The Cabin Fever Lives On

When Chris and I originally switched to five days of work a week instead of six back in June we agreed with management that it would be temporary so we could have extra time to adventure, and then would switch back to six days a week in October. However, all of management went to a conference in Hawaii for a week so they forgot to confirm this with the woman who had been working Wednesdays for us. We were planning on working Wednesday up until Tuesday night when we learned we would have the day off! Of course we didn't complain too much (yah you caught us, we didn't complain at all) and jumped on the opportunity to explore more of this beautiful land we are blessed to live in.

We had so much fun on our cabin outing last week that we decided we wanted to spend the night in yet another forest service cabin. This time we hiked out to Peterson Lake Cabin. The trail was pretty easy in comparison to what we're used to, so we had a lot of fun just hiking and laughing together. 

Boardwalk follows the old horse-tram track through the muskeg to the Peterson mill.

All the beautiful boardwalk trails in Juneau are aesthetically appealing, and seem like a blessing when you don't have to walk on the muskeg (that's the formal name for the bog-like meadows of water, decomposing vegetation, and moss--but I call it Sponge Ground. Every time you step you sink and your shoe fills with water!). However, when it rains these boardwalks are SLICK! Chris and I have both taken quite a few spills on our many hikes, the difference between us is when he slips I always ask if he's ok and offer him a hand up, and when I slip he laughs and makes sure to document it for all of you...

...Yah, that was a faceplant.

Anyways, the last half mile of the trail follows the edge of a pristine lake and we quickly got goosebumps of excitement as we knew we were nearing our destination. When we arrived at our cabin we were blown away with the stillness and peace of this perfect destination. 

We tossed our packs aside and headed straight to the dock where there was a metal rowboat we could play in. I was so happy to be rowing a boat again I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Chris was likewise affected by the exuberance of holding oars and feeling the pull of the water against them. We've missed the river SO MUCH - SOOOOO MUCH! Though we weren't spoiled with rapids and it wasn't a raft, we still loved the opportunity to row around the beautiful lake together. And let's be honest, we were on a secluded lake in one of the prettiest places on earth alone, it was super romantic. 

To top off our perfect evening, after we had dinner we noticed the northern lights were once again out. How I wish you could all see them! The Auroras dancing across the sky are the most awe-inspiring thing either of us have ever seen. Unfortunately we still don't have a picture for you at this time, so you'll just have to settle for a picture of Chris making a fire in the wood burning stove in our cabin. (P.S. there were no critters or zombies in this cabin - it really was a perfect night!)

On Saturday we biked to the church building to help clean it. It's our ward's month to keep it clean, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have to serve. As we were cleaning a bathroom a sister from the ward popped her head in to tell us we sounded like we were having way too much fun spending our Saturday morning cleaning - I guess life is just as fun as you make it!

This week I also got an offer for a part time job, which I accepted. I will be working in an office downtown a few days a week while Chris is doing his schoolwork. This job came out of the blue, and happened really fast (I'm starting Monday!), but we both feel as if it's been an answer to prayers.

Well it's a long letter this week, props if you made it all the way to the end! Love you all!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Mendenhall Glacier Kayaking

Our friends, the Wellings, were kind enough to once again let us borrow their kayak on our day off this week. It was a shorter day on the water than the day we went sea kayaking, because we paddled the Mendenhall Lake up to the glacier--and the water was freezing! However, the frozen fingers were worth the views as we were able to get close to the face of the glacier as well as it's many icebergs. Paddling around here is a new experience for us--our inner riverguides are used to being able to set our paddles down and still float downstream on the river. Sadly, that's not how it works on a lake. But the good news is paddling on still water builds character and muscle all while letting you take in views you couldn't see any other way! The deep blue and white shades of the glacier and icebergs are stunning against the gray silty water and the low rain clouds. The trees on the banks of the lake are exploding into fiery reds and yellows indicating that fall is already upon us.

