We’re a little embarrassed by our lack of blog entries lately, but what excuse can we give?  Obviously, we haven’t been updating things on this end because we’ve been doing other things with our time.  In that light, it’s time to move on.

Our last entry was June 24, four days after Dorothy’s wedding.  We all had a lovely time in Wasilla, visiting with the Hall clan and with my [Michael’s] niece Amy and her family.  We even took in an air show, which the kids did really well with discounting the occasional screaming jet overhead.

At the end of June Dad and I flew back to Juneau to work on the summer project: finishing the ceiling.  Dad did all of the staining and most of the cutting.  I did the installation work.  Luckily we had a lovely streak of days when we first arrived, allowing the stained wood to be spread out to dry.  Except for the ceiling fan, everything was complete before dad flew south and I flew north in mid July (the fan was installed a week after our final return).  In fact, the work went so well and so quickly that we finished early, leaving plenty of time for Dad to do some sightseeing around Juneau.

The rest of the vacation travels were fun, if a little wet.  Every day and every night brought rain, but there were also dry spells almost every day allowing us to camp in relative comfort.  We continued to prepare and eat all of our meals outside, for instance.

Once we got farther north the pavement ended, and the rains meant muddy going.  Even so, the Scamp remained warm and dry (compared to tent camping, anyway).  Before the trip we reverted the front of the trailer to its original bunk bed configuration, removing the shelf we installed a couple of years before when Becky and Michael were small enough to share a bunk.  The kids liked having their own bunks this time around.

When the weather was especially rainy we erected our screen house on the end of the Scamp’s awning, an arrangement that yielded a tremendous amount of dry space in which to move around.  In fact, the dynamics of camping in the Scamp worked really well for our family of four, which bodes well for our continued use of the Scamp as our family trailer.  Sheryl and I had been somewhat concerned that the little trailer might be too cramped to allow us to travel comfortably, but those thoughts have been laid pretty much to rest with this trip.

We took a side trip to Eagle, on the Yukon River.  It was an interesting drive, and an interesting town (it was once thought that Eagle would be a major transportation hub).  We toured the old fort and most of the town, but the thing that most attracted the kids’ attention were the miniature strawberries that seemed to be growing everywhere, yet remained virtually invisible until looking very close to the ground.

We drove the Top of the World Highway this time around. It was a pretty drive, with little traffic and very few settlements along the way.  In Dawson City the traffic situation changed, with lots of young adults cramming into town for a music festival.  We were lucky to get a camping space.  To the north of the campground was another lucky break: a graveyard of old steamships and riverboats.

We were hoping to get more use out of the cycles during our trip than we did.  A lot of the lack of cycling came from the weather.  Still, the kids did get to do some pedaling, and occasionally we were able to put the tricycle to additional use as a wood-hauler, a task that Michael took very seriously.

Our original plan was to camp in Haines the night before sailing to Juneau.  So much for planning.  When we approached the ferry terminal (it is on the way to the campground where we would have stopped) we saw the Columbia at the dock, waiting to load its cargo of people and vehicles.  We stopped.  Sheryl went into the ferry office.  After what seemed like a very long time, she returned with a confirmed ticket for the imminent sailing.  In another hour we were in the main restaurant at the rear of the Columbia, enjoying a wonderful meal and toasting our luck at having made it on board.

The month since our return has been busy:

• We’re contemplating changes in our office, and in much of the rest of the house’s east end, and so we’ve been sorting and cleaning in the house and in the garage to make room for the changes.

• I stored away our winter firewood supply thanks largely to our neighbor, who had several trees cut down this spring; he wanted the wood split and I had a splitter, so I split all the wood in exchange for half of it.

• We want more wood storage, and a place to store things out of the weather, so I’m building a retaining wall and leveling the area on the west side of the garage.  Once this platform is finished we’ll add a roof, and after that many of the things cluttering our garage will be able to live outside.

And the tandem bicycle?  We bought it this morning after seeing an ad in the newspaper.  Clean, shiny, not a speck of rust (not even on the chain), and only $100.  Such a deal!  Now if we could just get some dry, sunny weather.