Bickmeier News

Catch up Late entries

2011-11-20T22:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of Pictures from the past week.

Brian made it in from Haines Junction early Monday Morning. He didn't look too worse for wear.

Tonight I did get a picture of Philip, ready to go home, decked out for winter, sneaking a look at nana. I't's about -30 F tonight.

Glouster home of " The Perfect Storm"

2011-10-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Gloucester. Known for their rich commercial fishing heritage and the Boat featured in the Movie the perfect Storm. Above is the Memorial for Fishermen Lost at Sea. For us it was a perfect day. We visited Museum and got to see Lobsters, Crabs, star fish and other creatures. We had lunch that included fresh sea food and a lobster roll. Yum. I'd rename it the Perfect day.

Look ma no clouds! Walking along next to the sea wall.

A 19th century fishing boat hauling a load of tourists.

Beach combing with mommy on this perfect day.

Drumlin Farm

2011-10-10T05:31:00.001-07:00

We went to Drumlin farms yesterday. Here is Ada Painting a Pumpkin.

Ada also picked out Pumpkin. There were a lot of pumpkins to look through to find the perfect one.

Karl was patient .

Ada had it narrowed down to just a few.

After the perfect Pumpkin was located, odd looking squash were selected.

Then it was time for a hayride. Daddy held Karl. As you can see from Karl's red face it was a warm and sunny day.

Ada, Laura and Nana confer on the hay wagon.

This picture of a sleeping old guy reminds me of the homeless lady that we find at the Rust's house in Oregon when we visit. (the flash woke us up.) Cruel flash!

Ada Swims

2011-10-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

We went to Ada's swim lessons.

More fun with Ada & Karl

2011-10-07T17:00:00.001-07:00

Karl turns one. We enjoyed Karl's Birthday Party. Laura's Blog has great pictures of the party.

Here is the memory Quilt that Patsy made for Karls' 1st Birthday. If you click on the picture it will give you a larger picture and you can see some of the individual blocks.

Laura, Jeff, Ada, & Karl

Fun at Ada & Karl's

2011-10-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

October 6. Patsy turned 65! Jeff and Laura helped us celebrate; taking us to Patsy's favorite restaurant, Out Back. After we got home we ate Laura's Apple crisp with cranberries topped with Ice cream. Yummmm. Happy Birthday Patsy.

Tonight we made Beef Rouladen and Patsy made the noodles. Yumm...

Day 5: Stewart & Hyder To Prince George

2011-07-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Driving the 40 miles from Stewart back out to the Cassiar Hwy we saw the glacier again and a snow slide that was undercut by the stream. There were wild Daisey s along the road. We Saw a Bear simialr in size to the one we narrowly avoided the night before. (Missed it by a whisker!) We did hit a lot of bugs though. Near the end of the Cassiar is a Church with a bell tower. You can see the reflection of the mountain in the windows. If you look deeper inside you can see the cut glass windows in the back of the church. As with the posts before you can double click on the collage and make the picture bigger.

Day 4: Watson Lake to Stewart & Hyder "The Cassiar"

2011-07-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Today we started down the Cassiar highway. As we start down the highway at mile zero we are welcomed to British Columbia. the Cassiar is a good tar and chips road that is not quite as wide as the Alcan and with less shoulder. Still a good county road with intermittent pavement breaks and little or no shoulders. Within the first 20 miles we saw where a fire had been the year before. we first noticed that the fire had been so hot the ground was sterilized and no plants were coming back yet. Patsy pointed out that it also made some interesting patterns with the trees that had fallen and the shadows cast. At a rest stop down the road we saw a motor home with a 59 Metropolitan in tow. He ask us in for coffee but we had to move on so we got to Stewart at a reasonable time. The Glacier pictures are from the drive into Steward BC and Hyder Alaska. Twin cities that straddle the Canadian Alaska border. We passed through customs when we re-entered Canada. Before we turned onto the road to Steward a black bear came over a barricade and jumped in front of our car. I still don't know how we missed hitting it. God was watching over us. (double click on the picture to enlarge the collage for a better view.)

Day 3: Whitehorse to Watson Lake

2011-07-07T11:53:00.001-07:00

On the way to the Bighorn motel in Watson Lake we passed by 78 mile long Teslin Lake. We stopped at the Tlingit Indian Cultural Center and saw the Totems and a hand hewn boat
(in the shed.) I went down to the lake shore to look at another boat and saw it was made of fiberglass! We stopped for lunch a short time later and and saw the Kayak-er traveling close to shore. (It was windy that day) We finally pulled into Watson Lake and saw the "Sign Post Forest" There were a lot more signs than thirty years ago. (the last time we drove the highway.)

Day 2: Tok to Whitehorse

2011-07-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the first full day of our trip. We are spending the night in Whitehorse. The Lupines were at the spot we ate lunch. The Swans were in Canada along the road. The bridge was just off the Alcan and is a good representation of the kind of bridge you would see just after the road opened.
(double click on the pictures and they will enlarge.)

Day 1: We started the drive to Oregon on June 23rd.

2011-07-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

We Left on a Thursday afternoon and drove to Tok to spend the first night. (about 200 miles)
In the posts that follow I'll put most days in a collage. Double click on the picture and I will get bigger. If there are pictures of note I'll put them in individually.

Filling the space and Getting ready to go.

2011-06-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since we updated the Blog so here is a few things that we have done beside getting ready for the Road Trip coming up soon.

A couple years ago I recycled this potty chair from the local landfill. I thought at that time that it would make a good planter. So when we were looking for something to donate to the church garage sale I dug out the chair and Patsy donated a plant and voila!

???????

Heading home.

2011-05-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the Seattle Airport waiting for our ride back to Fairbanks. I thought I'd finish the pics from Hope and Brains house. We had a good visit with Hope and Brian and got to know Grandson Philip.Philip Asleep in his swing.

Some Question as to who is putting who to sleep!

This is for Jennifer. Blow this up about three times and you will see a full size picture of Brians new pet. And does he like flies... (The spider I mean)

Pomp and Circumstance

2011-05-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Brian and Hope after the Ceremony at Buena Vista University . Hope was in the ceremony as Faculty.

Brian Receiving his Degree in Management

3 Generations, 4 Bickmeier Men.
Brian, Philip, Don, & Gary.

We Made it to Fort Dodge (Home of Philip)

2011-05-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

First things first. Hold Philip, followed by cuddle Philip, then hold Philip some more!

Dad showing off his diaper skills.

Hanging with Philip.

"Its a Different Kind of Heat"

2011-05-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

We are currently in Phoenix and enjoying the weather. Yes it is dry. The first day we were here it was 101 but today, Monday it was under 100 and on Wednesday it is supposed to be in the upper 70s. Sitting under the entrance awning in the shade with a breeze is very relaxing. Right Patsy?

