Today in Talkeetna

The sign that greets you at the top of Main Street.

Today the sun was shining and I needed to go into town since Bucky and Carlisle have a birthday tomorrow.  I visited a gift shop near the welcome sign and took a few pictures to clarify what downtown Talkeetna looks like.  It is alive and bustling this summer, but this morning it was really quiet.  I was greeted with a nice view of Denali as I headed in and the sound of airplanes loaded with flight seers filled the air.

Denali is usually not visible so when the top is seen, cars stop along the highway to take pictures.  The climbing season has ended with I believe 6 deaths.

At Nagley's, you can buy most anything.  It is hooked to the West Rib where Bucky can sit and watch the Yankees!

Looking from the park down Main Street.  Main Street ends at Main Beach where the Susitna, Chulitna and Talkeetna rivers meet. The Alaska Range is directly in front.  It's a very popular spot to photograph the mountains. I went down a few days ago and the water was so high that I could not reach the beach.  Now the water is much lower.

It's been a while......

Our days have been filled with thoughtful and the somewhat tedious steps needed before erecting the frame.  At least a day and a half went into the building of rafters, ( which I don't have a picture of at the moment) and laying out mentally how it all was going to go together.  Once again, how can something so small require so much thought and preparation?  Top this off with reminders from Carlisle of Alaska's ongoing seismic events  and the need for the cabin to withstand these as well as heavy snow loads and extreme cold.  It was exciting to watch Bucky and Carlisle heft the first beam into place which happened a few days ago.  Since then several more posts and beams have been placed making the frame take shape.  To be honest, despite seeing it all laid out on graph paper, I hadn't had a clear picture of what the cabin would actually look like.  I'm now pleased to say that I can visualize it and I like what I see!

the first beam

Working alone can be challenging.

Bucky has yet to build sawhorses, I'm not really sure why, but he spends a lot of time working from the ground which I'm sure hasn't been great on his back.  He now seems to follow a regular regiment of Advil which usually keeps him moving around quite well.  While he builds, I've tried to rake the surrounding land roughed up when the driveway went in.  With so much rain, it often is more mud than soil.  I have transplanted some lupines and spread Arctic grass seed and an Arctic wildflower mix.  I don't have a lot of hope for either, but it felt good to try.  We spent this past Saturday in Wasilla, a 70 mile drive from Talkeetna, and the hub for shopping.  At Lowes, we purchased everything necessary for Bucky to build the pedestal required by the power company before they will hook-up our electricity.  They are very specific about how this pedestal needs to be built and the components that MUST be used.  It seems quite different than home.  We also bought the 265 feet of electrical wire that we will lay ourselves underground from the pedestal to the cabin.  Luckily, we have the help of Pete, an electrician, who lives in the house I showed you with sled dogs.  He has been by twice and is anxious to help Bucky get electricity before we leave in August.  While at Lowes, we compared their price on vinyl windows versus our local hardware store.  It made sense for us to buy our windows while in Wasilla and having Carlisle's truck.  We are anxious to support the local businesses, but in this case the savings was too much to pass up.  So, now we have our windows under another tarp!  We were again reminded of the friendliness of Alaskans after our neighbors, Dennis and Sharon, invited us to come by last night for home brew and dinner.  They brew their own beer which was excellent.  I had a raspberry wheat made with local berries grown by Johnny Baker, who I'll write about later, while Bucky tried the stout, and stout it was, 9% alcohol.  Brewing beer seems very popular here.  Vermont maple syrup made for a good exchange.  Dennis is originally from Schroon Lake, NY.  He and Sharon seem to enjoy life and have lived in a variety of settings, Taos, New Mexico, Prince of Wales, AK, Cheyenne, WY, and Talkeetna.  Their house is now for sale and I asked where to next?  They replied they didn't really know, but would travel around until they decided where to stay for awhile.  Sharon has managed the Sunshine Clinic in Talkeetna for 5 years and is ready to leave, but the two folks who were offered the job, dropped out when they actually came to Alaska.  It's not for everyone!

So, here it is!

Sled Dogs and Beach Boccce

Carlisle often house sits for friends who have built a wonderful home on a small lake outside of town.  They have done all the work themselves and each time we visit, it becomes more lovely.  Reaching the house requires a scenic walk through a bog which is presently in bloom.  Swallows are housed in boxes as are the 20 plus sled dogs used for recreational mushing.  Talkeetna is a desired location for mushers with several Iditarod mushers living here.  Networks of 4 wheeler trails, hiking trails, frozen lakes and rivers make the interior land,so wet now, totally accessible during the frozen winter months.  I always enjoy seeing the dogs and know that their owner gives them the very best care including scooping poop twice a day.  Carlisle enjoys interacting with the dogs, but the hot tub, shower, washer and dryer even more.  Despite these comforts, there is no indoor toilet. 

                                                           On the shores of Surprise Lake

                                                              Noisy neighbors, but so loveable

This is Lucy, my favorite because of her mysterious eyes.

20 hours of daylight allows for quick veggie growth.

Are the skeeters bad?  

Leaving in bright sunlight after a wonder meal of caribou and fresh veggies, I couldn't resist rubbing and then photographing the bog rosemary.

