New Adventure: Rivers Cassiar King!

A lot has happened over the past year since our return from Alaska. Jake has a new job as the president and editor for a bio-tech investment website. I have been busy with my own little studio of creative endeavors, freelancing graphic design/photography as well as selling handmade pillows, pottery, prints and the like (find Cairtree on Facebook). I’ve had one really big project I was working on though for most of 2012….

I was growing a human in my belly! The biggest event of 2012 is the arrival of our first child, a sweet little boy we named Rivers Cassiar. He entered this big, loud world at 6:22 pm on 12/23/12. The best Christmas present and birthday gift ever (i’m a 12/24 baby).

A little free write for Rivers.

We are completely head over heels for this new creature and know he is our best adventure. For those of you in Alaska or B.C. you may recognize his middle name. This was inspired by our great trek to the Last Frontier and back. There are two roads/highways you can take through the wilds of Northern BC and the Yukon Territories to get to and from Alaska- The AlCan or the Cassiar. The AlCan is much more well maintained and traveled, with plenty of gas stations and small towns along the way. The Cassiar is like a beautiful and wild and wonderful back road that goes on for days. It might be flooded out, there may not be a guarantee of open gas stations or places to stay, but you will travel one of the most glorious paths you’ve ever taken. According to Wikipedia, the Cassiar “is the northwesternmost highway in the province, and it is very scenic, passing through some of the most isolated areas of B.C.”.

Image from milepost.com

We had taken the AlCan on our way to Alaska. On the way home we stopped at a gas station where the two roads split and decided last second to take the Cassiar home, even after warnings about flooding. We are so happy we took the chance. Incredible little trek. See more here about that.

The Cassiar runs from the Yukon Territories down through

British Columbia for over 450 miles. 

This is what we want for our son, to be reminded to not count out the road less traveled and to keep an open heart for adventure. We hope one day we can travel the Cassiar with him!

He is super goofy and smiley and loves to travel and meet new people. Fits right in:)

Little man at 2 months old, March 2013

Rivers at 2 months old, March 2013

We are excited to introduce him to many new places and faces as he grows – little man is in for a wild ride!

Little Rivers along for the ride! Jake is a fantastic daddy.

Long Live Captain Weldon

We just received some sad news; Jake’s former captain in Alaska passed away this July from ongoing heart complications.

Read more here. 

Jake and Captain Weldon Chivers, summer 2011

We sit here quite stunned, reliving our best moments with Captain Weldon Chivers, on and off his boat, the Miss Minmar. Luna has even been on his boat and in his office.

A short ode to Weldon: 

He was an adventurer. He did more things in his life than most people even dream about.

He knew how to race motorcycles, fly planes, captain boats, work oil rigs, run a business, sleep in a blue recliner and always make folks laugh.

We thank him for taking on green deckhand Jake, giving us lots of delicious fish and taking us on many adventures in the bay.

Weldon will continue to live on as we cherish our time and memories with him.

Rest in Peace Captain!

Miss Minmar in the early morning hours.

Weldon’s summer home and office. You could often find him here behind his desk or in his blue recliner.

The Homer Spit in Kachemak Bay where the harbor was.

Captain Weldon took us on many early morning adventures.

Doing what he did best.

The harbor.

Captain Weldon’s “Dear America” (part of a larger photo project we did across North America)

Washington Boro Creative Bazaar Spectacular!

We are WAY behind on keeping this thing up to date with where we are. We still have many posts about the rest of journey west to Pennsylvania and then north to Maine and back! But in the meantime…. you should just come see us in real life tomorrow night and buy lots of awesome, unique and handmade gifts!  Carrie will have prints from both Alaska and across North America as well as Alaskan pressed flowers, hand painted pillows and terrariums! We have over 10 vendors and it’s at our family farm – DRESS WARM!

This is a private event but feel free to bring friends and family!

Here’s more information (the farm is about 12 min west of Lancaster City): 

A sneak preview of some of the goodies that vendors are bringing:

burlap totes by j.almodovar

Eclectic jewelry by Mattie Horning

Hand sewn cards by Zoe Rohrer

Handmade vintage clutches by Laura Breneman

Fraktur painted boxes by our fantastic uncle, Jim King

Some of Carrie’s goods:

pressed flowers from Alaska

Hand painted deco pillows (this one is an ode to Hunger Games:)

And….one more reason to shop without reservation: 25% of sales will be going to a local Lancaster family with major medical needs. With a father battling advanced stages of cancer and their 1 1/2 year old son fighting major birth defects this family could use some extra love. Find out more about them here:  http://www.facebook.com/MelendezFamily

Sweet little Anthony was born with some very rare and very serious birth defects.