This is a picture of Dad and Betty as we return from lunch.
Do you think Dad looks 92?
(Below)

Two of the Bickmeier Boys

We Made it to Phoenix but.........

2011-05-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

We Made it to Phoenix without a hitch. But.........

Once in Phoenix things began to unwind.
We left Fairbanks last night at 1:20 am and got into Phoenix at 1:30 pm with about 3 hours of sleep. No bags lost, but when I was getting the rental car I found my drivers license had expired 10 days ago. Patsy had to rent the car and do the driving. Patsy was excited to say the least. (Not in a good way) We made it to the hotel without incident but although we made it by 3:30 they didn't have room ready for us. We got into our room by 4:30 and decided to eat in the Hotel Bistro. We went down stairs and found the Bistro and looked at the menu and decided to eat out. We didn't go back to the room for the GPS and had a few anxious moments finding the mall but we finally did and had supper. The food was great and we worked our way back to the hotel without getting lost. I hope the TRS will let me out of Pheonix!

Spring Picnic on the Tanana River

2011-04-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

A Beautiful day on the Tanana River. Joe is using the pole to check for thin spots in the ice.

Friends from Church have an annual picnic on the river when the weather turns good and the river Ice is still firm. They call this place the camp.

It was about 40 degrees but we still had a fire for cooking Hot Dogs and another for keeping the chili warm.

Patsy is enjoying lunch.

Well Stocked Picnic Table.

Warming two pots of chili. It was good.

Hot dogs Just the way you like 'em.

We had a great afternoon. Thanks Jackie and Cliff.

Yes we really were in Arlington for the Big Snow of 2010!

2011-01-05T13:40:00.001-08:00

lll

Pre Winter Trip

2010-10-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

I went to Shaw Creek with Joe and Dennis and we rode the Pipeline pad to the Salcha River. It was about +15 degrees this morning but above freezing by noon. We drove about 25 miles to the Salcha River.

Here we are on the banks of the Salcha River enjoying lunch.

Joe's trailer made loading and unloading easy. It was tight enough that we didn't have to tie them down; just set the brakes.

Top of the Trail 42 Mile Steese

2010-05-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday Patsy and I spent the day with Ed and Lois. We took the four-wheeler and had a picnic at the top of the trail. Later we had a cookout

Here are Ed, Lois, & Debbie the dog.

Here is Ed & Lois's front yard. In the background you can see dead trees from the forest fire in 2004. The haze is from a lightning fire at 90 mile Steese.

We saw quite a few flowers. Here are some lupines and a scraggly spruce.

After we got back to the house we grilled moose/caribou burgers at the picnic shelter.

Yummmm Green Slime! Bet you kids remember that.

First Fourwheeler Trip

2010-04-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a break-in ride on the fourwheeler. Here I am at the Tanana. It was a beautiful day and you can see that the the Ice is out at this point. We are enjoying a really mild breakup this year.

Brian will remember this place. There were a couple of men flying RC Planes.

I bought some ramps to load it into the truck. Its a real adrenalin rush going up and down the ramps. I can't see where the wheels are on the ramp!

Hopefully next time I go Patsy will go with me.

Late entry

2010-04-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks of our spring vacation we spent with Ada, Laura and Jeff. We had a great time in spite of a little record rain. We Celebrated Ada's second Birthday, went to Sturbridge
Village, and Deer Island Waste Water Plant.

You will note that Ada could sit still only so long. Here she is in the wiggle mode and about to leave Nana's lamp.

New England Quilt Museum

2010-03-25T12:44:00.001-07:00

The New England Quilt Museum's current display is Amish Quilts. Most are from the 30s and 40s. Most are machine pieced and hand quilted. It was amazing to me the ability of the seamstresses to sew by hand (Quilt) the intricate patters across the quilts and have them so precise in stitch size and pattern size. We couldn't take any pictures of the museum quilts.

We did take a couple pictures in the gift shop. The picture below is about five feet tall. Note that the right end of the quilt comes "out" of the wall hanging as it has not been pinned to the clothes line yet.

As you can see here Vana has turned up the corner to reveal the back of the wall hanging and there is a smaller version (the original size) of the wall hanging.

vvv

Culture Shock or Techno Shock????

2010-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

We visited the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell Mass. today. The Garmin took us to the door without a hitch as we have been accustomed. We searched for a parking space for a short time. When we parked, we noticed a post with a number on it where I would expect a parking meter. About half way down the block was a Kiosk (see picture below) that took quarters or Credit cards for the parking fee and returned a ticket, after about a two minute wait, telling you what time your parking expires. I told Patsy I been to two County fairs and a Goat milkin' and I ain't ever seen nothin like that.

Kiosk

Time shift to Sturbridge Mass.

2010-03-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday we visited Sturbridge Village Living History Museum with Jeff, Laura, and Ada. When we got there we found we were in a time shift back to the early 1800's in Massachusetts.

There were many interesting buildings including this church. They said that in that day the term Church referred to the body of believers and not the building that housed the service.

Here is a corn crib or granary. the stones supporting the building caught my attention. They were put up this way to keep the mice and squirrels out.

Ada saw sheep, oxen, cows, horses and chickens. There were quite a few Roosters and when they were in the sun, (which this one was not) they were especially pretty. (Hansom?)

Still On The Road but now in Boston

2010-03-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

We are now in Boston and helped celebrate Ada's second Birthday Saturday. Saturday was a perfect day for a party; Warm and sunny with good friends in attendance.
(Double click on the Collage and it should enlarge.)

Really good Chocolate Cupcakes.

Phone calls and good wishes from all over!

On the Road Again.........

2010-03-22T09:14:00.001-07:00

We are on the road once again. We spent a warm week in Phoenix with an enjoyable visit with dad and Betty. We then went to Oregon for a few days at Jennifer and Jason's. oh yes and the kids. See the Pyramid below. Always a fun time there.

As usual we played Sorry a few times. (Still lots of Fun) We also added Left, Right, Center to our repertoire of games. Caleb and Jason attended a LAN Party and Caleb won a weather Clock for the highest score for a one player game. He beat quite a few adults too. Jason won a motherboard for his fish tank computer build.

Do Fish eat Lasagna?

2010-02-23T20:04:00.001-08:00

I saw a recipe for lasagna in the Ruralite magazine and decided to try it. I have been wanting to build it in the brownie pan that the Jennifer and Jason gave me. It make brownies that are chewy around the edges and it is all edges! It does the same with the cheeses in Lasagna.

