Pop Up Glamping

May 19, 2015 ~ Crystle ~ 4 Comments

I’d like to go back in time to last summer and smack myself upside the head for camping while pregnant, with a toddler, without a camper. What was I thinking? Such an unnecessarily uncomfortable experience, although it was fun and rewarding at the time.

Isaac and I have been looking at campers since March, and going by the towing capacity of our Toyota Sienna (minivans rule!) we narrowed down our wish list to a pop up camper with an 8-10 foot box. Local sale listings came and went (sparingly), usually selling before we even had a chance to respond. Some had roof rot, and nearly all campers in great condition were far out of our price range. Our sales page diligence paid off when we spotted this 1990 Coleman Columbia on Craigslist. It was within our budget, and appeared to be in fair condition. We contacted the seller just hours after the listing posted, and secured the second appointment to view it. I was sure we were going to miss out since these campers tend to sell the same day when they’re in good shape and priced fairly. Fortunately, the first buyer passed and having sold our old utility trailer the same day, we went to check out the camper with cash in hand. The camper was in amazing condition so we bought the pop up and towed it home the same day. After the kids went down for bed, we popped open the camper on the driveway and clinked beer bottles at the dinette, excited about our upcoming trips.

It was a stroke of genius to invest in a pop-up camper, and an incredibly lucky break to snatch one for sale in the Fairbanks North Star Borough where there typically two or fewer for sale at any given time. This year we have two littles we want to share the outdoors with. Camping with two tiny kids and two tall adults in a tent, on the ground, surrounded by mosquitos, under the Alaska midnight sun was not going to work for us. Sorry tent camping and backpacking purists, we’re a young family with many needs. We are the first to admit — we are sell outs.

Our camper has a two stove burner, two full size beds, and a sweet dinette that folds down into a twin sized bed. Although our coleman has a sink, we did not camp with full water and electric hook ups, and we didn’t rely on battery power. This was our maiden voyage and we needed it to be as primitive as possible for our own adjustment from tent camping to glamping.

Having a place to hang out, away from the mosquitos, while still catching a summer cross breeze was glorious. Our kids were able to bounce around like normal, the dog had a spot on the floor to nap, and I had kitchen space to whip up some hot chow. Vegan chow, no less.

And blackout curtains! Wonderful, gracious, functional blackout curtains! We don’t even have those up at home yet.

Our site was in the Chena Lakes Recreation area just outside of North Pole, close enough to home for us to bail in the event of some crisis, and close enough to town for us to run and buy more diapers, or whatevers that we may have forgotten.

I’m not one to toot my own horn, but TOOT! I did an excellent job packing up for the camping trip, bringing along all the necessities, and even some creature comforts.

Pop Up Camping - Alaska | Yea Yea Pueblo

Isaac is already brainstorming on how to rig some golf batteries to a solar panel to create super efficient energy for our camper. I need a water holding tank so I can stop going outside to wash dishes. And the kids need a few more blankets to keep cozy when the nights plunge into the high 30s like they did this weekend. We were warm enough, but not as comfortable as we could have been. Electric blankets might be in our future, if Isaac can somehow harness the power of the sun. I still can’t believe electric blankets are even an option for camping. Is it still camping? I’m having some doubts on the legitimacy of glamping, but I just remembered I don’t care.

We spent our days exploring the Chena Lakes area. Towering birch forests enveloped us on our nature walks, and the views from a 40 foot retaining wall were humbling. Snow capped hills rolled on to infinity to the North, and to the south, the Alaska range jutted into the sky, faded in appearance by the miles of atmosphere in between.

Our wildlife sightings were limited, fortunately. While we do carry bear mace on our outings, I have no idea how to use it, so we would likely be in a world of trouble if we came upon a sow and her cubs. On our first night out, there was scratching under my bed, and a low rustle in the brush nearby. A raccoon? A fox? We speculated on what it could have been, but never landed on any conclusions about our mystery visitor.

Camping is great. It’s a free pass to not clean, and to be disorganized. But despite my best efforts, I still tried to reign in the chaos, stuffing gear into our storage boxes, delegating chores to Isaac and even snapping at the dog to eat up food bits that fell to the ground. There were still diapers to be changed, mess kits to be cleaned, and trash to be taken out. Par for the course.

I do believe our Coleman Pop Up Camper will see much use this summer. Alaska’s brutal winter is in the rear view mirror, and the midnight sun is hovering on the horizon (all night long).

Wild Alaskan Blueberries

August 4, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

Wild Blueberry - Fairbanks, Alaska Wild Blueberry Picking - Fairbanks, Alaska Wild Blueberries Alaska When we lived in Washington, the blackberries were plentiful. I mean they were everywhere. They were considered a nuisance for property owners and like the piled up tumbleweeds of the southwest, they were the hallmark of a neglected parcel of land. On road sides and on empty lots, we wrangled our way through the thorny brush to pluck the seedy wild berries so Isaac could snack on them, and I could can them. We even had them in ice cream.

Alaska has its own wild berry abundance, we’ve discovered. My good friend Jena found a great spot about 30 minutes outside of Fairbanks where she and her family have collected about 6 gallons of blueberries to date. Jena is a self-proclaimed berry-picking addict. After she and her family have their fill of blueberry crumbles, she plans to freeze her bounty for smoothies and treats throughout the year.

