July 4th: We went up to Glacier View, AK to celebrate America’s Birthday. This is how I would have imaged small town America honoring America over thirty years ago across the country. We gathered for the day with a 5k and Kids fun run, delicious food (they cooked over a 1,000 pounds of chicken and pork!) , bluegrass music, metal rodeo, parade, prayed together, honored America, and launched cars off the cliff. Before the meal they gathered the community and honored America and thanked God for this great country. We even prayed before the meal as a community! It really felt like this community was honoring the roots of America! I loved it!
All of the kids ran the 1 mile fun run! It was awesome to see them participate. Jadon was the first in our group. And I think he was in the top 5 of all the kids. He did amazing! Esther raced with the boys Keanan and Bristol. They had quite the finish making sure not to get beat by a girl ;). Rahab ran with Bella and Kyla. They were quite little troopers and fun to see them cross the finish line at the same time. I was so impressed with all of the kids running their hearts out. Although they still had lots of energy after the race.
We also enjoyed watching metal rodeo. Using an excavator to put rocks into tires and then take them out. Stack the tires, catch a ball in the excavator’s bucket while sitting on a cone. It was quite entertaining!
The highlight of the day was the cars being launched about 300 feet off the cliff! To be honest I wasn’t quite sure if I would enjoy this or not. BUT it was awesome! They launched 6 cars and one snow machine! I don’t think you would ever see anything like this in the lower 48. And if we did there would have been more restrictions of where to sit, how close, etc. The attitude of this event was you are responsible for your own actions. Perfect! After all the cars were launched the crowd rush up the hill side to see the crushed cars. I recommend you find so YouTube Videos! Try Googling Glacier View car launch 4th of July! But here is the first one launched in slow motion!
It was an amazing day with amazing friends and amazing scenery! As the day went on God’s majesty was displayed. The fog rolled away and the magnificent mountains were revealed next to the rushing Matanuska River. Spectacular!
July 5th & 6th:
We headed up to the Cold Creek Mine trail north of Girwood, AK. We did the Hand tram and the ATV bridge with the Vawter’s family. We had a lot of fun playing on the creek. Throwing rocks, boulders, logs, and sticks into the creek. We wanted to explore the Cold Creek Mine but the price to enter was too high. We adventured up further up the road and saw some spectacular views and waterfalls. Greg, Zac, Esther, Keanan and Jadon came back and explored up here the next day. While the Kyla, Rahab, Jen and I enjoyed a restful afternoon watching a movie and a walk to Taku Lake. We saw a calf on the way home, but didn’t see the mama moose!
July 7th:
We went on a bear hunt. We took a drive to Soldonta, AK. We looked for any wildlife we could find. Stopping several times along the road looking with not much success. As we were driving we came across a moose eating grass in the water. Fun to see this large animal enjoying herself in the water. She would dive her head under the water then come up with a mouth full of grass. She would shake her head while the rest of her was completely submerged underwater. It was amazing to see this moose in such a natural setting up close, in the car! We also saw two grizzly bears. I’m very thankful we saw them from our car on the side of the road and not while we were hiking. These bears are quite a sight! Again amazing to watch from my car as they searched the area for food.
The drive home late at night was unforgettable. The moon was rising as the sun was setting at 11pm. To experience the midnight sun has been quite an adjustment. I must admit I don’t think I will ever get use to it. I really have no sense of time. But pure beauty.
July 8th:
We explored the Anchorage Museum on a rainy day.
Highlights of the museum:
*Seeing the $7.2 Million dollar check that was used to purchase Alaska
*Display of natives artifacts. They were similar but yet so different. You could tell which tribes were north and inland versus which were on the coast and rainy by the clothes they made. Their artistic ability was quite detailed it was hard to take it all in.
*Playing in bubbles
July 9th:
Our last day with the Vawter’s we started off with church at the Chapel by the Sea. I’m loving experiencing different churches up here in Anchorage for the summer. God is moving in all His churches. What a blessing it is to pray along with these churches this summer!
Our last hike and adventure was up to Independence Mine. Seeing this spot for a second time really allowed the history of the mine to sink in for me. WWII really affected all the mines in the area. As they were shut down for the war, deemed non-essential. After the war ended, the price of gold was fixed at $35 an ounce. Really not making it profitable for the miners to come back. This is one of the reasons why we see the abandoned mines in the state of Alaska.
What a jammed packed week we had with the Vatwer’s. Wouldn’t want it any other way! I’m thankful for the visit. It was much needed! I’m also very thankful that Greg was only used one day on reserve. This is the main reason we joined him this summer up in ANC. If we were still in Yelm, we would have missed out on these days with him. Instead we explored together! What a blessing we have been given this summer!
Chris Ireland