We hope to see you there!

South (of Canada)

On September 20th we packed our things, said our goodbyes, threw Luna into the back of the car, and headed north towards Anchorage. After much discussion we had decided that leaving a little earlier than we planned in order to help out at Carrie’s father’s business would make our lives a little less stressful and lend structure to our wandering lifestyle. It took us 11 days to get back to Lancaster, 11 days spent listening to music, seeing friends, and sometimes just listening to the sound of the road. It was a week and a half of arduous driving I don’t relish doing again anytime soon, but it has left me with a new appreciation of eight-hour roadtrips. “What? Its only eight hours away? I can do that with my eyes shut.” If ever you’re missing a friend or feel disconnected from some far-away loved one just remember that no matter where they are, a 3-inch thick strip of pavement connects you. Yes, even 5,000 miles away, there is little more separating you than a steering wheel, boredom, and $1200 worth of fuel.

The Subaru was loaded to the gills

We drove south through Canada on the Cassiar Highway, a beautiful two-lane road, often shoulder-less, that meanders over Western British Columbia through mountains of Alder, Fir and Birch. We saw as many bears in one hour as we saw cars in one afternoon. We enjoyed meals at restaurants long-forgotten, serving turkey dinners that were as delicious as they were healthy (they were neither.)

Fall foliage

Bear!

One of Luna's many positions

Roadside advertising

Canadian deer

Ansel Adams took this for us

Another place to stretch our legs

What makes those wonderful shadows?

Odd motel room

This went on for a long time

As much as we love America’s Top Hat, we couldn’t wait to get back into the United States to see some friendly faces. Our first patriotic duty was to check voicemails and text messages as we had not had cell service for three or four days. An hour later and cell phones nearly depleted we called up Homer friends Cole and Jason to see where life had taken them. They were staying in Port Townsend, WA for a few weeks so we rolled the tired Subaru back onto the road to head over to the Washington coast for a night. What a great reunion with two old friends and their two new (one coming this winter) additions to their family.

A late-night hurrah

We spend the night in Olympia, WA just a few hours south on route to Salem, OR the following day. Leaving Homer, we were worried about Luna’s ability to weather hours in the backseat of a car; she has been phenomenal. She sleeps or stares out the window with the bored removal of a puppy who has seen more of the world than most adults.

beyond the couch

As we begin to slowly pack up and prepare ourselves to leave Alaska (for now anyway), I’ve been taking the time to reflect on some of the writing I did this summer. Wanted to share a little funny poem I found. It was a good reminder to myself:) Written August 8th, 2011.

Your spirit is on a journey

whether it’s on an office chair,

the couch,

or a monastery in Tibet.

Your spirit is traveling

on the roads you give it.

I think America might not

have an issue with just

obese bodies

& lazy asses,

I doubt our spirits

could get very far

on a mountain either.

Give your spirit a chance

to breathe,

the space to run,

and freedom to move

beyond the couch.

last fire on Diamond Creek Beach

september poppy

Luna's spirit knows how to get beyond the couch:)

sunset over the volcanos

Life as an Alaskan Deckhand

Jake's other girl for the summer, Miss Minmar

I’ve been putting off this post for months now, trying to gather all of the experience and photos I could before explaining what I do up here. Since the beginning of May I’ve been working for Tacklebuster Charters as first mate/deckhand aboard the Miss Minmar. When I first went looking for work back in April, I wasn’t sure exactly what to hope for. Originally I only planned to pick up enough work to pay the bills, leaving me enough time to enjoy this beautiful land we call home for the summer. Of course, I thought, I couldn’t come to Alaska and not do some fishing. I started walking the docks every day asking anyone and everyone if they were looking for help. I quickly discovered that I was far too early to find work on a charter boat; “Man, the season doesn’t start for another month,” was a common response.

One morning I called Tacklebuster Charters. Someone picked up.

“Are you looking for a deckhand this summer?” I asked.