The Piranha thought it made chewy cheese and great Lasagna.
(Of course he can chew thru anything.)

I've been talking about getting a four wheeler for a long time. Wednesday we finally bought one. It has a second seat for a passenger so if we go for a ride to the "top of the world" down by PS 10, I'll have a place to set. It has a snow blade so if we ever get any snow I can move snow with it. (this year we have had just over 20" of snow.)

Is Anybody Out There?

2010-02-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

I procrastinated updating the blog long enough. We have been home for a month. You will find the most recent pictures of our trip are at the top and the early part of the trip is down farther.

Below: The Piranha puppet from the Rust kids rides home with us expecting many great adventures before he comes home in March. One Adventure was a ride on the green horizon plane above.

Below: Next Stop was at the Rust house and many games of Sorry and War. It was rainy and we didn't get out a lot but we had a great time.

We Spent time with Dad and Betty in Phoenix at the assisted living complex where they now live. We really enjoyed our time there.

Below: I call this picture two Classics. (The Ferguson and the Ford)The Midwest has gotten all the snow this winter and the Alaskan Interior (North Pole) has only about 20" to date and it amounts to about 10" on the ground. Here is Steve moving snow. While at Catherine and Steve's we got to see Hope and Brian when they stopped over on their way home from Christmas in Ohio. We got to spend time with Sharon and Chuck and Chrisy while in Central Illinois too.

We had a great Christmas day with the Baylors at Phils house. I don't have pictures but it was a great day. I think of Phil every time I use my ove-glove. Thanks Phil.

Been a while since I rode one of these

2009-11-22T15:37:00.001-08:00

It's been while since I had my snowmachine out. Hope I get to ride some this winter.
(Do I look a intense as Luke?)

Looking Forward to Thanksgiving

2009-11-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Chena Hot Springs to see their Geothermal power system and Greenhouse with the Operations Club at TVC. While I was gone, Patsy made egg noodles for Thanksgiving. We missed the picture of the noodles on the table amidst the flour but this is the assurance they are made! Now we have to remember to bring them to Oregon.

For those family and friends that won't be in Oregon with us have a "Happy Thanksgiving"

Happy Birthday Ed And Lois

2009-09-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

We went to Chatinika Lodge Saturday night to celebrate Lois and Ed's Birthdays.
Birthday number 83 and number ??

Why I didn't need a menu to order dinner.

Its Fall so it must be snow.

2009-09-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

Look what we woke up to this morning.

Labor Day Drive Ho hum

2009-09-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today we took out annual Labor day drive to McKinley. Here is the annual picture. We saw the Mountain several times on the way down.

Here is another picture of the fall colors.

We had lunch at the Grand Denali lodge. Good view from our table by the window.

Below is a shot along the road. Lot of yellow in the Alaska fall.

A step back in time.

2009-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

When Patsy and I got married in December of 1970 we lived on the back side of Birch Hill in a log wanigan joined to a 20 foot travel trailer. Here is a picture of our house taken from the road in front the first winter we were married. Our land lord Walt Weese is going to sell the land and he invited us out to look at it once again before it is sold and moved off the place or torn down.

As you can see the place has changed a lot over the years. You can't see the wanigan from the road today. Below is the front today.

Below is the back of the house. The travel trailer is still there but it is enclosed with framing. We first thought it was gone but when I looked at the windows, I could see the trailer was still there. They also enclosed the porch for an arctic entry. If you have seen some of the pictures we took from up there you may remember us talking about the tree that is always in the picture. The tree was over the bank and off the end of the porch. I don't think you could pick itout now.

When we lived here the picture below was the bedroom. The bed was a double bed that was along the wall where the heater is now. The head was against th shower wall and the foot was against the curved end wall. We had electric heat but the room was still cold. We used an electric blanket to keep warm but the covers still froze to the wall and the decorative nail heads that held the paneling in place would have frost on them.

Here we are almost forty years later.

A Visit from Catherine & Steve

2009-08-30T22:07:00.001-07:00

Catherine and Steve visited us the second and third weeks of August. They spent a week in town and then we took to the road for a trip down the Kenai Peninsula. Here Patsy, Catherine, and Steve pose before an unknown Glacier near the Portage Glacier Visitors Center. We had a great time and look forward to them coming back next year.

Near the end of August The Cranes, Geese, and Ducks congregate before the fall migration. We watched them in Creamers Field in Fairbanks.

Here is a picture from the top of Hatcher Pass close to Palmer Alaska on one end and Willow Alaska on the other end of the road. We went over the pass on our way home to North Pole. We are above tree line and just under the clouds that day. The Second Picture Patsy took of some fireweed near a hiking trail along the road.

Catherine and Steve exchange pleasantries with one of the Forest Service Fire Fighters at Portage Glacier.

We went to Whittier Alaska by way of a two mile long, one lane tunnel. We all agreed we didn't want an earthquake while we were in there. On the Whittier end of the tunnel we saw this gigantic tour boat.

Salmon and Smoke but not Smoked Salmon

2009-07-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I go Salmon Dipping later in the summer to avoid the crowds. We have had a warm summer this year so the glacial melt has kept the water levels at Chitna up. We got a bit of a break last week and the water level went down a little so more people than me decided it was time to go fishing. This picture was taken on Friday afternoon about 3:30. On the way home we say dozens of people on the road with their dip nets on the way here. I'll bet it was really crowed this weekend.

Say it isn't so!
We woke up about 6am and I was using my new Coleman stove to heat water for a breakfast of oatmeal. As I looked out at the camp ground at O'brien Creek I saw a coffee bar van. What happened to roughing it? Next thing you know the cell phones will work there.

It's been a warm dry summer and the bees, are everywhere. (we didn't see any last year) While I was cleaning fish, and they were everywhere. Not great help, but they didn't sting anyone. By the last fish I was beginning to get the hang of filleting.

The Best of times.
Good friends flying in from all over, Good food (Red Salmon) and
perfect weather. Yep these are the best of times, who could ask for more!

Here I hung a carcass for the gang to feast on.

About 8 hours after I hung the fish. A lot of the meat is gone. Today more than 24 hours after I hung it the meat is gone and they are still picking the bones.

Mind if I Smoke?
There is a fire across the Tanana, in the flats near the Wood River. In the afternoon the humidity goes down and the fire flourishes. Here the wind is taking the smoke toward North Pole. It gives the sky a yellow brown look along the front and darker closer to the fire where the smoke is thicker.

See the sun through "smoked" lenses, from our yard.

Here is ash on the window of the car from the fire across the Tanana more than 50 miles away.

Iris Among the Fireweed

2009-07-02T21:33:00.001-07:00

We planted some Irises a long time ago and each year we look forward to when they bloom.

