4 Wheels 4 Girls

After riding on the boat we came to a stop. Me Greta Stella and Daddy all looked to see what it was. There were a ton of puffins in the water. We also saw a bald eagle. I did not see it. I wish I did. After looking at the awesome puffins somebody said THERES A MOUNTAIN GOAT UP THERE ON THE RIDGE! When I looked there was also a baby. Then I said there’s a baby! We watched them jump over rocks. The baby was so cute. After that we headed on our way back. We saw spouts of whales on the way back. The water was calm. We saw a ton more puffins. Stella loves puffins. Then we heard a ranger say that they would swear you in witch means to get your junior ranger badge. Then we went to get sworn in. Mommy went down stairs to do something. When we got back to our table there was cake and jello. We ate it and went back up to the top deck. We heard someone say that we were back. I felt sad that we had to get off the boat but happy at the same time. When we got off the boat we said thank you and we left. We went and stopped inside a gift shop. Me and Stella each found a stuffed animal that we loved. Stella found a puffin of course and I found a Orca. Our parents let us get them. We thanked them over and over. Thank you Mommy and Daddy! After that we went to subway. Then we left.

After we had lunch we went to catch our bus for the sled dog demo. We ran to get on the bus. We waited for a while for the bus to come and get us. When it came we all ran to get our seats. We road in the bus for about 15 minutes.

When we got to the dog kennel a ranger told us the rules. He said that we were not aloud cross the blue line When we got out Me and Ana ran to go see the dogs. There were so many dogs. Some were black, white, brown, gray, and honey colored. We went and started petting the dogs. There were some that were sleeping and some that were looking at you and waiting for you to pet them. After looking at the dogs the demo was about to start. We went to find seats.

All the sled dogs were really friendly

We waited until a ranger came out with a dog. He started telling us about his dog. His dog was named swift. Swift was black and was big and had big paws. He was so cute. Swift is a wheel dog. If the other dogs make a mistake swift makes sure that the sled does not tip over. Daddy says that swift is like an extra motor. I think that swift has a cool job.

After telling us about what breeds swift was he told us that they were going to show us how the sled worked. Then all the people that worked there started bringing out all the dogs. All of the dogs sat up. They looked as if they knew what was happening. Trout a dog started running in circles. It was really funny. I looked up and they were off. They were going super fast. We watched in amazement as they zipped along. When they came around the bend we all started cheering. They came to a halt and we all clapped. They were really good.

We were driving along when Mommy said STOP! why there is a sale with it’s cub. A sale is a mother bear. We looked and and with are luck it was a baby grizzly with it’s mother. We all thought it was so cute. It looked just like it’s mother. We think we scared them away because they ran into the forest. We all looked for them until we were about to give up when to heads poked up from a bush. There they were. In the bush. We stayed there forever until we left them The baby was so cute. It was my first baby grizzly bear.

[Editor’s note: sale = sow (mother bear)]

This is not the baby grizzly. We watched this one digging for a ground squirrel.

We were driving along when somebody said STOP!!! What is it every one said? It’s a caribou with it’s baby. Were I said? It’s near the end of the hill. Oh it took me for ever to find it. The baby was trotting along behind it’s mom. We watched it for a long time. I love seeing baby animals. They are so cute. They went behind a hill and we left.

The baby caribou is following its mom

We learned that both the female and and the male both have horns. We also learned that caribou and reindeer are almost the same thing.

These are caribou antlers. They must have the strongest necks in the world.

On the morning of July 4 we had breakfast in Susan’s house. It was really rainy when we got out of the RV. Me and Ana went to feed the horses. We also went to check and see if there were any eggs. There were not any eggs yet. When we got inside it smelled so good. We were having pancakes! Yummy!

We went up stairs and hung on the bar that was attached to the celling. It was for exercise. It was really fun. After that we went and had the best pancakes. We had sausages and yogurt and orange juice. After that we went and got in the RV.

