Damon Hargraves

Last year we didn't see the herd until October . This year though, we caught a glimpse without snow. Heidi, Jodi, and I went out for a ride. Nothing special, just wanted to get out while the ground's still soggy. We were headed out to Clear Lakes, which you can see here . Clear Lakes is a string of five lakes located between Stebbins and St. Michael, which provide fresh drinking water to both villages. It's a beautiful area for picnicking and sightseeing. To make a short story even shorter, we never made it. Halfway to the lakes we spotted the reindeer herd. We drove our four wheelers to the top of a hill to find this great vantage point.

I took and collected 1520 pictures during our summer travels around Alaska, Oregon, Missouri, Arkansas, and Washington D.C. Here are just a few . (Note: At the time of this posting I am still uploading pictures, so check the time of this post below. If it's close to your current time, check back later for even more pictures.)

A few posts ago you might have seen how we slept just a week ago during a teacher training session in Unalakleet. We are blessed to be in a district that provides many opportunities for professional development, however we are lacking in accommodation options. Since there are no hotels, everyone has to either stay at a friend's house or pile into classrooms at the Unalakleet school. The district provides air-mattresses to anyone who wants them. In any case, you are usually somewhat crowded and the air can get a little stale with a dozen people sleeping in the same room. Luckily, the adventurous types have options. If you don't mind people walking around you while you sleep and if you can handle lots of light, you can sleep out in the hall. If you don't mind getting up early you can even sleep under the insurance salesman's booth table, which is seamlessly shrouded with a tablecloth, limiting the hall light (just wake up early before the salesman himself returns)...

The school staff kicked off the new school year with a beach party (we're trying keep the old traditions alive), and the community threw the annual dance to welcome the new staff. Hotdogs for everyone! We have so many new staff members this year (twelve out of eighteen are new). This time at the beach proved to be a great time for everyone to get to know each other. The community threw the annual dance for the new staff. This was especially important because there are so many new people. It got a little crazy, as you can see below we teachers tried our turn at dancing. We still have a lot to learn.

After a busy summer, Heidi and I are back in the Bush. We arrived back to Stebbins last Friday and were happy to be home. When we stepped off the plane I noticed this huge pile of boxes on the runway. I immediately thought that it was a load of boxes from new teachers who were moving up, but upon closer examination I saw that it was supplies for victims of the Hooper Bay fire . These supplies will go a long way in helping families weather the wake of this disaster. After living out of suitcases all summer, we were happy to be in our own place, with our own bed, surrounded by all of our own stuff. Just two days later though we found ourselves back on a plane on a flight to Unalakleet to attend training from Dr. Langford . Today we found time after our training to do some geocaching. Heidi and I geocached all summer , and we were happy to see that there was a cache within walking distance of Unalakleet. If you have never geocached, you need to get a GPS and get started , it'...