A lot of catching up to do. Start at the bottom with the Lincoln Family

2009-06-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

This blog entry reads from the bottom up Chronologically. Start at the picture of the Lincolns.

Took me two days to eat my favorite candy bar. What a fun surprise. Thanks Hope & Brian.

Thanks Brian & Hope for my Mothers Day flowers. They stayed pretty for a week.

I think the record is 44 or 45 consecutive bounces but it didn't take him long to learn.

Caleb got a new Pogo Stick and here is the learning curve.

And waters. Luke is good help.

Luke and I spaded up the garden. Can you find the plant that Luke just planted?

On the way home from Boston we spent time with Jennifer Jason and the kids. Tree in Jennifer's front yard.

Hillsboro in the Spring

Here we are at the arboretum. The dogwood is blooming in the background.

We went to the arboretum for a walk.

Checking for light leaks in my eyelids. Good time to relax.

Bleeding heart through the fence in Jeff's back yard.

Relaxing in Jeff and Laura's back yard. We would go out with Ada. She would walk by the barbecue and say "DA" and point to the ashes in the ash saucer below the kettle. She would act like she was going to put her hand in it. We would say Yuk!! and she would laugh. Next time past it she would do it again.

This picture looks toward the ship yard in the living history museum. The ship at the end is a whaler from 1844 that is in dry dock for repair and restoration. We got to climb up and go through her. Living history museums are my favorite. There are people there in costume that carry out the daily lives of working people of the period. We had a great weekend. Thanks Laura and Jeff.

Sunday we went to the living history museum in Mystic. Here Jeff is playing in a baseball game with rules from 1900. Anytime you hit the ball it was in play. There were no fouls.
Laura and Jeff took us to Mystic Connecticut for the weekend. On Saturday we went to the aquarium and saw them feed the sharks. We also saw beluga whales, seals, walrus and penguins. I liked the croaking bull frogs too. It rained a little that day so this was a good choice.

Check out the form. I had fun trying to take action shots. I should have set so the fence was not in the way. Nice hit Jeff.

Arlington Mass. May 2009 Ada is on deck! In May we went to Boston to see Ada, Laura and Jeff. We got to watch Jeff play softball. Here is Ada warming up before Jeff bats.

January: Last January Post. Check it out. A brownie pan that has all side and corner pieces. Chewy Brownies! Thanks Jennifer and Jason.

When we got Home Patsy gave me a new billfold for Christmas. I have carried the old one for 15 years or so. It wore like Iron and it is only beginning to come apart. The new billfold is a lot like the old one and I moved in. Jennifer, Jeff, Brian; can you believe I have a new billfold?

On Sunday we went to Camp 8 for Breakfast with Jennifer, Jason and the kids. On the way home we got a good look at Mt Hood. At least I think it was Mount Hood. Great Breakfast at Camp 8.

Possibly the best part of the Spruce Goose Museum was this MB. (Yes I jest. Maybe!) It is either an original unrestored Jeep or they went to a lot of trouble making it look like old paint.

On the way home we stopped at the Spruce Goose Museum. Here you can see a DC 3 Tucked under the wing of the Spruce Goose. Gives you and idea of scale. It's hard to imagine the size of the plane built out of plywood.

On the way home from Lincoln City we stopped at a pull off and Patsy too this picture. The frost and perhaps a light snow were melting in the morning sun.

After we left Phoenix we went to visits the Caleb, Luke and Cate (oh yes and their parents too) in Hillsboro Oregon. We took a side trip to Lincoln City to get cheese curds and met this gathering of friends at the local trough.

January:After attending Johnathan and Ashley's Wedding in Madison, (Sorry no pictures. See Mark's site.) we left Illinois we flew to Phoenix to visit Betty and Dad. We had a great time and enjoyed the weather. It was very cold back home in Fairbanks. This is a sunset we enjoyed one evening.

January: We went to the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield with Sharon and Chuck. Abe and Mary insisted we take a picture with them and their family. As you can see, Tad looked a bit put off.

A Picture of Ada

2009-01-13T18:09:00.001-08:00

We got to spend some time at Phil & Sue's with Granddaughter Ada.
(Oh yes, we had a good visit with Jeff and Laura, Mark and April, and Jeff Baylor,
Phil and Sue too.)
We had a couple of great games of Trivial pursuit.

White out any one?

2009-01-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

We flew into Chicago on the 19th of December and spent the night at Phil and Sue's. The next morning we departed for Brian and Hope's house in Iowa on Route 20. Lucky for us the road was four lane when we drove into the wind and snow storm. Brings back memories of driving home from work and school when I was going to college. We had a fun visit with Brian and Hope and then went to Gary and Jean's for a "No electricity" adventure Monday night. (Only four hours)
From Gary and Jean's we went to Aldens for a couple days. I know there are spaces of no pictures but we were having too good a time to take pictures.

North Pole Ice Park

2009-01-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

Before we left North Pole I took some pictures of the Ice Park near Santa's house. Things are busy up here at that time of year.Here is a carving of the jolly old elf about to make a training run. I caught him about 9 am in the morning. As you can see we don't have a lot of day light at that time of year. Fortunately the days will start getting longer 4 days after this picture was taken. You can see better, and additional pictures if you Google the North Pole Ice Park.

Here is Santa. It will likely be March before he begins to melt away.
This carving is made of several blocks and is about 6 feet tall.

"Light a Fire!"

2008-11-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of the family blogs showed pictures of a Jeep frame and body in process of being renewed, and mentioning the hopes of "lighting a fire" under another family enthusiast's project. That other enthusiast would be me. It may not be evident but it was below zero in my work area when a took this picture a couple weeks ago. As you can see, work is going very slow at present and I'm thinking it will take a substantial fire to get this project moving before May. I was happy to see the progress being made on the other Jeep and congratulate the blogger on the purchase of a wire feed welder that he will use to repair his floor pan. Although I won't be painting then, I hope to show progress in January.

They came on my Birthday!

2008-10-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you Brian and Hope for the beautiful flower arrangement.
Thank you Sharon for the pretty cloth Pumpkin.
Mom

Who's Birthday is October 6th?

2008-10-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Patsy.
Yum Peanut butter Ice cream Cake

Happy Aniversary

2008-09-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Happy 11th Anniversary
Jason & Jennifer

This isn't a wedding picture but it is a few years old.

Fall In North Pole

2008-09-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

We didn't plant any flowers this summer because we thought we would be gone too long. We were not looking forward to the empty flower beds around the house. The flower bed under the tree beside our driveway surprised us when we came home in August. It was full of volunteer Pansy.
I always like the color and musky smell of the high bush cranberries in the fall. It reminds me of my first fall up here in 1969.

