Summer in Alaska

On Top of the World

While standing on top of the world, I hummed the song,
“I’m on… top of the world… looking, down on creation... And the only explanation I can find, is…humph?” Explain how I got here?
A year ago, I was looking up from Australia, ‘the land down under’ and now in Alaska, I’m peering down the vastest and most desolate valley I’ve ever seen.
We had just left North Pole, and were driving up a steep winding gravel road called Top of the World Highway. We were pioneering a visit to family through the Last Frontier coinciding with our next volunteer building project.

[Camping through Canada and up to Alaska with our daughter Carly, her friend Matt, and the two granddogs. We now have camped over six months of this trip. And I remember saying a year ago, “I never really liked camping.” And this has not changed.]

[Freedom of the open road. (And there was no ‘free’ in this freedom) Driving a personal vehicle for the first time in over a year was shocking with the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance and then constant vehicle repairs.]


[Mt. McKinley, the Canadian Rockies, the Alaskan,/Al-Can Highway, the Yukon, the Klondike, the Glacier Fields and the North Pole. Brrr, now searching for Hot Springs, to warm our aching equatorial bones.]







































[One must keep a keen eye on the highway at all times… Where the buffalo and everything else roams. While driving or camping, watch out for moose, caribou, black and grizzly bears, reindeer, rock sheep, wolverines, fox, minks, elk and so much more.]

[Gold Rush towns sent us searching but we found instead crystal clear rivers, silver glacier runs, tumbling waterfalls and mountains of wildflowers.]

The Project:

After spending a year volunteering in third world countries, we decided to bring some social responsibility back to our own family.

A bit north of Anchorage, in the small town of Wasilla, there are ten acres of wooded property, a TeePee and our daughter Ashley with her family.

Our recent project is helping build her and our son-in-law Jason’s first home. Our goal is to get a structure built and to weather before the first snow falls.

Construction with 20 hours of daylight made for good progress, despite our meager three member crew. Our assistants included a two year old grandchild for entertainment and a pregnant daughter for building supply runs. (However Boulder's idea of entertainment is drowning our tools in buckets of rain water while empting cans of nails down stairs. Not to mention Ashley who is now ‘growing a human,’ requires naps and weight lifting restrictions.)

[Blending work with play is the best part of our day.]

Building and living without power or running water would normally seem difficult but after previous volunteer adversities in third world countries, we hardly felt the compromise. Our challenges were instead building and camping in cool weather and rainy days without a roof over our heads. Warming ourselves at night, we gathered around a warm TeePee fire sharing stories and catching up on years of lost time. Baby Boulder:

After living above the Arctic Circle and in the tundra, Boulder has been deprived of a few childhood wonders. He has discovered that rocks and dirt are his new favorite toys. (Therefore appropriately named) He is a constant joy, an all-around easy child and loves the great outdoors. The New Grandbaby Boy is Coming Soon and due in November. Awaiting the namesake?

Wrapping things up and leaving the ‘Biggest State in the Union’ we sang,

“We’re on top of the world, looking down on creation and the only explanation I can find, is…

The love that I found every time you’re around…

Your Love puts us…

On Top of the World.”

Thanks to our family for enduring the long years away and to our friends for such a warm welcome home.
We will be in the states until Christmas and then head overseas again