We drove to Haines to take the ferry to Juneau. While we were in Haines we played at this amazing playground where there was a cool tunnel made of car tires, an amazing swing and lots of fun things to climb and play on.

After picking our campsite at Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site we went on a bear hunt. We saw people with gigantic camera lenses and then we saw a grizzly and her two cubs catching salmon along the banks of the river. As the bears moved down the river we moved with them all the way to the bridge. Then a scary thing happened! The bears came up on the bridge and everybody quickly backed away. When the bears were off of the bridge we all came back onto the bridge and watched them move upstream.

The next day we hiked the Battery Point Trail. There were lots of cool mushrooms that looked alien like. There were big puffy mushrooms that looked like pillows, big red and white mushrooms, and creepy finger like mushrooms. We also saw a beautiful beach and a cool rainforest.

It was fun staying in Haines but now we are moving on to a new island. New island, new adventures.

On our way to Denali National Park the day was so clear and beautiful that we got to see Denali! Because the weather was so nice we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and do two hikes. The first one we did was the Savage River Loop Trail. It was a beautiful hike that looped around a roaring river. The second hike we did was the Savage Alpine Trail. It was a very hard hike that climbed up and over a very steep and high ridge. We got amazing views of the valley from a high ridge top. It was getting dark by the time we finished!

We visited the National Park Service’s sled dog kennel where I got to pet an Alaskan Husky and learned about dog mushing. I learned about the Husky’s ability to withstand cold temperatures in winter when the snow falls. The ranger also taught us that Huskies don’t do well in hot summers because they have three coats of fur.

We were supposed to spend two more days in Denali, but we all got Covid and decided to go to Fairbanks to get medical treatment and stay in a hotel.

We spent seven days at Broken Arrow Farm. We saw lots of animals on the farm like horses, dogs, cats, goats, sheep, alpacas, ducks and chickens. Every day at nine in the morning I helped two homeschoolers who lived on the property with the animal chores such as feeding the horses and goats. After the chores were done the kids and I played in the hay barn and all around the farm. I got to go to the main house where I ate pancakes with syrup. I also got to go to my friend’s room where we listened to music and played with all sorts of toys and games.

There was a sweet cat named Mayhem on the farm that always came running over as soon as I came out the door. I really liked to pet him.

A funny thing that happened was that there was a big basket filled with mints in our house. Bex and I ate them all, before learning they were for the goats!

At the end of the week Bex left for Scotland to spend the semester abroad. It was great to hang out with her! I will miss her.

We celebrated mom’s birthday at the Alaska State Fair where the winds were so bad that some of the rides were closed. We saw huge gourds and squash and giant pumpkins that weighed more than 2000 lbs.

It was a great time at Broken Arrow Farm but now we are moving on to new adventures! Above and beyond!

We spent one week at Anchor Point, North America’s most westerly highway point! From the beach we could see five volcanoes which are part of a whole chain of volcanoes called the Ring of Fire.

We spent most of our time exploring the beach. We saw a tractor launching boats off of trailers into the surf. The tractor went so fast into the water that the boat shot right off the trailer and into the sea. Another day we explored an abandoned house several miles down the beach. The abandoned house was so cool to investigate. I played on the beach and rushed into the sea. I almost got knocked down by a giant wave. We also saw bald eagles and seagulls.

We spent one day in Homer where we ate pizza. We also walked on the docks. We saw boats in all different shapes and sizes.

We had so much fun in Anchor Point, but now we are moving on to a new island. New island, new adventures!

To get to McCarthy and Kennecott we got off of the highway and drove two hours on an unpaved bumpy road to the campground at the end. The road was so bumpy that it shook the battery connector right off of Becca’s van! Luckily Pa was able to fix it! From the end of the road we took a foot bridge over the roiling Kennicott river to get to McCarthy.

McCarthy was originally a booming town where copper miners from the Kennecott mine spent the money they earned. They spent their money on stuff like drinking and gambling. When we visited McCarthy we ate at a great restaurant called The Potato and we also got ice cream.

We also visited Kennecott, five miles away, which was once a booming copper town. Copper was discovered there in 1901. In 1911 the first load of copper departed Kennecott on the newly built 193 mile railway to Cordova. Kennecott was the most technologically advanced mine in Alaska; they were able to extract 98% of the copper out of the ore. The Kennecott Mine was the richest copper mine in the world at the time.

We went on a mill tour where Ma hit her head two times; luckily we were wearing hard hats. We got to see how the copper was processed and put onto trains.

When the copper was all extracted the owners shut down the mining operation and left all their equipment behind. Now the old mining equipment and town buildings are managed by the National Park Service.

In Kennecott we also hiked the Root Glacier Trail. We walked on a dangerous trail where I fell in the dust two times. We walked out on the ice and saw cool stuff like the snow and ice on the mountains and ground.

I had so much fun in McCarthy and Kennecott but now we are moving on to new adventures! Above and beyond!