May started with a canoe trip down the Clearwater River and taking out at the Clearwater Lake. With a few friends, we left a very cloudy, rainy Fairbanks and were delighted to find brighter weather on the river. It was a nice, relaxing day.
We stopped for lunch at an old cabin near the confluence of the Clearwater and Tanana Rivers.
The cabin has been named an archeological site, and although it is privately owned, the owners allow people to explore as long as they don’t abuse the site. It even has an outhouse!
The only rough part of the trip is paddling upstream when you turn off to go up to the lake. Whew! We started sweating and had to shed layers of clothing just to keep from overheating while we aggressively paddled.
The rest of the month was filled with birthdays and weddings as well as planter boxes!! Thea turned two…
Sue gained another year…
Steve and Lauren tied the knot…
Pam and Ricky got married as well, but I forgot my camera. Major bummer because they got married on a rock so high in altitude that we were literally in the clouds!
My free time was spent planning and fabricating planter boxes for the porch. In Fairbanks it isn’t advised to plant anything before June 1, so I spent many a weekend thinking about plants and fabricating boxes. I’m kind of proud of how they turned out.
June was another month of fun with lots of camping! The highlight was Chickenstock, which is a music festival in Chicken, Alaska. Natalie and I jumped in the car at lunchtime on Friday and headed east to Chicken. Neither of us had been to Chickenstock before, but who couldn’t have fun in a town named Chicken? It didn’t disappoint. We joined some friends and camped out at the Chicken Gold Camp where the festival was held.
The stage is setup on the back of two old trucks…
…which at times held quite a few band members.
Everyone in town really got in to the spirit, and when the chickens came out, everyone did the chicken dance.
It rained off and on all wekend, sometimes harder than others. At one point, Natalie decided it was definitely time to wear a tarp to stay warm and dry.
It was a great facility full of fun, friendly people.
If you're wondering what kind of dancing skills you have to have to hang at Chickenstock, I'll let the video below speak for itself...
And to top it all off, I have another new nephew, Hudson. Can't wait to meet you, little guy!