We drove to the parade. On the way there we stopped by Susan’s sister’s house. She had a huge garden. It was almost as big a football field. Gretchen gave us some greens. After that we went and got back in the RV. We played apples to apples when I looked out I saw these bison things. STOP! Why? There were these things like bison things. Ok they said we will go back. When we went back Susan said those things were musk ox. They were big black things that looked like bison. They had white hair on there bellies. They had these horns that were curly. After that we went back and got in in a hurry.

It's the Pig of Independence!

When we got to the parade at last I grabbed a bag for the candy. We went near the the judges and waited. After what seemed like forever the kids came riding bikes. Some were dressed up some had their bikes dressed up. Then the fire trucks came and threw candy to all us kids. There were people walking on stilts. Some people gave me and Stella beaded necklaces. There were also people that gave us radishes. Daddy loves the radishes. We all gave them to him. We looked for more but we found none. We had a ton of candy and ran and got it when we saw the chance to. We saw Smokey Bear and we saw a pig with flowers on it. We talked with each other and we got more and more candy. After the parade we headed to the picnic. The fun was not over yet!

Best homemade stilts ever!

On July 3, we went to visit Susan, a friend of my mom. After arriving to Susan’s house me and Ana went and looked at the horses. There names were Lily and Silka. We really wanted to ride them. After a while me and Ana went to the field with Eric to get the horses. We got to pet the horses. When we got back to the RV Eric almost killed me in a GOOD way. He said that WE COULD RIDE LILY!!! Thank you we said over and over.

Ana riding Lily (that is Silka in the background)

He got the saddle and every thing else. Ana went first. She rode though the fireweed. Fireweed is a flower that is pink. Silka got crazy. She started bucking and running and started snorting. She had never been away from her mom. Me and Daddy watched her. Finally Ana came back. When Ana got off I was so happy. After letting Lily eat grass for a while it was my turn.

Me, Eric, and Lily

When I got up it felt good to be on a horse. We walked for a while through the fireweed and then came to the bottom of the hill. Eric asked me if I wanted to trot. I said yes. When we did it was the bounciest ride I had in a long time. Eric ran beside me. When we came to a stop I felt sad that it was over.

We thanked Eric a ton more and by the way Eric THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! After that we went inside and waited for OUR parents.

July 1 I woke up and remembered that I got to get free breakfast. Ana kept telling me it’s time to go. After telling me a 100 times I got up and got dressed. We went to go get the hairbrush from Mom in the bathroom. We waited for mom instead. She took a real long time. When she got out we went back to the camper to put the stuff away. We ran all the way to breakfast. When we got there I gave them my mini pancake and we went and got our breakfast. I got two sourdough pancakes two meat patties a peach some fruit cook tail and a biscuit. The food was great. Ana got the same thing except for the cook tail and a biscuit. We also had orange juice. After the meal we went and looked in the gift shop.

On June 30 after playing ladder golf, Dave that ran the RV park said the pancake toss is in 5 minutes. We all took our seats and waited. People started coming and then it started! Ana went first. To the side! Good try. Then Stella. Good try. I was worrying about throwing in front of the people. Then Dave said to Greta, it looks like you want to go up and she said I do and then he said well I will wait on you and then came over to me. My heart was beating so loud that I thought it might burst. I got a pancake. My heart sank. Then it happened so fast in the bucket! YAY! He gave me a small pancake and told me to come to breakfast the next morning. After me went a guy that also got it in, good job, I said. Some people got three tries BUT they had to sing. A few people did. It was fun hearing them sing their songs. Greta, Stella, and Ana sang for anther try. Greta and Stella sang Jingle Bells and Ana sang There Was a Little Chicken for everyone. After that I went in the RV and told the whole story for our parents. It was the best day of my life!

Winning a free breakfast at the pancake toss!

June 29, after leaving Chicken we drove for two more hours. We drove on gravel for some of the time and normal the rest of the time. We drove through the dead forest and through some fields too. We finally got to the campground in Tok, Alaska. Me and Ana got on our water proof shoes. Not the kind that hurt your feet but like rain boots and kens. We went out side and ran in the puddles. Ana’s pants got soaking wet. I felt real bad because the water was pretty cold. After that we looked up and saw some boys looking at us like we were crazy. After that we got pretty embarrassed so we went inside.

