Concrete is Done! Yeah!

We are done! Yeah! The boys have worked so hard and learned so much. I think all we have left to do is painting. It is a good thing because we leave in two days. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. There has been plenty of opportunity to be injured and the hospitals are hours away! Thanks again.

Bears Keep Out!

This is called little building on stilts is called a cache ("kash").
They would put their food in these elevated cabins to keep it away from bears and other wildlife.

Our Route

This is a route of all the places we have visited so far. Some of these roads we have traveled more than once! If you forget anything or get the wrong part...it can cost you anywhere from a 90 min. trip to a 6 hr. trip!!!! Not much is close...and what is is expensive. At least the drive is always scenic! This is a stunning land. You can click on the map is you want to see the map larger ( I recommend it!).
A. Anchorage
B. Cantwell
C. Copper Center
D. Valdez
E. Fairbanks
F. Seward

The Clark Boys Great Fishing Adventure

What a blessing to have a day like this! Anytime you try something completely new and unknown, the opportunity for unrealized expectations is high. However, our wildest expectations were surpassed when we caught our limit(18!!!) of salmon, and one halibut apiece(the three biggest caught!). Words really cannot express the fun We had,and the nature We saw. By the way, Mari wanted me to footnote the fact that Michael is trying to look like this buggy-eyed rock fish. I love it!!!! -John

Alaskan Wildlife Cruise

On our boat ride we saw sea lions, a humpback whale and it's calf, lots of seagulls, puffins, starfish and weird black birds with long beaks. The puffins were really funny when they dipped under the water. We didn't get good pictures because they kept dipping under the water. They are really cute. They sort of remind me of penguins, even though they fly and are colorful. They are pretty small. The humpback whale is the 5th biggest mammal in the world. It was one of our funnest days! -Cari

Seaside Exploring

After Cari and I dropped off the boys at the dock, we had some time to kill so we went exploring. On the edge of the bay Cari found clams, snails and what we think is kelp.

Silver Salmon - Coho

Michael's Silver Salmon. This isn't his biggest, but his expression is priceless. What a blessing that all my men could have such an incredible adventure. I know they will never forget this day!

Shark Attack!

At this one fishing spot, we were hoping to catch some halibut...but instead we caught sharks! They were circling us. They were everywhere. Every time someone reeled in a shark. We caught six sharks all together. Our captain told us that they were called Dog Sharks. And Dog Sharks in big groups can attack halibut, so when the captain pulled up the anchor and we were about to leave... each of us had to pull in our lines and when I was pulling up my line I got shark, too! The shark in the picture is trying to bite me! I still have all my arms! -Michael
(I think Michael is training to be the next Crocodile Hunter!! I don't think I like this training! You know I wasn't on the boat!)

The Biggest Catch of the Day

My dad, John-John and I went fishing in the Pacific Ocean! We had to wake up at 6am and then we went to the docks and met our captain. His name was Captain Marty and our boat was The Hope. We went out of the bay and it took a long time to get to our first fishing spot. And when we got there we each got a big fishing pole. And then it took a couple minutes and my daddy caught a salmon. The bait we used was a little plastic squid with a small piece of herring, too. In a little while, all of us caught our limit of salmon which was 6 salmon each! After that we went halibut fishing. We got shorter poles but they were really thick. We used salmon heads and other salmon body parts for bait. In a little while, my daddy caught a halibut and the waves were really big. Lots of people were throwing up...but not us. Thank the Lord! The halibut I caught was taller and heavier than my sister, Cari!!!!! It was the biggest fish caught in that boat that day. It was really hard to reel in the big, fat halibut! I love my halibut! -Michael

Oh Halibut!

This is my BIG fish! No, no, no... my HUGE fish! It was 40 in. and 40lbs. That is pretty big! Bringing up a fish that size from 270 ft. below the ocean surface is no picnic. My arms were about to fall off. For all I knew I could have been bringing up the Loch Ness Monster! I had a great time. No, no, no... an awesome time! -John-John

Camping? NOT!

This crazy family decided to save some $ by camping in our car one night (thankfully the Tansys let us borrow their van instead of their car)! It was a little cramped, but check out the view! It was right on Resurrection Bay in Seward Alaska. The beauty was once again overwhelming. We laughed and laughed. Cari said she felt like a hobo! The biggest problem was that it didn't get dark and that we were so afraid of oversleeping and missing our fishing boat at 6:45am.

Float Planes

Lake Hood in Anchorage has more float planes landing and taking off than anywhere else in the world. There are very few roads in this massive state, so as a result, the lion share of the state is reached by plane or boat. This was a fasicinating experience for us. Michael also found some awesome looking dragonflies - they were turquoise.

My Marshwiggles

For our Narnia fans out there... I think my men are trying to become "marshwiggles"! At least they smell like "marshwiggles"!!! It gives us a greater appreciation for Puddleglum!

Arctic Grayling

This is the elusive, beautiful fish these men pursue at all costs... the Arctic Grayling. They say it is a fun, challenging fish to catch. It tastes incedible as well.

Oh the Places You'll Go!

Can you believe the places that these guys are willing to go to catch fish? It is an unbelievably beautiful place... but also cold and wet. They continually fall into unstable marshy spots. Obviously, not too deep...but deep enough to always have wet shoes and clothes to wash! Their smiles and, I'm sure, their memories will be well worth the effort though.

Moose Tracks

More signs of moose! The signs are everywhere...I really would like to post a picture...I just don't want to see one of these huge animals up close and personal like the caribou!

Fish, Fish and More Fish!

Here are my crazy men and Nathaniel coming in after midnight (notice how light it is) with their limit catch on Artic Grayling. They had already prepared them before I could get my camera. They had quite the fun adventure at a new and very wet fishing hole! At this point, we have had fish for breakfast at almost every meal here in Cantwell. They are definately catching more fish than we can eat. Way to go guys!

Back to work

After being on the road for so many days and covering so many miles it is nice to have a few days back in Cantwell at our friends home. John and Doug are finishing up a roofing project in the morning so that they will have time to fish later on.

North Pole, Alaska

We have left Copper Center and headed north. This picture was taken in North Pole, Alaska. They had some large reindeer for us to see at this location. Our next stop was Fairbanks. We did not stay long in Fairbanks because this was a long day of travel; on the road between Fairbanks and Cantwell some of us saw a moose! Unfortunately, the stinker walked into the woods before we could get our cameras out. When we were almost back to Cantwell, Michael's car saw a black bear cub!

Creation shouting it's praise

These are just some of the many waterfalls we saw on our trip between Valdez and Copper Center. We are surrounded and overwhelmed by the beauty of God's creation all around us. Psalm 98: 7 -8 "Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord."