Arenāt you all proud that Iām posting again so soon?! I know I am! I was just too excited to share all of our AK adventures with you thus farā¦ so, here goes!
One of our first outings was going hiking. So, one Saturday when we needed to run in to Anchorage, we decided to hike one of the more common trails, FlatTop! The weather was absolutely perfect - mostly clear skies with temperatures in the 70s!
Back in OK, Steven and I got engaged after weĀ āhikedāĀ up Sparrow Hawk in Tahlequah. HA! That is more like hiking a hill. FlatTop was like climbing a rock. I am SO out of shape. I was sucking air the whole way. And of course my wonderful husband was laughing at meā¦ lol! There were parts along the trail that were so steep they had to install railroad ties as stairs. There was one part that was kind of a breaking point - where we literally had to take a break - to prepare for the final trek to the top... Where you literally use both legs and hands to crawl up rocks. But alas! The view from the top was absolutely incredible. Seriously, there are no words to adequately describe the view. Mountains for days. You could hear a stream below but it looked more like a snake. I enjoyed seeing the power lines run a long the streamā¦ I know, Iām a nerd. The clouds were right next to us - so cool! It was kinda chilly at the top so I put my hoodie onā¦ Sorry Oklahomies ;)
After running back downā¦
On the Fourth of July, we didnāt have any plans. We worked out in the yard most of the day making fence preparations. So, around 9:00 at night we decided we should probably go get some dinner. I wanted Dairy Queen - thatās right, AK has Dairy Queen! So I got DQ :) After dinner, we wanted to do something fun so we decided to drive out to Hatcher Pass. We had heard about it numerous times and knew it was at least an hour drive one way. Well, luckily in AK it stays daylight pretty much day-round (Is that a word? Oh well. You know what I mean). So around 11:00 at night we decided to go for a drive to Hatcher Pass! Oh my goodness guys, it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL drive I have ever been on. It was chilly outside but by-golly we rolled down the windows so we could feel the fresh crisp air and listen to the Little Susitna River flowing next to the road. The rocks in the river may be the largest rocks I have ever seen - SO HUGE. After we got past the river, we finally saw the opening to the mountains. My goodness. It reminded me of something from the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. It was green everywhere. With the most beautiful rock. And mountains upon mountains upon mountains. It was like I could step out of the car on to a mountain most of the time. Every now and then we would see a lake (by the way - what Alaskans refer to as lakes would just be ponds back in OK. Itās quite comical). The lakes were like glass - you could see every detail. I really feel like Iām doing a terrible job of describing it to you - words really do fail in this situation. Also, I think itās just so cool that we have the ability - through these really complex things calledĀ eyesĀ to be able to view such immaculate masterpieces. Wow.
Sadly, I was too busy taking it all in and did not capture any of it :( Darn. Just means weāll have to go again before winter!! Yay!
Both of our birthdays are in July, along with our anniversaryā¦ So, July is a busy month for us! Since we just moved to AK, we decided on kayaks for Birthday presents! So, whatād we do for our birthdayās? Took them out on the lake. Duh! Check it outā¦
I caught Mr. Lee on the morning of my birthday going to pick some flowers for meā¦ <3 I just love him!Ā
For his birthday, Steven also wanted to go fishing. Around that time was when the salmon started running up here. So, he got a fishing license and researched all the cool bait to use and went fishingā¦ He waded out far enough at the mouth of Willow Creek so he could cast in to the stream and hopefully catch some salmon. I, on the other hand, decided Iāll let him figure out all the fishing stuff this year and Iāll fish next year. So, I sat on the shore (AKA the metal grate over the edge of the water) in my beach lawn chair and read my book. It was wonderful!
We met some great people - one guy was a BlackHawk; another, older gentleman who was fishing with his son, just talked and talked with us.. he told me about his grandson who is interning overseas and studied whether grasshoppers can jump further off a leaf or another surfaceā¦ what? PHYSICS!
I really really enjoyed our 3 days of fishingā¦ And Steven was like a little kid out there. He stood in the cold water with no waders constantly casting and eventually caught us a total of I think 7 fish. He really amazes me - thereās no way I could do that!
Did you know that AK rules limit you to only catching 3 salmon per day? Me neither. Until we went fishing! Then, of course we had to get a smoker so we could smoke the salmon and have that fantabulous smoked salmon dip (like tuna fish but with salmon & WAYYY better).
Now, I know my Oklahomies are thinking - Salmon!? YUCK! But really, AK Salmon is WAY different than OK salmon. Seriously - no comparison. Because, think about it. In OK you get it frozen usually and it probably has a ton of junk in it to help it keep. But in AK, we literally get is so fresh. Like right off the stream fresh. Itās a whole other world of salmon and fish up here. Itās awesome.
He was SO proud. Me too :)
That had to be cold. See my grated shore? lol!
This is hisĀ āhurry up and take the picture because the fish is floppingā!
Iām just so gosh darn proud of him!! plus heās super cute :)
Last night we began our wood stove installation. It. Was. Nerve. Wrecking. (wracking? is that even a word?) We measured everything about 50 times before cutting any holes. When it finally came to cutting through the sheetrock and roof, we both were on edge and about to puke. After we made the holes, our neighbor (who teaches trade skills at a local prison -- SUPER nice guy!) hollered across the yard and asked if we needed any help. Steven said nah, weāre good. I said yes please! If youāre free of course :D. He looked around at his yard and house and said uhh Iām free!Ā lol! So he came over and man, what a lifesaver! Steven & I probably could have done the chimney install ourselves but I just feel like he was a God-send because now we know itās a quality install. I mean the man has built a log cabin on a river (which is only accessible by the water apparently) by creating his own saw-mill and he eventually installed a wood stove in it. Iād say the man knows what heās doing! Thanks to neighbor-guy, FaceTime calls with my dad, and Dan the Wood Stove man I have learned a lot about houses and wood stoves in the last few weeks.
List of house/wood stove things Kalin has learned:
1. I now know what a plumb-bob or plumb-line is. Theyāre way cool! It reminds me of a pendulum.
2. Thereās a LOT of math involved in installing a wood stove - especially if youāre roof has a pitch because then you have to draw an ellipse (oval) instead of a circle. Which I totally taught my Algebra 2 students last year all about this because an ellipse is a conic section (which is basically what youāre roof is doing to your chimney - slicing your cylinder in to a conic section or ellipse... my math brain was on fire with all this stuff!!
3. Rafters on a home are 2 feet apart.
4. The saying is NOT āmeasure once, cut twiceā but rather measure twice, cut onceĀ (or in our case, measure at least 50 times just to be sure youāre sure, then cut once lol!).
5. If you pressure the hubs enough, heāll eventually cut a hole in the roof and not puke :)
Our homemade, temporary hearth made of Durock!
āGet the camera and take a picture of me cutting the hole so you can post it on the blog!ā :)
Main part of the chimney is complete! We put the cap on the outside/top of that pipe for last night in case it rained... thank goodness it didnāt. We should finish it up tonight so Iāll keep you posted :)
Speaking of rainā¦ right now in AK it is said to be the beginning of fall, which means the temperatures are now averaging in the 60s and it rains often. People will be freaking out when the weather men say thereās going to be a āthunderstormā or if there is a lot of thunder and some lightning. It isĀ nothingĀ compared to OK thunderstorms. We definitely get a good kick out of it. Now, whoās ready for a PSL or some pumpkin bread? Or even better a pumpkin roll!? YUMMMM!!!!
For my final thought of today... check out the view from Stevenās work. Seriously, can it get much better than this?!
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