Joyful July

 After a wet May and June, we were glad to learn that the Spring run-off was controlled and that all the efforts the cities made by draining reservoirs so they could fill up again worked. We still had quite a bit of standing water in some areas through the middle of the month, but with the seasonally warmer temperatures that came with July it all worked out.

With Dale and I cruising in Alaska from the beginning of the month until into the second week we were enjoying cooler temperatures and mostly sunshine. Thus continuing on with our Alaskan Cruise with the Griffiths...

Day 3 - We were at sea, heading to Juneau from Vancouver, BC. We got more accustomed to the lay-out of the ship and attended a couple of the Trivia games, played some mini-golf, and watched the movie "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" about Whitney Houston's life. It was "Dress to Impress" night so we got dressed up for dinner, and after went to the Headliner show: The Modern Gentlemen, who sang some of the classic songs from some of the well-known past musicians, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Neil Diamond, John Taylor, Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton John, Barbara Streisand, etc. It was a nice way to end the day. 

Day 4 - We ported in Juneau, AK. After breakfast we went to an information show on how to shop Alaska, and a couple of game events and then watched the movie "The Champions". 

After a late lunch we were able to go see the Mendenhall Glacier. We took a bus and at the site had to walk about 1 mile to see the glacier, and it was worth it. It was a bit chilly by all of the snow and ice, but pretty cool to see. This is a glacier that is getting smaller due to global warming and changes in the weather patterns. 

This whale is a piece of artwork that was by the water in Juneau. It was stunning!

The trail to the glacier was so green and pretty. Really, all of Alaska is just SO pretty! Lots of trees and water!!

We got back to our room after dinner and games and found a towel bear greeting us on our bed. So fun!!

 

Day 5 - We woke up in Icy Strait Point, AK and got an early start on the day by going on a "Bear Search Tour". After breakfast we loaded a bus and were off into the wilderness. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery, but no bears. We did see bald eagles, deer, a moose, and squirrels though. 

After the tour we hopped on the Sky Glider gondola and rode it to Sky Peak. So pretty!! We also went on a walk into the woods and saw more of God's beautiful world, but no bears. 

We did check out some of the area in Icy Strait as well, which was mostly a little tourist shopping spot. 

We went to the Headliner Show: Billy Prudhomme, a Comedy Juggler, and played cards games with Alisons sister and niece and their spouses after dinner. We got back to the room and found a towel anteater on our bed!!

Day 6 - Happy Independence Day America! 

Sitka, AK was our port today. During breakfast we saw some pilot whales out in the water pretty close to the ship coming up for water. That was a great start to our day for whale watching. 

As we disembarked from the ship, they had an American Flag made out of cupcakes for us to have a taste of America. Pretty clever, huh? Then we loaded our van that took us to our Whale Watching excursion. There was a total of seven of us on the boat that took us out into the ocean for this excursion. It was a beautiful day on the water. 

We saw sea lions sunning on a buoy and we were also able to see a whale crest pretty close to us as it came up for air a couple of times. The first time it was probably only about 75-100 ft. away from us!! 

We also saw a bunch of birds and sea lions on some rocks, but I never got a good picture of them.

The top blue water picture was taken from the ship when we saw the whales at breakfast. The other two were the best we got of the whales we saw from the boat we were on for our excursion. It was hard to get a good picture because we wouldn't know where the whale would come up at, but it was pretty amazing to see it so close.

We got back on the ship and went to a Name that Tune game, saw a big balloon drop while we rode in the elevator, that the ship did instead of fireworks, and had a taste of the flag that they had sitting in the area. The blue was a blue raspberry drink. 

Then we went to dinner and after we got our fill we went to the Headliner Show: Showtime starring Elisa Furr, who performed a Celine Dion Tribute, by singing all of Celine Dion's hits. From a distance she even kind of looked like Celine and her voice was pretty close to hers too on some of the songs. It was entertaining. After the show we played cards with Alison's sister, niece and their spouses before hitting the sack.

Day 7 - The town of Skagway, the largest settlement and Gold Rush gateway, was our stop for today. It was beautiful and had the first railway system, The White Pass Railway, in the area that took people and goods from one area in the early 1900's. This area was gorgeous!! So green and thick with trees. We were able to visit an old cemetery that had dates back into the late 1800's as well as hike back into a waterfall too.

The town still has that old-time feel with a streetcar that goes down the main street called Broadway Street. We took some time to walk around town for a bit after our tour.

After lunch we watched the movie "Top Gun-Maverick" visited and went to some of the game events on the ship and then after dinner we found a towel Eskimo on our bed.

Day 8 - We cruised today, but our cruising took us past the famous Hubbard Glacier. This glacier is known as the largest tidewater glacier in North America. While most glaciers tend to thin and retreat, the Hubbard Glacier continues to thicken and actively advance toward the Gulf of Alaska, earning the nickname "Galloping Glacier". It's 76 miles long and 1,200 feet deep. Pretty impressive.

While we were there, some of the glacier calved (fell) off and a section fell into the ocean. I never saw it though, but Floyd and Alison, our friends, heard it crack.

