nice and accepting. I also met an Aluet laday with the last name Larsen. She could see my name on the back of my sweatshirt and introduced herself. She came to King cove in 1970 and met her husband here in the cannery. We also baked a cake and Saije frosted it and Trace did the sprinkles. He said that we are celebrating his birthday. I swear he has 4 or 5 of them a year. That makes him about 20. Maybe he is part dog. He did love to be in the dog house with Molly. Oh and his dad seems to be in the dog house alot! Just Kidding Lars! After a few guitar lessons and hearing Elyse's poems we went to bed. At Midnight! No more cake after dinner!

Salmon and Onions!

Well I woke up at 8:30am, but never got out of bed until Trace woke up and wanted cereal. It is pretty drizzly today. Lars and Trace caught 4 Hunpies a nd we put them in a brine to smoke them. I love smoked salmon. Oh we got our P.O. box today. Lars wanted his mommies hamburger casserole for dinner. WE were all sitting around the table when Trae announced load and clear. "Mom what are these white things?" First I explained that they were rice. THen after a long dispute he found one and put it on my plate. It was an onion! Usually I have to make one without onions and chinesse noodles and one with onions and chinesse noodles.I had hoped that I didn't have to do that anymore, but I guess I do. So I picked out all five, luckily I went easy on the onions. Trace is cute and smart! After watching Peter Pan we went to bed!

You owe me a dollar!

Monday Aug. 14 2004. The date dosent' seem to mean much to me anymore. We woke up ate breakfast, and unpacked a few more things. We did go to the store and gabbed some groceries. We have alot of food storage, thanks to my ancestors. It's just eggs and cheese that seem to be in constant need. Lars and Trace have been scouting for the best fishing hole. They caught and released a few Humpies (coho salmon). There were 2 boys under the age of 7 down fishing with a pellet gun. They didn't own any fishing poles. We saw a family stomping on the heads of the fish to catch them. Now that is a first! When Lars had a fish on the boys asked if they could real it in, but that was the Mucks job! After they were done fishing the boys asked Lars if he would take them home with him. He said no because his wife would kill him, I already had a tribe to feed. Good call! Well we finally got ahold of someone in the lower 48. Marilyn was glad to hear from us. We ate fish tacos and had some visitors. Don and Heidi that showed us our way to the house. They brought us some salmonberries and mossberries. They are in season right now and make great jelly. So that's what we will be doing when the sun comes out. I read the Hobbit to Trace and went to bed.

Keep on keepin' on!

WOke up a 10:30am, made pancakes and ruined 2 pots of coffee. Our first visitor was a boy named Troy. WE made Trace stay inside and help put things away so we knew were he was while we were unpacking. He calls the laundry room the Sauna Room! It is the hottest room in the house. The girls and I got alot done. Lars has everything situated in the trailer. We have to stake it down so it dosen't blow out to sea. Robert, our Landlord/police chief said that the last radio tower and a 4 wheeler ended up in the sea so steak it down! For dinner we finished up the chowder and or 2 visitor came. It was LoriLi and Marissa, they brought over some blueberry muffins. Lori Li will teach 3 and 4 with Lars. She has lived here for 25 years and Marissa was born here. Today we have been feeling sick. Trace keeps saying mom, make the swaying stop! WE all feel like we are still on the ship, but worse! Shortly after Lori Li left the goulds came over to test our oven. We do need a new one. A work from the Muck: Why do we call feet feet? Lars had to begin in the greek era on that one. Trace lost interest quick.

We're here, we're here, we're here!

