DENALI AND HEALEY

Last week, we drove a new vehicle to a set of elders in Fairbanks and drove their old truck back to the Mission headquarters. (When a vehicle has gone over 50,000 miles, the people in Salt Lake tell us to detail the vehicle and sell it.) Normally, Elder Palmer, who is in charge of the car fleet does that duty. But, he and sister Palmer were handling other vehicles and also some housing problems, so they pressed us into taking the job. Also, while we were there, Sister Palmer instructed us to inspect all of the missionary apartments, which we did.

We left Thursday morning the 27th of Sept. and drove back on Saturday the 29th. In commentary about the three day assignment, if a missionary couple are allowed to take a three day "vacation" while on a mission, I guess that is kind of what we did. While we were doing official work, we were also able to see the "sights" going and coming, stayed in a nice motel room for two days, and, drive all over Fairbanks -- all in the name of mission work.

Here are a few of the sights we saw on the trip

(Just a recommendation, after you've read the post,
look at the pictures enlarged, especially of the
mountain.)

While driving north, we could see this majestic mountain
in the distance, which continued to grow and grow and grow.
And, seeings how we were on the Lord's errand, we got
to see the mountain "without" cloud cover -- sort of.

and the other peaks adjacent to it.

Even though the day was cloudless, I guess that

Mount McKinley has an ever present cloud over the

summit most of the time. We were very grateful

for what we were able to see.

Peaks to the South...

and, further South.

(Toward the North of the peak.)

These pictures definitely do not do this mountain
justice. We watched it grow larger from over a hundred
miles away. It "explodes" skyward over 20,300 feet into the air. 
It is one of, if not the most imposing and awe inspiring things
 that I have ever seen in my life. It left me in complete awe
 and wonder.

Sister C. at a view area, complete with telescopes.

The natives (in the Athabascan language)

call the mountain DENALI, which means The Tall One.

Hence, the park in which it is situated is called Denali

National Park.

Sister C.going to another view area.

Moi, coming down.

One of the signs we read said that Denali is the tallest mountain peak in the world considering the full height of the mountain from the base to the summit.

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The following pictures are mainly for Cari,

who spent last summer working in the park

and living in Healy.

Filling station, cafe, etc.

A newly fallen skiff of snow on the lawn.

Town sign

We're not sure if this is where the workers...

lived or not, but on the outside chance...

it was, I included these pictures.

This is the beast that I drove back.

I think that this is one of the tour buses of the

resort where Cari worked.

Speaking of which, this is the resort where she worked.

It's the Princess Lodge -- or something like that.

As you can see, it's all closed up for the winter.

Businesses across the street...

more businesses...

and, more businesses.

This is the Nenana River...

a tributary of the Tenana River --

Big deal you say? The Tenana river is a "big sucker"
so to speak. We crossed that river and saw 3 or 4
large low-draft barges that are used during the summer
for the fishing industry.

Another shot of the Chev

Another resort on the top of another butte.

A sign announcing the park...

and another at the entrance.

A view of the road in the park...

road sign within the park..

This is another resort you can see through the

opening in the trees.

It is located on the other side of the highway and
and the river.

EEEWWW! SISTER C. KISSES A MOOSE!!

Saturday is our preparation day, which means that we get to clean and scrub, wash, shop etc., etc. When we get through, we also are allowed to check out the local sights. Last Saturday, Sister C. and I drove up the Glen Highway toward Palmer. We changed to the Old Glenn Highway and after ten minutes or so, we arrived at a farm owned and operated by Church members. It is a Reindeer Farm. Besides having a large herd of reindeer, they have Rocky Mountain Elk, a bison, and a domesticated moose.

Sister C climbed into a snow sleigh before we went

into the pen with the reindeer.

Inside the pen. The two young men helping with the

reindeer are the local LDS missionaries.

Our guide was a cute blue eyed blond from Palmer

who just happens also to be LDS.

Expectant eyes - a reindeer waiting for a handful of feed.

Almost all of the reindeer in this pen are from this

year's births. They are relatively small and mostly tame.

They gave us a cup of feed which we poured into

 our hand and then the calves would...

eat it out of our hand. It was a delightful experience!

It was a preview of the Millennium --

no enmity between man and the animals!

They were completely trusting.

They were also hungry...

This experience put me on a cloud.

The elders give service hours here twice a week.

They help with training the animals.

Sister Lamb explains that four of the small animals

are being trained and sent to Hollywood.

This is Dolly, the bison.

She has attitude issues. She enjoys the leaves

on the branches.

But, she definitely doesn't like to be touched. We 

were warned to keep our hands out of the pen as

she likes to try to hook people with her horns.

This is Denali, the eight year old moose. He was 

rescued down in Homer, where his mother had 

abandoned him. He was smuggled first to a Llama

farm.

When the people heard about the reindeer farm, they

called and asked whether they were willing to raise a

moose calf.

So, this five or six day old calf was again smuggled

to Palmer to the reindeer farm. This was all very

illegal at the time. But, the farm people have since

gotten the documents from the state to allow them

to keep him.

They fed him from a bottle for awhile - he actually

was in the house with the owners for some time.

He was finally put in a pen outside. But, he is very

domesticated. He loves the leaves from the branches

and he doesn't mind at all being petted.

His rack was still covered in velvet. That was an

interesting feeling -- rubbing his horns. The nose

is much like a horse's - soft and velvety. I never

 thought that I would ever get to pet a moose.

Denali loves bananas. So, they cut a banana in half,

then an intrepid visitor puts the banana in their mouth,

holding it with the teeth usually.

Denali then takes the other end of the banana and

then consumes it. The "pass" from human to moose

looks very much like a kiss.

After 37 years of kissing an "ape", Sister C. decided

that it was time to kiss a moose.

I ain't kissin' you until you wash your face and brush

your teeth, ya' know!

Her name is Mariah Lamb. She is about 5' 10" and 

is a junior in high school. She's very pretty and
 was a real sweety.

By the way, all of the reindeer in the pen where we

were have been given Book of Mormon names! -- all

except for one with miss-shapened horns whom they

named "Pippen." The elders did the naming.

They also have a herd of Rocky Mountain Elk on the

farm. These large game animals are fed a diet of grain

and hay. Umh-uhm! Just imagine how good a stake

from one of them would taste!

Sister C. next to the tractor --

my turn.

We both left the farm on an emotional high. Like I said, it was like a preview of the day when the Lamb and the Lion shall lie down together with out any ire. Besides which, the reindeer were so cute, you couldn't help but enjoy them.