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.

After more than three years of being Covid free, we all finally got it. Thanks to the many vaccinations the three of us have had, plus Paxlovid for Pa and I, we all recovered fairly quickly.

We holed up at a lovely La Quinta in Fairbanks, and got back on the road once we were feeling better. It was a three day drive thru Canada to get to Haines, Alaska.

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!