It was a beautiful blue-sky day too. Perfect for viewing such a grand sight.

We spent a lot of time on the deck outside just soaking in the sights and the sun, even though it was chilly, and we were in our coats.

We watched the movie "A Man Called Otto", had lunch, visited, played games, soaked in more sun, had dinner and went to the Farewell Variety Show starring Comedian Cary Long. He has been on 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno. There was also a tribute paid to the Radiance of the Seas Ship Crew. 

We played cards with the Griffiths and her sister, cousin and their spouses and Dale got in his last chocolate chip cookie because we disembark tomorrow morning. 

Day 9 - Farewell to the Radiance of the Seas Cruise Ship. Hello Seward, AK. We got our luggage on a motor coach and enjoyed the scenery on our ride to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center to visit the animals under their care. It was here that we saw bears, more moose, a white wolf, and even a Musk Ox! 

Dale was naughty and tried to feed the moose!!

After out time at the preserve, we headed to the town of Talkeetna. We stayed in a nice lodge there. Walked around the area, grabbed a bite to eat at a tasty Thai Food Truck. Our lodge was by the Mud River, from the picture you can see why they called it that. 

The view off the back deck of the lodge was beautiful and the sunset after midnight!! We were up playing cards and had no idea what time it was until we saw the sunset and thought it would be around 10:00, but we were wrong!! It doesn't get dark until close to 1:30am!! 

Day 10 - From the lodge, we took the bus back into Denali National Park where we loaded onto another bus for another tour. We went on the Denali Natural History Tour with a park ranger. We saw a lot of beautiful forest land and tundra. We also saw a caribou on one of the roads we took. It walked right along-side the bus! 

The clouds broke for a while and we got a good look at Mt. McKinley's highest peak for a bit. What a majestic mountain that is.

This picture wasn't taken by us.....it was shared 

We stopped and saw a replica of a goldminers cabin and walked along some of the trails in the park. So pretty!!

We stopped for one last visit to Talkeetna for lunch and also got in some souvenir shopping. On our way back to the bus Dale and I saw an airplane take off on a grass airstrip in town. It was pretty cool. 

We got back to the lodge and Dale, and I took a walk along a trail along the Nenana River (or also called the Muddy River). 

While we were in the lobby, we saw a stuffed bear that a 10-year-old girl shot. It was huge. Looking at the picture you can see how massive it was. I guess there are bears out there, we just haven't seen any in the wild. 

We grabbed a bite to eat and hit the sack a bit earlier because we have to leave early for our next adventure.

Day 11: We loaded the bus and stopped at a little shopping area where we got some breakfast. Then we rode to the area where we were able to get on the glass-domed cars of the Wilderness Express train that took us to Anchorage. We again saw the beauty of Alaska, which I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing. 

We had the best meal the whole trip while on the train. Fresh caught Alaskan halibut, garlic mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, a crisp green salad, and tasty triple berry pie with ice cream. It was YUMMY!! A great way to end our stay in Alaska.

We got off the train and were picked up by our bus driver and taken to the hotel that we were going to be staying at. We walked around town a bit and found a pizza place to eat at for dinner. 

The day ended by playing a few card games one last time with the Griffiths and then we hit the sack.

Day 12: We had to catch an early ride (5:00am) to get to the airport in Anchorage. Our flight out was around 7:00am. The airport had a great outdoors feel to it with a moose that had been made into a full body mount. 

All went well with a 3-hour layover in Seattle. We got to the Salt Lake City airport around 7:00pm and home around 9:00pm where we found all well. 

As Dale was driving home, I looked at him and said, "We thought we lived in a beautiful area (and we do), but nothing compares to the beauty of Alaska". 

I'd go back again in a heartbeat for another visit. 

The day after we got back Dale served in the temple, and then we both served at the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center, and later that evening I ushered for the Festival of Opera at the Eccles for the show "Oliver". We were back in the saddle and letting life take over. 

I also ushered for the shows; Our Town, Aida & Elton John's Aida, and Lohengrin, they were all great and VERY well done. The singing was amazing!!

Dale and I took Titan out on a lunch birthday date to El Toro's Mexican Restaurant and gave him a special gift we bought in Alaska for him of a Lego sled dog set. He turned 12 this year!! Happy Birthday Titan!!

Dale and I also went to the Hadfield Family Reunion kick-off at my Uncle Max & Aunt Marie's backyard. We visited with cousins and did some catching up. 

The next day we met in River Heights and the Ryan's Place Park Pavillion. We had lunch and did more visiting. My Uncle Max is the last of the children of Willaim and Grace Hadfield's 10 children that is still with us. Infact, he and Marie are the last of the couples from the Hadfield clan to be living. They are in their late 90's and still doing pretty well. 

Dale took the Mallory's out water skiing when I was ushering, at Benson Marina. All got in a ride. Mazin even got up on skis! 

This is late for us to be out on the water, but with all the rain and cooler days our summer fun got delayed a bit.

