Damon Hargraves

Check out our new ride! It's a Polaris Touring 340 , fresh off the plane from Hartley Motors in Palmer. You will notice how it is all in one piece. Thankfully we did not have a repeat of the fourwheeler incident . I know, I know...the snow is melting, so why are we just now buying a machine. Well, we wanted one for next year, and it turns out that now is the best time to buy. Luckily though, the snow is holding (did I really just say that?). I took an awesome trip with a teacher from St. Michael this weekend, and we are planning another trip with a group (girls included) for next weekend. My friend Drew and I decided that we needed to break in my new snowmachine with an overnight trip to the Pikmiktalik River. This is the same river where I went fishing last fall . Below : Here you can see that we are well prepared with Drew's sled to haul all of our gear. I pride myself is being an ultra-light packer, but when you have an entire sled to hold all of your gear it is ea...

I am entering the world of blogging, and feeling so techy. I decided that my debut post would be about my guspuk . Throughout the long, cold winter I have been finding hobbies to keep myself busy (we don't have TV). I borrowed a guspuk from one of our cooks, drew a pattern off of it, bought fabric at our store, and started sewing. A guspuk is a light weight parka worn by both men and women. A woman's has a little skirt, a front pocket, and a hood. Below: Here I am in the process of sewing. It took me about 2 weeks to finish. Below: The final product. I enjoyed sewing so much that I've started on a second guspuk. If you would like one, send me fabric and rik rak. It's still winter here, and I'm still looking for ways to keep busy.

Here are some more pictures to cover the highlights of Mike and Robbi's trip to Alaska. Above: I had to put this picture up, just so everybody knows that it wasn't all just fun and games. While Mike and Robbi were here we had quite a storm. Snow is one thing, but adding wind can really complicate things and totally change a landscape. You can't tell, but this picture would normally show main street Stebbins. Luckily though, this storm only lasted a couple of days. We passed the time by playing pinochle, watching movies, and preparing/ consuming large meals. Below: When the wind and snow died down we were actually able to enjoy being outside. We went on a long Honda ride/walk with Nick and Janna. I was able to test out my new snowshoes (notice them strapped to the front of the Honda). Above: We went to Nome for the Iditarod and had a blast. We had a lot of fun exploring the town and eating at restaurants. We even went to a couple movies at the theater. Heidi a...