Denali

 Alaskan's say "the mountain is out" they are refering to Mt. McKinley or "Denali" as most Alaskans call the 20,320 foot mountain, the tallest mountain in North America. We visisted Denali National Park with the North Carolina VBS team but were disappointed that the mountain was hidden by low clouds and mist.

The park was not established to preserve the mountain but to protect wildlife. Six million acres are the home ranges of moose, caribou, Dall sheep, wolves and grizzly bears. Again I'm having trouble up-loading pictures.

Visitors are able to drive private vehicles for the first 15 miles into the park. We boarded buses to travel for 8 hours into the park. In additon to the 36 species fo mamals, there are moe than 100 species of birds including the golden eagle which we saw. There is only one amphibian, a wood frog.  There are NO snakes.

 We saw the Big Four, moose, caribou, bear, and Dall sheep. This red fox appeared on the road and ran ahead of the tour bus for a short while.

There were several small flocks of Dall sheep high on the mountain cliffs. One group was close enough for us to photograph.

The gravel road into the park interior is winding and narrow as it follows the edge of a deep vally. When one bus approached a bus going in the opposite direction, we all prayed that the road was side enough for both. I seemed to be on the drop-off side. The road followed a braided river flowing with snow melt and silted water from the glaciers.

leaving Denali, we rushed the N. Carolina team to the airport for their return home. Returning to camp, and a well deserved rest, we spent this past week painting the inside and outside of the dining hall, chapel, and painting the trim. Then sanitized the bath houses, cleaned the guest house, and are presently working again at the church removing debris as the contractor is replacing the roof.

Summer has arrived. This morning's temp. was 55. Yesterday's high, 75. Tomorrow is summer solstice. Sun set at 12:15 a.m., sunrise at 3:13 a.m. 21 hours wwith the sun above the horison. However it's never dark now, only dusk.

Vacation Bible School

In preparation for the North Carolina Vacation Bible team that was due to arrive by plane in Fairbanks, we cleaned the cabins,and made up the bunks with sleeping bags.  The Martins  picked up the 9 volunteers at the airport, loaded their luggage in to the church van and returned to camp after midnight. The "foreigners" were amazed that the sun was still shining.

With only a few hours sleep they were up for breakfast and Sunday School. the churches in Delta held a community wide church service in a large tent in the park. The N. Carolinians apprciated the warm coats and sweaters ssent by members of West End Baptist Church in Texas. The drizzle-rain stopped, but the overcast kept the temperature chilly. We enjoyed a praise band, lots of singing and an excellent message.

Hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill joined a pot luck meal brought by the community. The team was introduced and made to feel welcome. After a nap, we returned to church for a VBS meeting and to prepare our rooms for the following day.

Children of all ages, from the 5 month old daughter of a worker through sixth graders flocked to VBS on Monday morning. assisted by teens, the workers got everyone excited about the VBS theme, Awesome Wonders Aviation. The Bible study, missions stories, crafts, recreation and even the snacks were based on the them of God's wonders of creation: the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Great Barrier Reef, Northern Lights and a volcano.

Many of my pictures would not load. This group is part of the 5-6th graders that I worked with. Later in the week i taught them how to tie-dye t-shirts. This project is one of the incentives that keeps the older kids coming back. Attendance for the week averaged 79 kids with a staff fo 40.

The kids are sitting in a mock-up cock pit for a Bible story. I painted the panel at the rear. The gentleman standing is signing for a deaf student.

The North Carolina team painted the interior of 4 cabins, and cut and hauled fallen trees in thier spare time. We were also able to take them on a short tour of a yak farm and a bison/hay farm. They also traveled to Summit lake to play in the snow.

On Friday after VBS and a hamburger-hotdog party for the kids, staff and families, we loaded the team and their gear into the van. Sleeping bags were stuffed into the RV and off we went toward Fairbanks. We made a stop at the historic Rika Roadhouse, at the Knotty Shoppe, and at Santa Clause House in Norh Pole. Yes, there is a North Pole, Alaska.