Dale & I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary by going to the matinee movie; "Sounds of Freedom", a movie about sex trafficking and the group Our Rescue and their efforts to end it. It was quite an eye-opener and a tear-jerker. It's sad to think that this is really going on in the USA and abroad to children!! 

Then later in the day we went to the temple and did sealings and to dinner to end the evening. Happy Anniversary Us (I gave Dale tickets to go see A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder for our anniversary, but the show isn't until next month).

For more fun, we loaded up the trailer and headed over the mountain to Bear Lake and stayed there until after the 24th. We got to see a guy drive into the park in a Lightning McQueen look alike (from the movie, Cars) car too! It was pretty cool!!

We played some pickleball, did some kayaking, played games, went to see the show "Thick as Thieves" at The Pickleville Theater, and saw awesome fireworks show on the beach put on by Sun Outdoors while at the lake. The Mallory's joined us for Sun. & Mon. It was a fun and much needed break.

Dale & I ended the month by attending my Sky View High Schools 45th Class Reunion. It was held at Sky View. We had a catered dinner by Beehive Grill, visited and reminisced of days gone by. It wasn't a very big group, but fun to see a lot of old classmates and friends. Am I really that old? I guess I am!!

I found this picture of me with some of my high school friends that was taken at Ricks College, which is now BYU-Idaho, I think we've changed a bit since those high school days. Life happens, I guess.

Nate and Diana started off the month by getting in the climbing trip of a lifetime (for now anyways). They went to Italy and did some Sport Climbing in the Chamonix Mountain range.

They also climbed Mt. Baker together ...

Then to end the month they celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary by flying into Juneau, AK and getting in some Alpine Climbing; destination Mendenhall Towers. They went in on helicopter but had a hard time finding the route to the top, but they still had an adventure. 

I'd say this is one dynamic duo, that knows how to live life together. Happy Anniversary guys!!

The Mallory's have been involved in a soccer tournament locally, The Cache Soccer Cup. Mazins team ended up getting 2nd place. Way to go Mazin!! We tried to get to some of the games.

Matt celebrated his birthday on the golf range and course. He went golfing with his dad and brother and then the family went and hit golf balls and went out to eat to celebrate. Happy Birthday Matt!!

Both Jaxson & Kennlyn were able to go the FSY (For the Strength of Youth) conference. Kennlyn attended at USU with a friend and Jaxson attended at BYU-Idaho with a friend. They both loved it.

Amie and Matt attended Amie's 20th high school class reunion this month. She said they enjoyed seeing old classmates and friends.

Andrew was working back east and got some cool pictures while working. Maybe these will be on the Ariel Solutions calendar for next year? 

Lindsay's mom's health started failing her and so she loaded up the kids and went to spend some time with her. Things started looking up and then went bad again and her mom passed away.

Andrew headed home from work early and pulled their trailer to Bonner's Ferry, WA so the family could be around to be there with her mom before her passing.

What a comfort it is to know that we can be with our loved ones again after death.

They spent some time with Lindsay's family while they were altogether too. Family time is fun time!

Garrett and Zandra went to visit Zandra's dad over the Independence Day weekend. The kids enjoyed their time with Grandpa Dennis in McCall, ID.

Garrett and Zandra also rode their bikes in the Grand Fondo bike ride that took place in Cache Valley. This was a big race for them and not too long after Garrett's bike crash last month!! Way to go Garrett!

The Hassell's did a gender reveal on social media and we found out that they'll be adding a little BOY to the Hassell family in January. Fun times ahead!!

Jason got busy and started getting the backyard of their house going so that they could enjoy it more. They have big plans in the works.

He also got busy and became licensed with Guild Mortgage so that he can work with people living in Idaho so they can get into their dream house. 

Danica got busy and got June's new room all done. She painted it like her old room, and for round two, it looks just as awesome.

All of the Hassell's headed to Washington to spend some time in Seattle, WA and with Nate and Diana. They went to Pike's Market and saw the famous gum wall as well as made a visit to the aquarium and stopped in to see Nate in his new office.

They also hopped on their sailboat, "Tranquility", to sail among the San Juan Islands. They spent time on both land and water and loved the time they had. Nate & Diana were wonderful hosts.

 

After their time with Nate and Diana, they went into Vancouver, BC and saw the Capilano Suspension Bridge in the rain!! Even in the rain they said the stop was worth it.

June was a great little traveler and they all had a wonderful time.

Throughout the month, in our spare time, we've been taking care of our yard and garden which has done VERY well this year with all of the rain and warm days. We've had the best green bean picking ever and got enough to have many people benefit from the garden.

We have had a lot of grasshoppers around, but not as bad as some in our neighborhood. They were eating some of the plants in the garden, but Dale took care of that with a little help from an herbicide. So far, we've only seen minimal damage to some flowers and plants.

We had this bad boy land on our car as we were stopped and he looks like he's been well fed, because he was pretty big, and we couldn't get him off the car as we drove!!

Even with the invasion of these grasshoppers, life truly is good, and it has been a joyful July for the most part.