In the meantime, I will regale (some might say bore) my readers with tales of woe from Alaska.
Like much of our country over the past year, Alaska has been beset by very unusual weather which has created major difficulty for us.
This included a very warm dry spring with ferocious forest fires very close to Fairbanks/North Pole area for the months of June and July, blanketing us in thick smoke with visibilities down to as low 100 yards in early July. This persisted, closing off any planned travel in my airplane for those months since the entire Upper Yukon Valley was closed to general aviation with more than 11 fires burning in the Chalkyitsik area near the Canada border alone and the Ft. Yukon Airport closed to all traffic for several days. Then around the 1st of August came rain rain and more rain - putting out the fires (a good thing!) but again interfering with air travel and making the trail to my cabin impassable with muck.
Several items of good news:
First, is that Jud had the use of a friend's backhoe for a few weeks and was able to accomplish several major projects at his farm that had been planned but unfinished for many years.
Second, Jesse, Jud and I were able to attend the CLA in Lexington at the unveiling of the Anniversary Raffle Rifle that Jud, Jesse and Seth prepared as a family project for the big 25th anniversary of the CLA. We are looking forward to the next CLA in late October which is a much better time for Alaskans since we don't like to leave Alaska during our brief but usually splendid summer!
This is my runway. 1200 hundred feet long and the smoke obscures the end!
