Our U.S. Trip

To think, I have not blogged in two months! We were on a road trip to the States, so here is the big report. Lots of photos, as at times a picture says more than words can. It was a great time, but too much driving for me, what with hauling a trailer. After one week in Boulder, Colorado with Jacob, we flew to Alaska. In Fairbanks, we met up with closest family members for Emily and Luke's Wedding Reception at the Dogmushers Hall. A great time was had by all, followed by two days at Chena Hot Springs resort an hour east of Fairbanks. Two weeks in Minnesota was filled with going through stuff in our storage unit, visiting friends and family, Victor attended 3 days of seminars, Linda drove to Northern MN twice, including the funeral of her 102 yr old aunt. It took us a whole 8 days to get back to our home in Mexico, for we slowed down in Texas and did some shopping at Home Depot and Ikea (that great Swedish store that has everything, nearly).

On the way through Mexico, we took a route new to us, through Chihauhau (just click on each photo for a good enlargement at the website). We then crossed the border west of El Paso, Texas which was very small location with no waiting. In the city of Chihauhau we were lucky to be at the plaza for a giant exhibition of Chihauhau dog sculptures. The city is a focal point for tourism into the Copper Canyon natural wonder, similar to the Grand Canyon. Being fairly close to Texas, this would be a great trip for Texans to make, as the train trip through the canyon is supposed to be spectacular. We met people from the east coast of U.S. in town for a group tour, having flown to El Paso airport, and then traveled by van to Chihauhau to begin their trip.



The Indians in this region are the Tarahumara who can be seen wearing colorful dresses, in the plaza selling their beautiful handmade baskets. They come from a remote area of the mountains and have lived their life in a traditional way for centuries.




Emily and Luke were married July 28 in the wilderness of Alaska on a canoe trip with friends, so the reception was held September 8 in Fairbanks. Closest family members flew up from Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona and Wisconsin for a memory filled evening at the Dogmushers Hall. It was pot luck style, with great brats Luke's parents brought in from Wisconsin. Emily and Luke weren't much into having a traditional wedding or reception I think, but it turned out to have some elements of the traditional. With a father and grandfather having worked as professional wedding photographers, great photos were necessary for this event. As Dad Youcha lined up the wedding couple, parents, and siblings for the "traditional" wedding shots, Emily murmered under her breath "I can't believe this is happening". But after all was done and the celebrating over, the memory of the evening was one of "it was a blast!".



It was a great opportunity to take those family photos, for it isn't that often we are all in one spot at the same time. Luke's brother was sorely missed, but maybe via Photoshop he could get inserted into a shot.

The next day the family drove an hour east to Chena Hot Springs resort for a couple days to enjoy soaking in the healing waters outdoors hoping for a view of the Northern Lights. It was a great time to relax and enjoy visiting with each other in such a beautiful setting. The autumn colors at the time were peaking, the greens of the firs and bright yellow birch, and the cool crisp air was a nice welcome for us Mexicans who had been suffering in the heat.

Joanne and Emily

Aunt Joanne,Emily,Linda, Anika

A very cool site at the resort is the Ice Hotel which some of us viewd on Monday while the rest went fishing and cranberry picking (lingonberries). The Ice Hotel was COLD, and I was glad they furnished giant thick coats with fur lined hoods to wear. It was something like I had seen on t.v. of the Hotel in Finland, and likewise here, they charge for a night in a room in the hotel is $500! I don't know if anyone has ever done it, but I can't imagine it. The couple who did all the carving were award winners, and I was really glad I got to see this wonder. For $15 we could have had a nice cold martini in a glass made of ice. Hot chocolate would have hit the spot better. The photo at the top of the page was taken inside the hotel, and is of the bar.

With winter nearly making its presence in Fairbanks, with early October snow and cold temps, this photo of Emily and Luke holding a giant cabbage makes summer seem like along time ago. In northern Alaska the sun really never goes down in summer, thus there is daylight 24 hours around the clock! All those hours of light make for giant sized vegetables!

Fun activities during our week included visiting the fantastic museum at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, seeing the musk oxen and reindeer, and touring art galleries.


The two weeks in Minnesota included lots of visiting friends and family (but not enough), celebrating Victor's 61st birthday at Tina's, and rummaging through boxes and boxes of our stuff in the storage unit, trying to figure out what was most important to bring back to Mexico this year. It was necessary to rent it for another year, so that means we get to make another road trip to MN in summer of 2008!