Big Mama followed up with a genuine “Somebody Loves Me in Alabama” tee. Why did I always think Alabama missed out of that whole “somebody loves me in ...” craze? I never give Alabama enough credit. Big Mama also added some brown paper lunch sacks printed with princesses. Anything with princesses is good around here.

After a few weeks here in Alaska and after visiting more than a few grocery stores and discovering only plain grits, Charley put out an emergency broadcast to Big Mama for some cheese grits. Big Mama got to work immediately and before long we had a priority box full of 5 containers of cheese grits. There ain’t nothin’ funnier than a priority mail box full of cheese grits. I knew we could count on Big Mama for that.

Next up, I received a wonderful cookbook surprise from my sweet Aunt Janice and Uncle Charlie. After reading a post a while back about not having any kitchen skills or a even a cookbook, they took action and shortly after “The Blue Willow Inn, Bible of Southern Cooking” arrived at the Delta Junction post office. Wasn’t that thoughtful?

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My posts are behind real time because I no longer have the a connection at the new place!! I am trying to get it all worked out but for now I will have to write at home and post at the library.

Thursday

I turned down an invitation for hot dogs and marshmallows and put Baby Bunting to bed. I pointed my fold out camper chair toward the big window in the living room and began to read. My mind is wandering tonight. My attention drifted outside the windows half hoping to see something wild. The other half of me hopes I will not. I’d really rather not have a bear peering in my window. Not tonight.

You see, Baby Bunting and I are alone tonight. Chuck is off to Canada.

Chuck left about 4:45 p.m. He had to work today so he wasn’t able to get an early start. Traveling great distances, straight through the night, isn’t new for him anymore. He is becoming quite apt driving for way too long without a break. I pray he is safe and try not to think of the long road ahead of him too much. Once he reaches Canada, he will only use his phone in case of emergency and since the road through Alaska is quite short compared to what lies ahead in Canada, I don’t expect to hear from him.

I offered to come along, but we both knew it would be best if he went alone. If it were just he and I, like the old days, I can see us making the best of it - He'd be behind the wheel and I be in charge of the music. But since his goal is to get there, get the stuff, and get back, it would be too difficult for Baby Bunting. If she and I went along it would not only lengthen the trip with frequent potty and stretching breaks, it would also make it more costly. I can't see all of us happily sleeping in the truck the way Chuck does.

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I. am. so. tired. of. moving. But, you know, we don’t have much stuff. We have about 20 boxes full of miscellaneous stuff (ok mostly toys, I admit it) that I shipped via USPS. You tell Charley that she not only has to move 4000 miles away from everything she has ever known, oh and by the way she can’t take her toys with her either. Alright then.

Not having a lot of stuff can be seen as a good thing (less to physical lift and place) and also as a not so convenient thing (only having 1 fork, for instance). Chuck plans to travel to Canada this weekend to get our things - poor Chuck.

Right now, I am struggling to come up with nifty storage ideas. I am going to have to work some kind of literal magic in order to produce the nifty storage ideas that come to mind, since I have no materials to work with. I drove by the thrift store the other day and noticed that they are closed until August 10th. Yeah. That’s the way it goes around here. Soooo, my grand project ideas are kind of on hold and the gobs of toys must remain where they lay - on the living room floor without handy containers.

The living room is completely bare anyway...I mean except for the T.V. that sits perched in the corner with no current connection to the world of cablevision. Yeah life is different without a cable, internet connection, or goods to work with. Tonight we lay in the floor playing the lap harp with guitar picks, an accordion, and maracas all while Charley directed us with a whistle and a drumstick.

And while I am struggling to keep the floors clean without a vacuum and to mix the Jello powder and water for story time at the library without a bowl, it’s pretty perfect actually. We are now living in a true blue, log cabin on 5 acres just off the Alaska Highway.

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We've moved. Yup. We moved. Again. That's the reason for the lull in my posts. Currently we do not have an internet connection at the house. I am trying to change that. I can't take not being connected much longer especially since our Verizon phones aren't picking up out there either. Currently Verizon is being a thorn in my side by not letting us out of our contract. SO, it seems they want us to pay them for giving us nothing (service) in return. Oh, I don't even need to get started on this right now. I am too fired up.

I will post again soon with details about the log cabin in the woods. I've been missing ya'll.

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We will be leaving our little blue house behind soon as we have found a log cabin with a few acres that suits us better (more on that in a later post). This means the little minnow will also be saying good-bye to her new found neighbor friends. But living in a small town means their friendship will likely continue with frequent small town run-ins and all sorts of play dates.



No that is definitely not a pitchfork on her chest. Don't even suggest it! She does her own mud work ok?

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Camping is a lot of work. Often we go camping and remember how hard it is, and decide we’d rather not go EVER again. Then, we forget. We proceed to pack an enormously embarrassing amount of stuff into the truck and every so often when a voice speaks to our heads that says, “It is more trouble than it is worth. Don’t do it!” we push it away. We shake it off and keep cramming and planning. After all, you simply can’t call yourself a resident of Alaska (that is the least these Alaskans will let us get away with) if you don’t go camping during the glorious days of summer. And really and truly, we like to camp just enough to continually try to, at the very least, balance the camping trials and tribulations with the satisfaction of being surrounded by the great outdoors.

We were only stopped here because My Friend (the dog) puked all over the backseat.