“Have you deckhanded before?” the deep voice on the other end of the line said.

“Not at all. “

“Have you filleted before?”

“No.”

“Have you fished halibut before?”

“No.”

“Well, that could be good or it could be bad. Come down to my office tomorrow morning.”

Working on the Minmar

And that was how it began. On my first day, Captain Weldon told me to go out to his boat (it was dry-docked in front of his office) and look around, try to familiarize myself with the vessel. I did that for a half an hour then came back inside. The next six hours we sat in his office as two dozen people meandered in and out during the day, some swearing the coast guard up and down, some swearing the city up and down, but most of them just swearing up and down. It turns out that the stereotypical fisherman (swearing, boot-wearing, bearded ruffians) that you’ve seen in movies/books/television is true to life. I’m fascinated by these characters.

Captain Weldon at the helm.

Captain Weldon has turned out to be a wonderful employer, friend, and grandfather-esque figure. He’s always laid back and quick to joke around. I’ve seen him put butter on Poptarts, pork chops and and salt on fried chicken. Weldon only has two fingers on his left hand. For months I heard him tell our customers dozens of stories about how they had been lost (fish, sharks, lawnmowers, etc) before he revealed the truth to me. I’ll leave it up to him to reveal his secret. While most Captains actively help the customers fish on the back deck, Weldon informed me early on that I would be on my own. “I drive the boat to the fish, then its your show,” he told me during my second week of work. Weldon is 68 years old and probably a little burnt out on teaching unruly customers how to catch a fish.

Jeff's the man.

Our fishing season got off to a slow start. I spent my first month (May) doing boat maintenance and painting Weldon’s office. We started taking customers out in June as the tourism season kicked off in Homer. One of Weldon’s old deckhands, Jeff, stopped in for two weeks to teach me how to deckhand. I was completely overwhelmed by the prospect of 14 drunk fishermen on the back of our 41 foot boat. While most boats out of Homer carry no more than six customers, known as a six-pack, we carry up to 14, although rarely more than 10. I owe the success of my summer to Jeff. A commercial fisherman all of his life, this Kodiak native has fished for crab in the Bering Sea (think Deadliest Catch) as both a deckhand and captain, owns his own purse-saner for commercial salmon fishing, and is an all-around salty dog. After a few weeks of teaching me how to fish, how to do engine work on the boat, and how to survive a summer of deckhanding, Jeff was drawn back to Kodiak by soaring salmon prices and a bumper salmon run. Thanks for everything Jeff.

My average day since June looks like this:

Some serious tackle for some serious fish.

I don't know if we kept that one or not.

Filleting a halibut is both fun and exciting

This is what our clients generally look like at the end of the day

5:20 alarm and off to the harbor to pick up bait and get the boat in order before customers show up. Ride out 25-40 miles depending on weather and our fish-hunting prowess/desire. Fish most of the day. I teach, bait, entertain, and ultimately make or break the day for these fishermen. I love it–usually. It took me close to a month to become totally comfortable with the work but now I thrill in molding these tourists/would-be fishermen into halbut-slayers. And we have a GREAT time doing it. Plus the tips are outstanding.

Giving the morning fishing lesson. Rarely is this enough instruction

Paul Keagy came along; he was an outstanding fisherman!

The fish go in the fish box

I went about 30 days without a day off before I was able to sleep in. Weldon and I looked like we walked off the set of Dawn of the Dead every morning and I usually had to ask Carrie how our evening movies ended.

45+ pounds if I had to guess

Here’s some video of filleting on the back of the boat. It took me a while to get up to this speed; its kind of fun. I get some odd looks at times because my knife choice is unconventional. Most guys use a flexible, straight fillet knife while I use a very stiff, curved knife.

Drying out the xtratufs!

While Homer is known as the Halibut Capital of the world, the average fish size has been declining for the past five years. While big fish still come in (the current 2011 record holder is 350 pounds) they have more rare as the Cook Inlet becomes more and more commercially overfished. Ten years ago, Weldon tells me, it was rare that he went two days without catching a 100 pound fish; we haven’t caught one over 100 this year. But the few 80 pound monsters that we have caught are a sight to see. Because they can be a danger to our passengers when pulled in the boat, Weldon shoots any fish over 75 pounds with a .410 shotgun; its a heart-pounding few moments. At the same instant that Weldon shoots the fish in the head (the fish is laying just below the surface of the water alongside the boat) I harpoon it behind the head. The harpoon is tied to a buoy with 25 feet of rope attaching it to the boat. When the fish is shot they usually take off for the bottom; the buoy gives them some resistance and they can’t escape because they’re tied to the boat. Here’s a monster halibut.

