How to Pan for Gold!

We went to the El Dorado Gold Mine just north of Fairbanks this past weekend.

If you look to the right of this post, you can find pictures from our trip to the Mine in the collection of "trip to Alaska" pictures.

I'm really glad that we took the tour, because it was quite informative and just plain fun. We spent some money (it wasn't cheap) to tour the Mine, but got it all back when we panned for our own gold. Phillip and I had so much fun during the panning process, that we used our pans to scrape the bottom of the panning troughs to get more residue to look through, and sure enough, we found more gold!

Enjoy the video below!

A work in progress...

I've just put all of the pictures in the "Alaska Bound" photo album to your right, in order of which they took place...

I still have to work more on captions.

For now...Enjoy!

Old Faithful

Here she is...

(5/17/2010 at about 12:30'ish pm)

Now, how cool is that?

Photo Collection

I've added a link to the right of this page titled "Pictures from our trip to Alaska" that will bring you to a Shutterfly page that contains pictures and info. about our recent trip.

It is a work in progress; I need to add captions to pictures so that you will know what is where, etc. So far, I only have about 25 captions posted (but we're about to go do some more sightseeing, so I'll have to come back to the project later).

But for now, please enjoy...

Gabe's Special Day...

So, we've been so wrapped up with moving and road trippin', that we didn't post any pictures about Gabe's special day. On the morning of May 8, Gabe made his First Communion.

I admit that I cried a bit. I was a bit stressed about all the recent changes, but I was more upset about the fact that our little boy is growing up...

Just look at him! I'm biased, of course, but he was so handsome in his suit.

And Sarah was so pretty in her Strasburg sundress.

We love you, Gabe-y Baby!

Alaska Bound: We are DONE!

Well, here we are...in Fairbanks, Alaska!!!

We got here a little after lunchtime (we stopped in North Pole, AK to eat), went straight on Post to see if we could get lodging there, but we couldn't, soooooo we're staying at the Holiday Inn for...I don't know how long.

Tomorrow, we go back to Post to sign into Fort Wainwright, and then sign into Housing to get onto the waiting list for housing. Phillip doesn't have to sign into his company until after he "in-processes".

So far, we like what we see. (There's a Barnes and Noble here, so I'm happy.)

As far as the drive....We're TOTALLY glad we did it, because we saw so many beautiful things and got a whole new perspective on the lay of the land, and life in general, but next time...I'm flyin' out! Two weeks in the car to ANYWHERE is just a little too long for me!

Thanks to all who've wished us well, and a safe journey.

We are safely...home.

Alaska Bound: Day Fifteen

3,579 miles (with just a bit more for side trips) so far...

And remember, that's only 11 days of driving, but I say it's 15 (AK Bound) because we've been out of our house since May 9th.

The above map reads...Harker Heights, TX to Dallas...to Raton, New Mexico...to Englewood, CO...to Dubois, Wyoming...to Butte, Montana...to Calgary, Alberta...to Edmonton, Alberta...to Dawson Creek, British Columbia...to Fort Nelson, British Columbia...to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory...to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory this evening.

Tomorrow, we will hopefully be in Fairbanks, if not, then we may stop in Tok, Alaska or somewhere near there. We have until May 28th to officially report to Fort Wainwright, and we are way ahead of schedule, so we have been taking some short days/drives to give ourselves some rest from the road.

I know that I said that I'd post everyday if I could. The truth is, by the time we get into our hotel in the evening, we are a bit tired and I don't have the desire to tell you all that we've seen and done; and trust me, there's a lot to tell you! This has truly been the trip of a lifetime! I never thought that Gabe would be as excited as he is to see what there is to see; Sarah is so young, that she won't remember this, but I'll have lots of pictures to show her in the future. Both of them have been real troopers and we've only had a couple of very minor meltdowns from Sarah toward the end of a day.

When we get to Fairbanks, and I have more time, I will tell you more about the trip and post more pictures...

Until then,

Janet

Alaska Bound: Day Eleven

We are in Edmonton, Alberta tonight.

We left Calgary this morning and drove about 3 hours to the largest shopping mall in North America!

We're staying at the Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall; I sprung $50 more on our room reservation to surprise Gabe (and the rest of the family), and upgraded to a "Canadian Rail" room. We have a gigantic jacuzzi tub smack-dab in the middle of the room, and bunk beds for the kids; even the shower looks like it belongs in a sleeper car. The guys walked the lower half of the mall with Sarah and I, and then we separated so that they could enjoy the water park (in the mall).

Tomorrow, we stay in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and then wake up Friday morning to get our start on the ALCAN Highway...

We are a little more than halfway finished with the trip.

I'll do my best to post something tomorrow night.