Woke up at 3:00 am, 4:00am, and 5:00am. I was afraid that I would wake up late and that we would have to run to get off the ship. At 6:45 am they set off a 15 min. warning bell that we are in King cove. the girls had pulled an all nighter with the rest of the kids that they hung out with during the trip. They didn't make it past 3:00am. I woke up the kids and we stuffed our bags and grabbed our pillows and hopped in the Gypsy. When it was our turn to load the lift I had a weird feeling. We were finally in King Cove. Our new life is beginging. A man named Don that works at the Clinic and had been on the Ferry with us, showed us to our home. We passed the cannery, motel/bar/restraunt, Post Office, Chineese Restraunt, and the School all in about 1 mile. Then over a stream stacked with Pink Salmon. (Humpback) Lars and Trace were very excited about that. Than 1 mile furthur and we were. Marie Gould was there along with her som doing some finishing touches. Everything was nice and we will have plenty of room for our family. Our trailer barely fits ibn the drive way. Our Suburban will have to stick out in the road until we get the trailer unloaded. We stopped unloading at 9:00pm, and not even close to being don. Trace had every kid in town wanting to play. First they met Lars and before he could introduce himself they were asking 101 questions. What's this?, what does this do?, how old is your dog?, etc. There are one or two kids that are rough and Lars had to tell them they were to big to be playing with Trace. THey acted like they were part of a gang or something. One boy named Ethan that lives across the street gets along with Trace very well. His mother is also the pre-shcool teacher. Saije and Trace got creative and made cardboard box cars and that kept them in doors and away from the crazy boys. Our first visitors were Marlene (school secretary) and Paul her husband. Lars got the local spill on were to go hunting and fishing. I got to use their phone to see how long it will be til we get a phone. 1 to 2 weeks, the girls are going to love that. OUr cell phones don't work here, Neisha flipped over that news! Elyse just flipped out finding out she can't go shoe shopping here. Saije she just wants to meet some kids and hang out! Our next visitor was the Head Start teacher, Marty. She began the conversation by asking if Trace would like to go to Head Start, then do I want a job being a teachers aide? She didn't waste any time. She has long red nail, pointy glasses and big hoop earings! She is very hip for King Cove! So yea I filled out the app., It would be great to be gone when Trace was in school. We ate clam chowder from the Ninilchik clams and they were great! Lars wanted some garlic rolls with it so I whipped some up and through them into the oven. A cold oven! We found out that our stove dosen't work! We had no phone to get ahold of the landlords so I asked the nighbors if I could use there phone to call the Goulds. Got that all taken care of. They will test it tomorrow and bring a new one with them. Lars got out his trusty dutch oven and he cooked the rolls, which were alittle too brown but good! After dinner we crawled into bed and were very glad it was a bed!

Day three on Tustemena

Last night we all slept like baby's. No fog horns, just roaring engines. I first woke up at 4:00 am. We hit some rough water, but it only lasted 1/2 hour and back to sleep I went. Elyse and I woke up again at 7:00am. We were to reach Chignik at 11:30am. So we ate cereal and one by one everyone else woke up. Trace was in a horrible mood. I couldn't get him off the cement, it was like he was hot and needed to cool off and wake up the rest of the way. We found out that Chignik dosen't allow any animals to come in, so lars had to take the dogs on the truck port below and pick up after them. YUCK! While Lars did that the rest of us went on shore. The town is about 200 to 300 people and they come aboard while we go ashore and they eat hamburgers. THey don't have any restraunts here so this is a big treat for them once a month when the Ferry comes. They invited us to come to their FLea Market in the middle of town. While we were in the flea market they had Fireweed Jelly and honey & Salmonberry Jelly. I bought some honey, and Trace got a game, Saije got some no-bake cookies, and Elyse got 4 pair of tights so she can make some leg warmers. We got back on the ship and got to see a seal that kept playing hide and seek with us. While we were pulling away we ate lunch and listened to the ship crew do their drills. Horns, bells and alarms that scared the heck out of you each thime they went off. We have one more stop before we reach King Cove. It's Sandpoint and we should arrive at 11:30pm. I think Lars was off with the dogs about 1 hour. The ship socked about 2 miles out of town and it was too late so we didin't get to see the sights. We arrive in King cove at 7:00am. We packed all our gear but our bags while we were docked in Sandpoint so we can get off the ship alot faster and not forget anything in the hustle and bustle. The kids have had a great time on our journey. None of us have been board for a min. We have met alot of interesting people, from Maine to Montana, from New York to Austrailia. Some have gotten off along the way to teach and some are just traveling. The scenery has been awesome. I never even imagined it this way. 200ft. cliffs as far as the eye can see. Whales and sea life galore. It is a must see! Well for dinner we ate microwaved Halibut. I skinned it and seasoned it up and cooked some rice and we ate like crazy! The ship is pretty cold tonight. The kids have all bunked up inn the stair well where it is warm. Words frm Muck: "We need to stop the ship so I can get off!" He wants to ride his bike so bad that he is going insane!

