Cabin Camping 301
Dan Moeller Cabin is located 1600 feet above sea level, in a high valley surrounded by mountain peaks on Douglas Island. This is not your freshman level cabin hike, but it was the only cabin that had weekend availability when we checked the reservation system several weeks ago. The hike is gradual and steady – up, up, up. And Garrett hiked it all, only holding our hands every once in awhile to help as needed. We had rock and dirt trail, planks through muskeg meadows, and snow! We hiked through pouring rain, past raging waterfalls and over snow melt streams. And we had a lot of fun! On the hike home, under blue skies with the mountain peaks around us, Garrett said, "I think I’m a pretty good hiker, Mom." Pretty good? That was an understatement!
To view a map of the hike see the hike from GoogleMaps and the custom map that Dave made so as to identify trail repairs for Trail Mix of Juneau.
Come visit our journal again soon, as we’ll post more pictures. Right now, we’re too tired and looking forward to sleeping in a soft bed!
Takin’ a Swing
We’ve discovered a great rope swing only a short walk from the house. We’ve been in hiking training for our cabin trip coming up and have used the trail near this swing as training grounds for our young hiker. Now it’s more about the swing and less about the trail. For photos check our Outdoor Photo Gallery and the short YouTube video below .
Memorial Day Week
Sun is a common thing in Southeast Alaska in late spring and early summer. But 11 straight days is unusual, and we have been living in the land of the unusual since the Thursday before Memorial Day. And loving it! Hiking, biking, gardening, BBQing and kayaking have filled our days. Work, cleaning, doing laundry and dishes – not so much. Today, June 1st, we finally got some sprinkles and managed to drag ourselves inside to update our online journal. To view photos from the last week and a half, visit our home Photo Gallery .
Who let the dogs out?
Another project completed! Under mostly sunny skies, Dave and Garrett put a deck down for the dog pen this past weekend. Garrett cleared the pen of spider webs, helped secure the boards and tested the new pen out by pretending to be one of the dogs. It has the Garrett stamp of approval! The pen stands at the edge of the forest, near a game trail where we’ve seen deer appear. The sun shines on this elevated spot in the late afternoons/early evenings, when the sun shines. They now officially have a nicer deck than we do!
For more photos of the project view our gallery .
Mud Days
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The excavation has begun! In the course of three days, we now have ten times the backyard we used to. And 100 times the mud. We assumed that starting this yard project while the ground was still hard would minimize the mess. Boy were we wrong. We caught a lucky break, though. Our weather has been clear – freezing at night and cool and sunny during the day. I can’t imagine trying to do this in the rain.
Dave’s been helping our friend George with the project, and each evening Garrett gets to help clean up and park the equipment. Then, he and Dave strip down in the garage, leaving as much mud as possible outside the house.
It’s exciting to think about what the finished project might look like, now that the piles of dirt are taking shape. This could stretch into a two or three year project though, so stay tuned!
Danger: New Swimmer
Dah dum. Dah dum. DahdumDahdumDahdum. He’s loose in the water! And after 8 swim lessons, he can swim, on his own, without help. This was not an expected outcome of Pre School Level 1 lessons, so you can imagine his teachers’ surprise and our pride. His graduation certificate even has a special note from his teachers complimenting him on his crawl stroke! We learned that he’s very motivated to please and very tuned in to his teachers. This bodes well for his transition to a preschool like environment in a couple of weeks and maybe even soccer camp next summer. Garrett will continue swim lessons in October, and we’re excited to practice with him between now and then.
View our Image Gallery with photos taken during the 4 weeks of lessons along with video of Garrett swimming on his own posted on YouTube.
Big Sky Vacation
Montana 2007…a great trip! Garrett loved hanging out with Grandma and Papa. Every day had a highlight. Some of Garrett’s favorites include playing with the remote control John Deere tractor Papa bought him, riding a steam engine train in historic Virginia City with Grandma, floating the Beaverhead river with Mom and Dad and catching his first fish! I think he probably liked the waterpark a bit too. Highlights for Dave and I included watching Garrett enjoy the adventures of each day. The day we went to Missoula we had perma-grin…it was so much fun to experience the day (the carousal, playground and waterpark) through Garrett’s eyes. I will miss looking out the window to see Garrett strolling through the farmyard, hand in hand with Grandma. I won’t forget watching him give Papa bear hugs at the end of each day, as he headed to bed exhausted and happy. To see the highlights in photos, visit the photo gallery.
Happy Easter
Happy Easter! Spring has sprung in Juneau, and we’ve been enjoying a mixture of rain and sun and slowly warming temperatures. Today we celebrated with our friends, as usual. Brunch and an egg hunt, although the egg hunt was inside this year. There’s still four feet of snow on the ground! We also celebrated Sam’s first birthday. Sam is the youngest of Kris and Vin’s four boys. Garrett enjoyed coloring eggs for the first time this year, and received special gifts from Grandma and Papa and Grandma June as well as from the Easter Bunny too!
Weekend of Fun, Sun and Snow
It’s rare that we post an unhappy picture of Garrett, but this one is too funny to pass up. He had a bit of a crash while sledding today with his buddy Connor. You’ll be happy to know that once we brushed off the snow and gave him a big hug, we was back up at the top of the hill, having a good time.
We’ve had 3-4 inches of snow almost every day this week, and cold temperatures. Add two days of blue skies this weekend and Juneau was a beautiful winter wonderland. If this was December we’d be thrilled, but late February? We’re ready for hints of spring. We didn’t let the weather stop us. Click here for some additional pictures of our weekend outdoor adventures.
Happy Boy
It’s true! Our little boy is three. Garrett was excited to learn this morning that his friends were coming over to be with him for his birthday. He greeted each person with a smile and a question, “Do you have presents for me?” Oh, to be three! Each gift brought squeals of delight. We played with balloons and danced, had lunch and enjoyed cake and ice cream. For photos of the party view the birthday photos. Garrett’s been to enough birthday parties to know that you have to be quick on the draw to be able to blow out your own birthday candles, and after eyeing up the other kids around the cake, he blew his number 3 candle out before we finished singing. View this from the posted video on YouTube
We will spend his actual birthday playing with all his new toys and maybe going out to lunch. Thanks to all of our friends and family who made this birthday so special!