Fairbanks, AK

October 2, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 3 Comments

Summer is over, and fall is quickly fading away up here in Fairbanks. Snow has come and gone a few times already and those wintry previews have me nervously biting my nails in anticipation of winter proper.

Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK via Yea Yea Pueblo

Fairbanks, AK via Yea Yea Pueblo

Talking Moose, Fairbanks, AK via Yea Yea Pueblo

In a scramble to see Fairbanks as tourists before heavy snow blankets the borough, we’ve trotted all over town in heavy coats and an overloaded stroller. At this point we have no idea what’s appropriate to wear — it’s cold to us, but some of the locals seem okay with just a light fleece jacket and sandals. Others have already started wearing down parkas and warm wool hats. I personally need lots of layers already, which makes dressing Margot even more confusing and cumbersome.

Continue reading “Fairbanks, AK” →

Fairbanks’ Newest Cheechakos

September 20, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 3 Comments

This post is coming to you from Fairbanks, AK where we are the newest Cheechakos (or Canadian/Alaskan newcomers)! Our travels through Canada went off without a hitch, but I sure did miss reliable cell service and wi-fi.

We were your typical tourists: camera and baby clumsily in hand, an overweight dog on a retractable leash, and a dirty Subaru with out-of-state plates. The back seat became our diaper change-station, the front seat, our refrigerator. We lived in that car for up to 14 hours a day. Margot was patient, even when I wouldn’t let her crawl on the floor of at least two off-putting hotels. She was content to roll around in her pack ‘n play or hang out in the slightly cleaner beds for a energy-burning nightcap.

Yukon Territory via Yea Yea Pueblo Watson Sign Forest, Yukon Territory, Canada via Yea Yea Pueblo

The Watson Lake Sign Forest was a fun tourist destination. We weaved up and down the aisles, looking for artifacts from our respective hometowns. Isaac was a little more successful than I was, oddly enough.

Then there was the beautiful Whitehorse, YT; a beautiful Canadian city with friendly locals and great food. We strolled along the river front, poked around in gift shops and ate BBQ Salmon at the famous Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ on their very last weekend of the season. Many northern businesses shut down for the winter months, presumably because of the lower number of travelers passing through. And little did we know, the Yukon Territory, with an area the size of Germany, Austria and Switzerland combined, only has a population of about 36K, most of which (26K) live in the Whitehorse metro area. My high school was bigger than nearly all of their towns. Mind-boggling!

Continue reading “Fairbanks’ Newest Cheechakos” →

Ruby Beach, WA

August 12, 2013August 12, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 9 Comments

Spontaneity is not lost on us, I’m happy to report. After lamenting all the lost travel opportunities in Washington that we are up against, we decided to pick a couple locales and go for it.

Highest on the wish list was a camping trip to the Olympic National Park, but you’d need to reserve a campsite months in advance; an impossibility since we weren’t sure how difficult life with a newborn would be. Travelers come from all around the world to camp in the old-growth rain forests and backpack in the steep mountains of the sprawling park. Steep cliffs? River crossings? Snowy trails? Ai, ai, ai, not with a baby.

So, a day hike: the perfect solution for a young family. We chose Ruby Beach, because it was the closest in scenery to the Giants Graveyard, which is what we really wanted to see. Doing so meant we would have had to check tide charts and risk a rocky traverse across a receding shoreline with a baby in a day pack. I was particularly keen on seeing a foggy seascape, freckled with sea stacks– from a safe vantage point. Overly-cautious mom reigns in the adventure, again.

Visibility maxed out at one mile, so the highly-anticipated infinity horizon of the Pacific Ocean was a no-show.

Fog obscured the tree-tops while a cool, misty breeze reminded us that the ocean churned nearby. Driftwood and boulders, littered with Cairns, dotted the shoreline.

From a wind-swept branch high above the cove, a bald eagle sat, calmly watching the shoreline (can you find him in the following photograph?).

Landscapes like this are a dime a dozen along the Oregon and Washington Coast. For however long, or short we live in this region, the novelty of such beauty will never wear off.