We spent the night on the floor of Faith Baptist Church. Rising at 4:30 Sat morning we loaded the vehicles and traveled to Denali National Park. the above picture is of the team and Texans as we wait for the tour bus for an 8 hour tour of Denali. My next blog will be of Denali.

Deconstruction of church ceiling

 I've been on the library's wifi for several hours now trying to send this blog. Appologies again for problems. The pictures of our work at First Baptist Church are out of sequence, again.
The picture above is of sawing the foam insulation from between the trusses. All the little dots are only a small part of the dust that was raised.

 I'm working a snow shovel to remove small fine particles of sheet rock from the carpet. We first had to remove ceiling tiles, then a layer of sheet rock and then the foam insulation. Of course all that stuff had to be removed from the floor!

 We're loading sheet rock into a garbage truck. Several dumpster loads have been hauled off. Bags of fiberglass insulation and blown in paper insulation were saved for re-purposing, by locals.

 This was to be my lead picture. Nick is on one end of the many pews that were removed and donated to area churches.

 Thirty years of Delta dust, the fine silt that is blown in by the winds from the Alaska range and across the Delta River, is falling from the ceiling along with fiberglass insulation and blown in insulation.

Nick is helping to take down the light fixtures while Monique is gathering up sheet rock from the floor. Again those spots are dust in the air. Notice our dist masks and gloves.
We're been working with members of the church for two weeks now preparing the ceiling and attic for the new roof. After the first week, once all the ceiling material was removed, the carpet vacuumed, and the log walls dusted, we set up chairs for Sunday services. Then all the chairs had to be removed again so work could continue this week. We are now waiting for the new trusses to arrive from the manufacturer.
No rest for us though, we are preparing for Vacation Bible School which starts Monday, May 4.

Anchorage

Last week we made a quick trip (350 miles, 7 hours one way) to Anchorage and Wasilla for errands and a little sight-seeing. While in Wasilla we stopped to visit the Iditerod Museum which re-inacts the history and running of the Iditerod dog sled race - the world's last great race.


The sculpture of Joe Reddington and one of his huskys memorialized the man who reintroduced the running of the 1,000 miles dog sled race from Wasilla to Nome. The race was originally run in the late 1800s to carry diphtheria serum 1000 miles from Anchorage to Nome.



Sled dogs are hitched to a wheeled sled to provide  an experience for tourists. The dogs love to run and pull. The mushers have a difficult time holding them back. In training the dogs are often hitched to a 4 wheeler in the summer.

Alaskan's have a sense of humor. This black and white volkswagon sports a back fin, side fins and a tail fluke like an orca whale.

We spend a cool, sunny spring day at the Anchorage zoo.  My favorite animal was the polar bear. Actually there were two bears sharing a glass sided habitat.

This cute, furry critter is a baby muskox. His extremely fine, soft and warm undercoat, called quivet, is shed in the summer. Natives collect the fur and spin it into fine yarn that is knitted into mufflers, scarves and caps that are so soft and light that it is said it's like trying to hold "smoke".  The items are expensive, so I'm settling for photos.

Although we saw a couple of black bears on the AlCan, they were in the distance and ran into the woods. This is as close as I want to get to one.

On our way to Anchorage we stopped at Summit Lake in a pass through the Alaska Range. Monique walked out on several inches of fresh snow on top of the frozen lake. She broke through the crust of frozen snow and sank to her knees. Fortunately the ice was still frozen.

This photo of a sign for the muskox is out of order, but I wanted you to know what that cute little baby would look like when he is grown. About the size of a  cow, the muskox are bad tempered and can be dangerous.

The two polar bears played "fighting" like our cats do. They tussled, rolled and batted at each other. The glass faced habitat allowed close up viewing.

The bears seemed to like looking at us through the glass underwater.



The bear brought a yellow ball to show us!
There were other animals that we don't see at the Houston zoo. When I return I'll share more pictures.

This week we are de-constructing the ceiling of the sactuary of First Baptist Church, Delta Junction. My next blog will have pictures.



One section of the bear habitat was underwater with glass. This bear seemed to like the people attracted to him.