Here is the low bush variety. (Below) I look forward to them because they taste so good in Banana bread with the tart cranberries and chocolate chips. Patsy also makes some delicious cookies with them.

Patsy at work in the woods. pickin berries!

Fruits of her labor. About 7 cups.

Fall Drive To Denali

2008-08-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Every fall, around Memorial Day, Patsy and I go to Denali to see the fall colors and have lunch at a hotel perched high on the side of the mountain overlooking McKinley village. (See Pictures Sept. 07) It was a perfect day and on the way we stopped to look at the cranes in a field below the University West Ridge.

Today we were also very fortunate to get a good look at Mt. McKinley. It has been several years since we got to see the mountain as clear as we did today. I extended the zoom as far as it would go to bring the mountain in close. I don't know what caused the circle in the picture.

The heat is following us.

2008-08-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today it was 100 degrees in Hillsboro Oregon. The relative humidity was about 30% so it didn't seem so bad. (I also believe the airconditioning helps make the temperatures more manageable.) It is supposed to be hot tomorrow too. I'm beginning to think the hot weather is following us. If that is the case they will be glad to see us in Fairbanks next week.

Sweet Corn

2008-08-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

We are still on Vacation, presently at Jennifer and Jason's. We are also still behind on our Blog entries. Tonight I'll show you one of the highlights of our visit with Catherine and Steve. (Keep in mind that this is one of the highlights for me and the importance to others may not rate at the same level.)
Sweet Corn!

What you see here are long rows of sweet corn planted by Steve's son Terry. The corn is ripe, extremely sweet, and tender. Sweet corn every day for lunch; fresh from the field. So So Good! Thanks Terry.

And Thanks to Steve for picking and Catherine for fixing it every day for lunch. I never got tired of it. (Insert a Homer Simpson Drool here in my part. mmmmmm Corn!)

(Late Report) Picnic at Phil & Sue's

2008-08-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

What can I say? A great Picnic! Good food, Exceptional company, and a very favorable Sweet Corn warm-up. Everyone else has reported on the picnic but I wanted to at least say we were there.

We soaked the corn in water, in the husk, and then put it int he coals of the fire for 7 - 10 minutes. You can see in the inset picture that the outer husks were burned. After it cools a little , just peel the husk down, butter, and eat. If you look close you can see Jeff on a bee line to get an ear.

This is the best part, most of Patsy's family was there. Missed you Jeff and Jennifer.

Birds N Worms

2008-07-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Due to the numerous recent request to add something new to the Blog page the following two Items are added today. The significance of these two items are an indication of the excitement and importance of events that fill my life. These are Just two of the many things that I saw today and yesterday. ( I did have maybe the best Pork Tenderloin sandwich of my life last night and today I had the two best peaches that I have eaten in the last two years.... but that is a story for another time.)

This is a bird in a nest on Hope's front Porch. I hope it gets some of the worms from the article below. (Double Click on the Picture and you will get an enlarged view and see better.)

Last night as we were looking at the trees in Brian and hope's yard, Patsy saw a Bag-O-Worms hanging in a Black Walnut tree in the front yard. We all said we need to do something about it in the morning. Well we waited until morning but the worms didn't. They went marching up onto the tree. The bag you see here was much larger the night before. We did knock them down and dispose of the ones left in the bag this morning but I'd guess about half of them got away.

The next morning: Ok worms....Up out of the scrum and onto the tree.....Single file.... follow the leader. You can see them marching to the leaves.

Picnic time! Chow down on Black Walnut Leaves. It looks like a group effort and they do not go off helter skelter. But be sure I don't know!

Two Owls

2008-06-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

We were enjoying watching the young owl around the house. When I came home today there were two! We suspect they are this years hatch and not very old. They like our yard and likely our rabbits which we have not seen since the owls showed up. The squirrels seem more on edge too.

Whoooo is that mask bird?

2008-06-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is the same Owl that Laura put in her Blog. Last night as I looked out just before going to bed I saw the owl on the TV antenna on the garage. We have seen the owl for the last two days around here. I think it is recently from the nest because the chest feathers look like down. I may be wrong because I don't know much about owls. Any body know what kind of Owl? Catherine? The squirrels were raising a lot of cane this morning and I thought I heard something on the roof. I think it was the owl because later in the day when Laura and Jeff came home they saw it on the garage roof and it flew to a tree where Laura got her picture. Laura is right. Those rabbits had better run for cover!

Hey Jennifer...........

2008-06-14T19:10:00.001-07:00

I'll see your three strawberries from last Wednesday and and raise you smoked salmon. It came out pretty good. If I can get some canned you will have some too! I fired up the smoker this weekend and even tried a little halibut with the salmon. The jury is still out on the Halibut but I think that recipe will take some more trials. It's OK but I want to include some Ranch dressing with it. Everything is good with Ranch Dressing. (possibly even Liver!)

Hope's Graduation

2008-06-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Way back in May on Mother's Day I took this video. I have tried to put it together several times since then. I have not been very successful until tonight. Sorry this took so long.

Nap time with Grandma

2008-06-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying our time wit Laura and Jeff and or course time with Ada too. Patsy is taking advantage of the morning nap to hold Ada.

The Adventure Begins.

2008-06-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hope and Brian left for Iowa this morning. Their dogs Dawson and Mattie were excited to take a ride too but I bet they will be wondering "are we there yet?" by tonight. They had to pack carefully to fill the 8X20 trailer. We will see them in late July or early August.

Ada brought her folks up for a visit.

2008-06-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Ada and I went for a walk this afternoon. She brought Mom and dad along too. Patsy and I are glad to have a visit from the three of them.

Congradulations Hope!

2008-05-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

To appear in this space in the very near future a movie clip of Hope receiving her Masters Degree diploma and walking across the stage at graduation Sunday. I need to figure out how to cut and splice it to put it in here. Stay Tuned!

Rabbit

2008-05-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Patsy and I were listening for the first Robin today. (which we did not hear) We did notice this rabbit in the yard. It has already turned from white to brown so I guess that will have to be our harbinger of spring for now. The leaves are not out yet but the sun is warm.

Annual Spring Event

2008-05-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

Every year, friends Cliff and Jackie have a wiener roast and picnic on the Tanana River near their home just before break-up begins. This year it was a beautiful sunny day perfect for the picnic. The picnic site is on a river sand bar about a mile from the house. Some walk, some ski, and some take a snow machine out to the site.

Beginning the gathering at the picnic spot on the river.

Here is a beautiful model posing in front of the Alaska Range backdrop.

Friends gather around the fire to roast wieners and trade stories.

Late in the afternoon..... time to go home..... thanks for a great day Cliff and Jackie.

