Wednesday, August 19, 2015

PANNING FOR GOLD - Alaska

Alaska had new sights and adventures at every turn.  The wildlife was among the most exciting.  Even the mounted antlers of a moose brought excitement to us.



Juliann, Ryder, Tate, Shiloh, and Choice
Next, the exploring.  We spent time just getting lost among the natural beauty and searching for interesting local landmarks.  This particular adventure led us to a small village.  The pictures below were taken outside of their schoolhouse.  This was the first school the kids have been around in quite sometime.  :-/

Tate, Shiloh, Choice, and Ryder

Tate, Shiloh, Choice, and Ryder

The forest and terrain were so incredibly beautiful.  Everywhere you turned there was beauty to behold in one form or another.  It was nice to see the kids outside enjoying the fresh air and not with their eyes glued to a screen for awhile. (Balancing the use of technology has been one of the biggest battles on this trip).





Ryder, Choice, Shiloh, and Tate



Shiloh and Morghen
Morghen and Juliann
Shiloh and Juliann




We did a little unexpected off-roading.  After one or two small scares of being stuck in the mud, we made it back to solid ground.





We wound up at this great little lodge.  We were there on a Tuesday though, which just so happens to be the only day it is closed. 
 


Ryder and Shiloh
We snapped a few pictures of the outside before finding another spot we wanted to explore.



Shiloh, Choice, Tate, and Ryder

Choice, Tate, Shiloh, and Ryder

Tate, Ryder, Shiloh, Juliann, and Choice

Right across the street from the lodge was an old gold mining dredge.  (The original gold dredges were large, multi-story machines built in the first half of the 1900s.  A gold dredge is a mining machine that extracts gold from sand, gravel, and dirt using water and mechanical methods).

This dredge had been a functioning dredge in the early 1900's and since abandoned.  Just a few years ago, a group of teenagers lit fire to it leaving the entire dredge charred.  It was still quite the site to behold for us.




Tate, Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, and Ryder




Juliann and Shiloh

Juliann, Tate, and Choice



I ended up succumbing to my curiosity and climbed aboard.



Juliann

Juliann

Juliann


Juliann

Juliann









Juliann

Juliann



Juliann

Juliann


I found a place close to where someone had tagged "Jesus Saves" to place a Be Better Band.




Juliann placing Be Better Band


Juliann




Juliann placing Be Better Band

Morghen and the kiddos watched me from a nearby hill. 





Morghen, Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate


Morghen, Choice, Ryder, Shiloh, and Tate

Morghen, Choice, Ryder, Shiloh, and Tate



After checking out the old dredge we drove out to the Chena River to play by the water.  We had a great time taking in the beauty of the greenery.
 


Shiloh, Tate, Ryder, Morghen, and Choice

Jason, Morghen, Tate, Choice, Juliann, and Ryder



Tate, Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Juliann

Ryder, Juliann, Tate, Shiloh, and Choice

Ryder, Juliann, Tate, Shiloh, and Choice

Juliann, Morghen, and Choice

As beautiful as the Chena and surrounding areas were, all the kiddos could talk about and think about was GOLD.  All of that talk about it at the old dredge made them want to pan for a little gold of their own.  So, that's what we did.




We went to a local gold panning company, Gold Daughters, in Fairbanks.  They are a couple of sisters who instruct you on gold panning and let you try it out yourself. The kids were fascinated by the instructions.  They haven't sat that still at any point in the entire trip.  I'm not sure if it's because they were so cold, or, if they were just that eager to learn, knowing that whatever gold they found they were allowed to keep.





Ms. Jordan, Juliann, Tate, Ryder, Shiloh, and Choice

Ms. Jordan, Juliann, Tate, Ryder, Shiloh, and Choice

Ms. Jordan, Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, Tate, and Juliann

Ms. Jordan, Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, Tate, and Juliann

Ms. Jordan, Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, Tate, and Juliann

Ms. Jordan, Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate

Ms. Jordan, Choice, Shiloh, Morghen, Ryder, Tate, and Juliann



After receiving all the instructions, they were let loose to give it a try.  First step was collecting the dirt to put inside the pan.  Shiloh was the first one to run for a shovel.
 


Shiloh

Shiloh and Choice

Shiloh and Tate

Shiloh, Choice, and Tate

Tate

Shiloh

Shiloh

Shiloh

They each had their own unique way of panning for gold, largely based upon their level of finesse. Ryder was very methodical in the way he maneuvered and separated out the gold from the soil.  Tate and Shiloh dropped their pan all the way to the bottom of the trough.  And Choice shook the pan so hard to that most of the soil in his pan was flung out into the water. 




AMAZINGLY, because gold is so heavy, some gold remained in each one of their pans and no one went home empty handed. 





Ryder, Tate, Choice, and Juliann

Ryder, Tate, Choice, and Juliann

Ryder, Tate, Choice, and Juliann

Shiloh, Ryder, Tate, Choice, and Juliann

Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate

Choice and Juliann

Tate

Tate

Ryder

Shiloh, Ryder, Juliann, Choice, and Tate

Ryder and Shiloh

Ryder and Shiloh

Shiloh, Choice, Tate, Juliann, and Ryder

Shiloh, Choice, Tate, Juliann, and Ryder




Ryder and Juliann

Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Tate

Ryder

Ryder, Tate, and Shiloh

Tate and Shiloh

Ms. Jordan, Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, Choice, and Juliann

Ms. Jordan, Juliann, and Choice

Ryder

Choice, Ryder, and Ms Jordan

Choice, Ryder, and Ms. Jordan

Choice and Ms. Jordan

Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Ms. Jordan


Tate, Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Ms. Jordan

Tate and Ryder

Tate and Shiloh

Juliann, Choice, and Ryder

Juliann, Choice, and Ryder

Juliann, Choice, and Ryder

Choice, Shiloh, Tate, and Ryder

Choice, Shiloh, and Tate

Choice, Shiloh, and Tate

Tate


Shiloh and Choice

Tate and Shiloh

Tate

Choice and Ryder

Tate and Shiloh

Tate

At the end of the day, they each had their own vile of water and gold to serve as a reminder of their time panning for gold in Alaska.





Shiloh

Choice

Choice




As well as rocks from the Chena River bank.






Shiloh, Choice, and Tate

Shiloh, Choice, and Tate

Shiloh


And many selfies with Morghen. :-)




Shiloh, Morghen, and Tate

Morghen, Tate, and Choice



Another highlight of this trip has been Choice conquering potty-training.  Even without ideal circumstances or convenient locations, he's become a big boy and joined the land of the underwear-wearing kids.  Hallelujah!!!! 




Choice




THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTIUED PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!

2 comments:

  1. Yes!!! I remember doing something like this in Colorado when I was a kid!! I can only imagine the stories the kids are going to be telling for years to come. Can't wait to hear them!! Miss you guys!! Stay Curious :-)

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  2. So love seeing this. That's where I caught the gold fever again while in Alaska. So a awesome! 💜

    ReplyDelete