JUL 13, 14 .. TIME FOR A SHORT ' ROAD TRIP ' ..

I WILL BE TOTALLY 'OFF-LINE' FOR THE NEXT WEEK .. because ..

 

Later today .. Sunday the 13th of July 2014 .. Patti and I are going to drive North from Anchorage Alaska to Manley Hot Springs Alaska.  We will stay at our cabin (front, side and rear views below) until Saturday the 19th. Our 'plan' is to then drive back South through Fairbanks to Anchorage Alaska arriving on Sunday the 20th.

 

And ?? We will be 'off-line' because we do NOT have internet-access up in the rural interior of Alaska. 

 

 

 

The trip-North consists of two individual 'legs'.

First the two-of-us will drive North from Anchorage Alaska to Fairbanks Alaska .. about 375 miles (625 Km).  We will stay-the-night in Fairbanks to rest and visit friends.

Then we will drive from Fairbanks Alaska to Manley Hot Springs Alaska .. about 160 miles (270 Km).

Below are a few photos of Manley Hot Springs. 

The small village of approximately 100 people is divided by a small river (we call it a slough).  Below is the bridge across the slough.



OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN ! ..

You have GOT-TO snap some summer photographs this trip! Your wonderful friends over in India (Hi Jeevan, Raj, Shivam, Johnson and the rest-of-you!) will actually think that we have SNOW in the month of July!

We have a wonderful Road House where guests can stay and enjoy a nice meal.

A close-up photo of the mural on the side of the Road House.

 

We have a wonderful church to Worship The Lord ..



 Can you all see our Church-Bell up in the Bell-Tower?

 

We have 'running-water' here in our village.  We 'run-up-to-the-well-house' where water is pumped-up from underground.

 

Straight ahead in the below photo ..  behind our Chevrolet Suburban truck .. you can see the blue-water-hose that delivers water to our 'water-jugs'. 

 

Below is a closer view of the blue-water-hose affixed to a blue water-jug.  You can see the electrical switch that activates the flow of water from the well-house.

 

 

After we fill our 'water-jugs' with water from the well-house .. we then fill-our-vehicles with the full 'water-jugs'. 

 

We 'stash' our full water-jugs inside of .. and outside of .. our vehicles and then haul them back to our cabins.

 

"Thank You for asking 'Zilla!"  I have ten (10) .. five gallon capacity .. water-jugs and four (4) five gallon capacity white water buckets.  You can see one of the white buckets between the blue water-jugs below as they rest on the rear of my truck.

 

When we get the water-jugs back to our cabins .. the process of storing the water in our cabins begins!  Do you all see the blue water-jugs on the porch of our cabin?  One of the white water buckets is to the left beside the porch at ground level.

Dispensing the water is quite a project!  I empty the water from the five gallon water-jugs into one-gallon and 3/4-gallon jugs.  The small jugs are much easier to handle inside the cabin.

"Yes 'Zilla?" .. "Some of the one-gallon jugs are numbered (1-32 actually) because I will methodically rotate their use through a complete cycle allowing the water to thoroughly settle.  There will be some sediment (minerals) in the water from the well-house that I avoid drinking."

I filter all of my drinking water through Brita brand water filters. 

First I pour the water into one-gallon plastic pitchers.

OH YES !  THIS IS A PROJECT !

 

I fill several of the plastic pitchers at a time .. then I empty them into the white one-gallon and 3/4-gallon jugs.



Each five-gallon water-jug weighs about 41-pounds.  Each one-gallon pitcher weighs about 8.33-pounds.  You lift the five-gallon jugs up-into the truck and position them.  You then take them out out of the truck and position them on the porch.  You hold them up while emptying them into the one-gallon pitchers.  Then you pour the pitchers into the one-gallon jugs.  You lift them up and carry them into the cabin.  Then you position them in the cabin.
 

WHEW .. a lot of WORK ! I need a nap !

By-The-Way .. I also have a second system for storing water in the cabin.

I have two (2) .. 32-gallon .. plastic Rubbermaid trash containers.  I will fill each of them to capacity thus adding an additional 64-gallons of water storage capacity for the cabin.  During the heart-of-winter I can store 140-gallons of water inside the cabin.  I will use from two to three gallons of water per day.  This means I do not have to start my truck and make a 'water-run' very often during the winter.

I also generate snow-melt-water during the winter.  So basically once I 'water-up' in the late autumn I NEVER have to make a water-run until spring!  I can easily generate 5 to 10 gallons of snow-melt water a day in the winter.

WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS A REAL LIFE-STYLE.  It is not for everyone.  Try losing-your-heat for a month when it is fifty degrees below zero.    

As I work away at my water project on the front porch of the cabin .. I have some 'local friends' who keep-me-company!

I know them as 'spruce geese' and let-me-tell-you ..

They are SASSY! 

They come-right-up-to-me .. they look up and they 'eye-me' .. and think to themselves .. "Dad! What  are YOU doing here on OUR land!?" ..