An iceberg window

Other than that it was a pretty slow week filled with lots of work (both of us), schoolwork (Chris), and playing in the kitchen (me). We've felt the need to temporarily eliminate sugar from our diet (for REAL this time - ending with a permanent and significant decrease of sugar intake for the future), and eat more whole foods as opposed to processed foods that are so conveniently sold in a price range that targets broke college kids like us. It's hard to believe how much sugar is in so many things until you read the ingredients on the labels (for clarification, we know there is natural sugars in fruit, and we are still eating fruit). As part of the change we've had to become creative with our food, because heck, it's not a doughnut so we need more than some gross kiefer to keep us satisfied!

Remember to pray and remember to play (and eat),

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

The Best Part of this Post is the Announcement at the End

I don't have much of an intro this week, so let's just jump into the good stuff....

After work one night (remember we get off at 10pm) we decided it would be fun to do a spontaneous backpacking trip. We asked our friend Ben, a Juneau local, a good place to go and he told us Windfall Lake. This was about a 4.2 mile hike one way, not bad, so we decided to do it. Here are the highlights and the not so highlights of that adventure:

We saw a porcupine climb up a tree! Yah, who knew that porcupines are huge and climb trees?!

We never found a flat place to put up our tent, so at 2:30 in the morning after hiking a little over 5 miles - taking every possible branch in the trail and bushwhacking off the trail hoping to see that "just around the corner" perfect camp spot - we finally admitted defeat and settled for a less than desirable tent location on uneven, hard, bug covered ground. I wouldn't say we cursed Ben's name, but we sure had a lot of "what was he thinking telling us to come here?" moments.

All was forgiven in the morning when we saw the lake in the light. Wow! It was gorgeous, and we had a great morning playing on it. The forest service had canoes for public use, and we spent some time paddling out on the water (it felt SO GOOD TO BE ON THE WATER!). There was also a really nice forest service cabin that you can rent out for $30 a night. The family that stayed there through the night left early in the morning so we had the whole place to ourselves. We definitely want to come back to this lake, as we wanted to spend the whole day there but had to turn back to get to work by 2.

Also this week we did the West Glacier trail - hands down our favorite trail we've done so far. This 7 mile round trip trail takes you up to the Mendenhall Glacier, and from there you can take your time exploring all around this enormous, beautiful piece of ice. There were ice caves, and glacier arches, and waterfalls, and just about everything you could imagine in an Alaskan dream.

Best tasting water you'll ever have.

The weather has been surprisingly warm the last couple of weeks so we decided to go for a swim on Saturday before work. We went out to Auke Lake and played around. Chris had fun using the rope swing, and I started to hate mosquitoes even more than normal as I realized my wet body seemed to be their favorite thing in the forest. Cool fact: Auke Lake looks black because of the tannin from the spruce trees - these are the same chemical compounds found in coffee, tea, and wine. But don't worry, we kept our mouths closed so we're still good on the Word of Wisdom.

On Sunday we taught Primary for the first time. We found out that we were actually just going to be subbing for the Valiant 10 class for 2 weeks and then were going to be permanent teachers of the Valiant 9 class. The teacher of Valiant 10 has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and the primary presidency assumed she would want to be released. She has asked to stay in her calling, so we will sub for her while she is in treatment, and then will take over the other class once she comes back.

Sunday evening we were invited to dinner with another young couple from the ward - Brooke and Garrison. They have the sweetest 14 month year old daughter, and it was so great getting to know all of them better. Brooke cooked halibut to make it a true Alaskan affair. They moved to Juneau the same week we did, so like us, they are new to the area and trying to make friends. After dinner we took a walk by the ocean where we ran into the bishop's family! It was a lot of fun and we look forward to doing more together.

Here's the best part of this post, which is this announcement at the end.........

Next spring, from April to August 2016,

we are going to thru-hike all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail! 

Now, for anyone thinking that sounds a little crazy, or a tad bit dumb we want to redirect your questions and concerns to Aunt Susan. After much badgering, uncontrollable pressure, and refusal to take no for an answer, she has forced us into making this decision. Don't believe us? Here's the picture proof:

Our planning is well under the way and you will continue to receive updates as we prepare for this epic adventure. You will also notice changes to our blog as we give it a makeover to include a new page specific to the PCT.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. We-Make-Crazy-Decisions-Together Andrew