A New Bickmeier

2008-03-27T10:16:00.001-07:00

Ada Catherine Bickmeier was born March 26. She is 6 lbs. 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches long.
Proud parents are Jeff and Laura.

Happy Birthday Brian aka AKtoIA

2008-03-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

Hope and Brain came over to celebrated Brian's 29th birthday last weekend.

Spring Break

2008-03-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Patsy and I took the week-end of Spring break and went to Anchorage. Above is a picture of the Nenana River. It froze over when the water was higher and now that the water has receded, the ice has fallen in. We saw Caribou on the way and got this picture. (Below) Around McKinley Park we saw a Coyote cross the road with a rabbit in it's mouth. We stopped after we passed to try to get a picture but we were too late.

On the way home I took a picture where McKinley should have been. All that could be seen is this un-named mountain in the background and clouds where McKinley should have been. Below is a picture of the Famous Nenana Tripod. When will the ice go out this spring?

test post 2

2008-03-10T19:50:00.001-07:00

2008-03-10T19:45:00.001-07:00

Just testing to see if I can add posts since Jen is unable to. So here is a cool picture.

Brrr rrr

2008-02-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

When we woke up this morning the Blue Bird wasn't chirping. In fact he looks a little cold. Fortunately the temperature is the outside temperature and it was about 114.5 degrees warmer in the kitchen than outside. The temperature probe is just outside the walls of the house so it is probably a few degrees colder than what it shows. I sure hope it doesn't get cold!

By the way, we lost power for about two hours this morning and the house cooled down some. Fortunately GVEA found the problem and made a quick repair. The garage, where the furnace and water system are, was down to around 40 when the power came back on.

Family Picture Thanksgiving

2008-02-06T14:46:00.001-08:00

Here we are right after Thanksgiving. We had a great time at the shore with beautiful weather as you can see from the sunset.

thanksgiving at the oregon coast

2007-11-27T22:04:00.000-08:00

The house on the beach. Thanks mom for making it possible for us all to stay there!

We did lots of relaxing...
Playing guitars....

Made lots of yummy food together... Laura made the stuffing!
Mom made the noodles!
Jeff made the pecan pie.

Hope made the squash!
We played on the beach. The sun was out, and the weather was perfect!

Jason met up with a few waves...
Papa and Luke read some books together...

We watched some beautiful sunsets. Jeff and Laura saw the "green flash" before the sunset one night. I missed it.
The day after was filled with decadent leftovers. note: Bread, turkey, cranberry relish, and homemade noodles.

Jeff convinced me that they bought whiskey from some guy selling it on the side of the road. He was passing the jar around while we waited for the key to get into the house. The truth? It was a to-go jar of Mcminimums micro brew that is locally sold here in Portland.

More playing on the beach,

and playing with aunts and uncles...

This is the only picture of Jason and I from the weekend. Caleb took it!

Papa and Luke standing on the rocks.

Hope and Brian outside waiting for the key to the house.

Uncle Brian with Luke on his shoulders.

I am so happy that everyone was able to come together here in Oregon. It was a fun Thanksgiving!

laughing coyote fettuccine

2007-11-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am going to follow in April's footsteps and post a recipe that Laura was asking about tonight - laughing coyote fettuccine. We made this when Jeff and Laura were visiting this spring.

I made this for the first time shortly after Jason and I moved to Oregon. Found it in a BonAppite magazine that his parents had in the house. The year: 1999.

I of course don't have the magazine to reference. And I USED to just look up the recipe on the magazine's website when I first started making it. However - I just looked up the recipe a few minutes ago and couldn't find it. I have been making it for so long that I don't remember exact measurements, so Laura I will try my best at reciting the recipe from memory.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 Bell Peppers. I like to use 1 orange, 1 yellow, and 1 green. The colors make it pretty.

1 Poblano pepper. This is a green chile pepper spicier than the bell peppers but milder than jalapeños.

1 Medium onion. I like the sweet onions, but I am kind of an onion wimp.

1 Bunch of cilantro

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Garlic to taste. I normally just wing it and scoop in some of the already crushed garlic that you can buy in a jar. *gasp!*

4 chicken breasts

20 gallons of heavy cream. Heh Not really. But you will need two of the little milk carton sized containers of the stuff. The same size of milks we used to get as little kids for school lunch. (Laura, feel free to edit this post with the correct measurement. I, for some reason have lost my mind and can't remember what size those containers are called. Pints? Liters? ugh!)

Fettuccine pasta. One 16 oz box.

1 Can of Chipotle. those are the smoke dried jalapeño chilies that come in a can.

Procedure:

Cut chicken breast into bite size pieces and cook in a little bit of olive oil. Salt to taste, and set aside.

Remove seeds from peppers. Slice into bite sized pieces.
Slice about 3/4 of the onion into bite sized pieces.
Cook peppers, onions, and garlic with a little bit of olive oil. Set aside.

Begin boiling a pot of water for the pasta. Cook pasta following the box's directions. Drain, then set aside.

In pan, begin to heat 1 and 3/4 of the heavy cream. It is kind of a preference thing as to how much you use. I never use all of the second cream container.

Mince 3 or 4 of the chipotles and put them in the cream mixture as it heats up. This is a preference thing too. 4 chipotles makes it on the spicy side. But that is how I like it.

Bring cream to a Boil, then reduce heat, and continue to stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. It will begin to thicken into a sauce. Add the chicken, cooked pasta, and the pepper mixture. Mix with the cream sauce, and let simmer for a few min in order for the chicken and peppers to heat up.

Serve with shredded cheese and cilantro on top.

Winter Sun

2007-10-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Patsy told me to look out the window this afternoon about 12:30. This is what I saw. The sun doesn't get high on the horizon now but it makes the trees with frost on them look great. Thought we would share the afternoon out our front window with you.

5 years

2007-10-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

thanks for the anniversary wishes, jen!

i met jeff for dinner at harvest in harvard square. it was really yummy. jeff had duck on top of various veggies surrounded by consomme. the duck was rare and he was thoroughly enjoying it. i had mushroom and chestnut agnolotti, which is really a fancy way to say ravioli. i do adore my stuffed pastas and i don't generally make them myself. these were really amazing, the flavor was very fall-like and there was something vaguely apple about it as well. the only downside is that there were slivered parnips on top. this probably the one vegetable that i don't like. in any case, i gave them another try and they are not that bad, really, when prepared nicely. we also shared a side of mashed potatoes that looked like we couldn't pass them up. and we were right, they were cheesy potatoey heaven.

after dinner, we walked to finale since we were already in harvard square. finale is a dessert place which i had always heard about but never went. we got a small decadent chocolate cake to go and made decaf coffee to go with it when we got home. the two of us could barely finish the one person serving, it was so rich! amazing, it was like soft, not-as-dense fudge.

