a walk down memory lane

November 7, 2013

 

Where does the time go?  A little over a month ago we returned from our EPIC adventure.  And I am only now finishing up the blog. Sigh.  Life is just too fun to sit in front of a computer.

 

This blog looks back at those who went before us...those who inspired us to travel North to ALASKA. The Alaska tradition runs deep in my family.  For that, I am so incredibly thankful.

 

A walk down memory lane...

 

Back in the summer of 1948, my grandfather (my mom's dad, Gramps or Bill) set off on an adventure with his friends.  They headed North.  According to my grandma, Clella, Gramps spent most of his time up in Fairbanks where he worked in a hardware store.  He worked at Samson's Hardware: He also worked at Creamers Dairy.

 

The article below was published in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, June 14, 1948.  Gramps and three of his buds....and don't forget about their dog, Lou.

 

Los Angeles Times, 06/14/1948

Can you believe how young they were?!

 

Exactly thirty years later, on June 23, 1978 my parents boarded the ferry to voyage up the Inside Passage. My mom happened to be about 3 months pregnant with my brother at the time.  They journeyed through Alaska for just under a month - returning to Seattle via ferry on July 20.



Ferry time: Colter...front and center!

Getting ready to board the ferry...Bonnie Jean back and center!
 

Waking up to the sunrise on the deck up in the Solarium

Colter and I play up on the Solarium.

I love looking back on these pictures of my family- not only do they look incredibly young, but I think it is awesome that we did so many of the same things decades later.  We opted for the cabin luxury with a toddler, but someday I want to sleep on the decks with all the other hippies.

 

Glacier cruise-in'...

 

Scoping out Glacier Bay

Waking up after a train ride to Denali National Park

 

Dad lounges at the US-Canadian border.  Love the pants, Pops.

The Alaska border sign had an upgrade...

 

Then during the summer of 1985, Clella and Gramps set out on a 10 week voyage through Alaska.  10 weeks!  So jealous.  They departed their home in Whittier, CA on June 21, 1985 and pulled back into the driveway August 30.  They drove to Fairbanks and visited the places Bill worked many moons ago - apparently Samson's Hardware had a facelift and Creamers Dairy had morphed into Creamers Wildlife Refuge specializing in geese and duck ponds.



The Scout, canoe and Clella outside the trailer.  Rad!

Malcolm style: Poptop and blow-up kayak.



 

Clella shared a few journal entries from their trip:

 

Ferried from Skagway to Haines (5:45 a.m.)

Haines highlights:
Chilkoot Bakery - delicious apple/raisin cinnamon rolls, good bread

Drove the Haines Hwy. through an Eagle Preserve - lunch at Million Dollar Falls.

Haines Junction:
Grocery shopped....good prices.
End of pipeline supplying trucks during World War II.   Pipeline no longer in use.

Visit to Silver City - ghost town (trading post 1902-1924 and World War II army base)
That night camped at the Kluane Lake in a Government Campsite.

 

The boys fishing Kluane Lake 28 years later.

The Big Girl parked on the shores of Kluane.

 

From Haines we took most of the month of July and did the Wrangell Mountain
Area, Copper River Hwy., Valdez, Glen Highway to Kenai Peninsula and Homer.
Spent several days at Stariski State Recreation area near Homer. *In our
time, it was a beautiful remote campground but imagine it is a busy one now.*

Then went to Anchorage.  Enjoyed the Nancy Lake Recreation area = especially
South Rolly Lake (no motors allowed).   Took the George Park Hwy.  Then
Denali National Park.  Backtracked to Cantwell and drove the Denali Hwy to
Tangle Creek/Tangle Lake.  Took Richardson Hwy.  This hwy has spectacular
pass to Valdez, flat land of Fairbanks, and farming area of Delta Junction.



Clella in camp recharging the battery.   I just love this picture.


So many wonderful memories....from four generations.  I can only hope that 30 or so years from now Colter will take his own adventure North - if not before.  Thank you, friends and family, for joining us on this grand adventure.  I reckon it's time to start dreaming up another incredible vacation - until then, you can catch a bit of our "everyday life" at http://babymalcolm111711.blogspot.com/ .

ALASKA.  Until next time...

 

John Muir said it well,

 

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."