"OK Dad .. I have got to get back to my dinner .. have fun with your water project Dad!"

OH YES there is more .. much much more .. but I have got to get packing and I will have to save some photos for later.

We will see you in a week-or-so.  For our travel schedule go over to .. babakaps.net .. and click onto the TRAVEL PLANS button at the top of .. Baba Kaps Doxology ..

Over and out for now .. Cap and Patti ..

JUL 10, 14 .. WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS ??

"Well 'Zilla .. what-on-earth is this 'rig'?" 

"I KNOW that it is half-of-a-pickup-truck 'Zilla!  But what on earth is it for?"

O.K. I will start very basic here my friends.  What do we have below?

FANTASTIC !  Above is a FLOAT PLANE .. and in the far distance (in the above photo) to the left under its wing is another FLOAT PLANE.  See it back there?

AND below we have another FLOAT PLANE.

 
O.K. .. being FLOAT PLANES they all have .. taa-daa .. are you all ready here?  They all have ..

FLOATS ..

And the floats are removeable .. the floats come-off the FLOAT PLANES and then said FLOAT PLANES become ..

BUSH PLANES ..

And now .. taa-daa .. here is the answer to what-on-earth is the 'rig' at the top of this post!

The floats MUST be removed and the floats must be moved around .. and ..

VOILA !  Below is our answer !

I do NOT know the proper name for this 'rig' .. so I will just call it a 'Float Mover' ..

OH YES !  YES SIR !  The above 'rig' has many MANY relatives !

"What's that 'Zilla?"

"NIFTY!"

I thought so too!  For you see .. until a few days ago .. I myself had never-in-my-life seen these 'rigs'.

Now you all know .. THE REST OF THE STORY ..

With Joy .. Cap ..

On a more quiet note .. 'Zilla is experiencing some real health challenges right now .. so any of your prayers sent his way will be appreciated. 

JUL 3, 14 .. TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME !

HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA .. we have many sports.  One of our MAJOR SPORTS is the game we call .. BASEBALL ..

 

For my foreign readers .. I will not even attempt here to explain the game.  'Google' the word .. baseball .. and you will find more-than-you-will-ever-need-to-know about baseball !

OUR BASEBALL has a history spanning over one century in length.  We have a SONG that we love to sing during the 7th inning of games.

'Clearing-my-throat' .. here I go!'

"Take me out to the ball game .. Take me out with the crowd .. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack .. I don't care if I never get back! .. Let me root-root-root for the home team .. If they don't win its a shame .. For it's one .. two .. three .. strikes you're out .. At the old ball game !"

Here in Anchorage Alaska in the United States of America we have a baseball team named the 'Glacier Pilots'!  Thanks to our friend 'Skip' .. last night we went out to our local baseball park .. Mulcahy Stadium .. and watched our 'Glacier Pilots' play a full .. nine inning .. baseball game.

The below photo shows what real Glacier Pilots actually fly .. they fly bush planes.  BUT when flying to glaciers the bush planes have skis NOT floats .. but you get-the-idea!

"Yes 'Zilla?" .. "Yes my friend .. you can 'Google' .. www.glacierpilots.com .. and learn much more about our team !" ..

First .. to get into the baseball park .. you must have a ticket !

THANK YOU SO MUCH 'SKIP' !

  
So here-we-go with some photos of a 'Glacier Pilots' baseball game.

First a photo or two of Mulcahy Stadium with no players upon the playing field.

All of our sporting events begin with our National Anthem!  All of the players below are standing-at-attention before the game begins.  The fans are singing the National Anthem.

And .. 'away-we-go' with some photos of the game Patti and I attended.

Now .. if-you-will .. carefully 'study' the extreme left-edge of the above photo (NOT the Ben Boeke Arena you see on the right).

In the extreme left distance .. as you look-past the light pole and the batter .. you will see a brown building.  Do you all see it?  

Below is a photo of the above brown building that you see in the far distance on the left edge of the above photo.

Do any of you recognize the below building? The below building is the Sullivan Arena where our Alaska Aces Ice Hockey Team plays its games.

So the Sullivan Arena and the Mulcahy Stadium are next-door-neighbors!
  
Notice if-you-will .. the beautiful scenery Mulcahy Stadium enjoys !

 

 

Now for some more baseball action photos.



 

In baseball .. as-in-life .. you have right-handed batters (above) and left-handed batters (below) ..

Two photos of 'our' Patti .. enjoying the game.  Note that Patti is wearing a light jacket.  Yes! It's cooler here than where many of you are located!

Our host 'Skip' is on Patti's right below.

Below are some photos of Mulcahy Stadium's non-playing areas.  Oh yes .. Anchorage Glacier Pilot's fans love their souvenirs!

The below photos show 'memories' of famous Anchorage Glacier Pilot players.

There are some very famous players shown on the list below!

AND WE WON THE BASEBALL GAME !

With Joy .. Cap and Patti ..

Well Tiger Tom 48067 .. did you actually get all the way down here to the end?  This post was kind-of-for-you my friend !