A 500 pound halibut caught in the Cook Inlet. We did not take this photo

Luna Athena Joy Zippy of Alaska

Her first week in our little hillside community.

We were not looking for her – but here she is. We were not planning for her – and here she is. I remember (a whole month ago) just finishing cleaning a cabin bathroom floor with a wet wipe and getting up to walk outside. I hear Kim call from outside, “Carrie, have you met Athena?”. I walk slowly around the corner, ready to greet some flower child grandmother, and lo, here comes the most beautiful little black puppy bounding at me. In that exact moment something shifted in me. Yes, yes we all love puppies. Yes, we all want them. The thing is I thought she already had a permanent home and yet I felt this stirring, this connection, this countdown start. You see, a few weeks before someone had offered us a free black lab puppy in passing. When we followed up on it, they decided it was no longer free. We took that as a sign and let the puppy sail off to Kodiak for another home. Were we ‘ready’ for a puppy? No. At least we didn’t think so. Were we open to new adventures that came upon us? We were really trying to be. Now, a few weeks later, here is this Athena, running around our hillside with a big bear bell hanging from her neck.

She first started with two men who were homeless, living behind the local grocery store. Our landlord picked them up and offered them a work trade to live/work on our hill. They took it and brought Athena with them. During the day they worked, so they left her with Ann and Steve, a very sweet older couple from New Hampshire that were also staying on the hill for work trade for a month while traveling. The rest gets a bit confusing and spreads out over the month. Here’s the quick version:

1. The two guys get work on Kodiak, salmon fishing, and decide they can’t take the dog.

2. Ann and Steve are not sure if they are up for it and offer her to the Girls (the property managers, CJ and Kim)

The bear bell. Really better for finding her in the weeds.

The Girls take her for her first bath.

3. The girls ask if she can stay with us while they puppy proof their house, they also change her name to Luna (which I love)

4. Luna sleeps a night with us and does AWESOME. Sleeps in her crate all night and only goes to the bathroom outside!

Luna sleeps over in the yurt.

5. We take Luna to the beach for our friend Jason’s birthday. She does amazing off leash. Jason and Cole also fall in love with her (like we slowly are).

We all love Luna:)

oh my heart - she is special.

She barked at the waves that night.

Awesome off leash hiking buddy. (both of them:)

6. The Girls keep Luna for a night.

7. The next morning they offer her to me, after finding out the place they were moving wouldn’t allow more than 2 pets (they have 2 cats).

8. I call Cole and talk about it with her and ask if they are interested in case Jake says no. They are but also want us to have her. I’m really excited.

9. I go pick up Luna from Ann and Steve (they watch her while we clean)

10. Ann doesn’t know the girls gave her to me, so she confides in me, confessing she wants to keep the puppy, even though it might make the girls sad. I tell her they offered her to me – my only concern was that her and Steve might want her – so I give her back. Ann changes her name to Zippy and buys her a crate for $100 from the girls.

11. I’m sad….but of course life will be easier without  a puppy so I rationalize away and try to detach myself.

12. Ann puts the names “Athena”, “Luna” and “Zippy”  in  a hat and lets the puppy pick. She picks Athena so now it’s back to that.

13. Ann and Steve get ready to continue their travels. A few days before they call me and ask if we are still interested. They don’t think they have enough energy or discipline for Athena.

14. Oh my.

15. Jake is on the fence. I’m sold. We hang out with her on the beach and with Jason and Cole – trying to figure out which of us couples should end up with her. They also aren’t 100% that they can have here where they are moving to in Washington. We change her name back to Luna – it’s so much easier to say (and we like it better). She doesn’t seem to mind as it sounds a lot like Athena.

16. Cole has a good talk with me about fate and the unexpected and reassures me that our life isn’t over if we end up with Luna.

16. Cole and Jason plan to come meet Ann and Steve and take her for the night. But then, schedules clash and it doesn’t work out. Jake in the meantime is slowly changing his mind.

