Alaskan Fireweed: I thought this was so cool. Amber explained it blooms all over throughout the summer. When it flames out and goes to seed in an arc of burgandy, yellow or orange, then it’s six weeks until winter. I saw one or two blooms, but patches of the flamed out ones painted the roadside everywhere we went.
I thought about Alaskan Fireweed when I saw Titus’ picture of their first snowfall this week. Winter came a bit early, according to the flower.
I like how bits of trip lefterovers continue to swirl around, even though we’re home: the Alyeska Spice tea in the morning, silver salmon every week for dinner, hearing about the Alaskan train from Isaac all the time.
We also had literal leftovers after a particularly large salmon fillet one night, so I de-boned the rest of it, put it in the bottom of a dish, layered on zucchini lightly sauteed with garlic in olive oil, then topped it with leftover Friendsgiving mashed potatoes mixed with an egg. I patted it all down, baked it for 30 minutes, and we gobbled down Alaskan Shepherd’s Pie sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It was so good.
Luke and Amber also took us to this rainforest—the northernmost rainforest in existence, I think. It was in Girdwood, the same town where we caught the train. The kids picked wild blueberries along the spongy trail to the waterfalls.
Then we stopped to visit some of their friends AND LEFT JOY. I guess it was bound to happen at some point with two cars and so many people. Joy was not amused, but was delivered safely home.
Now let’s talk about the interesting and amazing things you can buy at the trading posts. Mamoth tusks—fossilized or ‘fresh’, walrus and whale penises (…why??), carved ivory animals, bone-handled knives, stones and minerals and crystals, caribou antlers, whale baleens, any type of fur made into anything you can imagine, and a hats made out of wolf and lynx heads. Alaska is so wild! Chris bought a pelt for each kid, an aviator hat for himself and fur boots for me. “They’re so Mari. You have to have them.” Maybe he knows me better than I think! I’m not posting a picture of the boots until it’s cold because they will set the world on fire they’re so awesome.
Out and About 
Willkommen to Germany!
Unexplained Pause
Local Tangerine Just in Season!
Thanks for taking the time to post. I love the pictures and stories. I was laughing so hard about Isaac's Novocain Mustache!