095A8133 We didn’t collect nearly as many blueberries as the Smiths, probably because I had a difficult time navigating the boggy terrain with a larger than normal body, leaky rain boots, or some other pregnancy-related excuse.

Margot was content to ride in her backcountry carrier, but preferred to hang out in the boggy terrain with her main squeeze Gavyn. They’re the most sickeningly adorable toddler duo in town, Jena and I are convinced. They sat and munched on berries while the adults harvested. And we were all diligent in scanning the landscape for the grizzly who allegedly lives in the valley on the other side of the hill. No sightings, fortunately.

095A8144 Wild Blueberry Picking - Fairbanks, Alaska The land we were on had endured wildfires some time ago, leaving the dry, spindly trees to slowly rot. Some had already begun their slow descent to the lush ground cover below.

Recent rainfall had pooled in the lower lying areas, making the entire area an ankle-deep pond, with the exception of a few dry, grassy knolls. Mosquitos were of course everywhere, biting any flesh exposed to the open air. My hands have already swollen enough to exclude me from wearing my wedding ring. Swelling is the only way my body handles mosquito bites these days.

Poor Margot has two bites just below her left eye that have her looking like she was in a boxing match, with a few red rash-like bites around her neckline. She hasn’t had any issues with bites this summer so far, but Fairbanks seems to have a cloud of mosquitos over it at all times; we’re all sitting ducks when we head outdoors and it’s inevitable that the mosquitos will bite.

I’ll likely cook my blueberry bounty into a syrup and can the surplus so we can have blueberry syrup swirled into ice cream, onto pancakes, or baked into bread as a sweet reminder of the summer bounty.

After the Summer Solstice

July 22, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

This poor blog has been at the bottom of my list of priorities lately. We haven’t traveled much in the last couple of months, and recipe development has been on the back burner. I’ve been relying on sandwiches, seasonal berries, crock pot meals, and greek yogurt to sustain my family — and on particularly busy days I feel like I’m throwing crumbs to the birds, shouting ‘fend for yourselves!’ as I head out the door for Book Club or an evening photo session.

Summer is winding down, I can tell because the further we stray from the Summer Solstice, the less daylight we have each day.

Sally the Beagle Even with the long daylight hours, summer in Fairbanks has been very wet this year. Although I have no previous experience in Alaska to compare it to, I can say that it’s similar to springtime in Washington. We’ve had a handful of warm sunny days, usually when it counts, like during the Summer Solstice festival.

But overall, it’s been a very wet summer. The wettest in 100 years, I’m told. And overcast. Today we’re under cloud cover once again. The temps linger in the sixties and low seventies, exactly where they need to be for a comfortable summer in maternity clothes. I can’t imagine wearing full panel skirts and shorts when temps top 100, or attempting to buy a swimsuit while 7 months pregnant. I’m definitely thankful for the cool, brisk summer we’ve had so far.

Rainy day play dates and gatherings at the local community centers have been the norm.

Work has been steady over at Yea Yea Photography. But Margot, my assistant, only likes to help when I’m working with packaging materials, or editing photos of babies. More often than not, she insists on sitting on my lap and yelling ‘ga!‘ at the computer monitor when I cull images. Her clumsy little fingers smack against the keyboard in an attempt to help me type; it’s a much less endearing effort when she accidentally closes a window, or somehow hits ‘undo’ on my work.

Juggling childcare, work and service is a challenge. This year I’ve taken on a board position at the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC), a military spouse ministry I’ve been involved in since moving here to Fairbanks. I’m the Historian this year, meaning I walk around our events with my camera around my neck (as usual), taking photos of everyone having a good time. It’s a great way to serve in accordance to my skill set. You can see my photos on their Facebook page.

I’ve also been meeting up with other photographers in town. I’m proud to have the talented Sarah Lewis in my collection of friends up here, and excited that she’ll be doing our Fresh-48 photo session when Woody arrives. She recently gifted me a jar of SCOBYs, and a vintage yogurt maker, both of which will get plenty of use.

It’s nice to talk shop with Sarah, and a few of the other photographers in town, whose experience and knowledge far outrank mine.

This weekend should be the busiest in awhile. My friends are throwing me a baby shower Saturday morning, then I’m shooting a wedding (my first!) that same evening. After a busy period of culling and editing in the days following, I’ll be wrapping up some orders, then taking it easy on a brief Maternity leave.

Woody will be here in about six weeks. As his due date draws nearer, my confidence wavers. I’m terribly nervous about multiplying my parenting responsibilities and meeting everyone’s needs. The lack of sleep is also a daunting prospect. I expect difficulties in keeping up with Margot who is more and more active, yet needy, all the time. Right now she’s in the throes of a ‘don’t-put-me-down’ phase, it’s kills my back when I carry her without with the ERGObaby Original Baby Carrier, which has proven itself essential more times than I can count.

Regardless of the workload, or the changes in responsibility, we’ve got a good thing going. Our family dynamic changes a little bit, everyday here in Alaska — a lot like the waning midnight Sun.