first night on the Tustumena

okay, about lastnight after we went to bed? well we went through complete hell. the cement is not forgiving at all. and we went through some very thick fog so the fog horn went off every 30 seconds for about a half hour. try sleeping through that with the fog drenching us we were completely soakes and had to hang our sleeping bags out to dry. we ate cereal for breakfast then we docked at Kodiak from 9:30am to 4:55pm. we decided everything is prettier with our own eyes. lush green trees and grass everywhere. they have about 6,000 people on the island, almost 8,000 during fishing season. we got off the boat with the dogs and went on a walk about. we ended up at a park on the shore with a parck on the shore with alot of jelly fish and star fish. the dogs went #2 as Trace would say and then we walked through town. we ended up seeing a huge Kodiak Bear stuffed at the bank and getting an Ice Cream at the "chowder house" restraunt. a mst stop when eating sea food. the local grocery store has everything from clothes, sporting goods to groceries and bikes. we got back on the boat at 3:00, kenneled the dogs and took nice long hot showers for free! as for myself i took an ice cold one becuase it was so hot. it was either jump off the boat or a cold shower. before we ate lunch elyse and neisha meet some boys Bobby and Jack from Cincinati. they and their parents are going to duch harbor, which is past king cove. trace loves hanging out and playing cards with them. they have 2 movies that will be playing tonight along with a wild life education class. oh and when we were getting on the boat i recognized a gentle men that has just published his life story and his book signing was at the ninilchick library. his name was Jack something. so saije and i talked to him a little bit and told him congragrats. he riminded me of my great grandpa pendelton, a hole bunch of gray hair. after that he had people all around him. since we had no way of cooking clam chouwder, we ate hot dogs fresh from the microwave i had located in the vending machine dept. i guess that is the source of preparing meals for they had a big selection of frozen meals in vending machines. it is 9:30 and lars neisha and saije are all asleep. trace and i need to get weezy from the boys at the movies and hit the sack as well. oh we have seen about 10 whales and 50 sealions. the puffing are everywhere and the increadible scenery seems to go on forever.

King Cove here we come!

Today is the day! WE woke up at 9:00 am, ate cereal, packed up camp and hooked up the trailer. WE strapped everything down real tight. Made the dogs extra comfy, then headed for Homer. They said that we didn't need to check in until 8:00 pm but we had a feeling that we shound check in asap. I was a good thing that we did. I found out when I booked the trip that we would need to find someone to get us off the ship in KIng Cove. But what I didn't know was that we needed someone to get us on the ship. Yes it cost extra and no we didn't want to pay it. 50.00 later we were on the ship. We also found out tha we can't use our propane stove on the top deck so there went our planned meals. WE will be eating apples, PB&J's, Turkey sand., and cold hot dogs unless there is a damn microwave on board! Oh and get this, you have to duct tape your tent to the boat so it dosen't blow out to sea! Well I didn't have duct tape so I was pretty p.o.ed. When out of the blue a gal named Robyn from Austrailia came by and offered her duct tape to me. She probably thought that I was ready to pull the Titanic move and jump off the ship! When that was all taken care of the ship still hadn't left. It was 11:30 and cars were still pulling on. Lars got sick while all of this was going on. Oh yea, Cherie got to back to 500 ft. trailer down a 50 yrd plank onto a elevator the size of the trailer!!!! After I photo finished the trailer, 2 men came up to me and said, "Nice Job, Where did you learn to drive like that? Hey do you mind driving that diesel on to the ship for us?" While that was being said a lady walked by on the dock and was yelling "YOU GO GIRL"! Well it did help my ego, but I was still stressed out to the max! Lars finnaly got out of the burban right before it was time to go to bed. Yes I already set the tent up and fed the kids. We have already met 3 families from King Cove. After all the excitment today wouldn't you know it, forgot there names. One was 14 and encouraged the girls that they would love it in King Cove. According to a family we will be living in a nice home down the street from them. They also invited us to go to church with them on Sunday. They must have seen Lars comming! The ship finnaly left at 12:00am. and bed night!

