back to the north again

We are home again in Sleetmute, and Julia has the flu. This is the first time she's gotten anything like that, so we are getting another lesson in parenting. She's still so cheerful. I'm never that happy when I'm sick. We had a wonderful last couple days in Oregon. The weather turned lovely enough to open the back door and let Julia explore the yard. Our family friend Daniel came by and Julia liked that. We had a pretty uneventful train ride up to Seattle and stayed two nights with Dave's folks. My sister Caroline came up too, so we got to have a little more time together as well. Grandpa Dave drove us to the airport on monday, and Julia did quite well on the flight to Anchorage. Two naps and no long crying jags! We got a hotel room for that night, and took taxis to the grocery store to fill a plastic tub full of dairy and produce. The following morning, we got onto a flight to Sleetmute, changing planes in Aniak. It was a longer flight since Aniak is farther west than Sleetmute, but I had a flight to use up with ERA (we booked our initial flight with ERA, then switched to a bush pilot so we could take more stuff.) But Julia did wonderfully, sleeping both flights. We arrived in one piece, and I was pretty happy to be done traveling for awhile. I've been busy re-organizing the house and washing all our clothes, and I've been working on getting my Etsy shop set up. Etsy is a website that lets small time artists and crafters sell items online. It's a great way to shop for local and handmade art. Here's the link to my storefront if you are curious

http://www.etsy.com/shop/marystar

Julia and Daniel Lund

Julia and Daniel Lund and Loki

Julia loved the beautiful Oregon weather that let her play in the grass

Julia and Grandpoppa Jack, right before we said goodbye and got on the train to Seattle

Olaf and Loki, Grandpoppa Jack, Grandmomma Dawn and Julia

Grandma Gini and Julia giggling on the couch

Auntie Caroline giving Julia a bath in the sink

Me and my baby

Julia and Grandpa Dave

Home again, playing with her christmas blocks

Helping Dad make pancakes

To the ocean and back

After a brief few days in Oregon, Julia and I hopped back on the train to the uncharted territory of Santa Barbra, California. I was hopeful that the train ride would result in glorious ocean views, but unfortunately night came upon us before we reached the ocean. We did see some lovely views in northern California though, and it was fun to see things like palm trees and cacti popping up along the way.  We had the pleasure of a sleeping car on the way down again, so it was a very pleasant ride. I met a woman with a 10 month old baby and we got seated at the same table for dinner. We talked each other's ears off all the way until our destination, swapping baby and birth and life stories. I'm not a naturally gregarious person, so when I have a random interaction like that, I really find it amazing. Our purpose in heading this far south was to visit our Holden friends, the Meitzkes. They showed Julia and I a wonderful side of California. Apparently three months of bad weather decided to lift just in time for us to arrive. We walked on beaches, saw starfish the size of a cocker spaniel and saw dolphins swimming in the ocean. We walked through parks full of green and sunshine, and walked through art, the booths stretching for blocks upon blocks. We drove through picturesque mountains and incredibly wealthy neighborhoods, dreaming about what we would do with a house that big and lovely. (Invite everyone we know to live in yurts scattered along the property, open the world's biggest cat sanctuary, ect.) We ate in restaurants! (A big deal when you live in a village of 100 in Alaska.) Julia ate sand and crawled on grass. She lurched from side to side in her backpack, trying to see everything.  We took Jasper, the dog everywhere (he barks when left at home) and took the cats and baby on walks in strollers and slings. And we conversed, about so many things.

And all too soon it was time to go north again, coach class. It was with great reluctance that I left the sunshine and beaches of southern California. I did get my incredible ocean vistas on the train ride north though. Miles and miles of beaches with hardly a soul to be seen on them. My secret to traveling on the train with a baby is to request the lower level seating. It has way less traffic than the upper level seating area, so Julia can crawl around and explore in a safer, more enclosed setting. And we got the seat against the wall of the car, so we were able to make a little nest of blankets and curl up on the floor for the night. It wasn't luxury, but it was ok. Now we are back in Oregon again, enjoying the last days of my extended vacation. In a few days I begin the final leg of this journey, back to the far north. 

Uncle Joe

Uncle Olaf

Lunch with Grandpoppa Jack and Great Granny Helen

Discovering the basket of dominos

Discovering a bulldozer

And she finally let me get a picture of the new top teeth!

Oregon Again

 Well, we are back at my folks place and I am glad of it. I go back and forth about if I think train travel is easier than flying. The train is much more humane about security and it is so nice to be able to walk about freely, but after two nights and two days, I am really glad to be done with it. We had to change trains in Portland, with a 4 hour layover, so we stored our carry-ons and walked around. We spent some time in Powells Bookstore, and had dinner at a noodle place before walking back to the station along the river. The final leg of the journey went fairly smoothly, but we got in about midnight, and I was pretty happy to fall into a bed on solid ground.

Noodles are one of Julia's favorite foods these days.

We got up late this morning, and barely made it to church on time. It was only the second or third time I've been to my folk's church, Klamath Lutheran, and it was nice to be there.

Julia throughly enjoyed herself at the children's sermon

Grandpoppa Jack and Julia

Uncle Olaf gives Julia a bath

The rest of the day was wiled away sorting all the baggage and doing laundry (me) and taking several short naps. (Julia) She seems to remember it here, and is pretty comfortable in her puttering around. She has learned how to deal with a small step down. I've seen her sort of sit back and scoot her feet over, then lean forward to crawl again and I've also seen her hold onto the door frame and step down. She doesn't seem to get going backwards down a lot of stairs, but it does seem that she's starting to develop awareness of edges and drops. She hasn't fallen off a bed in quite some time. No progress on the walking yet, but with two more teeth coming in and a new place to sleep every night I'm not surprised. She's a big fan of Loki, the dog. She was a big fan of every dog we met on this trip. She was a fan of the cats too, but they mostly stayed far away from her.