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If I were to write you a letter, old friend, this is what I'd say . . .
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Yesterday's high was 71 and it was still 61 degrees at midnight. As I was watching the U.S. weather report, I noticed that the high in San Francisco was only 68 yesterday.
Saturday, August 18, 2001
Did you know that Jeffries Restaurant went out of business? It's reopened under new management.
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
In spite of the rain, we have a great time at the fair. First thing I want to do is take a photo of the winning cabbage which had weighed in at 57 1/2 pounds.
The highlight of the fair for me is the quilt show. Over 100 quilts are displayed one at a time while the presenter reads background information supplied by the quilter. While I watch the quilt presentation, Keith follows the loud sounds from the west of the fairgrounds to the mud-bogging competition.
The theme of the fair is "A Fair Oddity" and is based on the tradition that the weather is always rainy during the fair. An oddity would be to see the sun; so a large sun with a happy face is the symbol for this year's fair. A sand sculpture is built with the fair's sun-face theme sculpted into the side of it.
A couple of stops at food booths fill our tummies with a hamburger (no bun for me), orange juice, home-style French fries, a Greek burrito, and a cup of coffee for Keith.
Crafts booths are everywhere. Inside one tent we look at wood working; and in the large exhibition hall, we see the competitive arts and crafts exhibits. My energy runs out before the exhibits do, but not before I manage to fill my bag with goodies, including two autographed Tundra Comic books. Chad Carpenter even consents to having me take his photo. I hope it turns out.
As we head back to the car, we see a man impressing his girlfriend by paying the fifty dollars to ride this giant sling shot. I'm quite impressed already with my man, our feet firmly on the ground.
Saturday, August 11, 2001
Today is the last day of the fair. You might have known it would rain. Keith and are are going right now.
Monday, August 06, 2001
Keith went out to the airport on Friday night looking for Lisa and Fred. He didn't know which plane they were coming on, but she had said they would arrive around 11 p.m. Keith got home around 1 a.m. He watched two planes unload at the same time. He walked up to one woman, and asked, "Are you Lisa?" and she said, no.
I woke up at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. I worked on my webpage, but I didn't get on the Net. It's a good thing, too, because Lisa called around 7 a.m. They took an earlier flight and got into Fairbanks at 9 p.m. instead of 11. She tried to call but she got a busy signal. I was probably on the Net.
We picked them up at River's Edge Resort at noon and we went to the Pump House for lunch. We had the buffet, baked chicken in tomato and basil sauce, halibut, shrimp, salad, and a yummy-smelling blueberry cobbler (which I couldn't have!). I had hoped to have a New York steak, but they don't serve steaks for lunch.
Then we went to Alaskaland. The weather was beautiful, with blue sky and big fluffy white clouds. After we shopped in the log cabins and visited the Kitty Hensley house, we went to the Big Stampede show in Pioneer's Hall. It's a presentation of Rusty Heurlin oil paintings that tell the account of the Gold Rush of 1898.
After the show, Lisa and Fred were wanted to rest before they went to dinner with some local residents, so we took them back to their cabin at River's Edge. I went home and went to bed. I was asleep before 7:30 p.m.
Sunday Keith picked them up at 1 p.m. and they came over to our house for lunch. We spent the afternoon visiting, sharing photos, and catching up. I hadn't seen Lisa since Todd was eight months old. Keith hadn't seen Lisa since his Dad died. Neither one of us had ever met Fred. Lisa and Fred have been traveling all over the world since they got married. Fred had a lot of stories to tell us about their band trip to Germany, visiting the Vatican in Italy, and their cruise around Cape Horn. We talked about going to Australia next year.
Before we took them back to their cabin, we stopped at Fred Meyer to do some shopping. Lisa and Fred wanted to get some sandwiches to eat when they get to Denali Park. They left on the Alaska Railroad this morning and will be in Denali for a couple of nights before continuing south on the train. The cruise ship leaves out of Seward and takes the inside passage to Vancouver, B.C., Canada. From Vancourver they will fly back to El Paso.
I don't know how they keep up such a pace. I only spent two days with them, and I'm exhausted!
Friday, August 03, 2001
Keith wants to go to the Fair tonight. I woke up at 3 a.m. and I've been up all day. I don't think I can stay awake much longer.
Thursday, August 02, 2001
The Tanana Valley Fair starts this week. It's been raining a lot.
bye
Diary began on March 18, 2001
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