alaska in august

i have the privilege of being married to an alaskan. well, technically she was born in montana, but she lived her life in the biggest state in the union. i'm from the biggest state "in the lower 48," as they say, so with this marriage we hold a heritage of BIG desires. i love going to alaska and visiting my family there. they are some of the most generous people i have ever known. liz's parents are truly like my very own. they know me and what i like and every time i visit they never disappoint to shower me with many blessings.

i try and go fishing every time i visit. they also have a hand full of thrift stores that i seem to find at least one or two t-shirts every time i go. this year we were able to take a camping trip into the remote town of  liz's upbringing. liz and i stayed in tents with finn while dutch and titus got to sleep with grammy and papa in the camper they own. we had such a blast hiking around and taking the 4-wheelers into the mountains. titus loves destruction so riding the polaris ranger plowing through fields and mowing down small trees brought a big grin to his face. i think finn is a little too young still to camp, judging by the inability to walk around and sleep soundly without mommy present.

in addition to the blessings this family gives, they have a large family with kids around titus and dutch's age. this proved to be such a treat for dutch who actually has never had a sleep over at someone's house but showed us it is possible as he slept twice at his cousins house. we ventured into the alaska state fair and enjoyed the fair-like atmosphere from a culture not to far removed from my own, being a texas boy and all.

liz has two brothers and one sister who are always ready to fill in the gap of time lost with us. every time we go they pick right back up where we left it as though we live there. liz's mom never ceases to ask me what i want to eat while i am there. i know i can get the best salmon, crab, and some other wonderful gamey meat for meals.

although alaska is wonderful year around my favorite season is the summer time because of the long days and the lush green scenery. much like belgium, it stays cool and has that fresh rain smell.

we had a wonderful moment of hiking in a famous mountain pass called hatchers pass. because bears aren't up in the mountains for the winter yet there was much discussion about precautionary measures. this meant...i get to where a gun! even though i am a texas boy guns were never my thing. not that i am gun-rights enthusiast i still just never got into them. so when i am wearing a holster up against my chest i feel fierce and manly. thankfully i never needed to use.

i still haven't been able to cross off the list the two most desirable things to see, the northern lights and a bear...obviously from a distance.

if you ever get a chance to go to akaska for whatever reason...take it.

titus got some swords at the fair