 The town of Seward, Alaska on a gorgeous sunny day Here in Alaska, we are waist deep in summer!
 The Matanuska River Valley, with the tip of the Matanuska Glacier visible on the left. Along with March came many new experiences in Alaska!
 Rez and Bear measuring the recent snowfall. Winter chugs along, as do we! Steady progress has been made on the homestead over the past few weeks. We finally have fresh clean drinking water on tap! What a luxury.
 Starting to look like a cabin... We are back! Back with a big announcement: a new addition was added to our family in November: little Baby Girl!
 Jobsite is a mess! It is well into October already, and looking back since our last post, so much has been accomplished on the cabin build. We were on a roll with continuing to get dried in before the colder weather sets in for good.
 Dry roof is done and ready for the blue metal panels to finish it off. We apologize for the delayed post! Things have been busy as we continue to make progress on the cabin.
 Slingin' rafters like it's nobody's business! Wow! August is over and July seems like forever ago. Pete and I loose track of time so easily as it flies by. We call this the 'Alaskan time warp'.
 Success! All four walls are up and secured in place. We are building upwards! This week Pete built and raised all four walls by himself.
 Floor joists and stringers in place. Yikes! About two weeks since our last post. The focus on the cabin, chores and exploring have consumed our time in these weeks. I suppose it's fair to say we didn't come here to sit on the computer or watch TV!
 Hatcher Pass views on the side of the road. We received a bit of rain and cooler temperatures this past week which was a blessing!
 Millicent the moose that frequents our property. She has no kids, long legs and long lashes--what a female! In the photo she is standing in our future garage on the house. This week Pete rented the mini excavator for another couple of days. We used it to dig a trench to extend the septic line from the RV pad to the site of the future cabin, about 40'. I tried operating the mini excavator and quickly found out it takes a bit of practice to accurately dig a narrow trench.
 About 9PM on the property. The sun doesn't set until around 11PM. Alaska has the slowest summer sunsets! This past week involved some more decision making and restructuring of build plans. We decided to turn the wash house into a livable cabin for the winter.
 30 of these loads came to deliver the pit run. Another week has flown by in the blink of an eye here in Alaska. We finally rode out the record setting temperatures which ended on Wednesday. It's such a relief in so many ways to have cloudy days and temps down into the low 70s and 60s.
 How quickly can I reach that refreshing looking snow across the valley? The harsh sun at the top of the hike had me wishing for snow in July, but it was just out of my reach! My favorite holiday was this week: the 4th of July. To celebrate, we took a break from our usual work around the property and went on a hike and planned a nice meal.
 Pete setting up the come-along in the background to coax down a stuck tree that fell halfway. Bear doesn't seem too concerned by dad's hard work! We are wrapping up our first month in Alaska and we are still feeling fantastic!
 "Crazy Frank" demonstrating how to fell this large tree. He was using what he called a 'fancy bread slicer' (garden saw) versus Pete's larger Stihl chainsaw. It was fun to watch Frank teach Pete. After this tree, they dropped many more that morning without error. Pete rented a Kubota mini excavator for the past week to clear about 6,000 square feet on the property. We now have a large stack of logs ready to dry about 7-8ft tall. Logs are birch and spruce that was killed by the spruce beetles.
 Rez got to see the ocean for the first time in his life. This scenic outlook is about a mile or so from our place, called the Cook Inlet. First week of living in Alaska and it feels great!
 Mini house for the generator coming along. Rez thinks it's his new home. Another good nights rest in the bus. After 9 days of driving combined with the relief of being home allowed everyone, including the dogs, to sleep soundly.
 Driving within 70 miles of home! No time to stop, though the excitement was overflowing! Enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the cafe in the Sourdough Campground. Reindeer sausage, eggs, sourdough pancakes, biscuits and gravy.
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AuthorHello, I am Melissa, owner of Wild North Design. Recently, my husband and I decided to pick up and move to Alaska. This dream has been a couple years in the making and we are enjoying the journey so far. We love to learn and make all kinds of things. From wood craft, to painting, to vehicles, landscaping, building, exploring...we love it all! We are finding out that Alaska is a great fit for our restless minds and bodies! Excited for what the future holds for our expanding family! Archives
July 2022
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