Summer Review - Part I

Part I - June and July

Well, it's been 4 months since our last entry. So much for regular monthly updates. We did have a great summer and fall, so thought we'd post some pictures. I'll have to do this in parts, though, so we'll start with Part I - June and July.

The summer began with my birthday. I turned 39 and honestly am starting to get a little freaked out by the idea of being 40. I always imagined myself growing old with grace. I thought wrinkles would be cool. Not so much anymore. Anyway, no reason to act older just because I am older. Here's a lovely picture from my birthday celebration. I'm in the pink hat having a great time in my green satin poodle skirt. That's a pink pom-pom in my left hand. Hat and pom-poms were gifts from my girlfriends. Thanks, Ladies!

Papa Smurf and the Smurfettes

In July we went to the Dawson City Music Festival in Canada. This was our 2nd year going to the festival, which we really enjoy. It's a great mix of Canadian music. Our favorites this year were The Acorns, Luke Doucet (CD okay, awesome live), and Melissa McClelland.

Dawson City

Dawson City was established after gold was struck in Bonanza Creek (formerly Rabbit Creek) in 1896. This gold strike was the beginning of the Klondike Gold Rush. I am probably fond of the town because it reminds me of Colorado's mining towns, though Dawson City is not as old.

There were a couple of venues during the day, and then this year one bar, The Pit, had a band in the evening. The Pit is a "historic" building with much character. The band, Sasquatch Prom Date, played and they literally rocked the house. The floor was moving. Here's a picture of the Fairbanks contingent in a corner of The Pit.

Dawson is also known for "the toe." Dan O'Neill talks about it in his book, A Land Gone Lonesome, if you are interested in a history of the toe(s). It's real. The idea is to drink a shot with the toe in it. One thing about being older, I have finally, and I say finally, learned to not succumb to peer pressure. It was hard, but I did not partake in drinking a shot with the toe.

"Drink if fast or drink is slow, but the lips have got to touch the toe!"
Jeremy, however, showed no reservations about drinking a shot with a toe in it. To prove it we have a picture of Jeremy with the toe and . . .

a picture of the toe itself.

The good news is he got a certificate for this and a card to carry in his wallet verifying that he is a member of the Sourdough Cocktail Club. Jeremy wanted me to make the link available for those of you interested, www.sourtoecocktailclub.com.

It takes about 8 hours to get to Dawson City if the weather is good. To get there you take the Taylor and Top of the World Highways (the word "highway" is used loosely) and you do feel like you're on top of the world. In this picture you can see the purple from the Fireweed which comes up after forest fires. The road is closed in the winter. It was a beautiful trip home.


The weekend after Dawson we participated in the Gold Discovery Run. Jeremy actually ran the 16 miles, but I walked/ran it with my friends Melissa and Carrie. Jeremy placed third in his age group. I could barely walk the following two days. Next year I may consider preparing for it.

Jeremy enjoying a frosty beer at the Silver Gulch Brewery which is where it ends.


Our next summer adventure was the Anderson Bluegrass Festival. We have been every year since we've been in Alaska, so this was our 5th trip. Anderson is a very small town about 50 miles south of Fairbanks. It's a small festival relative to Dawson and Telluride, but very enjoyable.

This is the area where we camp and the music is not far away. It was a beautiful weekend, which was very unusual. Normally it rains.

This year there was a bucking salmon which was highly entertaining. Here Jeremy is about to be bucked off; at least I think that was what was occurring.

Here's a picture of Melissa, Kelly, Sally and I later in the evening enjoying the dance band.

Well that's it for Part I. Reviewing the pictures it kind of looks like we did a lot of drinking in June and July, but there were other moments. We did some running this year, grew a garden, and Jeremy hunted, but that will have to wait until the next update.