Everyone that comes to Alaska to see us, or to hunt with us invariably asks..."Well, what do you do to stay busy after hunting season, don't you get bored?"   No, hunting is year 'round work, but we do other things too.   Here a little tiny sample.  I'm working on my motorcycle. Rebuilt nearly everything.... that means the engine, there's not much else to it.  Added chrome and some racing mods so that it has just a little gallop in the idle...like it wants to go.  I still have some painting to do on the tank and panels. Maybe some flames, skull and bones, stud in my tongue?

Another long  project we recently completed was the climbing wall. Lots of fun, but I don't get to climb much, I'm just a belay slave, holding the rope for little climbers...who are improving rapidly. They like to climb an hour or two a day if they don't have homework.

Here are some shots of the climbing wall. On the far upper left corner are two new packs. They contain sets of snorkel, mask and fins for the summer. To claim them the girls just have to get there and clip them onto their harness.   The competition is fierce, but the traverse is sooooo scary.  Success expected this week.  Neither girl has pulled the overhang...yet. They get to the "upside down part" and reach out, but then the scary factor sets in. They get lowered to the ground, shake out the little forearms, and want to go again. They got the masks after awhile, now they think I should put tickets to Hawaii up there for an incentive.

We took a week and went traveling in Alaska. The Cessna was gathering dust, so we skyed up and went to Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow.   The purpose was to see what Eskimo whale hunting was like, and watch them "catch" a whale. It's still winter up there folks.. but fun.  Robin says she gave the girls Dramamine to keep them from getting airsick...looks like Valium to me. They don't remember a lot about flying.   The sign below is the finish line of the Iditarod Race in Nome...well, they pull it into the street for the race.

    
This looks like a picture of the center of the road.  It is, but it is where the Dexter Saloon stood in Nome. Wyatt Earps place. The Iditarod Race ends right in the middle of where it stood. Earp spent more of his working life in Alaska than he did anywhere else, and only about 3 minutes at the OK Corral in Tombstone....Odd. The church is the only building that did not burn in the 1906 fire. Surrounded by dredge buckets and mining equipment from the dredges around Nome.  The song says....."North to Alaska...just a little southeast of Nome"  If you are a little S.E. of Nome, you are in the ocean.... I guess the song writer was never there.

From Nome it was off to Kotzebue, on Kotzebue Sound.

Main street is essentially the beach. For fun, they seem to spend all their time running snow machines up and down the sea ice as fast as they can. Aircraft are parked on the ice, and the gas station that serves the town is close by. It's self service, don't ask them to check the oil. Fuel spills conveniently go out with the tide...next spring.

Below is another shot of main street, and the new hotel. At last a hotel that you can park your snow machine in front of and no one complains!

Near Kotzebue there is a solid Jade mountain. It's called Kobuk Mt.  Some blocks of Jade were laying around in the town. Naomi was always fascinated by this mountain...so I'm trying to purchase a piece for her marker. I wanted something special, and this seems like it would be especially appropriate.  In addition, Naomi and I always "collected" water around the world by putting our toes it in. So, I continue, and I claimed Kotzebue Sound...my gosh but it was  !!!COLD!!! ... and we had to get photos from all angles. It looks like the toes  will thaw with the coming of summer.

Next Stop was Barrow, Alaska.  

Along the way though we stopped in some villages. For example, the photo below, on the left, is Point Lay, Alaska, and its suburb..  They seem to have room to expand with any influx of residents, and they have plenty of beach front left to develop.. great opportunity!  On the right is an open "lead" We flew along the Leads which open between the icepack and the shore. Along the edges we saw Polar Bear, Seals and lots of Bowhead Whales...dozens and dozens of them. 28,000 counted last fall.

Barrow at last.

Barrow actually is two towns, Barrow and Browervilles, in total about 6000 people living at the top of the world. Here you will find the furthest north Mexican Restaurant, Grocery Store and NAPA car parts store in the USA I am sure. No McDonalds, so this might be your big chance if you miss out on the building opportunity in Point Lay.

Wily Post and Will Rogers were killed in their aircraft here in Barrow, as they tried to fly around the globe. Below is their memorial, and the Barrow sign post beside it.

What is life like in Barrow? Well, its ice for miles in one direction, streets are mud because pavement does not hold up in the winter...and its tundra for a hundred miles in all other directions.  You can run into Napa and buy your snow-machine sparkplugs and harpoons for the days outing .... then stop off at the beach to lay under the palm trees and catch some rays.. Photo below... The trees are made of drift wood, baleen and real coco-nuts.  The license plate on our car is even from HAWAII.  As you can see, the "sand" white, but cold and the trees need some paint.

Once outfitted, you can head the two miles out onto the ice to fish for whales.  It takes a lot of gear, but I had help.

"MUSH you girls, we have to hurry, it will be dark in 6 months, that way, now...MUSH!!!

In route to the open lead, you have to travel a couple miles of trail cut through the pressure ridges. It's done by hand. Ridges are really difficult to cross otherwise. I tried and I have a whole new respect for polar exploration. We visited the whaling camp of Captain Oliver Brower. He was great explaining everything, and how the equipment is used. Below are some photos. You know what? They use skin boats, paddles, and hand thrown harpoons. No life jackets. An huge block and tackle are used to pull the whale up on the ice. If you ever go, and they offer you a piece of muktuk (whale blubber) to eat....take a small one.

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Some shots of camp, it was a lot of fun.

Just wanted to share some before to much more time passed and this seemed the best way. Want any others? I can post them.