Yesterday, Sunday, was declared a half day of rest and relaxation.  It was hard to tear Bucky away from the cabin, but Carlisle nicely said she would fill in.  We spent the afternoon floating the Susitna River and playing some sandbar, beach bocce with Arthur and Karen Mannix.  Several games occurred on several sandbars.  Bucky's Italian heritage surfaced as he ruled the bocce sands.  He made an immediate comparison of bocce to curling and was able to use his extensive TV viewing of competitive curling to his advantage! It was a fabulous day with not another soul in sight.  Karen brought along a sumptuous meal that tasted oh so good after cooking in the coals.  We walked looking for shed moose antlers dropped during the winter when the river is frozen and the sandbars accessible.  The Susitna is a large glacial fed river and the noise of the silt hitting the bottom of the raft sounded like we were scraping bottom in 30 feet of water.  Karen helped me attach names to the many river blooms.  The sun warmed us and I'm sure we all dozed slightly.  After several rousing games of bocce, using beach tournament rules, it was determined to be a tie game.  Karen was definitely the strength of the girls team.

Awesome vintage RV

critical measurement

tucking one in

Karen wondered if we should throw this delicious looking mushroom on the fire with the rest of our meal.

And yes, there was some drinking involved !

The Cabin

And then there was a floor....

It was our decision to place the cabin on skids rather than on cement pilings.  Our reasoning being that if we decided to move it or sell the property without the cabin we would be able to do so.  Who knows what the future will bring.  We were heartened to hear Artie Mannix remark that we were utilizing the age old AK building strategy of zero permanence.  The amount of back breaking labor that Bucky has committed to and seems to be enjoying is more than I had anticipated when I said so merrily, "Let's build a cabin from the logs on our land."  Knowing me so well, he heard, "Bucky, build a cabin from the logs on our land."

the timbers



the first floor joist



Practicing for the AK summer olympics.

Carlisle was able to purchase an outfitters tent that has been erected as a storage unit and extra sleeping area.  I looked in today and she has it quite cozy. 

rigid foam.

Bucky feels that 2 inches or rigid foam insulation and foam applied to all open areas will be sufficient for the size of our cabin.  Carlisle is encouraging use of additional fiberglass insulation, but at this point, Bucky is sticking with the above.  The floor joists are now all in place with plywood and foam applied.  Bucky is now putting on what will be our finished floor, OSB.  The next step will be erecting the timber frame.  After much deliberation, on my part, we have chosen a colored metal roof (weathered copper) and simple vinyl windows.

                                                                                             Home sweet home !

                                                                                            

The outhouse pit is now dug and awaiting Carlisle's design and building.  I hope to be able to share those photos soon.

  

Is this a mistake?

Is this a mistake?

Bucky, do you think building this cabin is a smart idea ?

Yes, yes, and again yes.  We have had a wonderful time so far.  Knock on the trunks of these birch logs, things will keep going as smoothly as they are now.  And, let's hope Bucky's back holds up.  So far, so good.

            Our new driveway !  The truck sits where our RV will soon park and Bucky is standing where the cabin will sit.

Yesterday, was a busy day at the log yard.  Bucky stayed busy operating the mill while I used the draw bar to peel the  logs on deck.  What a difference there was between peeling the dried slab bark and taking the bark off  these green logs.  It actually was fun with the blade sliding along like a knife through butter.  

                                                                                               What do you mean, you want lunch?

                                                                           

A quick tutorial by Artie and Bucky was off and running or rather sawing.  There was talk of needing a sharper blade.  I hope that wasn't a reaction by the saw to my work.  It was satisfying to see our first timbers appear.  While we focused on our work, Carlisle and Arthur worked with the boom truck arranging and sorting the oak timbers they will soon use on an addition.

And then there were timbers!  The first of many needed for the cabin frame and shed.

Arthur manning the controls.

                                        Artie's right hand girl.

In between the above action, Bucky and I traveled to the hardware store to pick up the long skids on which the cabin will sit.  We took these to the cabin site and will try to place them today and perhaps get started on the floor system.  Bucky cut the floor joists when we first arrived and has them stacked under cover in the log yard..

                                                                          Strong Toyota

Building the cabin !

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The Beginning

It was with great excitement that we watched the driveway push into our small piece of Alaska.  We have spent considerable time in consultation with Carlisle making lists of materials needed and creating a final design for the cabin.  I have heard  that creating objects in miniature is often more difficult than not.  We'll see if our small 12 X !4 foot cabin proves this to be true.  Sam arrived Saturday, as scheduled, and went right to work.  He will return today, Monday, so Sunday was spent working hard to separate the logs he had set aside, some for firewood and others to be hauled to Artie's log yard and put through the mill.  We were interested at the soils encountered as Sam dug, including a layer of frost !

Frost layer

Shallow roots made the trees easy to knock down.  The Boreal forest consists primarily of Birch, Spruce and Poplar.  Our trees are on the older, more fragile side so some needed taking down.  Amazingly, not more than 18" from the surface soil, a layer of gravel is located.  This is typical of this area and some of the reason the root systems are so shallow.  Sam dug gravel and placed it on the drive, making it look like dump trucks had just placed it there.  When the drive is complete, Sam will place the tree trunks and other debris into the holes.  I worked with loppers cutting high bush cranberry and other tangly roots.  We had our rain jackets on and then off as showers passed through.  Cooler temperatures felt good following the hot sun of the past few days.  Carlisle mentioned that I would regret these words and I'm sure I might.

Bug gear, so attractive!

Bucky was happy to find that there were enough birch and spruce logs to take back to the mill for the cabin frame.  We have been fortunate to find either downed trees near the log yard or have trees offered to us making it seem as though we will have plenty of wood.  

Dueling chainsaws.

Carlisle doesn't waste anything.   She worked debarking slab wood for use on the outhouse.

Carlisle is anxious to start building so as soon as the pad is set for the RV, we'll know where to locate the outhouse and she can start digging.  We're excited about putting a sod roof on it.  

Camouflage

Lovely ladies :)