The last night in Ninilchik, AK.

We ate dutch oven potatoes and eggs. Saije & Trace call them mountain chips. Everytime we have them this is how it all begings. "What has layers? Onions! What has flavor? Bacon! What has eyes? Potatoes! What do you get when you put them all together? Mountain chips!" The we went and showered, did laundry and got everything loaded and ready for king cove. We leave at 10:30 pm and arrive at King Cove at 7:00 am on the 12th. Lars and I played the IV one last time for free, for all that MIke has done for us. While we were there, Butch the regular entertainment, came and bid us fairwell and gave us squaw candy. It is awesome! We will have to send those of you in Utah some of the good stuff! Well we played til 9 and went back to the beach one last time. I have to say, I will miss listening to the waves as I drift off to sleep.

Is anyone ready for a dip in the pool and a BBQ?

Today we BBQ with Mike Vanderford and his family. They brought 3 canoes and we brought our kayak. We ate braut's and potatoe salad. The girls walked on the muskag. Neisha got in the water and swam a little bit. I think that she mainly just wanted to be seen in her suit. His daughter Natalie and Neisha had fun. Trace caught alot of frogs and saije found a vole. Elyse and I cruised around on the kayaks will the boys played football on the muskag. Ew grose! We drve down to the ware and the fish and game had alreasy packed up and took the nets down. There were only about 5 salmon left. We also introduced the girls to Lori Jo before we left. She invited us to come and stay with her next summer.

Trace ate a Reindeer?

Woke up at 10:00 went to the showers and took tthe kids to the play ground at the school. Trace rolled down the huge hill until he was sick! He dug in the sand box and climed the jungle gym. We should have been doing this the whole time we were here. Oh yea, It was always raining! Lars played at Dugan's last night and did great! He slept in the burban and cody went down with him. They woke up at 6:00 and fished before they came home. For dinner Trace ate a Reindeer hot dog. At first he refused until I told him that it wasn't Santas Reindeer. It was Caribou! He ate it all. We saw one of the prettierst sunsets yet.

Cutting loose!

Well I still don't feel to good. I think I haven't been drinking enough water and milk. I love pepsi and the water stinks! My stomach is on fire. Well we all slept warm and woke up to the sound of the screaming Seagulls yelling MINE MINE MINE! Seagulls are begining to drive me crazy, it only took 30 days! Today we opened a bank account and went to the library. Dad got another gig. This time he will play at Dugan's. It is little bar in Homer that gets some awesome bands through there. Our Ferry leaves on Tue. so we are counting the days. The girls have heard alot about King Cove from the locals. That there is no mall, you can drive 3 miles to get to the end of town, and no drive inn's. Marinlyn send us some Dairy Keen! We went Bear watching and only saw mosquitos! Mike Vanderford of the IV bought the kids dinner and while we were there we ran into Cody King. Saije danced with Cody until he almost dropped her on her head. Then he danced with Elyse and she was doing the hip to hip then between his legs and up in the air. Her feet went right through the ceiling! It was helarious! Elyse is a great dancer! Oh and Trace wants me to tell you that Tesa had her 12 puppies. Here is his question for the day: What happens if you put a dead person in the fire? What happens if you put a truck in the fire? How does god make Ice cubes? And what happens if you put playdough in the fire? It is never ending with a 4 year old!

Mother nature kidded my butt!

I was up all night honking! I never even got out of bed 'til noon. And only to pack up and move out of the Chalet, Again! It's ok, the skipper found out that his dad has lung cancer and dosen't even smoke. He got drunker that a skunk and Lars and I didn't want the kids around it so we are not going back. We moved to the beach and guess what? It never rained! We ate hot dogs and all 6 of us slept in the tent listening to the waves crash on the shore.