Here comes summer... and the go-go-go it brings

WE SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!! We got word from some friends that the Northern Lights were out pretty good one night, so we headed out the second night to see if they would show themselves again. HECK YES THEY WERE. They were magnificent! I ended playing with Danielle’s camera for about 45minutes trying to get the setting right to take a picture of them. Unfortunately once I figured out how to capture them, they were starting to fade. Next time we see them… we’ll be better prepared.

Not too much excitement going on here. The winter is coming to a close and the snow is beginning to melt!!! Melting snow means no more frozen-river walking and cross country skiing.

Cabin fever is setting in pretty hard and we cannot wait to get out and go fishing/hunting. We actually got results of the hunting tag permit and neither of us was drawn L Oh well, that just means we have to search harder and may not have as good as odds hunting in other public areas. We actually got a couple of bear hunts planned for this spring already. Hopefully we’ll have a good story for the blog fairly soon! Along the same lines, Danielle just got her new rifle in the mail… watch out bears!!!

I went to Table Rock Lake for spring break to do a little snagging for spoonbill. Poor Danielle had to stay home and did get to fish. Her break was too early before opening day to get to go (good thing too because we all know she would have outfished everyone anyone). It turned out to be a very successful trip. I caught 4 big spoonbill, 3 over 50 pounds and one 30 pounder. All together, our group hauled in 8 on the first day and 6 on the second. That was enough fish for us so we only snagged those two days and relaxed the remainder of the week. And by relaxing I mean drinking beer, playing yard games, cards, eating, and fishing for bass. Something really exciting also happened that week…. My parents bought a vacation home on the lake! That means there will always be a place for us to go after these monsters in the future!!!

Some sad news, Danielle lost two of her grandparents (maternal grandpa and paternal grandma) over the course of the last two weeks. She recently got back from being in Iowa for close to a week. They both will be greatly missed!

We were due for a little relaxation. We decided to drive 7 hours north to a resort built around natural hot springs called Chena Hot Springs. It was wonderful! The hot springs were very soothing and relaxing. We layed around all day, hiked the mountains (we actually saw lynx tracks and poop), dipped in the springs, and ate a lot of food. The first night we were in the hot springs, the northern lights came out. It was amazing. It’s hard to beat relaxing in natural springs under a sky filled with aurora borealis. We didn’t get any pictures as we thought they would be out the next night and we just wanted to sit and watch them. Unfortunately, they were not out the second night L This resort was really neat. We went on a tour that showed us how the entire place is powered by the geothermal energy. They even have their own greenhouse full of vegetables that produces a ridiculous amount of food for the kitchen to use. It is a very self-sustaining and interesting place.

On our way home, we decided to stop at Denali and go for a hike. It was a beautiful out and you could see Denali perfectly. Tundra loved running around and he fit in perfectly as a wild animal. We actually saw a total of about 9 moose and 1 caribou for entire drive there and back. Another funny thing we saw on drive home was a sled dog truck… and all the dog cubbies had a hole in them to let their heads hang out… check out the picture.

I forgot to mention… over a month ago, I was snowboarding and hurt myself on the terrain park. They thought I just dislocated my shoulder for a moment, but turns out I may have torn my rotator cuff. I have an MRI scheduled in a couple weeks to determine why I’m still in pain. I haven’t been able to work out for about 5 weeks now and it is killing me!!!!