Me and Ana and Stella went on a walk. Great did not come because she was doing math. We went to go play a game that we play in Iowa called lather golf. You have a a ladder that has three poles on them. The top one is 1 point the second one is 2 points and the third one is 3 points. You try to get the rope with two golf balls at either end on one of the three poles. Me and Stella played for a long time.

Ladder Golf

Then we stopped to listen to the music. There was a really good guy that sang lots of songs. After that we went to go have dinner. We listened to the music while we ate. After dinner we went back to listen to the music. We all were there at different times. After that we left and Mommy read Travels with Charley. I think I fell asleep to the music. I loved the music so much.

On June 30 when we woke up Mommy came up a read with me. She read a book about the Dawson City gold rush. I asked her if it was boring and she said of course not. I read a book that Ana got for her birthday. Me and Ana went to the bathroom. When we came back we dragged Mom out of bed and told her to make pancakes. Ana helped her while I made my small scrapbook in my journal. It had pictures of animals and I write about it. Finally she was done. They were so good. I had six of them.

After that me and Ana went to go play ladder golf. Stella and Greta came out and Ana watched while me and Stella played against each other. We had to to get to 35 points and then you would win. My team was called the chickens and Stella’s was called the chicks. I won the game. After that we all played. Then it started to rain. We went back to the RV and had sandwiches with lentils which were gross and carrots and a cheese stick and a piece of taffy. After that we all did a post and then we went back outside. We played ladder golf and took a break. We talked and then a boy that we met came and we talked. After a while Greta left and we played ladder golf again.

Ana planted a fallen branch

We saw a bunny. We thought it was a snowshoe hair. After that a man came out and fed the bunny a sourdough pancake. After that I left to go get water but when I walked in the door Daddy said I had to do a post. Uhhhhh!

On June 26 we got up and had breakfast. We got ready to go out and walk around in Dawson City. Me, Ana, and Daddy went to unhook the RV. We did that and still waited. Me and Ana looked for rocks. Then finally every one came out and we started our walk.

Dawson City still looks a lot like it did 100 years ago

First we went to see the Yukon River. Then we went to the Northwest Territories Visitor Center. We looked around and we watched a movie about the Dempster Highway. After that the lady gave us each a huge poster that had caribou on it. After that we thanked her and then we went to the Dawson City Visitor Center. We asked about horseback riding and they said there was none here. They gave us a piece of paper that told us that there was some fun stuff at the museum.

We went to the museum to learn about Dawson city. When we got there we were late for the gold digging activity. Mommy paid for our tickets and then we caught up with the rest of the group. We were met by a really nice lady who told us how to find gold. She showed us the gold that they found. It was just dust. They found it in two months. It was just a small amount of dust.

Learning how to pan for gold

After that we went to go and look in the museum. Me and Ana got bored so we ran around. Daddy got real mad. Then we went to look in the gift shop. We read some books and then Mommy came and said let’s go to the miners meeting.

When we got there there were a lot of people. Then two girls dressed up like men and a real man came out. They had picked out somebody from the crowd. They told this story that some man tried to kill them and then the other man told the same story and then the person that that tried to kill them said he was trying to scare away a bear! Who would believe him? He was trying to scare away a bear. Then they said who thinks he should be hung? About five people said yes. Then the same man said who thinks he should be a free man. More than six people said yes. After that we left to go ot and explore some more.

We went outside into a tent were we would learn about how to get to Dawson city. We came at the last part. When we got inside the tent the people let us have the their seats. We thanked them and sat down. The lady that was dressed up like a woman back way back when the gold rush gave us each a piece of homemade bread with really good jelly on it. After that they told us that the people that wanted to get here had to bring all these things on the piece of paper. There was really a lot of stuff they had to bring. All together each person had to bring a thousand pounds of stuff all the way to Dawson We looked at the list for a log time. They also told us that they had these ladder backpack things that they would have to bring up. Greta tried it on. It looked really hard to carry. They also said there were no guns allowed and if they did not have something from the list they were stranded up on the mountain. They asked us if we knew how to make sourdough. We said no. Greta read how to make sourdough. After that we said good by and thanked them.

Imagine carrying a hundred pounds on your back with this backpack