Happy Anniversary Jeff and Laura!

2007-10-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

Five Years! Congratulation guys! Hope you got out and did something fun tonight!

germany pix!

2007-10-12T15:08:00.001-07:00

i just finished putting up the photos from our trip to germany and the czech republic here:
http://www.bickmeier.com/germany.htm
the photo above is in a tower in the old town square in prague.

October 3rd Snow

2007-10-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

It isn't winter yet! (I'm in Denial not Denali) Woke up yesterday morning and saw snow in the drive way. It was gone by noon but a harbinger of things to come. Got to wax my skis.

Fall.......September 2.

2007-10-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Patsy and I went for a drive on September 2nd. I'm a little slow getting these on the Blog but here they are. Here is Patsy looking out over the valley. You may have received a call from here. This is a restaurant, high on the side of the hill overlooking McKinley Village. Good food and Good view. The nest two pictures are from the Restaurant balcony.

I like the Fall colors up here but I miss the reds you have in the Midwest. Here most of the trees turn yellow but the Tundra turns red. When I do see some red in the trees it reminds me of the Midwest. We also saw a rainbow on the way home. We drove this year. Last year we took the train.

beach pictures continued

2007-09-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

The last of the beach pictures are not THAT exciting. It was an overcast morning, with a little bit of rain. The picture above was taken at Cape Foulweather. And if you look really close you can see the hotel buildings where we stayed.

We actually did see a few whales in the ocean. A crabby old man trying to point them out to us. I asked him to take a picture of the Jason and I looking over the Cape. And he either didn't hear me or ignored my question. So I asked again, but louder, which ended up being uncomfortable and weird. But he humored me and crabbily took the picture.

married ten years

2007-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Jason and I have been married 10 years. Wee haw! We made it!

To Celebrate our 10 year adventure, we escaped to the Oregon Coast for the weekend. And we couldn't have done it without a little help from our best friends Aaron and Amy Oberst! They were brave enough to invite the three little Rusts into their home for a weekend sleep over.

The kids were very excited because they got to hang out with Amy Liv and Aaron. There were no tears, and I don't even think they missed us. Lucky for me Amy has amazing kid wrangling abilities, so between her and Aaron I knew the kiddos were in good hands. And guys, if you are reading this... Thanks again!

So... here we go, I will share some picts of our weekend vacation.

Here is the view we got from our room the second night. We rolled into Otter Crest around 10:00 pm the first night. I had made reservations for the room over the internet weeks before, and had requested a room with a full view of the beach. So when we got in the first night, it was so dark we couldn't see anything. We woke up the next morning, opened up the curtains and surprise! The main lobby, and a newly constructed wedding tent was restricting our view. This was disappointing. But I think Jason was even more disappointed when we discovered there was only enough hot water for my shower, and not his. heh heh.. sorry Jason.

After his cold shower, we walked down to the front desk and asked if we could change rooms. Success! The view you see above was what we saw. The wedding tent was far enough to the right it wasn't in the way. Things were looking good. :)

Yahoo!
Jason and I are on vacation!
And look, my camera timer works too!

The room had a nice view, a kitchen, a table, and a murphy bed, and a fireplace. It ended up being a nice little room.

You can't spend the weekend at a beach hotel without spending time on the beach. Here are a few snapshots of what we saw. Most of them are of Jason- no big surprise. And even more of them are the landscape around us. The weather was perfect. Sunny without being hot. And on the day we left it was a little bit rainy.

The twisty stairs leading down to the water.

Patient husband on the twisty stairs leading to the water.

One of three self portraits that we took over the weekend. The other two our eyes are closed. I did ask a grumpy old man to take a picture of the both of us... but I will talk about that later.

I took a million pictures of pretty rocks.

We left our mark on some old beach wood.

Another pretty rock. :)

Self portrait # 2.

More pretty rocks.

Jason giving me a mooch.... The wind was blowing and my hair was flying everywhere, look at my torpedo shaped head!

It's Jen foot!

Can you tell we had a good time?

Jason is pretending to eat one of those seaweed ball things. So Sick. But that leads me to the BEST part of our vacation. The food....

Later that evening we drove to Lincoln City and ate at the Blackfish Cafe. It is a tiny little cafe decorated with art from local artists, and serves delicious seafood. Especially salmon. Which is my FAVORITE food of all time. It was fitting that we decided to eat here.

We arrived around 6, and the place was packed with a 45 min wait. So we decided to walk down to the ocean and watch the sun set while we waited.

Check out the sun while we walked to the beach. It was amazing! Glowy, warm and happy!

And here was the beach. Still really pretty, but not quite as red as it was while we were walking down.

After a bit, we walked back up the hill and took our place in line. The wait was even longer than the quoted 45 min, and we passed the time talking, observing the crazy expensive art on the walls, and quietly making catty remarks about the snooty front desk lady.

Rust, party of two, your table is ready.....

Finally! our turn to eat. I ordered the alder smoked salmon pasta, and Jason ordered the Salmon that sits on a bed of crazy amazing blue cheese potatoes. Jason ALWAYS manages to order something tasty. This time was no different.

After much talk, and eating of food, it was time for dessert. We shared a ding dong. It was a very posh ding dong. And very good. Cake, in between layers of cream, with a chocolate coating. And drizzled with berry sauce. Perfect ending to a perfect night!

To be continued tomorrow. I need to get to bed tonight!

luke won't go to bed

2007-09-06T22:34:00.001-07:00

Luke won't go to bed... and I am so tired of fighting him to go sleep, so we played around w/ the camera instead. But it has been a looooooong day... and I don't think mommy can stay up much longer - she needs some beauty sleep!

Welder Cart

2007-08-29T22:03:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this cart off and on all summer. I finally got it finished......with the exception of a couple of things I will add later. (A hanger for the grinder and a guide for the wire-feed lead.) Like most projects it took longer than I expected but I got to use my new welder and I had fun building it.

"Gone Fishing"

2007-08-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Brian and his dog Dawson took Ed and I fishing on Quartz Lake.
It was a warm, sunny, fantastic August day. We all had a great time.

Dawson spent a good deal of the day sleeping in the shade of the dash board and front seats but he found the duck very interesting. He is a smart pup and fun to be around.

Ed and I bait up!

Ed caught the first fish and Brian landed one a little while later. I had lost the first lure I tied on (probably to a weed) and was fielding comments about my choice of lures, bait, and fishing choices in general.

After a lunch we tried trolling and my luck changed...... Fish On!

Got it...........With help from Ed.