17. The next day Ann and Steve bring her over and say they are officially giving us to her and feel at peace about it. If we choose to give her away again that is up to us. They give us her crate, tons of food, toys, leashes and food bowls. They will not take a cent for this.

18. I tell Ann to please pick out a photo block at least. She chooses one of the harbor to take home with them to New Hampshire. So we got a puppy and all the trimmings in exchange for one photo. Good deal.

19. We keep her for the night and tell Cole and Jason we’ll decide in the next few days.

20. It doesn’t take long. I’m decided. Jake is melting into a puppy loving pile. I know what his answer is when he includes her in our breakfast prayer.

Falling fast.

He's so good with her. I think she loves him most:)

21. I keep seeing black labs everywhere I go, on everything, in every yard, everywhere. I’m sitting on the toilet in one of the empty cabins and look up and read the art on the wall. “To find joy, follow your heart”. Jake and I take the plunge.

22. Immediate feeling of peace. The roller coaster is over for now. We skype with my folks and brother and they are swooning. Mom says we should make her middle name “Joy” like mine. Luna adds an immediate spring to our step and a sweet new room to our hearts.

23. We adore her.

24. We took her to the vet and she is HEALTHY. The Dr. even couldn’t get over how good she was. And soft. And sweet. She didn’t even respond to getting her rabies shot.

25. We’re getting to know each other better. She loves chomping on driftwood and seashells, is getting braver around the waves, would play with big dogs all day long if she could, thinks she is a lap dog, will test you and test you and test you again, listens extremely well for her age, is 9-12 weeks old, prefers a tennis ball, LOVES weeds, can’t get enough touches in the morning, is part husky, is already house trained and crate trained, and is just a very very special little girl.

NOW WHAT???

Well, our future plans are still fuzzy. We don’t know what’s next for us yet. All that we know is Luna is part of the plans right now. Either we are her forever owners or we are a conduit for her to get back to Pennsylvania to a wonderful family. Whatever it is, it feels right. Scary, but right. This means we probably won’t get to go to Hawaii this fall. But really, we don’t even care. Weird, right?

After a full out dive into very wet weeds.

Her favorite.

We often think of GOING places when we think of new adventures and opening our lives up. But be aware, really, its the unexpected that comes and jumps in, something that you never knew you would need or that you were missing. What comes for you might not be in the form of a free for all tromp around islands. It might come in the shape of a homeless little black lab/husky mix.

Luna is a MAGNET for new friends.

She's keeping us young.

Adventure on.

and then there were 3 in the yurt:)

Homer Street Faire

Alaskan photo blocks for the faire!

In two weeks is a little event in Homer that Cole and I decided to be a part of. The Homer Street Faire! Cole is working away at making fantastic feather earrings (even using turkey feathers). I just received a massive order of square prints and Jake and I cut a ton of wood blocks to sell these little bad boys – all shot in Alaska. We will also be selling Bead for Life at our table (separately) – funky and bright bracelets/necklaces/earrings made by women in Uganda (monies go back to them). Cole and I are having fun finding tables and display type things  - we really hope to stumble upon a pop tent as this event is rain or shine. We are calling our little booth of bright lovelies “This Brilliant Earth” (so if you are in Homer look for us!). If the prints don’t sell here in Homer we will bring them back to Lancaster/Goshen in November/December and folks back home can purchase any if they want – otherwise we will just have to make an Alaskan wall part of our future home someday:)

All photos from in or around Homer.

Doesn't this look like a fun event?

Midnight Sun

The sun is up and it could be midnight. That’s just the way it is in the summers in Alaska. Summer solstice has passed so at least the days will stop getting longer. It was odd at first (especially when we were having a hard time blocking the sunlight out of our yurt at night) but now we love having all this daytime. We often hit 10pm and decide to go on a spontaneous hike down a bluff or into the woods. I thought I would miss night time more than I actually do – I think this is because we now fake night time – covering the sunroof and windows when we finally decide to go to bed. It does still get darker – like an early early morning dusk – so camping is even ok for sleeping (unless bears keep you up all night – we’ll post on that later).

With all the sun we’ve been staying up and a few nights we’ve taken to writing spontaneous songs. The following is one of those – written very fast and randomly with Jake on the guitar. Hope you enjoy! All the lyrics are based on simple little experiences we’ve had here:)

 

Thanks to Kate Baer for uploading this on youtube for us due to our low internet connections:)

Alaska+Yurt= Adventure

and there she is folks!