Chuck’s savage like need to find the salmon, brought us to “King for a Day” campground on the Klutina River. Now, I hate to be negative, but I am going to be honest…you know I am going to be honest. Do Kings like to poop on the top of other campers' poop? Just answer honestly. Do Kings like to take toilet tissue and antibacterial hand sanitizer to the bathroom so to wipe the urine off the seat that some kid just sprayed all over the cobwebbed stink hole that they call an outhouse? Or, do Kings' wives (Queens, I suppose you’d call them) like to accidentally run their finger across the urinal that has turned green from years of corrosion while she is trying to get turned around just right so that she can hover and avoid the dreaded splash back??? Now for the record, I am down with outhouses. I am cool with them. But these outhouses, are the worst I’ve seen yet.

Back home, Oh! Susanna and I started this game. The object is to find a toilet in the world that flushes louder than the one at the Gadsden Public Library. Now, my dear readers, I have a new game that I am going to share with you. I am going to try to find a bathroom nastier than the one at “King for a Day” campground. Excited? Now, it would not have been right to take actual photos of the interior (the poop hole) of these particular outhouses. That would have been too much to bear. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It was nast-E. Ordinarily, I would fret about who might read this and who’s feelings I could hurt by my opinions, but..come. ON, people at said campground. It is time to tear the outhouse down and start over.

Reckon I’ve said enough about that? Mom? Do YOU think I have said enough about toilets and poop in general?

While I am on a roll, I am just going to get all the negatives out of the way. Ok. So there are bears in Alaska right? Aren’t we supposed to be “King for a Day” at this campground? Right? Well then, honest mistake. They must have meant to call the place “Let’s Lure in Bears with This Garbage, Then Maybe the Bears Will See Our Paying Customers and Find That They Don’t Reek Quite As Bad as the Garbage Falling Out of the Dumpster and Eat Them Instead!” Maybe that’s what they meant to call it.

ON the bright side, to my knowledge no one got eaten at during our stay. If they had, as fellow campers, we probably would have heard about it. So. That is good.

Upon arrival, we set up our 3 man dome tent and Oh! Susanna’s private play tent. All in all, I’d say the time spent playing in there equaled the time it took Chuck to set it up. In the camping world, this is called a good balance.

Chuck makes an excellent cheeseburger...or a "burger" as he calls him these days.

Our particular site was great. BUT, if you are a grownup who often finds yourself in a drunken stupor OR if you have trouble with vertigo OR if you are a child OR if you are a dog who had to be saved from drowning twice (in a row) OR if you are the mother of a child or dog who cannot swim that is in attendance, then our campsite is not the campsite for you. You see, the Klutina River RAGED just about 10 feet beyond our zippered door. Chuck seemed totally cool with that but I, on the other hand wanted to tie Oh! Susanna to a tree.

This all sounds very negative doesn’t it? There were good things about our first Alaska camping adventure too! Let me get a check list going…hold on.

Bathroom: Where is the thumbs down button?? Oh dang there’s not one. Well then, NO STARS for the bathroom. (In all fairness there was a bathroom and shower area that I did not get the chance to visit. It could have been better.)

Raging River: Not family friendly AT ALL. Great though for those without any of the conditions outlined above.

Pet tolerance: Excellent

Price: (Compared to tent sites in Alabama only) Not good. $20.00 a night

Attitude of those working there: Great!

Weather: Does weather count? Wonderful!

Ease of getting stuff out of truck and to campsite: Excellent.

ALSO, God did an almighty, awesome job with the views and sunsets.

Other good things….

My Friend stayed by our tent (Chuck wouldn’t let him in) the entire night and growled at the fishing guides who walked across our campsite speaking loudly at 6:30 a.m. Good dog.

Nobody drowned. Yay!

Chuck made us eggs and bacon English muffins for breakfast. Bad news: I forgot the butter.

I know this is going to come as a surprise, but in the end, I am really glad we went. I haven’t had a real nap since we left and this may have led to a temporary seriously sarcastic attitude problem for me. I’m not sure. You decide.

Oh, and nobody caught a salmon. Wonk, wonk.

I know. I look like Humpty Dumpty. These are Chuck's waders. Not made to flatter the curves.

Can't stand that camping yuck mouth.

Hand Grit

I was so afraid out there. I know it doesn't look like it in the above photo but that river is seriously rushing past. I was wearing Chuck's waders and his foot is a size 12. I was not comfortable walking out on those slippery rocks with the river so ready to suck me into it. The water is forceful even when you are just shin deep. I knew if I got pushed out there, those waders would fill up like a pelican's bill and sink me fast.

View from my fishing spot.

Oh! Susanna stayed on this piece of land behind us. Looking back, we realize it was not our shiniest parenting moment. We shouldn't have carried her out there so close to the river like this. We shouldn't have even camped where we did. It was too dangerous. I've thanked God several times for keeping her safe.

This particular spot was a slough off of the river and wasn't so scary.

The drive was beautiful.

This is a place where we stopped to eat on the way home. 1 milk, 2 soft drinks, 2 cheeseburgers, 2 orders of fries, and cheese sticks (there were no healthy choices ok.) $40.00 - no joke

Everybody is tired and dirty.

And a little ill too. And strangely, ever since we left here, my phone smells like onions. I don't even eat onions.

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