AK missions; Camp Balwin

 We arrived at Camp Baldwin and began cleaning cabins, the bathhouses and all the pots, pans and utinsils in the kitchen. We were so busy that I neglected to document with photos.

The weather has been alternately cold, 30-35 degrees in the morning and 40-50 in the afternoon, windy with 40-50 mile per hour winds that blow dust everywhere, with overcast to sunny and partly cloudy skys. Just like in Texas, wait a while and the weather will change. Delta is beginning to experience fires due to the winds and dry conditions.

Sunrise now is about 4:30 AM and sunset at 11:00 PM. The 5 1/2 hours between are twilight, not dark. We are so tired at night that the lack of true night darkness doesn't interfere with sleep.

 A two hour, one-way trip, 100 miles to Fairbanks, took us to Wal-Mart, Sams, and other necessary shopping stops. On the return trip we spotted a moose near the shoulder of the road. Nick and Monique help Lynne and Dale (hidden) load the back of the van with groceries.

 We've been taking turns and working together to cook our meals.  Monique and Lynne prepare dinner, getting used to the kitchen, stoves and location of groceries.

 Nick and Dale man the grill. Moose burgers anyone?

 Everyone gets in on dishwashing. This time I had the camera and lucked out.

 Becoming true Alaskans, Nick and Monique learn to ride Levi's 4 wheeler. Couldn't get Nick off!

Then it's back to work cutting wind-felled birch trees and cutting them up for firewood.

This picture from Sam's in Fairbanks got out of sequence. The flat cart is only a small part of our weekly shopping.  We are trying to make a library trip at least once a week to send emails and blogs. Follow along!!

AK Missions, Alaska at last

 Tuesday, May 1, we crossed the Canaadian border at Sweetgrass, Montana. Traveling over 1,000 miles through Canada and then the Yukon, we finally reach Alaska on May 6. Six long days of driving through majestic scenery. The following pictures are only a few of the hundreds I've taken along the way.

 We passes several herds of Caribou, elk, bison, stone sheep, and deer. Many were shy of the vehicles and disappeared into the underbrush before photos could be made.

 Weather ranged from a cool 45-50 degrees in the sun in the afternoon, to 20 degrees at night. Mountains glitter with new snow and glaciers were apparent. Some days the sun shone through high clouds as we passed through snow showers or rain.

 At Liard Hot Springs, we stripped of jackets, sweats and hiking boots to soak in the soothing 108-126 degree mineral springs. Amazingly the warmth stayed during a rush to the changing room to pile on layers of clothing.

 The hot springs cascade down cliffs to create a jungle-like atmosphere of ferns and tropical plants and mosses. Just beyond the heat of the springs snow covers the ground.

One of our favorite stopping places is the signpost forest at Watson Lake. During the building of the AlCan highway in 1942, soldiers from the Lower 48 posted handmade signs indicating the distance from their homes. After the war when the highway was improved for tourist traffic, travelers have been adding person signs creating a "forest". As of falll, 2010, there were over 72,000 signs that could be counted.

 This pictures should have been posted earlier. This is Dawson Creek, British Columbia, mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway or AlCan. Soldiers began clearing the rugged forest of spruce, birch, willow and brush for the proposed supply road. They fought sub-zero weather, muskeg, mud, and mosquitoes for 8 months to finish the route which culminated here in Delta Junction.

 As in Yellowstone, we encountered herds of bison along the road. A new calf entertained us as he trotted along.

 Nick, Monique, Lynne and Dale post behind an inukshuk. The large stone figure is a replica of the monuments build by First Nation natives as directional devices. Smaller stone figures may be seen along the highway.

We have arrive at Camp Baldwin and now begin the task of preparing the camp for summer and will be helping reroof First Baptist Church of Delta Junction. Our trips to the library will be erratic but I will send blogs when I can.

AK Missions, Whitehorse, Yukon

Hi all,
We've made a brief stop at the library in Whitehorse, Yukon. Been on the road  from Montana since Tuesday. Will send a longer blog with pictures as soon as we reach AK and are able to get wi-fi connections.
Stay tuned!