Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
This last week was a blast. I wound up borrowing a bass from the church that i'm attending, which allows me not only to play on sundays, but on the wednesday night meetings as well. I hadn't so much as touched a bass since I last played in praise band last August. It all came back rather naturally, and while I've never been incredibly good, what skill I did have came back very quickly. On a related note, the Wednesday night meetings have been a real success. This last week, around 30 people not with campus crusade came, up from ten the week before. I really think God is going to use that ministry to rock Juneau.
We had another camping trip and it was much more successful than the first. We not only got a fire started, we got two started (intentionally, no forest fires here.) We went to cook bacon the next morning only to realize that no one had packed the fire pan. While some elected to cook their share of the bacon when we got back, most of the group wanted to cook at least some of it. If you ever get a chance to cook bacon over an open flame, preferably with a stick, I would highly recommend it.
We had another camping trip and it was much more successful than the first. We not only got a fire started, we got two started (intentionally, no forest fires here.) We went to cook bacon the next morning only to realize that no one had packed the fire pan. While some elected to cook their share of the bacon when we got back, most of the group wanted to cook at least some of it. If you ever get a chance to cook bacon over an open flame, preferably with a stick, I would highly recommend it.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Camping
Last night, we went for a camping trip with our action groups. We went to a trail called Herman (I think it was Herman anyway) that led us to a glacier. It was just over four miles in and we got there without incident. We decided to camp out in a field of sand, near a river. This was a pretty big mistake in retrospect. It had rained earlier, so the wood in the area was already wet. Our camping spot would have been just as good a location to make a fire as the shelter of the nearby woods had it not started pouring not long after camp got started. It turns out wet sand and fire are not friends, and not having dry wood does not help.
Now, on the trip was a man named Brad Jennings. Brad is from Oklahoma, and he grew up on a ranch. The three summers before this, he has been fighting forest fires all over the country for a living. Brad has never failed to make us a fire, and its always been a big one.
Last night, however, was a whole different story. We tried everything on that fire. We had a hatchet, and used it to pull dry wood shavings form the core of some dead wood. Robert had a notebook with him, and we used the pages from it in a desperate attempt to create fire. We used some Old Man's Beard from the woods (usually a good fire starter) and eventually made a flamethrower using a Bic lighter and a can of bug spray. It was of no use, however. We went to our tents and put on some dry clothes. We packed up and headed back out.
Four miles hiking and twenty minutes driving later, we were back at UAS. Now, before we left, for food, we had been planning on making hobo pies. To make a hobo pie, you stick some meat (in our case, hamburger) some veggies (carrots, onion, green pepper, and celery for us) and some potatoes in some tin foil and roast it in the fire until you're reasonably sure the meat is cooked. We still had all the ingredients back in our kitchens, so we browned the hamburger, cut up everything else, put salt pepper, and another spice mix (can't remember the name) on the mixture, and threw it in the oven. It was delicious. If you're ever tired and soaked, I highly recommend it.
Well, as any Hitchhiker fan will be quick to point out, I did indeed forget to bring my towel. Never venture into the woods without one.
Now, on the trip was a man named Brad Jennings. Brad is from Oklahoma, and he grew up on a ranch. The three summers before this, he has been fighting forest fires all over the country for a living. Brad has never failed to make us a fire, and its always been a big one.
Last night, however, was a whole different story. We tried everything on that fire. We had a hatchet, and used it to pull dry wood shavings form the core of some dead wood. Robert had a notebook with him, and we used the pages from it in a desperate attempt to create fire. We used some Old Man's Beard from the woods (usually a good fire starter) and eventually made a flamethrower using a Bic lighter and a can of bug spray. It was of no use, however. We went to our tents and put on some dry clothes. We packed up and headed back out.
Four miles hiking and twenty minutes driving later, we were back at UAS. Now, before we left, for food, we had been planning on making hobo pies. To make a hobo pie, you stick some meat (in our case, hamburger) some veggies (carrots, onion, green pepper, and celery for us) and some potatoes in some tin foil and roast it in the fire until you're reasonably sure the meat is cooked. We still had all the ingredients back in our kitchens, so we browned the hamburger, cut up everything else, put salt pepper, and another spice mix (can't remember the name) on the mixture, and threw it in the oven. It was delicious. If you're ever tired and soaked, I highly recommend it.
Well, as any Hitchhiker fan will be quick to point out, I did indeed forget to bring my towel. Never venture into the woods without one.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Finally here! Five days and four nights of travel, and I've made it to Alaska. We arrived on schedule with only one hiccup. One car in the caravan (I affectionately nicknamed it the "low rider" because the magnitude of cargo on it was definitely causing it to sag significantly) broke down in Loydminster, Alberta. It chose to do so on a Saturday night, leaving us no timely option for repair. Things did work out, however. After things were reorganized, there was enough space in the other cars for the people in this car and their luggage. It was going to cost $2 a day to store the car at the mechanic's shop for the summer (which was already a break, the original cost was $20 a day) when a local was found to take care of the car. He asked nothing for storing the car, and only required that the owner pay for the repairs before he picked up his car in August. Needless to say, we were thrilled, it being only two and a half hours after the breakdown, and we had both the cheapest and most convenient solution at hand (praise God!)
The Al-Can Highway was gorgeous. It was similar to the Colorado Rocky Mtns, but with much less civilization in the middle (often around 100 miles between gas stations.) The road was in better condition than I thought. While it was last paved a long time ago, it wasn't very rough at all. It was a simple drive from Dawson's Creek (the town at the Alaskan Highway zero mile marker) to Skagway. The night in Skagway made me feel like a bum. There were no parks to camp in, so we slept on the sidewalk outside the port. The next morning, we took the ferry, and six hours later, I was in Juneau.
The Al-Can Highway was gorgeous. It was similar to the Colorado Rocky Mtns, but with much less civilization in the middle (often around 100 miles between gas stations.) The road was in better condition than I thought. While it was last paved a long time ago, it wasn't very rough at all. It was a simple drive from Dawson's Creek (the town at the Alaskan Highway zero mile marker) to Skagway. The night in Skagway made me feel like a bum. There were no parks to camp in, so we slept on the sidewalk outside the port. The next morning, we took the ferry, and six hours later, I was in Juneau.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