Nice Fish! (Where have I heard that before Uncle Phil?)
Thanks for the photo record Brian.

Amazing, Crazy, Excited

2007-08-16T21:41:00.001-07:00

AMAZING that it is already the middle of August. This summer has flown by.

The sun setting the other day was CRAZY beautiful. I didn't enhance the picture at all... the sky was all warm, pink, happy and delicious. The boys and I were brushing our teeth when I peeked outside. So we all went out on the front step and just watched.

EXCITED because we are weeks away from the first day of school, apple farms, and apple cider. Yum.

Salmon Dipping!

2007-08-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

As you may have seen in Brian and Hope's Blog, Brian and I went Salmon Dipping last week. We enjoyed good weather and the great scenery around Chitina. I even got to spend a little time with my net in the water. Just looking at it I would never guess that you could net a fish in that river in those conditions. (The river is wide at that point and you can't see in the water.) But fish do swim up into your net. In fact I had a double! I felt a "bump" picked up the net and started to swing it in when Brian said you got two in the net. Glad he was there to help me. Brian has the picture on his Blog. Needless to say we had a great time. I years past Jeff came with us too. We missed you Jeff.

cutler park

2007-07-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from a walk we took this morning in Cutler Park in Nheedam. It's about 20 minutes from our house.

racoons!

2007-07-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

friday night, we were watching a movie in the basement with the slider open to the screen door. who walks up? one bold racoon! we look out, see another one. then another one! soon we see 5!!! our backyard is not that big. they all ran up the tree in the back corner and we attempted to take some pix. they are not great (it was dark out), but you can see them all. what are they all looking at so curiously? the dog in the back neighbor's yard!

A Calf

2007-07-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had moose visitors again on Friday. They got into the raspberries out back and fireweed around the garden. They didn't get into the garden! Here is one of the culprits munching down. Note on his back, he is loosing his reddish baby fur. I was in the truck at the end of the driveway when I took this. Momma was close by. I sure like our new camera.

battle road

2007-07-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

we hiked the battle road today in the minuteman national historic park. it's a 4.25 mile walk from lexington to concord. lovely day out!

retreating british, just the way we like 'em:

interesting fence:

sign for hartwell tavern:

farm toward the end:

sample of our nice walking path:

for caleb

2007-07-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

auntie laura and uncle jeff had dinner tonight in the dining room with a very special vase that caleb made for us! here are the pix:

thank you caleb!!!

M and A visit

2007-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Laura is showing me how to post on this thingy. I's is all growed up! Mark and April have left and we are now officially without any scheduled visitors. Mark brought his Garmond and I have to say that I'm sold on it's usefulness driving around Boston. It got us to the Sam Adams brewery and back without getting us lost (quite a feat!). Today Laura and I are doing our best impression of tree sloths. Actually, typing this is too much activity for a sloth. I'd better go.

pix from mark and april's visit

2007-07-08T10:27:00.001-07:00

i just finished putting up the pix from mark and april's visit. there are pictures from our fenway park tour and our camping trip to franconia notch state park. it was a blast having them around and getting to show them various sides of new england. while we were at work thursday and friday, they went to the museum of science and did the freedom trail. we met them for dinner in the north end the day they did the freedom trail, delicious as always! on their last day here we went out to the sam adam's brewery and then had lunch and walked along the charles river before taking them to the airport. anyway, i hope you enjoy the photos!

sunset

2007-07-07T21:31:00.001-07:00

Check out the sunset we had tonight!

There Ought To Be a Play on Words Here.

2007-07-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

The other day we were out at the Pipeline Turnout on the Steese and Patsy took this picture. What is the best Title or Caption for this picture?

mark and april's visit so far

2007-07-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

we have been keeping busy with mark and april. last saturday we did a tour of fenway park and then walked around harvard square. then we went to franconia notch state park in NH for 3 days of hiking and camping. the weather could have been better, but we all really enjoyed the scenery. yesterday we went down to woods hole so they could see the ocean. april uploaded some pictures to flickr already:
fenway: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baylors/sets/72157600632095615/
NH: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baylors/sets/72157600634120403/

i hope to get my photos downloaded at some point!

anyway, they are getting the chance to finally explore boston these next few days and then they leave saturday night. i think they have been getting a good taste of new england and not just boston. :D

Moose in the Garden ......... Again!

2007-07-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

When I went out for the paper Saturday morning, I noticed the flower stems on the ground and the absence for flowers on the hanging basket.

I looked in the Garden and saw where a moose had enjoyed and early harvest in my broccoli patch. Before the day was over, the electric fence was surrounding the garden armed with 20,000 volts. Shocking!!
Sunday Morning, I met my nemesis in the driveway. She had a few bites off the Flowering Kale in the flower bed but did not attempt to get into the Garden as best I could tell. At least the Broccoli was safe....for a few days!

danish potato salad

2007-06-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

jen asked me for a potato salad recipe... here's what i had:

Danish Potato Salad
3lbs yukon gold potatoes
1/2 c freshly chopped chives or scallions
1/2 c fresh parsely
3 Tb capers
3 Tb white wine vinegar
1 Tb caper liquid (from the jar)
1 tsp dijon mustard (i put more in, i think)
1/2 c olive oil

cut potatoes into chunks, boil, drain
whisk together remaining ingredients and toss over cooled potatoes

Hope and Brian's new puppy

2007-06-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

Hope and Brian have an adorable new puppy. I don't remember the name, but Brian and Hope - if you see this post fill us in on the details - Dad took these pictures weeks ago at the house in North Pole so I am sure he is a lot bigger now!

2007-06-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

My cousin Steve Strupp, his wife Darlene, and Daughter Carrie have been visiting us this week. Steve and Darlene are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary by coming to Alaska. (Kuehn side of the family.) Their son William, son Nick and his wife Amanda, will join them in Seward for a cruise down the inside passage. We have been having a great time showing them around. We went down the Richardson and as far as Tango Lakes on the Denali. Had a beautiful day and a lot of fun. Saw Glaciers, many moose but no salmon and no sheep!

visit from uncle phil and aunt sue

2007-06-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

2 weekends ago, uncle phil and aunt sue visited. the first day was walking the freedom trail and dinner in the north end. the second day, we walked around the public gardens, went to the top of the prudential tower and walked by fenway park. that evening, we went out for seafood and phil and sue got lobstahs! the third day, we went down to newport, RI where we walked on the cliff walk and toured one of the mansions. beautiful weather all 3 days and we had a great time! i put some pictures up on bickmeier.com:
newport: http://www.bickmeier.com/newport-6-07/index.htm
boston: http://www.bickmeier.com/boston-6-07/index.htm