Kreider Khronicles

The last two weeks have gone by so quickly. It all started with our first visitors of the summer. My mom and her friend landed Thursday July 7. It was so nice to have my mom out and show her around our new world. Friday was spent with me showing them around Fairbanks. First stop was the visitor center. It is a great way to learn the history of Fairbanks and what all you can do in the area. There is a lot to also do right around the visitors center. The arch of antlers and different statues around the area with history.

If you know my mother you know she loves her Mexican food, which isn’t the easiest to accomodate in Alaska but there is this one place we enjoy. Taco King, it is like a step up from taco bell but not a traditional sit down resturant. It is a great place to enjoy some tacos or burritos. It is one of my favorite places up here to hit my mexican fix. Friday evening a local church in North Pole was hosting a food truck festival so we all went and enjoyed the different food trucks and what they had to offer.

Saturday started bright and early to make our way to Denali National Park. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive through what would normally be a beautiful drive with amaxing moutain views and potentail wildlife sightings. This drive wasn’t exactly like that. Alaska has been having a lot of wildfires so with that there is a lot of smoke in the air. The smoke prevents us from seeing the beautiful views. But once we make it closer to Denali there isnt as much smoke in the air. The air quality is a lot better than in Fairbanks. Lots of clear skies but no clear enough to see Denali. But we still saw some epic mountains and enjoyed our time.

We checked out the Denali Visitor Center to see where we all wanted to go and if we wanted to go on a bus tour. We decided against a bus tour but did go out to as to the farthest point to go by vehicle. Which is 15 miles from the park entrance. You can enjoy the views and go on several hikes if you wish. We went on the loop hike. Instead of just going around the loop we walked off the path some to enjoy the views. Sat around the area to enjoy our time. Eventually we made it our way around the loop and then drove to the campsite to enjoy our lunch. After our lunch we made our way out of the park.

As we left the park to drive back to Fairbanks we passed one of the wildfires that we saw in the morning, it was the Clear fire right outside of Anderson. In the morning you couldn’t see the fire from the road but that quickly changed throughout the course of the day. Throughout the day it got windy and that changed the fire. The Clear fire was now right next to the road. As we approached Anderson all you saw was these big clouds of smoke and you could taste the smokeyness in the air. As we continued to drive you could see the fire right next to the road. After we passed the fire we pulled over to take some pictures and saw a helicopter getting ready to drop water on the fire. It was cool to see the fire but also concerning since it was so close. For about the rest of the weekend there was this thick smoke in the air from that fire and the other fires in the area. The fires prevented us from going to some places but we made the best of it.

Then on Sunday we started our day a little later and enjoyed a brunch at a local what in PA are called diners. It is the closest thing to our favorite diner in PA. After brunch we went out to Chena Lake to explore the area. Trying to figure out what the different birds are and then also try not to be eaten alive by the misquitoes. Then we went to Pionneer Park which is a small area in Fairbanks that goes through the history of the town. Through the gold mining then to how the area developed. It was a lot of fun to learn the history and to see some of the original homes.

Monday was the last day that our guests were in town. So after taking Benjamin to work and the picking them up we headed out to explore North Pole. Well we drove to the Knotty Shop which is in Salcha. It is not the kind of place you are thinking it is if you are from PA. This shop is a souvenior shop that has so many options of different gifts. Before leaving we enjoyed the ice cream at the shop. On the way to Salcha we pass the airforce base. Which has the longest runway at a total of 2 miles long. Then we went to the Santa Clause House in North Pole. There is also reindeer on the property, which is just domesticated caribou. Then we just went back to our house to enjoy one last meal. So we made them caribou tacos. Then we dropped them off at the airport late Monday night.

The rest of the week was just us going through our normal routines but with a slight twist. I got a job that started on Wednesday so now we are both out of the house all day and are getting back into that routine. So we are working on figuring out our routine now. Friday night Benjamin hung out at home and I went out with Lizzie and Nicole. Which was a lot of fun to have some girl time. Saturday was a big day for us. We finally have a washer and dryer in our cabin! I found a nice stackable set off of Facebook Market Place and we got to pick them up Saturday afternoon. Cade came and helped us pick them up and install them in the utility room. We have learned since them that when the washer and dryer are running the whole cabin might shake at times so that is interesting. But it is so nice to have the ability to do our own laundry at our place and not have to go to the laundry mat.

Saturday night we went out to Lizzie and Blaines house to hangout with our friends there for the evening. Blaine had gone fishing the weekend before and caught Red Salmon and so they made Salmon for everyone. It was a blast to hangout with everyone again. The last time we did that was camping for 4th of July. Sunday morning we went to a new church. We enjoyed seeing a new church and seeing if it will be a better fit. Then we went about our usual Sunday routine, RELAXING. That has been our routine since we have been married and is my favorite part of the week.

This week brings in cooler temperatures than we have experienced in the past couple weeks. No more need for the big box fan in the window to cool the place down. With this cooler weather we are also getting rain which will be nice as well. Not a whole lot going on this week but it is always an adventure. See you all next week. Love the Kreiders.