Welcome to life in a 16ft circle. For the most part it’s glorious (for a summer at least). There are many days I am so thankful to have this experience. It’s showing us that yes, we can live (and thrive) simply. We have no bathroom or kitchen. It’s one open room with a deck (bonus!). Fortunately we live on a gorgeous and private hill overlooking Kachemak Bay, 7 glaciers and even a volcano. There is plenty of room to run around outside, a greenhouse to tend to and our little deck garden. In exchange for our housing this summer, we help clean luxurious rental cabins in Homer, Alaska. There are bears, moose, whales, porcupines and eagles to watch (and beware of) on any given day. And a cute little black cat named Whisper as well as a frequent visitor, Bandit the dog. Living in a yurt is NOT easy but it’s an adventure – and that’s what we were after. Jake and I decided we could live in one more long term if it was a bit bigger and we put in a little bathroom/kitchen, maybe lofted the bed and had more room to entertain.

Our view of the volcano

Fish tacos and Balderdash with Cole and Jason (the bed played the role of a bench so we had enough seats)

16ft across

Having a deck makes a huge difference.

this is what happens when you buy rain boots at target.

Doing the dishes is quite the event.

PROS:

- Fun and interesting

- we are always in the same room

- forces us to be creative on a daily basis

- great scenery

- using less water, energy, etc.

- warms up very quickly

- homey and cozy

- we have a great excuse to grill out every night

CONS:

- no shower, real toilet or hot water.

- emptying a 5 gallon bucket every day

- we are always in the same room:) ie: Jake gets up earlier than me so now I wear earplugs so I have a harder time hearing him eat 3 bowls of cereal every single morning.

- spiders (we got used to one living up in our skylight for awhile (Freddie) until he started spreading his webs further down into the yurt.) Jake doesn’t mind spiders.

- hard to entertain (especially without a bathroom)

Freddie the Spider is now outdoors due to overstepping his skylight boundaries.

Jake trying to make our sink/counter with limited supplies.

Poor Jakie.

Finished sink/counter!

Our little muffin/brownie/roll maker!

DETAILS:

So far we have a bunk bed (a full mattress on the bottom and a twin up top), a table and two chairs, a mini-fridge, and rigged up sink/counter, an rv toilet (only used for number 1!), a ‘closet’ and lots of shelves we made out of wood we’ve been finding. We also have a microwave, hot dish, rice steamer and a mini muffin maker (all oven-less folks should get this!). We can use cabins that are empty (between guests) for showers and I can also use the ovens for baking bread. We have a hose of freezing water that Jake connected to a sink. The water empties into a 5-gallon bucket which we then empty once or twice a day. This method is fairly primitive and makes cleaning dishes an even more hated chore, but it does help you conserve water like never before!

We struck gold by being located on a property where we can use certain amenities that normally wouldn’t be available to small yurt dwellers. Showers and laundry!

Showers: 

Oh the luxury of having a shower in your home! Do you know how lucky you are right now? We are at the mercy of an empty cabin. There have been several days where ALL the cabins are occupied and so we are outta luck. Fortunately Jake thinks he can use one in the harbor. I, on the other hand do not have this option…

Laundry:

We trek down through a little canyon to reach the other side of the property where the office and greenhouse are. We are free to do laundry in the office! This is great. The funny thing is that sometimes we walk along the highway a short distance instead of cutting through the canyon. We probably look pretty great lugging our bag of laundry along the main road into Homer. I’m surprised no one has offered to pick us up yet since it  looks like we’re trying to walk the two miles to town!

The greenhouse I take care of

We have more time to read, write, sing, paint, grow things....

Getting creative with the grill.

fisheye view of the land, hammock and yurt in harmony. and some hanging arugula!

We made a velcro cover for the skylight at night so we could sleep in darkness.

Having a hammock makes any space a living room.

Skylight lighting - maybe we should make the yurt a photo studio with all the natural lighting!

Would we live in this yurt for years? No, but it makes for an outstanding summer adventure and has opened our eyes to the reality of small-footprint living. Jake has been fascinated with sustainable homes for quite some time now; this summer allows us to do a run-through before we commit to living tiny elsewhere.

‘Til next time.